Every Man a King: A History of the Long Presidency and Beyond

These are all very good suggestions. I was thinking that I might give the Republicans victory in the Spanish Civil War, but I'm not sure.

What I meant is, I'm not sure what to write about from 1937-1939.
 
Something on India and the Indian independence movement would be nice.

Also, you did mention something way back about maybe doing something on comics.
 
In the long term, I'd check the discussions on the durability of standing colonial empires. Conventional wisdom is that the Second World War devastated Europe to such a degree that it could no longer afford to maintain it's colonies and assorted dominions. This, coupled with the wartime and post-war expansion of Soviet Communism in the third world, yadda, yadda, yadda. Certainly it's a fair point, but I think the argument relies on the inherent morality and lack thereof concerning colonialism in a modern age. How will British citizens feel being told by the government and social system that colonialism is inherently good or that the shift to independence is a good idea in the loosely long term but not now, and then seeing Nigerians executed and wartime atrocities broadcast on television? The contrast between the two in the same way the United States was receptive to the Vietnam War. I think the comparison is valid, because the United States never had much of a grand colonial empire -- certainly not in Vietnam. And even so, that war turned us off.

However, morality is not inevitability. Just because colonialism is wrong does not mean it was going to end. It will end when it no longer becomes feasible for whatever reason. And that is reliant upon economics more so than morality. When maintaining the empires costs more than it is profiting, and if profit even stops totally, that is when colonialism falls. That may come in the way of economic problems in Europe itself (WW2, as our OTL example), or it may come if rebellions and insurrections and revolutions become so problematic and expensive to fight that it's better to just drop the whole thing. And then you can say "It was morally wrong".

In terms of the actual post-war period, and the more minor war that was WW2 here, I don't know what happens.

Something I would also explore is federalization of the colonial empires. Britain considered it, but it was always a minority. Other colonial powers could consider it. The problem in terms of Britain is that federalizing the empire would have kept the empire, but the short sighted rebuke was that it would mean the colonies and dominions would be on par with parliament rather subservient to the White Anglo-Saxon parliament and the British nation. So now Britain has no empire nor any massive government that a federal empire would be. And the Commonwealth of Nations, while the closest thing to it, is simply a shadow of that idea. It doesn't really cut it. I don't know if you can overcome that, because as that example showed, the social force behind colonialism was inherently at odds with long term plans that would have allowed something resembling it to continue. Colonialism was never intended to be an empire of equals; that was the convenient lie. It was intended to be a small country maintaining dictatorship of other regions, and sapping them for economic gain, with the convenient self delusion that it was best for everyone.
 
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These are all very good suggestions. I was thinking that I might give the Republicans victory in the Spanish Civil War, but I'm not sure.

What I meant is, I'm not sure what to write about from 1937-1939.

Well, you can keep things as more or less OTL, the USA were isolationist and excluding Asia they were not really involved in other theatres.
But maybe the raising of quasi-fascist goverment in North America will prompt the Entente to an earlier rearming.

Or we can go for some 'massive' changes, like Italy accepting the Hoare-Laval pact in December 1935 with the Anglo-French more pressing due to the feeling to be much more alone than OTL as the ITTL USA are even more occupied with their own problem.
In that case there no sanctions and ironicaly Benny get much less boost on the italian political scene (and we will have a fascitization of the italian normal lifes to a lesser degree than OTL due to this.)

With the start of the Spanish civil war Mussolini as OTL want to support the Nationalist but the Entente pressure him to not and without him they are more or less toasted (usually there is much enphasis on the German support, but italian direct and logistical help was vital for the nationalist war effort. Hitler want just test his new toys).
So in this manner you can have the Republican win the war.

This move will sour the relations between Italy and the Entente and come the Anshluss with Paris and London not ready to fight Berlin about this and Rome basically facing the risk to wage the war alone, Mussolini can give his ok and try to cozy up with Hitler, even supporting him at Monaco...but to a lesser level than OTL (also due to Benny diminished political sway).

At the time of the war we can an Italy that even if sign the pact of steel with Germany and Japan can put some feeler with the Entente regarding the fact that she can be 'convinced' to stay neutral...or more simply things goes as OTL and Mussolini remain neutral till a clear winner don't appear and ITTL the invasion of France fail (if Long had not ousted Italy as a German friend i will have said that the mobilization of italian troops at south will have diverted enough german resources to make fail the France operation).
 
You can talk about the laws passed by Long. I would expect the sheer radicalism of SOW would lead to considerable backlash and Long would begin to discover he can't just do what he did in Louisiana to resolve it.
 
You can talk about the laws passed by Long. I would expect the sheer radicalism of SOW would lead to considerable backlash and Long would begin to discover he can't just do what he did in Louisiana to resolve it.

I'd venture to geuss the considerable backlash was the attempted coup.
 
These are all very good suggestions. I was thinking that I might give the Republicans victory in the Spanish Civil War, but I'm not sure.

What I meant is, I'm not sure what to write about from 1937-1939.

Oh God, please no! This would destroy catholicism in Spain
SpanishLeftistsShootStatueOfChrist.jpg


If you want a good ending for the spanish civil war you can make Franco die during the war and the monarchists take control of the nationalists, that way preventing Franco's dictatorship, because a republican victory would be a gigantic desaster :(
 
Oh God, please no! This would destroy catholicism in Spain

If you want a good ending for the spanish civil war you can make Franco die during the war and the monarchists take control of the nationalists, that way preventing Franco's dictatorship, because a republican victory would be a gigantic desaster :(

I doubt OW wants a happy ending to much, considering Huey fucking Long is POTUS.
 
Not to get depressing, but there is no way around it, I would be interested to hear more of what happens to the Jewry which I don't believe has been mentioned. There was an entire rich, vibrant culture that was ripped out from where it had settled for millennia and was destroyed, and it totally changed the face of Europe and the Jewish people. German Jews especially. Yiddish was a living language, while Hebrew was a dead language, and now Yiddish is nearly extinct, and along with it all the soul that is contained in a language.

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There is a book on the subject, "The Holocaust Averted". I have not read it, but I have read the premises outlined in the book, and I find them to be the type of alternate history that assumes that the world as it turned out must be the better one, and the world that could have been -despite the horror- had bad consequences. That idea is untrue, and it gets especially unpleasant with the topic at hand. My problem being the idea that antisemitism would have been strong after the war, as if it stopped right after the holocaust shocked the world. Contrary to that idea, antisemitism and Jewish cultural separateness still existed strongly up to the Civil Rights era and the general cultural trend against bigotry. There's nothing good that came out of that horror.
 
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Oh God, please no! This would destroy catholicism in Spain

And that is bad how?:mad:

The Catholic Church is a corrupt and authoritarian institution. It had fomented over the centuries a backward-thinking and socially regressive policy that prevented the social, political and cultural development of Spain (and other Catholic-majority nations) which itself lead to the civil war itself.
 
And that is bad how?:mad:

The Catholic Church is a corrupt and authoritarian institution. It had fomented over the centuries a backward-thinking and socially regressive policy that prevented the social, political and cultural development of Spain (and other Catholic-majority nations) which itself lead to the civil war itself.

And how does that justify the genocide of tens of thousands of Catholics, not just clergymen but laity, for no crime but their religion?
 
And that is bad how?:mad:

The Catholic Church is a corrupt and authoritarian institution. It had fomented over the centuries a backward-thinking and socially regressive policy that prevented the social, political and cultural development of Spain (and other Catholic-majority nations) which itself lead to the civil war itself.

And how does that justify the genocide of tens of thousands of Catholics, not just clergymen but laity, for no crime but their religion?

Please let's stop this. I'm not even Christian, and this'll just escalate to a place none of us will be fond of.
 
Topics

Fascist Art Deco the rage of New York's 'intellectuals'.

Massive building projects (New Deal on Steroids)

Hollywood moguls versus Long (a battle of dinosaurs)

(I forget, did you already have a socialist Ronnie Reagan? How about Heinlein becoming something in "People's Communications")

Relations with Mexico (Calles in power longer(!), making nice with Long.)

Canadian Border Wall (actually, a DMZ) to prevent illegal emigration to Canada.

Dust Bowl worse/better due to Long policies? -- Okies?

Separate But Equal Civil Rights nationally (not just south of Mason-Dixon.) Something like apartheid, but with magnolias and mint juleps?
 
I think that a Republican victory might be harder ITTL, given that Huey would probably want to defend the Spanish Christians against the godless atheist Commies, especially if he's still all buddy-buddy with Coughlin. I can see him attempting to block volunteers and supplies from the US going to Spain, whilst offering, at least moral support, to the Nationalists. I could see it being one of the issues that would cause a lot of tension with the socialists. Of course Long moving to support the Nationalists could lead to the entente throwing some actual support behind the Republicans, so a Republican victory isn't out of the question.

Out of interest, how do the socialists in America view Long. I can see them at least tacitly supporting some elements of the Share Our Wealth program, as well as his pro-union policies, and they would probably support Long over a coup backed by leading members of the bourgeoisie. At the same time Long was no socialist, and many of his associated were belligerently anti-Communist.
 
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