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The World 1950-60

Much time has passed, but here's the update... 95% of the time is done!

Retcon:
1920: Gansu earthquake in China. More than 200,000 dead people.

1922: Typhoon in China kills 75,000 people.

1927: Xining earthquake in China. More than 200,000 dead people.

1929: Great Yellow River flood in China. Almost one million of dead.

1932: Another Gansu earthquake in China.
In Germany, the first story of "Theobald the Technician", a series for boys with interest in science and technics, appears.

1948: Nisa earthquake destroys said city in Choresm. More than 200,000 dead people.


The World 1950-60:
After the hard 40s, which were shaped by the war and the post-war famines induced by the "artificial winter" caused by burning oil wells and dropped nukes, the world starts to recover again. The chaotic half of the world however, stays, well, chaotic.
Science and technology are farther progressed than IOTL: Computers are already at the level of OTL 1990, and there is software for computer networks (just over copper wires yet) and databases. (Office software is just developing, however, PCs are rare and/or restricted, and there are few games, except those made by hobbyists.) Cryptography is on a very high level and strictly enforced. Flight and rocket technology also is farther progressed (WW2 started with jet engines and rockets; during the war, supersonic flight was developed), as is television (well, partly. Pictures are better, but TVs at home are rare), linguistics and many branches of chemistry.

Germany:
1950: Germany tests the first hydrogen bomb.

1950s: "Baggersee (quarry pond) culture" in Germany initiated by the blacks. Since they can't play their preferred music in their quarters (their neighbors and the police don't want too much noise in the night), they start to celebrate regular festivals at the weekend at the quarry ponds - with fires, roast meat, and playing their loud Tech [1] music. Even some of their German coworkers join them.

Groups of young immigrants start to form gangs. The German police calls them "Bolzer", a term for football / soccer fans. They hope to categorize the new problem by this way.

Young Germans start illegal car races in the night. They're called "Mokker", from "Mok" as an abbrev for "Motorkutsche" (motor carriage), i.e. car.

1951: #1 of "Geschichten aus Ordo" (Tales from Ordo) appears.

1952: Olympic Games in Wildenhartburg (OTL Chicago).

1953: Germany starts the first satellite from a base in OTL Gabun, thinks about building armed "killer" satellites, space photography.

1954: Germany builds the first nuclear surface-to-surface missile.

1960: Olympic Games in Alexandersborg (OTL Cape Town).


China:
1953: China makes peace treaties with several of the new Russian nations in its north.

1956: Olympic Games in Canton.

1958: China starts the first satellite.

1959: The emperor dies, his second son takes the throne. He is the fourth adoptive emperor.


Socialist Block:
1952: Surprisingly, the Socialist Block launches the first artificial satellite from Sicily.

1954: Inner divisions. France (which has become the leading nation between the wars) allies with Italy to hold down the German parts.

1955: Computer scientists start working on a translation program, which the Socialist Block with five big and even more small languages desperately needs.

1956: Socialist agents posing as refugees in Braseal manage to destroy the royal palace in Novolondon. The whole family is killed. Since the monarchy was one of the few things that held the multicultural country together, it falls into crisis.


Canada and Pacific:
1953: In Canadian Indonesia, a man appears who claims to be a Nipponese prince and starts to mobilize the Nipponese diaspora against hated China.

1955: Canadian computer scientists develop the first evolutionary algorithms.

1957: Technocratic government of Canada starts to surveil "suspicious persons" (mostly political opponents) with electronic tagging (typically with a shackle). Later, Germany also introduces this new method.


Atlantean Chaos:
1950s: Air conditioning becomes more common in the various countries, helping to develop third-sector business.

1952: The area of Yucatan breaks away from Mexico, forming the first Maya state for centuries.

1956: Germany sends troops to help to establish a new, "synarchist" regime in Braseal to stabilize the second-most populated country in Atlantis. Although half-way successful, German troops are bound in the country.


Russian / Eastern European Chaos:
1950: The number of Rurikid princes has fallen to about ten.

1951: Greek fishermen find mysterious metal parts in their nets. No explanation for this is given, which leads to all kinds of speculations about extraterrestrials.

1956: Igor Danilovich Sinyavsky from Kiev presents his linguistic theory (OTL equivalent would be Meaning-Text Theory).

1958: Russia-successor state Uralistan has to make war against its neighbors after oil is discovered in the north.


Indian Chaos:
1950, August: Strong earthquake in Assam.

1951: Germany gives the area of Benares independence. To split the Indians, they give control of the city to the Buddhists.

1954: Kerala with its well educated population, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka (the latter is split into three states) are granted independence.


African Chaos:
1952: The self-declared "Zambezi king" becomes too powerful for Germany, since they fear for their colonies in Australia (OTL South Africa) and Katanga. They support various other small kings and opposition groups to topple him, successfully.

1954: Ethiopia, one of the few stable native states until now, also falls into civil war.

1958: Irish-Catholic missionaries have been so successful in East Africa that their archbishop can take influence on the government of Zanzibar.


Mediterranean / Middle Eastern Chaos:
1952: Phineas ben-Frank writes the first multi-layer perceptron at the university of Damaskus.

1954-57: Under its ambitious new ruler, Morocco attacks and conquers most of OTL Mali and Mauretania. Since it's an important German ally after Spain became Socialist, the Germans don't mind.

1959: In Persia, after many years of civil war after the Russians left, Sunni and Shia make peace, if only because both are exhausted.


Story:
[post=1052163]Reading material for Logos[/post]