Due to the highly advanced technology in this timeline, it only takes about 5 hours and 30 minutes to get from Venus to Earth. Every planet that has states on them in this timeline is terraformed.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)
- Status
| Mister Scarlet: Red Knight of Justice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Elmer Clifton John English |
| Written by | Royal Cole Harry Fraser Joseph Poland Ronald Davidson Basil Dickey Jesse Duffy Grant Nelson |
| Based on | Mr. Scarlet by
|
| Produced by | William J O'Sullivan |
| Starring | Dick Purcell Lorna Gray Lionel Atwill Charles Trowbridge Russell Hicks George J. Lewis John Davidson |
| Cinematography | John MacBurnie |
| Edited by | Wallace Grissell Earl Turner |
| Music by | Mort Glickman |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date |
|
| Running time | 15 chapters / 243 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $182,623 (negative cost: $222,906)[1] |
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The 1974-1978 parliament was one of political and economic turbulence. Edward Heath's Conservative government was re-elected with a three-seat majority which was soon whittled away by by-elections, leading the Conservatives to form a National Government in 1976 with Emlyn Hooson's Liberal Party and "Independent Labour" defectors from the official opposition led by Dick Traverne. The National Government pursued an ambitious agenda of labour market reforms, devolution and energy security but was frequently thwarted by the coalition's narrow majority, with Heath surviving a leadership challenge from former minister Keith Joseph in 1977.
Meanwhile the Labour Party was beset by infighting on the issues of Europe, the trade unions and economic policy, made worse by the election of Michael Foot to the Labour leadership. Facing collapsing poll ratings in 1977 and a revolt from the Parliamentary Labour Party, Foot resigned and was replaced by his deputy John Silkin, who led the Labour Party to a modest recovery in the polls.
The election campaign was short and marked by strikes and violent marches by far-right groups. While the National Coalition went into the general election with a polling lead, pessimistic economic forecasts released during the campaign sapped them of momentum with the final polls suggesting a tie between Labour and the National Coalition.
The Conservative defeat was partlally blamed on the rise of the Unionist Alliance, an electoral pact between the Ulster Unionists and right-wing Eurosceptic candidates in Great Britain, led by former Conservative minister Enoch Powell. The better-than expected Unionist result was attributed to a backlash against the Heath government's enthusiasm for the EEC and entering a coalition with the Liberal Party and centrist MPs.
John Silkin served as Prime Minister until his defeat at the 1983 General Election.
A Better TomorrowList of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom
The 1969 Czechoslovak parliamentary election was held on the 22nd June 1969, to elect 300 members to the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia. It was the first election to be held after the significant constitutional reforms of the first Dubček cabinet, including the reduction of the parliamentary term from 6 years to 4, meaning that it came at the end of the last Assembly’s term.
Dubček’s reforms had been very radical, to the point that his election is sometimes referred to as the beginning of the ‘Fourth Czechoslovak Republic’ (though unlike in countries like France or South Korea, the Third Republic’s constitutional provisions were merely heavily amended rather than repealed or replaced in any way, so the title is purely informal). What was actually implemented in that time was what Dubček and the ČSSD-ČSNS government called the ‘Action Programme’, intended to enact significant reforms to Czechoslovak governance and social policy.
While some of these reforms like liberalization of womens’ rights, the decriminalization of homosexuality (which is often credited to the activism of Imrich Matyáš around this time) and the relaxation of some laws on freedom of expression implemented when the KSČ and KSS were banned were significant changes, by far the most contentious would be those relating to Czech and Slovak relations.
As in other countries with prominent bilingualism at the time like Belgium and Canada, linguistic and cultural alienation had started to emerge in Slovakia which the predominantly Czech ČSL had largely ignored and which had been poorly articulated by the DS due to Jozef Lettrich’s age and poor health. By contrast, Dubček was keen to produce a more equal union between Czechs and Slovaks, but faced initial resistance from Czechs which Ota Šik, now leading the opposition, was quick to capitalize on.
Using the popularity with the public he had achieved for his economic reforms early in the parliament, ending the ‘shock treatment’, raising taxes on the rich and cutting them for the poor, Dubček decided the most practical approach to reforming the union was to re-establish the Czech and Slovak National Councils, starting a process of turning the country from a unitary to a federal state. The National Assembly would remain the main governing body of Czechoslovakia and issues like foreign policy were still under its jurisdiction, but several major competencies, particularly cultural policies, passed to the National Councils.
These reforms were very well-received by Slovaks and placated Czechs by silencing concerns that Dubček would continue the ‘one region over two’ concern that Masaryk’s federal investiture into Slovakia was seen to have caused. Further helping Dubček in this process was the fact that it severely split the right- while most ČSL members supported federalization so long as it was applied to both the Czechs and Slovaks, Šik was vocally opposed to it, believing it would divide the country further and make economic reforms at the federal level meaningless. It also caused a breakdown in relations between the ČSL and DS, whose new leader Miroslav Kusý supported it and broke with Šik over the issue.
Ultimately the ČSL was forced to try to end this conflict by holding a leadership contest in November of 1967. Šik was defeated by the more moderate Růžena Vacková, who was more conciliatory on the issue and popular with the public. Furious at this rebuff, Šik and several right-wing members of the ČSL left to form the Democratic Liberal Party (Czech: Demokratická liberální strana, DLS). While this new party did eat into the ČSL vote, Šik’s departure allowed Vacková to start building up substantive support for the ČSL in Slovakia for the first time since World War II, as did the fact that without Lettrich the DS was quickly fading away. (Kusý would wind up the party in 1970, and he and most of the remaining members joined the ČSL.)
With this severe fragmentation of the opposition, as well as the prominence and sympathy from Dubček to the causes of alternative cultural movements (some have said his campaigning with the emerging psychedelic rock band The Plastic People of the Universe is the Czechoslovak equivalent of Harold Wilson giving the Beatles MBEs), the ČSSD won a resounding victory in the 1969 federal election, coming just shy of an overall majority even without the ČSNS’s support and winning the largest ever voteshare in a Czechoslovak election.
While the ČSSD-ČSNS coalition had clearly triumphed, the ČSL came out of it better than many of its members had feared (only losing 19 seats) and, as mentioned, had finally ended its reliance on the DS in Slovakia. Šik also failed to make the breakthrough he had hoped; his goal had been to show the ČSL could never win an election without him and his supporters, but the DLS took only 13 seats (all in Bohemia and Moravia) and failed to make itself a credible right-wing alternative. Despite this, it had one notable success- a 28-year-old bank clerk called Václav Klaus was elected for the party in Prague, and would go on to become a very significant figure among the Czechoslovak right.
While an atmosphere of intense optimism continued to pervade Czechoslovakia as the 1960s came to a close, even as it was rapidly fading in much of the rest of the West, the 1970s would prove a deeply tumultuous time for the country.
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Just what was once a little preview for a little thing, and now appears in full
(By luck, he gets cancer later)
(By luck, he gets cancer later)
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I Have the Honor To Be
Your Obdt. St, President A. Hamilton
--
"Hamilton is really a colossus... without numbers, he is a host unto himself."Your Obdt. St, President A. Hamilton
--
- Thomas Jefferson, 2nd President of the United States [TTL]
"Hamilton is an intriguant[sic]—the greatest intriguant[sic] in the World—a man devoid of every moral principle—a Bastard, and as much a foreigner as Gallatin."
- John Adams, about Alexander Hamilton, to then-Secretary of War James McHenry, c. 1800
"'The greatest man that ever lived, was Julius Caesar.'"
- Alexander Hamilton, to T. Jefferson, as detailed in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush from Jefferson, c. 1811
--
Military honors cut for brevity. Same as OTL.
--
From a draft of a timeline from a few years ago that I recently picked up again. This was less of a one-shot idea (like Jerry-Manderin' and A Tale of Two Len(non/in)s) and was more an experiment to see if I can make a reasonable-looking aged-up portrait of a figure who didn't have that many photos to his name. Not bad.Military honors cut for brevity. Same as OTL.
--
Benjamin Tallmadge was used as the base, with images of Col. David Humphrey (chin), James Madison, Andrew Jackson, James Monroe (all three for wrinkles), James Buchanan (eyeballs) and various images of Alexander Hamilton (mouth, eyes, nose, hair) making up the composite. It's close enough to Hamilton, I suppose.
The following lore explanation is revised from the original timeline I wrote back in 2018. Thomas Jefferson wins the Election of 1796, in part due to Hamilton's meddling within the Federalist Party to elect Thomas Pinckney as President of the United States. IOTL, this plan had failed, since the Federalists found out about it and from there it was basically an open secret. The Adamsite faction of the Federalists failed to catch onto Hamilton's electioneering, and a lot more Federalists end up voting for Pinckney, landing him the vice-presidency. John Adams kind of stews away, holding a mega-grudge against Hamilton.
Jefferson's election gives him essentially free-reign to establish America in his image, which he does, and serves two terms, being re-elected in 1800 against some no-name Federalist. The 12th Amendment is ratified, allowing Jefferson to sack Pinckney in favor of James Madison in 1800. Pinckney retires. Tensions between the United States and Britain ramp up as Jefferson plays chummy with France. Hamilton doesn't duel with Burr.
Madison is widely expected to be Jefferson's successor, but the tertium quids/Old Republicans in the Democratic-Republican Party kind of, somehow, take over the whole machine. Possibly due to them being closer ideologically to Jeffersonian democracy or being stronger due to Morgan Lewis retaining his power in New York? (no clue! I wrote this in 2018, when I had no knowledge of intra-national/-state politics of the early 1800s) They nominate James Monroe and John Randolph, with Randolph being the brains behind the campaign. They win against some no-name Federalist, again, but in a tighter election this time, partly because Randolph's eccentricities almost throw the campaign off the rails.
Monroe's presidency saw tensions against Britain stew to a boiling point, and Democratic-Republican House leader Henry Clay, alongside an expanded group of war hawks, pushes for a war against Britain. The war comes around in 1808/09 (dubbed the War of 1809, and derisively "Mr. Monroe's War") and long story short, the effort is effed up big time. The British burn down Washington D.C., and this time there is no storm that would save Washington. Washington is lost, and with it, the war. Federalists, who had been campaigning against the war, took hold of the tide and said, "We told you so," prompting a severe electoral backlash for the Democratic-Republicans in 1810/11. Monroe sacks Randolph sometime later that year, because of bad optics (Randolph was allegedly an alcoholic and opium addict) and also because he just sucked to be around, and moves towards a humiliating peace with Britain.
Hamilton smelled blood in the water, and because of his immense influence in the Federalist Party (by this point the Hamiltonian/High Federalist faction would have reigned supreme in the power struggle), manages to snatch the presidential nomination. John Marshall is his VP. He runs against a deeply unpopular Monroe (third term? Maybe would have been better for another Dem.-Rep. to run) and his new VP, Daniel D. Tompkins. Using the D-R's unpopularity and his arsenal of Federalist-affiliated newspapers to his advantage, Hamilton wins the election, sweeping most of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and some random Southern states.
Hamilton's presidency was supposed to be a strong rebuke of Jeffersonian democracy. The bank would be re-established to deal with the massive amount of war debt and unstable economy (Jefferson would know a thing or two about deja vu), the bankers and industrialists would have gained more power, the federal government and especially the executive would have gained more power, the Judiciary would have been expanded heavily, and the Federalist Party would've leaned heavily into American nationalism and protectionism. Cabinet secretaries included Timothy Pickering and Daniel Webster (State), Aaron Burr (AG), Oliver Wolcott Jr. (Treasury), and Stephen Van Rensselaer III as a newly-created secretary for the Department of Development/Industry (Henry Clay would have succeeded Rensselaer in 1822). Canals everywhere. Capital moved to NYC, then to back to a rebuilt Washington, D.C. (Toyed around with the idea of a new capital in Ohio named "Columbia".) He also abolishes slavery, but slavery would have continued as it did like IOTL under a different name and model: sharecropping, much to Hamilton's chagrin.
The wikibox states Hamilton would have served three terms and then called it quits. The original timeline, however, had Hamilton serve a couple more terms (i.e. THREE MORE TERMS), serving until his resignation (of his own volition) in 1834 due to failing health. The original timeline also had him die on July 4, 1839. Nice.
Succeeding him would be Maarten van Buren, an incredibly successful business owner and now-established member of the American elite. Hamilton would have left behind a stronger and robust America, through empowering the elite and creating a strong economic system, but would have also left behind an America that was deeply corrupt, elitist, and authoritarian. The Gilded Age, brought 40 years early. This authoritarian America would simmer, surviving through sheer determined will and a war every few years, until it reached a boiling point in 1908/1913, when a bloody communist revolution against an imperialist military junta led by Leonard Wood began-- and succeeded.
Jefferson's election gives him essentially free-reign to establish America in his image, which he does, and serves two terms, being re-elected in 1800 against some no-name Federalist. The 12th Amendment is ratified, allowing Jefferson to sack Pinckney in favor of James Madison in 1800. Pinckney retires. Tensions between the United States and Britain ramp up as Jefferson plays chummy with France. Hamilton doesn't duel with Burr.
Madison is widely expected to be Jefferson's successor, but the tertium quids/Old Republicans in the Democratic-Republican Party kind of, somehow, take over the whole machine. Possibly due to them being closer ideologically to Jeffersonian democracy or being stronger due to Morgan Lewis retaining his power in New York? (no clue! I wrote this in 2018, when I had no knowledge of intra-national/-state politics of the early 1800s) They nominate James Monroe and John Randolph, with Randolph being the brains behind the campaign. They win against some no-name Federalist, again, but in a tighter election this time, partly because Randolph's eccentricities almost throw the campaign off the rails.
Monroe's presidency saw tensions against Britain stew to a boiling point, and Democratic-Republican House leader Henry Clay, alongside an expanded group of war hawks, pushes for a war against Britain. The war comes around in 1808/09 (dubbed the War of 1809, and derisively "Mr. Monroe's War") and long story short, the effort is effed up big time. The British burn down Washington D.C., and this time there is no storm that would save Washington. Washington is lost, and with it, the war. Federalists, who had been campaigning against the war, took hold of the tide and said, "We told you so," prompting a severe electoral backlash for the Democratic-Republicans in 1810/11. Monroe sacks Randolph sometime later that year, because of bad optics (Randolph was allegedly an alcoholic and opium addict) and also because he just sucked to be around, and moves towards a humiliating peace with Britain.
Hamilton smelled blood in the water, and because of his immense influence in the Federalist Party (by this point the Hamiltonian/High Federalist faction would have reigned supreme in the power struggle), manages to snatch the presidential nomination. John Marshall is his VP. He runs against a deeply unpopular Monroe (third term? Maybe would have been better for another Dem.-Rep. to run) and his new VP, Daniel D. Tompkins. Using the D-R's unpopularity and his arsenal of Federalist-affiliated newspapers to his advantage, Hamilton wins the election, sweeping most of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and some random Southern states.
Hamilton's presidency was supposed to be a strong rebuke of Jeffersonian democracy. The bank would be re-established to deal with the massive amount of war debt and unstable economy (Jefferson would know a thing or two about deja vu), the bankers and industrialists would have gained more power, the federal government and especially the executive would have gained more power, the Judiciary would have been expanded heavily, and the Federalist Party would've leaned heavily into American nationalism and protectionism. Cabinet secretaries included Timothy Pickering and Daniel Webster (State), Aaron Burr (AG), Oliver Wolcott Jr. (Treasury), and Stephen Van Rensselaer III as a newly-created secretary for the Department of Development/Industry (Henry Clay would have succeeded Rensselaer in 1822). Canals everywhere. Capital moved to NYC, then to back to a rebuilt Washington, D.C. (Toyed around with the idea of a new capital in Ohio named "Columbia".) He also abolishes slavery, but slavery would have continued as it did like IOTL under a different name and model: sharecropping, much to Hamilton's chagrin.
The wikibox states Hamilton would have served three terms and then called it quits. The original timeline, however, had Hamilton serve a couple more terms (i.e. THREE MORE TERMS), serving until his resignation (of his own volition) in 1834 due to failing health. The original timeline also had him die on July 4, 1839. Nice.
Succeeding him would be Maarten van Buren, an incredibly successful business owner and now-established member of the American elite. Hamilton would have left behind a stronger and robust America, through empowering the elite and creating a strong economic system, but would have also left behind an America that was deeply corrupt, elitist, and authoritarian. The Gilded Age, brought 40 years early. This authoritarian America would simmer, surviving through sheer determined will and a war every few years, until it reached a boiling point in 1908/1913, when a bloody communist revolution against an imperialist military junta led by Leonard Wood began-- and succeeded.
The 531 Brythonian election was the fourth held since the establishment of the Republic of Brythonia and the first to follow the retirement of Boss Poulet, founding father and first fully acting leader of the Republic. With Poulet's absence from the political scene, the election saw the two rival factions of the Republic's technocratic ruling elite finally openly split.
At the time, the divide between the Progressist and Unconditionalist factions (also called the Pouletist and Websterist, respectively, after their high-profile leaders) was often thought of as expressing support or opposition to Poulet's personal leadership, while modern popular history tends to frame them as generically 'moderate' and 'radical.' Both these views are oversimplifications. If any clean line can be drawn between these underdeveloped and poorly-defined factions, it was their theory of national development.
Poulet and his Progressist successors saw the national problem as a technical one. They placed their faith in internal improvements to bind together and uplift the country. They saw much to be proud of in the country's progress since the revolution - rail milage had risen from 27 miles to over 1,500; a telegraph network connected 27 of the country's 30 regions, as well as the capital of Scotland; and steamboats and the elimination of internal tolls and tariffs had slashed travel time and the price of goods across the country.
Meanwhile, Webster and his Unconditionalists decried this infrastructure-first approach as a distraction from a social revolution left unfinished. They continually decried the lack of comprehensive land reform; the focus on universities and 'man factories' which offered deep education to a select few while leaving the vast majority with little access to basic education; and the spending of so much of the tax revenue - which was overwhelmingly levied on agricultural and extractive industries in rural areas - on infrastructure projects which primarily benefitted the cities. They worried that under leaders like Poulet, who along with much of his inner circle had held high positions in the old regime, one aristocracy would just be replaced by another, leaving most people far behind.
Surviving documents show that most in the runup to the election expected Webster to be the country's next leader. Stocks of construction brigades steadily declined as the election took place in the expectation that government contracts would be less forthcoming in the years to come, and the price of land plummeted across the country as landowners sought to hedge against expropriation.
Nevertheless, despite the rocky events of his last term, Pouletist candidates won a decisive majority. While relatively few statistics or commentary survive to give us a clear view of the reason for the upset, there are factors historians can point to as influencing the result. One of the largest is that vote share in the north was likely heavily influenced by the 528 Saxon invasion of York, which was quickly repulsed by the army. With strong memory of the bloody results of past invasions, it is probable that this strengthened Progressist candidates who clung tightly to Poulet's reputation, undermining the expected Unconditionalist advantage in the relatively-underdeveloped region.
Another is that the land reform issue was likely not as clear a winner for Unconditionalist candidates as was thought at the time, especially in the rich and flat Midlands. Records from the 540 census show that over half of the country's peasant households benefitted from the redistribution of land from noblemen killed during the Civil War. Many historians speculate that many of these might have perceived Unconditionalist promises of land reform as aimed at them.
Similarly, it is very likely that the Unconditionalist argument about unequal benefits from the revolution rung hollow to many who had seen their standard of living increase dramatically within their lifetimes. By 540 census numbers, the median age of the residents of Brythonia was 41.3 years - meaning that by 531, most eligible voters could remember a time not only before the revolution, but also before the initial modernization period under the Brythonian Kingdom. To them, it might have been true that benefits were not equitably distributed - but given the deprivation and uncertainty of prerevolutionary times, it was hard to justify voting against the status quo when they had already seen a significant increase both in personal freedom and income.
Finally, from the drop in support for the restorationist Divine Law party suggests a very early example of tactical voting by members of the surviving nobility for Progressist candidates so to avoid land reform and retribution.
This election was only to be a stay of execution for the Pouletist faction. Unconditionalists (collected into the more formal Leveller party organization after 536) continued to radicalize and gather support and ultimately had their chance at power after the elections of 543. The political instability which followed led ultimately to a second civil war, Central ap Morgan's rise to dictatorship, and ultimately, the downfall of the Republic.
Eparkhos
Banned
I want to know more
The 531 Brythonian election was the fourth held since the establishment of the Republic of Brythonia and the first to follow the retirement of Boss Poulet, founding father and first fully acting leader of the Republic. With Poulet's absence from the political scene, the election saw the two rival factions of the Republic's technocratic ruling elite finally openly split.
At the time, the divide between the Progressist and Unconditionalist factions (also called the Pouletist and Websterist, respectively, after their high-profile leaders) was often thought of as expressing support or opposition to Poulet's personal leadership, while modern popular history tends to frame them as generically 'moderate' and 'radical.' Both these views are oversimplifications. If any clean line can be drawn between these underdeveloped and poorly-defined factions, it was their theory of national development.
Poulet and his Progressist successors saw the national problem as a technical one. They placed their faith in internal improvements to bind together and uplift the country. They saw much to be proud of in the country's progress since the revolution - rail milage had risen from 27 miles to over 1,500; a telegraph network connected 27 of the country's 30 regions, as well as the capital of Scotland; and steamboats and the elimination of internal tolls and tariffs had slashed travel time and the price of goods across the country.
Meanwhile, Webster and his Unconditionalists decried this infrastructure-first approach as a distraction from a social revolution left unfinished. They continually decried the lack of comprehensive land reform; the focus on universities and 'man factories' which offered deep education to a select few while leaving the vast majority with little access to basic education; and the spending of so much of the tax revenue - which was overwhelmingly levied on agricultural and extractive industries in rural areas - on infrastructure projects which primarily benefitted the cities. They worried that under leaders like Poulet, who along with much of his inner circle had held high positions in the old regime, one aristocracy would just be replaced by another, leaving most people far behind.
Surviving documents show that most in the runup to the election expected Webster to be the country's next leader. Stocks of construction brigades steadily declined as the election took place in the expectation that government contracts would be less forthcoming in the years to come, and the price of land plummeted across the country as landowners sought to hedge against expropriation.
Nevertheless, despite the rocky events of his last term, Pouletist candidates won a decisive majority. While relatively few statistics or commentary survive to give us a clear view of the reason for the upset, there are factors historians can point to as influencing the result. One of the largest is that vote share in the north was likely heavily influenced by the 528 Saxon invasion of York, which was quickly repulsed by the army. With strong memory of the bloody results of past invasions, it is probable that this strengthened Progressist candidates who clung tightly to Poulet's reputation, undermining the expected Unconditionalist advantage in the relatively-underdeveloped region.
Another is that the land reform issue was likely not as clear a winner for Unconditionalist candidates as was thought at the time, especially in the rich and flat Midlands. Records from the 540 census show that over half of the country's peasant households benefitted from the redistribution of land from noblemen killed during the Civil War. Many historians speculate that many of these might have perceived Unconditionalist promises of land reform as aimed at them.
Similarly, it is very likely that the Unconditionalist argument about unequal benefits from the revolution rung hollow to many who had seen their standard of living increase dramatically within their lifetimes. By 540 census numbers, the median age of the residents of Brythonia was 41.3 years - meaning that by 531, most eligible voters could remember a time not only before the revolution, but also before the initial modernization period under the Brythonian Kingdom. To them, it might have been true that benefits were not equitably distributed - but given the deprivation and uncertainty of prerevolutionary times, it was hard to justify voting against the status quo when they had already seen a significant increase both in personal freedom and income.
Finally, from the drop in support for the restorationist Divine Law party suggests a very early example of tactical voting by members of the surviving nobility for Progressist candidates so to avoid land reform and retribution.
This election was only to be a stay of execution for the Pouletist faction. Unconditionalists (collected into the more formal Leveller party organization after 536) continued to radicalize and gather support and ultimately had their chance at power after the elections of 543. The political instability which followed led ultimately to a second civil war, Central ap Morgan's rise to dictatorship, and ultimately, the downfall of the Republic.
Now that's fresh
The 531 Brythonian election was the fourth held since the establishment of the Republic of Brythonia and the first to follow the retirement of Boss Poulet, founding father and first fully acting leader of the Republic. With Poulet's absence from the political scene, the election saw the two rival factions of the Republic's technocratic ruling elite finally openly split.
At the time, the divide between the Progressist and Unconditionalist factions (also called the Pouletist and Websterist, respectively, after their high-profile leaders) was often thought of as expressing support or opposition to Poulet's personal leadership, while modern popular history tends to frame them as generically 'moderate' and 'radical.' Both these views are oversimplifications. If any clean line can be drawn between these underdeveloped and poorly-defined factions, it was their theory of national development.
Poulet and his Progressist successors saw the national problem as a technical one. They placed their faith in internal improvements to bind together and uplift the country. They saw much to be proud of in the country's progress since the revolution - rail milage had risen from 27 miles to over 1,500; a telegraph network connected 27 of the country's 30 regions, as well as the capital of Scotland; and steamboats and the elimination of internal tolls and tariffs had slashed travel time and the price of goods across the country.
Meanwhile, Webster and his Unconditionalists decried this infrastructure-first approach as a distraction from a social revolution left unfinished. They continually decried the lack of comprehensive land reform; the focus on universities and 'man factories' which offered deep education to a select few while leaving the vast majority with little access to basic education; and the spending of so much of the tax revenue - which was overwhelmingly levied on agricultural and extractive industries in rural areas - on infrastructure projects which primarily benefitted the cities. They worried that under leaders like Poulet, who along with much of his inner circle had held high positions in the old regime, one aristocracy would just be replaced by another, leaving most people far behind.
Surviving documents show that most in the runup to the election expected Webster to be the country's next leader. Stocks of construction brigades steadily declined as the election took place in the expectation that government contracts would be less forthcoming in the years to come, and the price of land plummeted across the country as landowners sought to hedge against expropriation.
Nevertheless, despite the rocky events of his last term, Pouletist candidates won a decisive majority. While relatively few statistics or commentary survive to give us a clear view of the reason for the upset, there are factors historians can point to as influencing the result. One of the largest is that vote share in the north was likely heavily influenced by the 528 Saxon invasion of York, which was quickly repulsed by the army. With strong memory of the bloody results of past invasions, it is probable that this strengthened Progressist candidates who clung tightly to Poulet's reputation, undermining the expected Unconditionalist advantage in the relatively-underdeveloped region.
Another is that the land reform issue was likely not as clear a winner for Unconditionalist candidates as was thought at the time, especially in the rich and flat Midlands. Records from the 540 census show that over half of the country's peasant households benefitted from the redistribution of land from noblemen killed during the Civil War. Many historians speculate that many of these might have perceived Unconditionalist promises of land reform as aimed at them.
Similarly, it is very likely that the Unconditionalist argument about unequal benefits from the revolution rung hollow to many who had seen their standard of living increase dramatically within their lifetimes. By 540 census numbers, the median age of the residents of Brythonia was 41.3 years - meaning that by 531, most eligible voters could remember a time not only before the revolution, but also before the initial modernization period under the Brythonian Kingdom. To them, it might have been true that benefits were not equitably distributed - but given the deprivation and uncertainty of prerevolutionary times, it was hard to justify voting against the status quo when they had already seen a significant increase both in personal freedom and income.
Finally, from the drop in support for the restorationist Divine Law party suggests a very early example of tactical voting by members of the surviving nobility for Progressist candidates so to avoid land reform and retribution.
This election was only to be a stay of execution for the Pouletist faction. Unconditionalists (collected into the more formal Leveller party organization after 536) continued to radicalize and gather support and ultimately had their chance at power after the elections of 543. The political instability which followed led ultimately to a second civil war, Central ap Morgan's rise to dictatorship, and ultimately, the downfall of the Republic.
Remember Remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot
I see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot
The career of Dominic ''Dom'' Mintoff is as confusing as it is fascinating. A titan of the Maltese Labour party, he presided over Malta's integration into the United Kingdom as it's Prime Minister, later becoming one of the three MP to represent his homeland in the House of Commons. His decision to abandon the relative safety of serving as the first First Minister of Malta in favour of the quagmire of British politics, has often been attributed to his ambition. Few expected that a Maltese socialist would ever reach anywhere near the position that he did.
In the House of Commons, Mintoff became somewhat of a novelty figure. Opponents derided his Maltese accent, dubbing him "Johnny Foreigner,'' and viciously mocked his socialist principles. In spite of such, he became the darling of the anti-colonial left of the party, along with developing a significant base of supporters amongst a new wave of leftist activists. Appointed as Minister for the Overseas Territories by Tony Greenwood, Dom became a key outspoken figure in the Labour government. However, outside of the political sphere, he remained almost unknown until his surprise appointment as Foreign Minister in the Cabinet reshuffle of late 1967.
The appointment was heavily criticised by other Cabinet ministers, having come as big of a shock to Mintoff himself. His tenure would prove very controversial yet ultimately short-lived as Prime Minister Greenwood resigned due to health complications. The ensuing leadership race was expected to see the left-wing Barbara Castle against the candidacy of George Brown. The latter quickly became marred in an extensive alcoholism scandal, yet for some unknown reason Castle refused to run, propelling Brown to the position of frontrunner. Even more unexpected, Mintoff would field himself as a candidate to the ire of quite literally everyone but his allies.
In spite of an initial wave of mockery, Mintoff positioned himself as a compromise candidate preventing the drunken Brown from humiliating Labour further. Promising to serve as a Caretaker Prime Minister, Dom utilised his credentials as a former Prime Minister of Malta to his advantage. Brown, perhaps inebriated on over-confidence, provided a lack-lustre display, alienating potential swing voters. The result was a shock (yet incredibly close) victory for Mintoff.
Assuming the role of Prime Minister, Mintoff faced major setbacks. Derided and vilified by the press, Mintoff attempts to pursue his domestic agenda proved hindered. The milestone of the first Prime Minister from the Overseas Territories (OT) became a poisoned chalice with his opponents having no qualms in spouting xenophobia. Although Greenwood's policies had been avidly socialist, Mintoff's attempts to continue his approach faced extraordinary pushback, exacerbated by the tenuous position he found himself within the Labour party itself. Despite having achieved relatively little during the early phase of his tenure, the mere promise of nationalising major corporations sparked a frenzy of distaste amongst right-leaning elements of the establishment.
Baseless conspiracy theories regarding Mintoff suggesting he was KGB agent emerged hand in hand with a consensus that he must be removed from power, within right-wing circles. It was from this amalgamation of fear, distrust and egotism that the Committee for the Defence of the Realm was formed by Cecil King. King and his associates believed that if Mintoff remained Prime Minister, a major crisis was imminent, that the KGB-infiltrated Government would disintegrate and there would be turmoil and bloodshed in the streets. This apocalyptic view of Britain's future was used to recruit a complex network of right-wing elements within the military and intelligence services, MPs, civil servants and wealthy businessmen. Although secretive, King did not hide his intentions, deciding to override the editorial independence of the Daily Mirror to write and publish a front-page article calling on Mintoff to be removed by some sort of extra-parliamentary action.
In the midst of massive unpopularity, Mintoff had travelled home to Malta to mediate a brewing crisis between the new Ba'athist Libyan government and the Tunisians. The DOR would decide to launch their operation on the fifth of November, a measure that would be derided constantly by satirists due to the day's association with failed plots. Perhaps deliberately playing into the poetic irony of the situation, the attempt would fail miserably. As a wave of patriotism and loyalism swept the nation, Mintoff would return to Britain, more popular then he had ever been.
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I really liked the idea of the Anarchist Free States I did previously in this, and decided to expand upon it. I give you the American Free Country and the upper chamber known as the "Body of the Collective".
The American Free Country (A.F.C. or AFC), commonly known as the Free County (F.C or FC) or simply Anarchist America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 568,134 individual worker's soviets, 23 states, 18 major unincorporated semi-autonomous territories, 4 special military administrative districts and 3 special economic districts. At 3.8 million square miles, it is the world's third- or forth-largest country by total area. The Free Country shares large land borders with the Hudson Bay Company to the north and Mexico to the south as well as limited borders with Ireland, Nova Scotia, France, the Third Riech and the Mongol Empire. While there is no de-jure capitol, as the General Framework does not specify which city is the "heartland" of the Free Country, Mount Whitney in the state of Presley is the headquarters of both the Committee of the General and Body of the Collective are, and thus the de-facto capital.
Following the assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt, a large series of strikes crippled much of the country. Acting President John Williams of Mississippi began the White Purge of 1902, this brought a violent reaction by the black faction. This resulted in the start of the 2nd American Civil War, also known as the Black Revolution. Following the end of this crisis, a relocation back to Europe of the white population was proposed by Marcus Garvey. This began the White Expulsion, starting with voluntary and discriminatory "encouragement" against caucasian-americans. In April of 1915, the Expulsion would be fine tuned and organized under the Committee of the 70, which organized the process of white relocation to the former Indian territories and much of the Western United States, though mostly localized in the Great Basin area. The Free Country would be seen as a World power following the conclusion of the First Hemisphere War with the Treaty of Santiago of 1927. This status would be reinforced with a victory in the Second Hemisphere War against the democracies of Scotland and the Netherlands. Following this conflict, it entered into a Frozen War with it's former ally, the Empire of Japan, alongside it's old rival of the Scottish Union. With the discovery of Tesla weaponry, and working off the principle of "Gentlemen's Arrangement" in geopolitics, it held an uneasy peace with Japan and Scotland. Though the Free Country would intervene across the globe to promote it's way of life throughout Oceania, Africa and Asia.
The Free County is an anarchist republic and decentralized democracy with two main branches of government, the executive and legislative. The functions of a judicial system on the lower level are organized by a jury system down to the township level. It relies on personal accountability and public shaming, with most criminal punishments being "temporary indentured servitude" as part of the Benjamin Tillman Model of Judicial Principles and Laws. The Committee of the General is the executive branch, which is comprised of 15 members. A third of all committee members are elected in 4 year intervals via the States which sent forth their nominees. Most day to day local governance occurs at the worker-soviet level. Although it varies from state to state (or even county by county), the generally agreed upon term for a plurality of those elected is a period of nine months, but are barred from serving consecutively. However, various members of the worker-soviets can run for non-consecutive terms of office, and most frequently do with leapfrogging.
The Body of the Collective is the legislative assembly of the Free Country. It's work starts when petitions by local worker-soviets reach the Committee on Petitions and Legislation, which acts as a guard dog to prevent frivolous and unrealistic measures and proposals from bothering the legislative branch. This Committee on Petitions can then steer the legislation to one of 16 other Committees in order for them to hammer out details of a bill or legislation. If the bill is brought out of Committee by a simple majority, then the legislation is introduced and general debate can begin in the Body of the Collective as a whole. A filibuster can begin by any member of the Collective, and can only be broken by a minimum of 85 of the 122 members. However, there can be a motion of cloture on the legislation which only needs 71 of the 122 members voting in the affirmative in order for that to pass through. Once a filibuster is broken, then the bill is re-held by the Committee that had brought it out for a final examination and or re-examination of the bill. Once that period is done, then the legislation is voted on by the whole Body of the Collective, with a simple majority of 63 of the 122 members needed.
The Free Country is a member of the Black Front, an international organization comprised of anarchist and similar left-leaning governments. It is also a primary contributor and the founding member state of the Czolgosz Commonwealth, an international military alliance that was organized following the start of the Frozen War. It's namesake, Leon Czolgosz, was the First Equal Chairman during the opening stages of the Black Revolution. He held this role until his gradual decline both in health and in influence over Emma Goldstein's faction within the Anarchist Front. The Free County ranks high both with large per capita Gross Domestic Product and with it's national GDP. However, the country has been criticized for inequality related to race and income; frequent use of capital punishment and lack of privatized health care.
The Free Country is a modestly developed country, and accounts for approximately Seven percent of global GDP. The Free Country is the largest cotton producing country on the planet, and since the early 1920s has sought to tie it's massive wealth in cotton bales and the stockpile to a national currency. The Cotton Bale's value is worth 360 Equveilant Manpower Hours of Productivity, which has been the universal currency that is most frequently traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It's armed forces are significant enough to justify frequent intervention, and has utilized it in order to "protect anarchy and the people" in accordance with Article 3 of the General Framework of the American Free Country.
Following the assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt, a large series of strikes crippled much of the country. Acting President John Williams of Mississippi began the White Purge of 1902, this brought a violent reaction by the black faction. This resulted in the start of the 2nd American Civil War, also known as the Black Revolution. Following the end of this crisis, a relocation back to Europe of the white population was proposed by Marcus Garvey. This began the White Expulsion, starting with voluntary and discriminatory "encouragement" against caucasian-americans. In April of 1915, the Expulsion would be fine tuned and organized under the Committee of the 70, which organized the process of white relocation to the former Indian territories and much of the Western United States, though mostly localized in the Great Basin area. The Free Country would be seen as a World power following the conclusion of the First Hemisphere War with the Treaty of Santiago of 1927. This status would be reinforced with a victory in the Second Hemisphere War against the democracies of Scotland and the Netherlands. Following this conflict, it entered into a Frozen War with it's former ally, the Empire of Japan, alongside it's old rival of the Scottish Union. With the discovery of Tesla weaponry, and working off the principle of "Gentlemen's Arrangement" in geopolitics, it held an uneasy peace with Japan and Scotland. Though the Free Country would intervene across the globe to promote it's way of life throughout Oceania, Africa and Asia.
The Free County is an anarchist republic and decentralized democracy with two main branches of government, the executive and legislative. The functions of a judicial system on the lower level are organized by a jury system down to the township level. It relies on personal accountability and public shaming, with most criminal punishments being "temporary indentured servitude" as part of the Benjamin Tillman Model of Judicial Principles and Laws. The Committee of the General is the executive branch, which is comprised of 15 members. A third of all committee members are elected in 4 year intervals via the States which sent forth their nominees. Most day to day local governance occurs at the worker-soviet level. Although it varies from state to state (or even county by county), the generally agreed upon term for a plurality of those elected is a period of nine months, but are barred from serving consecutively. However, various members of the worker-soviets can run for non-consecutive terms of office, and most frequently do with leapfrogging.
The Body of the Collective is the legislative assembly of the Free Country. It's work starts when petitions by local worker-soviets reach the Committee on Petitions and Legislation, which acts as a guard dog to prevent frivolous and unrealistic measures and proposals from bothering the legislative branch. This Committee on Petitions can then steer the legislation to one of 16 other Committees in order for them to hammer out details of a bill or legislation. If the bill is brought out of Committee by a simple majority, then the legislation is introduced and general debate can begin in the Body of the Collective as a whole. A filibuster can begin by any member of the Collective, and can only be broken by a minimum of 85 of the 122 members. However, there can be a motion of cloture on the legislation which only needs 71 of the 122 members voting in the affirmative in order for that to pass through. Once a filibuster is broken, then the bill is re-held by the Committee that had brought it out for a final examination and or re-examination of the bill. Once that period is done, then the legislation is voted on by the whole Body of the Collective, with a simple majority of 63 of the 122 members needed.
The Free Country is a member of the Black Front, an international organization comprised of anarchist and similar left-leaning governments. It is also a primary contributor and the founding member state of the Czolgosz Commonwealth, an international military alliance that was organized following the start of the Frozen War. It's namesake, Leon Czolgosz, was the First Equal Chairman during the opening stages of the Black Revolution. He held this role until his gradual decline both in health and in influence over Emma Goldstein's faction within the Anarchist Front. The Free County ranks high both with large per capita Gross Domestic Product and with it's national GDP. However, the country has been criticized for inequality related to race and income; frequent use of capital punishment and lack of privatized health care.
The Free Country is a modestly developed country, and accounts for approximately Seven percent of global GDP. The Free Country is the largest cotton producing country on the planet, and since the early 1920s has sought to tie it's massive wealth in cotton bales and the stockpile to a national currency. The Cotton Bale's value is worth 360 Equveilant Manpower Hours of Productivity, which has been the universal currency that is most frequently traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It's armed forces are significant enough to justify frequent intervention, and has utilized it in order to "protect anarchy and the people" in accordance with Article 3 of the General Framework of the American Free Country.
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Techno Angel
Banned
Who's that Jaques II character? And did the original French revolution(the one in XVIII century), Napoleonic wars, Restoration etc. all happen ITTL or was France a monarchy through all this time?
Techno Angel
Banned
I really wish to know what a republic of Harry Truman isHere's some Free Territory like things in an American Revolution that's as messy as the Russian one but with Anarchists winning the civil war, though ending the rebellious "states" in their west.
The Bear Republic resulted from an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in a large portion of the modern day American Free Country. It existed from 1910 to 1921, during which time various anarchist groups organized along a anarcho-feudalist model. There were three large areas which were granted various autonomy along with the main "Gold Coast" area. These were the Sacramento Free Area, the Theo-Anarchist Commune of the Wasatch Front and the Great Basin Free Area.
Large amounts of autonomy were granted to the three areas, so long as there was a minimum tax allocated to the "public defense and welfare" of the republic. Prominent Anarchist and wife of notable Texan revolutionary Albert Parsons, one Lucy Parsons, became the de-facto commander of the Army of the Mojave Desert and is thus noted as the de-facto leader of the Bear Republic for it's existence.
Throwing off the chains of their Mexican overlords following an opportunity with the outbreak of the Second American Revolution, the Bear Republic became a firm ally of the Black Faction in the civil war and engaged with loyalist or White forces that skirmished within Texas and Mexico. Their forces led military raids against the religious terrorists throughout the Sierra-Nevada valley. They cracked down hard on internal revolts and were generally considered to be relatively unstable. In an attempt to reunite the country, American Free Country Equal Chair Emma Goldstein declared that Lucy Parsons was "counter-revolutionary" and gave the approval for military action agaisnt the Bear Republic the following August of 1920.
In early 1921 following the mauling of General Carl Hayden's forces at the Battle of the Rio by Free Country forces, the Bear Republic forces threw what they had left into the defense of Santa Rosa, though vehement disagreements among various left-wing factions and anarchist groups led to the eruption of street battles between the parties. This division only served to further the advance of the Free Country forces, which culminated in the Storming of the General Arms Facility on 29 October 1921.
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Mexican-Texan relations have always been complicated, apart from the Texan Revolution, there was the signing of the Declaration of Autonomy in 1909. This action enraged the Mexicans, who promptly declared so called "Free State of Texas" to be in a state of insurrection and called upon 40,000 volunteers to quash the uprising. Texas hastily organized defenses and a Body of the Collective to supervise the war-making effort. Real power was held by the Vaquero, or Cowboy, who was nominally also the Chair of the Body of the Collective, though efforts were made to decentralize power away from both the Vaquero and the Trabajador in favor of local governance. While this meant that the war-effort would be spared the effects of a burdensome modern beaurecracy, it also hampered it's organization and overall effectiveness with the staunch "County-rights" activists that helmed local cowboy soviets.
In 1912 the Williams expedition to the Alamo prompted then Vaquero Miriam Ferguson to evacuate. Her political opponents railed against such a disastrously move which also prompted a massive propaganda victory for the White faction of the American Civil War. The Blacks quickly sacked Ferguson in favor of firebrand William Jennings Bryan, who died in office and was replaced with his brother. Charles proved to be inept and even attempted to bluntly centralize power under him. These efforts only further fractured the war effort and unity of the Texans. Things were made much worse with the brutal natural disaster White Snow of '17 and the "Starvation of '18".
These two events quickly saw the violent execution of Charles Bryan and the replacement of the relatively young and inexperienced Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was just nine years old at the time. The "Young blood" was largely seen as a political puppet for former Vaquero Miriam Ferguson to exercise power "behind the throne", to which the firebrand Johnson proved more difficult to control in his later years. The thousands of local free-worker cowboy soviets argued amongst themselves mostly and were regarded with little more than contempt by the African population within Texas. The government fell apart by the turn of the 1920s, and was long considered a 'backwater front' in the American Revolution by prominent anarchists such as Randolph Hearst. Sporadic fighting among various criminal gangs, cliques and small family factions continued until the dissolution of the Free State of Texas.
I'd assume it's probably something akin to the Great Republic of Rough and Ready.
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