The North Star is Red: a Wallace Presidency, KMT Victory, Alternate Cold War TL
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Chapter 11.5 - Chinese History Textbooks
Chinese History Textbooks
...the People's Republic of China, adopting an increasingly obsession with negating the KMT, grew to adopt a rather ahistorical theory of the KMT being an "illegitimate bandit government." Instead, the People's Republic of China painted itself as the direct successor to the Beiyang Government (1912-1928).[1] In PRC history books, the Fengtian Clique of Zhang Zuolin (1928-1933) was depicted as the legitimate government of China. The Manchukuo period (1933-1945) was described as the "fascist occupation era" and the 1945-1948 period depicted as the "socialist restoration of democracy war."
Ironically, the PRC had to praise Yuan Shikai and denigrate Sun Yatsen, simply because Sun Fo, Yatsen's son, was Vice-President of Chiang Kai-Shek's ROC. In addition, the entire Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937-1945 was simply written out the history books, with the only coverage being coverage of anti-Japanese guerillas, such as the Eight Route Army and New Fourth Army. PRC teachers were ordered to sentence any kids to "Socialist sanitation duty for a bright new scientific-hygienic future" aka cleaning the school toilets, if they wouldn't stop asking what happened to Route Armies 1-7 and New Armies 1-3.
This understanding of history included in state regalia - the PRC flag incorporated the old Five Races Under One Union flag. Aware that the Manchukuo flag did the same, the PRC slightly altered their formula. Han (Manchu were all classified as Han) were yellow, Japanese red, Koreans black, Mongols blue, and Hui Muslims white. In particular, the lives of Japanese settlers became very awkward. Constantly under state surveillance and distrusted by the government, they were also used as a constant propaganda tool of the regime in order to highlight how the PRC had replaced the "false racial harmony of fascist-colonial Manchukuo" with the "true racial tolerance of socialist-democratic China." Like all other PRC citizens, they were forbidden to emigrate. This was important to the PRC, because South Japan was treated as a direct successor to Imperial Japan.
The arrival of Jewish deportees from the Soviet Union complicated this theory of Chinese nationhood. PRC officials generally agreed that the deportees should be granted citizenship, which wasn't a huge concession because PRC citizens had no rights, not to mention that they could be touted abroad as an propaganda example of "Socialist fraternal brotherhood and tolerance." The PRC was constantly trying and failing to acquire the ROC's coveted seat in the United Nations, and one way they tried was to "acquire" as many post-WW2-displaced peoples as possible since the other UN members largely weren't stepping up. However, almost no one wanted to willingly move to an impoverished Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, so the Soviet deportees were their only opportunity.
In addition, they did not fit clearly into the Five Races theory of Chinese nationhood. In response, one Communist Party Central Committee internal report suggested that Jews were basically like Muslims because they didn't eat pork (which set them apart from the rest of pork-loving China), they also circumcised themselves, and they worshiped "the ancient Egyptian god Allah." The KMT was very popular among Hui Muslims, so few joined the CPC.[2] In addition, the sole Muslim member of the National People's Congress, the Soviet immigrant Saifuddin Azizi, was apparently on leave due to severe diarrhea due to eating overripe pork dumplings (he was not a very devout Muslim). Factual inaccuracies asides, the report was entirely adopted, and all Jews were thereafter classified as Hui Muslims. Azizi was apparently greatly amused upon his return, but figured it was clearly too late to correct this. Regardless, the People's Republic of China welcomed the "return" of two million "Hui family members thanks to our eternal Soviet brothers." Most of the West regarded this announcement with humor, Israel and most of the Muslim world with horror.
However, abusing history wasn't limited to North of the Great Wall. Although ROC history books had a much better understanding of modern history than the PRC, they fastidiously wrote out even larger swaths of imperial Chinese history out from their textbooks. The Qing and Yuan dynasties were treated as "occupation governments", comparable to Imperial Japan's Manchukuo, with the cultural achievements of both totally stamped out. Coincidentally, teachers and journalists were banned from referring to PRC as anything besides the "Communist bandit league" or "Red Manchukuo." In the "Redology Affair", a Chinese literature professor was fired for placing Cao Xueqin's The Dream of the Red Chamber in a Chinese literature course instead of a "world literature" course.
Interestingly, ROC textbooks treated Imperial Japan (South Japan was a close ally) with a surprising degree of sympathy. Imperial Japan was celebrated for defeating "Russo-Manchu barbarian despoilers" in the Russo-Japanese War, with the Second Sino-Japanese War blamed entirely on "fringe anti-capitalist, anti-American revolutionaries within the Japanese Army."
Instead of "cops and robbers" or "cowboys and Indians", Chinese children were taught to play "Shaolin monks and Manchus." Possibly as a result, martial arts took off like a rocket in ROC households, with almost every Chinese school teaching martial arts in school as a way to "resist Communism."[3] Martial arts was officially designated in China as kuoshu [國術], or the "national art" in order to underscore the anti-Communist nature of kung fu. Generations of scrawny kids in China quickly grew to dread their mandatory "national arts" course at school.
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[1] The OTL PRC paints itself as the successor of Chiang Kai-Shek's ROC. ITL, they're basically erasing the entire KMT and the entire history of China, 1926-1948, from their history books.
[2] Several defected during the Civil War as the Communists started winning, but that didn't happen here. There are uh, not many members of the CPC who know anything about Islam or Judaism.
[3] ROC politics
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Guess this latest chapter is a proper reply of my doubts about Chinese approach to Hebraism, at least on the Manchurian side. Well, the PRC really took the North Korean path, how worrisome but totally expected.
Is interesting to see how the Republicans go rather well with the Hui, but well after years of Soviet occupation, Xinjiang is likely more welcoming to everyone else. Let's hope the RoC won't mess up things.
As I said, the ground for Israel and China to become great friends are already set. And at the same time China seems to have an angle to develop fair relations with several Muslim countries as well.
In short a very enjoyable cultural chapter.
By the way what is the fate of Pu-yi so far? I am feeling not so good...
Is interesting to see how the Republicans go rather well with the Hui, but well after years of Soviet occupation, Xinjiang is likely more welcoming to everyone else. Let's hope the RoC won't mess up things.
As I said, the ground for Israel and China to become great friends are already set. And at the same time China seems to have an angle to develop fair relations with several Muslim countries as well.
In short a very enjoyable cultural chapter.
By the way what is the fate of Pu-yi so far? I am feeling not so good...
Probably Shanghai but I guess Hong Kong would be liked much by Blue China cinema.
Well, Xinjiang isn't mostly Hui. Hui Chinese are most common in Gansu and are otherwise scattered throughout all of Northern China, as well as Xinjiang and Tibet. There are also a lot of Hui-Uigher tensions and as we've seen earlier, Hui-Tibetan tensions.
I don't really think China is taking the "North Korean" path because part of North Korea's juche is intense racial blood nationalism to justify its regime, which the PR China doesn't have at all. In fact, they're kind of doing the opposite. Of course, they're an oppressive Marxist-Leninist dictatorship, but uh, so was OTL Maoist China.
Also, Juche Korea is fiercly isolationist, while ITL Communist China is obsessively interventionist - they're clearly obsessed with symbolic propaganda victories over the KMT to a truly unhealthy degree because they're not going to beat them on living standards or ethno-nationalism (think East Germany demanding to win every sports competition against West Germany.) I mean, taking a huge, totally foreign population in (nearly 4% of the country) should sound totally crazy to most people, almost ASB. But for a minor propaganda victory? The CPC is all in.
FWIW, at home, I don't think the regime is particularly that different from OTL China. Purges and stuff are only lower because there are fewer people to purge (ie, not many landlords to murder.) And they celebrate Stalin, but it's still a distinctly Chinese Communism. IE, still obsessed with "reeducation" and "self-criticism." Economic policy differences seem to largely a result of the fact that NE China is very economically different from the rest of China (ie, it's much more industrial and mostly small farmers instead of large plantations, so it actually economically resembles 1918 Russia more than it does the rest of China).
Considering that, I think things actually go a little better for Puyi, since he gets put through the same re-education thing, and it's unclear if anything like OTL Cultural Revolution happens.
With regards to Israel, I haven't plotted it out yet, but I suspect Stalin's persecution of Jews probably triggers a huge and early souring of Israel towards the USSR (and Soviet alignment with Nasser). Assuming that the ROC helps any escaping Jews from the North get safely transported to Israel, yeah, ROC-Israel relations will probably be very good.
FWIW, the KMT was actually pretty good at the foreign relations thing. I mean, in early 1938, the ROC was simultaneously receiving arm shipments from the USA, UK, France, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and fascist Italy (surplus Italian tankettes were actually a menace to Japan.) Two of those guys dropped out for obvious reasons, but still impressive.
I mean, it might be the entire region. The Guangdong/Hong Kong border is probably going to basically be an open one.
The PRC claiming legitimacy from the pre-Northern Expedition China is interesting (especially if Mao is seeking to delegitimize the pre-Zunyi Communist Party?
), but I really don't see a Japan friendly ROC so soon. Chiang seems to be taking the pan-Asian line, as Sun Yat-sen did, but that line of thought has been thoroughly discredited with the defeat of Wang Jingwei. China is currently at the apex of nationalistic sentiment, and I don't see Chiang aligning himself with a "enemy" ideology, even though it may make geopolitical sense.Hong Kong probably doesn't grow into the cultural and economic little giant she became IOTL. Much of Hong Kong's early growth was funded by Shanghai investors and industrialists fleeing Communist economic policies, and that's not happening ITTL for obvious reasons.
The PRC claiming legitimacy from the pre-Northern Expedition China is interesting (especially if Mao is seeking to delegitimize the pre-Zunyi Communist Party?
Hong Kong probably doesn't grow into the cultural and economic little giant she became IOTL. Much of Hong Kong's early growth was funded by Shanghai investors and industrialists fleeing Communist economic policies, and that's not happening ITTL for obvious reasons.
Well, the ROC isn't defending wartime Japan (and neither is South Japan, really, since they're actually run mostly by people who opposed WW2). I guess to clarify, at least within mainstream Japanese thought, there's very much two competing narratives.
The first is that the World War II era was actually an abberation in Japanese imperial history created by revolutionary anti-capitalist nationalism (fascism?). You can see how this is a VERY appealing narrative for say,the descendants of the 1920's Japanese political class, closely aligned with the zaibatsu, who weren't a fan of World War II (but didn't really oppose it) and saw it happen anyways. PM Hatoyama is one of these people (he was a conservative diet member who voted against the war.) For the most part, I think this is the dominant narrative on the Japanese Right even today.
The other narrative is that Imperial Japan was a fundamentally broken, destructive government, and the militarism of the 1930's was a direct extension of the entire Meiji system. Kind of similar to the "Sonderweg thesis." You can see how this appeals to the Japanese left, which was being persecuted even before the militarist period (the Peace Preservation Laws). You can still see this with the Japanese left today (ie, one big political issue in Japan was the left-wing teacher's unions refusing to stand up for the Japanese flag/anthem, because they associated them with an Imperial Japanese Sonderweg).
So it's less the ROC/PRC having a big ideological shift, and more just harmonizing their Japanese history understanding with their respective Japanese ally. Maybe a European equivalent would be if West Germany went all Kaiserboo on everyone and right-wing governments in France/UK shrugged and went along with it out of mutual anti-Communism.
Hong Kong doesn't get a refugee boost, but it's still a major trade port between the ROC and the United Kingdom (which in 1937, was actually China's #1 investor). So it's still got something going for it, though it probably won't be as crowded as OTL.
Edit: Also, I don't actually think this is peak nationalism for the ROC. Because it's still basically a quasi-military government under the dominance of Chiang Kai-Shek. While both Chiang and Mao were actually pretty pragmatic when it came to nationalism. Peak nationalism probably comes when China is wealthier and develops more of a civil society/a larger politically-engaged population. For example, South Korea today is probably more nationalistic than it was under the right-wing dictator, Park Chung-hee.
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Oh, whoops, forgot to answer this. Probably not. The Soviets aren't going to install an outsider (which they are as of 1950) as long as the PRC is totally geopolitically aligned with the USSR. And with the giant ROC next to them, inching outside of Soviet protection is a very very bad idea. Mao challenged the USSR for global leadership of Communism because he thought he could win. With 1/10th the population as OTL Maoist China, he probably doesn't make that calculation.
Also yes, FF8 is the best FF haters gonna hate.
Well, this will change the dynamics of Asia and by extent to the whole world. It's a real pity there's little chance of Chinese unification. Japan and Korea on other hand have much better chances of unifications better than China ITTL.
Say, when will we see the updated map of Asia ITTL?
Say, when will we see the updated map of Asia ITTL?
I'd love to conjure a good map, but uh, honestly I kind of suck at map-making and none of the tutorials on this site have been that useful for someone of my extremely low technological aptitude. I think I'll figure something out...eventually, though. Though I guess I'm prioritizing updates over that.
I would recomend to download a blank map with provincial division and coloring it on paint.
Speaking of the ROC, will the ROC still have territorial claims to Mongolia? I know I saw a map of the area the KMT claims and Mongolia was one of the territories.
Also why does North Korea lay claim to “Seoul”?
Also why does North Korea lay claim to “Seoul”?
1. Yes, they should.
2. The North-South Korean border was drawn south of Seoul. So Seoul is in North Korea.
Outer Mongolia (and Tanna Tuva) were part of the Qing Empire. In 1912, they were detached from the collapsing Qing Empire by the Russian Empire. The Republic of China naturally presented itself as the successor state of the Qing Empire, thus staking a claim to all Qing territory in 1911. So from their perspective, those territories were illegally detached from the ROC in 1912.
IIRC, the OTL PRC only dropped those claims in 1950 (due to good-at-the-time relations with the USSR). Naturally, the ITL PRC has dropped those claims as well.
I've to stop reading because laughing, HOW THE HELL the chinese pulled this mental gymnastics would made rumanian girl jealous...
Chapter 13 - The Russell Administration
In my drive to get things through until 1950, I realized I neglected the United States. Probably doing Chinese internal politics next, unless there's something I'm neglecting.
Russell was first confronted with two Supreme Court vacancies after the deaths of Frank Murphy and Wiley Blount Rutledge. Eager to both burnish his anti-Communist credentials and to mollify the Dixiecrats (by depriving them one of their most prominent voices), Russell first appointed anti-Communist Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada, the chair of the judiciary committee. Of course, Russell wanted to put another Dixiecrat on the Supreme Court, so he selected Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, James P. Coleman.
Russell's ambitious domestic policy involved universal healthcare and an increase to minimum wage and social security payments. Interestingly, Russell privately torpedoed a proposal for an increase to public housing. When Congress passed the Housing Act of 1949, Russell vetoed the bill, calling it the "Negro Neighborhood Act", loathing to give the sponsor of the bill, Robert Taft, ammunition for his presidential run.[1]
Russell however, signed the Agricultural Reform Act of 1949, Charles Brannan’s plan to replace agricultural price supports with direct payments. Similarly, Russell was able to muscle a national health insurance plan, although it was greatly pared back in light of extreme opposition from business and the American Medical Association and lack of enthusiasm among the CIO, covering only basic catastrophic care and not being free-of-charge (closer to a public option).[2] Despite that, Russell went down in history as the fathers of American universal healthcare. In addition, Russell worked to pass a minimum wage increase, a social security payment increase, and tax hikes that made the American system one of the most progressive on Earth.
On foreign policy, Russell immediately shuffled the Wallace team. He was a large believer in the idea that Wallace had been too soft on the Soviet Union. In addition, he had believed Wallace to be far too harsh on the European empires, who he viewed as bulwarks against Communism. He had an excellent relationship with British Prime Minister Churchill, and largely took a policy of nonintervention towards the European empires. This also entailed not being particularly helpful to them - when Churchill asked Russell for material support in the War in Burma, Russell politely turned down the request even though it was not strictly a colonial war (Burma was already independent). Russell shuffled Forrestal back into the position of Secretary of Defense, appointing as his new Secretary of State Bernard Baruch, a respected Roosevelt-era industrialist and close friend of British PM Churchill whose anglophile foreign policy views had fallen out of favor under the Wallace administration. Unfortunately, modern archives indicate that Baruch’s Jewish heritage played a major role in inflaming Joseph Stalin’s antisemitic conspiracy theories of “Zionist traitors” in the USSR (Baruch was coincidentally also not a Zionist).
By signing the North Atlantic Treaty and condemning the surprisingly fast Soviet adoption of nuclear bombs (surprising because Americans at the time were unaware of Soviet nuclear espionage and widespread penetration of the American federal government under the Wallace Presidency.)[3] However, to indicate a slight hawkish turn in Asia, James Forrestal was shuffled into the Secretary of State position. In addition, President Russell quickly blew up in disagreement with George Marshall, who opposed Russell's generous aid program in East Asia. Marshall thought Asia was a distraction from Soviet aims in Europe, while Russell saw no reason why the United States couldn’t aid two continents at once and was keenly aware of Wallace's political fate.[4] Russell's replaced Marshall as Secretary of Defense with Dwight Eisenhower, whose approach he preferred. US troops were deployed directly in the Philippines to fight the Huk Rebels and diplomatic support offered to the Dutch.
Regardless, Russell faced grievous backlash in the 1950 Congressional elections. Organized labour was apathetic about Russell's Fair Deal, but business was outraged, with rural business particularly livid over the end of price supports.[5] Worst of all, the United States plunged into recession in 1950, partly due to a postwar drop in demand, partly due to Russell's higher, more progressive tax rates.[6] Democrats lost seats in California, Connecticut (twice!), Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Utah, and gained in Missouri. Notably, every Democratic Senate candidate outside of the South, excluding Warren Magnuson’s (WA) narrow 2% win, lost. Magnuson himself likely only won by being the most notable Democratic Senator to oppose Russell 's healthcare plan and agricultural reform, at the respective urging of the powerful Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and local eastern Washington farmers.
The day after his crushing defeat, President Russell showed no sense of contrition or humility. He was ready to fight, and fight hard. Democrats retook the House/Senate in 1948, before then losing them again in 1950. Russell saw no reason why he couldn't retake it again in 1952.
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[1] OTL, the Housing Act was the only Truman Fair Deal to pass.
[2] OTL, neither passed. ITL, much more of the Fair Deal gets passed.
[3] The Rosenbergs have uh, currently escaped notice.
[4] The biggest difference with OTL Truman in Europe is recognizing Spain early.
[5] Russell did not enjoy the temporary approval rating bump that Truman got thanks to the Korean War.
[6] The 1949 recession hits slightly later, due to no shock to American investors from the fall of China (in fact, they make a killing)
The Richard Russell Administration
Richard Russell started his presidency with an major challenge. First, he was clearly indebted to the Southern Dixiecrats for his victory. Second, the Dixiecrats were toxic nationally. To thread the needle, Russell focused on a preventative foreign policy, an aggressively progressive domestic policy, and strict avoidance of social issues (such as civil rights), hoping to emulate the popular presidency of Franklin Roosevelt.
Russell was first confronted with two Supreme Court vacancies after the deaths of Frank Murphy and Wiley Blount Rutledge. Eager to both burnish his anti-Communist credentials and to mollify the Dixiecrats (by depriving them one of their most prominent voices), Russell first appointed anti-Communist Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada, the chair of the judiciary committee. Of course, Russell wanted to put another Dixiecrat on the Supreme Court, so he selected Mississippi Supreme Court Justice, James P. Coleman.
Russell's ambitious domestic policy involved universal healthcare and an increase to minimum wage and social security payments. Interestingly, Russell privately torpedoed a proposal for an increase to public housing. When Congress passed the Housing Act of 1949, Russell vetoed the bill, calling it the "Negro Neighborhood Act", loathing to give the sponsor of the bill, Robert Taft, ammunition for his presidential run.[1]
Russell however, signed the Agricultural Reform Act of 1949, Charles Brannan’s plan to replace agricultural price supports with direct payments. Similarly, Russell was able to muscle a national health insurance plan, although it was greatly pared back in light of extreme opposition from business and the American Medical Association and lack of enthusiasm among the CIO, covering only basic catastrophic care and not being free-of-charge (closer to a public option).[2] Despite that, Russell went down in history as the fathers of American universal healthcare. In addition, Russell worked to pass a minimum wage increase, a social security payment increase, and tax hikes that made the American system one of the most progressive on Earth.
On foreign policy, Russell immediately shuffled the Wallace team. He was a large believer in the idea that Wallace had been too soft on the Soviet Union. In addition, he had believed Wallace to be far too harsh on the European empires, who he viewed as bulwarks against Communism. He had an excellent relationship with British Prime Minister Churchill, and largely took a policy of nonintervention towards the European empires. This also entailed not being particularly helpful to them - when Churchill asked Russell for material support in the War in Burma, Russell politely turned down the request even though it was not strictly a colonial war (Burma was already independent). Russell shuffled Forrestal back into the position of Secretary of Defense, appointing as his new Secretary of State Bernard Baruch, a respected Roosevelt-era industrialist and close friend of British PM Churchill whose anglophile foreign policy views had fallen out of favor under the Wallace administration. Unfortunately, modern archives indicate that Baruch’s Jewish heritage played a major role in inflaming Joseph Stalin’s antisemitic conspiracy theories of “Zionist traitors” in the USSR (Baruch was coincidentally also not a Zionist).
By signing the North Atlantic Treaty and condemning the surprisingly fast Soviet adoption of nuclear bombs (surprising because Americans at the time were unaware of Soviet nuclear espionage and widespread penetration of the American federal government under the Wallace Presidency.)[3] However, to indicate a slight hawkish turn in Asia, James Forrestal was shuffled into the Secretary of State position. In addition, President Russell quickly blew up in disagreement with George Marshall, who opposed Russell's generous aid program in East Asia. Marshall thought Asia was a distraction from Soviet aims in Europe, while Russell saw no reason why the United States couldn’t aid two continents at once and was keenly aware of Wallace's political fate.[4] Russell's replaced Marshall as Secretary of Defense with Dwight Eisenhower, whose approach he preferred. US troops were deployed directly in the Philippines to fight the Huk Rebels and diplomatic support offered to the Dutch.
Regardless, Russell faced grievous backlash in the 1950 Congressional elections. Organized labour was apathetic about Russell's Fair Deal, but business was outraged, with rural business particularly livid over the end of price supports.[5] Worst of all, the United States plunged into recession in 1950, partly due to a postwar drop in demand, partly due to Russell's higher, more progressive tax rates.[6] Democrats lost seats in California, Connecticut (twice!), Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Utah, and gained in Missouri. Notably, every Democratic Senate candidate outside of the South, excluding Warren Magnuson’s (WA) narrow 2% win, lost. Magnuson himself likely only won by being the most notable Democratic Senator to oppose Russell 's healthcare plan and agricultural reform, at the respective urging of the powerful Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and local eastern Washington farmers.
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[1] OTL, the Housing Act was the only Truman Fair Deal to pass.
[2] OTL, neither passed. ITL, much more of the Fair Deal gets passed.
[3] The Rosenbergs have uh, currently escaped notice.
[4] The biggest difference with OTL Truman in Europe is recognizing Spain early.
[5] Russell did not enjoy the temporary approval rating bump that Truman got thanks to the Korean War.
[6] The 1949 recession hits slightly later, due to no shock to American investors from the fall of China (in fact, they make a killing)
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Is it just me or too many TLs are president-assassination-trigger-happy?
Also with Seoul in North Korea, I can imagine South Korean pop culture is gonna take a way different road without that city.
Also since there's a ROC and Japan is divided, how willingly would the US promote the education and awareness of Japanese war crimes comparing to OTL? I know OTL was pathetic and Japanese war crimes are still watered down because it would be politically incorrect in Japan to say what they are and how bad they really were. I wonder if ROC would do the same thing.
Also with Seoul in North Korea, I can imagine South Korean pop culture is gonna take a way different road without that city.
Also since there's a ROC and Japan is divided, how willingly would the US promote the education and awareness of Japanese war crimes comparing to OTL? I know OTL was pathetic and Japanese war crimes are still watered down because it would be politically incorrect in Japan to say what they are and how bad they really were. I wonder if ROC would do the same thing.