The Century of the Common Men - A Henry Wallace and USSR wank poll TL

[Zeca Urubu]

Convention time, 1944

Despite the DNC's best efforts and slander, FDR insisted. Wallace was not only a trusted politician, but a personal friend of Roosevelt and his family, and he would not fire a friend of his from the ticket. As FDR's health waned Wallace would stay by his side. The southerners, the conservatives and the anti-communists protested, but by the convention they could not unite behind a single candidate, and FDR's intransigent support allowed Wallace to pull through by his moxie. For 1944 at least, Wallace would stay on the ticket.

As expected, Roosevelt's fourth candidacy was practically uncontested, with only Harry Byrd and James Farley receiving votes on the convention, none gaining 100 of the 1176 delegates, Roosevelt was on the peak of his popularity, and going against him by 1944 was political suicide. The New Deal coalition was once again in action, organized labour, minorities, southerners, the poor, the immigrants, all assembled to campaign for FDR.

For the Grand Old Party however, the convention was anything but uncontested. As much as deemed irrelevant for the nomination process itself, being more of a way for campaigns to gain traction, the primaries began, and Thomas Dewey, governor of New York took an early lead with New Hampshire, where he got most of the 11 delegates.

This wouldn't last however. Robert LaFollette Jr. won Wisconsin and in Illinois Dewey only won over Robert Taft by the skin of his teeth. In Nebraska, no winners were declared as a tie between Dewey, Taft, Warren and MacArthur dragged the state along. Pennsylvania was won by Dewey, but once again it was followed by a set of defeats. Massachussets went for Leverett Saltonstall by a large margin, Maryland and Ohio to Robert Taft, West Virginia and South Dakota tied, the former between John W. Bricker and Robert Taft and the latter between Senators
LaFollette and Taft and Dewey. Only in New Jersey would the Governor see a clear victory again, as Oregon and California both went to Governor Earl Warren.

As the primaries went along it became clear that despite Dewey's clear lead, he had no majority. Taft and Warren flanked Dewey from the Right and Left respectively, and came in as second and third, with several other candidates lagging behind. Someone had to budge, and thus negotiations began.
https://x.com/Tomiasd6/status/1734426236359676384?s=20 ​

 

[Zeca Urubu]

India in Flames

The Mahatma, Mahondas Gandhi was taken out of his cell on a quaint day, the 6th of May 1944. He didn't quite know why they were taking him outside, he had heard no word of his possible release. As he saw the guards' face he understood, the guard was uneasy, Gandhi puzzled together that something very bad must be about to happen. Instead of being released as many expected, the British made an example out of Gandhi. In an example of colonial arbitrarity and arguably, sheer stupidity, they dragged the Mahatma into public view in Pune, where they would carry out his execution by hanging.

The subcontinent was dragged into hell for this decision. Riots broke out in several major cities, british garrissons and bureaucrats were killed commonly as it quickly spiraled out of control. The only people who gained anything from this bloodfest was Subbhas Chandra Bose and his japanese-backed revolt in eastern India. As the Mahatma's body laid cold in british hands, the INC wanted blood. They declared their support for Bose and broke their previous support for peaceful independence. India's future now lay uncertain as ever, the only certainty is now death.

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Persia:
In late 1943, Iran began one of its first moves into constitutional democracy. The allied invasion ended the axis sympathizing absolutist monarchy that ruled Iran as Reza Shah was sent into exile, where he died. An election was called, but the results shocked any foreign commentator present. As the results came, it became clear that the nationalist and social democratic Iran Party won the most seats, and planned to cooperate with the openly socialist Tudeh Party and Comrades Party. The Iran Party's candidate, Mohammed Mossadegh was elevated to Prime Minister and began to make moves on his nationalization and reform goals. Iran would be free at last.

Sweden:
Despite their close economic alliance, Sweden was never interested in joining Germany in their now doomed war. Their neutrality policy led to their growth and safety during a period when all of Europe was on fire, and the people agreed. As the 1944 elections came, the Social Democrats kept their majority, even if by little. They continued their policy of cooperating with other mainstream parties during wartime, excluding however the Communists, who themselves saw electoral growth.

Ireland:
In contrast to Sweden, Ireland saw great change come their 1944 election. For the first time Fianna Fail lost, as Fine Gael formed the unstable Broad Coalition with Labour, National Labour and Clann naTalmhan. Only time would tell how they will do in government, but reforming the Fianna Fail favouring system is a priority, as well as closer relations with the Allies.

https://x.com/Tomiasd6/status/1734428802112008453?s=20

 

[Zeca Urubu]

The end for the one named Ernst Thällmann​

Locked in a prison in Germany, Ernst Thällmann was unsure of his fate when he was taken out of it. He was put in the cruel Buchenwald concentration camp as the Soviets approached. He heard rumors from other prisoners that the Nazis wanted to exchange him for POWs, but time stood still around him, and as time passed he grew less confident of it. One cold day on the Camp, Thällmann was told the soviets refused negotiations. He was shook. Of course, he understood why Moscow, why Stalin, preferred the POWs, it would save the lives of thousands of workers, be them german or soviet. But it stung, all his life he worked for the cause and they had just practically sentenced him to death. The betrayal broke Ernst, and the nazis did not pity him for it. Finally seeing him as the useless bolshevik he came to be, they saw him as unworthy of a bullet and chose to work him into collapse. On the 29th of August Thällmann was found on the ground, unmoving, as cold as the freezing air around him. The man was Dead.

 

[Zeca Urubu]

The Guatemalan Strife

Seeing the writing on the wall, President Ubico y Castañeda of Guatemala finally ended his very own authoritarian measures, and announced free and fair elections for 1945, hoping to calm dissent. It worked like as well as it could, protests calmed a bit, but he now concluded it was now the next guy's problem instead of his. When the 1945 election finally came around, four candidates emerged as frontrunners.​

• Juan José Arévalo, an academic and anti-regime activist, notable for his ties to student and peasant movements. A "spiritual-socialist" and reformer.
• The Ubico aligned General and former Governor Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes. He hopes to curb leftist action in Guatemala, as well as receding opposition to the Liberal Progressive Party.
• The conservative populist journalist Clemente Marroquín. He is firmly aligned with the US and anti-leftism, hoping to end the unrest on the nation. He however is a reformer and democrat, hoping to bring free and fair elections to Guatemala.
• And at last President Ubico y Castañeda himself. Despite his growing unpopularity and old age, some sectors of the population stays loyal to El Presidente. His reelection might sediment authoritarianism in Guatemala for a long time.

https://x.com/Tomiasd6/status/1734430616223948832?s=20

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Romania
On August 23, King Michael and members of cabinet, including Prime Minister Ion Antonescu meet on the latter's office. As soon as the war's status became clear to all on the room, and that Antonescu was not willing to negotiate a peace, his arrest was declared. The coup had began just like that. Just like that it was done, the King reigned now and General Sanatescu led the provisional government. Few days later, Romania left the Axis and joined the soviets in attacking the Axis. Soviet troops poured like a river through the now open border, fighting Germans and Hungarians throughout Romania.

Bulgaria

Seeing Romania change sides through a coup, Bulgaria began to follow on the same path. General Yanchulev met with the King and the cabinet, proceeding to do the same as the Romanian army. A provisional government under him and a broad alliance of center-right to far-left parties was formed as Bulgaria joined the Allies in their fight against Germany.​

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Monte Cassino, Italy
As snow began and stopped falling, the Germans stayed put. None moved. Monte Cassino became a death trap, but after a months of siege it was unclear who was trapped. The decision to keep fighting to the bitter end was expected of late war Nazi Germany, but the way Monte Cassino stalled allied advances through Italy for months was impressive. Allied leaders began to think of Italy as a lost cause, and specially on the US, began to divert resources to other fronts, such as to the pacific. Months would be spent with barely any progress on what Winston Churchill called the "soft" underbelly of Europe.

Pacific Ocean
The men and money America took out of the Italian campaign was sent to the Pacific Conflict, where General Douglas MacArthur's ideas of taking the South Pacific stayed dominant. The soldiers advanced bravely, and died as so. The Jungles consumed all, men, supplies and minds. It was a death sentence to any brave enough yankee. Men were sent and came back within months. The japanese and their native allies in Indonesia and the Phillipines did massive damage to american troops. But by the end of 1944 progress was still looking good, specially as the Manhattan Project was closer to its goal. It is of course worthy of mention the role Australian, Indian, New Zealander and Native troops had on the Pacific front, being the troops who saw the most combat on the Pacific by the end of the war.

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Athens
Hans was tired, he was woken up before sunrise by his companions, they had barely any food as per usual and now the anglos were landing on the South of the Peninsula. Berlin ordered their retreat, he doesn't think the war will last much longer, Germany will once again be humbled by the world. He grabbed all he still had and began to march, they were to form a new defensive line somewhere up north, he hadn't memorized it. As noon came about he and all his companions stopped. They were almost out of the city, he wondered, what happened? As soon as he stepped foward he was shot at. The resistance had arrived in Northern Athens.

In one quick move the Greek Partisans broke the german army in Greece. Many deserted or surrendered, some fought to the end. But it was for nothing, Greece was liberated and Athens was governed by the people now. The Worker's Freedom came to the Aegean Sea. Inspired by Tito in Yugoslavia, Greek Partisans (EAM-ELAS in particular) conquered most of the greek north and countryside.

Paris

As the Allied troops landed in Normandy it became increasingly clear that Germany could never win this war, or at least this was Dietrich von Choltitz's opinion by that point. Hitler had ordered Paris burned to prevent the allies from using it. Choltitz intended to just surrender the city instead of butchering such a center of art and history, but in a twist of destiny, a resistance member shot at his car on the 10th of August. Choltitz died soon after due to his injuries. This allowed the now much more disorganized german garrison to in an enraged revenge, sacked the city, burning it before evacuating. With a couple of shots the resistance killed who could have been the saviour of Paris.
The image of a destroyed Eiffel Tower soon became a rallying cry for the resistance. Communist partisans saw growing numbers following the burning, and began to articulate an open uprising against the occupiers. On the 30th of September they rose up through the East of France, in Alsace-Lorraine, in Franche-Comte and on the Italian and Belgian borders.

​

 

[Zeca Urubu]

The Old Man's Portrait

The 1940's were an Odd time for Brazil. It had been led, almost monocratically, by Getúlio Vargas ever since 1930, but since 1937 his regime had ideologically flirted even more with Italian and German fascisms. This of course never went anywhere, Brazil still declared war on Germany in 1942, and was one of the few nations to send troops to fight them, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB, also known as the "Cobras Fumantes", the "Smoking Snakes"), who served in Italy. Soon they realised the irony however, after the war, as the soldiers come back home, authoritarianism still plagues their home. This is the case to many brazilian veterans. They fought for freedom in Italy while being subjugated themselves.
Pressure, both from these veteran soldiers and from the southeastern traditional elites began to mount on President Getúlio Vargas.
They demanded reform, democracy, freedom. Getúlio Vargas was not a stupid man and sought to foment some popular support for himself before that pressure boiled into open rebellion or anything close to it. Opposition was freed from prison, and censorship measures were laxed, but the nascent Queremista ("Wantist", as in Wanting Vargas to stay) clashes with the opposition, sometimes violently.
Vargas sits on a crossroads. He can once again attempt a coup by firing Rio de Janeiro's police chief, João Alberto Lins de Barros and substituting him with Vargas' own brother, Benjamin Vargas, in preparation. He could call elections for December 1945 on which he could run as PSD (Social Democratic Party, a right-wing Varguista party, centrist populism) or as an Independent, being aligned with the Queremista movement and the nascent PTB (Brazilian Labour Party, Left wing Varguism, Leftist Nationalism). He could also pretend this crisis doesn't exist, results from this are seemingly unpredictable.

https://x.com/Tomiasd6/status/1734448935266103420?s=20

 

[Lalli]

The Mahatma, Mahondas Gandhi was taken out of his cell on a quaint day, the 6th of May 1944. He didn't quite know why they were taking him outside, he had heard no word of his possible release. As he saw the guards' face he understood, the guard was uneasy, Gandhi puzzled together that something very bad must be about to happen. Instead of being released as many expected, the British made an example out of Gandhi. In an example of colonial arbitrarity and arguably, sheer stupidity, they dragged the Mahatma into public view in Pune, where they would carry out his execution by hanging.
View attachment 874739
The subcontinent was dragged into hell for this decision. Riots broke out in several major cities, british garrissons and bureaucrats were killed commonly as it quickly spiraled out of control. The only people who gained anything from this bloodfest was Subbhas Chandra Bose and his japanese-backed revolt in eastern India. As the Mahatma's body laid cold in british hands, the INC wanted blood. They declared their support for Bose and broke their previous support for peaceful independence. India's future now lay uncertain as ever, the only certainty is now death.
View attachment 874741​

Generally intresting TL but why Brits suddenly would decide execute Gandhi? It sounds just asking of troubles what it now is seemingly turning.

 

[Sport25ing]

Would now Iran, Guatemala and Ireland send more military support to the Allies?

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Would now Iran, Guatemala and Ireland send more military support to the Allies?

Military support is likely a no, Guatemala is kinda chaotic, Iran is under occupation and Ireland probably isn't interested in doing so honestly. I do see them cooperating economically much more however, and providing bases for example. I dont really see Irish, Guatemalan or Iranian troops fighting anywhere though

Generally intresting TL but why Brits suddenly would decide execute Gandhi? It sounds just asking of troubles what it now is seemingly turning.

I agree, it is a general lapse of judgement with little justifiability, but oh well those were the results to the vote of Gandhi's fate

 

[Zeca Urubu]

A brief explanaition
It may be a bit late by now but here it goes. This TL is based on the results from a questionnaire i did a few days ago. This TL will happen mostly based on voting/polls, which will be conducted on Twitter (X if you wish to call it that) - i will link the polls on the bottom of the chapters when they happen. I hope this explains a bit of the logically implausible stuff that might happen as it goes on.
Im aware of how impractical this whole system is, but im not sure of how functional the alternatehistory.com poll system is for constant usage.
Anyways, this is my first TL, hope you all enjoy this messy show
-Zeca Urubu/Tomias​

 

[Zeca Urubu]

Hey Hey! Lets Go Dewey!
​

Chaotic and divided laid the Republican Party, many candidates still laid the field hoping to impart their ideas on the future ticket. They however knew by then that being the candidate themselves was simply impossible. As the primaries ended, calls began to be done, Governors Earl Warren and Harold Stassen struck a deal quickly, while details are not clear as they didn't come into reality, it is known that Stassen agreed to drop out and support Warren's stronger bid. Mayor LaGuardia and Senator LaFollette Jr. soon did the same, they too endorsed Warren after the end of their campaign.
​

Harold Stassen announces his support for Earl Warren's bid.​

As Warren's strategy became clear to the rest of the candidates, Dewey and Taft began to make their own calls. By mid May John Bricker, Saltonstall and Douglas MacArthur all had endorsed Taft and Arthur Vanderberg declared his support for Dewey. Warren got his last endorsement by the 1st of June, with Wendell Willkie. The camp had gone down to only three candidates very quickly.
​

The convention was closer by the day and no one wanted to be the one to capitulate, it was a classic case of a "Mexican Standoff". Calls between all duos were done along the month, and it seemed that Taft was the more willing party to concede. Both him and Dewey were isolationists and the latter's position on the New Deal was much more moderate than Warren. Thus on the 18th of June a call was made between Taft and Dewey on which Taft accepted to drop out in exchange for the Vice President position on the Republican ticket. Only Warren was left, isolated as the last holder of the liberal wing of the party.
​

What the convention would look like before Warren's announcement.​

When Warren heard the news it was disappointing, but by that point to be expected. He announced a week later his decision to drop out of the nomination process, giving Governor Dewey a open-and-shut convention, no contention, a peaceful and unified Republican Party would face FDR on November, on what would likely be the closest of Roosevelt's presidential elections.
​

Vote for the 1944's Election Outcome:

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[Zeca Urubu]

1945 Anglosphere Elections​

The war progressed by the day, many on the West began to see it as a fait-accompli, as already won. They were in part correct, Nazi Germany was doomed, a certain glee began to be felt along the battered nations of the Anglosphere. Incidentaly both the UK and Canada had elections in 1945 and both had one of their parties as dominant for some 10 years.​

Canada

​

Having been led by the Liberal Party since 1935, party fatigue may be setting. The democratic socialist CCF and agrarian synchretic Social Credit begins to see growth nationwide, specially in their bases of the Western provinces. The moderate conservative Progressive Conservatives also expect growth of their own as the "rally-'round-the-flag effect" around the Liberal government begins to fade. Plenty of smaller parties such as the quebecois centric Bloc Populaire and crypto-communist Labor-Progressive also will dispute the elections, but their results will likely be small. The Liberals however still hope to contain their losses and keep a majority of their own.​

To vote on the election results for Canada go here:

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United Kingdom

​

As much as Churchill stayed a very popular figure among the british public, the national mood continued to move away from the wartime government of the Conservatives. Labour has, despite its problems, low expectations but an energic campaign against the government, defending welfare reforms and a moderated policy on the post-war diplomacy. Conservatives pledge to keep their "tried-and-true" policies of liberal conservatism and hawkish anti-communism. The Liberals fare as a distant third, excluded from the First-Past-The-Post electoral system, the Liberal base shrivels every election, and the presumed growth of both of its rivals leave the party somewhat pessimistic.
​

To vote on the election results for the UK go here:

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[Zeca Urubu]

Elections on the Tropics

Brazil​

Seeing the unrest plaguing the nation as caused by a lack of legitimacy by himself, Getúlio Vargas chose to run for a final, this time democratic, term in office, as an independent candidate, on a coalition of the new-born Varguista parties (PSD and PTB). His candidacy was largely a continuation of the already stablished (and by him financed) Queremista movement. Despite great advancements in unifying the opposition the mostly right-wing UDN and the communist PCB could not reconcile their ideological differences, at least not in time, PCB and UDN would run their own candidates, against each other.
PCB chose to run their General-Secretary Luís Carlos Prestes, considered by some a revolutionary hero both back in 1924 and in 1935, he was tortured and imprisoned by the Vargas regime until the laxing of the regime earlier in 1945.
UDN chose former Foreign Minister Otávio Mangabeira to be their candidate. His name recognition was severely lacking but the party was somewhat overconfident on their capabilities for this election. Mangabeira did gather the support of the Democratic Left ("Esquerda Democratica"), the soon to be Socialist Party of Brazil, for his bid, as well as several key figures of the Vargas administrations that felt left out of the regime as it progressed, such as Oswaldo Aranha and the Tenentistas Juarez Távora and Eduardo Gomes, both of whom were considered for the candidateship.​

The Election Results

Come december 2nd Getúlio saw a sweep, with some 10% advantage over Mangabeira and double Prestes' vote count. It seems Vargas is here to stay.







Guatemala​

As unexpected as it was to the public, Ubico and his regime had failed to contain the unrest, and now the results were out of their hands. Unable to fraud their way into a victory, The dying order went through all the stages of grief, denial through acceptance. Ubico even attempted to contact officers to "solve the soviet inflitration issue", although as soon as it became clear what was being asked they ignored the President. By the end of February, President Ubico y Castañeda finally accepted the fate of his government, Arévalo would succeed him. As much as Ubico conceded that overturning the election was not a possibility, he pretty much refused to live in Guatemala to see the results of the election. He booked a flight to New Orleans just after Arévalo's innauguration, there he would die in 1946, in a self-imposed exile, a bitter man.

Juan José Arévalo celebrates his election






Mexico​

Mexico was, ever since the end of the Revolution under the laxed fist of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, or rather, its precursors). It used fraud and political machines to form a barely democratic technocratic dictatorship. The 1946 election signified change for Mexico, as candidates for PRI's leadership came from different places in society. The two frontrunners for the nomination were Miguel Alemán Valdés, aligned with the new generation of post-revolution politicians, and Maximino Ávila Camacho, army officer and brother of current President Manuel Ávila Camacho, he is largely favoured by the more establishment types of the party, and the army forces.
There are also the dark-horse candidates, the anti-PRI candidate Ezequiel Padilla, a hopeful democratic reformer; PRI candidate contender Miguel Henríquez Guzmán, aligned with the army and leftist factions of PRI, hoping to bring Mexico closer to the initial social aims of the Revolution.​

To vote on the Mexican election's outcome:

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Chile​

Chile probably had by that point the best track-record of democracy in the continent. Very few periods of dictatorships occurred, but class tensions had begun to mount during the early XX century. The growing middle class begun to support the reformist Radical and Liberal Parties, in contrast to the Socialist and Populist inclined lower classes. The 1946 elections would be divided between the Leftist Democratic Alliance (an Alliance of Radical, Socialist, Communist and other parties) and Rightist Conservative-Liberal-Agrarian Labor Coalition, but cracks on these alliances would soon lead to divided tickets.
The Radicals nominated Gabriel González Videla, who was then nominated for the Democratic Alliance easily over the communist candidate, but the Socialists and Communists disregarded him as too moderate for them, and chose to form their own ticket, under socialist labour leader Bernardo Ibáñez. The liberals and conservatives duked it out as well, having countless votes on who to lead their ticket. Unable to agree on a candidate for their shared ticket, they chose instead to part ways. The conservatives named Eduardo Cruz-Coke, while the liberals, agrarian labourists, authentic socialists and dissidents from the Radicals and Socialists chose Fernando Alessandri, son of former President Arturo Alessandri Palma, for their ticket.​

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Argentina​

Argentina was a case apart from the previous two countries, instability reigned for the past few decades, military regimes ended and began just as easily. On this kind of enviroment that Juan Domingo Perón rose into prominence. He fomented relations with the docile state-controlled labor unions and army during his term as labor minister, so as the dictatorship came to a close, he became the face of the nationalist labor-aligned populism in Argentina. In rejection of him there laid the (dis)united opposition, led by the UCR, a big tent party, the Socialist PS and Conservative PD.
As much as Perón's position as leader of the Labor Party was secure, his adversaries did not have this pleasure. The Socialists' Alfredo Palacios, UCR's José Tamborini and Conservatives' Robustiano Patrón Costas all contested the position of leader of the opposition and the role of the (possible) defeater of Perón.​

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Colombia
​

Colombian modern history by the 40s had been a constant struggle between the two dominant parties, the Liberals and Conservatives. As of late the Liberals had been a bit more dominant, occasionally even cooperating with other, more fringe, parties, such as the Communists. By 1946 the Field was laid on a way so that the Conservatives were favored to win, as they had only one candidate (Mariano Ospina Pérez) while the Liberals were divided between Gabriel Turbay and Jorge Eliécer Gaitán.
Ospina Perezis the scion of a political family, he is associated with the important coffee sector of Colombia and many traditional families in the country. Turbay is a representative, and of the orthodox faction of the liberal party, in contrast to Gaitán who is considered a Liberal Socialist, in the more radical faction of the Liberal Party, he is a former Mayor of Bogotá and former Education and Labor Minister previously in the decade.​

To Vote for the Outcome go here:

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[ariana]

India in Flames

The Mahatma, Mahondas Gandhi was taken out of his cell on a quaint day, the 6th of May 1944. He didn't quite know why they were taking him outside, he had heard no word of his possible release. As he saw the guards' face he understood, the guard was uneasy, Gandhi puzzled together that something very bad must be about to happen. Instead of being released as many expected, the British made an example out of Gandhi. In an example of colonial arbitrarity and arguably, sheer stupidity, they dragged the Mahatma into public view in Pune, where they would carry out his execution by hanging.
View attachment 874739
The subcontinent was dragged into hell for this decision. Riots broke out in several major cities, british garrissons and bureaucrats were killed commonly as it quickly spiraled out of control. The only people who gained anything from this bloodfest was Subbhas Chandra Bose and his japanese-backed revolt in eastern India. As the Mahatma's body laid cold in british hands, the INC wanted blood. They declared their support for Bose and broke their previous support for peaceful independence. India's future now lay uncertain as ever, the only certainty is now death.
View attachment 874741​

gandhi wasnt really a big threat to british he kinda helped them maintain stability in india by non violence
also
Gandhi and Nehru had a huge support not just in India, but also in Britain, US and elsewhere. They both came from a top ranked legal club [Inner Temple] that also included many British Prime Ministers and many future Prime Ministers across the world. That means they had plenty of connections at the top.