"America Be Watching with Popcorn" on the Sino-Soviet War, two of the US' biggest enemies going after each other. That title kind of made me think the Americans would be like this...
America Be Watching With The Popcorn: A Sino-Soviet War TL
- Thread starter theflyingmongoose
- Start date
I can just see conservatives demanding the abolition of the Electoral College.
What happened to Hong Kong ITTL? Remember at this point it’s still British and the UK viewed the city as very important so the Soviets can’t aim at it without the British (a nuclear power) responding in some way. If the Soviets were launching nukes at China and didn't want to get NATO involved they would have to deliberately avoid Hong Kong, thereby sparing most of southeast China. If Hong Kong is hit that could be curtains for the world. Also, Singapore which isn't that far away from the theatre is very closely aligned with the UK. The British still have troops in Singapore in 1969-1970
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(Not) Fun & (Not) Games: 1971-1972
While the Soviets certainly came out of the war in a better position than the Chinese, they still suffered losses. The Soviets, while having a less vulnerable populace (a vast majority of the population lived thousands of miles from the main Chinese airfields), had one vulnerable nerve- the Trans-Siberian Railway. The atomic bombing of Chita by the Chinese cut off a major link and depot for transporting food and troops. While Soviet leadership was initially worried about accepting western aid, they eventually got help from the American Red Cross and the Taiwanese Army Medical Corps (both of which by now had lots of experience with radiation burns and sickness). The Soviets also 'repossessed' heavy machinery and supplies from their Manchurian and Turkestani 'allies', which reduced the strain on the factories and farmers.
South Korea (now just Korea) received lots of money from the Americans to rebuild the north. This was part of the new 'Bush Doctrine' (named after Secretary of State George Bush), which set aside billions to Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, and the Philipines to help create loyal allies. And despite the aid to the USSR from the American Red Cross, the federal government put a full trade embargo on the USSR regarding key foodstuffs and building materials, although the aid from the Warsaw Pact helped a bit. The winter between 1971 and 1972 was horrible for China. Tens of millions died (included in casualty estimates) from famine, and the local cooling of temperatures heavily affected the internally displaced or other people with a lack of shelter.
The humanitarian aid trails were requiring more an more security, as many warlords and armed bandits began attacking the convoys to supply themselves (as farms and the like didn't have any food anyway). The nationalist advance was helped by MQM-105 Eagle drones to spy on the warlords and pick out targets for the brand-new (deployed 1971) MGM-52 Lance missiles.
The good news was that the ROC took a large amount of territory along the coasts (they couldn't go much further inland because of warlords). By this time the Republic of China was recognized as 'legitimate China' by most of the west, even the ones who had previously backed the PRC. Taiwan received (by far) the most money from the Bush Doctrine, with over $10 Billion (over $60 Billion today) earmarked for it, which was three times as much as the British got after World War II.
While Richard Nixon's political situation seemed fine on paper, the reality was much more complicated. He had successfully managed the west coast quarantine (which later turned out to be unnessicary, but this wouldn't come out until later), and appeared to be poised to win re-election. However, there was a problem that was making itself known: refugees.
Over 30 million Chinese would flee the country in the years following the war. While some were temporary, more were fed up with all the bad things that had happened in China. Generally, those in Southeast Asia were treated the worst, so many went to either Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, America, or even Europe. Over 500,000 Chinese would eventually settle in the U.S., and nativist backlash did occur, if relatively limited because of public sympathy and the 'model minority' myth.
A few months before the election, however, Richard Nixon had an approval rating of 65%. Nobody particularly liked him, but most felt he was running the country adequately (secondhand knowledge, I wasn't alive until 2007). His challenger was George McGovern, who was far to the left of the average American. If the Democrats ran a more conservative choice, they could have done better, but alas that was not to be.
Nixon/Agnew (R): 48,151,026 (62.13%) | 535 Electoral Votes
McGovern/Eagleton (D): 27,674,972 (35.71%) | 3 Electoral Votes
House:
Democratic: 227 (-28)
Republican: 208 (+28)
Senate:
Republican: 50 (+5)
Democratic: 50 (-5)
Better literally everyone who reviewed the chapter?
South Korea (now just Korea) received lots of money from the Americans to rebuild the north. This was part of the new 'Bush Doctrine' (named after Secretary of State George Bush), which set aside billions to Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, and the Philipines to help create loyal allies. And despite the aid to the USSR from the American Red Cross, the federal government put a full trade embargo on the USSR regarding key foodstuffs and building materials, although the aid from the Warsaw Pact helped a bit. The winter between 1971 and 1972 was horrible for China. Tens of millions died (included in casualty estimates) from famine, and the local cooling of temperatures heavily affected the internally displaced or other people with a lack of shelter.
The humanitarian aid trails were requiring more an more security, as many warlords and armed bandits began attacking the convoys to supply themselves (as farms and the like didn't have any food anyway). The nationalist advance was helped by MQM-105 Eagle drones to spy on the warlords and pick out targets for the brand-new (deployed 1971) MGM-52 Lance missiles.
The good news was that the ROC took a large amount of territory along the coasts (they couldn't go much further inland because of warlords). By this time the Republic of China was recognized as 'legitimate China' by most of the west, even the ones who had previously backed the PRC. Taiwan received (by far) the most money from the Bush Doctrine, with over $10 Billion (over $60 Billion today) earmarked for it, which was three times as much as the British got after World War II.
While Richard Nixon's political situation seemed fine on paper, the reality was much more complicated. He had successfully managed the west coast quarantine (which later turned out to be unnessicary, but this wouldn't come out until later), and appeared to be poised to win re-election. However, there was a problem that was making itself known: refugees.
Over 30 million Chinese would flee the country in the years following the war. While some were temporary, more were fed up with all the bad things that had happened in China. Generally, those in Southeast Asia were treated the worst, so many went to either Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, America, or even Europe. Over 500,000 Chinese would eventually settle in the U.S., and nativist backlash did occur, if relatively limited because of public sympathy and the 'model minority' myth.
A few months before the election, however, Richard Nixon had an approval rating of 65%. Nobody particularly liked him, but most felt he was running the country adequately (secondhand knowledge, I wasn't alive until 2007). His challenger was George McGovern, who was far to the left of the average American. If the Democrats ran a more conservative choice, they could have done better, but alas that was not to be.
Nixon/Agnew (R): 48,151,026 (62.13%) | 535 Electoral Votes
McGovern/Eagleton (D): 27,674,972 (35.71%) | 3 Electoral Votes
House:
Democratic: 227 (-28)
Republican: 208 (+28)
Senate:
Republican: 50 (+5)
Democratic: 50 (-5)
Better literally everyone who reviewed the chapter?
I think Nixon won by a bit too much of a margin here, I know he basically won Vietnam and saw the collapse of China but 535 EV is a bit too much IMO. Though I am not that familiar with American History.
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Against a more mainstream Democrat you'd be correct, but against McGovern is another matter.
I mean, Nixon did win 520 Electoral Votes in 1972 IOTL, it`s very much realistic that that number would increase following the massive success in foreign policy that is "winning" the Vietnam War + removing China as a a communist threat.
Oh I see, I am not all that familiar with McGovern or America in the 1970s so I wasn't sure how realistic Nixon's win was.
I see, though I feel like a few more states would've remained blue.
Deleted my post because it couldn’t fix the mentioning of Kaiser Chris.
In 72 he only lost one state and DC. I don’t see DC changing but with an even more successful foreign policy I can’t see why McGovern would win more states.
That was definitely a massive improvement. With all of Nixon's major foreign policy wins and the absence of any difficulties on the homefront besides refugees then a repeat of his incredible performance from OTL is practically guaranteed, and I think Nixon would definitely go in without even thinking of Watergate since he's going against such an extreme opponent and has maintained incredible foreign policy successes with high popularity. Things may get rough for him in his second term, but he was guaranteed to get a landslide with what has been set up in the story.
As for the refugee issue, it may make the immigration issue more prominent some years early, but there's definitely going to be no political splits as of yet.
As for the refugee issue, it may make the immigration issue more prominent some years early, but there's definitely going to be no political splits as of yet.
Oh I see, so Nixon is going to be this timeline's equivalent of Ronald Reagan (assuming watergate is butterflied)?
Nixon actually got 2% more of the popular vote than Reagan, but he will be known as the person who won every state.
Really? Never heard that before, though I prior to Watergate that’s possible. Really can’t wait to see how the rest of Nixon’s presidency goes!
Since Nixon's reelection was basically a foregone conclusion this time, I don't think his campaign would see the need to do the breakin