For Want of A Sandwich - A Franz Ferdinand Lives Wikibox TL
- Thread starter MaskedPickle
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There has been use of nuclear weapons in combat from Germany in Poland and Ethiopia, and by the United States in the Philippines. And nuclear terrorism has been a large problem, as it will soon be adressed.
And yes, it refers to space-based weaponry, from orbital missile-launchers : all powers with a permanent presence on the Moon have agreed to refrain to deploying nuclear weapons in the Moon.
Germany maintains his European nuclear arsenal in the Alps, in East Prussia and in Burgundy ; the later was an agreement with France after the Situationist Revolution along with a large military presence. A lone nuclear missile being scheduled for disarming saw its truck have an accident near Vesoul. The resulting explosion convinced the French that German military presence and the European Community was a whole was dangerous to France.
France has had a quite exhilarating 105 years! Can’t wait to read more details. It was already assumed Russia lost the 1910s war resulting in MegaFinland etc, but now we read that 1994 was another really bad year for Russia.
The various Balkanizations in South and Southeast Asia have been pretty interesting too. And the unique thought-out African decolonization, and of course the Balkanization of Canada (!!) shown weeks ago. Keep it up!!
The various Balkanizations in South and Southeast Asia have been pretty interesting too. And the unique thought-out African decolonization, and of course the Balkanization of Canada (!!) shown weeks ago. Keep it up!!
1986 FIFA World Cup - France
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the second to feature a 24-team format, was held in France from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The worldwide competition was awarded to France in 1978 : even if soccer in France was much less popular than in Spain, Germany or England, the sport was very popular in German-influenced Eastern France and French Algeria and had been given a significant boost by the European tour of AS Saint-Etienne in 1976 and later the excellent performance of France in the 1982 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals. Also, the World Cup was seen as a significant publicity boost by the French government, willing to show the world that decades after the World War and after the Situationist Revolution, France was now a peaceful country, ready to host one of the most-watched competitions in the world. Significant investment was made in infrastructure during the Servan-Schreiber and Rocard Presidencies, the most noticeable being the Grand Stade, built in Vincennes in order to give the country a proper national stadium, the Parc des Princes in Paris, renovated for the 1930 Spartakiad, being far too small to hold the Finals.
Along with the host, France, and the defending champions, Germany, the qualified counted, for Europe, Bulgaria, Denmark, England, Flanders, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Wales, Wallachia and Wallonia ; for America, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay ; for Asia, Indonesia and Japan ; for Africa, Morocco and Rhodesia. Among the noticeably absent were 1982 fourth-place finishers Kamerun and 1974 champions Netherlands.
In the first round, Brazil, Denmark (Group A, along with Paraguay and Hungary), France, Flanders (Group B, along with Japan and Rhodesia), Argentina, Wallonia (Group C, along with Portugal and Mexico), Germany, Morocco (Group D, along with Spain and Canada), England, Bulgaria (Group E, along with Wales and Chile), Italy and Russia (group F, along with Wallachia and Indonesia) qualified for the Round of 16, joined by Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Wales, the first four best third-place finishers.
In the round of 16, if the matches were quite predictable (with the exceptions of hopeful Flanders and Wallonia, both eliminated), the major upset was during the Argentina-Spain match : if the Argentines, captained by Diego Maradona, were widely seen as favourites for world champions, the prospects of Spain changed for the best when Maradona was given a red card after scoring a goal using his hand, a move that was noticed by the referee ; Spain later won the contest, and Maradona even furthered his legend.
In the quarter-finals, Germany had to fight an eventful match in Algiers, risking to be eliminated by a very strong Danish team, only managing to score the winning goal in extra time, thereby proving that the reigning champions were a shaky house ; but the best was yet to be seen from Russia, which enjoyed a very strong team ; after defeating Flanders in the Round of 16, the Russians fought a very eventful match in the Grand Stade against Brazil, managing to win in a penalty shoot-out, a move that was proved not to be a fluke after they defeated other hopeful England in the semi-finals, qualifying for the finals.
But the hosts, France, were to be seen. Captained by Michel Platini, trained by Michel Hidalgo, the Bleus defeated fair and square the Welsh and the Italians, before meeting their arch-enemy, both in the field and in diplomacy, Germany, in the semi-finals ; France had first made efforts not to have the match to take place in Algiers, fearing that the audience would be hostile to the national team (a move that backfired, as the event took place in Marseille, a city where the Algerian community was very present ; even if some riots broke out near the venue, the public, held together by Germanophobia, was cold at best towards the national team). But the German national team, deeply tired by their heated match against Denmark, was defeated by France in the semi-finals.
The French victory was even more important to France than the finals that they had been given access to ; this particular victory against Germany was celebated during the four days that followed, seen as "revenge for the Franco-Prussian War, the Great European War, the World War and the French Civil War", with Jean-Pierre Papin, who had scored the goal of victory, being considered as the "new French hero". The event would be dramatized in 2007's movie "Coup de Tête" (Hothead) by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
In the finals, Russia proved to be a match for France, forcing them to penalty shoot-outs, but the Russian team, that had already given their best against Brazil one week before, were unable to win against France, that went on to win their first world title, concluding an event hosted at home, that proved that the French Republic had risen again from its ashes and that could now rise back to prominence. "France is back", as President Michel Rocard resumed when he awarded the Legion of Honour to the whole French team.
Sorry for American readers, I felt chauvinist this morning.
I must admit that I hadn't worked about that. I think Walt Disney has had the influence he had in this world, but maybe we will better see a certain Rabbit than a certain Mouse...
Thank you for the very kind words. France will be adressed a lot as I am currently focusing my interest on it. Thank you for the note on the Balkanizations, I in fact wanted to make a decent job here.
Why would countries need that many nuclear warheads in a world where the cold war never happened?
Perhaps they’re almost all “tactical” and just considered an acceptable if severe choice in war? Or as a serious deterrent, but with nobody threatening global annihilation.
Deterrents for regional conflicts and proxy wars most likely. After Germany got her hands on them, the rest of the world cautiously followed her.
Countries didn't stockpile chemical weapons before WW1, so I don't see why they would stockpile nukes. Great Powers didn't see other powers as existential threats the way NATO and the Warsaw pact did.