The Timeline of "The Gladiator"

[Zoidberg12]

Alright guys, this is a new project of mine.

This is a full timeline of the events in the world of Harry Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic novel "The Gladiator." For those who don't know, I've already begun a timeline of one of Harry Turtledove's other Crosstime Traffic novel "The Disunited States of America" (which I do plan on bringing back pretty soon). Anyways, in "The Gladiator" the Soviet Union wins the Cold War after the US backs down in the Cuban Missile Crisis, withdraws form Vietnam and finally after Western Europe falls to leftist popular front governments. Now as we all now, the Soviet Union winning the Cold War is pretty implausible. However, this is a Harry Turtledove novel, so plausibility is sure to take a back seat to interesting storytelling. Still, I'll try to make this timeline as plausible as possible and still loyal too what Turtledove has already told as about the world of his novel "The Gladiator."

So without further ado, lets get this show on the road!

 

[Zoidberg12]

Timeline of the Gladiator​

By Zoidberg12

Based on "The Gladiator" by Harry Turtledove​

October 28, 1962: The United States backs down in the Cuban Missile Crisis. President John F. Kennedy promises not to invade Cuba and gives tacit approval for the Soviet Union to continue keeping its nuclear weapons on Cuban soil in exchange for the United States being allowed to continue keeping its nuclear weapons on Turkish soil (POD).

October 29, 1962 and onwards: Many in the United States, the Soviet Union and rest of the world are glad to be alive and very much relieved that a nuclear Third World War didn’t blow them all to eternity. However, in the United States, the press has a field day. The Democratic and pro-Democratic press praises President Kennedy’s actions and how he essentially prevented World War Three, which, these papers are keen to remind their readers, if it had come to pass would have been a horrifying affair what with multiple nuclear weapons involved and an untold number of deaths. Meanwhile, the Republican and pro-Republican press paint President Kennedy as being soft on Communism and claim that Kennedy should have launched airstrikes against the Soviet Missile Bases in Cuba before it was too late. Many far-right groups, such as the John Birch Society, go so far as to claim that Kennedy himself is a closeted Communist, or even a KGB agent, subverting American interests at home and abroad. Far Right Groups also take shots at Kennedy for being a Roman Catholic, which is ironic since Pope John XXIII and the rest of the Roman Catholic Church hate Communism as well.

November 2, 1962: General Douglas MacArthur, now 82 years old, briefly comes out of retirement to publically condemn President Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis and suggests that the President is getting too soft when it comes to the threat of the Soviet Union and international Communism. All in all, this isn’t surprising coming from a man who almost started World War Three himself when he demanded the use of nukes against Communist China during the Korean War.

November 6, 1962: The United Nations General Assembly calls for its member states to cut both military and economic ties with the Republic of South Africa, due to the ongoing issue of South Africa’s racist Apartheid system.

November 7, 1962: Ten days after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy officially ends the arms quarantine against Cuba. Incidentally, this is the same day that famed former First Lady and Human Rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt dies at the age of 78.

December 31 (New Years Eve), 1962-January 1 (New Years Day), 1963: All the world over, people are happy the New Year is being celebrated with confetti and party horns instead of mushroom clouds and blaring sirens.

January, 1963: Iraqi President Abd al-Karim Qasim gains intelligence of a proposed coup d’ etat against him. The proposed coup is being planned by both the Iraqi Baath Party and by certain higher-ups in the Iraqi Armed forces. As a result, Qasim has the plot nipped in the bud and arrests the conspirators. Qasim then has the conspirators found guilty of treason in a series of show trials and then has them all executed.

January-February, 1963: As a result of the lid being blown on proposed coup d’état against him, President Qasim orders a large scale purge of Baathists in Iraq. Most Iraqi Baathists are imprisoned or executed, with the rest fleeing the country to Syria, Jordan or Egypt.

Under Qasim, Iraq continues to have close ties with the Soviet Union. Much like the other Soviet-allied Arab states, Iraq is not itself a Communist or Marxist-Leninist state. However, despite the fact that Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Egypt is also friendly with the Soviet Union, Present Qasim is wary of Nasser and his Pan-Arab Ideology, and as a result has adopted a policy of “Iraq first.”

February 8, 1963: President Kennedy makes it illegal for United States citizens to travel to Cuba and conduct financial and commercial transactions with anyone in Cuba. Thus, the American embargo against Cuba begins.

November 12, 1963: The Kennedy administration hopes for better relations with Communist Cuba. As a result, the administration begins arranging for a meeting with Fidel Castro and others in his regime. President Kennedy does not want this meeting leaked to the press. Nevertheless, this meeting will never come to pass.

November 20, 1963: A handbill is being prepared for distribution during President Kennedy’s visit to Dallas, Texas. The handbill blames Kennedy for betraying the Constitution, for “turning the sovereignty of the US over to the communist controlled United Nations,” for endangering the security of the US with “deals” with the Soviet Union [1], for being “lax in enforcing Communist Registration laws”, giving “support and encouragement to the Communist inspired racial riots, and having “consistently appointed Anti-Christians to Federal office.”

November 21, 1963: Tragedy strikes the United States of America. President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson both die when Air Force one crashes in the Gulf of Mexico en route to Dallas, Texas. The cause of the plane crashing is unknown, though it was most likely a technical error of some sort. Luckily for Jackie Kennedy, she had been feeling a bit under the weather for the past week or so and decided to stay at the White House with the kids in an effort to recuperate. The shocking news of her husband’s death only makes her feel worse.

Simply put, the nation is shocked and horrified. It would have been bad enough for a sitting President to die in office, but for the President and Vice President to both die in office, in a plane crash no less, is simply unpreceded and a shocking development to the American public. Walter Cronkite, anchor of the CBS Evening News, famously cries on live television as he announces the news of the President and Vice President’s demise.

Speaker of the House John McCormack, the next in line for the Presidency, is immediately sworn in as President of the United States in Washington D.C. At the age of 71 years, McCormack is so far the oldest person to become President of the United States of America. John McCormack also becomes the second Roman Catholic President of the United States of America [2].

Kennedy and Johnson’s sudden deaths spark a number of conspiracy theories over the years. Many conspiracy theorists’ state that a modern, up to date plane like that of Air Force One couldn’t have experienced such technical difficulties on its own, and that saboteur’s were at play. Some theorize that the plane was sabotaged by the KGB, who had knowledge of Kennedy’s proposed meeting with the Castro regime, and had the president killed in an effort for relations between the US and Cuba to remain sour for the indefinite future. Others theorize that the plane was sabotaged by a far-right group, angry at Kennedy’s supposed bowing down to Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Others theorize that the CIA and FBI sabotaged the plane, wanting to kill off Kennedy and, hoping that McCormack would most likely not run for a second term due to his old age, they would subsequently plan to game the system and have a President elected who would take a tougher stance on Communism. Whatever the case, it is most likely that Air Force One’s crash was the result of a technical error of some sort. As to what exact error this was, the world will never really know.

December 20, 1963: President McCormack officially announces publically that, due to his advanced age, among other factors, he will not be running for a second term as President in 1964. However, he promises to serve as President for the remainder of his term to his utmost ability and promises to continue on Kennedy and Johnson’s legacies through his policies.

January, 1964: The second phase of the Congo Crisis begins when the Simba Rebellion breaks out in the eastern regions of the Republic of Congo-Leopoldville, as a result of alleged abuses by the Congolese central government in Leopoldville. The Simba rebels (named after the Swahili word for Lion) are a Communist rebel group led by Gaston Soumialot and Christophe Gbenye, who were both members of the Parti Solidaire Africain when the Congo was still a Belgian colony, and were also supporters of the ousted and executed Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and his coalition government. Meanwhile, Maoist rebel Pierre Mulele leads the pro-Maoist Kwilu Rebellion in the Kwilu District of the Congolese Bandundu Province.

Soon after the rebellion begins, Soumialot and Gbenye request aid from the Soviet Union [3]. Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko thinks aiding the Simba rebels in their takeover of Congo-Leopoldville is a good idea, as it could potentially give the Soviet Union a vital and strategic ally in the heart of Africa. Gromyko tells just as much to Premier Nikita Khrushchev. In the end, Khrushchev, wanting another opportunity to humiliate the west and seeing the United States as weak and unwilling to do anything about the Congo Crisis [4], agrees to aid the Simba Rebels.

January 17, 1964: The Arab League meets in Egypt and establishes the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Its charter claims that the state of Israel is an illegal state and pledges “the elimination of Zionism in Palestine.”

January-February, 1964: The Simba rebels manage to successfully take on two battalions of Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC) soldiers, thus forcing said soldiers to retreat without a fight. Within weeks of the beginning of the Simba rebellion, the Simbas manage to occupy about half of the Republic of Congo-Leopoldville, including the Orientale and Kivu provinces.

February, 1964: The Soviet Union and their ally Cuba send about 200 advisers, as well as numerous armaments, supplies and other equipment to the Eastern Congo in support of the Simba rebels. The Soviet-Cuban advisers quickly turn the Simba rebels into a western-style fighting force. The reforms to the Simba military are conducted quickly and by June of 1964 the Simba military becomes a much more modernized and adept military force [5].

February 10, 1964: The United States House of Representatives votes on and then passes the Civil Rights Act.

~~~~~~

[1] This is reference to Kennedy backing down in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
[2] I admit that was inspired by glenn67's Double Tradgey timeline. However, this timeline will obviously be doing in a much different direction. I just borrowed Kennedy and Johnson dying in a plane crash because I needed Johnson out of the picture. You'll see why later.
[3] IOTL, the Simba's only requested aid from the Soviets after it was clear that the Congolese government forces had to advantage against them.
[4] Based on the United States backing down in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
[5] All of this happened IOTL as well. However, all of this happened quite some months later IOTL than IITL.

 

[New Cleo Genesis]

Haven't read the original book, but this seems interesting nevertheless.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Haven't read the original book, but this seems interesting nevertheless.

Thanks. Finishing up the next update.

 

[Zoidberg12]

May 2, 1964: 400 to 1,000 people march in Times Square in New York City in protest of the very real possibility of America fully entering the Vietnam War. 700 march in San Francisco protesting the exact same thing. This is the first major student demonstration against the Vietnam War. Smaller marches in protest of the Vietnam War also occur in other American cities, such as Boston, Seattle and Madison.

May 4, 1964: The Simba rebels capture Stanleyville and subsequently make the city their temporary capital.

June, 1964: With much of the northern Congo and Congolese upcountry under their occupation, the Simbas begin an offensive south into the mineral rich and strategically important Kasai province, the Simbas also hoping to reach the Angolan border and cut the Congolese government forces in two. Thus, unknown thousands of Simba soldiers move down the hills and begin their conquest the Kasai. Just as before, ANC forces surrender without a fight, laying down their arms or flat-out defecting to the Simbas.

June 16, 1964: Due to the Congolese government's inability to deal with the Simba rebellion, Congolese Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula resigns from his post.

June 19, 1964: The United States Senate votes on and then passes the Civil Rights Act. Senator Barry Goldwater, a front-runner for the Republican presidential candidacy, is one of only six Republican senators who vote against the bill.

June 26, 1964: Moise Tshombe becomes Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo-Leopoldville. Tshombe's main goal is to end all regional revolts now plaguing the Congo.

June 27, 1964: Using contacts he had made while in exile in Spain, Tshombe has his former supporters from when he was President of the stillborn Republic of Katanga airlifted from Angola to Leopoldville. The airlift of Tshombe's old supporters has enacted by the United States, with President McCormack's approval, and facilitated by the Portuguese, both nations not wanting to see a large Soviet friendly state in the heart of Africa.

July 2, 1964: President McCormack signs the Civil Rights Act into law.

July 5, 1964: ANC forces meat Simba forces near Luluabourg, with the ANC being assisted by mercenary pilots. The battle is a complete slaighter, buts end in a victory for the Simba forces. The most prominent fatality of the battle is ANC major-general Joseph-Desiré Mobutu.

July 13-July 16, 1964: In San Francisco, the Republican National Convention is held in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona wins the nomination and selects New York Congressman William E. Miller as his running-mate.

The Republican Party platform accuses the Democratic Party of, among other things, trying to seek “accommodation with Communism without adequate safeguards and compensating gains for freedom [1].”

July 15, 1964: In an attempt to defeat the Simba rebellion, Moise Tshombe decides to recruit Western mercenaries to augment his well-trained Katangan formations. All in all, 200 mercenaries from France, South Africa, West Germany, England, Ireland, Spain and Portuguese Angola arrive in Leopoldville and the Katanaga province over the following month [2].

July 24, 1964: The Republic of the Congo is officially renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country continues to also be known informally as "the Congo" and "Congo-Leopoldville", the latter to distinguish it from the Republic of the Congo/Congo-Brazzaville.

August 2, 1964: The Gulf of Tonkin incident occurs. North Vietnamese torpedoed boats strike against ships that were involved in attacks on a radio transmitter on the island of Hon Ngu in the Tonkin Gulf, just off the coast of North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese torpedo boats approach the US destroyer USS Maddox, which as a result sinks two of the North Vietnamese torpedo boats and damages a third.

August 4, 1964: In the middle of a dark night in the Gulf of Tonkin, an “overeager sonar man” on the USS Maddox mistakenly believes that the ship is under attack again. For the next two hours the Maddox and the USS Turner Joy fire at imaginary targets. Air support from two nearby US aircraft carriers are sent on a mission against targets in the North Vietnamese coast in direct retaliation.

August 6, 1964: In a meeting with US legislators, Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara gives a warped account of events in regards to American activities in the Gulf of Tonkin.

August 7, 1964: US Congressman and senators like vote in favor of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gives President McCormack the powers in lieu of a declaration of war against North Vietnam.

August 10-August 13, 1964: The Simba rebels attempt a final push against the Congolese capital of Leopoldville. Thanks to the newly arrived Western mercenaries, the push is flat out failure. As a result, the Simbas take some time to recuperate.

August 24-August 27, 1964: The Democratic National Convention is held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Senator Hubert Humphrey or Minnesota wins the nomination and selects Governor of North Carolina Terry Sanford as his running mate.

October 1, 1964: While campaigning in Hartford, Indiana, Barry Goldwater makes the bold claim that if President he will liberate Eastern Europe and claims that only such a victory can end the influence of Communism.

October 10-24, 1964: The 1964 Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, Japan. This is the first Olympiad in which the Republic of South Africa does not attend, due to the issue of Apartheid.

October 12-October 18, 1964: Once again the Simba's attempt a final push against the Congolese capital of Leopoldville. This time, thanks in part to new Soviet and Cuban ammunition and supplies, demoralization among ANC soldiers and support from Chinese sponsored Maoist rebel Pierre Mulele, the push is a success.

October 17, 1964: Knowing that the fall of Leopoldville is all but imminent, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, Prime Minister Moise Tshombe and the rest of the Congolese government flee the city via an airlift facilitated by the United States, Belgium and Portugal to the former Katangan capital of Élisabethville. Thanks to the Western mercenaries, the Simba rebels have not had much if any success attacking into the Katanga province.

October 18, 1964: Leopoldville is captured by the Simba rebels. Most ANC soldiers defect to the Simbas. The ones who do not are arrested and publicly executed almost immediately. The surviving Western mercenaries are killed, lynched or publicly executed almost immediately. The execution of ANC soldiers refusing to bow down to Simbas, as well as Western mercenaries, causes outrage in the Western world.

October 18, 1964 and onwards: The Republican and pro-Republican press in the United States criticizes President McCormack for, as one newspaper puts it; "bailing out the Congolese government at the last minute but not having the guts to save them when it could have counted." The Republican and pro-Republican press use this as more evidence that, in the words of another newspaper; "Kennedy, McCormack and the Democrats are appeasing the Communists world-wide in the much the same way that Chamberlain and the British Tories had appeased Hitler." It should be noted that this comes only two months after the Republican and pro-Republican press congratulated McCormack for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. One newspaper even went so far as to say; "It seems that this new Democratic Administration will take a heavier hand against Communism than the last." Meanwhile, far right groups claim this is all part of a Catholic conspiracy on the part of Kennedy and McCormack to subvert American interests abroad and enable international Communism. Once again, since Pope Paul VI and the rest of the Roman Catholic Church dislike Communism as well.

Responding to this criticism, McCormack tells reporters that; "America's main priority and previous commitment is in subverting Communism in Vietnam and the rest of South East Asia. This administration did what in could in the Congo, but Uncle Sam simply can't have his fingers in every international pie." Privately, McCormack bluntly tells one of his aides; "I'd have been damned if I was going to be sending American boys to die in yet another country most of them have never even heard of before."

October 20, 1964: The People's Republic of Congo is officially declared in the newly rechristened city of Kinshasha. The city of Leopoldville is renamed Kinshasha after a village named Kinchassa that once stood near the site of the modern-day city [3]. The city is renamed by the Simbas in an effort to rid the Congo of its dark colonial past. After all, it doesn't make much sense for an anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist country to have a capital city named after a brutal, slaving colonizer and imperialist.

The Soviet Union, the Peoples Republic of China and Cuba immediately recognize the People's Republic of Congo. The rest of the Warsaw Pact nations follow suit by the end of the year.

October 25, 1964: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrives in Moscow returning from his vacation in Pitsunda, a resort town in the Abkhaz ASSR in the Georgian SSR. In the Kremlin and Soviet Politburo, it’s all business as usual.

Meanwhile, Leonid Brezhnev, a member of the Soviet Central Committee, is not a happy man. Privately, he has a bone to pick with Khrushchev over his buying of grain imports from the west, among others things, and he wants to boot him out of office. Nevertheless, he simply doesn't have enough dirt against Khrushchev to go through with the plan or even to bring in other conspirators.

October 27, 1864: Seeing the writing on the wall, said writing being that there's no chance in Hell of the much reduced Congolese government forces ever re-conquering Leopoldville/Kinshasha, Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Moise Tshombe declare, or in this case re-declare, the Second Republic of Katanga in Élisabethville, with Kasa-Vubu as President and Tshombe, who had previously been President of the First Republic/State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963, as Prime Minister. The declaration of the Second Republic of Katanga is done with support from the United States, Belgium and Portugal, all of whom immediately recognize the new nation. The re-established Katanga Gendarmerie is made up mostly of Western mercenaries, with the rest of the soldiers being native Congolese.

The government of the People's Republic of the Congo sees the new Katangan republic as illegitimate, and Congolese propaganda is quick to depict the Second Katangan Republic as neo-colonialist western puppet state.

November 3, 1964: The United States presidential election is won by the Democratic Party under Hubert Humphrey and Terry Sanford. Ultimately, Humphrey and Sanford were propelled to victory by a number of factors, including the legacy of Kennedy’s accomplishments, President McCormack’s signing of groundbreaking Civil Rights legislation and both of the candidate’s overall charisma and hopeful promise of a better America.

On the other hand, Barry Goldwater appealed to many Americans, frustrated and otherwise, who felt that the United Sates needed to stand up more to the Soviet Union and international Communism. Goldwater didn’t flat out attack the late President Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, what with it being so soon after his tragic death and all, but on his campaign he did allude to how the US backed down in the aforementioned crisis and how it was the wrong thing to do. Untimely, what sealed Goldwater’s fate was his support for the use of nuclear weapons in the Vietnam conflict, or at the very least, making said support public and a part of his campaign. This in itself alienated a good number of Americans who would have otherwise supported and voted for him. While many Americans are resentful that Kennedy didn’t stand up more to the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis, they certainly didn’t want an apocalyptic and nuclear Third World War, and are certainly thankful that the Cuban Missile Crisis didn’t lead to that happening. Still, many Americans are frustrated at Kennedy and the Democrats for, in their minds, being too much soft on Communism. This in itself allows Goldwater, Miller and the Republicans to do pretty good in the election, winning many of the same states Nixon and Lodge won back in 1960.

Still, this isn’t enough to take them to the White House. Kennedy, in spite of his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis, is still seen as a Great President by many Americans, and his untimely death made him somewhat of a tragic hero in much of the public’s eye. For all intents and purposes, this gives the Democrat’s the extra boost that they needed to win in 1964. As mentioned earlier, President McCormack’s signing of the Civil Rights Act has also helped in regards to Humphrey, Sanford and the Democratic Party's overall popularity, especially with African-American and other minority voters. Goldwater on the other hand, alienated African-American and other minority voters, including Civil Rights Leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., by his opposition to the Civil Rights Act.

~~~~~~

[1] An obvious reference to Kennedy and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
[2] IOTL, Western Mercenaries in the Congo were sent only to the Katanga province. IITL, they are also sent to Leopoldville, what with said capital city in more pressing danger from the Simbas.
[3] IOTL Leopoldville was rechristened Kinshasha in 1966.

 

[Zoidberg12]

November 12, 1964: The Simba soldiers and ANC defectors are officially reorganized into the new People’s Congolese Army, or in French, the Armée Populaire Congolaise (APC).

November 19, 1964: The APC is redeployed to conquer the rest of Congo-Kinshasha not under Simba control (save for Katanga obviously), as well to fight against any anti-communist Congolese guerillas.

November 30, 1964: By this point, the rest of Congo-Kinshasha not under Simba control (save for Katanga) is officially under occupation by the APC, and thus under the new government’s control. With this, the Congo Crisis officially ends. In spite of this anti-communist guerrillas will remain active in the Congo well into the 1970s.

Meanwhile, Christophe Gbenye, interim President of the People’s Republic of the Congo, comes to the realization that conquering Katanga is not a viable option for the young People’s Republic of the Congo, at the very least for the indefinite future. For one thing, the Simba soldiers are flush with victory but also tired of fighting, and by and large, simply don’t have the will to fight the highly well-trained and mercenary-supported Army of Katanga. In addition to this, if the APC invades Katanga, it is sure to draw in Western support for the new republic, particularly from the United States, Belgium and Portugal, making chances for a successful invasion and annexation of Katanga slim to till. As a result, Gbenye, while deciding not to officially recognize the Second Republic of Katanga, decides to wait things out for the time being.

It should also be noted that President Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Tshombe of Katanga have yet to officially recognize the People’s Republic of the Congo, though in declaring the Second Republic of Katanga, they seem to have given up their de facto claim of representing the whole of the former Democratic Republic of the Congo.

January 4, 1965: In his State of the Union address, President McCormack reflects on how far the United States of America has come under the Democratic Party since Kennedy’s inauguration four years previously in 1961. McCormack also laments how he could not find it in himself to continue on as President, but wishes incoming President Hubert Humphrey the best of luck, and expresses faith that he will continue his, Kennedy’s and Johnson’s legacies and keep the Democratic Party strong.

January 20, 1965: Hubert Horatio Humphrey is inaugurated the 37th President of the United States of America.

February 6, 1965: In imitation of the relativity large number of Western/European mercenaries in the service of the Katangan Army, including now well-known mercenaries such as Irishman Mike Hoare and Frenchman Bob Denard, interim President of the People’s Republic of the Congo Christophe Gbenye decides to recruit mercenaries from the Soviet Bloc, People's Republic of China and other Communist nations for active service in the new APC. Gbenye also calls for Communists in the Western, Capitalist world to fight for the APC with their ideological brethren.

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine Marxist revolutionary, guerrilla leader and major figure in both the Cuban Revolution and Simba Rebellion, is an enthusiastic supporter of this new initiative, as it unites ideologically Communists from all over the world in the service of a new, revolutionary Communist government. Even though the Simba Rebellion has been over for quite some time now, Che Guevara is now happy to fight on behalf of the new APC, of which he has been officially a part of since its formation back in November of 1964. Guevara decided to stay in the Congo and fight for the APC as he wanted to do everything he could to support the burgeoning new Communist Congolese government and its military. As of February of 1965, Guevara lives in some Barracks just outside of Kinshasa.

February 22, 1965: Lee Harvey Oswald, still working at the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, Texas, hears about Christophe Gbenye's plea for Communists the world over to fight as mercenaries for the new Communist Congolese government from People's Weekly World, the newspaper of the CPUSA. Oswald, bored of his job at the Book Depository after sixteen months of working there, is intrigued to say the least.

 

[omrk]

Why Congo is so important to the story?

 

[Zoidberg12]

Why Congo is so important to the story?

Just because the butterflies hit there early on after the POD. Trust me, as the timeline/story progresses, other parts of the world will get their time in the spotlight.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Bumping this. Any other comments or criticism?

 

[Fogey]

I question if the Simba rebels could modernize as successfully as you're depicting. Historically, my understanding is that, at least in their earlier period, the Simbas had a tendency to eschew most Western military equipment. The successes they experienced were due to the absolutely abysmal state of the ANC troops opposing them and their chemical-induced belief in their own invulnerability.

Without the disaster this caused at Luluabourg, would the rebels have been open to accepting Soviet and Cuban aid and reforming their 'army'* into a more regular military force?

*I say 'army' because Simba military discipline was next to nil.

 

[Zoidberg12]

March 8, 1965: 3,500 US Marines of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade arrive in Vietnam. These American soldiers are the first American combat troops to take part in the Vietnam War, and also the first ground force units from a foreign power in Vietnam since the war of Independence against the French.

March 12, 1965: President Humphrey instructs his aides to draft a voting rights bill.

March 17, 1965: President Humphrey’s voting rights proposal reaches Congress.

March 24-March 25, 1965: At the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor the first of many teach-ins is held against American involvement in the Vietnam War.

April 7, 1965: In a speech at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, President Humphrey states that the United States is now fighting in Vietnam for “to live in a world where every country can shape its own destiny.” Humphrey describes “the first reality” in Vietnam as North Vietnam having unjustifiably “attacked the independent nation of South Vietnam.”

April 28, 1965: In the Dominican Republic, a civil war begins between the followers of ousted Dominican President Juan Bosch and the military junta that had just deposed him. President Humphrey sends 42,000 Marines to protect US citizens and prevent an alleged Communist takeover. Both the Democratic and Republican press praise this action on the part of President Humphrey. For one thing, the Republican press can’t claim he’s soft on Communism, at least for now.

May 12, 1965: West Germany establishes diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.

May 13, 1965: Several Arab nations break diplomatic relations with West Germany in response to West Germany establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.

June 1, 1965: In the years since the Suez Crisis of 1956, tensions have remained high between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The recent spat over West German diplomatic relations with Israel has reminded President Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt that he might need some form of outside support, whatever it may exactly be, in the very real event of a war against Israel. He's also confident that America won't have the guts to assist Israel in any meaningful way in the event of a third Arab-Israeli War. As a result, he calls upon Mohammed Murad Ghaleb, the Egyptian ambassador to the USSR, to phone Dimitri Pojidaev, Soviet ambassador to Egypt.

June 8, 1965: In a top-secret meeting between President Nasser, Egyptian diplomats and Soviet and Warsaw Pact diplomats, the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact nations agree to sell their latest state of the art weaponry, as well as other armaments, supplies and equipment, to the Egyptian Military over an extended period of time. This, along with the Soviet backing of the Simba rebels in the Congo, shows a bolder new Soviet Foreign Policy, which a number of historians attribute to America's backing down in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviets know its a good idea to strengthen their friends in the Middle East, especially if it means that Israel, a nation close to the United States, will be somehow dwarfed in power. All in all, the Soviet’s want their friends to be stronger and America's friends to be weaker.

July 2, 1965: President Humphrey officially announces that has ordered an increase in US military forces in Vietnam to 125,000. To accomplish this, the monthly draft call is raised from 17,000 to 35,000.

July 30, 1965: President Humphrey signs the Social Security Act into law, establishing programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

August 5, 1965: In Vietnam, Canadian-born journalist Morley Safer covers a story about American Marines setting Vietnamese homes afire in the village of Cam Ne. Safer's story is broadcast on CBS Evening News. President Humphrey is angered by this development, as he knows it will only give credibility to those opposed to American involvement in Vietnam.

August 6, 1965: President Humphrey signs the Voting Rights Act into law.

August 9, 1965: Singapore becomes independent from the Federation of Malaysia.

 

[Zoidberg12]

August 12, 1965: Lee Harvey Oswald arrives in Kinshasa with his wife Marina and their children, Oswald having convinced them to come with him by promising them new wealth and opportunities in this far-off land known as the Congo. Oswald and his wife immediately rent a small, inexpensive flat in Kinshasa.

August 13, 1965: Lee Harvey Oswald signs up for military service in the APC as a foreign mercenary. He is subsequently sent to some barracks just outside of Kinshasa.

October 8, 1965: President Nasser of Egypt meets with President Amin al-Hafiz of Syria over the possibility of a future war against Israel.

October 14, 1965: Lee Harvey Oswald and Che Guevara meet for the first time after a military training session. In their barracks, the two quickly bond and debate politics, discuss their Communist political views and talk about their life experiences in general.

During this long conversation, according to Guevara himself, Oswald claims that had President Kennedy not died in a plane crash, he would have shot and killed the President himself in Dallas. Guevara is a little skeptical about this bold claim, but just the fact that Oswald would have been willing to kill the leader of the Capitalist-Western world himself impresses him.

November 11, 1965: Great Britain declares that their government will not grant independence to its self-ruling colony of Rhodesia until a system of Black-African majority rule is eventually established there.

In response, the Prime Minister the white-led, self-ruling Rhodesian colonial government, Ian Smith, declares an independent Republic of Rhodesia. Naturally, the British government does not recognize this new nation.

December 17, 1965: The British government under Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson begins an oil embargo against the Republic of Rhodesia. The United States under President Humphrey joins Great Britain in this embargo against Rhodesia.

December 30, 1965: Ferdinand Marcos is elected President of the Philippines.

January 2, 1966: According to an article from the New York Times , President Humphrey's greatest disappointment of the year 1965 is the failure of the United States government to convince the North Vietnamese and Chinese governments of its sincere desire for peace in the Vietnam War.

March 29, 1966: A Gallop poll for the past week has 54 percent of Americans approving President Humphrey's handling of the Vietnam war and 31 percent opposed to his handling of the Vietnam War.

April 29, 1966: US troops in Vietnam reach 250,000.

May 16, 1966: The Cultural Revolution begins in the People's Republic of China.

June 19, 1966: The Senate Internal Security subcommittee claims that Communist infiltrators have played a vital role in campus protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War.

July 4, 1966: The Republic of North Vietnam declares a general mobilization.

 

[Zoidberg12]

July 28, 1966: President Humphry announces that he is increasing America’s fighting strength in Vietnam from 75,000 all the way up to 125,000 men.

August 15, 1966: Syrian and Israeli soldiers clash for three hours at the Syrian-Israeli border on the Sea of Galilee.

August 20, 1966: As a result of the recent border clashes between Syrian and Israeli soldiers, President Nasser of Egypt decides to meet once again with Syrian President al-Hafiz.

August 21, 1966: Seven men are sentenced to death for agitation against the Nasser government of Egypt.

September 6, 1966: South African Prime Minister and prime architect of Aparthied Hendrik Voerwod is stabbed to death by Dimitri Tsafendas, a mixed-race South African of Greek and Mozambican descent. He will later be certificated insane.

September 8, 1966: After over two weeks of secret negotiations, President Nasser of Egypt and President of al-Hafiz of Syria sign a secret alliance and mutual protection pact, stating that the two nations will jointly invade Israel if need be and will both come to the other’s aide in the event of an invasion and/or military action against one of the other by Israel. In addition to this, the two agree that both of their armies’ military strategists will begin coming up with plans for a future invasion of and war against Israel. These plans will also take into account actions taken by other Arab nations such as Jordan and Lebanon, though Nasser has decided not to let the young King Hussein of Jordan have knowledge of his plans as of yet. For one thing, relations between Egypt and Jordan are somewhat tense and the nation’s governments are distrustful of one another in a number of regards. Still, Nasser is eventually hoping for Jordanian assistance in the event of a third Arab-Israeli War.

September 15, 1966: Following Egypt’s lead, the Syrian government secretly buys the latest state of the art weaponry, as well as other armaments, supplies and equipment, from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact states for use in the Syrian military. President al-Hafiz goes through with this secret deal is done with President Nasser’s blessing.

October 1, 1966 and onwards: The Egyptian and Syrian militaries begin reviewing each other’s military plans, military strategies and military tactics.

October 27, 1966: The United Nations calls for the Republic of South Africa to grant independence to its Mandate of South West Africa.

November 10, 1966: Three Israeli Defense Force soldiers are killed in a mine indecent on the Israeli border with the Kingdom of Jordan.

November 13, 1966: In the response to the aforementioned mine indecent on the Israeli-Jordanian border, the IDF conducts a major raid on the Jordanian village Samu in the West Bank, the region of Palestine annexed by Jordan after the First Arab-Israeli War of 1948. As a direct result of the raid, support for the PLO grows throughout the Arab nations of Middle East, and King Hussein of Jordan demands military action from Egypt.

November 27, 1966: In regards to the recent Israeli raid in the West Bank, Egyptian Field Marshall Abdel Hakim Amer recommends to President Nasser that he close the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and dismiss the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) from Gaza, the UNEF having been in Gaza since the the Suez Crisis of 1956. Nasser considers both of these eventualities, but wants to wait before making any final decisions.

December 31 (New Years Eve), 1966: At the end of the year 1966, there are 385,000 US soldiers in Vietnam. In the year 1966, 5,008 US Military personal have been killed in action. Meanwhile, 1,045 US Military personal have died in "non-hostile" occurrences.

 

[Zoidberg12]

I question if the Simba rebels could modernize as successfully as you're depicting. Historically, my understanding is that, at least in their earlier period, the Simbas had a tendency to eschew most Western military equipment. The successes they experienced were due to the absolutely abysmal state of the ANC troops opposing them and their chemical-induced belief in their own invulnerability.

Without the disaster this caused at Luluabourg, would the rebels have been open to accepting Soviet and Cuban aid and reforming their 'army'* into a more regular military force?

*I say 'army' because Simba military discipline was next to nil.

ITTL, the Simbas get military assistance from the Soviet Union and Cuba soon after their rebellion began. IOTL, the Simbas only got assistance from the Soviet Union and Cuba several months after their rebellion began, after it was clear they were losing to the Congolese central government. As a result of this, they are much more successful than IOTL. As for the Simbas being averse to western military equipment, yes they still are, but they are also much more receptive to military equipment from their ideological Soviet and Cuban brethren.

Anyways, new update coming today or tomorrow.

 

[Zoidberg12]

Anymore comments and/or criticism? Anyone?

Anyways, here is the next update. Plus, I added some more events to the last update a few days ago.

January-March, 1967: Over 270 border incidents/terrorist attacks and artillery barrages, most having originated from Syria, cause growing concern within the State of Israel.

January 19, 1967: President Nasser meets with King Hussein of Jordan in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

February 1, 1967: After some weeks of negotiations, President Nasser of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan sign a secret alliance and mutual protection pact not unlike the one Egypt and Syria signed only five months earlier. Like the one with Syria, this alliance and mutual protection pact states that both Egypt and Jordan will jointly invade Israel if need be and will both come to the other’s aide in the event of an invasion and/or military action against one of the other by Israel.

March 6, 1967: President Humphrey announces his plan for a new lottery for military conscription. This new lottery soon becomes known colloquially among the American public as simply "the draft."

March 12, 1967: Syria and Jordan sign a secret alliance and mutual protection pact, with President Nasser's approval of course.

March 18, 1967: Egypt and Syria begin selling their Warsaw Pact-bought weaponry to the Kingdom of Jordan.

March 22, 1967: In regards to the Vietnam War, Republican House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, alongside Republican Senator Everret Dirksen of Illinois, criticize President Humphrey's handling of the war and state that President Humphrey "does not have sufficient resolution."

March 25, 1967 and onwards: The Egyptian, Syrian and now Jordanian militaries begin reviewing each other’s military plans, military strategies and military tactics, and continue coming up with plans for a hypothetical future invasion of and war against Israel.

April 4, 1967: Civil Rights Movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. denounces American involvement in the Vietnam War. President Humphrey is disappointed that Dr. King is opposed to America’s involvement in the war, but respects the man way too much to make a big stink about it.

April 7, 1967: In response to Syrian shelling of the DMZ between Syria and Israel and of Israeli villages, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) conduct a raid against the Syrian Air Force, destroying six Syrian MiG airplanes.

April 9, 1967: In direct response to recent events in the Middle East, President Humphrey, a staunch supporter of Israel, publically urges and calls for "a continued peace in the Middle East." In spite of Humphrey's personal support for Israel, he does not want to give the appearance of the United States taking sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict, as Humphrey does not want to alienate the United States of America diplomatically from the Arab nations.

April 20, 1967: President Nasser of Egypt and King Hussein of Jordan sign another secret pact, stating that in the event of war against Israel the Jordanian military forces will be placed under overall Egyptian military command.

April 28, 1967: General William Westmoreland tells Congress that the United States of America will, in his words, "prevail in Vietnam." Westmoreland's reasoning is that the Vietnam War did originate from within Vietnam but that the Vietnam War originated outside of Vietnam and that Vietnam was "marked as a target for the Communist stratagem called 'War of National Liberation.'" Westmoreland also claims that he sees "no evidence that this [the Vietnam War] is an internal insurrection."

As the near future will show, General Westmoreland is sadly mistaken.

May, 1967: The Soviets never pass false intelligence reports to Egyptian Speaker of the House Anwar Sadat, at this time in Moscow, about the IDF massing eleven brigades on the Syrian border in preparation for an imminent attack on Syria [1].

May 30, 1967: President Nasser meets with Iraqi President Abd al-Karim Qasim in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Nassar wants Iraqi support in the event of another Arab-Isreali War, something which in recent months has become more and more of a reality.

June 8, 1967: Qasim, despite being wary of Nassar and his Pan-Arab ideology, still wants to have cordial relations with the other Arab nations. Qasim also supports the Palestinian struggle against Israel. As a result, Qasim agrees to sign a secret alliance and mutual protection pact with Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

June 12, 1967: The United States Supreme Court declares that all state laws prohibiting interracial marriage are unconstitutional. With that, anti-miscegenation laws are repealed all across the country.

June 17, 1967: The People's Republic of China successfully tests a hydrogen bomb.

June 30, 1967: Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban meets with President Humphrey for just one day in Washington D.C. Eban is worried about Israel getting involved in another war with her Arab neighbors, and wants American support in the event of such a war becoming a reality. President Humphrey is very much friendly towards Eban and makes his support for Israel known to him. However, Humphrey also complains about how he will need Congressional approval is he is going to give Israel the weaponry it wants in the event of a Third Arab-Israeli War.

~~~~~~

[1] Whoever in Moscow was going sent those reports to Sadat out must either have forgotten to do or found out that said reports were hogwash.

 

[Zoidberg12]

June, 1967 and onwards: President Humphrey is bombarded by telegrams from Jewish-Americans requesting that he as President help Israel in the event of another Arab-Israeli War.

The President is in a real catch-twenty two. On one hand, Humphrey is a staunch supporter of Israel, but on the other hand, Humphrey is upset at how by and large Jewish-Americans have been hostile towards his policies in regards to the Vietnam War. Humphrey is also unhappy at how Israel has failed to publically support American involvement in the Vietnam War. In the end, Humphrey decides to wait and see how things play out.

July 4, 1967: The United States America celebrates its 191st birthday! In addition to this, it is on this day that the Freedom of Information Act becomes law in the United States of America. In order to withhold information from the general public, American government agencies must show that said information is classified.

July 13-August 1, 1967: African-Americans riot in numerous cities all across the United States of America, such as Newark, Detroit, Cairo and Memphis. These riots will later spread, in late-July and early-August, to Milwaukee and Washington DC.

July 27, 1967: In response to the recent race riots that have been spreading all across that the United States, President Humphrey appoints the Kerner Commission to ascertain the causes of said violence. The report, which will be released early in 1968, will come to the conclusion that the violence is the result of the frustration African-Americans feel by the lack of economic opportunity.

In hindsight, many historians point out that these riots are perhaps the first time in American history when African-Americans become by and large attracted to the ideology of Communism, including in its Marxist-Leninist, Maoist, and other forms.

July 30, 1967: General William Westmoreland claims that he is winning the war in Vietnam. General Westmoreland also claims that he needs more troops in order to continue doing so.

August 3, 1967: President Humphrey announces that he is planning to send 45,000 more troops to Vietnam.

August 5, 1967: The Peoples Republic of China agrees to give North Vietnam aid in the form of a grant [1].

September 12, 1967: Following China's lead, the Soviet Union signs an agreement with the North Vietnamese government to send them more aid [2].

October, 1967: Former Vice President and current Republican Presidential hopeful Richard Nixon states in an article for the October, 1967 issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine that “Taking the long view, we simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations.” By this he means the Peoples Republic of China, not the Republic of China (Taiwan).

October 27, 1967: Richard Nixon states the United States of America must pursue a successful conclusion to the Vietnam War or risk the possibility of World War Three.

October 29, 1967: On the eleventh anniversary of the beginning of the Suez Crisis, President Nasser orders the UNEF to leave Gaza by New Year’s Day, 1968.

November 21, 1967: General William Westmoreland tells American news reporters the following; "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing." Once again, as things would turn out, Westmoreland would be sadly mistaken.

December 1, 1967: United Nations Secretary-General U Thant complies with Nasser’s demands and removes the entirety of the UNEF from both the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.

December 8-10, 1967: Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev flies into Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, invited by the Czechoslovak president Antonin Novotny. Novonty wants Krushchev to resolve an internal political crisis in Czechoslovakia. Krushcehv himself is not at all pleased by the dislike for Novotny among his fellow Czechoslovak Communists. In the end, Krushchev refuses into intervene in Czechoslovakia's internal political affairs. After two days of meeting with Novotny, Krushcehv flies back to Moscow.

December 19-December 21, 1967: Walworth Barbour, American ambassador to Israel since 1961, meets with Israeli Prime Minster Levi Eshkol in Jerusalem. Barbour, long sympathetic to Israel, reiterates the truth that the United States cannot activity help Israel without Congressional approval, and that the United States is already bogged down in the Vietnam War. However, Barbour tells Eshkol, somewhat vaguely, that he will talk to President Humphrey and see what he can do.

December 31 (New Year’s Eve), 1967: At the end of the year 1967, some 474,300 US soldiers are now in Vietnam.

~~~~~~

[1] Somewhat more than IOTL.
[2] Again, somewhat more than IOTL.

 

[Zoidberg12]

January 1 (New Years' Day), 1968: The deadline for the UNEF leaving the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza has arrived. Needless to say, Nasser is happy that his demands have been meet. Israel on the other hand, is worried Egypt may be up to something. Still, as of yet, Egypt hasn’t shown overt aggression towards Israel, so the Israeli government can (relatively) rest calm for now.

January 5, 1968: In the Czechoslovakia Socialist Republic, the Central Committee of the Commits Party of Czechoslovakia votes out Antonin Novotny as First Secretary. The Central Committee replaces Antonin Novotny with the reform minded Alexander Dubcek, while Novotny continues to remain President of Czechoslovakia. This is the beginning of what will later become known as the Prague Spring.

January 30, 1968: The Tet Offensive is launched by North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap on the holiday of Tet, which is the Vietnamese New Year. Almost 72,000 North Vietnamese troops [1] will take part in this campaign, and will take the battle from the jungles to the cities of South Vietnam. The offensive will take place over the next few weeks and is considered by most historians to be one of the major turning points of the Vietnam War.

February 1, 1968: During the Tet Offensive, Nguyen Ngoc Loan, South Vietnam’s chief of National Police, is caught on camera by American photographer Eddie Adams executing a Viet Cong prisoner. This Pulitzer Prize winning photograph is released to the public just a couple of days later, and becomes yet another rallying point for the already burgeoning anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States, as it further calls into question the very integrity of America’s ally of South Vietnam.

February 2, 1968: Republican former Vice President Richard Nixon enters the New Hampshire primary and announces that he is running for President of the United States.

February 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech at his Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. In his speech, King talks about the US involvement in the Vietnam War, stating that; “…we [the United States] are criminals in that war. We've committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world, and I'm going to continue to say it. And we won't stop it because of our pride and our arrogance as a nation. But God has a way of even putting nations in their place.”

Furthermore, King predicts the following from the Almighty himself; “…if you don't stop your reckless course, I'll rise up and break the backbone of your power.”

March 16, 1968: In Vietnam, US Army troops from Charlie Company enter the Hamlet of My Lai. They search for Viet Cong soldiers within the Hamlet, but find none. In spite of this, the soldiers vent their frustration on the local people and kill everyone in the hamlet, almost 500 in total.

The massacre continues for a total of three hours, after which a US Army helicopter lands between the US Army soldiers and the fleeing Vietnamese civilians. The personnel on said helicopter, pilot Hugh Thompson, door-gunner Lawrence Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta, actively assist and begin evacuating the wounded civilians.

Another one of the men aboard the helicopter is Canadian-American journalist Morley Safer, who is once again in Vietnam reporting on the course of the Vietnam War. Needless to say, Safer is simply horrified by what he sees.

On a much more positive note, it is also on this day that Robert F. Kennedy announces he is running for President.

March 17, 1968: News of the My Lai Massacre reaches several American news outlets, in the form of secretly taken photographs, through an anonymous source. The news of the My Lai Massacre sparks an unprecedented uproar all across the United States, with anti-war protests breaking out in many major cities all across the country over the next few weeks, many of which quickly turn violent between protesters and law enforcement. To the Anti-War movement, this is the ultimate, last straw, and the all the proof they need that the United State is not only supporting war criminals but are also the war criminals themselves.

When news of the My Lai Massacre reaches the Soviet Union and China, the propaganda machines of both nations almost immediately begin depicting the Americans as savage, bloodthirsty, counterrevolutionary warmongers who will stop at nothing to impede “the true, revolutionary will of the people of Vietnam,” as one Soviet newspaper article puts it. Both the Soviets and Chinese are hoping that this event will discredit the position of the United States on the world stage, especially amongst third-world countries in Asia, and maybe even Africa and Latin America.

In addition to all of this, President Humphrey’s approval rating drops to its lowest yet. Needless, to say Humphrey is not at all happy with this whole situation. Not one bit.

March 18, 1968: In Paris, bombs are set off by youths at the offices a number of companies such as Chase Manhattan Bank, the Bank of America and Trans World Airlines. The reason these youths targeted these institutions was because they believed that these companies are involved in the Vietnam War.

March 19, 1968: In New York City, students at Columbia University protesting the Vietnam War forcibly take over five of the university's administration buildings and force to the university to to shut down for several days.

March 21, 1968: President Humphrey meets with General Westmoreland at the White House in Washington D.C. Needless to say, President Humphrey is not happy with Westmoreland, and has some choice words for the general who promised that the war was being won only a few months previously.

March 22, 1968: In Paris, police arrest five youths in connection to the recent bombings in the city. A group of about 150 gather to protest the arrest at the University of Paris. Through his, the Movement of March 22 is born.

Meanwhile, in Czechoslovakia, Antonin Novotny resigns as the country’s president.

March 25-March 26, 1968: President Humphrey meets with political advisor Clark Clifford, former Secretary of State Dean Acheson and General Omar Bradley in the White House. Their recommendation to President Humphrey, albeit non-unanimous, is that he withdraws the US Army from Vietnam and end US involvement in the Vietnam War.

March 27, 1968: President of Columbia University Grayson L. Kirk orders the NYPD to clear the university's administration buildings currently being occupied by protesters.

March 29, 1968: President Humphrey goes live on television and addresses the American public about the My Lai Massacre. Humphrey states he is “simply and utterly horrified” by what has happened. Humphrey goes on to apologize to the American public that such a heinous act occurred under his administration in “a war with otherwise noble intentions, these intentions being to make sure that the people of South Vietnam could live in a free, democratic nation and society without fear of unwanted aggression from her communist neighbor.” Humphrey ends the address by stating that he and his advisers will review the situation in Vietnam and come to a conclusion at some date in the near future.

March 30-April 7, 1968: President Humphrey meets with his advisers to discuss what course to take in regards to the Vietnam War.

Humphrey himself is looking forward towards November, and he’s in a real catch twenty-two. If he withdraws from the US and its forces from Vietnam, he’s almost certainly sure to lose the election and will be called out, along with the Democratic Party at large, by the Republican and right-wing press as being soft on Communism, or even as being crypto-Communists themselves. Still, even if he decides to continue fighting the Vietnam War, he’s pretty sure to lose the election anyway. His reputation is already very much damaged by the course of the war thus far, and he won’t be anymore popular if he continues to keep the country involved in a war it’s already beginning to get sick of and is arguably loosing.

April 1, 1968: Alexander Dubcek makes clear his intentions to make Communism in Czechoslovakia democratic. This is no April Fool’s Day joke. Either way, those in Moscow aren't laughing.

April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

April 8, 1968: President Humphrey addresses the American public on live television and announces that he is intending to negotiate and end to the Vietnam War by the end of the year, or at the very least, end American involvement in the Vietnam War.

All across the United States, thousands of people rejoice, now that they know that their dreams of the United States leaving the Vietnam War is so much closer to becoming a reality.

April 9, 1968: President Humphrey orders a temporary end to Operation Rolling Thunder, the aerial bombing of Hanoi, in an effort to bring North Vietnam to the negotiating table.

April 10, 1968: The North Vietnamese government announces that it is willing to come to the negotiating table and seek a peaceful resolution to the Vietnam War. Needless to say, they are hoping the war will be resolved in their favor.

April 11, 1968: French President Charles De Gaulle offers to host the peace negations for the Vietnam War in Paris.

April 12, 1968: In Hanoi, North Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Van Dong lets De Gualle know that the North Vietnamese government is receptive to his offer to host the Vietnam War peace negotiations in Paris.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., President Humphrey and Vice President Sanford are very much receptive to De Gaulle’s offer to host the Vietnam War peace negotiations in Paris. However, due to the recent outbreaks of anti-American violence in Pairs, Richard Helms, Head of the CIA, strongly recommends that Humphrey decline the offer. Richard Helms seriously fears that Humphrey and Sanford could be the target of an anti-American assassination attempt.

April 12, 1968: Humphrey declines De Gaulle’s offer to host the aforementioned peace talks in Paris. In response, De Gualle recommends that the peace talks be held in he city of a nation that is currently neutral in the Cold War.

April 15, 1968: President Humphrey signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law. This act makes illegal housing discrimination on the basis of race, religion, nationality, physical handicap or family status.

April 19, 1968: The American and North Vietnamese governments agree to hold the Vietnam War peace negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva. This is appropriate, as the negotiations that ended the First Indochina War back in 1954 were also held in Geneva.

April 25, 1968: Bowing down to public pressure, Grayson L. Kirk publically announces his resignation as President of Columbia University, effective at the beginning of the next academic year.

~~~~~~

[1] Somewhat more than OTL.

 

[Zoidberg12]

April 30, 1968: After a year of tense calm in the Middle East, border skirmishes occur on the Israeli-Jordanian border in the West Bank.

May 1-May 2, 1968: In response to the border skirmishes in the West Bank, the IDF launches raids into a number of towns on the Israeli-Jordanian border, killing a number of civilians in the process.

When things like this happened in the past, King Hussein of Jordan always complained that Nasser never took any action. Things will be different this time.

May 4, 1968: In Pairs, police are called in to end student rioting at the University of Paris. Five-hundred people are arrested by the police as a result.

May 5, 1968: In response to the recent IDF raids on towns in the West Bank, President Nasser closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.

The Israeli government is not happy about this, but there is not much they can do about it.

May 6, 1968: In the Latin Quarter of Paris, pitched battles occur between the city’s radicals and the city’s policeman.

Back in Washington, President Humphrey and Vice-President Sanford are very much happy that they listened to CIA Director Richard Helms about the situation in Paris.

May 10, 1968: The Geneva Peace Negotiations begin. The North Vietnamese delegation is led by Xuan Thuy. The American delegation is led by W. Averell Harriman. US President Humphrey, Vice President Terry Sanford, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, Prime Minister Nguyen Van Loc and North Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Van Dong are all present on the first days of the negations. North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Mihn could not attend due to his failing health.

May 11, 1968: Once again, in the Latin Quarter of Pairs, radical students and policeman fight bitched battles against one another.

May 13, 1968: In France, labor unions, students and teachers begin a day long general strike. In regard to the labor unions, they turn their factory yards into fairgrounds in support of the student protests. Over one hundred and twenty intellectuals subsequently sign “the right to disobedience.”

May 14, 1968: At Geneva, President Humphrey orders a complete end to all "all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam", effective on June 1, 1968. With this said and done, serious negotiations can begin.

May 14, 1968 and onwards: During the first days of the negotiations, it already becomes clear that one of the largest obstacles to peace is that North Vietnam and its ally in South Vietnam, the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, better known as the Vietcong or VC, refused to diplomatically recognize the government of South Vietnam. South Vietnam also refused to recognize the NFL/VC.

May 15, 1968: Outside of Paris, two-thousand factory workers take control of the aircraft factory of Sud-Aviation in Nantes. They hold the plant manager and his aides as prisoners.

Meanwhile, the State of Israel solemnly celebrates its Twentieth Anniversary as a country.

May 20, 1968: All across France, millions more occupy factories, mines and offices of various types.

May 23, 1968: In southwestern France, dissident farmers have formed command squads to disrupt highway traffic to protest the Gaullist government’s policies in regards to agriculture.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, Belgium, students occupy the Free University of Belgium. They say they will stay there until their demands are met for changes in the universities curriculum, among other things.

May 24, 1968: W. Averell Harriman resolves the dispute between North and South Vietnam at the Geneva Peace Negotiations. His solution is the development of system by which North Vietnam and the United States would be named parties. In addition, the NLF officials could join the North Vietnam team without being recognized by South Vietnam, while Saigon's representatives could join their U.S. allies.

May 26, 1968: Striking workers in France gain a 35% increase in their minimum wages.

May 30, 1968: President De Gaulle dissolves the French National Assembly and warns France that if necessary he will take measures to prevent France becoming a Communist dictatorship. By and large, the middle class in France supports De Gaulle and his measures. As a result, hundreds of thousands in Paris march in support of De Gaulle and his Gaullist government.

June 3, 1968: President Humphrey meets with Israeli Prime Minster Levi Eshkol in Jerusalem, almost six months after Eshkol met with Ambassador Walworth Barber. President Humphrey reiterates that he cannot actively help or send aid to Israel without Congressional approval. Even with Humphrey intending to end American involvement in the Vietnam War, the fact is that the war is still going on, and as a result congressional approval to help Israel is very much unlikely. Humphrey also states that sending American ground troops to Israel is almost entirely out of the question, not just because of the Vietnam War, but also because this act would almost certainly provoke retaliation from the Soviet Union.

However, Humphrey states that after American forces have evacuated Vietnam he will try and get congressional approval to assist Israel in the form of American-sent weapons and ammunition. This is cold comfort for Eshkol, but it will have to do for know.

June 19, 1968: Pierre Mulele, the former leader of the Kwilu Rebellion [1] and the most prominent Congolese Maoist, is tipped off by an unknown source about Gbenye’s planned purge of Moaist and Pro-Chinese members of the Congolese People’s Party. As a result, Mulele flees the country via a ferry from Kinshasa to Brazzaville, the nearby capital of the Republic of the Congo.

June 20, 1968 and onwards: Christophe Gbenye, president of the Peoples Republic of the Congo, in an effort to further consolidate his government’s power, as well as to give some more stability to the country, begins a purge of the Maoist/Pro-Chinese faction of the Congolese People’s Party, with the members of this faction in the Politburo of the Congolese People’s Party and the Congolese National Assembly being arrested, hastily given show trails and then subsequently imprisoned or forced into exile.

That night, an infantry platoon, led by a young army officer named Laurent-Désiré Kabila, arrives at an apartment complex in Kinshasa to arrest Pierre Mulele, the most prominent Congolese Maoist. However, Kabila and his men, after breaking into Mulele’s apartment by ramming the door down, find the apartment almost completely empty and abandoned, as if its occupant left in a hurry. In fact, that’s exactly what happened.

Later that night, Kabila informs President Gbenye that he was no idea where Mulele fled to. Gbenye tells Kabila not to press the matter any further, at least for the time being.

June 23, 1968: Not surprisingly, in the parliamentary elections in France the Gaullist Party triumphs, gaining 97 seats in Parliament. The Gaullist Party and its allies continue to dominate the National Assembly.

While the French Communist Party led by Waldeck Rochet has lost 30 of its previously 73 seats, bringing their number of seats down to 43 [2], support for the French Communist Party remains widespread in the aftermath of the month-long period of civil unrest in France.

~~~~~~

[1] I forgot to mention this, but as the Simbas advanced towards Leopoldville, Mulele and his forces allied with the Simbas and took part in the aforementioned advance. He later became a member of the Congolese National Assembly.
[2] IOTL, the French Communist Party lost more seats. IOTL, they lost 39 seats, bringing their number of seats from 73 to 34.

 

[Zoidberg12]

June 26, 1968: Lebanon, led by President Charles Helou, joins the secret Arab military alliance of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. The reason why it took the Lebanese government so long to do this was because the counties' significant Maronite Christian population was by and large political opposed to the Arab nations getting involved in another war with Israel.

July 7, 1968: At the Geneva Peace Negotiations, Secretary of State Dean Rusk meets secretly with North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho.

July 15, 1968: After two months of negotiations in Geneva, North Vietnam finally concedes that the government in Saigon can be kept in power.

July 27, 1968: Border skirmishes occur between Syrian and Israeli soldiers on the Syrian-Israeli border.

August 5-August 8, 1968: The 1968 Republican National Convention is held in at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. Former Vice President Richard Nixon of New York is wins the nomination and selects Governor of California Ronald Reagan as his running-mate.

Ronald Reagan was selected as Richard Nixon’s running mate to balance the ticket between the more moderate Nixon and the more conservative Reagan, the later whose views are much in line with those of failed 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater. Reagan’s addition to the ticket was also done to appeal to the more conservative Republicans who voted for Goldwater back in 1964, many of whom are still annoyed and frustrated at the Democratic Party's perceived leniency towards Communism.

August 10, 1968: Border skirmishes occur between Israeli and Jordanian soldiers on the Israeli-Jordanian border on the West Bank.

One again, President Humphrey, in addition to other western leaders, calls for calm in the Middle East.

August 18, 1968: After three months of negotiations, the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam, known more simply as the Geneva Accords, is signed by the American and North Vietnamese delegations meeting in Geneva. The settlement calls for a temporary ceasefire between North and South Vietnam, the end of direct American military involvement in Vietnam and the mandate of "free and democratic general elections under international supervision" in South Vietnam.

Back home in the United States of America, after President Humphrey announces the signing of the Geneva Accords on national television, public celebrations of the end of American involvement in Vietnam are held by large crowds of euphoric demonstrators in several major American cities. A good number of the demonstrators are rowdy, but no major violence breaks out.

August 19, 1968: As a direct result of the recently signed Geneva Accords, the United States begins in earnest withdrawing its military forces from Vietnam. The entirety of American military forces will be completely evacuated from Vietnam by November 1, 1968.

In spite of this, substantial aid will still be indirectly given by the United States to the government and military of South Vietnam.

The millitaries of other nations supportive of South Vietnam, such as those of Korea, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Khmer and Laos, continue to remain in South Vietnam, despite the advent of the aforementioned ceasefire.

However, a number of idealistic young men, who still believe that the Vietnam War and the containment of Communism is a just cause, refuse to return home and instead join the South Vietnamese Army.

August 20-August 21, 1968: In Operation Danube, the Soviet Union and her Warsaw Pact allies of East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria invade Czechoslovakia in an effort to stop the "Prague Spring" reformist policies of President of Alexander Dubcek.

The invasion is a success. Dubeck and other reformist are taken to Moscow via a Soviet Military Aircraft transport.

August 26-August 29, 1968: The 1968 Democratic National Convention is held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

As a result of his ordering American forces to be sent out of Vietnam and the Democratic Party being seen by more and more of the American public as being soft on, or even complacent with, Communism, President Hubert Humphrey knows all too well that the 1968 Democratic nomination is a poisoned chalice, and that the election will almost certainly be a loss for him and the Democratic Party. Thus, on the first day of the convention, President Humphrey publically announces that he will decline to run for a second term, citing his recently discovered bladder cancer as the main reason for his decision [1], though almost everyone knows he really made his decision because of the aforementioned reasons.

As a direct result, the nomination is eventually won by Vice President Terry Sanford of North Carolina, who decides to man up and at the very least try to make the most of this election for the Democratic Party. He selects Attorney General Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy of Massachusetts as his running mate, hoping that the Kennedy name and the legacy of his late older brother, former President John F. Kennedy, will give some momentum to the Democratic Party.

For Hubert Humphrey, the decision not to run for President and retire from politics indefinitely is a blessing in disguise, as it causes Humphrey to do something about his bladder cancer before it’s too late.

August 27, 1968: After a scolding from Premier Khrushchev, Alexander Dubcek is flown back to Prague and retains his position as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

August 30, 1968: Former Governor of Alabama George Wallace begins running for the Presidency under a third party, said thirty party being the American Independent Party. Wallace runs under a third party as his pro-segregation policies have been rejected by the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Wallace chose as his running mate retired US Air Force General Curtis LeMay, who during the Cuban Missile Crisis advocated that the US bomb Soviet Missile Sites in Cuba. The two run on a platform of American nationalism, paleo-conservatism, pro-segregation and a tougher American foreign Policy.

September 1, 1968: As a result of increased tensions in the Middle East, the Israeli Defense Forces plan a pre-emptive ground and air strike against the allied Arab armies. The plan is for this hypothetical pre-emptive strike to take place on the date of September 30, 1968.

September 16, 1968: Congolese President Christophe Gbenye travels to Moscow, this being his first ever trip to the Soviet Union (though certainly not his last).

September 20, 1968: The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, withdraws from the Warsaw Pact.

~~~~~~

[1] IOTL Humphrey got his cancer some years later in the 1970s.

 

[Zoidberg12]

September 30, 1968: The Israeli Army and Air Force attempt a pre-emptive strike against the allied Arab armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon. However, a KBG agent in the IDF, whose identity is lost to history, had already tipped off the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian Armies.

The IDF launches a three pronged attack, invading the Jordanian West Bank, Egyptian Sinai and Syrian Golan Heights. However, as the IDF launches their attack, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq launch a surprise coordinated ground and airborne attack on the IDF forces on all three fronts. In doing so, the IDF forces on all fronts are trapped in an ambush and are for the most part slaughtered by the invading Arab armies. The Jordanians and Iraqis attack from the West Bank, the Egyptians attack from the Sinai and the Syrians and Lebanese attack from the Golan Heights.

The air forces of the aforementioned Arab nations also launch a surprise attack on the Israeli Air Force and in doing so seriously damage much of their aircraft, although far from entirely.

Thus, the October War, or as it is known by the Jewish diaspora, the Yom Kippur War, begins.

Naturally, the Israeli government and IDF are caught somewhat off guard by this counter-surprise attack. Nevertheless, they are far from defeated or even seriously damaged as a fighting military force.

October 1, 1968: The Jordanian Army begins artillery bombardments against the Israeli portion of Jerusalem.

October 2, 1968: This day is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. However, the Israeli's are too busy defending their country in a time of war to really celebrate.

October 3, 1968: Jordan and Iraqi armies begin encircling the Israeli portion of Jerusalem.

October 4, 1968: Invading Syrian-Lebanese forces and defending Israeli forces begin fighting in brutal urban warfare in the city of Haifa.

October 10, 1968: Haifa falls to the Syrian and Lebanese armies. A number of civilians are massacred in cold blood, even though most of the Arab generals urge their men to show restraint.

October 11, 1968: News of the massacre in Haifa reaches Western media outlets.

October 12-October 27, 1968: The 1968 Summer Olympics are held in Mexico City, Mexico.

Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon all promptly boycott the Summer Olympic Games over the continuing October War. This is the first instance of a county or countries boycotting the Olympic games.

October 12, 1968: In response to the news coming out of Haifa, Pro-Israel and Jewish lobby groups begin to seriously pressure President Humphrey to do something about the October War and to help Israel. This includes the possibility of the United States officially entering the war and having ground troops sent to Israel.

However, Humphrey states bluntly that America is simply not ready for another war so soon after exiting from the Vietnam War and that in addition to this, he does want to risk a wider war with the Soviet Union, which could possibly drag in both NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

October 14, 1968: A number of young Jewish-American men begin making their way to Israel so that they can fight in the IDF and defend Israel against the Arab nations in the October War.

October 17, 1968: An Israeli attack on Gaza is repulsed by the Egyptian Army.

October 19, 1968: Egyptian forces capture the city of Dimona. This city is of paramount strategic importance to the Arab armies due to the Israeli Nuclear Reactor located within the city.

October 21, 1968: Egyptian and Jordanian-Iraqi forces link up for the first time as they capture and occupy the most of the Negev desert region, save for isolated pockets of stiff Israeli resistance.

October 23, 1968: Syrian-Lebanese and Jordanian-Iraqi forces link up for the first time and begging besieging the city of Tel Aviv.

October 24, 1968: Syrian-Lebanese and Jordanian-Iraqi forces enter the city of Tel Aviv. Brutal urban warfare similar ensues.

October 29, 1968: Tel Aviv falls to the Syrian, Lebanese and Jordanian armies. Not wanting any more bad press, the Arab generals are more strict than ever in regards to their soldiers showing restraint. As a result, there is less bloodshed in Tel Aviv than in Haifa. Still, some sporadic killings of civilians due occur.

November 4, 1968: Egyptian and Syrian-Lebanese forces link up for the first time outside the city of Ashdod.

November 5, 1968: Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan of the Republican Party win the 1968 presidential election in a landslide. Needles to say, Nixon and Reagan do much better than the Republican Party did under Goldwater and Miller in 1964. They are propelled to victory by a number of factors, especially President Humphrey's handling of the Vietnam War and the continued perception among Republicans and Right-Wingers in the United States of the Democratic Party continually being soft on Communism, or even in league with Communism. Many Jewish-Americans also voted for Nixon and Reagan, increasingly frustrated by Humphrey's perceived reluctance to help Israel in the ongoing October War.

On the other hand, the 1968 presidential election is the least successful for the Democratic Party in American history up to that point. To much of the American public, withdrawing from Vietnam was seen as the last straw for the Democratic Party, with even more Americans now viewing the Democrats as being soft on Communism. To these Americans, the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis had been bad enough but abounding South Vietnam was seen as an even worse betrayal. While many African-Americans still voted Democratic, it was still not enough. It is for these reasons why Terry Sanford and Robert F. Kennedy of the Democratic Party lost the election so abysmally. In their defense, all of this was out of their control. This is also the first time since the 1912 presidential election that one of the two major American parties was beaten in terms of electoral votes by a third party.

This third party was the American Independent Party under George Wallace and Curtis LeMay, which edged out the Democrats by just one electoral vote. Wallace and LeMay appealed to a number of right-wing Americans who believed that the Democratic Party was secretly run by Communists. As stated similarly above, this sentiment came from the handling by Democratic administrations of the Cuban Missile Crisis and then the Vietnam War. The fact that Curtis LeMay, who during the Cuban Missile Crisis advocated that the US bomb Soviet Missile Sites in Cuba, was on the ticket certainly helped to appeal to those American frustrated by the perceived Communist infiltration in the Democratic Party. The American Independent Party also proved popular amongst blue-collar workers in the North and Midwest, taking votes that could have gone to Sanford and Kennedy. The party was also popular with Conservative young men and those in the Southern states against racial integration and the Civil Rights Movement. In truth, it was for these reasons that the American Independent Party performed as well as it did.

November 8, 1968: The allied Arab armies begin bombarding the Israeli portion of Jerusalem with combined artillery and airstrikes. As a result, the Siege of Jerusalem begins in earnest.

November 17, 1968: As its becomes increasingly clear that Jerusalem will fall, Israeli President Zalman Shazar and a portion of the Israeli government decide to board their private planes and flee the country to London.

Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and much of the Israeli government decides to stay.

November 19, 1968: After eleven days, Jerusalem falls to the allied Arab armies. The armies of Egypt advance from the south, those of Jordan and Iraq from the west and those of Syria and Lebanon from the north. As the city falls, a number of civilians are massacred by Arab soldiers, though once again, most Arab generals urge their men to show restraint.

Thus, the October War is finally over. After twenty years, the State of Israel no longer exists.

All members of the Israeli government still in Jerusalem are promptly arrested by the Arab armies. In addition, the Egyptian Army arrests David Ben-Gurion, the elderly founder of the State of Israel, and have him incarcerated in a prison in Jerusalem.

Interestingly enough, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol is nowhere to be found.

With that, the entirety of Palestine is occupied by the aforementioned Arab nations. Jordan continues to keep their portion of the West Bank they annexed in 1950 and now occupies Tel Aviv. Egypt continues to occupy Gaza and now occupies the Negev desert region along with additional Jordanian and Iraqi forces. Lebanon occupies the extreme north of Israel, including Mount Meron. Syria occupies northern Palestine, including Nazareth and Haifa.

President Nasser finds it tempting to have Palestine divided up between the belligerent Arab nations. However, Nasser has the PLO and its chairman Ahmad Shukeiri to keep in mind. Nasser certainly doesn't want to alienate the PLO, as doing so could cause a whole host of problems for Egypt and the other Arab nations.

November 19, 1968 and onwards: With the state of Israel destroyed, the Israeli Refugee Crisis begins in earnest. As Jerusalem falls, millions of Jews in Israel leave the country, fleeing for their lives.

November 20, 1968: In Moscow, Nikita Khrushchev urges for Arab generals to stop the sporadic killings of Jews in the former State of Israel.
Nevertheless, for the most part, there is really little that Khrushchev can do.

Ironically, at this point, the sporadic killings of Jews have for the most part stopped, as Arab generals and politicians do not want any more bad press towards their respective countries. Still, Jews are for the most part mistreated by those in the Arab armies.

In Washington D.C., President Humphrey also urges for calm in what was once the state of Israel and for Arab Generals to cease persecuting Jews. However, like with Khrushchev, there is really little that Humphrey can do.

Or is there....

November 21, 1968: President Humphrey states that he is willing to use the United States Navy in the Mediterranean to assist Jewish Refugees, whether they be in boats the Mediterranean Sea or on land in what was once Israel.

November 22, 1968: The other nations of NATO also agree to use their respective navies to assist Jewish refuges.

The leaders of the Arab nations, Nasser of Egypt, al-Hafiz of Syria, Hussein of Jordan, al-Qasim of Iraq and Helou of Lebanon, all agree to cooperate with the US and the other NATO navies in letting Jewish refugees and other Jews wanting to leave Palestine emigrate from what was once Israel.

November 23, 1968: The US navies, CIA chartered merchant ships, and other NATO navies in the Mediterranean Sea, including the British Royal Navy, the Canadian Royal Navy, the French, Italian and German navies, among others, begin in earnest the boarding of Jewish refugees and any other Jews who wish to emigrate from Palestine. The main coastal cities used for this purpose are Nahariyya, Haifa and Tantura.

On this same day, a number of western leaders, including US President Hubert Humphrey, British PM Harold Wilson, Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau, French President Charles De Gaulle, West German Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Italian President Giuseppe Saragat, Australian PM Harold Holt [1], New Zealand PM Keith Holyoake, as well as the rest of the leaders of the NATO nations, announce that their nations are willing to take in a limited number of Jewish refugees from Israel.

In addition, also on this same day, the aforementioned leaders of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon announce that any Jews in Palestine who wish to stay in Palestine have every right to do. A large number of Jews end up deciding to do so for a variety of reasons, and as a result begin to "kiss up" to their new Arab occupiers.

November 23, 1968 and onwards: As the Jewish Refugee Crisis continues, millions of Jews flee what was once the state of Israel. Most emigrate to the United States of America, Canada, Western Europe, Greece, Australia and New Zealand. Others emigrate to South Africa, Rhodesia, Argentina, Bolivia and other countries in Latin America. Some even emigrate to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact nations, though these are in a relative minority.

November 24, 1968: Katangan President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dies after a long illness in Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga [2]. As a result, Prime Minister Moise Tshombe becomes President of the Second State of Katanga, while still remaining Prime Minister at the same time.

Many in Katanga, including the anti-communist Congolese refugees, are seriously worried that Tshombe will become an authoritarian leader.

In Washington D.C., President Humphrey, after hearing the aforementioned news, is also worried that Tshombe could become an authoritarian leader.

November 25, 1968: The governments of Sweden, Finland and Ireland announce their intention to take in a limited number of Jewish refugees from Israel.

November 26, 1968: South African President Jacobus Johannes Fouché and Prime Minister B.J. Vorster call for and openly encourage Jewish refugees to come to South Africa and the Mandate of Southwest Africa. The South African government promises that land appropriated from Black South Africans will be given to Jewish refugees from Israel.

On this same day, a number of Latin American leaders, including Dominican Joaquín Balaguer, Bolivian President René Barrientos and Argentine President Juan Carlos Onganía announce that their nations are willing to take in a limited number of Jewish refugees from Israel.

November 27, 1968: The United Nations condemns South Africa’s call for Jewish immigration on the basis that it will further disadvantage black South Africans. As a result, the United Nations seriously encourages Jewish refugees not to emigrate to South Africa or Southwest Africa. Nevertheless, several Israelis decide to do so anyway.

November 29, 1968: In imitation of South Africa, Rhodesian President Ian Smith calls for and openly encourages Jewish refugees to come to Rhodesia.

Just like with South Africa, the United Nations condemns Rhodesia's move.

November 30, 1968: Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco formally rescinds the Alhambra Decree and announces that the Spanish government is willing to take a limited number of Israeli Refugees. The majority of the Israeli refugees that decide to immigrate to Spain are Sephardi Jews.

The main reason that Franco decides to do this is to improve the image of Francoist Spain internationally, to further improve relations with the Western nations and NATO and to wash away the international associations of Francoist Spain with Nazism and Antisemitism.

December 1, 1968: Portuguese President Marcelo Caetano announces that the "Estado Novo" government of Portugal will allow a limited number of Jewish refuges into Portugal and their African provinces. The purpose of this is to improve the image of the Estado Novo regime internationally as well to increase the white populations of the the rebellious Portuguese colones of Angola and Mocambique.

December 5, 1968: Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian-American with Jordanian citizenship, boards a flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Cairo, with the eventual intention of moving back to Palestine.

December 7, 1968: Sirhan Sirhan boards a flight from Cairo to Amman.

December 31 (New Year's Eve), 1968: In the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), the National Revolutionary Council, headed by leftist former Lieutenant Marien Ngouabi, takes control of the government of the Republic of the Congo. Ngouabi is particularly known for his leftist views and support for the Simba rebels and the People's Republic of the Congo. Anyways, for Ngouabi, this is the best thirtieth birthday present he could have ever wished for and a great way to ring in the New Year.

~~~~~~

[1] ITTL Harold Holt decided not to take a swim back on December 17, 1967.
[2] ITTL Élisabethville has renamed Lubumbashi by the Katangan government in 1965.