A Different 20th Century

[Diamond]

OK, this is a re-post of the TL I began to post on the previous board. It is a work in progress; I have it pretty well-fleshed out to 1945. I would appreciate comments and suggestions.

Part One: The Pre-War Period

1908
History and Politics
-January 25: (POD) Germany and Mexico sign the historic Veracruz Accord, a treaty of alliance between the two nations. Germany agrees to help upgrade the Mexican army, providing modern weapons and training, in return for the use of bases in southern Mexico as possible staging areas for sending troops into Central and South America in the event that Germany should decide to ‘acquire’ colonies there.
-King Carlos of Portugal and the crown prince both assassinated in Lisbon; Manuel II becomes king.
-H.H. Asquith becomes British Prime Minister.
-Crete proclaims conditional union with Greece.
-Union of South Africa established.
-William Taft (R-OH) elected US President.
-An earthquake in southern Calabria and Sicily kills 150,000.
-Olympic Games held in London.
-Jack Johnson becomes first black heavyweight boxing champion.
-Fountain pens become popular.

Learning and the Arts
-E. M. Forster: “A Room with a View”.
-Kenneth Grahame: “The Wind in the Willows”.
-Lucy Montgomery: “Anne of Green Gables”.
-F. Meinecke: “Cosmopolitanism and the National State”.
-Robert Henri, John Sloan, others, found “Ashcan School” with realistic portrayals of life.
-Marc Chagall: “Nu Rouge”.
-Monet: “The Ducal Palace, Venice”.
-The first steel and glass building: AEG Turbine factory, Berlin, designed by Peter Behrens.
-Bartok: String Quartet No. 1.

Science and Technology
-Fritz Haber synthesizes ammonia.
-Hermann Minkowski formulates a four-dimensional geometry.
-Bakelite invented by L.H. Baekeland (US).
-Ford Motor Company produces the first ‘Model T’ automobile.

1909
History and Politics
-Serbia and the Ottoman Empire recognize Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
-Sultan Abdul Hamid II deposed by Young Turks; succeeded by his brother Mohammed V.
-Aristide Briand becomes French Premier.
-Anglo-German arguments on control of Baghdad Railroad.
-State visit of Edward VII to Berlin cancelled at the last minute.
-Women admitted to German universities.
-London hairdressers give the first ‘permanent waves’.

Learning and the Arts
-H.G. Wells: “Tono-Bungay”.
-Ezra Pound: “Casper Hauser”.
-Lenin: “Materialism and Empiric Criticism”.
-Sigmund Freud lectures in the US on psychoanalysis.
-Frank Lloyd Wright: Robie House, Chicago.
-The first newsreels premiere.
-D.W. Griffith features Mary Pickford, the first film star.
-Mahler: Symphony No. 9.

Science and Technology
-T.H. Morgan begins researches in genetics.
-Louis Bleriot crosses English Channel in 37 minutes in airplane, from Calais to Dover.
-English aviator Henri Farman completes first 100-mile flight.
-US explorer Robert Peary reaches the North Pole.

1910
History and Politics
-Egyptian Premier Butros Ghali assassinated.
-Union of South Africa becomes a dominion within the British Empire with Louis Botha as premier.
-British King Edward VII dies; succeeded by George V.
-Japan annexes Korea.
-Revolution in Portugal put down with British assistance; King Manuel agrees to limited governmental reforms.
-China abolishes slavery.
-W.E.B. Dubois founds NAACP (US).
-Francisco Madero leads an abortive revolution in Mexico which is quickly snuffed with German aid.
-122,000 telephones in use in Great Britain.
-Manhattan Bridge, NY, completed (begun 1901).
-Farman flies approximately 300 miles in 8.25 hours.
-The ‘week end’ becomes popular in the US.
-Father’s Day first celebrated in Spokane, Washington (US).

Learning and the Arts
-Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) d. (b. 1835).
-H.G. Wells: “The History of Mr. Polly”.
-E.M. Forster: “Howard’s End”.
-Sir Norman Angell: “The Great Illusion” (on the futility of war).
-The South American tango gains immense popularity in the US and Europe.
-Frank Lloyd Wright becomes well-known and influential in Europe.

Science and Technology
-Marie Curie: “Treatise on Radiography”.
-Halley’s Comet observed.

1911
History and Politics
-German ‘adventurism’ in Mexico and South America is condemned by US President Taft.
-With German backing, Nicaraguan rebel Jose Zelaya is successful in ousting the British from the region. Germany purchases the Mosquito Coast and the rights to build a Nicaraguan Canal. The episode ratchets Anglo-German tensions, already simmering over the Baghdad Railroad and other incidents, up another notch.
-The Kaiser’s Hamburg speech asserts Germany’s “place in the sun”.
-Winston Churchill named First Lord of the Admiralty.
-Revolution in China; fall of the Manchu dynasty; establishment of the Chinese Republic under Sun Yat-sen.
-Turkish-Italian War: Italian fleet bombards Tripoli; first use of aircraft for offensive purposes; Italy annexes Tripoli and Cyrenaica and decisively defeats the Turks.
-British Official Secrets Act becomes law.

Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The Waiting Room”.
-H.G. Wells: “The Emperor’s Folly” (a thinly-veiled attack on German imperialism).
-Edith Wharton: “Ethan Frome”.
-Irving Fisher: “The Identity of the State”.
-Richard Wagner: “Mein Leben” (posthumous autobiography).
-London has 400 cinemas; in the US approximately 5,000,000 people visit cinemas daily.
-Films: “Charlemagne” (Fr.-Brit.), “Anna Karenina” (Russ.)

Science and Technology
-Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
-Charles Kettering develops the first practical electric self-starter for automobiles.
-First successful parachute jump.

1912
History and Politics
-In China, Sun Yat-sen’s military advisor, Chiang Kai-shek, is killed by bandits near Chengde while on a routine inspection. Several high-ranking army officers try to take advantage of the confusion to mount a coup. The coup is crushed, but at the cost of further destabilizing Sun Yat-sen’s already unstable rule. Popular movements in the countryside call for the return of Imperial rule.
-Theodore Roosevelt (P-NY) elected US President for an unprecedented third time, on the Progressive, or ‘Bull-Moose’ ticket. (VP Charles Bonaparte)
-Mahatma Gandhi returns to India from South Africa.
-Arizona and New Mexico become US states.
-War narrowly averted in the Balkans, French diplomats mediate between Turkey, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia.
-Lenin establishes connection with Stalin; takes over editorship of Pravda.
-Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan dies; succeeded by Yoshihito.
-German-Austrian-Italian alliance renewed.
-Raimond Poincare becomes French Premier.
-Royal Flying Corps established in Britain.
-S.S. Titanic collides with an iceberg on her maiden voyage; although the damage is severe and more than 100 passengers and crew die from smoke inhalation and panicked rioting, the ship manages to limp into port at Reykjavik, Iceland, nine days later.
-Olympic Games held in Stockholm, Sweden.
-Remains of Piltdown Man found near Lewes, England.
-F.W. Woolworth Company founded (US).

Learning and the Arts
-Edmund Bentley: “The Blue Rose” (first in a series of detective novels featuring the character Morris Hargrove, which eventually rivals A.C. Doyle’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ in popularity).
-Howard Beech: “Slow Days”.
-Milos Zavinsky: “A Study of Jewish Mysticism”.
-Picasso: “Leaning Heads”.
-Films: “War and Peace” (Russ.), “Redskin Attack” (US), “The Marble Palace” (Fr.)

Science and Technology
-R.F. Scott expedition to the South Pole meets with disaster; caught in a storm, the entire expedition perishes.
-Cloud chamber photography leads to the discovery of protons and electrons.
-Polish chemist Kasimir Funk coins the term “vitamin”.

1913

History and Politics
-Raymond Poincare elected President of France, visits United Kingdom.
-Federal income tax introduced in the US through the 16th Amendment.
-Mahatma Gandhi, leader of Indian Passive Resistance Movement, is mistakenly killed by a British Army officer during a riot in Delhi; though the officer is arrested and later hangs himself, Gandhi’s death sparks massive protests against British rule throughout India.
-Menelik II, Emperor of Abyssinia, dies and is succeeded by Lij Yasu.
-Mexican President Diaz dies; succeeded by Victoriano Huerta.
-Henry Ford pioneers new assembly line techniques in his automobile factory.
-Titanic’s captain is cleared of any wrongdoing. Serious structural flaws are found in the vessel along with design errors that, in the words of one investigator, ‘could have resulted in horrendous loss of life.’
-J.D. Rockefeller founds Rockefeller Institute with initial grant of $100 million.
-The foxtrot comes into fashion.
-In England, the first woman magistrate is sworn in.

Learning and the Arts
-D.H. Lawrence: “The White Tiger”.
-Andrew Kalestos: “Waning Moon”.
-Woolworth Building, New York, designed by Cass Gilbert, opens.
-Grand Central Terminal opens in New York.
-Films: “The Vampire” (US), “Der Student von Prag” (Ger.), Charlie Chaplin debuts in “Bad Advice” (US).

Science and Technology
-Niels Bohr formulates his theory of atomic structure.
-Frederick Stoddy coins the term ‘isotope’.
-Diphtheria immunity test discovered by Bela Schick.
-Composition of chlorophyll discovered by Richard Willstatter.
-Rene Lorin states the basic ideas of jet propulsion.
-H.N. Russell formulates theory of stellar evolution.

1914

History and Politics
-Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by a Serbian nationalist. The would-be assassin, a student named Gavrilo Princip, is found to be a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian terrorist group. Austro-Hungarian police and military forces crack down on extremist organizations within the empire. Ferdinand urges peaceful measures, stating that ‘violence is the way of the weak’. His efforts serve to keep a temporary lid on regional tensions.
-Northern and Southern Nigeria united.
-Gen. Zamon becomes President of Haiti.
-Name of St. Petersburg changed to Petrograd.
-Panama Canal opened.
-US President Roosevelt wins limited Congressional support to upgrade navy and army equipment, and increase overall troop strength by 13% - less than half of the 30% increase that Roosevelt wanted.
-Increasing unrest and rebellion in China; the Boshan Massacre occurs on Sep. 3rd – what begins as a fairly peaceful demonstration in the city of Boshan in the province of Shandong turns into a bloodbath. Army units stationed in the area, called in to supervise the demonstrations (which were for the return of Imperial rule and the abolishment of Sun Yat-sen’s republic) hurl epithets at the protestors, and when the mostly unarmed students and farmers respond in kind, a nervous soldier opens fire. When the dust settles, more than 250 protestors and 40 soldiers have been slain.
-Sun Yat-sen institutes several draconian curfews and bans on public gatherings, which are basically ignored – they are unenforceable in the countryside, and in the cities, pro-Imperial cells continue to gather in warehouses and back rooms.
-US Federal Trade Commission established.
-Pope Pius X dies; succeeded by Cardinal della Chiesa as Pope Benedict XV.
-Party of US Marines land at Tampico, Mexico, for supplies and are detained; upon release 3 hours later, Admiral Mayo demands 21-gun salute to American flag; refused by President Huerta; US President Roosevelt sends US fleet to Tampico; US Marines occupy Veracruz for 17 days; over German objections, Huerta apologizes, ending incident. Roosevelt sends a harshly-worded cable to the Kaiser stating that ‘the US will not be bullied by Continental warmongers.’ The Kaiser is said to be apoplectic, but is dissuaded from doing anything rash by his advisors.

Learning and the Arts
-Henry Bacon designs Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC.
-Films: Charlie Chaplin in “Once a Day” and “On Wall Street” (US), “The Golem” (Ger.), “The Northmen” (Brit.)

Science and Technology
-Robert Goddard begins rocketry experiments (US).
-J.H. Jeans: “Radiation and the Quantum Theory”.

1915

History and Politics
-Various minor incidents occur between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet over Pacific territories after Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm declares ‘an end to Anglo-French territorial monopolies’.
-In China, general protests and unrest, sparked by continuing dissatisfaction with the Republic, erupt in the spring. Several more killings of protestors occur; though none are as bloody as the Boshan Massacre. Famine and plague throughout the spring and early summer contribute to what is seen internationally as the unraveling of the Chinese Republic.
-Erich Muenter, a German instructor at Cornell University, plants a bomb that destroys the US Senate reception room, killing President Roosevelt, industrialist J.P. Morgan, and nine others (Aug. 7), commits suicide (Aug. 11). The Kaiser’s government disavows any knowledge of the incident, which is verified by congressional investigations ending in February of 1916, but the assassination further increases anti-German fervor in the US.
-Vice President Charles Bonaparte succeeds to US Presidency.
-US Coast Guard established by Congress.
-Margaret Sanger jailed for writing “Family Limitation”, the first book on birth control.
-In October, unrest in China reaches a crescendo. Hundreds of protestors, including dozens of army deserters, unpaid for months, besiege Sun Yat-sen’s estate. He surrenders on November 12th, agreeing to the reinstatement of the boy-emperor, Hsuan T’ung.
-Francisco Villa attains the rank of major in the Mexican army.

Learning and the Arts
-Films: “Tampico”, starring Douglas Fairbanks (US), “A Scientific Romance” (Brit.), “The Undefeated” (Dan.), “Green Trees” (Fr.)

Science and Technology
-Albert Einstein postulates his General Theory of Relativity.
-Hugo Junkers constructs the first fighter airplane.
-Henry Ford develops a farm tractor.
-First transcontinental telephone call between Alexander G. Bell in New York and T. Watson in San Francisco.
-Wireless service established between US and Japan.
-Ford produces one millionth car

[Diamond]

Any comments or suggestions? Is the layout just too much or not enough? Should I cut back on the events or add more? Anything I've overlooked?

[Straha]

ooh nice its all good so far! once you've gotten it done I'll have to make it evil mu8ahahahahahaa

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Sounds pretty damn sweet!! Just out of curiousity, do you have any plans for any "weird elements" (e.g. Tesla weapons, radio contact with aliens, German death rays)?

In any event, it looks pretty grim at the moment. You could certainly effect the lives of famous persons who were effected by the "Great War, such as Adolph Hitler, Henri Petain, J.R.R. Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Also there are somne "strange cults" and religious movementys I could recommend as possible PODs for the ATL. For instance there is the story of Krishnamutri who was proclaimed messiah in India in 1925.

[Diamond]

Bondoc, its funny you should bring up Krishnamutri... I was thinking about turning India into a sort of Hindu 'jihad central' in the 20s.

Teasers:
-Hitler dies in 1920 of lung damage suffered in a mustard gas attack.
-Petain becomes a communist in the late 20s.
-Tolkein and Lovecraft lead similar lives to OTL, tho their body of work is a little different.
-FDR becomes an automobile manufacturer instead of a politician. Roosevelt Automobiles is one of the 'big 3' car makers by the 1950s, along with Ford and Hudson.

Sorry, no Tesla weapons or ET contact. I'm trying to keep things fairly realistic. :)

[Straha]

in my version of it Tesla weapons will be in it so don't worry

[Stalin]

Bondoc, its funny you should bring up Krishnamutri... I was thinking about turning India into a sort of Hindu 'jihad central' in the 20s.

Teasers:
-Hitler dies in 1920 of lung damage suffered in a mustard gas attack.
-Petain becomes a communist in the late 20s.
-Tolkein and Lovecraft lead similar lives to OTL, tho their body of work is a little different.
-FDR becomes an automobile manufacturer instead of a politician. Roosevelt Automobiles is one of the 'big 3' car makers by the 1950s, along with Ford and Hudson.

Sorry, no Tesla weapons or ET contact. I'm trying to keep things fairly realistic. :)

I think you should have Hitler live. Nazi Germany adds a certain element of evil and drama to the ATL. Well, at least that's my opinion.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

PTD- In regards to Hitler, just consider the fact that even without Hitler, the Nazis were an evil group. You still have Heinrich Himmler, Otto Skorzeny, and Josef Mengele in the group. As such, you can have some pretty creepy psychos running around.

Straha- Thanks for the support for "weird stuff", dude!!

Diamond- Something to consider, J. Krishnamurti starting in 1941 spoke against the Second World War, blaming FDR and Churchill for the conflict. In fact from 1938-1942, he aided Ernest Schafer, German Nazi anthropologist in his search for the "Aryan Master Race". As such he was also supported by such celebrities as Charles and Anna Lindbergh, Aldous Huxley, and Helena Blavatsky.

As for the effect of the Beatles on the world of music. From what I gather, "Progressive Rock" led by such people as Eric Clapton,Elton John and Phil Collins would have become a more popular vein. As such British rock music would certainly be considered a much lighter affair. Also consider the absence of punk rock music from groups as the Sex Pistols.

[Tom_B]

If anyone is going to play around with Krishnamurti then you probably need to keep him in Besant's orbit with the Theosophical Society and the Liberal Catholic Church. His message would be universalist--he is supposed to be the World Savior--but with an Orient is superior to the Occident mentality. Perhaps he converts Joseph Campbell to his cause (they met and become freinds aboard an ocean liner OTL).

[Grey Wolf]

an automobile manufacturer instead of a politician. Roosevelt Automobiles is one of the 'big 3' car makers by the 1950s, along with Ford and Hudson.
:)

How do you reckon the emergence of those three ? Rooosevelty would have had to enter car manufacturing v early coz of his relative importance in the First World War

Grey Wolf

[PM Nixon]

Great job here. So the POD is the German-Mexican alliance, right? Intriguing premise....the world will be extremely different with the death of Gandhi and the assassination of Roosevelt. It doesn't look like a nice place at all.

[Straha]

Straha- Thanks for the support for "weird stuff", dude!!



no problem! I'll fit in the mechs,cigarships,tesla weapons and other things! with this TL's WWII beign more like WWIII from the red alert 2 game hehehe... now which name sounds cooler for an alt WWII president: Phil Dugan or Teddy roosevelt the II??

[Diamond]

Hey Straha: I really appreciate your interest in my TL and all, but how about in this thread, we keep the comments on this TL. I'm all for you doing a version of it, but do it on a separate thread.

Bondoc: again, interesting suggestions, but a little premature. Some of these people won't even be born in TTL.

PM Nixon: Yup, this TL won't be very friendly, but it won't have Hitler or the Nazis in it, so I guess it balances out... :)

Grey wolf: Still working on a bio for FDR in TTL. Still tweaking things in the Great War and after.

Tom & Bondoc: The person I have coming to prominence in India is not Krishnamurti.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Here's another item that maybe interesting to note. During the period of 1918-1922, there was an active effort by Allied forces in World War I to overthrow the Bolsheviks, with the very distinct possibility of division of Russian national territory. Foreign military aid was given by Great Britain, France, Japan, and the United States. As such, try to imagine a Russian czar restored to the throne , yet regarded as a "foreign puppet".

As for other items, you could have film studios still remain in Fort Lee, NJ; Cairo, Illinois; Marin County, California; Yosemite, California. As such, United Artists was already in Marin County, California in 1902 with Charlie Chaplin, Theda Bara, and Roy Rogers.

[Diamond]

It'll be a couple more days until I'm ready to post the next part, detailing the Great War; got some more tweaking to do on it yet. Until then, here's list of US Presidents in this TL (tentative-some may change, especially in the 50s and 60s).

D-Democratic
R-Republican
A-Alliance
P-Progressive

1901-1908: T. Roosevelt (R)
1909-1912: W. Taft (R)
1913-1915: T. Roosevelt (P) - As.
1915-1916: C. Bonaparte (P)
1917-1924: T. Marshall (D)
1925-1927: C. Coolidge (R) - D.O.
1927-1936: J. Pershing (R)
1937-1940: H. Wallace (D)
1941-1944: H. Long (R)
1945-1956: A. Capone (A)
1957-1960: G. Miller (D)
1961-1964: J. Garner (A)
1965-1972: E. Rickenbacker (D)
1973-1976: P. Sheridan (D)
1977-1988: J. Wayne (A)
1989-1994: W. Barnhart (D) - As.
1994-2000: A. Graves (D)
2001-?: P. Strickland (A)

As.: Assassinated
D.O.: Died in Office

[Yankoslavian]

Tell me more about the Alliance party. Presumably it displaced the Republicans.

[Diamond]

Tell me more about the Alliance party. Presumably it displaced the Republicans.

The Alliance Party originates as a splinter of the GOP in the late 20s/early 30s which advocates strong international alliances to combat the threat of communism. Some of their less savory policies include limited eugenics programs to weed out the mentally and physically handicapped, an anti-communist (and later, anti-fascist) fervor surpassing McCarthyism, and intrusive government surveillance and censorship. Not to mention a BSI (Bureau of Security & Intelligence) which can make the Hoover-era FBI look like Granny Smith. :)

Yes, it eventually replaces the Republicans, though it takes until the early 60s to fully complete the job. And even today, there are still Republican congressmen and even a couple of senators from such 'backward' states as Montana, Idaho, and Baja.

[Redbeard]

...but it would be nice to know a little mora about events in France and Russia. Do the French carry out the comprehensive 1911 army reforms? Have they overcome the Dreyfuss affair? If not they will probably fall quickly if/when Germany attacks.

As long as no WWI breaks out Russia is probably staying stable. That will mean rocketing growth and industrialisation rates, incl. a very impressive naval programme. In the first incidence that will put pressure on Germany, she can't for ever count on beating France before the Russian moblisation is finsihed, and will even risk loosing control of the Baltic (can make British plans of Baltic landings real options!). In the next incidence this is also worrying for the British, as Russia was considdered the major threat to British interests in the Med., the Baltic, China and in India.

The comfort for the Germans will be that growth rates were almost as big in the Habsburg Empire as in Russia. Without a WWI that empire might consolidate and be capable of puting up a real fight. Imagine a 1938 Habsburg Army with plenty of Skoda tanks and Aviatek monoplanes (I've scratch built one by combining the fuselage of a 1/72 set of a Aviatek 534 biplane with wings, undercarriage and oilcooler from a Macchi Folgore - looks awesome!).

Are you sure that USA will watch the German involvement in Mexico so relatively passively? My impression is, that USA at this time was very sensitive twoards European powers expanding interests on the American continents, and a formal alliance between Mexico and Germany be seen as a straight casus belli. At least I guess we will see a programme to expand the US Army considderably.

I look forward to seeing more.

Regards

Steffen Redbeard

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

That was a real pleasure to read.

A couple of comments:

I suspect that the US would have instantaneously invaded Mexico if an alliance with Germany were signed. I think you would have to make this a Treaty of Friendship.

If Abdul Hamid II is still overthrown, it's hard to imagine the Ottoman Empire being able to retain control over the Balkan provinces; it was AH's removal that prompted Greece and Austria to annex Crete and Bosnia. (The CUP forced the Sultan to recall Parliament, so he lost power in 1908; he was deposed in 1909 after the failure of a reactionary revolt).

It's hard to imagine Serbia accepting Austrian annexation of Bosnia - this was a huge blow to them, as it cut off any hope they had of reaching the Adriatic.

Also, Italy didn't defeat the Ottomans in Libya decisively; actually they did very poorly, only able to sieze a couple of coastal enclaves; it was the Balkan Wars that induced the Ottomans to give up Libya; otherwise, it's doubtful the Italians would have won; the interior was firmly under the control of the Ottomans/Senusi, and Italy didn't have the capability to project power into the interior.

I suppose the Italian War could be resolvbed as per historical if a Balkan War seemed immanent, even if it didn't occur.

As for a solution to the Serbia issue, historically Novi Pazar, the strip between Montenegro and Serbia, was returned to Ottoman control as the quid pro quo for acceptance of Austrian annexation of Bosnia. If the Ottomans were compensated in some other way, perhaps assumption of a large chunk of the Ottoman debt, Novi Pazar could be split between Serbia and Montenegro instead, giving Serbia access to the sea through Montenegro. This could be problemmatic with regard to Ottoman public opinion, though, since Novi Pazar had a Muslim majority, but if the price is right... maybe the cost of resettling the Muslims could be thrown in.

I'm probably getting into greater detail on peripheral issues than anyone would ever want to hear, LOL, but we all have our areas of expertise.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Some other things that would have changed is the nature of California politics. For instance, with the battle fronmt being only a few miles away, It is highly unlikely that Hollywood, California would have been selected for the film industry. As such Los Angeles, California and subsequently Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, and Venice Beach would have remained either fishing or agricultural community. Oakland/Alameda Counties would have been developed along a more industrial base for the war effort and any subsequent war efforts. Marin/Napa counties would have been turned to the homes of the film industry (just a few miles from William Randolph Hearst).

With this there are several major PODs to consider. In 1942, the voters of California planned to divide California into 2 parts. The northern portion would have bee called Jefferson. The second southern portion would remain California. With all of the powerand wealth centralized in the San Francisco/Sacramento region. The state of Jefferson could have been created.

Another POD is the creation of Hoover Dam in 1931. One of its main approval points was that it would certainly help develop Los Angeles. Without the latent film industry, it is hard to believe such extravagant measures would have been taken to build the dam. Without Hoover Dam, there is also no Las Vegas. Without Las Vegas, there is also the possibility Bugsy siegel wouldn't have been executed by the MAfia...

[Diamond]

Thanks for the suggestions/questions/reminders. I can't promise that I'll incorporate everything, but I'll try! I do need to go into more detail for Europe, but there is actually fairly minimal change from OTL up till the non-assassination of F.Ferdinand in '14. Obviously after that everything is changing exponentially.

I just don't want to get bogged down in minutiae; frankly its not interesting to a lot of people, and for now, a less detailed TL will suffice I think. BUT, all the suggestions you guys are making are helping me constantly refine this work. It's been a work-in-progress for about 5 years now, and it'll probably be another 5 before I'm totally satisfied with it. :)

On the German-Mexican treaty: Yes, the US takes a fairly dim view of it, but T. Roosevelt can't quite get the Congressional backing he needs to do anything other than raise a stink in the international press. That is probably not strictly plausible, but I think I'm entitled to 1 or 2 per TL. :)

[Faeelin]

It's rather more than that, yes? It's a violation of the monroe doctrine, because of the mention of colonies int he area.

[Diamond]

It's rather more than that, yes? It's a violation of the monroe doctrine, because of the mention of colonies int he area.

OK, OK... geez. Make it a 'Friendship Treaty'. Of course, envoys travel back and forth, putting in, ah, 'unwritten' addendums. In early 1916, the treaty gets upgraded to a formal alliance.

[Straha]

*bump*

I want to see more of this TL!!

[Diamond]

I'll post the next part probably tomorrow. Been busy this week writing my 'Song' short story and working on stuff for my plane on Dominus's Yahoo Group.

[Straha]

cool and I think the planes and short story can wait lol

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Some famous American personalities in Mexico that you may want to add to the situation are General John J. Pershing , leader of the American Expeditionary Force into Mexico. There would also be room for General George S. Patton and General Douglas Macarthur. Apparently in OTL, George S. Patton was considered a war hero for his efforts in the region. As for General Douglas Macarthur, he was apparently not very thrilled with the entire environment. Placing these men in the region will inevitably mean that trouble will erupt in the region.

[Diamond]

Some famous American personalities in Mexico that you may want to add to the situation are General John J. Pershing , leader of the American Expeditionary Force into Mexico. There would also be room for General George S. Patton and General Douglas Macarthur. Apparently in OTL, George S. Patton was considered a war hero for his efforts in the region. As for General Douglas Macarthur, he was apparently not very thrilled with the entire environment. Placing these men in the region will inevitably mean that trouble will erupt in the region.

LOL Way ahead of you, Bondoc. :)

Straha, there's some Drakan weed calling to you... :p

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Before there was CNN and the term "embedded journalists", Pancho Villa hired several reporters from the press of William Randolph Hearst to publicize the Mexican Revolutionary leaders life, in full cinematic view, complete with staged recreations, stuntmen, and image consultantsa to make Pancho Villa seem friendly to American audiences. You can also add Ambrose Bierce, who disappeared while covering the story of Pancho Villa in 1913. You can also probably throw in Ernest Hemingway who was serving in the U.S. Army as an ambulance driver. Dashell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man , served as an investigator for the U.S. Army.

[Diamond]

Part Two: The Great War

1916

History and Politics
-Hsuan T’ung is formally reinstated as the Manchu Emperor of China. However, the deposed Sun Yat-sen manages to win significant governmental reforms, instituting a constitutional monarchy on the lines of Great Britain. The bureaucracy is streamlined, dozens of useless offices, agencies, and departments are shut down. In April, elections are held; ex-army colonel Lao Shen Wu is elected China’s first Prime Minister. The new government is recognized by Britain, the US, Austria-Hungary, Germany, and France in May.
-February: The so-called ‘Newsmans War’: After a remark in a New York newspaper is misinterpreted by the German press, a battle of words flares between reporters on both sides of the Atlantic, serving to increase US-German antagonism.
-March 2: Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria dies; succeeded by Franz Ferdinand.
-US purchases Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) for $25 million.
-Law establishing eight-hour work day for railroad workers prevents nation-wide strike (US).
-US plans to help settle internal strife in the Dominican Republic are put on hold indefinitely by President Bonaparte in the face of increasing tensions with Germany and Mexico.
-Olympic Games (Vienna, Austria) cancelled after one week of proceedings.
-The resurgent Black Hand organization orchestrates the killings of more than two dozen Austrian government officials (Jun.12). Ferdinand finally caves in to calls for pogroms against the Serbs (Jun.27); Germany gives her full backing (Jun.28); France and Britain issue warnings for Austria to stop what is rapidly turning into a Serbian genocide (Jul.14); the warnings are ignored.
-The US joins France and Britain in protesting Austria’s actions. (Jul.20)
-France issues an ultimatum: Austria must stop its slaughter of Serbs, and Germany must declare herself neutral in the incident. (Jul.23)
-After a week of posturing and threats, France and Great Britain declare war on the Central Powers on July 30th, 1916. The US maintains neutrality but continues to supply the Entente with arms and materiel.
-August 8th: Russia declares war on the Central Powers, honoring her alliance with France.
-September 14th: The first aerial battle, between German and French fighter planes, takes place in the skies over Nancy and Metz.
-Thomas R. Marshall (D-IN) wins US Presidential election.
-Lloyd George becomes British Prime Minister.
-By September, the Low Countries are in German hands, and the French cities of Amiens, Reims, and Nancy have fallen.
-Despite initial successes in northern France, the German advance soon bogs down and stagnates, resulting in more than two years of deadly trench warfare.
-September 3rd: Russia invades Hungary.
-September-October: Italy and the Ottoman Empire enter the War on the side of the Central Powers; the various Balkan states join, mainly on the side of the Entente.
-Prohibition loses ground as beer and alcohol companies lobby Congress as the United Alcohol Manufacturers Coalition (UAMC).

Learning and the Arts
-Jazz begins to become immensely popular in the US.
-Frank Lloyd Wright designs the Rotunda, future headquarters of all branches of the US military.
-G. Lowes Dickinson: “The European Storm”.
-Films: “The Crusades” (Ger.), “Morning in Montana” (D.W. Griffith – US), “The Price of Grooming” (Charlie Chaplin – US)

Science and Technology
-Blood for transfusion first refrigerated.
-Paul Langevin (Fr.) constructs an underwater ultrasonic source for submarine detection.


1917

History and Politics
-Feb.2: Germany begins unrestricted submarine warfare on US shipping after President Marshall refuses to stop lend-lease to France and Britain.
-Feb.10: US declares war on the Central Powers.
-Feb.19: Mexico, honoring its alliance with Germany, declares war on the US and launches a surprise invasion of New Mexico and Arizona. The US and the Entente declare war on Mexico. Though a limited series of rearmaments had begun under Roosevelt, they were suspended after Bonaparte became President; unprepared, the US lost ground in huge chunks the first year of her involvement in the War. Although the Mexican advance into Texas was halted in most places at the Rio Grande, Corpus Christi fell to a combined Mexican-German force on March 5th.
-March-June: Mexican forces control most of the US Southwest, including the key cities of El Paso, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and San Diego.
March 7-9: The First Battle of New Orleans: A German naval group bombards New Orleans and is decisively defeated by the US Navy in Chandeleur Sound, just south of Biloxi, Mississippi.
-Thirty-five year old Franklin D. Roosevelt, disillusioned by what he feels is a war that the US should never have been involved in, leaves politics and uses his familial connections to establish Roosevelt Motors, an automobile manufacturer, in New York City.
-April: Belgrade falls to the Austrians.
-May 4: V.I. Lenin and L. Trotsky executed by Russian police after leading a failed coup attempt in late April.
-German airplane squadrons use hand-dropped bombs on French trenches for the first time.
-Clemenceau becomes French Premier.
-General John Pershing appointed overall commander of US forces.
-July 25th: Los Angeles falls to Mexican forces under General Francisco Villa. Most of the city is burned to the ground at the express order of Villa after dozens of Mexican officers are picked off by civilian snipers.
-August 5th: Grand Canyon in Mexican possession.
-September 17th – 28th: The Battle of Bakersfield: The Mexicans under Villa are defeated by combined US-Canadian forces under Pershing. Commonly regarded as the turning point of the War in North America; marks the furthest northern advance of Mexican troops.
-September 10th: First tank battle takes place at Chaumont, France.
-German breakthroughs in France are balanced by Russian victories in the east.
-German saboteurs blow up munitions arsenal on Black Tom Island, New Jersey: $22 million loss.
-September 11th: Battle of Point Arguello: major naval battle between US and Mexican fleets off the California coast ends in American victory.
-Corporal Alphonse Capone stationed to US Army division in Bakersfield, under Major George Patton.
-Mexico nationalizes her oilfields.
-Trans-Siberian Railroad completed (begun 1891).
-‘Blue Laws’ in many US states repealed after UAMC and Congressional pressure is brought to bear over the previous year.
-In the US, the 18th Amendment (Women’s Suffrage) is ratified on December 6th.
-Radio Corporation of America founded.

Learning and the Arts
-C.G. Jung: “Psychology of the Unconscious”.
-Upton Sinclair: “Repeat and Repeat”.
-Charlie Chaplin’s yearly salary reaches one million dollars; he donates a third of it to war relief funds in Britain and the US.
-Chicago becomes the world’s jazz center.
-George M. Cohan writes American war song “Down South”.
-The fall of Los Angeles causes the fledgling US film community to flee; most studios relocate in the east, mainly in New York and Boston.

Science and Technology
-Term “battle-shock” coined by British doctor Ethan Turner.
-Robert Goddard receives funding from US Army to perfect man-portable and tactical rockets.

1918

History and Politics
-Beginning in February, American forces begin to steadily push the Mexicans south. By July, US troops have recaptured San Diego, Phoenix, and Albuquerque.
-March 4th: First US troops arrive in France.
-April 6th: Mexican General Villa killed by American sniper while retreating from Escondido, California. Mexican morale is severely affected by the fall of one of their greatest leaders; many units mutiny and surrender to US forces.
-German air attacks on Dover, Brighton, London.
-Germans driven out of Poland by Russian and Polish forces.
-Kingdom of Poland proclaimed; Wladyslaw Kasnowski, a distant descendent of Stanislas II, becomes King Wladyslaw V. Jozef Pilsudski named Prime Minister (June 4th). Although many in the West would have liked to have seen a Polish Republic, Russia’s influence gains Kasnowski recognition in late July.
-September 5th: Italy’s King Victor Emmanuel III withdraws from the War and declares his nation neutral.
-October 19th: Growing civil unrest in Russia forces Czar Nicholas II to conclude a separate peace with the Central Powers or face widespread revolution at home. This results in the Treaty of Lublin. Thousands of Russian troops are rotated back to Russia and to Finland, where communist agitators threaten to overthrow Russian rule.
-Henry Ford (R-IL) becomes a US Senator.
-November 2nd: Sergeant Alphonse Capone leads the famous ‘Tijuana Charge’ against heavily fortified Mexican positions just north of Tijuana, routing the Mexicans and forcing the beginnings of a complete withdrawal from California. Capone receives the Congressional Medal of Honor.
-November 12th: Ottoman Empire collapses in civil war as British and American forces advance into central Anatolia.
-German Communist Worker’s Party (KPD) founded in Berlin by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
-Women’s Suffrage in Britain.
-Regular airmail service established between New York City and Washington; first airmail postage.
-Daylight saving time introduced in America.
-By October, US forces have penetrated deep into Baja California and central Mexico.
-October 20th: Durango Offensive – the last major Mexican offensive of the War, temporarily halting Pershing’s 1st Army in central Zacatecas.
-November: food rationing instituted in many parts of Germany.

Learning and the Arts
-United Lutheran Church est. (US)
-Jerome Kern: “Hello, My Love”.
-New York Philharmonic Society bans compositions by living German composers.
-Irving Berlin: “Carousel”.
-Stars and Stripes, US Army newspaper, starts publication.

Science and Technology
-The ‘thumper’, a man-portable rocket launcher (MPR), perfected by Robert Goddard. US Army starts production in late August.
-Ludwig Prandtl (Ger.) develops wing theory (flow over airplane wings of finite span).
-US Army introduces its first tank, the Stonewall AAV (Armored Assault Vehicle).

1919

History and Politics
-Prohibition Amendment to US Constitution fails ratification.
-Lady Astor, first Brit. Woman MP elected.
-Nationalist factions in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula declare their support of the US and begin guerilla attacks on Mexican forces.
-Louis Botha, Prime Minister of South Africa, dies and is succeeded by Jan Smuts.
-Race riots in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia.
-Benito Mussolini founds Fasci del Combattimento (Italy).
-Meat and butter rationing in London.
-J.W. Alcock and M. Offrey make first nonstop flight across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours 58 minutes.
-February: First use of thumpers in European theater.
-Thompson submachine gun sees widespread use by US military, and by domestic police forces in the US, Britain, and France.
-April: Massive German offensive in the West (last of the War). More than 1300 German planes (largest air battle of the War); Paris bombed – Eiffel Tower destroyed; Allied counter-offensive in late May.
-Manfred von Richtofen scores 91st (and last) kill of war; shot down by French anti-aircraft guns outside of Paris. Captured by French forces, von Richtofen serves out the remainder of the war as a POW. In a POW camp outside of Orleans, he is befriended by fellow German soldiers who are adherents of communism.
-World-wide influenza epidemic; by 1922 nearly 38 million are dead.
-May: Communist revolts in Finland crushed by the Czar’s armies. Former monk Grigori Rasputin is named military governor of Finland and given honorary army rank of colonel by Nicholas II.
-June 14th: US forces capture Mexico City.
-June 20th: Mexican President Huerta declares the surrender of Mexico on national radio. Most Mexican armed forces surrender within the month, but significant hold-outs in the Sierra Madre Mountains result in continued sporadic fighting in northwest Mexico.
-September: Allied offensives, combined with mass influenza casualties, food and ammunition shortages, and loss of morale cause Germany and Austria to seek an armistice. The two nations agree to US President Marshall’s demand that they retreat to their own territory before the armistice is signed.
September 2nd: German communist leader Rosa Luxemberg killed by nationalist Freikorps officers.
-October: German fleet mutinies at Kiel.
-November 13th: Armistice signed between Allies and Austria-Hungary.
-December 1st: Armistice signed between Allies and Germany.

Learning and the Arts
-Jean Tournalt: “On Compassion”.
-Upton Sinclair: “Through the Killing Field”.
-H.G. Wells: “The Quiet Century” (about the possible outcomes of a French victory in the Franco-Prussian War; acknowledged as the first modern work of alternate history)
-Neil Amblyn: “The Red Factory”.
-Films: Charlie Chaplin in “Solidarity” (US – filmed in New York), “The Quiet Houses” (Russ.), “Child’s Heart” (Dan.)

Science and Technology
-F.W. Aston (Brit.) builds mass-spectrograph and establishes phenomena of isotopy.
-Jakob Bjerknes discovers how cyclones originate.
-Robert Goddard: “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”.

1920

History and Politics
-Conference at Versailles agrees on peace terms for Germany and the Central Powers.
-The Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahau, and north and south Baja become US military protectorates, to be governed by General Pershing. The states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco become the Republic of Yucatan.
-Raul Heredia is installed as the US-backed Mexican President.
-Sergeant Alphonse Capone mustered out of US Army; settles near Los Angeles, California.
-Indian independence movements, temporarily quieted by the Great War, become active again. Without Gandhi’s moderating influence, the demonstrations begin to grow more and more violent. The Passive Resistance Movement retains only a handful of followers.
-An Austrian named Adolf Hitler dies in a Hamburg military hospital of respiratory damage suffered in a French gas attack in 1919.
-April 4th: The Great War officially ends with the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty.
-Clemenceau resigns as French Premier; succeeded by Millerand.
-Armenia, Constantinople and European Turkey, northern Syria become American mandates.
-Habsburg dynasty exiled from Austria.
-German fleet scuttled at Scapa Flow.
-Olympic Games held in Antwerp, Belgium. The proceedings are begun with three minutes of silence to honor the dead of the Great War, a tradition which has continued to the present day.
-Earthquake in China claims 85,000 victims.
-Danzig declared a free city.
-Manfred von Richtofen, the so-called ‘Red Baron’, renounces his lands and titles and joins the German Communist Party.
-Lao Shen Wu re-elected as China’s Prime Minister.
-Thomas Marshall re-elected US President, defeating Eugene Debs (socialist) and Warren Harding (republican).
-December 15th: The Rotunda, new headquarters of the US military, opens in Washington, DC. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the building is circular, nearly a mile in diameter, with an open center which is landscaped and planted with several gardens.

Learning and the Arts
-Agatha Christie: “The Affair of Four Pence”.
-Joan of Arc (1412-1431) canonized by Pope Benedict XV.
-Bertrand Russell: “The Practice and Theory of Communism”.
-Films: “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (US – filmed in Boston), “Pollyanna” (Mary Pickford), “The Lowly Boys” (Brit.), “Three Deaths” (Fr.)

Science and Technology
-Austrian meteorologist Heinrich von Ficker recognizes importance of the stratosphere in meteorological phenomena.
-Swiss psychiatrist Herman Rorschach devises the ‘inkblot’ test.
-John T. Thompson patents his submachine gun (Tommy gun). The weapon became standard issue for the US Army in November of 1919.

[Diamond]

Here's a map of some major engagements in the Southwestern US during the early part of the war:

[Diamond]

And a map of North America after the conclusion of the Great War:

[Straha]

very nice so when can we expect to see more of this glorious TL?

[Amit]

swweeet TL there man. I want more damnit!

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Here are some names that you may have to add after this experience. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Los Angeles area was controlled by Mickey Cohen, and his hitman Johnny Stompanato, who was in league with Bugsy Siegel in the development of Los Angeles and its film industry. Starting in 1926, Joseph P. Kennedy was in Hollywood, California developing contacts with the film industry. In the ATL, he could be calling upon film executives to come back to southern California, making even more money in ht eland deals in Southern California. When you have Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen, Johnny Stompanato and Alphonse Capone you have a very deady combination. Whn you throw in the Kennedys, you will get even stranger results.

[Diamond]

When you have Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen, Johnny Stompanato and Alphonse Capone you have a very deady combination. Whn you throw in the Kennedys, you will get even stranger results.

LOL, Bondoc, you're like my advance scout on this TL. This is kind of the way I was going, with a couple of differences: Capone, while still retaining something of the 'gangster mentality' of OTL, has been fundamentally changed by his experiences in the War. While not exactly a nice guy :) , he realizes the power that can be realized by politicians, and realizes thats where his future lies.

The hero status he attains after his exploits in San Diego (think a WWI Audie Murphy) also make him much more of a public figure and a role model. While he's not above bending and breaking the law here and there to get things done, he is not nearly the sociopath he was OTL. He'll be reluctant to get involved with organized crime any more than he has to. That was another reason he chose to remain in California after he was mustered out of the army - to make a break with his youth of petty crime in Chicago.

The 40s and 50s are too far ahead to guarantee that Mickey Cohen and his crew will show up in any way; I'll know more when we get there. :) Joe Kennedy Sr. will indeed relocate to Los Angeles (to be renamed Angel City) in the mid 20s and will strike up a friendship with Capone. The two are instrumental in getting the film industry to relocate to the area. Kennedy becomes THE power in Movieland (Hollywood's new name) in the 1930s and 40s. With his influence, Capone's political future takes off.

*******************************

I'll post the decade of the 1920s next weekend. Really. I promise. :D

[Straha]

aaaah thats too far in the future!

[Unknown]

This is good so far. I mean, Gandhi, TR, Hitler, Lenin, and Trotsky are dead, but keep it up.

One question: Will nuclear weapons be used in this timeline?

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

Beautiful timeline; very well thought out. A question, though - what would be the Ottoman impetus for joining the CP? Most of the government was pro-Entente; it was the arrival of Goeben that propelled the Ottomans into the war.

[Diamond]

John P: r.e. the Ottoman Empire: you caught me; I did kind of drop the ball there. However, I didn't want things spiralling too far away from OTL that soon. How does this work:

-Upon receiving word that Russia has declared war on Germany and A-H, the O.E. gov't fears the worst. Russia has been eyeing Istanbul and the straits for a long long time, and many in Istanbul feel this will be all the excuse the Czar needs for a land grab attempt. Courted by both Britain and Germany, Mehmed V vows to keep his nation strictly neutral; unfortunately, the decision is taken out of his hands in late 1916 by two accidents. Taken separately, neither would have been enough to bring the O.E. into the War, but together they are disastrous:

-A Russian fishing trawler near the mouth of the Kizil river in northern Anatolia is spotted by a small Ottoman infantry unit stationed nearby. Reports claim (and have never been proven, to this day) that the trawler was unloading Russian soldiers. The Turkish soldiers opened fire, killing 9 Russians. The Russians were able to get most of their dead and wounded back to the boat. By some unhappy coincidence (?) the two left behind, both dead, bore the unoffical tatoos of an elite Russian sniper unit. Also left dead were three Turkish civilians from a nearby village who had come out to watch and been caught in fire between the soldiers and one of the sailors, who pulled a pistol (and may have been the one to instigate the whole thing).

-Despite (logical) Russian claims that the two men were retired and were in no way part of an assassination squad, the Russian ambassador was expelled from Istanbul four days later.

-If there had been time, the incident would have blown over and been forgotten, but for an ironic event of supreme bad luck. A day later, the commander of a Turkish warship patrolling near the Crimea received word that his sister and her son had been killed... in a surprise Russian attack on a village near the Kizil river. Backed by the majority of his officers, many of whom were from the same area, the Turkish commander promptly sunk two Russian civilian ships, one of them a passenger ferry between the Crimea and Odessa. More than 150 Russians died. A mutiny on the Turkish ship stopped the commander, but the damage had been done.

-Czar Nicholas declared war on the Ottoman Empire the next day.

*********************************************

Unknown: Yes, some important (in OTL) people are dead... but look at it this way - TR would have died four year later anyway. Hitler, Lenin, Trotsky? Nobodies at the time they died. The only reason I made mention of their deaths is so you'd know what happened to them. The only other really prominent figure I've done away with was Gandhi, and at the time he died he was only known really on a regional basis, and by London.

Don't worry; you've still got plenty of other people around... like Stalin and Rasputin. :) Do I see a collaboration in Finland? Hmmm... :)

R.e. nuclear weapons: I'm really not sure yet. At first I had Allied Commander George Patton nuke Paris at the end of TTL's WWII in 1952, but I'm not sure that's the way things will go now. I guess you'll have to wait and see.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

With the Romanov Dynasty, consider thge following point. By 1924, Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia would have been been married to someone of some kind of royal or noble heritage. By 1929, they would be considered old maids. The fact is that they would be actively seeking suitors before the end of the decade. By c.1931 Czar Nicholas II, due to health conditions in the family, Czar Nicholas would have been dead.So consider the following information when charting the course of the Romanov Dynasty.

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

That's a clever solution. I can buy that.

[Diamond]

That's a clever solution. I can buy that.

Really? Damn. I'll have to write that down on the calendar so I remember to celebrate it every year:

"February 3: The day I offered a suggestion to a TL problem that John accepted." LOL, just kidding! :D

Seriously tho, any other nitpicks or problems you see so's I can explain why they're not really problems ( :) ) before I post the next part?

[Mr_ Bondoc]

By 1934, there will be pressure to make sure that Prince Alexei is married to a suitable bride. If he is still suffering from childhood diseases, Alexei will be dead by (36yrs) 1940. This means that unless he gives birth to a child sometime between 1934 and 1940, there will be an Imperial Succession Crisis in St. Petersburg. Any of these things could spell trouble for the dynasty. There is also the possibility that one of the daughters of Czar Nicholas II will marry into either the British House of Windsor or the German Imperial line.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Welll here are some names to consider adding to the ATL , based on the recent book, The Kennedys in Hollywood by Lawrence J. Quirk. If anything, they will add a little flavor to the situation. Everyone seems to know about the 1926-1930 affair of Joseph P. Kennedy with Gloria Swanson. But some other names to include may be:
1930-Gloria Bennett, blonde actress, had an affair with JPK, nearly committed suicide
1931-Nancy Carroll, blonde actress, had an affair with JPK after his breakup with Gloria Swanson
1939- Marlene Dietrich, blonde German actress, had an affair with JPK and JFK separately
1940- Robert Stack (The Untouchables and Unsolved Mysteries ), was the chilhood friend of John F. Kennedy
1946-Gene Tierney, redhead actress, had an affair with JFK, nearly married
1947- Peggy Cummins, British blonde actress, had an affair with JFK
1947-June Allyson, blonde actress, had an affair with JFK, nearly married
1961-Lee Remick, brunette actress, had an affair with RFK, nearly committed suicide when her marriage collapsed over the affair

But one more name to add to the list is William Randolph Hearst. As the owner of 80% of the newspapers in American readership, Hearst considered himself a power player until 1942. It wasn't until Orson Welles filmed Citizen Kane was the power of Hearst ever challenged.

[Diamond]

I'll post the decade of the 1920s next weekend. Really. I promise. :D

OK, I lied. Give me a couple more days. Do you guys have any idea how freakin hard it is to cross-reference all these different things and make sure it all hangs together?!? :)

[Diamond]

Noooootttt quite ready to post the next part yet... but until then (a day or two more?) here's a map to tide you over (granted, its a little premature :) ).

DATE OF MAP IS 1942

[Straha]

Noooootttt quite ready to post the next part yet... but until then (a day or two more?) here's a map to tide you over (granted, its a little premature :) ).

DATE OF MAP IS 1942

you rock enough said

[Faeelin]

Any timeline with a bonaparte as president is fine by me.

[Diamond]

The 1920s: A Decade of Unease (Part One)
--Thanks to Dr. R. Reagan, Harvard History Dept., for allowing me to use the title of his recent book as the caption for this section--

1921

History and Politics
-January: Renewed unrest in Finland leads to the implementation of draconian measures by Colonel Rasputin, including the execution of many prominent Helsinki citizens. Czar Nicholas is reluctant to support Rasputin, fearing the former monk’s growing popularity among the army and the church, but is unable to remove Rasputin for fear of reprisals.
-Liverpool Conference: Central America is reorganized – British Dominion of Honduras encompasses OTL Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador; Nicaragua and Costa Rica are US territories.
-February: The Mexican Liberation Army (MLA) is officially constituted in Sonora. Composed mainly of fugitive members of the regular army in hiding since the Great War’s end, the MLA’s stated goal is the total withdrawal of all US forces from Mexico and the Yucatan.
-March: Josef Stalin returns to Petrograd from six years of Siberian exile (1915-1920). Humbled, poor, and bitter, he finds scant welcome after the purges of the last few years which have broken the power and influence of the Bolsheviks.
-Indian independence movements grow more and more violent.
-Ernst Roehm begins to unite various fascist and nationalist movements in Germany.
-Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito named prince regent after his father retires due to mental illness.
-First radio broadcast of a baseball game made from the Polo Grounds in New York.
-British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded.
-Actor Charlie Chaplin retires from acting after losing a leg in a train wreck in Boston.
-Radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh transmits first regular radio programs in US.
-Ku Klux Klan activity becomes increasingly violent throughout southern US.
-US President Marshall’s idea of an ‘International Union’ finds little support in Europe, and only lukewarm reception in South America and Asia.
-June 2: Three US servicemen in the Sonoran town of Tepache are accused of raping a sixteen year-old Mexican girl. The three are acquitted by a military court on August 5. Remnants of the Mexican Army, living as bandits in the mountains of western Sonora since the end of the War, use the acquittal to stir up resentment in the province.
-August 28: MLA forces destroy a US army supply convoy bound for Hermosillo. When the survivors try to gain sanctuary at a nearby Catholic mission, the priests refuse them entry, and they are slaughtered.
-August 30: Governor Pershing declares a state of emergency in the Mexican Protectorate. All military forces are placed on the highest state of alert, and dusk curfews are enforced.
-September: Josef Stalin, having heard of Colonel Rasputin’s unorthodox techniques in Finland, relocates to Helsinki and ingratiates himself with Rasputin.
-September 2-5: Sporadic attacks by the MLA against US forces in northern and western Sonora rouse the general population to a state of rebellion. Before it is quelled in January of 1922, the Sonoran Rebellion claims the lives of more than 10,000 Mexicans and 1300 US servicemen.
-October 14: Former US President Charles Bonaparte commits suicide in his Hartford, CT home. Friends and relatives claim Bonaparte felt ‘intolerable guilt’ over the US’s involvement in the Great War and his inability to prevent it.
-November: Boston newspaper reporter Nicola Sacco brings to light arguments between US President Marshall and Governor Pershing over whether foreign aid ought to be requested in quelling the Sonoran Rebellion.

Learning and the Arts
-Aldous Huxley: “In Question”.
-Ezra Pound: “Poems of the War”.
-E. Stern-Rubarth: “Propaganda as a Political Weapon”.
-Enrico Caruso, Italian operatic tenor, d. (b.1873).
-Rafael Sabatini: “Scaramouche”.
-Films: “The Wishing Well” (Chaplin – his last film), “The Sea King” (Fr.), “The Battle of Paris” (Ger.; controversial war film).

Science and Technology
-Robert Goddard designs a variation of his ‘thumper’, capable of being mounted on a tank.
-American Rocketry Institute founded in Clovis, New Mexico, with Goddard as head.
-H.J. Oberth: “The Rocket into Interplanetary Space”.

1922

History and Politics
-Calvin Snow (Conservative) becomes Prime Minister of Britain.
-New Klu Klux Klan gains political power in US.
-Cardinal Matimeo Alcari elected Pope Pius XI to succeed Benedict XV.
-January 13: The Sonoran Rebellion is ‘officially’ quelled, though significant rebel forces remain at large.
-Large-scale rebellions in Indian cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad. Jahandar Patel, a former carpenter, first comes to prominence in India as a supporter of Indian independence. Patel, a suspected supporter of resurgent Kali-worshipping thuggee cults, garners popular support among the lower classes; he is basically unknown outside of India.
-Benito Mussolini forms fascist government in Italy.
-Rapid fall of German mark; beginning of inflation.
-July 9: Russian Czar Nicholas’s heir son and heir Alexis dies due to complications of his hemophilia. Nicholas’s second son Yuri is named as his successor.
-Mustapha Kemal orchestrates anti-US protests and bombings in Turkey over continued US occupation of Istanbul and surrounding areas.
-A citizen’s group called the Angel Committee, led by war hero Alphonse Capone, receives federal relief funds to rebuild the city of Los Angeles, to be renamed Angel City.
-Stalin named head of Finland’s internal security forces by Rasputin.
-Britain recognizes Kingdom of Egypt under Fuad I.
-Miguel Primo de Rivera assumes dictatorship in Spain.
-Stock market ‘boom’ begins in America.

Learning and the Arts
-Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter discover the tomb of Tutankhamen.
-T.S. Eliot: “The Waste Land”.
-John Galsworthy: “The Forsyte Saga”.
-Films: “Nosferatu” (F.W. Murnau), “Lost Mountain” (Fritz Lang), “Last of the Mohicans” (Tourneur).

Science and Technology
-Alexander G. Bell d.(b.1847).
-Henry Ford: “My Life and Work”.
-Insulin first administered to diabetics (Can.).
-Fruit fly heredity mechanism experiments by T.H. Morgan.

1923

History and Politics
-Disputes between Finland’s military governor Rasputin and pro-Czar officers.
-First birth-control clinic opens in New York.
-The mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, is assassinated by a Great War veteran named Charles Powell. Powell had been released from an Austin mental institution days earlier.
-Imperial Air Service founded in Russia (largest airline in the world).
-Ger. aircraft designer Willy Messerschmitt establishes aircraft factory.
-Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, become first American states to introduce old-age pensions.
-Non-fascist parties dissolved in Italy.
-May: Limited street battles in Helsinki, Oulu, and Turku between pro-Rasputin and pro-Czarist forces. A group in Moscow called the Orthodox National Party (ONP), a fascist party with heavy pseudo-religious underpinnings, announces its support of Rasputin and calls for the overthrow of the Czar.
-May 20: Colonel Rasputin publicly denounces the actions of his military supporters and the ONP, heading off any possible action by the Czar, while at the same time covertly solidifying his ties to both groups.
-June: US, Britain, France, declare support of Russian Czar against ‘destabilizing elements’.
-US President Marshall declares intentions to withdraw all US forces from Turkey, Syria, and Armenia by February of 1924.
-Martial law established (June-August) in Oklahoma and Nebraska to protect people and property from attacks by Ku Klux Klan.
-Name of Petrograd changed back to St. Petersburg.
-June: State Security Organization (SO) founded by Rasputin to ‘protect the integrity of the Finlandic state’ (in the Czar’s name, of course). J. Stalin is chosen to head the organization. Interestingly, most of Finland’s populace supports Rasputin, despite his installation by the Czar to crush the communist movements; in him, they see the possibility of an independent and strong Finland.
-September 4: Angel City, California, officially re-incorporated. Alphonse Capone is assitant Police Commissioner.
-Col. Jacob Schick patents electric razor.
-B. Hadden and H.R. Luce found newsmagazine ‘Time’.

Learning and the Arts
-George Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue”.
-Felis Salten: “Bambi”.
-Lutheran World Congress held at Eisenach, Germany.
-Karel Capek: “R.U.R.” Czech science fiction drama.
-Jazz musician ‘Jelly-Roll’ Morton begins to record.
-Films: “Why Worry” (Harold Lloyd), “Witness” (Douglas Fairbanks).

Science and Technology
-F. Lindemann (Brit.) investigates the size of meteors and the temperature of the upper atmosphere.
-Theory of acids and bases postulated by J.N. Bronsted.
-Juan de la Cierva (Sp.) develops basic principle of Autogiro.
-Lee de Forest demonstrates process for sound motion pictures.

1924

History and Politics
-February 16: On schedule, the US begins to withdraw from Turkey. Mustafa Kemal applauds the move as ‘a step in the right direction’.
-March 4: The Gysankinya Incident – SO troopers corner suspected Czarist saboteurs in the Russian border town of Gysankinya. Seventeen civilians are killed in a gun battle and the Czarists flee into Russia. At the border, soldiers of the Russian Army arrest nine pursuing SO operatives. SO Chief Stalin issues a statement of protest, demanding the immediate release of his men.
-British Imperial Airways begins operations.
-Ford Motor Company produces 10 millionth car.
-Giacomo Matteotti, leader of Italian socialists, murdered by fascist Quadristi.
-J. Edgar Hoover named Director of the National Bureau of Intelligence (NBI).
-April 1: The nine SO operatives arrested the month before are sentenced to hang by a St. Petersburg court. Colonel Rasputin calls for general revolution in Russia and Finland to overthrow the ‘tyranny of the Czar’.
-April 2: Beginning of the Russian Revolution.
-April 17: The ONP openly declares its support of Rasputin.
-May 4: France, followed by the US, vows to send troops to Russia to support the Czar.
-Alphonse Capone marries poet Dorothy Rothschild in Angel City.
-First elections in Italy under fascist methods; 62% favor Mussolini.
-Lao Shen Wu re-elected as China’s Prime Minister.
-Olympic Games held in Chicago, USA.
-Lobbying by Angel City begins to bring US film industry back to the West Coast.
-June: American troops arrive in Russia; marine divisions see combat in the Gulf of Finland June 20th.
-July: First French troops arrive in Russia.
-August: Czar Nicholas II and most of his immediate family are slain by ONP troopers. The Czar’s brother Michael, along with Yuri Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, manage to flee to St. Petersburg, where they receives asylum aboard an American destroyer.
-First Winter Olympics held in Quebec, Canada.
-Leopold and Loeb sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping/murder of 12-year old Bobby Franks.
-Jon W. Davis (D-WV) narrowly elected US President, defeating Eugene Debs (socialist) and Calvin Coolidge (republican). First election broadcast on radio.

Learning and the Arts
-E.M. Forster: “A Passage to India”.
-Morgan Aptow: “Mexican Options”, a treatise detailing possible US withdrawal strategies from Mexico.
-Mark Twain: “Autobiography” (posth.).
-Albert Schweitzer: “Memoirs of Childhood and Youth”.
-Tsukiji Little Theater opens in Tokyo; beginning of modern theater movement in Japan.
-Films: “Theodore Rex” (Fritz Lang), “Captain Morgan” (Douglas Fairbanks), “America” (D.W. Griffith), “The Ten Commandments” (C.B. DeMille).

Science and Technology
-R.C. Andrews discovers bones of Mesozoic dinosaurs in Gobi Desert.
-Insecticides used for the first time.
-Arthur Eddington (Brit.) discovers that the luminosity of a star is related to its mass.
-Sources of Brahmaputra-Tsangpo River in Tibet discovered.


1925

History and Politics
-Pershing steps down from duties as Governor of the Mexican Protectorate due to disagreements with the Davis administration over when and if the US should withdraw from the Protectorate.
-March: ONP forces in control of most of northern, western Russia.
-US film companies begin to relocate from Boston and other eastern cities back to southern California.
-Christiania, the Norwegian capital, renamed Oslo.
-May: The ‘Month of Blood’ begins in Germany – communist and fascist supporters clash in cities throughout northern and western Germany after Milos Krueger, a communist sympathizer, becomes German chancellor.
-Cyprus transferred from Britain to Italy for 49 million pounds.
-Japan introduces general suffrage for men.
-Sun Yat-sen dies. The Chinese government honors his contributions to democracy with a week-long celebration.
-Roosevelt Motors, hovering near bankruptcy for the last five years, introduces the Roosevelt Rambler. The car’s low cost, excellent performance, and stylish design combine to create a vehicle whose sales outstrip all other US car manufacturers sales in 1926 combined.
-Crossword puzzles first become fashionable.
-Tornado in south-central US kills 622 people.
-Madison Square Garden, New York City, opened.
-Ford Motor Company’s Brazilian subsidiary begins operations.
-September: Major ONP victories in Kiev, Minsk, Donetsk, and Kursk. Czarist forces collapse.
-October: After it becomes obvious that Rasputin’s Nationalist forces control Russia, the US and France withdraw their forces. Michael and Yuri Romanov and a cadre of supporters are granted sanctuary in the US.
-November 11: Grigori Rasputin proclaimed President of the Russian Republic.

Learning and the Arts
-United Church of Canada founded.
-Trinity University, NC (USA), changes its name to Duke University after a grant of $40 million by tobacco magnate James Duke.
-Sinclair Lewis: “Normal Avenue” (Pulitzer Prize).
-“The New Yorker” (magazine) begins to appear.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Boomtown” (about the rebuilding of Angel City, California).
-Popular song: “Show Me the Way to go Home”.
-Jazz, Chicago style, arrives in Europe.
-W.J. Bryan d. (b. 1860).
-Films: “The Rangers” (US-first film produced in Angel City after the Great War); “The Time Machine” (D.W. Griffith); “In the Street” (Lubitsch).

Science and Technology
-John L. Baird (Scot.) transmits recognizable human features by television.
-A.O. Rankine predicts the possibility of talking motion pictures in the not-too distant future.
-Solar eclipse in New York is the first in 300 years.
-Scopes Trial takes place; Scopes is convicted, then acquitted on a technicality.
-Carl Bosch (Ger.) invents process for preparing hydrogen on a manufacturing scale.

*************************************************

The 1920s, Part Two... tomorrow, same time, same channel.

[Straha]

good this TL will be most interesting

[Mr_ Bondoc]

There are some interesting characters and PODs that you should definetly take into account with the ATL:

-Without Al Capone and Frank Nitti in Chicago, there are certain major developments. First on 3/1/1932, when Charles Lindbergh's son is kidnapped, Al Capone's offer of aid to the FBI is not so quickly rejected. Second, on February 14, 1929, with the absence of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, most of the criminal syndicates on the East Coast remain divided on May 13-15, 1929 when the major crime families meet in Atlantic City, NJ.

-With California, there are some major changes. In 1931, Al Capone was unable to establish criminal syndicate ties to San Francisco, California in the North Beach "Little Italy" neighborhood, because of the vast distances from Chicago to San Francisco. According to many histories of San Francisco, many leaders, including future mayor Joseph Aliotto were afraid that Capone's ties would undermine Italian-American politics in the city.

-Earl Warren who was a leading California political leader at the time, led the fight against organized crime in California. In the ATL, what if Earl Warren is the "mirror" of Elliot Ness. Both were Republicans who had aspirations of higher office, who were tapped by the government.

[Diamond]

There are some interesting characters and PODs that you should definetly take into account with the ATL:

-Without Al Capone and Frank Nitti in Chicago, there are certain major developments. First on 3/1/1932, when Charles Lindbergh's son is kidnapped, Al Capone's offer of aid to the FBI is not so quickly rejected. Second, on February 14, 1929, with the absence of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, most of the criminal syndicates on the East Coast remain divided on May 13-15, 1929 when the major crime families meet in Atlantic City, NJ.

Though this ATL may bear many resemblances to ours (so far), the devil's in the details, as they say. What makes you think Lindbergh even has as son? But Capone, as you'll see, is by no means the pariah he was in OTL. As for organized crime: Without Prohibition, it never really reached the levels of pseudo-corporateness and mass networking it did in OTL. In this TL, 'organized crime' is a bunch of thugs joining together for a few weeks to plan a bank heist.

-With California, there are some major changes. In 1931, Al Capone was unable to establish criminal syndicate ties to San Francisco, California in the North Beach "Little Italy" neighborhood, because of the vast distances from Chicago to San Francisco. According to many histories of San Francisco, many leaders, including future mayor Joseph Aliotto were afraid that Capone's ties would undermine Italian-American politics in the city.

See above.

-Earl Warren who was a leading California political leader at the time, led the fight against organized crime in California. In the ATL, what if Earl Warren is the "mirror" of Elliot Ness. Both were Republicans who had aspirations of higher office, who were tapped by the government.

I don't have any plans right now for Warren, but that could change. Elliot Ness will play a prominent role further down the road.

****************************
Special thanx to Bondoc: You greatly enrich the quality of this TL with all your suggestions; it really gets me thinking. Keep 'em coming!

****************************
I'm not quite ready to post the second half of the 1920s as one long post, so rather than piss everyone off, I'll post one year every day or two. I'm basically rewriting my whole TL as I go, here; things are vastly different in this version than they were originally. So be patient. :)

1926

History and Politics
-January: Germany’s Chancellor Krueger resigns, replaced by Sigmund Linck, an ineffectual compromise candidate reluctantly agreed upon by communist and fascist factions in the Reichstag.
-Brazil’s economy collapses due to over-production of coffee. Ford Motor Company and several other US companies with heavy investments in Brazil, convince Congress to approve significant financial aid to the country.
-Congress makes US Marine Corps a branch of the military separate from the Navy; General Marcus Dennison becomes the first Marine Chief of Staff.
-Hirohito becomes Emperor of Japan.
-Eugene Debs, US politician, d.(b. 1855).
-Lufthansa Airlines founded.
-April-June: Rebellions in Mexican Military Protectorate crushed by US Army. Enrique Salazar, the so-called “Father of Mexican Communism”, begins to organize anti-US protests in his home state of Monterrey.
-Republic of Lebanon proclaimed.
-August: Russian Republic, under Rasputin, recognized by Italy, Spain, France.
-Harry Houdini, US magician and escapologist, retires after a near-fatal accident.
-Alphonse Capone elected Police Commissioner of Angel City.
-Businessman Joseph Kennedy relocates from Boston to Angel City after his divorce, bringing with him his new wife, the actress Gloria Swanson, and his four sons. Impressed by all the Angel Committee has done to rebuild the city, Kennedy pledges his support and buys out six small film studios, merging them into one company, Kennedy Films.
-Tension between Italy and Germany over South Tirol.
-Fascist youth organization, “Ballilla” in Italy founded.
-Continuing clashes in Germany between communists and fascists.

Learning and the Arts
-Duke Ellington’s first records appear.
-Ernst Lubitsch leaves Berlin for Angel City and “Movieland”.
-William Faulkner: “When the Ships Return”.
-A.A. Milne: “Yellow Bear’s Woods”.
-Ernest Hemingway: “The Wishing Well” (Nobel Prize for Literature).
-Reading University, England, founded.
-Marc Chagall: “Lover’s Moon”.
-Ludmilla Sciotta: “A Wife of the Sea”.
-Films: “Fear City” (Fritz Lang); “The Inferno” (Murnau); “Don Juan” (John Barrymore); “The Battle of New Orleans” (Kennedy Films’ first production, dir. C.B. DeMille).

Science and Technology
-Amundsen, Graves, and White fly over North Pole from Norway to Alaska in the airship “Skymaster”.
-Robert Goddard fires first liquid-fueled rocket.
-Theodore Roosevelt Bridge planned, to span Hudson River between Fort Lee, NJ, and Fort Washington in Manhattan.
-Kodak produces the first 16mm movie film.
-Werner Heisenberg further develops quantum theory.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

With the near fatal accident of Charlie Chaplin in 1922, and the arrival of Joseph P. Kennedy in Hollywood, California in 1926, you could have one of the first studios purchased by Kennedy pictures is United Artists. United Artists was owned by Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, and by Douglas Fairnbanks. With the hospitalization of Chaplin, JPK would have certainly been interested in taking over the studio. One major changes is that MGM Studios under Samuel Goldwyn would have been unable to purchase the studios in 1935. If that happens, there is a possibility that MGM loses the rights to such films as "Wizard of Oz".

[Diamond]

1927

History and Politics
-March 2: US stock exchange collapses; world economic crisis begins (Great Depression); US securities lose $31 billion in value.
-Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, opened.
-Series of political murders in Germany, France, Poland, Austria, mainly of communist and/or fascist officials.
-May: Communist riots in Germany, Austria.
-G. Feder publishes “The Program of the NSDAP” (Roehm’s Nazi Party).
-Great Moffat Tunnel through Rocky Mountains opened.
-Airplanes first used to ‘dust’ crops with insecticides (Can.).
-Babe Ruth hits 62 home runs for the Boston Red Sox.
-Deepest well in the world (8000 feet) sunk in Orange Co., California.
-Hans Dorn assumes leadership of Germany’s Communist Worker’s Party (KPD).
-Henri Petain announces his support of France’s communist party.
-First scheduled television broadcasts by WKD, Paterson NJ.
-Mexico’s President Raul Heredia assassinated by members of the Mexican Liberation Army. Succeeded by Rueben Matizo.
-Communist rebels in Panama attempt to destroy the Panama Canal; the attempt fails, and the US responds by more than tripling security in the Canal Zone.

Learning and the Arts
-Rodgers and Hart: “Dreaming in Manhattan”.
-Lev Theremin invents the first electronic musical instrument.
-C. Braun: “Primitive Religion in the Modern Day”.
-Upton Sinclair: “The Last of the Good Men”.
-Sigmund Freud: “Trends of the Mind”.
-Films: “Faces in the Crowd” (D.W. Griffith – A. Capone has small role); “Drums in the Pacific” (Lubitsch – first US film); “Copperhead” (D. Fairbanks – Kennedy Films).

Science and Technology
-I.P. Pavlov: “Conditioned Reflexes”.
-Andre Moreau (Fr.) flies monoplane “Horizon” nonstop from Paris to New York in 35.2 hours.
-Holland Tunnel opens as first vehicular tunnel linking New York and New Jersey.
-1 millionth Roosevelt Rambler produced.

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Something to consider is the story of Queen Kelly , which was the Gigli of its time period. The failure of the film in 1929 so embarassed Joseph P. Kennedy that he immediately felt compelled to return to Hyannisport, Massachusetts. It should also be noted that Gloria Swanson's life was became the subject of parody with Sunset Boulevard (1950). In the ATL, the Billy Wilder classic could be seen as a counterpart to Citizen Kane (1942).

[Mr_ Bondoc]

Diamond- Here are a few other PODs that might be of interest to you for the ATL. For instance:

-The introduction of the 1930 Film Code seriously hampered the careers of many actors and actresses in OTL. With the imposition of the code, actresses like Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson, Anna May Wong (one of the first Asian-American actresses) and Marlene Dietrich all found themselves with fewer jobs. It wouldn't be until the 1950s were the movies allowed to breach the Film Code.
- In OTL, Joseph Kubert, creator of Sgt. Rock and His Howling Commandos and the Ultimate X-Men immigrated with his family to the United States in 1926, avoiding the horrors of the Nazi regime. What if his family hadn't immigrated and stayed in Poland?
-In OTL, until the late 1970s, the Australian government pursued an "assimilation policy" which amounted to the abduction of children from their families for "cultural development". The first stemps towards the elimination of the policy were in 1936, when aborgines began to note the similarity to the "Jewish question" in Germany.

[Diamond]

I've decided to put this project in hibernate mode for the time being. To be honest, I'm getting burned out on it and losing interest, and that's not a good thing. I'll probably continue it eventually though...

[Straha]

continue it or at least PM me with what you already have done so I cna continue it

[Diamond]

continue it or at least PM me with what you already have done so I cna continue it

I'd rather you not continue it; no offense, but I consider this my intellectual property. I realize I have no way to stop you, but I would appreciate if you would leave this alone and develop your own TL.

It's not too cool to pirate other people's creations, you know?

I do plan on continuing this TL eventually, but I'm working on other stuff right now.

[Straha]

well when you do continue it have it be in a new thread...

[Grey Wolf]

With the Romanov Dynasty, consider thge following point. By 1924, Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia would have been been married to someone of some kind of royal or noble heritage. By 1929, they would be considered old maids. The fact is that they would be actively seeking suitors before the end of the decade. By c.1931 Czar Nicholas II, due to health conditions in the family, Czar Nicholas would have been dead.So consider the following information when charting the course of the Romanov Dynasty.

The girls are outside the succession whatever happens. It goes Nicholas, Alexi, Michael, Kyril, Vladimir

Grey Wolf

[Abdul Hadi Pasha]

As a minor comment, Italy did not decisively beat the Ottomans; they were unable to penetrate beyond Tripoli and Benghazi - it was the looming Balkan Wars that caused the Ottomans to seek peace with Italy, as it was not considered desirable to be expending effort on an essentially worthless territory when the core provinces were threatened.If not for the Balkan Wars, the Italians would have eventually been forced to give up.

[edvader]

Diamond, I didn't see in the twenties section anything about the Valley of the Kings and Howard Carter. Could you put something in there in which he goes iand finds more interesting stuff. Possibly the so-called lost Hall of Records mentioned by the quack Edgar Cacey(?) ? I could think of some other stuff, but I've got to run.

[Diamond]

Ed: I'll think about it, but it's not likely I'll include something like that. I'm already going into an insane amount of detail on this TL, and to throw in something like the discovery of a Hall of Records would entail to much work that is non-essential to the TL. It might be more suited to a short story set in this TL though.

John: r.e. Italy vs. OE, I really think its a matter of perspective, but you're correct in that the upcoming Balkan Wars that forced the OE's hand. That situation is different in my TL, so I'll need to correct that facet. However, I don't want Italy weakened so much by the conflict that they'll be unable to function as a semi-strong facist 'empire' later on.

GW: I'm still not sure exactly how things are going to play out in Russia. Right now I have Rasputin as the defacto dictator of Finland, with Stalin (freshly returned from the East) as his willing disciple. The two are the driving force behind the toppling of the Czar and the installation of a facist-theocratic state. The Romanovs (most of whom survive in this TL) flee to the West (although I'm not sure where), and may eventually return to be re-instated as the legitimate rulers of Russia at some point.

Straha: Yes, when I eventually get this going full-bore again, it'll be in a new thread; I'll probably end up asking Ian to delete this one when I'm ready.

[luakel]

Ed: I'll think about it, but it's not likely I'll include something like that. I'm already going into an insane amount of detail on this TL, and to throw in something like the discovery of a Hall of Records would entail to much work that is non-essential to the TL. It might be more suited to a short story set in this TL though.

John: r.e. Italy vs. OE, I really think its a matter of perspective, but you're correct in that the upcoming Balkan Wars that forced the OE's hand. That situation is different in my TL, so I'll need to correct that facet. However, I don't want Italy weakened so much by the conflict that they'll be unable to function as a semi-strong facist 'empire' later on.

GW: I'm still not sure exactly how things are going to play out in Russia. Right now I have Rasputin as the defacto dictator of Finland, with Stalin (freshly returned from the East) as his willing disciple. The two are the driving force behind the toppling of the Czar and the installation of a facist-theocratic state. The Romanovs (most of whom survive in this TL) flee to the West (although I'm not sure where), and may eventually return to be re-instated as the legitimate rulers of Russia at some point.

Straha: Yes, when I eventually get this going full-bore again, it'll be in a new thread; I'll probably end up asking Ian to delete this one when I'm ready.

Are you going to continue this, Diamond?

[Diamond]

Are you going to continue this, Diamond?
You never know...

[Othniel]

You should get it to modren day and then update it along side our Calender every few weeks.