Explosion heard around the world... Or Elser succeeds

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

You have several asterisks that look like they were supposed to be footnotes, or something, but no footnotes.

???What are they meant to be?

[stubear1012]

I am wondering what happened to the Polish gold reserves in this timeline. I checked and found several references to the gold being sent to Romania, then to Turkey, then to France, then to Britain, and the n to Canada. I saw references to 75 tonnes or 15,000,000 British pounds.

Stubear1012

[Shaby]

Originally Posted by Dathi THorfinnsson

You have several asterisks that look like they were supposed to be footnotes, or something, but no footnotes.

???What are they meant to be?

They are the artifacts that Goodreader app inserts for some reason when I copy it to post. I'll delete them.

[sharlin]

I've been reading this and damn is it good! Dunno how I missed it earlier :s Sorry Shabby! Keep up the very good work.

[Shaby]

Originally Posted by sharlin

I've been reading this and damn is it good! Dunno how I missed it earlier :s Sorry Shabby! Keep up the very good work.

Thanks sharlin. Glad you like it. It is hard to read all the good timelines on this site. just too many of them.

[Reichenfaust]

I have been following this tl with lots of interest, and am very interested in what comes in vol 2. Great work shaby, I like your slow and thoughtful pace of negotiations and painstakingly well described political observations. Oh and thanks for killing himmler, although by making hey rich head of the resistance you might have just made them far more deadlier with him in charge...

[Eurofed]

Originally Posted by Reichenfaust

I have been following this tl with lots of interest, and am very interested in what comes in vol 2. Great work shaby, I like your slow and thoughtful pace of negotiations and painstakingly well described political observations. Oh and thanks for killing himmler, although by making hey rich head of the resistance you might have just made them far more deadlier with him in charge...

Heydrich, no matter the moral judgement on his actions, was a multitalented elite guy with the actual brains and skills to pull a semi-functional insurgent/terrorist organization out of being the losing side of a coup.

Himmler was a pseudoscience-dabbling, glorified-chickenfarmer political-crony bumbling idiot that personified everything "evil and dumb" in Nazism. Under him, the "Schwarze Armee Fraktion" would not have lasted a day.

Shaby, I wholeheartedly agree with the positive judgements, but please, please let's have the bloody peace treaty signed in the next update or so. Detail is all good, but the snail pace of the negotiations in the last few updates is killing me.

[Adler17]

It is a tragedy, that Heydrich wasn't a Nazi or fan of Hitler. Indeed only his later wife made him to one.

Adler

[Eurofed]

Originally Posted by Shaby

For the time being Poland would base its policy on the neutrality. Zaleski was against Sikorski's ideas of terrorism campaign, but he was in minority there. Such thing could only bring ruin for Poland in the long term. If the losses started mounting in Germany, what would stop them from destroying Poland? Again.

Most importantly, the Entente would surely not lift a finger to help them, and Germany would just as surely impose a much harsher peace settlement. Stalin quite possibly would help them, on his own terms, but that can only end in Stalinist Poland or General Government Poland, after a bout of Battlefield Poland. Either way, sheer suicidal idiocy, but of the kind nationalism sadly may cause, many times in many places.

[Reichenfaust]

Originally Posted by Adler17

It is a tragedy, that Heydrich wasn't a Nazi or fan of Hitler. Indeed only his later wife made him to one.

Adler

Do you have a book reference Adler? I would like to read that.

[JjeeporCreepor]

Heydrich's wife Lina was a member of the NSDAP before he was, and when he was looking for a job after being cashiered from the navy, she used her connections in the party to get him an interview with Heinrich Himmler - the rest is history. Having said that, and as cynical as he apparently could be, I wouldn't exactly say Heydrich himself wasn't a true believer or anything. In his youth he was a member of the Deutschvoelkischer Schutz und Trutzbund, an antisemitic organisation that included such characters as Julius Streicher among its members. So he had moved in those circles himself since his teenage years, even before he became a Nazi proper.

[Hero of Canton]

Once more an outstanding update!

I wholeheartedly endorse the notion of the British Empire keeping its promise to the Indians. If they do that and swiftly grant India FULL Dominion status then IMHO the British Empire would be a world superpower in 2012...though most of its Prime Ministers will probably have the surnames Singh, Gandhi, and Nehru...not that there is anything wrong with that!

Hero of Canton

[stubear1012]

Since there are large Polish communities in America, I am wondering if they could ask the American Congress to vote a rebuilding loan for Poland. The money would be used to buy American equipment to rebuild the Polish power plants and water treatment plants. Since the equipment would be made in America it would provide American jobs and Polish American votes in the next election. I would think that the American companies would like the business. The terms would need to be generious since Poland will have limited financial resources for a long time.

Regards

Stubear1012

[Shaby]

Originally Posted by Reichenfaust

I have been following this tl with lots of interest, and am very interested in what comes in vol 2. Great work shaby, I like your slow and thoughtful pace of negotiations and painstakingly well described political observations. Oh and thanks for killing himmler, although by making hey rich head of the resistance you might have just made them far more deadlier with him in charge...

Thanks for the comments. We are now an update or two away from the Volume 2. As for Heidrich, it cannot go for the better all the time.

Originally Posted by Eurofed

Shaby, I wholeheartedly agree with the positive judgements, but please, please let's have the bloody peace treaty signed in the next update or so. Detail is all good, but the snail pace of the negotiations in the last few updates is killing me.

I thought I lost you as a reader since you have't commented for a while. Glad to see you back, as your comments were oft times indispensable. Snail pace of negotiations bothered me as well, but I just couldn't make it any faster, as such things require really careful consideration in writing and what with the real life.

Originally Posted by Eurofed

Most importantly, the Entente would surely not lift a finger to help them, and Germany would just as surely impose a much harsher peace settlement. Stalin quite possibly would help them, on his own terms, but that can only end in Stalinist Poland or General Government Poland, after a bout of Battlefield Poland. Either way, sheer suicidal idiocy, but of the kind nationalism sadly may cause, many times in many places.

My opinion too. What happens further on, we will see in due time.

Originally Posted by Reichenfaust

Do you have a book reference Adler? I would like to read that.

Originally Posted by JjeeporCreepor

Heydrich's wife Lina was a member of the NSDAP before he was, and when he was looking for a job after being cashiered from the navy, she used her connections in the party to get him an interview with Heinrich Himmler - the rest is history. Having said that, and as cynical as he apparently could be, I wouldn't exactly say Heydrich himself wasn't a true believer or anything. In his youth he was a member of the Deutschvoelkischer Schutz und Trutzbund, an antisemitic organisation that included such characters as Julius Streicher among its members. So he had moved in those circles himself since his teenage years, even before he became a Nazi proper.

Just started reading a book on him, but haven't got beyond first chapter yet. I just think he was a bit more 'enthusiastic' than one would expect for an unbeliever. And unfortunately a pretty smart villain too.

Originally Posted by Hero of Canton

Once more an outstanding update!

I wholeheartedly endorse the notion of the British Empire keeping its promise to the Indians. If they do that and swiftly grant India FULL Dominion status then IMHO the British Empire would be a world superpower in 2012...though most of its Prime Ministers will probably have the surnames Singh, Gandhi, and Nehru...not that there is anything wrong with that!

Hero of Canton

UK will not let India go just like that. This process will not happen overnight.

Originally Posted by stubear1012

Since there are large Polish communities in America, I am wondering if they could ask the American Congress to vote a rebuilding loan for Poland. The money would be used to buy American equipment to rebuild the Polish power plants and water treatment plants. Since the equipment would be made in America it would provide American jobs and Polish American votes in the next election. I would think that the American companies would like the business. The terms would need to be generious since Poland will have limited financial resources for a long time.

Regards

Stubear1012

This just the sort of stuff I had in mind for Poland.

To everyone, thanks for your support. I wouldn't be able to get this far in this without your support.

[Reichenfaust]

Heydrich could become the greatest Bond villain of all time if he tangles with M16 at all, or maybe Ian Fleming will put him in the books. That way he could be like Dr. No

[abc123]

Originally Posted by Reichenfaust

Heydrich could become the greatest Bond villain of all time if he tangles with M16 at all, or maybe Ian Fleming will put him in the books. That way he could be like Dr. No

I wonder where could he go?
Argentina?

[Eurofed]

Originally Posted by abc123

I wonder where could he go?
Argentina?

Not likely, despite the stereotype, since TTL Argentina has little motivation to go and antagonize Germany (and the Entente) for no good reason. Italy or Spain won't do either, for similar reasons. What is needed is a regime that at the moment has no big reason to love Germany (and the Entente) and little qualms about what the hardcore Nazis boys are.

I'd suggest China (due to the German-Japanese connection) or, against all seeming odds, the USSR (if Stalin is willing to keep Heydrich as a card to play in the future if things go bad with Germany). Despite ideological trappings, at their totalitarian core, Nazism and Stalinism share much more affinities than differences (I'd say the only relevant difference is their preferential choice of victims, but that's me).

[Eurofed]

Originally Posted by Shaby

I thought I lost you as a reader since you have't commented for a while. Glad to see you back, as your comments were oft times indispensable. Snail pace of negotiations bothered me as well, but I just couldn't make it any faster, as such things require really careful consideration in writing and what with the real life.

Nahh, I was simply distracted with other pursuits. Although I do appreciate the snail pace of negotiations (not really the RL speed of the updates rather the 'decompressed' story pace) is getting done with, and the fact the bloody Czech issue didn't cause a breakdown of the peace process. I was getting worried and annoyed with both. With all due respect, Prague isn't worth a World War in these circumstances.

UK will not let India go just like that. This process will not happen overnight.

Nonetheless, I do share the opinion that Britain stands at a crossroads and needs to act fairly quickly here. If they do, they can keep a friendly, self-ruling India bound as a British Dominion, which shall avail them hugely in the future. If they drag their feet, in the end they shall be forced to grant full independence to a much more antagonistic India. They have already procrastinated since 1919, the patience of Indian nationalism is about to snap. The only realistic way they can delay further in a way acceptable to the Indians is if a general war with the USSR or Japan happens in the near future.

[Hero of Canton]

Originally Posted by Eurofed

...Nonetheless, I do share the opinion that Britain stands at a crossroads and needs to act fairly quickly here. If they do, they can keep a friendly, self-ruling India bound as a British Dominion, which shall avail them hugely in the future. If they drag their feet, in the end they shall be forced to grant full independence to a much more antagonistic India. They have already procrastinated since 1919, the patience of Indian nationalism is about to snap. The only realistic way they can delay further in a way acceptable to the Indians is if a general war with the USSR or Japan happens in the near future.

Well put Eurofed. I concur as to the urgency of the situation. What do you think is the likelihood that the ruling party can and will act swiftly enough even if they want to?

Hero of Canton

[Eurofed]

Originally Posted by Hero of Canton

Well put Eurofed. I concur as to the urgency of the situation. What do you think is the likelihood that the ruling party can and will act swiftly enough even if they want to?

In all honesty, I think the outcome is rather uncertain and could easily go either way. IMO, the main issue is not so much one of will, but of having a clear and correct perception of the urgency of the situation.

The British have been dragging their feet about Indian self-rule for a generation; the temptation to keep doing so for a few more years may easily overcome them, in the absence of the pressures of WWII. This would in all likelihood make the anti-British radicals a la Chandra Bose that support armed struggle become dominant in the Indian nationalist movement, if it keeps getting frustrated. Gandhi and Nehru didn't have an infinite political capital, and their supremacy wasn't a given.

In short, I think the author has good ground to make the situation evolve either way, depending on the kind of story he wants to tell. In a crossroads, there is plenty of space for butterflies.