All of the "Best Parties" after the first were, I think, poorly named. After all, the second one was really only the Second Best Party.
Last edited:
List of Alternate Presidents and PMs II
- Thread starter Asami
- Start date
- Status
All of the "Best Parties" after the first were, I think, poorly named. After all, the second one was really only the Second Best Party.
spookyscaryskeletons - Der Mann im Hohen Schloß
Der Mann im Hohen Schloß
Administrators of the Western European Defense Compact (American Europe)
1947-1948: Henry Stimson [1]
1948-1952: George S. Patton [2]
1952-1955: Dwight D. Eisenhower [3]
1955-1958: Edsel Ford [4]
1958-1960: Neil McElroy [5]
1960-: Robert McNamara [6]
[1] - With the final victory over Germany having been achieved via the atomic thrashing of Hamburg and the poisoning of much of the Rhine, President Morgenthau set about with his vision of a de-Germanified Europe. This task would prove to be most difficult with the encroachment of France and the Low Countries. Nazi backed insurgencies under the leadership of Reinhard Heydrich, by now rumoured to have been conducting searches for ancient artifacts in the Middle East and Central America (indeed, he nearly triggered a war with Ireland in his search for the Spear of Destiny). In response to these troubles, Morgenthau and his erstwhile State Department (packed with his cronies) reluctantly to carve up the troublesome states of Europe between America and the resurgent Soviet Empire, now seething in their own way after defeats earlier in the decade. Thus, the 'Western European Defense Compact' was born (Cripps' Britain was exempt). The appointment of Stimson was more of a retirement present than anything, while underlings did more of the work to establish the laws of the new state. Stimson resigned two years before his death, and one year before the arch interventionist Arthur Vandenberg ascended to the White House in a landslide. Vandenberg sought to make the WEDC more of a lasting project as opposed to the horror show that was going on in 'Emperor Douglas' Land' over east.
[2] - Patton's appointment came as a shock to many both inside and out the political arena. He and Morgenthau were on terrible terms, and rumours about his anti-semitism were abound. Yet, at the behest of figures in the cabinet and general public opinion, the President was strongarmed into putting him in charge of Europe, turning Mark Clark down in the process. Patton relaxed the process of de-nazification, largely feeling that it was too intense and going on too long. Nonetheless, he chose to be a showboat instead of a governor, allowing for subordinates to continue the slow implementation of a radical free market agenda. Also on the agenda was an extended period of migration, in which thousands of Americans travelled to the WEDC to make a living in the country. Deindustrialisation was reversed on Vandenberg's command, and industry was brought back into western Germany. Under Patton, Heydrich's Werwolf divisions became ever more enamored with the prospect of searching for treasure, with the Philosopher's Stone a particularly coveted artifact. Patton resigned in 1953 to run as an independent in that year's election, which saw President Vandenberg re-elected to a second term in spite of tensions with the Soviets.
[3] - Eisenhower was a welcome change of pace as he seemed to show genuine interest in stewardship of the WEDC. He was responsible for the construction of highways and new buildings along France, Germany, and the Netherlands (the profits of which went back to the home states). Eisenhower also presided over the building of a EuroHighway across the continent, which stopped squarely at the Neutral Zone in Czechoslovakia. In 1954, Heydrich finally came out of hiding to launch another insurgency, having claimed to have found a city of gold in South America. It was quickly put down and he was finally captured. Vandenberg offered to have him executed in Berlin, but Eisenhower refused, and as a result he was imprisoned in a high security facility in New York, his mental facilities questioned at this point. Eisenhower resigned in 1955 after a broken safety switch caused an atomic bomb to accidentally be dropped on the coast of Brittany, killing thousands and causing serious diplomatic embarrassment to the US.
[4] - Ford was put in charge by the new president Bill Knowland, who was more than content to let the WEDC do its own thing. Ford would embark on an even harsher form of austere economics, seeking to run the WEDC on the bare minimum while also drastically increasing the presence of the European OSS. This was forgiven by his own capability, which allowed for the WEDC to see a proper economic boom. Tensions with 'Iron Lazar' grew tremendously during the Ford years, with skirmishes near the Neutral Zone becoming ever more common. Nevertheless, Ford attempted to steer the ship, and he did so as best he could. By 1958, the WEDC had become all but an American territory, and though his work, France became a hub of automobile manufacturing, with Nice nearly equaling Detroit by 1962. He left in 1958 to take back control of his business.
[5] - McElroy was put up as a sop to the GOP by President Kennedy. His term in office would see even worsening relations with the USSR as well as a large amount of post-war profiteering reported by the New York Times. His quiet if controversial spell in government would end in 1960.
[6] - McNamara, a bureaucrat in almost every way, was seen as the perfect choice to run the WEDC for the time being. However, protests sprung up as French and German activists argued that it was time for a native to be put in charge. Economic stagnation hit, with memories of Ford's administration far behind. By 1962, the American culture was entirely intertwined with the European, to the consternation of more than a few. Upon Kaganovich's death in early 1962 (coupled with the ascension of Alexander Shelepin) and rumours of an attempted raid on American Amsterdam by Soviet agents, it looks as if all out nuclear war is brewing between the two sides. The WEDC is desperately hoping it will escape the brunt of it, which looks unlikely due to the sheer number of harbours and ports used by the American armed forces.
Administrators of the Western European Defense Compact (American Europe)
1947-1948: Henry Stimson [1]
1948-1952: George S. Patton [2]
1952-1955: Dwight D. Eisenhower [3]
1955-1958: Edsel Ford [4]
1958-1960: Neil McElroy [5]
1960-: Robert McNamara [6]
[1] - With the final victory over Germany having been achieved via the atomic thrashing of Hamburg and the poisoning of much of the Rhine, President Morgenthau set about with his vision of a de-Germanified Europe. This task would prove to be most difficult with the encroachment of France and the Low Countries. Nazi backed insurgencies under the leadership of Reinhard Heydrich, by now rumoured to have been conducting searches for ancient artifacts in the Middle East and Central America (indeed, he nearly triggered a war with Ireland in his search for the Spear of Destiny). In response to these troubles, Morgenthau and his erstwhile State Department (packed with his cronies) reluctantly to carve up the troublesome states of Europe between America and the resurgent Soviet Empire, now seething in their own way after defeats earlier in the decade. Thus, the 'Western European Defense Compact' was born (Cripps' Britain was exempt). The appointment of Stimson was more of a retirement present than anything, while underlings did more of the work to establish the laws of the new state. Stimson resigned two years before his death, and one year before the arch interventionist Arthur Vandenberg ascended to the White House in a landslide. Vandenberg sought to make the WEDC more of a lasting project as opposed to the horror show that was going on in 'Emperor Douglas' Land' over east.
[2] - Patton's appointment came as a shock to many both inside and out the political arena. He and Morgenthau were on terrible terms, and rumours about his anti-semitism were abound. Yet, at the behest of figures in the cabinet and general public opinion, the President was strongarmed into putting him in charge of Europe, turning Mark Clark down in the process. Patton relaxed the process of de-nazification, largely feeling that it was too intense and going on too long. Nonetheless, he chose to be a showboat instead of a governor, allowing for subordinates to continue the slow implementation of a radical free market agenda. Also on the agenda was an extended period of migration, in which thousands of Americans travelled to the WEDC to make a living in the country. Deindustrialisation was reversed on Vandenberg's command, and industry was brought back into western Germany. Under Patton, Heydrich's Werwolf divisions became ever more enamored with the prospect of searching for treasure, with the Philosopher's Stone a particularly coveted artifact. Patton resigned in 1953 to run as an independent in that year's election, which saw President Vandenberg re-elected to a second term in spite of tensions with the Soviets.
[3] - Eisenhower was a welcome change of pace as he seemed to show genuine interest in stewardship of the WEDC. He was responsible for the construction of highways and new buildings along France, Germany, and the Netherlands (the profits of which went back to the home states). Eisenhower also presided over the building of a EuroHighway across the continent, which stopped squarely at the Neutral Zone in Czechoslovakia. In 1954, Heydrich finally came out of hiding to launch another insurgency, having claimed to have found a city of gold in South America. It was quickly put down and he was finally captured. Vandenberg offered to have him executed in Berlin, but Eisenhower refused, and as a result he was imprisoned in a high security facility in New York, his mental facilities questioned at this point. Eisenhower resigned in 1955 after a broken safety switch caused an atomic bomb to accidentally be dropped on the coast of Brittany, killing thousands and causing serious diplomatic embarrassment to the US.
[4] - Ford was put in charge by the new president Bill Knowland, who was more than content to let the WEDC do its own thing. Ford would embark on an even harsher form of austere economics, seeking to run the WEDC on the bare minimum while also drastically increasing the presence of the European OSS. This was forgiven by his own capability, which allowed for the WEDC to see a proper economic boom. Tensions with 'Iron Lazar' grew tremendously during the Ford years, with skirmishes near the Neutral Zone becoming ever more common. Nevertheless, Ford attempted to steer the ship, and he did so as best he could. By 1958, the WEDC had become all but an American territory, and though his work, France became a hub of automobile manufacturing, with Nice nearly equaling Detroit by 1962. He left in 1958 to take back control of his business.
[5] - McElroy was put up as a sop to the GOP by President Kennedy. His term in office would see even worsening relations with the USSR as well as a large amount of post-war profiteering reported by the New York Times. His quiet if controversial spell in government would end in 1960.
[6] - McNamara, a bureaucrat in almost every way, was seen as the perfect choice to run the WEDC for the time being. However, protests sprung up as French and German activists argued that it was time for a native to be put in charge. Economic stagnation hit, with memories of Ford's administration far behind. By 1962, the American culture was entirely intertwined with the European, to the consternation of more than a few. Upon Kaganovich's death in early 1962 (coupled with the ascension of Alexander Shelepin) and rumours of an attempted raid on American Amsterdam by Soviet agents, it looks as if all out nuclear war is brewing between the two sides. The WEDC is desperately hoping it will escape the brunt of it, which looks unlikely due to the sheer number of harbours and ports used by the American armed forces.
Mumby - 7_Emerald_Ireland
War Plan Red
7_Emerald_Ireland
1937-1954: Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail)
1937 (Majority) def. Eoin O'Duffy (National Coalition), William Norton (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. William Norton (Labour), Joseph Blowick (Centre), Eoin O'Duffy (National Corporate)
1949 (Majority) def. William Norton (Labour), Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta), Joseph Blowick (Centre), Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin (National Corporate)
1954-1957: Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta)
1954 (Peoples' Front with Labour and Centre) def. Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Monetary Reform)
1957-1960: Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail)
1957 (Majority) def. Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta), William Norton (Labour), Oliver J. Flanagan (Monetary Reform)
1960-1964: Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta)
1960 (Peoples' Front with Labour) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit)
1964-1972: Brendan Corish (Clann na Poblachta)
1964 (Majority) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit), Noel Browne ('Continuity' Labour)
1968 (Majority) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit), Noel Browne (Progressive Labour)
1972-1975: George Colley (Fianna Fail)
1972 (Coalition with Social Credit) def. Brendan Corish (Clann na Poblachta), Noel Browne (Progressive Labour)
O'Duffy's National Guard manage to dominate the union of anti-FF forces in the early 30s, but the lamentable failure of O'Duffy's attempts to imitate Continental Fascism while at the same time pissing off the crypto-fascists in Westminster, leads to economic collapse and the victory of de Valera. O'Duffy's National Alliance collapses and what would have become Fine Gael never recovers. The British embargo on Irish goods endures until the outbreak of war, whereupon de Valera aligns with America out of self-interest and Ireland becomes the springboard for American liberation of the British Isles.
Fianna Fail is able to maintain a grip on power until the mid-50s, aligning firmly with American Industrial Government. The Peoples' Front is technically a Labour led coalition but Sean MacBride, as the more popular national figure becomes Taoiseach. This proves a killer blow for Labour as Clann na Poblachta successfully displaces them as the main centre-left party.
After de Valera's retirement in 1960, Fianna Fail takes a turn towards fiscal conservatism, causing a crisis for the party, and allowing Clann na Poblachta an unbroken twelve years in government, helped along by the officially affiliation of the Labour Party. At the same time, autarkists and Industrial Government enthusiasts on the right are drawn toward Flanagan's Social Credit Party, heir to the legacy of O'Duffy. When the left of Fianna Fail takes back control of the party and Noel Browne's Labour remnant enjoys a surge, coupled to voter fatigue with Clann na Poblachta, the moment proves ripe for a Coalition between Fianna Fail and Social Credit.
1_Red_Great_Britain
2_Crimson_Canada_and_Newfoundland
3_Orange_Japan
4_Ruby_India
5_Scarlet_Australia
6_Garnet_New_Zealand
7_Emerald_Ireland
1937-1954: Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail)
1937 (Majority) def. Eoin O'Duffy (National Coalition), William Norton (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. William Norton (Labour), Joseph Blowick (Centre), Eoin O'Duffy (National Corporate)
1949 (Majority) def. William Norton (Labour), Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta), Joseph Blowick (Centre), Gearóid Ó Cuinneagáin (National Corporate)
1954-1957: Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta)
1954 (Peoples' Front with Labour and Centre) def. Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Monetary Reform)
1957-1960: Eamon de Valera (Fianna Fail)
1957 (Majority) def. Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta), William Norton (Labour), Oliver J. Flanagan (Monetary Reform)
1960-1964: Sean MacBride (Clann na Poblachta)
1960 (Peoples' Front with Labour) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit)
1964-1972: Brendan Corish (Clann na Poblachta)
1964 (Majority) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit), Noel Browne ('Continuity' Labour)
1968 (Majority) def. Sean Lemass (Fianna Fail), Oliver J. Flanagan (Social Credit), Noel Browne (Progressive Labour)
1972-1975: George Colley (Fianna Fail)
1972 (Coalition with Social Credit) def. Brendan Corish (Clann na Poblachta), Noel Browne (Progressive Labour)
O'Duffy's National Guard manage to dominate the union of anti-FF forces in the early 30s, but the lamentable failure of O'Duffy's attempts to imitate Continental Fascism while at the same time pissing off the crypto-fascists in Westminster, leads to economic collapse and the victory of de Valera. O'Duffy's National Alliance collapses and what would have become Fine Gael never recovers. The British embargo on Irish goods endures until the outbreak of war, whereupon de Valera aligns with America out of self-interest and Ireland becomes the springboard for American liberation of the British Isles.
Fianna Fail is able to maintain a grip on power until the mid-50s, aligning firmly with American Industrial Government. The Peoples' Front is technically a Labour led coalition but Sean MacBride, as the more popular national figure becomes Taoiseach. This proves a killer blow for Labour as Clann na Poblachta successfully displaces them as the main centre-left party.
After de Valera's retirement in 1960, Fianna Fail takes a turn towards fiscal conservatism, causing a crisis for the party, and allowing Clann na Poblachta an unbroken twelve years in government, helped along by the officially affiliation of the Labour Party. At the same time, autarkists and Industrial Government enthusiasts on the right are drawn toward Flanagan's Social Credit Party, heir to the legacy of O'Duffy. When the left of Fianna Fail takes back control of the party and Noel Browne's Labour remnant enjoys a surge, coupled to voter fatigue with Clann na Poblachta, the moment proves ripe for a Coalition between Fianna Fail and Social Credit.
1_Red_Great_Britain
2_Crimson_Canada_and_Newfoundland
3_Orange_Japan
4_Ruby_India
5_Scarlet_Australia
6_Garnet_New_Zealand
Last edited:
Uhura's Mazda - Heads of State of the Territory of the Saar Basin
Uhura's Mazda
Banned
Heads of State of the Territory of the Saar Basin
1920-1938: Grand Duke Georg I (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [1]
1938-1944: Grand Duke Georg II (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [2]
1944-1945: Gauleiter Joseph Bürckel (NSDAP) [3]
1945-1948: Grand Duke Georg I (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [4]
1948-1957: Grand Duke Frank I (House of Rochford-Nassau) [5]
1957-1962: Vorsitzender Fritz Bäsel (Saarland Communist Party) [6]
[1] - The Treaty of Versailles, which punished the German Empire for its part in the First World War, involved many interested parties: some, like the Republic-fetishising United States, were large and powerful; others, such as Luxembourg, were not. But both had their part to play in the future of Europe.
The main border re-drawings of Western Europe were done to save France from another German invasion (at least, that was the theory), and it was therefore proposed that a little chunk of profitably industrial land be taken from Germany and turned into a temporary League of Nations mandate to be leached dry by France for 15 years. But the Luxembourg delegation had a different idea: they had been almost bankrupted by the German occupation, and yet were still paying a large pension to Count Georg von Merenberg, a cousin of the Grand Duchess whose claim to the throne of Luxembourg had been passed over. Luxembourg proposed that the Saar Basin (historically owned by the House of Nassua, from whom Merenberg was descended) be turned into a separate Grand Duchy, so that a nationalist spirit could be engendered in this unnatural territory and it could remain a trading colony of France for far longer than it would be as a mere Mandate. France was in full agreement, naturally, and nobody else could really be bothered to argue against the idea, since they were all fighting for their own proposals. Although several British cartoonists likened the Grand Duchy of the Territory of the Saar Basin to those artificial Kingdoms that Napoleon had created for his own brothers a century before.
Grand Duke Georg himself, a grandson of the poet Pushkin, had retreated into private life after his various lawsuits against his Luxembourger cousins had been thrown out, and was frankly rather miffed to be deprived of his generous state pension on the vague promise of a Civil List from some scrap of land whose entire purpose was to reimburse the French for the millions they spent on the War. However, he settled into monarchical life fairly easily, by all accounts, despite the frequent pro-German protests and the unpopularity of the Franco-British administrators who had been sent to run the Territory. The Saar Basin Landtag had been set up by 1922, but was only ever a consultative body, and all legislation and administration came ultimately from the occupiers. The 'circuses' that the Grand Duke provided went some way towards outweighing the lack of 'bread', but it wasn't nearly enough to make him, the institution of the monarchy, or the Frankenstein's monster of a country, popular.
[2] - While Georg I was the model of a priggish Prussian nobleman, he was still linked in the minds of the people with the French occupiers. His son, however, also called Georg, was wilier, and created a name for himself by serving in the German Army during the early 1930s. But by 1938, the cries of the people were reaching an event horizon. Broadly speaking, almost everyone wanted to rejoin Germany, apart from the Left, which had wanted to rejoin Germany until Hitler had taken power a couple of years before, and now just wanted democracy, no matter who was in charge. And all were united in a new campaign of civil disobedience. The ultimate impact of this was that the French saw that this was no longer a profitable venture, and pulled out of the deal. Grand Duke George I abdicated almost immediately after, going into exile in the Netherlands (and spending the next three years suing the Luxembourg government to start giving him his pension again).
At that point, it would have been natural for Hitler to send in the Army and take over Germany's natural western border, but at that moment, he was concentrating on the Austrian Anschluss and could not divert the manpower required, still less risk angering the Versailles powers twice in one month. And when Georg I had abdicated, Georg II had taken the throne: this offered enough pro-Germanism to satisfy the Right and enough non-Nazi-ness to earn the qualified support of the Left. For a while, the monarchy symbolised a genuine compromise. Democratic elections were held in early 1939, but the Saar-based franchise of the Nazi Party won a convincing majority of the seats.
Soon after, the Second World War broke out. Georg II had been militaristic enough and friendly enough with German High Command that he had secretly agreed beforehand to allow the Wehrmacht to march through his Territory on the way to wipe out France, and that had taken the French by surprise. For the rest of the War, Saar Basin troops helped keep the peace in occupied France and marched with the Germans as far as Stalingrad in the east. But when D-Day came, Hitler could not risk a separate Army defending the middle of his Western border against the Allies, and merged the Saar units - and the Saar itself - into Grossdeutschland.
[3] - Georg II was no longer Grand Duke. He moved to Berlin were he took up the role of a German staff General, until the end of the War, when the Soviets briefly took him prisoner. In his place was long-time Nazi apparatchik Joseph Bürckel, who had previously been the organiser of the Anschluss referendum and became Gauleiter of Vienna until his return to his native Saar Basin. He oversaw the merging of the Saar Basin Territory with the Third Reich, which took a terrible toll on his health, especially considering the Allies were advancing day by day. He contracted pneumonia and had a complete mental breakdown in March 1945. When the Americans stormed into Saarbrucken and seized the former offices of the Ministry of State Affairs (then the local Nazi HQ) they found him screaming for his mother in a straitjacket, and he only survived a few days later. It's hard to be too sorry for Bürckel, though, considering that he found time in that overwhelming situation to root out the thousands upon thousands of Jews who had fled to the Saar Basin and survived until 1944 under the protection of the relatively honourable Grand Duke Georg II.
[4] - Nobody was quite sure what to do with the Saar Basin in the aftermath of WWII. Germany wanted to keep it; France was keen on establishing a Protectorate to skim off the coal deposits of the area and create a bridgehead in their zone of occupation. Naturally, the compromise was a return of the status quo ante, except with France merely demanding untramelled military access and an egregious percentage of the coal mined in the Saar. Georg I, who had retired seven years earlier, was invited back and re-entered Saarbrucken in a massive parade very similar to his first entry as Grand Duke. Georg II was, as a Nazi collaborator, not invited back, and lived out his days in house arrest in East Germany. In the 1946 elections, the Communist Party of the Saar (KPS) became the largest Party, taking power in a minority Government and acting as cheering onlookers for the Communists in the East.
[5] - Georg I was now very old, and as this whole 'monarchy' thing was clearly going to stick around for a while in order to give the Saar Basin a reason to exist, the matter of succession arose. The Grand Duke's only son was persona non grata, and the 1920 Constitution had just said that the throne would pass in the male line (the entire point of the House of Merenberg was that they didn't like women being in charge), so a search through the archives was launched. The House of Nassau, established in the 11th century, was now almost extinct, with the Dutch and Luxembourger thrones having passed through female lines rather than descend to the Merenbergs. It looked as if Georg I would be the last Nassau monarch.
But he was not. It was discovered that the illegitimate son of one of the Dutch Stadholders had had some even more illegitimate descendants who were then living in Essex, in England - and despite coming from a deeply base line, Georg I argued that there wasn't technically anything in the Constitution about the throne passing in the legitimate male line. And so, Frank Rochford Nassau, a warehouseman of Harwich in Essex, was invited over to Saarbrucken in 1947 to become the heir of a Grand Duchy. Nobody was quite sure what to make of this aggressively uncultured new ruler, but he generally allowed politics to continue as normal while not embarrassing himself too much during diplomatic visits.
However, after Grand Duke Frank had been on the throne for seven years, the KPS lost the Landtag elections to a coalition of all the opposition parties (the liberal and pro-Independence Demokratische Partei Saarbeckengebiets; the christian-democratic and pro-Independence Christliche Volkspartei; and the Deutschespartei, which was a pro-German Reunification franchise of both the CDU and the SPD) and chaos began to reign. It had been acceptable for the Saarland to be a mild cheerleader for the Eastern Bloc during the early Cold War, but now the balance had been broken and the Constitutional Question made part of coalition politics. The DPS tore down the welfarist and leftist policies of the previous decade of KPS government while the DP agitated to join Germany while the other parties attacked them one minute and demanded their support the next. It was far too complicated for Grand Duke Frank.
[6] - Which was the official reason why Fritz Bäsel and the rest of the KPS deposed him in the Saar Coup of 1968, with the support of student activists and other leftists. The KPS had been under fire since they were voted out, and now came back in, guns blazing. The Grand Ducal Family was sent back to Britain. Significant opposition politicians were arrested. The Communists made themselves the only legal party and fully joined the Eastern Bloc. Nobody dared to anything: starting a nuclear war with Evil Scary Russia was one thing, but endangering the lives of half of Western Europe with your own warheads was quite another. The fragile peace was maintained - and there was a steady flood of defectors into the Saar Territory over the next few years as the best luxury goods the Soviet Union could provide were funnelled into this outlet mall of Communism.
In the end, the end of the bizarrely long-lived Territory of the Saar Basin was a footnote in a larger conflict - just like the rest of its history, in fact. President Kennedy's resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis just happened to entail a rationalisation of the Iron Curtain: West Berlin for the Saar. Neither side wanted the other to be able to advertise on the other side, and it was felt that being able to spy on each other slightly easier was not good enough to outweigh the manpower and military costs of supplying these places. And that was that. Several KPS officials were put on trial but the rest were ignored, and the 'Saarland' became just another West German state.
So much for Khrushchev's famous dictum, "Ich bin ein Saarbruckener."
1920-1938: Grand Duke Georg I (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [1]
1938-1944: Grand Duke Georg II (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [2]
1944-1945: Gauleiter Joseph Bürckel (NSDAP) [3]
1945-1948: Grand Duke Georg I (House of Nassau-Merenberg) [4]
1948-1957: Grand Duke Frank I (House of Rochford-Nassau) [5]
1957-1962: Vorsitzender Fritz Bäsel (Saarland Communist Party) [6]
[1] - The Treaty of Versailles, which punished the German Empire for its part in the First World War, involved many interested parties: some, like the Republic-fetishising United States, were large and powerful; others, such as Luxembourg, were not. But both had their part to play in the future of Europe.
The main border re-drawings of Western Europe were done to save France from another German invasion (at least, that was the theory), and it was therefore proposed that a little chunk of profitably industrial land be taken from Germany and turned into a temporary League of Nations mandate to be leached dry by France for 15 years. But the Luxembourg delegation had a different idea: they had been almost bankrupted by the German occupation, and yet were still paying a large pension to Count Georg von Merenberg, a cousin of the Grand Duchess whose claim to the throne of Luxembourg had been passed over. Luxembourg proposed that the Saar Basin (historically owned by the House of Nassua, from whom Merenberg was descended) be turned into a separate Grand Duchy, so that a nationalist spirit could be engendered in this unnatural territory and it could remain a trading colony of France for far longer than it would be as a mere Mandate. France was in full agreement, naturally, and nobody else could really be bothered to argue against the idea, since they were all fighting for their own proposals. Although several British cartoonists likened the Grand Duchy of the Territory of the Saar Basin to those artificial Kingdoms that Napoleon had created for his own brothers a century before.
Grand Duke Georg himself, a grandson of the poet Pushkin, had retreated into private life after his various lawsuits against his Luxembourger cousins had been thrown out, and was frankly rather miffed to be deprived of his generous state pension on the vague promise of a Civil List from some scrap of land whose entire purpose was to reimburse the French for the millions they spent on the War. However, he settled into monarchical life fairly easily, by all accounts, despite the frequent pro-German protests and the unpopularity of the Franco-British administrators who had been sent to run the Territory. The Saar Basin Landtag had been set up by 1922, but was only ever a consultative body, and all legislation and administration came ultimately from the occupiers. The 'circuses' that the Grand Duke provided went some way towards outweighing the lack of 'bread', but it wasn't nearly enough to make him, the institution of the monarchy, or the Frankenstein's monster of a country, popular.
[2] - While Georg I was the model of a priggish Prussian nobleman, he was still linked in the minds of the people with the French occupiers. His son, however, also called Georg, was wilier, and created a name for himself by serving in the German Army during the early 1930s. But by 1938, the cries of the people were reaching an event horizon. Broadly speaking, almost everyone wanted to rejoin Germany, apart from the Left, which had wanted to rejoin Germany until Hitler had taken power a couple of years before, and now just wanted democracy, no matter who was in charge. And all were united in a new campaign of civil disobedience. The ultimate impact of this was that the French saw that this was no longer a profitable venture, and pulled out of the deal. Grand Duke George I abdicated almost immediately after, going into exile in the Netherlands (and spending the next three years suing the Luxembourg government to start giving him his pension again).
At that point, it would have been natural for Hitler to send in the Army and take over Germany's natural western border, but at that moment, he was concentrating on the Austrian Anschluss and could not divert the manpower required, still less risk angering the Versailles powers twice in one month. And when Georg I had abdicated, Georg II had taken the throne: this offered enough pro-Germanism to satisfy the Right and enough non-Nazi-ness to earn the qualified support of the Left. For a while, the monarchy symbolised a genuine compromise. Democratic elections were held in early 1939, but the Saar-based franchise of the Nazi Party won a convincing majority of the seats.
Soon after, the Second World War broke out. Georg II had been militaristic enough and friendly enough with German High Command that he had secretly agreed beforehand to allow the Wehrmacht to march through his Territory on the way to wipe out France, and that had taken the French by surprise. For the rest of the War, Saar Basin troops helped keep the peace in occupied France and marched with the Germans as far as Stalingrad in the east. But when D-Day came, Hitler could not risk a separate Army defending the middle of his Western border against the Allies, and merged the Saar units - and the Saar itself - into Grossdeutschland.
[3] - Georg II was no longer Grand Duke. He moved to Berlin were he took up the role of a German staff General, until the end of the War, when the Soviets briefly took him prisoner. In his place was long-time Nazi apparatchik Joseph Bürckel, who had previously been the organiser of the Anschluss referendum and became Gauleiter of Vienna until his return to his native Saar Basin. He oversaw the merging of the Saar Basin Territory with the Third Reich, which took a terrible toll on his health, especially considering the Allies were advancing day by day. He contracted pneumonia and had a complete mental breakdown in March 1945. When the Americans stormed into Saarbrucken and seized the former offices of the Ministry of State Affairs (then the local Nazi HQ) they found him screaming for his mother in a straitjacket, and he only survived a few days later. It's hard to be too sorry for Bürckel, though, considering that he found time in that overwhelming situation to root out the thousands upon thousands of Jews who had fled to the Saar Basin and survived until 1944 under the protection of the relatively honourable Grand Duke Georg II.
[4] - Nobody was quite sure what to do with the Saar Basin in the aftermath of WWII. Germany wanted to keep it; France was keen on establishing a Protectorate to skim off the coal deposits of the area and create a bridgehead in their zone of occupation. Naturally, the compromise was a return of the status quo ante, except with France merely demanding untramelled military access and an egregious percentage of the coal mined in the Saar. Georg I, who had retired seven years earlier, was invited back and re-entered Saarbrucken in a massive parade very similar to his first entry as Grand Duke. Georg II was, as a Nazi collaborator, not invited back, and lived out his days in house arrest in East Germany. In the 1946 elections, the Communist Party of the Saar (KPS) became the largest Party, taking power in a minority Government and acting as cheering onlookers for the Communists in the East.
[5] - Georg I was now very old, and as this whole 'monarchy' thing was clearly going to stick around for a while in order to give the Saar Basin a reason to exist, the matter of succession arose. The Grand Duke's only son was persona non grata, and the 1920 Constitution had just said that the throne would pass in the male line (the entire point of the House of Merenberg was that they didn't like women being in charge), so a search through the archives was launched. The House of Nassau, established in the 11th century, was now almost extinct, with the Dutch and Luxembourger thrones having passed through female lines rather than descend to the Merenbergs. It looked as if Georg I would be the last Nassau monarch.
But he was not. It was discovered that the illegitimate son of one of the Dutch Stadholders had had some even more illegitimate descendants who were then living in Essex, in England - and despite coming from a deeply base line, Georg I argued that there wasn't technically anything in the Constitution about the throne passing in the legitimate male line. And so, Frank Rochford Nassau, a warehouseman of Harwich in Essex, was invited over to Saarbrucken in 1947 to become the heir of a Grand Duchy. Nobody was quite sure what to make of this aggressively uncultured new ruler, but he generally allowed politics to continue as normal while not embarrassing himself too much during diplomatic visits.
However, after Grand Duke Frank had been on the throne for seven years, the KPS lost the Landtag elections to a coalition of all the opposition parties (the liberal and pro-Independence Demokratische Partei Saarbeckengebiets; the christian-democratic and pro-Independence Christliche Volkspartei; and the Deutschespartei, which was a pro-German Reunification franchise of both the CDU and the SPD) and chaos began to reign. It had been acceptable for the Saarland to be a mild cheerleader for the Eastern Bloc during the early Cold War, but now the balance had been broken and the Constitutional Question made part of coalition politics. The DPS tore down the welfarist and leftist policies of the previous decade of KPS government while the DP agitated to join Germany while the other parties attacked them one minute and demanded their support the next. It was far too complicated for Grand Duke Frank.
[6] - Which was the official reason why Fritz Bäsel and the rest of the KPS deposed him in the Saar Coup of 1968, with the support of student activists and other leftists. The KPS had been under fire since they were voted out, and now came back in, guns blazing. The Grand Ducal Family was sent back to Britain. Significant opposition politicians were arrested. The Communists made themselves the only legal party and fully joined the Eastern Bloc. Nobody dared to anything: starting a nuclear war with Evil Scary Russia was one thing, but endangering the lives of half of Western Europe with your own warheads was quite another. The fragile peace was maintained - and there was a steady flood of defectors into the Saar Territory over the next few years as the best luxury goods the Soviet Union could provide were funnelled into this outlet mall of Communism.
In the end, the end of the bizarrely long-lived Territory of the Saar Basin was a footnote in a larger conflict - just like the rest of its history, in fact. President Kennedy's resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis just happened to entail a rationalisation of the Iron Curtain: West Berlin for the Saar. Neither side wanted the other to be able to advertise on the other side, and it was felt that being able to spy on each other slightly easier was not good enough to outweigh the manpower and military costs of supplying these places. And that was that. Several KPS officials were put on trial but the rest were ignored, and the 'Saarland' became just another West German state.
So much for Khrushchev's famous dictum, "Ich bin ein Saarbruckener."
Seeing Fianna Fail getting defeated by a party than used the same name that they formerly used is rather ironic. Oliver 'No sex in Ireland before TVs' Flanagan as Tanaiste(?) is intriguing - though I'm curious as to why he'd support a liberal (in his eyes) like Colley.
I'll write the explanation this evening and hopefully that should resolve some of your concerns.
Cevolian - The Limehouse Purge
THE LIMEHOUSE PURGE;
PREMIERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF BRITAIN:
1980-1981: Michael Foot (CPGB)
1980 def - Denis Healey, John Silkin, Peter Shore
1981-1982: Roy Jenkins/David Owen/Shirley Williams/Bill Rodgers ("Gang of Four"-Committee for the Preservation of the Revolution)
1982-1983: Roy Jenkins (CPGB - Anti-Reform Faction) - purged
1982 def - David Owen, Tony Benn (CPGB - Reform Faction) - purged
1983-1987: David Owen (CPGB Anti-Reform Faction backed by Red Army Forces)
1987-1987: David Steel/Bob Maclennan (Party Unity Alliance - CPGB - Reform Faction/CPGB - Anti-Reform Faction)
1987-1999: Jeremy Ashdown (CPGB)
1987 def - Neil Kinnock
The 1980 election of Michael Foot to succeeded Leonard Callaghan as Premier of the Commonweath of Great Britain against Denis Healey by the Party Central Committee came as a shock to many not only in the CPGB but across the Communist world. Foot, widely seen as too libertarian by half, had been unexpected to win - it was in fact only because of Healey's own "bungling" of his campaign that many members of the Committee abstained or voted for Foot. The party modernisers were quickly on the rise, and began liberalising the press and preparing for free elections angering many in Moscow and other sections of the Comintern so, in 1981, a group of plotters who had only ever obliquely referenced their collective distaste met with President of the Comintern Central Comittee Roy Jenkins (who had served as Deputy Premier during the crises of the 1960s and had supported Callaghan in his 1976 effort to remove Premier Wilson (an American spy) from the premiership. The plotters eventually lured the Premier to the Party Central Office for London in Limehouse, where he was arrested by Red Army Forces "loyal to the Revolution" and then spirited away as the "Gang of Four" seized control over the city. By 9 PM Shirley Williams, Chair of the Women's Revolutionary League, was able to stand on the balcony at Liberty Arch and declare the formation of an emergency "Committee for the Preservation of the Revolution" by the Gang of Four. This was followed by the Jenkins premiership before Jenkins was purged by David Owen whose dictatorship lasted four years before his overthrow by Bob Maclennan who formed a "Party Unity Alliance" with the party's reform faction. By 1987 Jeremy Ashdown a "Reform" Communist with significant anti-reform sentiment became premier and, to little shock from anyone, quickly set about reestablishing firm Communist rule with only the barest of reforms...
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So who's Wang Hongwen, because he always had the best name. And is someone like Admiral Leach or possibly Dickie himself (no fishing trips for you) Ye Jianying?
Hmm I've honestly not thought about stuff like that - the US is still the last bastion to capitalism ITTL. I could see Leach as a hardliner though yes.
Thank you very much
YAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS
(Even though I was sort of an SDP supporter in '83. It was just because of Woy and Shirley. Confession to the Central Committee builds revolutionary character.) Although for this to really work Shirley Williams needs to be, like, Chairman Nye's second wife or something. And on reflection wrt my earlier comments, Dickie Mountbatten is clearly Chiang Kaishek in this scenario.
Bolt451 - The Curse of Tony
An unapologetic (And approved) Rip off of @Thande 's excellent Curse of Maggie (Available from Sealion Press stop reading this and go buy it now!)
Bought it? Game on! I cannot promise to be anywhere near as good or feasible.
The Curse of Tony
or
How many Prime Ministers can Bolt Shoehorn into ten years
1997-2007: Tony Blair (Labour)
2007-2009: Gordon Brown (Labour)
Though Gordon Brown was Tony Blair's designated successor and had seen a brief honeymoon period in the polls he quickly dropped below David Cameron's Conservatives in the polls and continued to drop. By Summer 2009, these trends suggested that Labour might drop below the Lib Dems (in polling percentages, if not seats). In the end, the long considered (by some) coup came from the Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband who narrowly beat Gordon Brown for Labour leadership
2009-2010: David Miliband (Labour)
Although David Miliband's arrival in number 10 saw polling figures rise for Labour it was perhaps too little and too late. While he didn't have the dour image of Brown he had picked up the image in the papers of being a backstabber and a schemer, something David Cameron would try and use again and again in Prime Minister's Questions. It was also seen that Milband had left it too late to take the reigns of Labour leadership and so the
2010-2010: David Cameron (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
It is under almost a footnote David Cameron is recorded as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and if history had been more fortuitous he would have almost certainly taken the reigns of government. Having secured a 297 seat position in the Commons, David Cameron had negotiated a deal with the Liberal Democrats, who had increased their seat share to 65. David Cameron was Prime Minister for a total of two days. Having been given Royal Assent to form a government while coalition negotiations were still technically underway. David Cameron would have moved into Downing Street on the eleventh of May 2010 if it weren't for his death in a car accident on his way from the Palace.
2010-2010: William Hague ((Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition))
If David Cameron is a footnote then William Hague is a Technicality. Often seen as Cameron's right hand man as Shadow Foreign Secretary, the former leader of the opposition found himself the go-to man for the role of Prime Minister following David Cameron's Death for the total of six hours it took the Lib Dems to approve the coalition agreement.
2010-2010: Nick Clegg (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
By the Time the news of David Cameron's death had passed to the wider Liberal Democrat Party they had already voted on and approved the finalised agreement of the Coalition Government. Under this, Clegg had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and given the passing of the Prime Minister, he technically (Albeit temporarily) ascended to number 10 although he never actually moved in. Prime Minister for a total of two months, he was very strictly Prime Minister and mostly worked closely with William Hague who assumed his position as interim Tory leader and their first press conference in the Rose Garden of Number 10 was a quiet, sombre affair devoid of humour.
2010-2014: George Osborne (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
It was a surprise to many when William Hague didn't run for Prime Minister. In the end, the Coalition government went ahead as planned with former Chancellor George Osborne defeating Theresa May for Tory leadership. Stability was restored, although the seeds of Osborne's destruction would be planted with the election of an SNP majority to the Scottish parliament in 2011.
2014-2015: Theresa May (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
The 52%-48% victory for the Leave vote in the Scottish Independence referendum saw George Osborne resign the day the victory was confirmed. As the SNP celebrated in Holyrood the Tories quietly picked Theresa May to take the reigns of government as she ran unopposed as potential challenge from Michael Gove was removed with careful positioning of him as home Secretary.
2015-2015: John McDonnell (Labour Minority)
The 2015 election was a chaotic one. With Scotland still technically being in the United Kingdom but fully intending to leave a general election is held with Labour capitalising on the Tories image as "the party that lost the union" though still falling short of a majority. John McDonnell, who won a surprise victory against Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham in the 2014 Labour leadership election, failed to come an agreement with the greatly reduced Liberal democrats. This was further complicated by the fact that both parties had firstly lost seats to the SNP in the election and further more in turn would lose several MPs when negotiations with Scotland were completed and Scottish MPs stood down. In the end Labour limped on with supply and confidence from the five seat winning United Kingdom Independence Party in return for a referendum on Britain's EU membership, something McDonnell agreed with but much of his party didn't.
2015-2016: Yvette Cooper (Labour Minority)
Yvette Cooper unseated John McDonnell in a challenge to his leadership over the agreement to hold a referendum. Given Labour's precarious position, however, she would still hold the referendum over fears of a resurgent (moreso post Scottish Independence) Tory Party and a potential UKIP surge if she backed out. Cooper lead a divided Labour and campaign for the yes side with other policies getting through parliament (if at all) with the help of UKIP and/or the Lib Dems.
2016-2016 Andy Burnham (Labour Minority)
Following the 55%-45% victory for the leave campaign in the EU referendum, Cooper resigned, with Andy Burnham, Home Secretary, becoming Interim leader.
2016-2016: Tom Watson (Labour Minority)
Burnham however would lose to moderate left wing candidate Tom Watson in the leadershp election, who would immeditately face a carefully timed vote of no confidence from the Tories.
2016-Present: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative Minority)
Still tarred by their performance in the Scottish independence referndum, the tories failed to secure a majority and with some cajoling of the new Tory leader, formed a supply and confidence agreement with a curiously resurgent Liberal Democrats (Who had capitalsied on the disenfranchesd Labour-Remain vote and rose back to 65 seats) whether Andrea Leadsom can get her intended "Hard Brexit" bill through this divided Commons remains to be seen and theirs the Scottish Independence negotiations to continue.
(I know this was all silly, kinda lost the will to live half way through)
Bought it? Game on! I cannot promise to be anywhere near as good or feasible.
The Curse of Tony
or
How many Prime Ministers can Bolt Shoehorn into ten years
1997-2007: Tony Blair (Labour)
2007-2009: Gordon Brown (Labour)
Though Gordon Brown was Tony Blair's designated successor and had seen a brief honeymoon period in the polls he quickly dropped below David Cameron's Conservatives in the polls and continued to drop. By Summer 2009, these trends suggested that Labour might drop below the Lib Dems (in polling percentages, if not seats). In the end, the long considered (by some) coup came from the Shadow Foreign Secretary David Miliband who narrowly beat Gordon Brown for Labour leadership
2009-2010: David Miliband (Labour)
Although David Miliband's arrival in number 10 saw polling figures rise for Labour it was perhaps too little and too late. While he didn't have the dour image of Brown he had picked up the image in the papers of being a backstabber and a schemer, something David Cameron would try and use again and again in Prime Minister's Questions. It was also seen that Milband had left it too late to take the reigns of Labour leadership and so the
2010-2010: David Cameron (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
It is under almost a footnote David Cameron is recorded as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and if history had been more fortuitous he would have almost certainly taken the reigns of government. Having secured a 297 seat position in the Commons, David Cameron had negotiated a deal with the Liberal Democrats, who had increased their seat share to 65. David Cameron was Prime Minister for a total of two days. Having been given Royal Assent to form a government while coalition negotiations were still technically underway. David Cameron would have moved into Downing Street on the eleventh of May 2010 if it weren't for his death in a car accident on his way from the Palace.
2010-2010: William Hague ((Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition))
If David Cameron is a footnote then William Hague is a Technicality. Often seen as Cameron's right hand man as Shadow Foreign Secretary, the former leader of the opposition found himself the go-to man for the role of Prime Minister following David Cameron's Death for the total of six hours it took the Lib Dems to approve the coalition agreement.
2010-2010: Nick Clegg (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
By the Time the news of David Cameron's death had passed to the wider Liberal Democrat Party they had already voted on and approved the finalised agreement of the Coalition Government. Under this, Clegg had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and given the passing of the Prime Minister, he technically (Albeit temporarily) ascended to number 10 although he never actually moved in. Prime Minister for a total of two months, he was very strictly Prime Minister and mostly worked closely with William Hague who assumed his position as interim Tory leader and their first press conference in the Rose Garden of Number 10 was a quiet, sombre affair devoid of humour.
2010-2014: George Osborne (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
It was a surprise to many when William Hague didn't run for Prime Minister. In the end, the Coalition government went ahead as planned with former Chancellor George Osborne defeating Theresa May for Tory leadership. Stability was restored, although the seeds of Osborne's destruction would be planted with the election of an SNP majority to the Scottish parliament in 2011.
2014-2015: Theresa May (Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition)
The 52%-48% victory for the Leave vote in the Scottish Independence referendum saw George Osborne resign the day the victory was confirmed. As the SNP celebrated in Holyrood the Tories quietly picked Theresa May to take the reigns of government as she ran unopposed as potential challenge from Michael Gove was removed with careful positioning of him as home Secretary.
2015-2015: John McDonnell (Labour Minority)
The 2015 election was a chaotic one. With Scotland still technically being in the United Kingdom but fully intending to leave a general election is held with Labour capitalising on the Tories image as "the party that lost the union" though still falling short of a majority. John McDonnell, who won a surprise victory against Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham in the 2014 Labour leadership election, failed to come an agreement with the greatly reduced Liberal democrats. This was further complicated by the fact that both parties had firstly lost seats to the SNP in the election and further more in turn would lose several MPs when negotiations with Scotland were completed and Scottish MPs stood down. In the end Labour limped on with supply and confidence from the five seat winning United Kingdom Independence Party in return for a referendum on Britain's EU membership, something McDonnell agreed with but much of his party didn't.
2015-2016: Yvette Cooper (Labour Minority)
Yvette Cooper unseated John McDonnell in a challenge to his leadership over the agreement to hold a referendum. Given Labour's precarious position, however, she would still hold the referendum over fears of a resurgent (moreso post Scottish Independence) Tory Party and a potential UKIP surge if she backed out. Cooper lead a divided Labour and campaign for the yes side with other policies getting through parliament (if at all) with the help of UKIP and/or the Lib Dems.
2016-2016 Andy Burnham (Labour Minority)
Following the 55%-45% victory for the leave campaign in the EU referendum, Cooper resigned, with Andy Burnham, Home Secretary, becoming Interim leader.
2016-2016: Tom Watson (Labour Minority)
Burnham however would lose to moderate left wing candidate Tom Watson in the leadershp election, who would immeditately face a carefully timed vote of no confidence from the Tories.
2016-Present: Andrea Leadsom (Conservative Minority)
Still tarred by their performance in the Scottish independence referndum, the tories failed to secure a majority and with some cajoling of the new Tory leader, formed a supply and confidence agreement with a curiously resurgent Liberal Democrats (Who had capitalsied on the disenfranchesd Labour-Remain vote and rose back to 65 seats) whether Andrea Leadsom can get her intended "Hard Brexit" bill through this divided Commons remains to be seen and theirs the Scottish Independence negotiations to continue.
(I know this was all silly, kinda lost the will to live half way through)
Great stuff as always. Please do USA next. You can only tease for so long!
KingCrawa - If Not for an Elbow
This couldn't be more Brute Forced and ASB if I tried, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
If Not for an Elbow
William Hague (Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition): 2010 – 2011
The Tories came out of the 2010 election with the most seats, but unfortunately just short of a minority. Another blow would come on the 8th of May when while crossing Parliament square, on his way to a strategy meeting, David Cameron was knocked into the road, by a tourist and fell under the wheels of a passing tourist bus.
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague took the reins of the party and having negotiated a coalition deal with the Lib Dems, took office as PM, winning the subsequent leadership election unopposed. However, the wheels quickly came off the wagon. Hague did not cultivate the good relationship with Nick Clegg that Cameron had had and therefore the Lib Dem leader was less willing to bend over backwards for the larger party. Having already abstained on the tuition fees vote, when they took a clobbering at the 2011 local elections, Clegg – under pressure from the parties’ senior figures – pulled the plug on the coalition.
William Hague (Conservative Minority): 2011 – 2012
Free of the Lib Dem’s Hague set about implementing a proper conservative manifesto and austerity proper. However, it soon became clear that if the disparate parties on the Opposition benches could agree on one thing, it was their opposition to any major form of austerity. When the 2012 budget only passed by the skin of Chancellor Hammond’s teeth, Hague decided to put the government out of its misery and called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour-Lib Dem-SNP Supply and Confidence): 2012-2013
Fearful of Labour falling into infighting, - or worse electing one of Blair’s acolytes – Gordon Brown intervened in the Labour leadership election of 2010 as soon as he found out that both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls would be standing. He persuaded Balls to step aside to avoid vote splitting in exchange for which he would get to be Shadow Chancellor. This allowed Miliband to win by a much wider margin and while some still accused him of “stealing his brothers job” the margin was wide enough in all three houses for both brothers to hold onto their dignity – though David still refused to serve in the Shadow Cabinet – and Ed went into his leadership much more comfortable in himself and in his positions. Then the Tories fell apart in front of him.
It seemed that the electorate had long memories though, as come 2012, while they weren’t willing to vote for the Tories they weren’t willing to trust Labour with the Treasury again either. Cobbling together a brief anti-austerity supply and confidence deal with the Lib Dems and the SNP, Labour set about reversing Hague’s policies. After a year righting the economic ship, Miliband in accordance with his agreement with Robertson and Cable, called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour Majority): 2013 – Present
Miliband probably wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for a set of promising economic numbers and more importantly backbench Tory MP Peter Bone, being caught on a live mic calling Conservative leader George Osborne “no better than one of the bloody Liberals.” With the split in the Conservatives obvious, and electorate perhaps fearful of a fourth election in three years, Labour sailed to a small twenty seat majority, and Ed Miliband set about having a large hunk of granite placed in the Downing Street Rose Garden.
Osborne’s resignation meanwhile trigged the second Conservative leadership contest in a year. The Eurosceptic right, tired of being forced into the shadows, mustered all their strength and got the MP for Shipley onto the ballot.
The rest as they say, is history
If Not for an Elbow
William Hague (Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition): 2010 – 2011
The Tories came out of the 2010 election with the most seats, but unfortunately just short of a minority. Another blow would come on the 8th of May when while crossing Parliament square, on his way to a strategy meeting, David Cameron was knocked into the road, by a tourist and fell under the wheels of a passing tourist bus.
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague took the reins of the party and having negotiated a coalition deal with the Lib Dems, took office as PM, winning the subsequent leadership election unopposed. However, the wheels quickly came off the wagon. Hague did not cultivate the good relationship with Nick Clegg that Cameron had had and therefore the Lib Dem leader was less willing to bend over backwards for the larger party. Having already abstained on the tuition fees vote, when they took a clobbering at the 2011 local elections, Clegg – under pressure from the parties’ senior figures – pulled the plug on the coalition.
William Hague (Conservative Minority): 2011 – 2012
Free of the Lib Dem’s Hague set about implementing a proper conservative manifesto and austerity proper. However, it soon became clear that if the disparate parties on the Opposition benches could agree on one thing, it was their opposition to any major form of austerity. When the 2012 budget only passed by the skin of Chancellor Hammond’s teeth, Hague decided to put the government out of its misery and called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour-Lib Dem-SNP Supply and Confidence): 2012-2013
Fearful of Labour falling into infighting, - or worse electing one of Blair’s acolytes – Gordon Brown intervened in the Labour leadership election of 2010 as soon as he found out that both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls would be standing. He persuaded Balls to step aside to avoid vote splitting in exchange for which he would get to be Shadow Chancellor. This allowed Miliband to win by a much wider margin and while some still accused him of “stealing his brothers job” the margin was wide enough in all three houses for both brothers to hold onto their dignity – though David still refused to serve in the Shadow Cabinet – and Ed went into his leadership much more comfortable in himself and in his positions. Then the Tories fell apart in front of him.
It seemed that the electorate had long memories though, as come 2012, while they weren’t willing to vote for the Tories they weren’t willing to trust Labour with the Treasury again either. Cobbling together a brief anti-austerity supply and confidence deal with the Lib Dems and the SNP, Labour set about reversing Hague’s policies. After a year righting the economic ship, Miliband in accordance with his agreement with Robertson and Cable, called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour Majority): 2013 – Present
Miliband probably wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for a set of promising economic numbers and more importantly backbench Tory MP Peter Bone, being caught on a live mic calling Conservative leader George Osborne “no better than one of the bloody Liberals.” With the split in the Conservatives obvious, and electorate perhaps fearful of a fourth election in three years, Labour sailed to a small twenty seat majority, and Ed Miliband set about having a large hunk of granite placed in the Downing Street Rose Garden.
Osborne’s resignation meanwhile trigged the second Conservative leadership contest in a year. The Eurosceptic right, tired of being forced into the shadows, mustered all their strength and got the MP for Shipley onto the ballot.
The rest as they say, is history
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Better than my attempt. I like it
And is that Philip Davies (I had to google tbh) as ATL/mirror Corbyn?
Presumably the rest of this TL is just the twitter feed "The Milliverse"
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