Stars, Sickles, and ... Tricolors? - A History of the world since 1936

Great chapter did France or Belgium gain territory from Germany?
Belgium didn't gain any territory from Germany after the war.
France did annex the Saarland, though. The US and Britain were rather more accepting of this, as Churchill had no reservations about keeping Germany down, and Roosevelt had visited Buchenwald and so was much more supportive of the annexation by France.
 
The Fallen Eagle: Occupied Germany
After the end of the war in Europe, the Allies were faced with the dilemma of exactly how to treat Germany. Clearly a Versailles-style peace would not work at all, but neither could the Allies simply set up a friendly regime and leave Germany to its own devices. Instead, a proposal from the US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, was accepted by consensus as the plan for Germany's fate.
The plan focused on the complete removal of Germany as a threat from Europe. The entirety of the nation was to be disarmed and demilitarized. Territory was also carved off from eastern Germany; Poland and Russia split East Prussia between themselves, and Poland gained Silesia and eastern Pomerania in compensation for the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland. France also annexed the Saarland, and the Ruhr Valley was placed under the control of the Ruhr International Valley Authority. Germany was also divided up into occupation zones for each of the Big Four Allied powers; the Soviets occupied eastern Germany, namely Brandenburg, most of Saxony, Thuringia, and Pomerania. France, in addition to their gains in the Saarland, occupied Germany west of the Rhine, as well as the entirety of Rheinland-Pfalz, southern Hesse, and all of Baden-Wurttemberg. The United States would occupy Bavaria as well as parts of Saxony and Thuringia. Britain occupied the rest of Germany, which included Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia east of the Rhine, and northern Hesse.
One of the other major clauses of the Morgenthau Plan was the 'de-industrialization' of parts of Germany. The Soviets stripped most of their zone of industrial equipment as restitution; France did much of the same, although to a lesser degree. The United States and Britain refrained from doing so, for the most part.

The occupation would last for several years, despite the economic and military pressure that occupation placed on the Allies, especially Britain and France. Negotiations between the United Kingdom, the United States, and France over the creation of a unified West German state fell through, and signifying the first sign of a schism in the Western Allies. Both France and the Soviets were absolutely determined that Germany should not rise again, while Britain and the US were planning on pulling out and heeding to public cries to bring the soldiers home. However, the first nation to allow its zone autonomous rule was the United States; in 1949, the Federal Republic of Bavaria was created, with a similar structure to the USA, albeit with a stronger executive branch of government. Britain followed suit soon after, giving rise to the North German Confederation, a parliamentary republic. France, much more reluctant to see Germany rise again in any remotely threatening form, finally granted its zone independence in 1950 as the Republic of the Rhineland, although France kept the new nation on a very short leash. The Soviets were the last to release their German zone, with the creation of the German Democratic Republic in 1951.

A Broken Fasces: Occupied Italy
Prior to the independence of the four new German states, the Allies had successfully negotiated the return of an independent Italy. The former domain of Mussolini had been split up between France, the UK, and the US into occupation zones in 1944, just like Germany; the Soviets, unlike Germany, were kept sulking on the sidelines. However, in early 1946 the Allied Committee of Italian Affairs met in Rome to discuss the independence of Italy. The negotiations, which lasted through March and into mid-April, set up Italy as a parliamentary republic, with the King retained as nominal head of state. One of the stipulations, however, was that Victor Emmanuel III had to abdicate in favor of his son Umberto II. In May 1946, the new Democratic Republic of Italy (later the Republic of Italy) received its renewed independence under the reign of King Umberto II, with the first parliamentary elections scheduled for September.
 
Is Baden-Wurttemberg part of the Rhenish Republic ? Because if so, it severely lacks territorial continuity. France might rather have set up two distinct states to worsen German division.
In Italy, did the OTL border adjustments take place ? Or did France bite a chunk off of Italy (namely Aosta) ?
Also, what were the fates of Czechia and Austria ?
 
Is Baden-Wurttemberg part of the Rhenish Republic ? Because if so, it severely lacks territorial continuity. France might rather have set up two distinct states to worsen German division.
In Italy, did the OTL border adjustments take place ? Or did France bite a chunk off of Italy (namely Aosta) ?
Also, what were the fates of Czechia and Austria ?

Yes, Baden-Wurttemberg is part of the Republic of the Rhineland; the continuity isn't an issue because the Republic includes not only the OTL French occupation zone, but also the area around Frankfurt and Heidelburg. As for Italy, the border adjustments are the same as OTL.
Austria is split up into occupation zone, as IOTL, although the occupation itself is ended earlier, in 1947. Czechoslovakia remains physically united, but only in name. There is considerable tension between the Soviet-backed Communists led by Klement Gottwald, and the National (previously National Socialist) Party led by Edvard Benes, and this basically paralyzes the Czechoslovak government until 1949.
 
The First Frost: The Persian Crisis
In 1941, the Kingdom of Iran had been jointly invaded by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in response to pro-Nazi sentiments within the nation. After the war, the occupation was scheduled to be ended and economic aid shipped in under the watchful eye of the United Nations. As the world war wound down in late 1945, both the United States and the United Kingdom withdrew their troops ahead of the stipulated deadline of March 2.

However, the Soviets ignored the deadline. Instead, they had pulled back to key areas in the north of Iran, near the Caucasus and Central Asia. Two pro-Soviet separatist republics had been set up; the Azerbaijan People's Republic under Sayyid Pishevari, and the Republic of Mahabad under Qazi Muhammad. The APG led a local coup, carried out by local militia and backed by the Soviet presence; in addition, the Iranian communist party, the Tudeh, was expelled from the area. The Republic of Mahabad, centered on the Kurdish peoples, was founded in December 1945 despite Iranian attempts to quash the rebellion through military force.

The ongoing crisis in Iran caused a great deal of concern in the US and other western countries. Failure to respond would likely result in further Soviet incursions into Iran, and possibly the loss of the entire nation to the Communist threat. On the other hand, Europe was just entering the first stages of recovery from the war and was in no condition to engage the Soviets militarily. So, in order to resolve the issue without resorting to military might, a conference was organized in Vienna. During the Vienna Accords, the United States agreed to recognize both the Republic of Mahabad and the Azerbaijan People's government, as well as guarantee Soviet access to Iranian oil. In exchange, the Soviets were to pull their troops out of Iran entirely, and guarantee the territorial integrity of the rest of Iran.

The conciliatory response to the perceived Soviet expression enraged many conservative Americans and British, and frightened the French. In the eyes of the conservatives, America and Britain had given the Soviets exactly what they wanted; in the eyes of the French, the Americans had proven itself unwilling to defend European interests abroad. This negative perception of the treaty by many would have lasting effects in later politics both in Europe and the United States. It was one of many little cracks in the widening rift between France and the US, sending the French on their embryonic independent path. In the US, it heralded the first stages of the flight of conservatives from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party that would dominate in later decades. In truth, the Persian Crisis of 1946 can be labelled as the first shift from wartime policies and politics to Cold War-era practices. It truly was a harbinger of things to come.

-----------

Alright guys and girls, here's a shortish update. Sorry for the long delay, college hasn't been kind to me over the past month. I'll try to get more updates out as the semester winds down, but I can't promise anything until after finals week. The next few updates will probably focus on the other defining moments of the late 1940s: the Czech and Greek crises, the Yugoslav War, and the US Presidential Election of 1948. I already have these updates planned out, and I can say that they will be interesting in the Chinese sense. Also, as a spoiler, Calbear will probably hate me for what I have planned next.
 
Just came across this timeline.
It's great dude, nice job!
SUBSCRIBED.

Thanks, that means a lot to me, especially on my first timeline!

Never make CalBear hate you. It's bad, and I don't want this timeline to end abruptly. :/

Calbear won't actually hate me for what I have planned, he will just be very unhappy that a certain historical figure he dislikes manages to become the leader of the free world.
 
sTwrShzi_M_Do27T9npmFHVKhsEVcweeNbdh-TkfVto9O55dN2otyf4eKmUFcN4wlUUGrYN4Q7uVuiaCd6FOT2EH6ajSI8S6nY9T2rKvGjsyvZhcXePw_PFeslC5m_FdTE7z8YRM
 
Big Chief in the White House: The Postwar US

After the end of World War Two, the United States was faced with several major issues, the most pressing of which was the rehabilitation of Europe's economy. The second major stumbling block was the rising power of the Soviet Union, which stood astride eastern Europe and northern Asia. During these critical years, the United States was led by Harry S. Truman, a Missourian who ascended to the presidency after the death of President Roosevelt in April 1945.

Truman dragged the United States onto the world stage and out of her isolationist slumber. He managed to convince Congress to ratify the United Nations Charter, a feat which Wilson had failed at years prior. At the same time, America also dedicated itself to defending its interests and allies abroad; with the arrival of the battleship Montana in the Dardanelles Straits in 1947, the US began its commitment to defending Europe from Soviet aggression. The Truman Doctrine, centered on the policy of containment, was begun in 1947, partially as a reaction to the ongoing civil wars in Yugoslavia and Greece. Both the Greek and Yugoslav loyalists would receive aid from the United States, and soon after MacArthur assumed office, troops would begin to arrive as well.

Simultaneously, the European Economic Recovery Plan (also known as the Marshall Plan for its creator George Marshall) was enacted, in order to revitalize Europe's crippled economy. This aid was received with great thanks across Europe; the few nations which refused it were already under tight Soviet control. However, some nations managed to defy the Soviets, Czechoslovakia chief among them.

However, all was not well back at home. Truman was not a popular president, despite the popular GI Bill and Truman Doctrine. His efforts to desegregate the US military, while successful, cost him support in the conservative South. Postwar inflation, as well as a rise in unemployment as soldiers returned home to find their jobs already filled, also took a toll on Truman's popularity.

As the election of 1948 approached, Truman was forced to cut corners in order to secure renomination. He pushed for a treaty with Japan, signed in early 1948, which reasserted Japanese sovereignty in exchange for a vastly reduced Japanese military. This treaty allowed one man to return home from overseeing the occupation, the man who would go on to defeat Truman come November and enter the White House the following January: Douglas MacArthur. The popular general was welcomed home to great fanfare, and some pushed for his nomination in the presidential race. Although he refrained from outright agreeing at first, his rebuffs were half hearted and weak. In his memoirs, MacArthur would later state that " the one thing that really convinced me to run was the possibility of an isolationist fool like Bob Taft of becoming president. We [the Republicans] had a good shot at the White House, and nobody really wanted somebody like Taft running the nation. Somebody had to do something, so I did."

The election itself was a relatively polite one at first. MacArthur managed to erode support from Taft's isolationists, and agreed to take on Dewey as his V.P. candidate. In the Republican nomination, MacArthur won; the MacArthur-Dewey ticket was set for the coming showdown. In contrast, the Democratic convention was a near-riot at times, with the Southern delegates repeatedly threatening to withdraw and form their own ticket centered on Strom Thurmond. Truman managed to broker a deal by choosing Richard Russell of Georgia as his vice president, as well as vowing to 'hold off' on civil rights during his presidency. However, this alienated some of the northern Democrats, who defected to former vice president Henry Wallace's Populist Party.

In the end, Truman's backroom dealing just wasn't enough to hold off MacArthur's popularity. MacArthur managed to secure the Midwest and most of New England; only Massachusetts and Rhode Island remained Democratic. When California, Oregon, and Nevada all went for MacArthur by bare majorities, he secured the election. Truman and Russell kept the Democrat hold in 'the Solid South', as well as most of the Great Plains. However, Democrat support in the Midwest crumbled, with Minnesota and Iowa barely leaning towards Wallace and the rest swinging into the Republican camp. The Democrats had lost, and would not regain the White House until 1957. For now, the Big Chief, Douglas A. MacArthur, was large and in charge in Washington, and his actions would come to have an enormous effect on the course of the Cold War.

-------
So now we have MacArthur in the White House. What have I done??!!!
Next we shall look at events in Europe, with the Yugoslav War and the Fall of Czechoslovakia, both key events of Mac's term (yes, his only one, thank goodness), before moving on to political developments in Britain and France, then a brief overview of the rest of the world up to January 1950. And then on to the Fifties!
 
A Bitter Winter: The Yugoslav War (1946-1949)

Even as the gunfire fell silent from the end of the war in Europe, another war began in the Balkans. In Yugoslavia, tensions threatened to split the nation apart. Josip Broz Tito's Communists faced off against Draza Mihailovic's Chetniks. Added in to the mix were troops from the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, as well as more organized militias such as the remnants of the Croatian Ustase and the Slovene National Guard. This simmering pot brewed for nearly two years after the war, while the Allies and Soviets stared each other down across the Danube and elsewhere in Europe. Finally, the tension broke in May of 1946.

The Communist Partisans launched a surprise offensive southwards, towards Prijedor and Uzice. Caught off guard, the fairly unpopular Chetniks were pushed back. Meanwhile, the British were also surprised, the few garrison troops left in Yugoslavia now surrounded by unfriendly Communist troops. The Communists ignored the Allied troops, instead pushing the Chetniks and the small Royalist troops back towards the Adriatic. In Belgrade, Tito proclaimed the founding of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia. Coupled with the surrounding of Allied troops in a few small garrisoned cities, the British and American governments became increasingly concerned about the conflict in Yugoslavia. However, neither government was prepared to intervene without public support at home.

Just before the Communists drove the newly formed United Front (an uneasy alliance between the Chetniks, Royalists, and several ethnic militias) into the sea, the United Front managed to pull of a near miraculous recovery, setting up a defensive perimeter in Macedonia, Montenegro, and Dalmatia. The mountains of central Croatia and Slovenia provided excellent defesive terrain, and the Communist advance was halted. However, with the Soviets discreetly aiding the Partisans, and the United Front barely holding on, the war became a stalemate that lasted through the fall and winter of 1946.

This stalemate would continue through 1947 and into 1948, with neither side gaining large amounts of territory, but the United Front slowly lost ground in tiny increments, with heavy casualties for both sides. Finally, the Communist Partisans committed a grave error that would nearly cost them the war.

In the city of Pecs, a small Canadian and British garrison had been stationed to help maintain peace in Yugoslavia after the main troop pullouts in 1945 and 1946. Cut off by the Communists' Summer Offensive in 1946, the garrison maintained cordial if strained relations with their new Communist neighbors. However, on March 18, 1948, the local Partisan commander, a minor officer in Tito's official army, marched in with approximately 800 troops, demanding the British surrender the town and leave. The British commander, a young lieutenant who had fought in Italy and the Balkans during the war, refused. Angered, the Communists again demanded the town be surrendered, this time with weapons drawn and at the ready. What happened next is open to speculation, as reports vary and the British commander was killed in the ensuing firefight. What is known is that by the day's end, 83 British and 112 Partisans lay dead in and around the town, and distress signals were sent on the British radios.

The public reaction in Britain was every bit as horrified and angered as could be expected; that in the United States actually almost rivaled that in London, due to a not-insignificant playing up of the events by the newspapers. Both the Prime Minister and the President went into immediate talks with their advisers and each other. In the end, the United Nations Security Council was involved. The Council, with the Soviet member absent in protest of the American refusal to partition Tokyo, voted unanimously to intervene in the Yugoslavian conflict.

In mid-May, the first British and American troops began offloading in Trieste and Dubronovik. They immediately moved to the front, now just 40 miles north of Podgorica and 30 miles east of Rijeka. The presence of Allied troops cheered the frayed nerves of the increasingly divided United Front. Bickering between the numerous factions had crippled any unified leadership or coordination of war efforts. Now, the Allies and the United Front pushed forward, throwing the Communists backward towards the Danube. Surprise offensives by the Allies towards Uzice and Zagreb flanked large numbers of Communist troops, facilitating the Allied advance through unforgiving terrain.

As the Allied troops entered Bosnia and southern Serbia, the deep fractured between the factions of the United Front once again came to the forefront, as each group fought for their own vision of Yugoslavia. Various ethnic groups vied for autonomy, and the now fractured government forces debated the future of Yugoslavia; all could agree on one certainty: the ineffective monarchy was finished; King Peter was told, very bluntly, to leave the country immediately. Almost simultaneously, the Communists began pushing back, with the front now stretching from Osjek to Priboj to Ivangrad and Pecs.

Then, the Allied offensive halted. The Americans and British halted their advance, forcing their erstwhile allies to do the same, much to the 'United' Front's confusion. The reason for the halt came from the east; the Soviet Union threatened to intervene in the war if the Allies continued into Belgrade. Now, the Americans and British quickly began negotiations, not wanting to risk a major land war in Europe.

The peace negotiations dragged on for months. Eventually, the ceasefire line was agreed upon as the border between the nations which were quickly becoming known as 'East Yugoslavia' and 'West Yugoslavia'. Finally, in March of 1949, the Armistice of Sarajevo was finalized; the terms established both East and West Yugoslavia, as well as a newly independent Macedonia under Allied influence. The East became the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, while the West was reorganized into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Both nations would remain enemies to the present day, one becoming a fairly wealthy Western-aligned federation, the other a poorer Communist dictatorship. The conflict remains a pivotal one, establishing the United Nations as a formidable organization prepared to intervene in the name of world peace.

------
Okay, here's the Yugoslav War. Its meant to be TTL's equivalent of the Korean War, and it was a bit of a doosie to research. I know this update isn't as well written as the past ones, and I'm sorry if it seems a bit short. The next updates will be better, and should be up shortly. On a side note, here's a short mini-update on the fates of a few characters in the TL.

Amelia Earhart- After completing her circumnavigation of the world in 1937, Earhart's fame soared to greater heights. However, her great flight around the world was her last public action for several years. She flew for airshows and spoke at aviation events until 1942. After the Japanese attacks against the United States and the European Allies, Earhart approached President Roosevelt with an unusual proposition: she requested a fighter to battle the Japanese. Initially rebuffed, Earhart persisted; eventually, Roosevelt agreed, warming up to the potential propaganda benefits of a female pilot. Earhart entered service with the Army Air Force in China, as a member of the Flying Tigers unit under the command of Major General Chennault. She flew missions against the Japanese for the rest of the war, evading attempts by the Japanese to down her or take her prisoner. By the end of the war, Earhart has racked up nearly 20 confirmed kills, America's first female fighter ace.

Isoroku Yamamoto- Japan's most brilliant and astute admiral of the war, Yamamoto was a vocal critic of Japan's war against the United States. However, he carried out his duty to the best of his ability. leading the Imperial Navy on its greatest attacks of the war, most notably their critical defeat at Midway. Despite these military setbacks, Yamamoto managed to regroup the Japanese Navy each time and spur them on for the next battle. After the surrender of Japan, Yamamoto was tried for war crimes at the Tokyo Trials. Despite the hatred for Yamamoto among the Allies, he had won a grudging respect among their leadership both for his obvious talent and his efforts to moderate the fanaticism in the Japanese military. Due to this respect, as well as a lack of evidence for Yamamoto's compliance in war crimes, Yamamoto escaped the noose. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and lived out the rest of his life in his home in Nagaoka, near Niigata.

Aimo Aaltonen- a rather prominent Finnish communist, Aaltonen was set up as the General Secretary of the Finnish People's Republic after the end of the war. Despite his relative unpopularity, he gained legitimacy among the populace by instituting land reforms. He would continue in his role as General Secretary well into the 1950s, even after the death of Josef Stalin.

Dwight D. Eisenhower- the general oversaw the American occupation of Bavaria, until the Federal Republic of Bavaria was organized. He then retired from military service, and accepted the presidency of Columbia University in New York City. After serving as Columbia's president into 1952, he returned to military service as the first Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied armies in Europe; his command included troops from Britain, the US, Canada, North Germany, the Netherlands, and Bavaria. He oversaw the expansion of the Alliance to include the Czech Republic, Albania, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He retired from the military for the second and final time in 1960, dying at his home in Abilene, Kansas in 1969.

Akira Kurosawa- After filming The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, Kurosawa traveled to Nagasaki in late summer of 1945-just in time to meet the second atomic bomb. He was killed in the initial blast, his charred body identified days later by a former coworker.

Anne Frank- Frank and her family were rescued from Bergen-Belsen in 1944 by American troops under General Patton. Placed in a displaced persons camp, Anne and her family made plans to emigrate to the United States. In 1946, the Frank family managed to secure passage to New York. After settling in the city, Frank's father managed to get his daughter's diary published in 1948. Once her diary hit the presses, Anne became a celebrity practically overnight. She became a spokesperson for Holocaust survivors, and thanks to her efforts, donations for Holocaust charities and memorials surged. Her story struck a chord in the American conscience, and played a major role in swinging popular support against the nascent 'Denial' movement.
 
Good update!
Can we have a roughly approximative map of East and West Yugoslavia, because I am confuse to where the border is...
I can't upload any maps from my chrome book, as my main computer is boxed up for the summer. The border between East and West Yugoslavia is basically the modern border that Serbia shares with Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, with a little bit of extra land for East Yugoslavia. Macedonia is also independent, and more or less has OTL modern borders.
 
I can't upload any maps from my chrome book, as my main computer is boxed up for the summer. The border between East and West Yugoslavia is basically the modern border that Serbia shares with Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, with a little bit of extra land for East Yugoslavia. Macedonia is also independent, and more or less has OTL modern borders.
OK, I see it now. Thanks.
 
Labour At the Helm: Postwar Britain
After the end of the war in Europe, the 1944 election brought the Labour Party into power, with Clement Attlee ascending to the office of Prime Minister. The new government swiftly set about nationalizing key industries, such as the utilities and coal, as well as railroads and the Bank of England. However, the most controversial of the nationalizations was that of the steel and iron industry, a move vehemently opposed by the Conservative Party.
The National Insurance Act of 1945 brought about the welfare state in Britain; soon after, the National Health Service was inaugurated. Under the leadership of Aneurin Bevan, the Ministry of Health undertook a comprehensive overhaul of the national healthcare industry.
Revisions in foreign policy were also undertaken under the Labour government; the British Raj was split into two separate states, the Hindu-majority Dominion of India and the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan. At the same time, relations with the Soviet Union took a major dip, with the beginning of the Cold War. Britain was especially concerned with the spread of communism into previously friendly nations in Europe; the rise of Communism in Poland and several other nations in Eastern Europe, as well as rising violence in Greece and Yugoslavia concerned the British government greatly. In response, Britain signed the Atlantic Treaty with the United States, a mutual defense treaty. British overtures to establish some form of overarching defensive alliance with the rest of Western Europe were rebuffed by France, as the latter began her movement to the political left. Intervention in Yugoslavia was another major development during the Labour rule, with several thousand British and Commonwealth troops fighting in Yugoslavia against the Communists. However, this intervention under the banner of the United Nations would cost Labour in the election of 1949.
The Yugoslavian War was a major issue in the election of 1949, causing a split in the Labour Party. This split between several high-ranking members of the party led to the victory of the Conservatives, returning Winston Churchill to his old role as prime minister.

A Nation Torn Asunder: Czechoslovakia in the postwar world.
The Third Republic of Czechoslovakia came into being in September 1944, soon after the end of the war. Its initial government was a coalition of the Nationals, Social Democrats, and Communists, with pre-war president Edvard Benes reclaiming his office. Despite opposition from many government officials, a few conservative parties such as the Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants were allowed to resume activities after the war. Other notable parties included in the coalition were the Catholic People's Party and the Slovak Democratic Party. However, the coalition members was not operating on friendly terms with one another; the Communists were already beginning to subvert democracy in an attempt to seize power. Led by Klement Gottwald, the Communist Party began slowly building up support from their Soviet allies, as similar measures were taken in Poland, Hungary, and Romania. This uneasy coalition continued to rule until the election of June 1945; in the election, the Communists won the popular vote by a plurality, mostly in Bohemia and western Slovakia. The anti-Communist Slovak Democrat Party secured eastern Slovakia, and the Nationalist Party won Moravia and Prague. After the election, Benes continued as president, with Jan Masaryk as foreign minister and Gottwald as prime minister. However, this situation would not hold for long.
In 1948, tensions were running higher than ever in Czechoslovakia, with the ongoing crisis in Yugoslavia and the recent proclamation of the Hungarian People's Republic. In August, the Communists attempted a purge of several non-Communist members in the government; this purge failed, and outraged many in the nation. With the national government paralyzed, militias for each side took to the streets; the rioting lasted for almost a week, and left 50 dead in the streets of Prague. The Soviets threatened intervention if the crisis was not resolved, and in the fall of 1948, emergency meetings were held in Prague. These meetings finally agreed to divert the issue; a referendum for Slovakian independence would be held in December. in order to provide a dumping ground for the Communist members of the government. In the referendum, 65% of Slovakians voted for independence; in May, the Republic of Slovakia was formed. This time, the Communists moved quickly. Gottwald was appointed prime minister, and other key ministries were given to communists; in July, the Democratic Republic of Slovakia was declared.
This crisis caused President Benes to resign long before the referendum; he appointed Jan Masaryk as his successor, much to the detriment of the communists. Masaryk would preside over the beginning of the Czech Republic, just as his father had presided over the birth of Czechoslovakia.

-------
Fates of the Famous Part II

Glenn Miller- After serving for the Army Air Forces Band in the European Theater, Miller and his band returned to performing across the nation. However, Miller's fame had soared to new heights due to his serving overseas; he and his band performed for crowds in the United Kingdom, Canada, and France, at the invitation of former veterans who had listened to Miller's performances in Europe. Miller and his band would continue to tour both in the United States and abroad until 1954, when he retired due to declining health. He would return briefly to the public stage for a handful of small shows and one last tour in 1967, before permanently retiring. Glenn Miller died in 1973 at the age of 69.
Clark Gable- After the war, Gable returned to his acting career, his wife Carole Lombard at his side. Gable would go on to invest in a political career in the 1950's at the behest of his wife.
Eleanor Roosevelt- With the death of her husband, Eleanor found herself without a defined role; no longer a First Lady, she oversaw the transfer of Hyde Park to the federal government as a museum dedicated to her husband. In December 1945, President Truman appointed Roosevelt as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly; the next year, she became chairperson of the UN Committee on Human Rights, and played a major role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She would continue to work at the UN until 1954, working closely with both the MacArthur and Dewey administrations; she also championed women's rights, alongside her friend Amelia Earhart. Eleanor Roosevelt died in her home in April 1960.
Ernie Pyle- the most well-known American war correspondent of the Second World War, Pyle went on to win a second Pulitzer Prize in 1949 for his coverage of the war in Yugoslavia. He secured a position as editor of the Washington Daily News, where he worked until his retirement in 1962. He wrote a book about his experiences as a war correspondent, published in 1967. Pyle died at his home in 1971, and a monument was erected in front of his home in 1975, which stands today as the Ernie Pyle Museum of Journalism in War.
Joshua Gibson- During the war, major league baseball was in desperate need of players, as many had joined the war effort. Despite serious opposition, Joshua Gibson was allowed to play in the Major Leagues, the first African-American to do so. Sadly, Gibson died from a brain tumor in 1944, cutting his successful career short. Gibson is today remembered as 'the black Babe Ruth' of baseball, and a memorial stands in his home town in Georgia today.
 
In the referendum, 65% of Slovakians voted for independence; in May, the Republic of Slovakia was formed. This time, the Communists moved quickly. Gottwald was appointed prime minister, and other key ministries were given to communists; in July, the Democratic Republic of Slovakia was declared.
Well, damn.

Also, let's hope Masaryk won't be found lying dead in the near future... (*cough* Just like IOTL during the coup *cough*)
 
Picking up the Pieces: France in the late Forties
Within weeks of the liberation of Paris, the French government moved back to the capital, setting up the Provisional Government of France, or GPF. A triumvirate of Albert Lebrun, Henri Giraud, and Charles de Gaulle would rule France until the formation of the Fourth Republic in 1945. the reign of the GPF was characterized by tripartite politics between the communists (led by Maurice Thorez), socialists (led by Felix Gouin and Leon Blum), and republicans (led by Georges Bidault)
After the drafting of the new constitution, Charles de Gaulle was elected as the first president of the Fourth Republic. However, he would resign in response to the growing influence of the left, leaving Leon Blum to assume the presidency in 1947. Blum would pass several social reforms, while cultivating ties with the moderate right in order to combat the Gaullists and communists. Despite this, the popularity of the Communist Party remained high, as many citizens remembered their leadership of the wartime Resistance in mainland France, while the government fled to North Africa. The moderate communists, led by Charles Tillon, managed to secure new labor laws, restricting the hours of the workday and raising the minimum wage. However, this led to a conservative backlash, mainly from the republicans.
The resulting parliamentary crisis caused gridlock which lasted into 1949, when a coalition of socialists and republicans called for new elections. Many also called for the expulsion of the communists from the government, a move that unsettled many civilians. However, when newspapers reported on links between Thorez and Stalin, public opinion turned. The Stalinist communists in France were alienated from their more moderate party members, and within weeks they were expelled from the Communist Party of France. This placed Charles Tillon in charge of the party, allowing him to seek rapprochement with the socialists to form a leftist coalition.
Unfortunately Tillon's efforts fell through, and the socialist-republican bloc began a constitutional referendum in the fall of 1949. Coinciding with the mutiny of several far-right military officers in Algeria, this was enough to spell the end of the Fourth Republic. With the signing of the new constitution in 1950, Paul Ramadier was elected the first president of the new Fifth Republic.

Walking the Line: Spain in the late Forties
After the death of President Azana in 1940, Diego Barrio ascended to the presidency. His support of moderately liberal economic policies led to a gradual recovery of Spain's economy, still devastated by the Civil War. This recovery, although far from complete, was enough to ensure Barrio's reelection in 1945. Despite the relative stability of the economy, Spain still remained mired in poverty when compared to Europe, even with the latter still recovering from the world war. The post war economic recession in Europe led to severe rationing conditions after 1944 in Spain, and the bitter winter of 1947 only exacerbated the situation. Barrio was ousted the next year and Jose Giral took power in his stead. Giral granted the Basque and Catalan regions autonomy, while at the same time requesting economic aid from the United States. Surprised at the request but glad to secure the western Mediterranean, the United States granted Spain economic aid from the Marshall Plan. The aid came, but at a trickle compared to the rest of the European recipients; the MacArthur administration had no desire for the communist influences in the Spanish Republic to use the aid for the own gain. As the 1950's approached, Giral enacted more governmental control over the economy, while carefully maintaining friendly relations with the United States. To many, it appeared that Spain was now on the road to recovery from years of unrest and disunity.

The Bear Arises: the Soviet Union in the Postwar World
Despite its apparent crushing victory over the German Wehrmacht in 1943-44, the USSR was actually devastated by the war. Most of the Soviet heartland from the Ukraine to Karelia was completely destroyed by the fighting. The Reconstruction era, under the iron rule of Stalin, was a time of even more meager resources for an already impoverished population; the Soviet standard of living, always low, reached levels of suffering not seen since the darkest days after the Revolution.
When the Marshall Plan was enacted in 1947, the Soviets were offered a large share of the aid. However, the Soviets refused the offer, Stalin seeing it as a capitalist ploy. Instead, they obtained rather limited amounts of credit from Sweden and Britain, while stripping machinery and raw materials not only from their occupation zone in Germany, but also occupied Poland.
When the Reconstruction era ended in 1953 with Stalin's death, Soviet industrial production was nearly twice that of 1940 levels; at the same time, domestic goods production was at an all-time low. Domestic freedoms were harshly suppressed, the repression justified by the (much played up) risk of war with the Western Allies.
Also during this period, an era of cultural repression known as the Zhdanovshchina began. Any writers, composers, scientists, or historians deemed 'too Western' were purged without mercy; similar measures were taken with veterans from the Eastern Front. Simultaneously, Lysenkoism genetic theory came into favor, much to the detriment of Soviet science. Both of these repressive policies would continue right up to Stalin's death, before being abolished by his successor Lavrentiy Beria.
 
Top