The Hot War a lifetime later
- Thread starter tom
- Start date
I'm only just up to the peace deal bit (I don't think it is much of a spoiler considering it is the name of the book!) So far though, it is looking like there will be another round of (thermo-)nukes thrown around in the 1960s. It looks very much like the attitude of the world is becoming "you annoy us, we nuke you". I truly think OTL is much better than this.
- BNC
RamscoopRaider
Donor
Just finished reading it, glad I didn't have to pay for it
My concerns from the previous books in the series remain in force, with the exception of anything to do with Russian nukes as they didn't use them this book
The peace deal seems to make no sense, the US hit the USSR far harder than it got hit, the Soviet block is suffering major revolts and the Soviets should bloody well be out of nukes. Yet they got a status quo ante, I find this most unrealistic, the US still has bombs left and the USSR shot its bolt, the US took all the licks it was going to take, Truman should be looking to give the American people something to make all those deaths mean something
Also H-Bomb in 1952? The US tested one but it was the size of a building, can't drop from a plane, not until 1954 could that happen
The peace deal seems to make no sense, the US hit the USSR far harder than it got hit, the Soviet block is suffering major revolts and the Soviets should bloody well be out of nukes. Yet they got a status quo ante, I find this most unrealistic, the US still has bombs left and the USSR shot its bolt, the US took all the licks it was going to take, Truman should be looking to give the American people something to make all those deaths mean something
Also H-Bomb in 1952? The US tested one but it was the size of a building, can't drop from a plane, not until 1954 could that happen
Well, I just finished Armistice. I'm more convinced than ever that the peace won't be able to last, and that WWIV would be the end of the world, probably in the 60s or 70s.
- BNC
- BNC
I must be the only one on this site who thoroughly enjoyed the Hot War series, Turtledovian flaws be damned.
I enjoyed it a lot too, just that it is a pretty terrible world to be a part of
- BNC
The third book was a much stronger and better-written book than the second, IMO. I think there was much less padding and more of a substantial look into how the characters actually thought. I'll actually miss that Rolf fellow.
As to its effects...
A Soviet makes a remark about the smaller economies of the Warsaw Pact jump-starting the shattered economy of the USSR, but I really don't see how that can happen. They already stripped Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany in 1944-1945, and the bombings during the recent war haven't helped those countries. The Soviets can take what they want, but there's frankly not much to take. Poland's going to stay an agrarian backwater indefinitely. East Germany has probably been bombed into rubble conventionally. The various uprisings have also hurt. The USSR's going to be an economic basket case forever.
Combine that with the fact that Stalinist hard-liners like Molotov are in charge and that people like Gomulka or the Hungarian reformers won't take power in the satellites, and the entire thing is going to be an anaemic, North Korea-like mess. Maybe by 1970 someone competent might take power and enact some Titoist reforms, but the Warsaw Pact, collectively, is not a superpower anymore.
That leaves a lot of room for Britain, France, and Portugal to hang onto their empires. There won't be a Suez crisis, since Britain, France, and America will be busy rebuilding the Suez, but I imagine the European powers will be much more likely to twist Egypt's arm into allowing their continued domination of the canal. America and the USSR are too busy rebuilding to do much about that. Portugal in particular might hold onto its empire (in Africa) to the present day.
I wonder what the cultural effects in the Warsaw Pact, particularly in Poland (third failed uprising in a decade), will be. Stalinism continued into the 1960s, no reforms of '56, the devastation of the Third World War and the uprisings...what might they look like?
As to its effects...
A Soviet makes a remark about the smaller economies of the Warsaw Pact jump-starting the shattered economy of the USSR, but I really don't see how that can happen. They already stripped Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany in 1944-1945, and the bombings during the recent war haven't helped those countries. The Soviets can take what they want, but there's frankly not much to take. Poland's going to stay an agrarian backwater indefinitely. East Germany has probably been bombed into rubble conventionally. The various uprisings have also hurt. The USSR's going to be an economic basket case forever.
Combine that with the fact that Stalinist hard-liners like Molotov are in charge and that people like Gomulka or the Hungarian reformers won't take power in the satellites, and the entire thing is going to be an anaemic, North Korea-like mess. Maybe by 1970 someone competent might take power and enact some Titoist reforms, but the Warsaw Pact, collectively, is not a superpower anymore.
That leaves a lot of room for Britain, France, and Portugal to hang onto their empires. There won't be a Suez crisis, since Britain, France, and America will be busy rebuilding the Suez, but I imagine the European powers will be much more likely to twist Egypt's arm into allowing their continued domination of the canal. America and the USSR are too busy rebuilding to do much about that. Portugal in particular might hold onto its empire (in Africa) to the present day.
I wonder what the cultural effects in the Warsaw Pact, particularly in Poland (third failed uprising in a decade), will be. Stalinism continued into the 1960s, no reforms of '56, the devastation of the Third World War and the uprisings...what might they look like?
This is a Turtledove story that definitely deserves an After The End timeline...which gives me some ideas.
A darker timeline where the 60s are a fucking societal nightmare(without nukes) and humanity won’t live pass the 70s
and if it does…god help us all the politics are going to be insane
The most interesting part is that the post-war economy of abundance will collapse under a Truman administration…
this will have profound implications on politics as the economic mindset at the time was that America’s growth will never stop
Truman would have single handily ended American prosperity
and if it does…god help us all the politics are going to be insane
The most interesting part is that the post-war economy of abundance will collapse under a Truman administration…
this will have profound implications on politics as the economic mindset at the time was that America’s growth will never stop
Truman would have single handily ended American prosperity
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