H.W Bush/Dole 1980 (Collaborative Thread)

Why would Cuba do that when the USSR exists?
Same reason Cuba supported the MPLA during the Angolan Civil War, I'd imagine. Assisting the USSR backed group there.
I like this. Also doesn't Botha and someone else in the government die. I can see civil war brewing in South Africa.
Magnus Malan (because he's overused as South African dictator), and yes, that was my intention with that. A civil war, eventually resulting in a Soviet backed government.
 
Magnus Malan (because he's overused as South African dictator), and yes, that was my intention with that. A civil war, eventually resulting in a Soviet backed government.
Cuba may assist the USSR with all those events, but it won't be the main sponsor for sure.
I think a proxy war in South Africa would work very well for a shake-up. We could also include what I said about a shoot down over Cuba, and the resulting crisis over Soviet intercepted preliminary reports of an invasion of Cuba.
 
Cuba may assist the USSR with all those events, but it won't be the main sponsor for sure.
Yeah, yeah, of course not. Perhaps, "proxy" wasn't the correct term. Just that the US and Cuba would indirectly fight in the event of South African Civil War, much like the indirect fight in Angola (actually,very indirect, I think the US only provided arms to that, Cuba committed troops on the ground, so it would probably be something like that.
 
Cuba may assist the USSR with all those events, but it won't be the main sponsor for sure.

Cuba launched its intervention into Angola without Soviet foreknowledge or approval, so I there is a precedent for them to take the lead in these things.
 
I think a proxy war in South Africa would work very well for a shake-up. We could also include what I said about a shoot down over Cuba, and the resulting crisis over Soviet intercepted preliminary reports of an invasion of Cuba.
That works. A scandal to harm Bush's international image.
 
That works. A scandal to harm Bush's international image.

I think a proxy war in South Africa would work very well for a shake-up. We could also include what I said about a shoot down over Cuba, and the resulting crisis over Soviet intercepted preliminary reports of an invasion of Cuba.

I really like this idea. I think it would take South Africa in a direction that isn't seen as often. It'd be interesting to see how the US gets involved there. Who wants to work on this?
 
I really like this idea. I think it would take South Africa in a direction that isn't seen as often. It'd be interesting to see how the US gets involved there. Who wants to work on this?
I'll do the preliminary stuff, primarily how it begins. I'm not a war expert, so I won't go into its course. I'll leave that to others who know better.
 
December 6th, 1982: The Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and the South African Communist Party, announce that they will oppose the State of Emergency by any means necessary, and begin to rally the rioting Blacks into a guerrilla force. Their ranks grow as the SADF continues atrocities against the black population

With Malan died, what military or hardline leader could take over as South African Dictator?
 
May 10th, 1982: Brian Wilson, frontman of The Beach Boys, dies from a massive heart attack at the age of 39. His physician, Eugene Landy, is under investigation for potentially causing the heart attack. Sources say that Wilson had been overprescribed several anti-psychotics for his various mental conditions, which may have caused cardiac slowing. Wilson's brothers Carl and Dennis announce that the Beach Boys will split up as a result of this unfortunate tragedy. Dennis, holding back tears, laments: "He was the super-super sticky glue that kept us from tearing each other's f*cking heads off I don't think that we'll ever be the same..not a bit."

May 18th, 1982: Eugene Landy commits suicide at his home in Los Angeles, as the result of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Dennis Wilson expresses triumph over his demise, exclaiming: "The fucker got Brian and now he knows that his ass would have been eaten alive in prison! I hope he rots in hell!" Additionally, Wilson explains that he's going to pursue a solo career since the Beach Boys are no longer active, starting with his second solo album. He states the album will have: "A rougher, sandpaper-y sound, sorta like the shit that Led Zeppelin makes, but with all your favorite surfing, girls and cars!" According to him, the album's working title is Bamboo, to reflect the rougher sound.
 
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December 6th, 1982: The Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and the South African Communist Party, announce that they will oppose the State of Emergency by any means necessary, and begin to rally the rioting Blacks into a guerrilla force. Their ranks grow as the SADF continues atrocities against the black population

With Malan died, what military or hardline leader could take over as South African Dictator?

Maybe this guy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andries_Treurnicht

If the climate was right, he could ascend to the Presidency.
 
Maybe this guy? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andries_Treurnicht

If the climate was right, he could ascend to the Presidency.

I suppose he works:

February 4th, 1983: Andries Treunict is elected Prime Minister in an emergency session following the death of Botha. A hardliner, he escalates the state of emergency, suspending further election until "further notice", enforcing a strict curfew for Black homelands, and "raids" to route out suspected radicals. However, MK armed residents fight back, and in some cases, prevent them from entering the homelands. In one such homeland, leaders Chris Hani and Joe Slovo announce that a revolution shall begin, starting the South African Civil War.
 
November 6, 1981: At the invitation of Jean Giraud, Hiyao Miyazaki visits France where the two meet for the first time in person. After a series of fruitful discussions, the two decide to form an animation studio together.

March 3, 1981: Jean Giraud, Isao Takahata, and Hiyao Miyazaki officially found Moebius Animation, a French-Japanese Animation studio based in Tokyo that is dedicated to producing animated films and television series. The output of the studio is primary high-quality animation in the style Takahata and Miyazaki have previously worked with; however much of the storyboarding and concept art is done by Giraud, as well as French animators Rene Laloux and Michel Ocelot, who, though not part of the studio, remain frequent collaborators from a distance.

January 12, 1982: Moebius Animation releases the first episode of the 14-episode DUNE, a licensed adaptation of the classic Frank Herbert scifi novel. Visually it is heavily inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky's planned Dune film (which Giraud worked on), but plotwise it hews closely to the book. Releases simultaneously in France and Japan, the series is a massive success.

August 8, 1982: In conjunction with Moebius Animation, Harmony Gold USA releases DUNE to an American audience. The show is an enormous success with American audiences thanks to the space opera boom. This success will in turn lead to the production of DUNE MESSIAH, which covers the events of the second book.

December 20, 1983: Moebius Animation releases Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

January 18, 1984: Moebius Animation releases their second major animated series: Tron. Based off of the 1982 Disney film of the same name, the project came to being when Disney approached Moebius with the hope of producing a high quality animated series based on one of their more popular properties (Tron was considerably more successful in TTL). The resulting series proves enormously popular in Japan, Europe, and North America, and the visual style and vocabulary it introduces (rezz, derez, user, etc) have an enormous effect on the growing technology culture in the United States. Starring the voice talents of Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan, the series focuses around the program Tron's struggles to stop a tyrannical program bent on subjugating the Grid. This is the beginning of a long and beneficial relationship between Disney and Moebius Animation.

January 5, 1987: Jean Giraud sells his ownership in Moebius Animation to Miyazaki and Takahata, though he remains a frequent collaborator.
 
January 21, 1982: Suslov suffers a conorary. He survives but it's clear he's not long for the world. Horse-trading begins to see who will replace him.

February 19-20, 1982: Suslov dies and is swiftly replaced by Yuri Andropov. Nixon expresses his condolences.

October 6, 1982: Andropov agrees to send covert guns, funding, and other aid to the ANC and SA Communist Party, with Cuba and Angola assisting - this is partly because there's a clear opening that will protect Angola (Andropov assumes a fully communist South Africa is a long shot) and partly because he wants to preempt China from potentially doing the same thing.*

December 3, 1982: BOSS confirms Soviet aid is being sent to South Africa - both they and the CIA assumed this anyway - and publicly announces it, much to Russian protests. A hard crackdown is launched against the South African communists and fellow travellers, which does severely cripple the KGB's spy network.

December 6, 1982: Andropov is actually surprised the UwS has declared war - so is the US. Baker calls for calm and sets to work getting the State Department to bring about that calm, but while Bush supports this efforts, he also instructs the CIA to give "all necessary support" to the South African government and also has Nixon plead for the same with Andropov. This, he says, has to be secret even from Congress due to the potential outcry if they're seen to be supporting apartheid (Bush has no real love for Botha's government). This is to be called Operation Prop (Clair George, new Deputy Director for Operations, tried to call it Operation Tarzan as a joke)

December 19, 1982: Following a deteriorating relationship and Inman's disquiet about total secrecy, Bush has him replaced as CIA Director with Clair George.

* OOC: in OTL, Mandela and his allies did look to China for aid (as noted in his autobio)
 
February 26, 1982: Whitelaw announces a snap election for the end of March, hoping to capitalise on a honeymoon period and the unprepared, splintered left wing.

February 28, 1982:
Labour's manifesto comes out - a highly socialistic one, it will be darkly dubbed as "the longest suicide note in history". The SDP bring out their own hasty manifesto, harkening back to Wilson Labour policies.

March 2, 1982: Labour scores an early win with an iconic poster - drawn by comic artist Mick McMahon - showing Whitelaw, Nott, Heseltine and other Tories in a long line, arguing with each other. "CONSERVATIVES AREN'T WORKING"

March 4, 1982:
Williams and Liberal leader David Steel make a highly publicised speech in Aberdeen, promising a sovereign wealth fund with North Sea oil. They admit, but underplay, that many of the fields are already being drilled or will be by private companies, and promise a (modest) extra tax on said companies.

March 28, 1982: Election night. The Alliance has actually outpolled Labour - but their votes are scattered, so Labour still wins more seats, and the SDP are irritated to find the Liberals have a few more seats than they do. Forty eight seats have gone to the Alliance (of which twenty one are SDP), while Labour has climbed slightly to 281 but at the expense of some lost seats (including, to Militant's shock, Tony Benn) - the Conservatives, with 300, are the biggest party and still remain in government. They swiftly reach out to the UUP and DUP in public, winning their support in exchange for promises of an even harsher policy of republicanism, and secretly reach out to Steel and Williams (separately) to back Whitelaw over Foot.

March 30, 1982: Williams and Steel meet Foot - who is opposed to any coalition with them but equally opposed to Whitelaw. In the meeting, the Alliance schmooze him with promises that they will support some of Labour's more socialistic policies, Steel will punt the Liberal's policy of devolution, and they'll back a national referendum on whether to end the nuclear deterrent (Foot and Williams both assuming they'll win it).

April 1, 1982: To the joy of Private Eye, this is when the Labour-Alliance coalition is announced. A furious Whitelaw runs through all his options but can't beat the majority they'll have, and the Queen bemusedly invites Foot for a meeting. The coalition is an unhappy one, with Labour and Alliance members both seeing each other as a necessary evil.

April 2, 1982: Foot announces his cabinet. Steel will be Deputy Prime Minister and Cyril Smith is Employment; Shirley Williams is Foreign Secretary and David Owen, Energy Secretary. Liberals and SDPs will get a few extra ministerial roles, with the newly elected Paddy Ashdown getting Minister of State for the Armed Forces so the goverment can boast having a former Royal Marine in the job. The news is overshadowed by Peter Tatchell, newly elected Labour MP for Bermondsey, accusing the SDP of having run a homophobic campaign against him for the seat.

April 3, 1982: Heseltine challenges Whitelaw for leadership again.
 
January 1st, 1983: A Gallup poll asks if Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country.

52%-Yes
43%-No
5%-Don't Know/Refused
 
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October 5th, 1982: Following a massive fundraising campaign to bring the ART act to life, without excessive government spending, the Northern line begins production. Set to open next year, costs were significantly lowered thanks to many private donations.
 
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