NamelesStatistic
Banned
The Front de libération du Québec (Quebec Liberation Front) aka the FLQ was a Marxist-nationalist paramilitary terrorist organization founded in the early 1960s whose main goal was to use violent means to overthrow "the Anglo-Saxon imperialism" and bring about Quebec independence. In OTL he were responsible for approximately 160 bombings in Quebec through the 1960s killing a total of 8 people and injuring dozens, the biggest of which was the bombing of the Montreal Stock Exchange in 1969. Their attacks culminated in October of 1970 when they kidnapped a British diplomat; James Cross and the Quebec Labour Minister; Pierre Laporte. The FLQ communicate a list of demands, including the release of "political prisoners" in exchange for the release of Cross and Laporte.
The Lawyer for the FLQ Robert Lemieux organizes a 3,000 student rally to show support for the FLQ; labour leader Michel Chartrand announces that popular support for FLQ is rising and states "We are going to win because there are more boys ready to shoot members of Parliament than there are policemen." The rally frightens many Canadians, who view it as a possible prelude to outright insurrection in Quebec.
After negotiations with the FLQ break down and in response to the rising public unrest, the Canadian Government under Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau (father of the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) controversially invoked the "War Measures Act" for the first and only time outside of the World Wars, which limited civil liberties and gave the Quebec police far-reaching powers. In addition, at the request of the Quebec Provincial Government the Canadian Army was also deployed throughout the province in support of Quebec's police force. Nearly 500 suspected FLQ members and sympathizers were quickly arrested by the police. When asked by a reporter at the time how far he was willing to go to stop the FLQ, Trudeau famously replied: "Just watch me." In response the FLQ murder Pierre Laporte. Ultimately, on December 4, 1970 James Cross is released in exchange for safe passage of five of the kidnappers to Cuba, while the rest of the members of the main FLQ cells are hunted down, including those who are later convicted of murdering Pierre Laporte.
In OTL the violent actions of the FLQ, particularly their kidnapping and murder of a government minister hurt their popularity among Quebecers and ultimately accelerated the movement towards electoral means of attaining greater autonomy and independence for Quebec (there would be two independence referendums in Quebec in 1980 and 1995, the last one ultimately only failed by a 1% margin). However, what if the actions of the FLQ in the 1960s and in particular had been successful in gathering popular support for a significant armed insurrection? What would it have taken for the FLQ to gather the support necessary to catalyze the outbreak of an armed independence conflict in Quebec the scale of something like The Troubles in Ireland? Just how far would Trudeau really have been willing to use armed force to put down an insurrection?
Furthermore, how would the international community react? Particularly, what would have happened if the FLQ had turned to striking out against the US? In OTL in June 1970 Quebec police raided a house north of Montreal where they found firearms, ammunition, 300 pounds (140 kg) of dynamite, detonators and a draft of a ransom note to be used in the kidnapping of the United States consul. How would a US in the midst of the Cold-War react to a Marxist terrorist group right across its border in Quebec bombing their consulate in Montreal, or worse launching an attack across the border on US territory?
The Lawyer for the FLQ Robert Lemieux organizes a 3,000 student rally to show support for the FLQ; labour leader Michel Chartrand announces that popular support for FLQ is rising and states "We are going to win because there are more boys ready to shoot members of Parliament than there are policemen." The rally frightens many Canadians, who view it as a possible prelude to outright insurrection in Quebec.
After negotiations with the FLQ break down and in response to the rising public unrest, the Canadian Government under Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau (father of the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) controversially invoked the "War Measures Act" for the first and only time outside of the World Wars, which limited civil liberties and gave the Quebec police far-reaching powers. In addition, at the request of the Quebec Provincial Government the Canadian Army was also deployed throughout the province in support of Quebec's police force. Nearly 500 suspected FLQ members and sympathizers were quickly arrested by the police. When asked by a reporter at the time how far he was willing to go to stop the FLQ, Trudeau famously replied: "Just watch me." In response the FLQ murder Pierre Laporte. Ultimately, on December 4, 1970 James Cross is released in exchange for safe passage of five of the kidnappers to Cuba, while the rest of the members of the main FLQ cells are hunted down, including those who are later convicted of murdering Pierre Laporte.
In OTL the violent actions of the FLQ, particularly their kidnapping and murder of a government minister hurt their popularity among Quebecers and ultimately accelerated the movement towards electoral means of attaining greater autonomy and independence for Quebec (there would be two independence referendums in Quebec in 1980 and 1995, the last one ultimately only failed by a 1% margin). However, what if the actions of the FLQ in the 1960s and in particular had been successful in gathering popular support for a significant armed insurrection? What would it have taken for the FLQ to gather the support necessary to catalyze the outbreak of an armed independence conflict in Quebec the scale of something like The Troubles in Ireland? Just how far would Trudeau really have been willing to use armed force to put down an insurrection?
Furthermore, how would the international community react? Particularly, what would have happened if the FLQ had turned to striking out against the US? In OTL in June 1970 Quebec police raided a house north of Montreal where they found firearms, ammunition, 300 pounds (140 kg) of dynamite, detonators and a draft of a ransom note to be used in the kidnapping of the United States consul. How would a US in the midst of the Cold-War react to a Marxist terrorist group right across its border in Quebec bombing their consulate in Montreal, or worse launching an attack across the border on US territory?
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