Fearless Leader
Donor
Interregnum III: Quebec
The History of Quebec in TTL stays analogous to ours until 1960 when instead of dying suddenly Paul Sauve lives and continues to govern effectively, making quite a name for himself as a dynamic successor to Maurice Duplessis. His slogan “Desormais” (from now on) resonated with many voters and would eventually win him re-election in 1960 over the Liberal party of Jean Lesage. (TTL’s Union Nationale party is not only lead by a competent and popular leader, but also does not suffer the disarray of losing Paul Sauve).
Without Lesage, the Quiet Revolution is significantly altered. Indeed in TTL it is less of a revolution and more of a gradual process. Sauve would win re-election in 1964 and 1968 and become one of the most well known and well regarded Premiers in the history of the province. Under Sauve, the Union Nationale and the Province of Quebec by extension begins to liberalize considerably. Sauve begins to push for a greater place for Quebec within Canada rather than separation and sovereignty.
Despite being proponents of a more radical version of TTL’s Quiet Revolution, the Liberal party of Quebec still refuses to discuss a sovereign Quebec leading to the resignation of Rene Levesque and the popularization of Quebecois nationalism. Under Levesque the Parti Quebecois is eventually formed out of all the differing sovereigntist parties. Following the decline of the FLQ and other revolutionary means of gaining independence the PQ begins to rise in popularity winning 7 seats in the 1972 election.
These seats would be expanded upon in 1975 when the Union Nationale/Social Credit minority government fell apart causing an election that saw the Quebec Liberal party finally come to power. However the Liberals were forced to make a deal with the PQ to form a government.
Things seemed to be looking up for the PQ and Quebec nationalists in general. However things take a turn for the worst in 1977 when PQ leader Rene Levesque is killed when he swerves to miss a homeless man and hits a lamp post totalling his car and killing both him and his secretary, a passenger in the vehicle. Following Levesque’s death a vicious struggle ensues for the leadership of the PQ party. This struggle primarily between radical and moderate nationalists, and the left and right wings of the party leads to the PQ party splintering beyond recognition. Once the dust settles 2 new parties have emerged, or rather 2 older parties have re-emerged. Both the left wing Rassemblement pour l’independance nationale (RIN) and the Ralliement Nationale RN have reformed representing left wing extremists and right wing moderates respectively. The PQ does however continue to exist, plotting a middle road for the separatist movement. However without Levesque the PQ and its affiliated parties have no chance of succeeding in their goals of a Free Quebec.
The downfall of the PQ does however have it’s downsides. Unable to win elections, Quebec nationalists once again resort to revolutionary activity. The FLQ quickly regains popularity in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and engages in a low intensity guerrilla campaign. Strikes and rallies abound but Quebecers lack a national leader to get behind. Crackdown on said revolutionary activities comes hard and fast however and the violence is quite mild and fails to gain any real momentum.
The FLQ
The Font de liberation du Quebec or FLQ is the militant wing of the Quebec nationalist movement in TTL. It would form in the early 1960’s and comprise mostly of students wishing for then Premier Paul Sauve to hasten his current program of reform. The FLQ would engage in a number of minor terrorist activities throughout the 1960’s consisting of robberies, violence, and minor bombings. These acts of terror would culminate in the bombing of the Montreal Stock exchange in 1969, an act that killed 3 people and injured 30 more. This would result in a flurry of arrests and a heightened sense of national awareness.
Things would not get better for the FLQ when in September of 1970 they kidnapped the Minister of Labour (insert some random UN politician’s name here) as well as an Israeli diplomat. This act caused a massive crackdown from both Federal and provincial forces and saw the FLQ all but dismantled. (The War Measures Act is not enacted by the Federal government however, a more moderate approach is taken) It would also see the insertion of an Israeli counter-terrorist team that had been training in the US to rescue the captive Israeli diplomat. From that point on Canadian anti-terrorist forces would make it a point to foster good relations with their Israeli counterparts leading to numerous exchanges.
Following the September Crisis of 1970, Quebecois nationalist feeling would be channelled through the PQ and following the death of Rene Levesque its affiliated parties the RN and the RIN. However by the 1980’s it had become apparent that the democratic route to sovereignty was going nowhere. The FLQ soon began to regain much of it’s lost popularity and organize violent protests, robberies, and other minor acts of terrorism. However by the 1980’s nationalist feeling had subsided a great deal thanks to the actions of politicians such as Paul Sauve, Robert Bourassa, and Pierre Trudeau the charismatic leader of the NDP who would become PM following the defeat of the Conservatives in the 1979 election.
Following Trudeau’s victory, the attitude of Quebec had shifted dramatically, the focus shifted not towards forming their own nation but to expanding their role within the nation they were already a part of.
---------------------------------------------------
So whaddya think? Realistic? Plausible? Unrealistic?
Apologies for the lack of accents, It was really late when I wrote this...
I'd love to hear thoughts/get input on this section...
The History of Quebec in TTL stays analogous to ours until 1960 when instead of dying suddenly Paul Sauve lives and continues to govern effectively, making quite a name for himself as a dynamic successor to Maurice Duplessis. His slogan “Desormais” (from now on) resonated with many voters and would eventually win him re-election in 1960 over the Liberal party of Jean Lesage. (TTL’s Union Nationale party is not only lead by a competent and popular leader, but also does not suffer the disarray of losing Paul Sauve).
Without Lesage, the Quiet Revolution is significantly altered. Indeed in TTL it is less of a revolution and more of a gradual process. Sauve would win re-election in 1964 and 1968 and become one of the most well known and well regarded Premiers in the history of the province. Under Sauve, the Union Nationale and the Province of Quebec by extension begins to liberalize considerably. Sauve begins to push for a greater place for Quebec within Canada rather than separation and sovereignty.
Despite being proponents of a more radical version of TTL’s Quiet Revolution, the Liberal party of Quebec still refuses to discuss a sovereign Quebec leading to the resignation of Rene Levesque and the popularization of Quebecois nationalism. Under Levesque the Parti Quebecois is eventually formed out of all the differing sovereigntist parties. Following the decline of the FLQ and other revolutionary means of gaining independence the PQ begins to rise in popularity winning 7 seats in the 1972 election.
These seats would be expanded upon in 1975 when the Union Nationale/Social Credit minority government fell apart causing an election that saw the Quebec Liberal party finally come to power. However the Liberals were forced to make a deal with the PQ to form a government.
Things seemed to be looking up for the PQ and Quebec nationalists in general. However things take a turn for the worst in 1977 when PQ leader Rene Levesque is killed when he swerves to miss a homeless man and hits a lamp post totalling his car and killing both him and his secretary, a passenger in the vehicle. Following Levesque’s death a vicious struggle ensues for the leadership of the PQ party. This struggle primarily between radical and moderate nationalists, and the left and right wings of the party leads to the PQ party splintering beyond recognition. Once the dust settles 2 new parties have emerged, or rather 2 older parties have re-emerged. Both the left wing Rassemblement pour l’independance nationale (RIN) and the Ralliement Nationale RN have reformed representing left wing extremists and right wing moderates respectively. The PQ does however continue to exist, plotting a middle road for the separatist movement. However without Levesque the PQ and its affiliated parties have no chance of succeeding in their goals of a Free Quebec.
The downfall of the PQ does however have it’s downsides. Unable to win elections, Quebec nationalists once again resort to revolutionary activity. The FLQ quickly regains popularity in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and engages in a low intensity guerrilla campaign. Strikes and rallies abound but Quebecers lack a national leader to get behind. Crackdown on said revolutionary activities comes hard and fast however and the violence is quite mild and fails to gain any real momentum.
The FLQ
The Font de liberation du Quebec or FLQ is the militant wing of the Quebec nationalist movement in TTL. It would form in the early 1960’s and comprise mostly of students wishing for then Premier Paul Sauve to hasten his current program of reform. The FLQ would engage in a number of minor terrorist activities throughout the 1960’s consisting of robberies, violence, and minor bombings. These acts of terror would culminate in the bombing of the Montreal Stock exchange in 1969, an act that killed 3 people and injured 30 more. This would result in a flurry of arrests and a heightened sense of national awareness.
Things would not get better for the FLQ when in September of 1970 they kidnapped the Minister of Labour (insert some random UN politician’s name here) as well as an Israeli diplomat. This act caused a massive crackdown from both Federal and provincial forces and saw the FLQ all but dismantled. (The War Measures Act is not enacted by the Federal government however, a more moderate approach is taken) It would also see the insertion of an Israeli counter-terrorist team that had been training in the US to rescue the captive Israeli diplomat. From that point on Canadian anti-terrorist forces would make it a point to foster good relations with their Israeli counterparts leading to numerous exchanges.
Following the September Crisis of 1970, Quebecois nationalist feeling would be channelled through the PQ and following the death of Rene Levesque its affiliated parties the RN and the RIN. However by the 1980’s it had become apparent that the democratic route to sovereignty was going nowhere. The FLQ soon began to regain much of it’s lost popularity and organize violent protests, robberies, and other minor acts of terrorism. However by the 1980’s nationalist feeling had subsided a great deal thanks to the actions of politicians such as Paul Sauve, Robert Bourassa, and Pierre Trudeau the charismatic leader of the NDP who would become PM following the defeat of the Conservatives in the 1979 election.
Following Trudeau’s victory, the attitude of Quebec had shifted dramatically, the focus shifted not towards forming their own nation but to expanding their role within the nation they were already a part of.
---------------------------------------------------
So whaddya think? Realistic? Plausible? Unrealistic?
Apologies for the lack of accents, It was really late when I wrote this...
I'd love to hear thoughts/get input on this section...
