It Has Happened Here: A British coup timeline

"...Traffic Accident." "Hopefully you're referring to the chain of events, not my writing!" Oh no. I was reffering to what would happen to the Journo once Mountbatten and Co. find out who leaked it to the press.

They might well try this, though given the fact that the security services are splitting in their loyalties, it might be a tremendous cock up!

I wonder how the Govt would stop the left wing unionised workforce of printers from publishing what they wanted. The right-wing pro-coup newspaper owners and editors could clamp down on their staff and censor them. The lefty papers could be watched but it's tricky unless you have the army/police/MI5 checking every newspaper going out. It's what gets printed, not what the journalists write that matters.

Shutting down the left wing press only removes the voice of the left-wing and promotes their being shut out, which can only lead to trouble once they want their voice to be heard.

Furthermore, how do you stop the spread of this story once a few semi-organised groups get the word out? Short of shutting down the phone lines and pre-emptively arresting every Trade Union leader in the country, once the story is out, it's out. Strike brothers, strike!

There were plenty of pirate radio stations out there, not just at sea but mobile in towns around the country. Those going out to catch them will probably be ex-army types who fought against dictators for democracy. Can they support this coup? Will a dictatorship make their lives easier or does right prevail?

Pirate radio stations will play a big part in spreading the word. And with the plotters trying to take control without alerting anyone to the fact that it's a coup, you have the potential for the information to spread.

Interesting start to an unusual story.

The criticism I can Give you is that I think as a foreign observer,that is overstretching the institutional bonds and sociopolitics of British society so that the reactions would be so radical and extreme, not only among the small group of reactionary coup plotters and aspirants and their supporters but throughout British society...

The disbelief, anger, horror, pain and the need for justice these feelings vertically likely would cross the boundaries of social class, causing the temporary unification of society and of most of the political class and the automatic alignment behind the prime minister and ultimately be aligned and would support behind Prince Charles made the new monarch of Great Britain.

In summary I think the assassination would deserve its magnitude and extent of fluttering butterflies would cause itself. Besides the inevitable backlash to the Irish in the United Kingdom and the obvious repercussions of regicide as probable and hypothetical xenophobic attacks that could provoke in Belfast and reactions to them and the regicide committed by the IRA in the Republic of Ireland.
So I think the first murder of a British monarch in the modern era, would deserve its own TL or at least a much more detailed analysis.

Another thing that I am skeptical, is the possibility that a man, an aristocrat born and trained in and to the British system of government and its traditions, which was also a member of the royal family ... Lord Mountbatten born as His S.H.Prince Louis of Battenberg,the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and uncle of Crown Prince ... not just this group of conspirators dared to approach such a proposal of treason but agreed to join and lead the possible form of government to succeed the conspirators ... in chief of the civilian-military 'Junta' that would rule the dictatorship that will become the UK .

But as I said, the above is just my opinion and my interpretation of the magnitude, as a non-British, a specific event that has been described and certain developments and not consistent with the known personal attitudes of a personality in OTL.



PS.:

At the time I was going to publish my post and before doing so I realized that possibly the sequential updates of this TL, and its unanimous support have made to my previous lines...superfluous and unnecessary since this timeline has continued to develop; based on the premises that apparently only been criticized at least at this level and these specific details only for me ... but since I had already spent time thinking about it and writing it decided to publish.

The impact of the Queen's assassination is what really tipped the plotters over the edge; they believes that the government has lost control completely and cannot be trusted to maintain order. However, you're right in the fact that the public will not support such measures.

This is going to end very badly.

I can't wait for more! You had me gripping my seat as I read the last two updates.

My only concern is that events are moving too swiftly. The death of the PM and most of his cabinet is one thing, but the discovery that this is a coup and the roundup. I can already see this all backfiring horrifically.

There are still too many elements that might turn against them. They don't have the full support yet. Plus from an external viewpoint, I could see the French\US landing troops in Ireland in response of all this.

Thanks :D This might well happen, and the U.S. troops in the UK may be used to support the counter-coup plotters if one takes place.

So fast got they truth leaked?

Surprising, to say the least.

Thanks to the work of Guthrie and Penrose it was able to spread quickly.

yup, or the king pulls a juan carlos or he better pack up and move to jamaica.

At this point, his support could fall behind either parties.

I don't really see the monarchy surviving in this scenario. The King's own great uncle, the head of a dictatorship, with the King letting him kiss the hand, therefore giving him lawful authority. When the counter coup or revolution happens, the monarchy will most likely be caught up in the cleansing. That is unless the King has a hand in taking down his uncle, the monarchy is done.

As said, it's possible that with the death of Brenda he will stand behind the plotters, but he might instead choose democracy.

Surely the first thing you do when you knock over a government is to take control of all the channels of communication?

Maybe you can't entirely close down the telephones, and of course we're pre-Internet here, but the press, radio and TV would be totally controlled.

I was in Thailand during the last one, and the media was the first thing to go. Every station but one showed a picture of the King, and played music. The main official station had a man in a uniform telling everyone to keep calm and stay off the streets. There were armed troops in APCs at every junction downtown, but they were mainly dealing with curious, tipsy tourists who hadn't got the message and thought it was a hoot.

Like I said, it's coup d'état 101. Control the message.

Why not here?

BTW, the Telegraph headline has too many long words, so it would be too small. It would more likely have been something like "Lord Louis' Coup". That's a full page banner!

It's the fact that the plotters are trying to take control covertly that allows the information to spread. They feared that putting tanks outside the Guardian and the BBC would alert the public to the fact that this was a genuine coup.

My conjecture is, that this tl was trying to implement a coup that no one knows about. They want and need to look completely legitimate or the coup could easily turn bloodier then they intend, they would only seize communication and the press after they had failed in that objective. To seize it before hand is announcing the coup. But, they probably would of put spies in the media offices so they would know before the information was released so they could seize control of the media before anything was leaked.

The first part is dead on. As to putting spies in the media officers, they could have done it with the really left-wing papers but they might not have the manpower to do it covertly in the major papers such as the Telegraph, which they might have figured would support them.

Very interesting so far!

It also depends on the age of the author I think, its hard to remember a time when the media was just BBC, Channel 4, ITV and how much control could be had if the government wanted to lockdown something.

Thanks. I wasn't around till the 90's, so I can't speak for how it used to be. The plotters gambled that nobody would no it was a coup and lost.

I think it is perfectly possible for the coup plotters to have cocked up on information control. Given the feelings of the British establishment and in officer's messes etc they would have had a very limited pool of persons who could advise without getting rumbled.

The idea of a harsh clamp down is not out of keeping with the period nor is the very rapid development of at least one...and I would suspect more counter-coup plots very quickly. The problem would be the paranoia that would quickly envelop everything and that would soon likely become a problem for Mountbatten as he realises his failure to deliver order undermines his position even within his narrow circle and that cracking down within that circle is the only way to ensure his own survival but will further loosen its loyalty.

In OTL it took him about two seconds to work that out that would happen, here clearly he has not and being caught up in the fun of things it won't hit home for a bit but it will hit home.

Mountbatten will soon begin to realize that things aren't working out. At the moment he's ordering a Pinochet-style crack down on dissent, but the Army and the Police aren't particularly happy about it, knowing what they know now.


Other than that guys, sorry for the delay, the next update will be tomorrow afternoon! Thanks for reading and the comments :D
 

Artaxerxes

Banned
Thanks. I wasn't around till the 90's, so I can't speak for how it used to be. The plotters gambled that nobody would no it was a coup and lost.

Yeah thats the impression I got, and its plausible, a sudden sharp change of circumstances and suddenly this guy is in charge is fine. Restricting the UK's freedom of speech would have rung a lot of alarm bells I think
 
Media control.

Of course you don't need tanks in Portland Place and Fleet Street. That would just piss everybody off.

There's a much simpler way to nobble the media, the D-Notice. Strict censorship of news and editorial content 'for reasons of national security'.

Yes, of course you can still air Corrie, Grandstand and Top Of the Pops, you can print your Page 3 girls, horoscopes, footballers' indiscretions and the racing form, but you can't talk about 'certain events' or speculate on what is happening.

And the media would be well used to this method of censorship - it's been in place since 1912.
 
Of course you don't need tanks in Portland Place and Fleet Street. That would just piss everybody off.

There's a much simpler way to nobble the media, the D-Notice. Strict censorship of news and editorial content 'for reasons of national security'.

Yes, of course you can still air Corrie, Grandstand and Top Of the Pops, you can print your Page 3 girls, horoscopes, footballers' indiscretions and the racing form, but you can't talk about 'certain events' or speculate on what is happening.

And the media would be well used to this method of censorship - it's been in place since 1912.

The D-notice however functions on what is basically* a voluntary basis, there is not a censor with an off switch sitting in the TV control room. In addition but there would be problems. "Do please make sure no one talks about any funny goings on that might suggest there is a coup happening..." Does not matter how right wing the editor that is going down like a lead balloon with iridium ballast.

*there may be legal ramifications from not following the notice post facto but even that might still run into trouble with judges
 
February 10th, 1977:

Ten Downing Street: 1030 GMT


“So Guthrie was the leak?” Mountbatten asked.

“Apparently so, Sir,” Michael Hanley replied.

General King and Admiral Lewin also stood in the office.

“I want him gone, is that clear? Treason! Arrest him for treason.”

“We can’t do that right now, Sir,” General King informed. “He’s in the building, but we don’t know what his troops will do.”

“Then get him later! When he leaves!”

“Very well, Sir,” Lewin said. “I’m sure Colonel Stirling will be happy to deal with him.”

“What about the domestic situation? The riots?”

“It’s bad in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and the other major cities. The situation Ulster has utterly exploded.”

“I want another 20,000 men in Ulster then,” Mountbatten informed the Admiral. “As soon as possible.”

“In that case, I think we need to start pulling troops out of Germany.”

“We can’t allow our position in NATO to collapse,” General King warned.

“The British Army On the Rhine has 60,000 troops under its command,” Lewin said. “Taking back a fourth of that wouldn’t exactly be inviting the Russians in.”
“Very well,” Mountbatten decided. “I’m sure NATO can make do. Pull out the troops that you need.”

BAOR HQ, Rhineland, Germany: 1330 GMT

General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley sat alone in his office, contemplating his choices. Thanks to the courageous work of Colonel Guthrie and Barrie Penrose, he know new that Mountbatten’s seizure of power had been thoroughly treasonous and illegal. He’d received orders to send the 4th Armoured Division back to Britain from Calais in a wave of transport ships; they were orders that he was not prepared to obey.

Finally, after mulling on his options for over an hour, Farrar-Hockley decided to call together his division commanders and senior staffers. He’d overheard conversations amongst them, some in favour of Mountbatten’s actions. However, the vast majority were against it, and he feared a mutiny if he asked them to return to the UK to enforce martial law.

Outside Reading: 1435 GMT

“I think I’ve found someone, Sir,” the bodyguard said.

Healey sat up eagerly. “Go on.”

“A Major by the name of Mike Jackson. We served together in Northern Ireland.”

“Excellent. And he’s willing to help us?”

“He wants to meet.”

“Where and when?”

“His unit is deployed in South East London. He can smuggle us into his command post, provided we can get there.”

Ten Downing Street, London: 1749 GMT


“So Hockley refused?” Mountbatten asked.

General King nodded. “It looks that way. He told us that he did not recognise this government, and that his troops would report to SACEUR until the crisis was resolved.” King shrugged. “His words, not mine.”
Mountbatten looked down morosely. “We’re heading towards a civil war.”

MI-5 Detention Facility, Buckinghamshire: 2100 GMT


Tony Benn’s world was descending into hopelessness. He was locked in a small steel room, absent of light and without so much as window too peer out of. He could hear his former cabinet colleagues banging on the walls of their cells, desperately shouting for help.


“In Defence of the Realm” – Mike Jackson – Page 346

I didn’t like what I was being ordered to do that day, but for a while I felt that I had no choice. This changed when my old friend, Jack Ritley, with whom I’d served in Northern Ireland, contacted me through by telephone, informing me that he and Denis Healey were on the run from Mountbatten’s thugs. At that moment, I began to formulate a plan…

“A New Revolution” – Tony Blair – Page 541

The hasty end of Mountbatten’s regime was bought about by a revolt not only from the Armed Forces but from the people as well. The general strike was instrumental in bringing down Mountbatten’s junta; organised hastily by the Trade Unions to begin on February 14th, it became known as the “Valentine’s Day Revolt,” or the “Valentine Rebellion.” Although many of the so-called subversive persons thought to be likely to organise a resistance movement had been arrested, there were still thousands of people on both sides of the political spectrum, including even the notoriously right-wing Member of Parliament Enoch Powell, who were willing to stand in defiance against the government. Prior to the crisis, few could imagine hard-line Conservatives MP’s and centrist Military officers siding with hard-core socialists and trade unionists…
 
Dark. I like it!

One thing I read some time back - I forget where - was a theory that Mountbatten was "allowed to be killed" by the IRA as he knew just a little too much about that supposed coup.
 
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