The Cold War: A Collaborative Timeline

[RogueBeaver]

JFP: OK, I'll delete the last part until I can create the necessary PODs later on. Deal?

[John Fredrick Parker]

Yes, dealio

[TNF]

September 26, 1952: On the campaign trail, Earl Warren promises not to interfere with "the New Deal or the Fair Deal," instead, he stresses, "we Republicans will not destroy what is accepted practice in the United States. What we will do is make these programs better financed and more fruitful for the American people."

October 22, 1952: For the first time in twenty years, the Republican Party is polling at near parity with the Democrats, though the latter enjoy a smaller intrinsic advantage thanks to the passage of Medicare and other Fair Deal measures. President Truman implores the voters that "a vote for Earl Warren is a vote for Herbert Hoover", and does his best to out-hawk the moderate Warren on communism, despite a rather calm situation the world over.

October 25, 1952: General Douglas MacArthur suffers a mild heart attack. As a result, he publicly moves to resign himself from the ticket, citing bad health and wishing 'not to endanger the Republicans in November'. He is replaced at an emergency meeting of the Republican National Committee by Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen.

October 29, 1952: In his first public debut as Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Everett Dirksen attacks the Truman administration on grounds of corruption and 'Fair Deal boondoggles'. Initially rebuffed by Warren for such remarks, especially on the issue of Medicare, Dirksen keeps a low profile for the rest of the campaign cycle.

November 1, 1952: Three days before Election Day, President Truman announces that a strategic pact, based on the NATO model, is in the works to guard against Communist expansion in Asia. Earl Warren quickly notes that he too would support such a collective security pact between the United States, Japan, China, and South Korea, as well as with the area's nuclear powers (chiefly Australia).

[A.M. Turtle]

Who is the leader of the USSR after Stalin's death?

[Francisco Cojuanco]

November 2, 1952: Communist guerillas launch a sustained offensive outside Manila; some manage to even get as far as parts of Quezon City.

[Prometheus_2300]

I would think Zhukov or Beria. I know Molotov can't take it. Bulganin and Khrushchev are posssibilities. Malenkov too.. Voroshilov is also in there.

October 6, 1946: Gregory Malenkov assumes the position of Premier of the Soviet Union.

[Jello_Biafra]

June 17, 1951: Following a strong victory in the parliamentary elections of the French Fourth Republic, a left coalition government under the leadership of Communist politician Maurice Thorez forms a government in Paris. The coalition, consisting of the PCF and the Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO), has at least in the interim expressed interest in maintaining good relations with the United States and other Western Powers.

January 6, 1953: Following Malenkov's forced retirement from the Politburo, and Deputy Premier Lavrentiy Beria's treason trial, the new Communist Party First Secretary and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikita Khrushchev delivers his famous "Report on the Cult of Personality", condemning the legacy of Stalin's leadership in the party, marking the beginning of the "Soviet Spring" period of Soviet history.

[Pyro]

Since we now have a soccer league in this timeline, I'm going to say "oh heck" and decide to expand the NHL over a decade early. Just to satisfy my itch.

April 5, 1955 - As a provision to secure exclusive television contracts in the United States, the NHL announces the addition of six new teams as part of its new "Western Division" despite resistance from the Original Six. Los Angeles, Denver, St. Louis, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Seattle are awarded franchises.

The following teams begin playing in the 1955/56 season:

Los Angeles Blades
Denver Peaks
St. Louis Blues
Cleveland Cannons
Philadelphia Flyers
Seattle Bombers

May 1, 1959 - The NHL adds the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Louisville Frontiersmen for the 1959/60 season.

[Douglas]

January 5, 1952: A far-right extremist assassinates Maurice Thorez in Paris.

[Jello_Biafra]

Originally Posted by Douglas

January 5, 1952: A far-right extremist assassinates Maurice Thorez in Paris.

OOC: I know take that's tend to happen a lot, but really, we're way pushing it in terms of assassinations already. And besides, an assassination like that by the right will only make the communists more popular.

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by Jello_Biafra

OOC: I know take that's tend to happen a lot, but really, we're way pushing it in terms of assassinations already. And besides, an assassination like that by the right will only make the communists more popular.

It's my only contribution, and I just wanted to throw a spanner into the works.

[Prometheus_2300]

January 8, 1946: Khrushchev has Foreign Minister Molotov meet with the West to discuss "The Future of Germany"

May 14, 1946: The Copenhagen Conference. At the conference Khrushchev and Truman come to an agreement about Germany. Germany will become a Parliamentary Democracy. Truman agrees to this following assurances that the elections in Germany will be fair. Berlin is made the capital

November 5, 1947: Germany Votes! Unsurprisingly the Eastern segment of Germany votes for the Communist Party, whereas the Western portion votes anti-communist.

<Germany is unified! Khrushchev and Molotov both agree that a single Germany is in everyone's best interest, and Stalin's mad buffer plan is enough with just Eastern Europe. I remember reading that Molotov said that if it wasn't for Stalin's stubbornness and Beria, Germany would be one country>

August 15, 1947: Ghandi just hours after the handover of India from the British, says the following at a press conference regarding the future of India's government, "Socialism and communism of the West are based on certain conception which are fundamentally different from ours. Our socialism or communism should, therefore, be based on nonviolence and on harmonious co-operation of labour and capital, landlord and tenant." this statement worries both Washington and London. Khrushchev sends notes of congratulations to Ghandi on freeing India from its "Capitalist Oppressors"

[smurat91]

August 10th, 1945: Operation Paperclip is deemed a failure after it is discovered a majority of German scientists were captured by Soviet forces. Among these scientists is chief rocket engineer, Wernher Von Braun.

[Iserlohn]

12th August, 1945: The American government, after hearing about the capture of the German scientific elite by the Soviets, decides to take enough rocketry equipment from the concentration camps to "compensate" the loss.

11th September, 1948: Bertholt Brecht plans to move to Berlin in order to found a theatre.

9th May, 1949: After it's first showing in the newly founded Freies Theater Berlin (Free Theatre of Berlin) Brecht's new play "Shadow of the Empire", a dystopian play critizing the American use of Nazi technology, is banned by the German government. Brecht, feeling insulted by this, decides to emigrate to Poland.

30th May, 1949: Bertholt Brecht dies in a car accident after arriving in Krakow, which was supposed to be his new home.

2nd June, 1948: Communist militia storms the parliament in Prague, resulting in three non-Communist parliament members to be killed. President Beneš declares war upon the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

3rd June, 1948: The National Socialists of the Czechoslovak Republic gather their own militia and succesfully recruit most of the Czechoslovak military.

19th June, 1948: Gottwald requests help from his Soviet allies, but because of their own troubles in China, they decide not to send troops, but supplies for the CPC.

10th August, 1949: After a fourteen month civil war, the CPC managed to hold Czechia, while Slovakia is able to fortify itself in Slovakia. Roughly 219,000 people died during this conflict up until now, with more than 300,000 people heavily injured.

[DrakonFin]

March 25th 1951: On its yearly training cruise, the Finnish Navy school ship Suomen Joutsen visits New York. Thousands of people, mainly of Finnish-American descent, visit the ship at the harbor. At a banquet held at City Hall, Mayor Ferdinand Pecora calls "Finland a small, courageous nation flying the flag of freedom". The visit leads to a diplomatic row with the Soviet Union; for the following sailing season, visits to US and British ports are quietly cancelled.

November 1st 1951: Finnish war reparations reassessed by the Soviet leadership. Citing "substandard quality" and "delays", the USSR demands increased payments. As a result, the Finnish government estimates the completion of outstanding reparations will take until 1954-55.

July 12th 1952: The 15th Summer Olympics in Helsinki opened by President Fagerholm.

[President Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by Jello_Biafra

OOC: I know take that's tend to happen a lot, but really, we're way pushing it in terms of assassinations already. And besides, an assassination like that by the right will only make the communists more popular.

I agree with you. I'm honestly pissed off, that two of the Patriot members are killed and one suffered a heart attack. I know this is a collaborative timeline, but we should have enough fairness, to not interfere into each others ideas.

October 30th, 1952 - A few before the United States presidential election, the Patriots (Senators Disney (R-CA) and Nixon (R-CA), as well as Henry Ford II and Governer Archibald Roosevelt (R-NY)) decide to discuss their strategies for the future. The ASCS and the ODACA serve as a "spearhead" for the Patriots, who themselves act silently in the background. They also want to appoint a candidate for the 1956 election, whether they are from the Republican or Democratic party.

[Hades]

Originally Posted by LoyalistColonial

Well, I don't think that can ever achieve quite the control the MG Patriots did (like rigging elections), so I figured a more realistic version would be an earlier Tea Party type deal, except a lot more violent.

I wonder if we will be seeing giant nuke launching mecha which are unstoppable to all but one man in the near future

[Orko]

Originally Posted by Gosing

November 29, 1947: In a close vote (29-23 with 4 abstaining), the UN passes a Resolution calling for a single Palestinian Federation.

May 20, 1948: The British Mandate in Palestine expires, and the Levantine Federation takes its place. The new state is greeted by shells from extreme Zionists and Arabs, but it survives. For the moment.

That is slightly ASB, actually. The only options on the table are a Jewish state in all of Palestine, an Arab state in all of Palestine and dividing it into two.
A single federation for both these peoples is out of the question, and wouldn't survive at all(not just for the moment).

[A.M. Turtle]

March 18th 1950: A CCP (Communist Chinese Party) agent under orders from Mao kills Chiang Ching-kuo and his family in their house with a bomb. Many years later after being imprisoned for life on his deathbed the agent admits that he was indeed under Mao's orders. Upon hearing the news of Chiang Ching-kuo's death, his father, Chiang Kai-shek has a mental breakdown. He becomes increasing paranoid and and a major alcoholic.


January 5th, 1951: Chiang Kai-shek is quietly forced to retire and Li Zongren becomes leader of the Republic of China.

[Gosing]

Originally Posted by Orko

That is slightly ASB, actually. The only options on the table are a Jewish state in all of Palestine, an Arab state in all of Palestine and dividing it into two.
A single federation for both these peoples is out of the question, and wouldn't survive at all(not just for the moment).

Meh, I'm not the biggest Palestine expert-I was just trying to find a way to make Palestine resolved in a way that leaves everyone satisfied and nobody happy-but I'm open to all suggestions.

Its all part of the master plan to make Egypt an authoritarian monarchy (for the moment-authoritarian monarchies have a habit of getting overthrown, like in Iran) and leave Arab Nationalism stillborn. Then we'll have a pseudo-almost-commie takeover in Syria, and ineresting things happen elsewhere.

Two states in 1948?