Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes VI (Do Not Post Current Politics or Political Figures Here)

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The 2000 Czechoslovak parliamentary election was held on the 24th September 2000 to elect 300 members to the National Assembly. It was the second time Czechoslovakia had held a parliamentary election concurrently with a popularly elected presidential one after 1985.

The election saw Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla of the ČSSD running for a second term. Špidla had overseen a period of moderate economic growth combined with a much better relationship with President Havel, as he and Havel saw eye to eye on foreign policy much more than Zeman and Havel had. Despite this, he was hurt by aggressive criticism from the opposition for implementing tax increases on the rich and was seen by many on the left as a dry technocrat, as well as incurring criticism from the backbenches from figures like Zeman.

Causing further problems for the ČSSD-led government was the organization of an agreement between Václav Klaus and Ján Čarnogurský, who had taken over as OLS leader after its disastrous performance in 1996. Čarnogurský made sizeable policy concessions to Klaus’s ČKLS that moved the OLS to the right in exchange for Klaus’s party merging back into the OLS; despite this, the OLS was subsequently hurt by the decision of President Havel to resign his membership of the party after its new ČKLS-influenced constitution was approved by the membership in 1998.

One of the biggest concessions made during the negotiations was that Klaus would be made the OLS’s candidate in the 2000 presidential election. Since Klaus was still a deeply contentious figure, this led Špidla and Havel to decide to postpone dissolving the National Assembly until it would be elected concurrently with the new President, ostensibly because this would make the campaign less expensive and more efficient but also because it would emphasize anti-Klaus and pro-government voting.

In order to maximize the chance of victory in the 2000 presidential election, several anti-Klaus parties united in standing down their own parties’ candidates in favour of the ČSNS’s popular leader and Cabinet member Rudolf Schuster. As a Slovak, socially fairly liberal and economically moderate politician, he stood out in stark contrast to Klaus and defeated him easily, the first time in 40 years the ČSNS had controlled the presidency.

Meanwhile in the parliamentary election, the ČSSD had retained a lead in the polls despite the OLS’s growth after the merger, but Špidla was not popular with the public and the DSS leader Miroslav Grebeníček withdrew his party’s support of the government after seven years, attracting more support from left-wing protest voters to the DSS. Despite this, after negotiations between Špidla and the new ČSL leader Cyril Svoboda (who had succeeded Josef Lux after his death from leukaemia in 1999) saw Svoboda pledge that his party would support the largest party after the election, the OLS was isolated by its traditional ally taking a more centrist position, and Čarnogurský and Klaus started to conflict over their respective pro-Europeanism and Euroscepticism.

The presidential election helped the mainstream left-wing and right-wing parties and isolated the ethnic parties, with Coexistence losing seats and the SNS and SPR-RSČ both dropping out of the Assembly, the first time since 1978 the far right had not won any seats in a Czechoslovak election. The OLS won over 100 seats for the first time since 1989 and the ČSL enjoyed its best result since 1982, though it did not come close to the two main parties in seat count. Despite a significant decline in its voteshare and seat total the ČSSD once again came out of the election the largest party, and formed a renewed coalition with the ČSNS, Coexistence and the Greens, though this time it was a minority government supported by the ČSL.
 
"The Senate? Who needs THAT?! That is, like, sooo 18th century!"

"Well, Bobby Kennedy, what are you thinkin' instead of an upper house with lots of powers?"

"Um... Oh! I've got it. How about we put the old farts that were in the White House and stick them here. We'll even give 'em fancy titles n' stuff. Come on ol' Johnson, you'd like to be President again, right?"
"..."
"Johnson?"
"You're fired."

Conversation between U.S Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy, sometime in 1969.
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xwMnrv9.png
 
"The Senate? Who needs THAT?! That is, like, sooo 18th century!"

"Well, Bobby Kennedy, what are you thinkin' instead of an upper house with lots of powers?"

"Um... Oh! I've got it. How about we put the old farts that were in the White House and stick them here. We'll even give 'em fancy titles n' stuff. Come on ol' Johnson, you'd like to be President again, right?"
"..."
"Johnson?"
"You're fired."

Conversation between U.S Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy, sometime in 1969.
__

xwMnrv9.png
How fun!
 
"The Senate? Who needs THAT?! That is, like, sooo 18th century!"

"Well, Bobby Kennedy, what are you thinkin' instead of an upper house with lots of powers?"

"Um... Oh! I've got it. How about we put the old farts that were in the White House and stick them here. We'll even give 'em fancy titles n' stuff. Come on ol' Johnson, you'd like to be President again, right?"
"..."
"Johnson?"
"You're fired."

Conversation between U.S Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy, sometime in 1969.
__

xwMnrv9.png
I want to see more infoboxes from this universe.
 
"The Senate? Who needs THAT?! That is, like, sooo 18th century!"

"Well, Bobby Kennedy, what are you thinkin' instead of an upper house with lots of powers?"

"Um... Oh! I've got it. How about we put the old farts that were in the White House and stick them here. We'll even give 'em fancy titles n' stuff. Come on ol' Johnson, you'd like to be President again, right?"
"..."
"Johnson?"
"You're fired."

Conversation between U.S Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy, sometime in 1969.
__

xwMnrv9.png
"Electoral gladiatorial combat in 7 states"
Well.
 
Newne, I can't say that I quite understand any of your infoboxes, but hot damn are they always interesting! And the quality of the infoboxes is always impeccable too!
 
(A semi-shitpost idea I spent way too much time on.)

"Spider-Man: No Way Home has been released in cinemas, and...it's surely...is something."

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The 2004 Czechoslovak parliamentary election was held on the 26th September 2004 to elect 300 members to the National Assembly, the unicameral parliament of Czechoslovakia. It was called around the end of the previous four-year term that started in October 2000.

While the 2000 election had seen the ČSSD Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla re-elected, his government depended on the confidence of the centrist ČSL; without it, it only controlled 138 seats. This confidence was put in jeopardy as Špidla and Schuster’s foreign policy stances came under fire from the right. Both of them advocated for a conciliatory attitude towards Muslims after 9/11 and against the Iraq War, and for Czech involvement with the Eurozone, and showed little compromise on these stances.

Špidla chose to try to placate his leftist critics on the issue of European integration by advocating for the protection of the European social model and introducing legislation to protect for workers displaced by trade liberalization. While this improved relations between the ČSSD and DSS to some degree, many leftists felt the measures did not go far enough and ČSL leader Cyril Svoboda openly questioned the trust being put in the DSS.

In the summer of 2003, corruption allegations emerged against several prominent ČSSD members, including Minister of the Interior Stanislav Gross, and the OLS leader Iveta Radičová tabled a no confidence vote against the government. The ČSSD, ČSNS and DSS voted to renew the government, but the ČSL had withdrawn support for the government while the Greens and Coexistence had been offered cabinet positions by Radičová if she was given the chance to form a government, and so they voted against it. By 153 votes to 147, the Špidla government was forced to resign.

The OLS, ČSL, Greens and Coexistence all voted for a new government led by Radičová, making her the first female Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia. As a compromise with Coexistence, the new government worked to protect the rights of ethnic Hungarians more strenuously than previous governments had, and also enacted significant reforms to pensions, education financing and flat taxes.

While this led to considerable economic growth, it also caused significant austerity to be implemented which raised unemployment and lowered standards of living in Czechoslovakia. This was a major point of contention for the ČSSD’s new leader Robert Fico, a populist figure who aggressively attacked the government, established very friendly relations with DSS leader Miroslav Grebeníček, and capitalized on nationalist attitudes to try to and secure the votes of poor but socially conservative voters.

This had significant drawbacks for his party’s efforts to regain power, however, as he isolated his party from the centre; ČSNS leader Jíři Dienstbier threatened to support Radičová over Fico, and Coexistence outright refused to support a Fico-led government due to his alliance with anti-Hungarian and anti-Romani groups. This damaged the ČSSD’s credibility as an alternative government, and Radičová accused Fico of ‘idolising the tactics of Klement Gottwald’ and seeking to create ‘a cult of personality’ around the opposition leader.

While Fico ran a spirited campaign, his party fell behind the OLS in seats. Despite this, it also gained seats and votes compared to 2000, giving Fico a renewed mandate as party leader. Leading a coalition with the ČSL and Coexistence, and the support on confidence from the ČSNS and Greens, Radičová formed a second government.
 
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The 1982 UK General Election was the first of three in the 1980s. The Labor Party after losing their majority to the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher in 1978 would elect Michael Foot as their leader in the 1980 Labor Leadership Election. Thatcher's term as Prime Minister was a tumultuous one that she could not effectively react too. The 1st Great Recession as it would become to be known as of the 1970s and early 1980s was in full swing due to the Panama War. Thatcher's Ministry suffered from economic despair and high inflation as the price of goods spiked with the shutdown of the Panama Canal from 1978-1979. Even after it was re-opened in 1979 attacks by the FRS continued until 1988. As the economy got worse Thatcher's popularity collapsed and by the time of the 1980 Labor Leadership Election Labor was leading 43-33-17 against Thatcher and Liberal Leader David Steel. But Michael Foot was elected leader of the Labor Party and things started to surprisingly look up for Labor. Not due to Foot's influence but due to the Iranian Civil War starting, which crashed oil prices. But as Foot looked like he was going to walk into Downing Street with a massive majority the Wembley Rebels (called the Gang of Four by critics) left the Labor Party and created the Social Democratic Party (SDP). The four who left were Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams, and Bill Rodgers left the Labor Party due to Foot being elected leader. The SDP soon entered into an alliance with the Liberal Party before they would merge into the Democrats in 1983.

The election turned from a landslide victory for Labor to a dead heat between all three parties. The media hyped up the SDP-Liberals as the only ones who could stop Britian from falling into the radicalism of either the left or the right. Constant comparisons were made between Michael Foot and Italian Prime Minister Enrico Berlinguer who they attacked as a fool who benefited the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Thatcher was bombarded by attacks due to her handling of the Winter of Discontent and inflation. Furthermore, Secretary of State of Northern Ireland Airey Neave was criticized harshly by Jenkins and Foot for his support for the death penalty and inflammatory policies in Northern Ireland. Still, some members of the Conservative Party believed they could win due to the left wing splitting the vote. Thatcher and her campaign would launch a fierce media blitz that attacked Foot as a far-left radical who would bow down to Ustinov and give Hong Kong to Hongwen while attacking Jenkins as a continuation of Callaghan's failed economic policies that led to this mess in the first place. These attacks backfired as Foot shot back by pointing to his opposition to fascism in WWII as evidence he wouldn't back down to tyrants and both Jenkins and Foot merely reminded the British people of the economic situation. Come election Britain didn't know who would end up as Prime Minister. Most predicted either a Foot majority or a hung
parliament. As the votes were tallied the UK came back with a hung parliament. The SDP-Liberals won the popular vote and increased their seats in parliament by an astonishing 138 seats. The Conservatives decreased by 11% in the popular vote and fell to 190 seats, the second worst result for them until the 1985 election.

Labor on the other hand was embarrassed as they lost votes popular vote wise and won a meager 17 seats in an easily winnable election. Foot would be prevented from forming a government as Thatcher and Jenkins started to negotiate a coalition deal. Facing pressure from the One Nation faction of the Conservative Party that was in open revolt over her leadership she accepted a coalition deal with Jenkins. Jenkins would become Prime Minister and Thatcher resigned as Conservative Leader, with Willie Whitelaw becoming acting leader and acting Deputy Prime Minister. Thus began the first non-Conservative or non-Labor government since David Lloyd George in 1922.

Another wikibox from my timeline Hell or High Water, specifically the European chapter. Instead of using the trope of Callaghan calling an election and winning against Thatcher I did something I haven't seen done, a Thatcher minority in 1978. Needless to say, do the US's foreign policy changes that end up backfiring on the world Thatcher goes down hard. But due to Foot still becoming leader in a backlash against a more aggressive United States and discontent with the economy the SDP-Liberals benefit the most from Thatcher's fall from power, allowing them a three-year term in government to either screw up or convince the UK to give them a majority.
 
A series idea I've had for a while

Part One

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's untimely death in 1923 was one of great sorrow for those who knew him. A seeming rising star in Democratic Party politics, his career was put on hold with his 1921 polio diagnosis, with his condition only worsening in his last years. His death was mourned even by President Harding (who ironically passed away later that same year). Even today, some historians wonder what could have been of the young cousin of Teddy Roosevelt...

Moving forward to 1932 America was in its worst economic crisis to date, and Democrats now had the prime opportunity for the taking - but only if they let themselves have it. In the beginning there were two main candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination - 1928 nominee Al Smith of New York and Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas. Both found strong support from opposing wings of the party, but neither could quite break into the other's base. But then came in perhaps the darkest of dark horses. An insurgent campaign by Huey Long, a Senator from Louisiana with a controversial yet very successful record. Though condemned as a radical tyrant by his critics, there was no doubt he had a great set of support.

His base of support cut mostly from Garner's base, while also gaining the enthusiastic support of labor union interests in the Midwest. Garner was soon limited to just his home state of Texas and a few delegates here and there from conservative Southerners. Garner saw the writing on the wall, and after consulting with the Long campaign, put his delegates behind the Senator. Long now had 60.9% of delegates, but not near enough to overcome the 2/3rds majority necessary to win the nomination. For that he had to consult the stubborn Smith campaign, which commanded 35.3% of the delegates on the 11th ballot. Long's delegates agreed he would have an ally of Smith's as his vice president and conceded his plans for deficit spending. Smith, having been satisfied, allowed enough of his delegates to switch their vote to allow Long to win the nomination on the 12th ballot.

The fall campaign for Long was quite easy, given President Hoover's unpopularity. Though receiving only unenthusiastic support from the Northeast, he won the unabashed support of every other region, including winning every state in the Midwest and Western United States, an achievement never seen before by a Democratic nominee. Long won 439 electoral votes and 57% of the popular vote, which also made the first time a Democratic nominee won a majority of the popular vote in 80 years and the largest % of the popular vote for a democratic nominee on record. Herbert Hoover scored just barely over 40% of the popular vote and only 92 electoral votes.

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Henry Stuart was born in 1640, the third son of King Charles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Made Duke of Gloucester at a young age, Henry was not expected to take the throne, having two older brothers in Charles, Prince of Wales, and James, Duke of York. However fate, or rather politics, intervened. King Charles and Parliament entered into a death spiral of recriminations and disputes over government finances and Royal prerogatives. This provoked the so called “Great Revolution,” in reality a prolonged civil war between King and his Parliament. In the end, Charles was defeated, but managed to flee to the continent, as did Henry’s elder brothers. Henry, aged 9 was both the most senior Royal in Parliament’s custody and young enough to be intimated by his family’s absolutist/“crypto-Catholic” views alleged Parliament. Chicanery ensued as various factions strived to either negotiate a return for Charles or impose their own settlement. In the end it was the New Model Army, under the reluctant command of Sir Thomas Fairfax who secured Henry, although he did not yet depose Charles. Fairfax was made regent, against his better judgement, under terms broadly similar to the Agreement of the People drafted by Henry Ireton.

Fairfax would govern with a council appointed by Parliament, although the army by this point had purged Parliament to preserve army interests, and generally took a light hand. When Charles returned in 1648 with an Army of Scots and Royalists, Henry was placed under heavy guard against agents of his father, and formerly enthroned as it became apparent no negotiations could be made. Eventually forces under Oliver Cromwell would roll north and conquer Scotland, driving Charles into what would be permanent exile. An opportunity was taken to force the Union so long desired by the Stuarts, and Henry became the first King of Great Britain, a designation that included the Irish, although they were too busy being killed by Cromwell to complain.

Henry’s relationship growing up with the men who had deposed his father was obviously tense, enough so that Parliament would mark the start of it’s agreed upon controls over the Armed Forces and Officers of State not from Henry’s coronation but from his assumption of Royal authority once he was of age. He was known to have particularly disliked Cromwell as well as more religiously fanatical types. That said, he was successfully indoctrinated as a Protestant, hewing to the newly reformed Church of England, although accepting the new leveled of toleration for non-Roman Catholic Christians. Henry seems to have been particularly close to his regent, Thomas Fairfax. Fairfax, having never particularly wanted to be de facto ruler, was willing to let Henry take on responsibilities and guide him towards rulership.

Henry’s assumption of full power in 1652 was greeted with trepidation in the halls of power, but jubilation elsewhere. Fairfax had perhaps been too willing to govern by council and despite a newer, biannual Parliament there was no small amount of mismanagement. Henry was seen as a fix, although major appointment were still being made by Parliament. Panic bells rang when Henry mentioned in passing he might use the Royal Veto prerogative on certain bills to incentivize certain appointments. However this proved to be mere negotiation tactics. Henry never truly liked the arrangements, but was willing to work in good faith with Parliament which meant he was never in any danger of sharing his father’s fate. Even when he gained more control Henry generally consulted before making major decisions, although he always tried to make sure he had the final say.

Drawing, perhaps sensibly, more from his Grandfather than his Father, Henry generally preferred a peaceable foreign policy, a few scuffles with the Dutch aside. His marriage with a good, Protestant Princess was mostly arranged by others, with the King needing to be talked into the match by a now retired Fairfax, but Henry seems to have gotten along quite well with Queen Anna Sophie, having three sons and three daughters, although only one girl survived to adulthood. His eldest and namesake was his favorite, although Henry IX seems to have gotten along well with all of his children, with “Good Duke James” becoming something of a folk hero in Scotland. England’s overseas empire would grow and would generally prosper under Henry, finding a new religious settlement that, while at times uneasy did foster peace. Except in Ireland, where the growth of Plantations under Henry ensures that the Stuarts remain largely despised on the Emerald Isle, although no major rebellions broke out under Henry.

Henry IX would die rather suddenly aged 53 after a brief illness. Some whispered poison although no one could come up with a reasonable suspect other than vague fears of Popery. His son would transition to become Henry X fairly easily, although having not spent his formative years under legal bindings, he was perhaps a bit more willing to tussle with
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I had a similar wikibox many years ago. I think Henry of Oatlands is an underutilized figure in history and it makes me wonder if he had lived would the Stuarts remain in power as he might have been the preferred heir to Charles over their catholic brother. Regardless good stuff, hope to see some more of it.
 
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