The next update to my Manchurian Candidate timeline, this time delving into who the Mandate of Heaven has passed to. Check the thread itself to find out who the current Emperor of China is, and consider taking a look!
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes V (Do Not Post Current Politics Here)
- Status
The next update to my Manchurian Candidate timeline, this time delving into who the Mandate of Heaven has passed to. Check the thread itself to find out who the current Emperor of China is, and consider taking a look!
2001
Having enjoyed what some analysts called the ‘two-year honeymoon’, as he began his second term Blair finally felt like he had a mandate to begin enacting some more contentious policies. In January 1997, he announced an increase in the minimum wage and that referenda would be held in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on whether to expand the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies; all three nations voted in favour of this devolution fairly comfortably in June. Any real contention over these moves was muted when, on the 31st August, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris, and Blair’s success at capturing the mood of national mourning where the Queen could not further bolstered his popularity. Even his own party’s sleaze scandals, like when it emerged the exception granted on the tobacco advertising ban to Formula 1 was influenced by the campaign donations Bernie Ecclestone had provided to Labour in 1996, proved fairly minor in the grand scheme of things.
Part of the problem the Nat Cons faced was in their struggle to effectively progress from their defeat. The party’s new leader Iain Duncan Smith, who had beaten the more moderate Ken Clarke and the less moderate John Redwood in the leadership election, was quickly lampooned for his softly-spoken and unimpressive style of leadership, especially compared to how charismatic many voters at the time considered Blair to be. His public derision of his nickname, ‘IDS’, saying that it ‘makes me sound like a pandemic’, led a few satirists to compare his ardently conservative views to a plague. His policy agenda was not enormously appealing to many voters either; he struggled to muster up strong arguments against devolution, and his opposition to the repeal of Section 28 in 1999 culminated not in any electoral boon but in him being called a ‘petty homophobe’ by Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (and the first out gay MP in Britain) Chris Smith. His failure to block both these legislative programmes further undermined his leadership.
The most infamous example of Duncan Smith’s leadership failing to come to fruition, however, was his efforts to block Labour’s reforms of the House of Lords by removing the vast majority of hereditary peers just after being elected Tory leader in May 1997. It quickly became apparent that the Tory leader in the Lords, Lord Cranborne, had already agreed a deal with Labour to spare 92 hereditary peers, which made Duncan Smith look incompetent and his party uncommunicative.
Just as disastrous, however, was the attempt Duncan Smith made at the 1997 National Conservative Party Conference in September to ‘relaunch’ the party; the name was being changed back to simply Conservative, the old torch logo used under Heseltine was revived, and Duncan Smith famously declared as the logo was revealed during the first speech he gave at the conference that ‘we will re-light the fire of conservatism in Britain!’
This move, however, was a huge PR disaster for the Tories. Its presentation led to the party being likened to a cult by some and the New Coke debacle by others, and hundreds of thousands of pounds had to be spent producing and distributing redesigned campaigning material across the country, most of which was considered a huge waste. Tellingly, one of the most famous things to come from the rebrand was a cartoon of Duncan Smith with a guitar and Oasis-style bowlcut declaring to the conference, ‘Backbeat, the word is on the street that the fire in your party’s out’.
Obviously, the next four years were not without incident for the government, especially compared to Blair’s first two years in power. Britain’s support for military action like bombing Baghdad if Saddam did not allow weapons inspectors into the region and for the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo attracted protest from pacifist groups- a premonition of things to come- but Blair’s protestations that such support was the morally right thing to do outweighed the view that he was being a hypocrite for his ‘ethical foreign policy’ plans from the 1996 manifesto, and most voters didn’t really care since at home things seemed to be going well.
There were a few fiascos even on the home front, though. Most obviously, after a 1998 referendum approved the creation of a Mayor of London and converted the old GLC into the Greater London Authority (GLA), Blair attempted to push for Frank Dobson to be picked as Labour’s candidate for mayor instead of the contentious former GLC leader Ken Livingstone, an effort which ended in failure when the election in 2000 resulted in Livingstone winning as an independent. However, against the languid Opposition leadership of IDS, there was only so much damage this could do to Blair himself. By late 1999, with the takeover of Charles Kennedy as Liberal leader, some pundits speculated that the Tories would never recover as Labour’s major opponent, let alone ‘the natural party of government’.
Despite this, as the year 2000 dawned, a few events which induced a little more hope in the British right started occurring. The development of the Millennium Dome project, something originally conceived way back in 1991 by Heseltine, ended fairly embarrassingly as the national consensus emerged that the Dome was a total white elephant, and it flopped fairly badly financially. In April of the same year, a huge march organized by the Countryside Alliance set out to challenge the efforts made by the government to ban hunting with dogs, and IDS’s address to the march declaring his party would ‘protect your way of life’ was generally agreed as the high point of his leadership. But the biggest scare for the government was when, in September, a huge protest against rising fuel prices occurred leading to fuel shortages and panic buying, and for the first time since early 1992, the Tories briefly moved ahead of Labour in the polls.
However, the issue was resolved fairly quickly by the government, and in February of 2001 (having held back on his original plan for a September 2000 election for obvious reasons) Blair announced a general election to be held in May along with that year’s local elections.
Things would not be quite that smooth, however, as the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that started that month led to both the local and general elections being postponed. While IDS attempted to call Blair ‘afraid of facing the electorate’, most voters saw his attack as poorly-timed and tasteless. During the campaign, to their credit, the Tories did manage to pinpoint a few sensitive issues for Labour, namely Blair’s refusal to rule out Britain joining the Eurozone, the poor response to the foot-and-mouth outbreak and a policy of tax cuts that particularly focused on fuel prices. However, Labour defused the latter fairly effectively by pledging no further increases on fuel prices and criticizing the Tories for threatening the good economy with 'reckless' tax cut pledges.
By the time election day rolled around, the Tories looked set to take yet another battering, and a leak to the Sun the day before alleging that Duncan Smith would be forced to resign by Conservative Central Office if the Tories didn’t win at least 200 seats hadn’t helped their morale.
Ultimately, the election was a third consecutive Labour landslide. While the Tories did make a net gain of seats for the first time in 16 years, won over 30% of the vote for the first time since the 1989 election and shored up their position against the Liberals slightly, they were still only one seat above where Major had been in 1993, and had not even managed to push Labour below 400 seats. The real winners of the 2001 election, though, were three less traditional forces: the DUP, which further squeezed the UUP in Northern Ireland; minor candidates, as Dr Richard Taylor won the Wyre Forest constituency from Labour due to the effort to close Kidderminster Hospital and Martin Bell successfully won Brentwood and Ongar from the Tories having pledged not to stand in Tatton again; and apathy, as turnout fell to 58.8%, the lowest for any British general election since 1918 by a sizeable margin.
Regardless of all this, one could hardly call the 2001 election a refutation of Blair, given he had just won a 169-seat majority and won a third consecutive term in office for Labour for the first time in its history. Some pundits questioned, given his young age and huge majority, whether he would remain Prime Minister for years to come, but his third term was to be both his last and his most contentious.
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From Desire the Right:
John George Diefenbaker was a Canadian-born American politician well-known for his long and prolific career in American politics. Born in the town of Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, he and his family would emigrate to the American town of Tyler, Texas when he was three years old. The Diefenbaker family would become naturalized US citizens ten years later. After serving as a lawyer for much of his adult life, Diefenbaker ran for US House in 1938 as a member of the Freedom Party and won. He would be reelected twice, before being elected Governor of Texas in 1944. As governor, he would prove to be a close ally of President Earl Warren, supporting much of his war agenda. He would be reelected as governor in 1946, but resign in mid-1947 to become the very first White House Chief of Staff.
Diefenbaker would serve in this capacity until his election to the US Senate in 1948. As senator, he would go on to become one of the most influential and well-known senators of his generation, serving as Senate Minority Leader from 1955 to 1959 and then Majority Leader from 1959 to 1966. During his time in the Senate he would develop a rivalry with fellow Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who represented the Farmer-Labor Party. Diefenbaker would resign from the Senate in 1966 when President Nelson Rockefeller appointed him Secretary of the Interior, a position which he would hold until the end of Rockefeller's term.
Due to his political influence and name recognition, many in the Freedom Party wanted Diefenbaker to run for the presidency in 1968, although he was constitutionally unable to due to his status as a naturalized citizen. To get around this, a constitutional amendment was proposed to remove the natural-born requirement, although the amendment would be shot down due to the Farmer-Labor Party and many on the right-wing of the Freedom Party opposing it. Notably, future president Bob Dornan, who was then a young representative, was quoted as saying "hell will freeze over before I'll vote to let a Canuck into the White House."
Due to the failure of the amendment, the Freedom Party would instead nominate Vice President George W. Romney, who would go on to win the election. Romney would appoint Diefenbaker back to the position of Chief of Staff, a position which he would hold throughout the entirety of Romney's presidency. He would lose this position after Romney lost the 1972 election to Michigan governor Dominic Jacobetti.
Following the 1972 election, Diefenbaker would retire to his home in Tyler and pass away from a heart attack in 1979. His death made news headlines, with even President Jacobetti taking the time to speak fondly of Diefenbaker, something Jacobetti rarely did of Freedomites. Many consider Diefenbaker to be one of the "greatest presidents who never was". To this day the Freedom Party's federal headquarters are in the Diefenbaker Building in Washington, DC.
John George Diefenbaker was a Canadian-born American politician well-known for his long and prolific career in American politics. Born in the town of Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, he and his family would emigrate to the American town of Tyler, Texas when he was three years old. The Diefenbaker family would become naturalized US citizens ten years later. After serving as a lawyer for much of his adult life, Diefenbaker ran for US House in 1938 as a member of the Freedom Party and won. He would be reelected twice, before being elected Governor of Texas in 1944. As governor, he would prove to be a close ally of President Earl Warren, supporting much of his war agenda. He would be reelected as governor in 1946, but resign in mid-1947 to become the very first White House Chief of Staff.
Diefenbaker would serve in this capacity until his election to the US Senate in 1948. As senator, he would go on to become one of the most influential and well-known senators of his generation, serving as Senate Minority Leader from 1955 to 1959 and then Majority Leader from 1959 to 1966. During his time in the Senate he would develop a rivalry with fellow Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who represented the Farmer-Labor Party. Diefenbaker would resign from the Senate in 1966 when President Nelson Rockefeller appointed him Secretary of the Interior, a position which he would hold until the end of Rockefeller's term.
Due to his political influence and name recognition, many in the Freedom Party wanted Diefenbaker to run for the presidency in 1968, although he was constitutionally unable to due to his status as a naturalized citizen. To get around this, a constitutional amendment was proposed to remove the natural-born requirement, although the amendment would be shot down due to the Farmer-Labor Party and many on the right-wing of the Freedom Party opposing it. Notably, future president Bob Dornan, who was then a young representative, was quoted as saying "hell will freeze over before I'll vote to let a Canuck into the White House."
Due to the failure of the amendment, the Freedom Party would instead nominate Vice President George W. Romney, who would go on to win the election. Romney would appoint Diefenbaker back to the position of Chief of Staff, a position which he would hold throughout the entirety of Romney's presidency. He would lose this position after Romney lost the 1972 election to Michigan governor Dominic Jacobetti.
Following the 1972 election, Diefenbaker would retire to his home in Tyler and pass away from a heart attack in 1979. His death made news headlines, with even President Jacobetti taking the time to speak fondly of Diefenbaker, something Jacobetti rarely did of Freedomites. Many consider Diefenbaker to be one of the "greatest presidents who never was". To this day the Freedom Party's federal headquarters are in the Diefenbaker Building in Washington, DC.
2015 Alaska General Election
Throughout most of the 19th century, the Russian Empire's colony in Alaska was never very profitable or well inhabited. The Russian Empire gained so little from the colony that in the 1880's a deal to sell it to the British was almost successful, but the British negotiators thought that the land was worth less than the Russians were offering. In the 1890's and the early 1900's, several gold rushes would push several thousands of immigrants from Russia to move to the colony in search of fortune with the Russian government encouraging many to move. Immigrants from the neighboring Commonwealth of America would also move into the now growing colony.
During the Russian Civil War (1917-1925), Alaska would remain in the hands of the White Army throughout. However in mainland Russia, the Whites would not do as well. In 1918, the Red Army would execute Tsar Nicolas II, his family, and many other members of the Romanov dynasty dealing a huge blow to the monarchist forces. In 1921, the White forces, now pushed far to the East and led by Alexander Kolchak, would name Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich as Tsar Kirill continuing on the imperial legacy. In 1922, many of the White forces and the newly crowned emperor would flee the Russian mainland for the Alaskan colony. Thousands of Russian civilians would flee the Red forces to the colony as well. By 1925, the last of the White forces in Russia would fall to the Red Army ending the Civil War.
In Alaska, the remnants of the Russian Empire would find much difficulty on the American continent. There only salvation would come from the British and specifically Americans who would greatly support the government-in-exile. In 1941, Alaska would begin to hold elections for the State Duma for the first time since being exiled, but in every election for several decades, a block of pro-monarchist, pro-Russian parties would dominate. The Russian remnants would struggle in Alaska for several decades slowly losing relevance as nations began recognizing the Soviet Union as the legitimate ruler of Russia and began using just "Alaska" to refer to the small Empire in order to placate the now strong communist power. In 1949, the League of Nations would vote to grant the USSR a seat in the body, and change the Russian Empire's name to the "Russian Empire in Alaska".
In the 1950's, the AIaskan capital of Novo-Arkhangelsk would begin to reach capacity in the small space it occupied. The city of Ankoridzh on Cook Inlet had surpassed it as the largest city in the country, so the Alaskan government in 1957 would move the location of the State Duma and the royal palace to Ankoridzh to serve as the new capital. In the 1960's, Alaska gained a huge boon when large amounts of oil was discovered on its the Northern coast. Alaska's economy took off and would attract many more American immigrants to work in the oil industry. Alaska seemed to be doing very well for itself; in 1975, however, forecasts for the upcoming election pointed towards liberal and social democratic parties winning a possible majority for the first time in the country's history. In response and at the behest of the government, Tsar Vladimir, Kirill's son, announced that the election would be postponed indefinitely. The postponed election lead to the Alaskan Civil War (1975-1976). During the Civil War, Native Alaskans and American settlers would largely join forces to fight the Russian pro-monarchists even though the two did not have much good will toward each other. But even combined the monarchist forces ultimately prevailed and from 1975-1997, Alaska would be a dictatorship and held no free elections.
By 1997, Alaska hadn't held an open election in 22 years and would be facing strong influence from the other North American states to democratize. The Commonwealth in 1993 placed sanctions on Alaska after their repeated refusal to hold elections. Tsarina Maria, who gained the crown in 1992, was more open to democracy than her father, and in 1997, Alaska would finally hold elections for the State Duma and write a new Constitution for the country (though would still continue to claim the entirety of the old Russian Empire as rightfully theirs). In the first elections, the Constitutional Union, a right-wing party that supports the monarchy and Russian unification, won with a sizable majority, and would continue to handily win every election held since 1999. Since the Soviets Union's fall in 1985 and their replacement with the Russian Republic, there has been talks to reunify the country, but it always stalls due to Alaska's insistence on keeping the monarchy intact.
In 2015, the Constitutional Union (KS) would win a majority giving Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev another term in office. The Union of Democrats and Liberals (SDL), a broad center-right to center-left party that supports Alaskan Independence and led by co-leaders Ana Murkowski and Boris Edgmon, would continue to perform well among Native Alaskans and in urban areas. The far-right Justice Party for Russia (PYR), an ultra-nationalist party led by Alexander Lukashenko which also supports Russian Reunification, would also gain seats in the Duma. In the upcoming 2020 elections, due to a worsening economy caused by a shrinking oil supply, numerous corruption sandals from the Medvedev government, and continued international trade tension with Japan, the SDL is currently projected to make huge gains and to possibly unseat the KS and secure a majority. Tsarina Maria has repeatedly stated that unlike her father, she would honor the results of the elections regardless of the winner.
Throughout most of the 19th century, the Russian Empire's colony in Alaska was never very profitable or well inhabited. The Russian Empire gained so little from the colony that in the 1880's a deal to sell it to the British was almost successful, but the British negotiators thought that the land was worth less than the Russians were offering. In the 1890's and the early 1900's, several gold rushes would push several thousands of immigrants from Russia to move to the colony in search of fortune with the Russian government encouraging many to move. Immigrants from the neighboring Commonwealth of America would also move into the now growing colony.
During the Russian Civil War (1917-1925), Alaska would remain in the hands of the White Army throughout. However in mainland Russia, the Whites would not do as well. In 1918, the Red Army would execute Tsar Nicolas II, his family, and many other members of the Romanov dynasty dealing a huge blow to the monarchist forces. In 1921, the White forces, now pushed far to the East and led by Alexander Kolchak, would name Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich as Tsar Kirill continuing on the imperial legacy. In 1922, many of the White forces and the newly crowned emperor would flee the Russian mainland for the Alaskan colony. Thousands of Russian civilians would flee the Red forces to the colony as well. By 1925, the last of the White forces in Russia would fall to the Red Army ending the Civil War.
In Alaska, the remnants of the Russian Empire would find much difficulty on the American continent. There only salvation would come from the British and specifically Americans who would greatly support the government-in-exile. In 1941, Alaska would begin to hold elections for the State Duma for the first time since being exiled, but in every election for several decades, a block of pro-monarchist, pro-Russian parties would dominate. The Russian remnants would struggle in Alaska for several decades slowly losing relevance as nations began recognizing the Soviet Union as the legitimate ruler of Russia and began using just "Alaska" to refer to the small Empire in order to placate the now strong communist power. In 1949, the League of Nations would vote to grant the USSR a seat in the body, and change the Russian Empire's name to the "Russian Empire in Alaska".
In the 1950's, the AIaskan capital of Novo-Arkhangelsk would begin to reach capacity in the small space it occupied. The city of Ankoridzh on Cook Inlet had surpassed it as the largest city in the country, so the Alaskan government in 1957 would move the location of the State Duma and the royal palace to Ankoridzh to serve as the new capital. In the 1960's, Alaska gained a huge boon when large amounts of oil was discovered on its the Northern coast. Alaska's economy took off and would attract many more American immigrants to work in the oil industry. Alaska seemed to be doing very well for itself; in 1975, however, forecasts for the upcoming election pointed towards liberal and social democratic parties winning a possible majority for the first time in the country's history. In response and at the behest of the government, Tsar Vladimir, Kirill's son, announced that the election would be postponed indefinitely. The postponed election lead to the Alaskan Civil War (1975-1976). During the Civil War, Native Alaskans and American settlers would largely join forces to fight the Russian pro-monarchists even though the two did not have much good will toward each other. But even combined the monarchist forces ultimately prevailed and from 1975-1997, Alaska would be a dictatorship and held no free elections.
By 1997, Alaska hadn't held an open election in 22 years and would be facing strong influence from the other North American states to democratize. The Commonwealth in 1993 placed sanctions on Alaska after their repeated refusal to hold elections. Tsarina Maria, who gained the crown in 1992, was more open to democracy than her father, and in 1997, Alaska would finally hold elections for the State Duma and write a new Constitution for the country (though would still continue to claim the entirety of the old Russian Empire as rightfully theirs). In the first elections, the Constitutional Union, a right-wing party that supports the monarchy and Russian unification, won with a sizable majority, and would continue to handily win every election held since 1999. Since the Soviets Union's fall in 1985 and their replacement with the Russian Republic, there has been talks to reunify the country, but it always stalls due to Alaska's insistence on keeping the monarchy intact.
In 2015, the Constitutional Union (KS) would win a majority giving Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev another term in office. The Union of Democrats and Liberals (SDL), a broad center-right to center-left party that supports Alaskan Independence and led by co-leaders Ana Murkowski and Boris Edgmon, would continue to perform well among Native Alaskans and in urban areas. The far-right Justice Party for Russia (PYR), an ultra-nationalist party led by Alexander Lukashenko which also supports Russian Reunification, would also gain seats in the Duma. In the upcoming 2020 elections, due to a worsening economy caused by a shrinking oil supply, numerous corruption sandals from the Medvedev government, and continued international trade tension with Japan, the SDL is currently projected to make huge gains and to possibly unseat the KS and secure a majority. Tsarina Maria has repeatedly stated that unlike her father, she would honor the results of the elections regardless of the winner.
Spoilerdog is an early internet meme currently on display in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Made by an unknown American artist, the series of at least 17 image macros were created and stored on a laptop PC in either the late 2010’s or early 2020’s before the hardware was discarded into a landfill where it remained in obscurity, eventually being used as material to create the artificial island of Weichung in the South China Sea where it lay for more than a century. Unearthed in the Liao Bei excavation site in 2184, these sets of images remain one of the very few hardware-era memes that have survived to the present day in their original medium, as most image macros stored on computers from this time have been lost due to recycling, physical contamination, or data degradation. Most early internet historians believe that Spoilerdog was not widespread among the greater internet community, as this particular piece of hardware is the only one to contain Spoilerdog images. Instead, internet historians consider Spoilerdog a niche meme, shared only among a small group of persons through digital means. Much of the information regarding the Spoilerdog meme, such as the origin of its name and its reason for meme status are unknown and possibly lost to history, leading to several speculative theories on how early 21st century Americans used and communicated over the internet.
@Georgepatton wanted me to tag him when I made this so here you go
@Georgepatton wanted me to tag him when I made this so here you go
This is awesome!Spoilerdog is an early internet meme currently on display in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Made by an unknown American artist, the series of at least 17 image macros were created and stored on a laptop PC in either the late 2010’s or early 2020’s before the hardware was discarded into a landfill where it remained in obscurity, eventually being used as material to create the artificial island of Weichung in the South China Sea where it lay for more than a century. Unearthed in the Liao Bei excavation site in 2184, these sets of images remain one of the very few hardware-era memes that have survived to the present day in their original medium, as most image macros stored on computers from this time have been lost due to recycling, physical contamination, or data degradation. Most early internet historians believe that Spoilerdog was not widespread among the greater internet community, as this particular piece of hardware is the only one to contain Spoilerdog images. Instead, internet historians consider Spoilerdog a niche meme, shared only among a small group of persons through digital means. Much of the information regarding the Spoilerdog meme, such as the origin of its name and its reason for meme status are unknown and possibly lost to history, leading to several speculative theories on how early 21st century Americans used and communicated over the internet.
@Georgepatton wanted me to tag him when I made this so here you go
Ok this is epicSpoilerdog is an early internet meme currently on display in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Made by an unknown American artist, the series of at least 17 image macros were created and stored on a laptop PC in either the late 2010’s or early 2020’s before the hardware was discarded into a landfill where it remained in obscurity, eventually being used as material to create the artificial island of Weichung in the South China Sea where it lay for more than a century. Unearthed in the Liao Bei excavation site in 2184, these sets of images remain one of the very few hardware-era memes that have survived to the present day in their original medium, as most image macros stored on computers from this time have been lost due to recycling, physical contamination, or data degradation. Most early internet historians believe that Spoilerdog was not widespread among the greater internet community, as this particular piece of hardware is the only one to contain Spoilerdog images. Instead, internet historians consider Spoilerdog a niche meme, shared only among a small group of persons through digital means. Much of the information regarding the Spoilerdog meme, such as the origin of its name and its reason for meme status are unknown and possibly lost to history, leading to several speculative theories on how early 21st century Americans used and communicated over the internet.
@Georgepatton wanted me to tag him when I made this so here you go
Got bored! My assumption is this is set in the not too distant future following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sometime in the early 2020's. Likely introduced by some kind of future Labour-led Government under moderately leftist leadership elected in 2025.
(Yes i know Against and For should have been Yes and No, I do not care enough to change this.)
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It could be worse, aka Anarcho-Monarchism or Anarcho-Nationalist-Bolshevikism
Red Britannia
The Commonwealth Central Broadcasting Committee managed television and radio broadcasting in the British Socialist Commonwealth. The CCB was owned by the Commonwealth state, and was under its direct control and censorship. The CCB Committee was subject to the Ministries of Communications and Public Information, which ensured the CCB promoted the ideals, agendas and propaganda of the Communist Party.
CCB Radio, originally founded as British Central Broadcasting Radio, was launched in 1924. CCB Television would be launched 12 years later in 1936. CCB Radio also operated an international radio service, called Albion Radio.
Under the leadership of George Thomson, a series of reforms were enacted from 1987 that relaxed state and party control over the media. Such reforms initially began in the later stages of Denis Healey's leadership, but changes were minimal. With Thomson's reforms, the CCB's monopoly on the media was ended, with the founding of private radio and TV channels such as ITV in England. By 1991, CCB programmes were entirely propaganda and party censorship free.
After the 1993 collapse of the BSC, the CCB was dissolved.
CCB TV produced free-to-air television programming approved by the Commonwealth Ministries of Communications and Public Information. CCB TV programmes were varied, ranging from news programmes, documentaries, television films, children's programmes and sports programmes. The CCB exercised strict censorship on their programming; any criticism of the Commonwealth government was banned. Communist Party authorities sought to use television to promote party ideological and cultural ideas, exercising full control over dissemination of information. Anything the CCB Committee and the government deemed obscene or 'morally incorrect' was also prohibited. These ranged from nudity, graphic violence and drug use. Religious content, while not officially banned, was avoided. Reforms to the CCB gradually reduced censorship from 1987, until 1991 when political censorship was entirely removed.
CCB Television officially launched in 1936, after a series of test broadcasts. During wartime, stations were taken off air until 1948. The war government enforced a strict defensive total war policy, which saw many elements of society mobilised.
Throughout the 1960s, CCB Television conducted experimental colour broadcasts, until 1967 when regular colour programming was introduced. The British Socialist Commonwealth was the second country in Europe to introduce colour television.
By the 1980s, there were three main channels of CCB TV. Channel One was the main channel, with its programming including news, general entertainment, films and documentaries. Channel Two, launched in 1955, consisted of cultural programming, arts and sport. Channel Three was replaced by regional channels for each republic.
With the relaxation of censorship in 1991, more foreign programming was introduced, particularly from Europe.
Red Britannia
Commonwealth Central Broadcasting; CCB Television (You are here)
Margaret Roberts; Neil Kinnock
Commonwealth Central Broadcasting; CCB Television (You are here)
Margaret Roberts; Neil Kinnock
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"A House Divided"
"Republican Convention selects Senator Seward for President and Senator Hamlin for Vice President"
-Chicago Tribune; May 19, 1860
"It's only Seward or Lane, so pick Seward!"
-GOP Campaign Slogan used in the North during the 1860 campaign
"Election to be decided by Congress"
-New York Times; November 12, 1860
"Stephen Douglas withdraws from contention, refuses to be elected by a 'corrupt bargain' after losing the popular vote "
-Philadelphia Inquirer; December 11, 1860
"Senate Contingent Election selects Lane; House balloting remains deadlocked as some members continue to vote for Douglas"
-The Boston Post; February 14, 1861
"Rep. Morris abandons neutrality and switches to Seward after intensive letter writing campaign"
-Chicago Tribune; February 19, 1861
"Oregon Rep. Lansing Stout refuses to back Seward or Breckenridge as House remains deadlocked"
-New York Times; February 25, 1861
"Seward withdraws from race - calls on supporters in the House to back Douglas 'without any conditions or reservations'"
-Philadelphia Inquirer; February 28, 1861
"Douglas re-enters race. Denies existence of any quid-pro-quo between him and Seward"
The New Hampshire Gazette; March 2, 1861
"Seward and Douglas to steal election from Breckenridge in corrupt bargain"
The Augusta Chronicle; March 2, 1861
"Rep. Stout switches vote to Breckenridge on 86th Ballot - denying Douglas a majority of delegations"
-New York Times; March 3, 1861
"36th House of Representatives fails to select a candidate, Lane to become acting President"
-New York Times; March 4, 1861
"37th House of Representatives selects Seward as President, Supporters of President Lane decry action as 'unconstitutional'"
-The Fayetteville Observer; March 6, 1861
"LANE v. SEWARD decided; Supreme Court holds new congress cannot hold contingent elections in divided opinion - Lane to remain President"
-The Philadelphia Inquirer; April 2, 1861
"Former Rep. Lansing Stout receives "significant" land patent in Multnomah County, Oregon"
-The Oregonian; May 1, 1861
"Shocking Allegations emerge that Stout was bribed by supports of Breckenridge and Lane with offers of land in Oregon to switch his vote in the House Contingent election"
-New York Post; September 28, 1861
"Multnomah Land Patent Scandal threatens to end Joseph Lane's Presidency as incriminating letters surface"
-Rutland Herald; January 28, 1862
"The act of New York, therefore, prohibiting a citizen of the United States from taking with him his slaves when he removes to the State in question to reside is an exercise of authority over private property which is not warranted by the Constitution"
-Chief Justice Roger Taney authoring the Majority Opinion in Lemmon v. New York, April 6, 1862
"Slavery Legal throughout nation after shocking Supreme Court Decision"
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1862
"Joseph Lane becomes the First President to be Impeached"
-New York Times; May 3, 1862
"Senate convicts Lane by 43-27; short of two-thirds needed for removal "
-Poughkeepsie Journal; July 16, 1862
"Northern Mob seizes slave Elijah Washington from owner; Vermont state government refuses to provide for his return"
-The Post and Courier; September 2, 1862
"President Lane sends Federal troops to force the return of Elijah Washington to his owner"
-Philadelphia Inquirer; September 19, 1862
"Attempts to conduct an ad hoc slave auction in New York City lead to riots"
-Intelligencer Journal; June 4, 1863
"Such is the issue simply stated. On the one side are women and children on the auction-block; families rudely separated; human flesh lacerated and seamed by the bloody scourge; labor extorted without wages; and all this frightful, many-sided wrong is the declared foundation of a mock commonwealth. On the other side is the sentiment of Liberty, which insists that no such mock Commonwealth, having such a declared foundation, shall be permitted on our territory, purchased with money and blood, to impair the unity of our jurisdiction and to insult the moral sense of mankind."
-Senator Charles Sumner addressing crowds in Boston; July 11, 1863
"The General Government, as the common agent, passed laws to carry into effect these stipulations of the States. For many years these laws were executed. But an increasing hostility on the part of the slaveholding States to opponents of the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution."
-Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of Vermont from the Federal Union; December 20, 1863
"Republican Convention selects Senator Seward for President and Senator Hamlin for Vice President"
-Chicago Tribune; May 19, 1860
"It's only Seward or Lane, so pick Seward!"
-GOP Campaign Slogan used in the North during the 1860 campaign
"Election to be decided by Congress"
-New York Times; November 12, 1860
"Stephen Douglas withdraws from contention, refuses to be elected by a 'corrupt bargain' after losing the popular vote "
-Philadelphia Inquirer; December 11, 1860
"Senate Contingent Election selects Lane; House balloting remains deadlocked as some members continue to vote for Douglas"
-The Boston Post; February 14, 1861
"Rep. Morris abandons neutrality and switches to Seward after intensive letter writing campaign"
-Chicago Tribune; February 19, 1861
"Oregon Rep. Lansing Stout refuses to back Seward or Breckenridge as House remains deadlocked"
-New York Times; February 25, 1861
"Seward withdraws from race - calls on supporters in the House to back Douglas 'without any conditions or reservations'"
-Philadelphia Inquirer; February 28, 1861
"Douglas re-enters race. Denies existence of any quid-pro-quo between him and Seward"
The New Hampshire Gazette; March 2, 1861
"Seward and Douglas to steal election from Breckenridge in corrupt bargain"
The Augusta Chronicle; March 2, 1861
"Rep. Stout switches vote to Breckenridge on 86th Ballot - denying Douglas a majority of delegations"
-New York Times; March 3, 1861
"36th House of Representatives fails to select a candidate, Lane to become acting President"
-New York Times; March 4, 1861
"37th House of Representatives selects Seward as President, Supporters of President Lane decry action as 'unconstitutional'"
-The Fayetteville Observer; March 6, 1861
"LANE v. SEWARD decided; Supreme Court holds new congress cannot hold contingent elections in divided opinion - Lane to remain President"
-The Philadelphia Inquirer; April 2, 1861
"Former Rep. Lansing Stout receives "significant" land patent in Multnomah County, Oregon"
-The Oregonian; May 1, 1861
"Shocking Allegations emerge that Stout was bribed by supports of Breckenridge and Lane with offers of land in Oregon to switch his vote in the House Contingent election"
-New York Post; September 28, 1861
"Multnomah Land Patent Scandal threatens to end Joseph Lane's Presidency as incriminating letters surface"
-Rutland Herald; January 28, 1862
"The act of New York, therefore, prohibiting a citizen of the United States from taking with him his slaves when he removes to the State in question to reside is an exercise of authority over private property which is not warranted by the Constitution"
-Chief Justice Roger Taney authoring the Majority Opinion in Lemmon v. New York, April 6, 1862
"Slavery Legal throughout nation after shocking Supreme Court Decision"
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 7, 1862
"Joseph Lane becomes the First President to be Impeached"
-New York Times; May 3, 1862
"Senate convicts Lane by 43-27; short of two-thirds needed for removal "
-Poughkeepsie Journal; July 16, 1862
"Northern Mob seizes slave Elijah Washington from owner; Vermont state government refuses to provide for his return"
-The Post and Courier; September 2, 1862
"President Lane sends Federal troops to force the return of Elijah Washington to his owner"
-Philadelphia Inquirer; September 19, 1862
"Attempts to conduct an ad hoc slave auction in New York City lead to riots"
-Intelligencer Journal; June 4, 1863
"Such is the issue simply stated. On the one side are women and children on the auction-block; families rudely separated; human flesh lacerated and seamed by the bloody scourge; labor extorted without wages; and all this frightful, many-sided wrong is the declared foundation of a mock commonwealth. On the other side is the sentiment of Liberty, which insists that no such mock Commonwealth, having such a declared foundation, shall be permitted on our territory, purchased with money and blood, to impair the unity of our jurisdiction and to insult the moral sense of mankind."
-Senator Charles Sumner addressing crowds in Boston; July 11, 1863
"The General Government, as the common agent, passed laws to carry into effect these stipulations of the States. For many years these laws were executed. But an increasing hostility on the part of the slaveholding States to opponents of the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution."
-Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of Vermont from the Federal Union; December 20, 1863
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The Hapsburgs are one of the great dynasties of Europe, but they have seen their highs and lows over the past century. The long-time dynast was Emperor Maximilian, who inherited the throne from his great-uncle Franz Ferdinand, and reigned from 1935 until his death in 2011. His 76 years on the Austrian throne is the longest verifiable reign by a sovereign monarch in history. His reign was marked by vast changes in the Hapsburg government and Austrian society. The first ten years of his reign was marked by centralized absolutism as the supreme monarch of the Hapsburg domains, but that began to recede following the disaster of the Great War. The middle thirty years of his reign were characterized by liberalization and decentralization that saw more power delegated to local governments. This in turn would come to an end following the disaster of the War of the Saxon Succession. The final decades of his reign saw increased centralization again, but a regression in civil liberties as the Ministry of State Security gained more and more power. This was helped because Maximilian was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1998. He made fewer public appearances and had less impact on politics and governance.
Maximilian's eldest son and first heir was Archduke Franz Leopold, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 1998 due to complications from HIV. Franz Leopold was an outspoken liberal who had privately opposed to the War of the Saxon Succession and had long called for further civil rights given to his subjects. He contracted HIVin 1983 from a blood transfussion following heart surgery, and he hid his illness even as his health declined. He was unable to step in and fullfil his duties as his father's heir following Maximilian's own diagnosis. He finally passed in 1998, and when his father died in 2011, his son Franz Otto inherited the Austrian throne. Franz Otto was, like his father, a supporter of a liberal, decentralized Hapsburg Empire, and towards the last years of his reign, called for further de-escelation with independence rebels in South America. He and his wife died in 2022 when their plane crashed while attempting to land at the Innsbruck Airport. Crash investigators determined that the Fokker F.XI crashed due to a mix of poor weather and pilot error.
Franz Otto was predeceased by both his sons. His youngest son, Archduke Maximilian, died in 2017 at the age of 25 due to cancer. His oldest son, Archduke Franz Eugen, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 2019 in a skiing accident. Franz Eugen was said to have lead a playboy lifestyle, including drugs and women. He was killed while off-piste skiing when he was caught up in an avalanche. When his body was recovered, a toxicology report showed that he had alcohol, cocaine and ecstacy. Franz Eugen's wife, Archduchess Ana Wilhelmine of Austria, had died in 2014 following a miscarriage. His daughter, Ana Viktoria, acceded to the throne in 2022. She's relatively well liked, mostly due to the Palace pushing her as a star in numerous reality television shows. However, the most popular member of the Hapsburg dynasty is her grandfather/great-uncle/heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Georg, who has his own reality shows that are quite popular due to his airhaded affability. He was given the honor of King in Silesia in 2026.
Maximilian's eldest son and first heir was Archduke Franz Leopold, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 1998 due to complications from HIV. Franz Leopold was an outspoken liberal who had privately opposed to the War of the Saxon Succession and had long called for further civil rights given to his subjects. He contracted HIVin 1983 from a blood transfussion following heart surgery, and he hid his illness even as his health declined. He was unable to step in and fullfil his duties as his father's heir following Maximilian's own diagnosis. He finally passed in 1998, and when his father died in 2011, his son Franz Otto inherited the Austrian throne. Franz Otto was, like his father, a supporter of a liberal, decentralized Hapsburg Empire, and towards the last years of his reign, called for further de-escelation with independence rebels in South America. He and his wife died in 2022 when their plane crashed while attempting to land at the Innsbruck Airport. Crash investigators determined that the Fokker F.XI crashed due to a mix of poor weather and pilot error.
Franz Otto was predeceased by both his sons. His youngest son, Archduke Maximilian, died in 2017 at the age of 25 due to cancer. His oldest son, Archduke Franz Eugen, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 2019 in a skiing accident. Franz Eugen was said to have lead a playboy lifestyle, including drugs and women. He was killed while off-piste skiing when he was caught up in an avalanche. When his body was recovered, a toxicology report showed that he had alcohol, cocaine and ecstacy. Franz Eugen's wife, Archduchess Ana Wilhelmine of Austria, had died in 2014 following a miscarriage. His daughter, Ana Viktoria, acceded to the throne in 2022. She's relatively well liked, mostly due to the Palace pushing her as a star in numerous reality television shows. However, the most popular member of the Hapsburg dynasty is her grandfather/great-uncle/heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Georg, who has his own reality shows that are quite popular due to his airhaded affability. He was given the honor of King in Silesia in 2026.
The Sun Never Set
Black Friday Bombings / King-Emperor John II
Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia / Congress of Atomic Powers
Most-liked shouts
Parliament of the British Empire / Counsellors of State
Landgravine Guinevere of Pusan / Margrave Mordred II of Choseon
Eugen Flegel Graf von Weiser / Empress Anna Victoria
Maria Luisa of Provence
House of Tudor-Mercia: Constantine I, Constantine II, Catherine, Joanna, Michael
The Marquess of Lynedoch
Arthur, Prince of Wales / Rudolph, King of the English
Leaders of the Congress of Atomic Powers
Tetrarchs of the Kingdom of Palestine
Ludwig XV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt / Friederike of Hesse Darmstadt
FV201 Lancelot UCT, MV25 Timberwolf IFV, CV1 Cerberus ICV / The Grenadier Guards and Royal Natal Carbineers
Aircraft carriers of the world
Grand Council of the Michigan Confederation
20th and 21st century monarchs of the British Empire
Prussian Fatherland Front
Steppengrave Charles Albert of Nebraska / Ambrose Bingham, Viscount Lorton
Cooper Thorpe MP / Business and Finance Functional Constituency
FV151 Hotspur APC / FV210 Conestoga APC
War of the Saxon Succession
War of the Polish Succession / Lech August and Karl Waclaw of Poland
Black Friday Bombings / King-Emperor John II
Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia / Congress of Atomic Powers
Most-liked shouts
Parliament of the British Empire / Counsellors of State
Landgravine Guinevere of Pusan / Margrave Mordred II of Choseon
Eugen Flegel Graf von Weiser / Empress Anna Victoria
Maria Luisa of Provence
House of Tudor-Mercia: Constantine I, Constantine II, Catherine, Joanna, Michael
The Marquess of Lynedoch
Arthur, Prince of Wales / Rudolph, King of the English
Leaders of the Congress of Atomic Powers
Tetrarchs of the Kingdom of Palestine
Ludwig XV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt / Friederike of Hesse Darmstadt
FV201 Lancelot UCT, MV25 Timberwolf IFV, CV1 Cerberus ICV / The Grenadier Guards and Royal Natal Carbineers
Aircraft carriers of the world
Grand Council of the Michigan Confederation
20th and 21st century monarchs of the British Empire
Prussian Fatherland Front
Steppengrave Charles Albert of Nebraska / Ambrose Bingham, Viscount Lorton
Cooper Thorpe MP / Business and Finance Functional Constituency
FV151 Hotspur APC / FV210 Conestoga APC
War of the Saxon Succession
War of the Polish Succession / Lech August and Karl Waclaw of Poland
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A civil war AU where the North secedes instead? Very interesting. Will you be developing this into a full TL?
Gentleman Biaggi
Banned
Hubbard is one of the three officially autonomous regions in the United States of America. While the other two generally make sense from a cultural standpoint, with Puerto Rico and Taiwan/Formosa being very much culturally different from the mainland US, Hubbard is much different. During the 1990s, the "Church" of Scientology came under an increasingly political leadership, and with president Lamm clamping down on their tax protections, the Church decided to carve out a reigon for themselves. The "Free State for Scientologists Committee" decided on the steampipe of Idaho, and within a few years, the Aryan Nation, crazy Mormons, the remains of some Anarcho-Primitivists and Freak Powerers were shaken out by the Church's large pockets. In 2003, they were able to form their own state, and while many of their celebrity supporters didn't want to live in bumfuck Idaho, they were much more willing to buy a large ranch estate to visit twice a year. In 2005, thanks to the protections of the Regional Autonomy Act of 2003, they formed their own autonomous region, which is pretty much a state with a lot more freedom to do whatever, but is also regulated heavily by the Department of Autonomous Regions and secretary Ozzie Meyers, who officially has veto power over the state legislature and government. For years, the governor's mansion was controlled by the Union For Scientology's Future, an "Alliance" (the state of Hubbard has no political parties), that was largely controlled by the Church and its leadership. In 2010, the UFSF elected Kendrick Moxon with 98.1% of the vote. However, the church's stances against homosexual rights under Governor Moxon caused controversy, and actor Paul Haggis (who very much resembled the celebrities who only lived in Hubbard a few months out of the year) challenged Moxon for the governorship. Haggis became the first member of the church to challenge the UFSF's power in the region ever (with Bo Gritz, a non-Scientologist, running in 2004, and opposition being very divided in 2006 and 2010). Moxon ran a dirty campaign, with attacks on Haggis's sexuality being common, a war chest lead by the Church's large bank account, and there was reports of "voting irregularities" in some pro-Haggis areas. Haggis gained support from more left-wing members of the Church, some reformers, and the occasional defector who couldn't leave the region due to financial issues. Haggis's loss and attacks on his sexuality and downright open vote-rigging caused his eventual exit from the party, but Moxon and friends controlled the region for at least another four years....
Nixon and the Nuclear Age Posts:
1: Richard Nixon
Nixon and the Nuclear Age Posts:
1: Richard Nixon
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On the one hand this screams 'secret agents are killing off leaders until they find one they can manipulate'
On the other hand
I could also just believe the family is that unlucky
Rich people with access to excellent medical care are rarely this unlucky.
I'll blame their poor genetic baseline due to being inbred royals.
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The Hapsburgs are one of the great dynasties of Europe, but they have seen their highs and lows over the past century. The long-time dynast was Emperor Maximilian, who inherited the throne from his great-uncle Franz Ferdinand, and reigned from 1935 until his death in 2011. His 76 years on the Austrian throne is the longest verifiable reign by a sovereign monarch in history. His reign was marked by vast changes in the Hapsburg government and Austrian society. The first ten years of his reign was marked by centralized absolutism as the supreme monarch of the Hapsburg domains, but that began to recede following the disaster of the Great War. The middle thirty years of his reign were characterized by liberalization and decentralization that saw more power delegated to local governments. This in turn would come to an end following the disaster of the War of the Saxon Succession. The final decades of his reign saw increased centralization again, but a regression in civil liberties as the Ministry of State Security gained more and more power. This was helped because Maximilian was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 1998. He made fewer public appearances and had less impact on politics and governance.
Maximilian's eldest son and first heir was Archduke Franz Leopold, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 1998 due to complications from HIV. Franz Leopold was an outspoken liberal who had privately opposed to the War of the Saxon Succession and had long called for further civil rights given to his subjects. He contracted HIVin 1983 from a blood transfussion following heart surgery, and he hid his illness even as his health declined. He was unable to step in and fullfil his duties as his father's heir following Maximilian's own diagnosis. He finally passed in 1998, and when his father died in 2011, his son Franz Otto inherited the Austrian throne. Franz Otto was, like his father, a supporter of a liberal, decentralized Hapsburg Empire, and towards the last years of his reign, called for further de-escelation with independence rebels in South America. He and his wife died in 2022 when their plane crashed while attempting to land at the Innsbruck Airport. Crash investigators determined that the Fokker F.XI crashed due to a mix of poor weather and pilot error.
Franz Otto was predeceased by both his sons. His youngest son, Archduke Maximilian, died in 2017 at the age of 25 due to cancer. His oldest son, Archduke Franz Eugen, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in 2019 in a skiing accident. Franz Eugen was said to have lead a playboy lifestyle, including drugs and women. He was killed while off-piste skiing when he was caught up in an avalanche. When his body was recovered, a toxicology report showed that he had alcohol, cocaine and ecstacy. Franz Eugen's wife, Archduchess Ana Wilhelmine of Austria, had died in 2014 following a miscarriage. His daughter, Ana Viktoria, acceded to the throne in 2022. She's relatively well liked, mostly due to the Palace pushing her as a star in numerous reality television shows. However, the most popular member of the Hapsburg dynasty is her grandfather/great-uncle/heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Georg, who has his own reality shows that are quite popular due to his airhaded affability. He was given the honor of King in Silesia in 2026.
The Sun Never Set
Black Friday Bombings / King-Emperor John II
Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia / Congress of Atomic Powers
Most-liked shouts
Parliament of the British Empire / Counsellors of State
Landgravine Guinevere of Pusan / Margrave Mordred II of Choseon
Eugen Flegel Graf von Weiser / Empress Anna Victoria
Maria Luisa of Provence
House of Tudor-Mercia: Constantine I, Constantine II, Catherine, Joanna, Michael
The Marquess of Lynedoch
Arthur, Prince of Wales / Rudolph, King of the English
Leaders of the Congress of Atomic Powers
Tetrarchs of the Kingdom of Palestine
Ludwig XV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt / Friederike of Hesse Darmstadt
FV201 Lancelot UCT, MV25 Timberwolf IFV, CV1 Cerberus ICV / The Grenadier Guards and Royal Natal Carbineers
Aircraft carriers of the world
Grand Council of the Michigan Confederation
20th and 21st century monarchs of the British Empire
Prussian Fatherland Front
Steppengrave Charles Albert of Nebraska / Ambrose Bingham, Viscount Lorton
Cooper Thorpe MP / Business and Finance Functional Constituency
FV151 Hotspur APC / FV210 Conestoga APC
War of the Saxon Succession
War of the Polish Succession / Lech August and Karl Waclaw of Poland
Becoming Empress at 9 years old is not a recipe for stability
I don't know about a full fledged timeline, but I might do some more wikiboxes from this universe.
LeinadB93
Monthly Donor
Fantastic work as always!! Fascinating to see a pan-European Habsburg empire.
A quick question if I may: how did you code for the styles above the name bar? "His Archducal Highness" etc.
- Status