The Red Banner - An American Communist TL

[The Stormlord]

A look at Counterfactual.com

A Scarlet East
Author: Winston_Smith
Premise: Kerensky and Kornilov are too slow to persecute the Bolsheviks, and so Russia becomes Communist under Lenin in 1917. The Second Revolution never takes place, and Germany becomes Totalist.
Comments: Some find the parts in which Weimar Germany becomes Totalist under an OTL architect and invades Russia very ASB, and so it should be noted that the TL is very divisive.

Red Fall
Author: RedKiller
Premise: Mosley doesn't withdraw his men from Canada in 1940, and so Alfred F. Jones faces a tougher fight.
Comments: Originally intended as a 'Mosley wins' TL, the war in TTL ends with the Peace of Ottawa, and is drawn out and bloody with heavy use of nuclear weapons (particularly on Montreal). The TL gets worse from there.

A Kinder Revolution
Author: RedKiller
Premise: Alfred F. Jones is born three seconds later than OTL, and thus has a different personality.
Comments: Intended as a Utopian TL, as a counter to the Dystopian Red Fall. Notable for sparking a major 'nature-nurture' debate, resulting in the banning of a Troll and the kickings of three others.

One Librarian...
Author: MechCommander13
Premise: A librarian in Beijing reads the works of Marx and Engels, and changes the face of Asia.
Comments: Called by BlackWing (before his departure) 'totally ASB and not deserving of being called AH'. BlackWing was kicked for this remark, and the author seems to have taken this criticism as a mark of pride.

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from Purges and Power-struggles: A History of the Early CFRA

After taking over the CFRA, in 1936 Alfred F. Jones began the Seven Year Plan, a program of massive construction across the CFRA. The Jones Dam was constructed from 1936 to 1939 on the border between Arizona and Nevada on the Colorado River, supplying water to the South-west. In the same year, he married Vanessa Jones (before that, she was known as Vanessa Earl) in a lavish ceremony overseen, not by a priest, but by a 'Civil Union Officer', as Jones had required state approval of all weddings, and was trying to set an example for his subjects.

Vanessa was murdered in 1944 by a so-called British agent (although he was most likely not, judging by the details of the assassination, and Jones may have called him that simply to infuriate the public against Mosley) who was shortly after captured and then never seen again - it is likely Jones was so angry that he denied the man not even the benefit of a legal punishment, and throughout the Jones and O'Brien Administrations, when pressed the CFRA would deny that they had executed an enemy agent without a trial, which may or may not have been the case.

Also happening during these years were the Collectivisations. Families were driven off their land to work on large, government-subsidised farming collectives - this farmland was given to the state and was used as the basis for the construction of more collectives. The farmers had to depend on subsidies and state-provided wages - selling their goods directly or subsistence farming were strictly forbidden.

During this period, Jones also amalgamated all newspapers and radio to be under the control of his Secretary for Public Enlightenment (a position he created) Leo Spectre. The Department of Public Enlightenment, was, of course, a propaganda machine. Private newspapers and radio stations were illegal.

The most important members of the Jones Cabinet throughout its rule were:

Premier
Alfred F. Jones
Deputy Premier
James O'Brien
Secretary for the State
Karl Hoffman
Secretary for War
Thaddeus Smith
Secretary for Public Enlightenment
Leonard 'Leo' Spectre
Secretary for the Economy
Norman Thunder

 

[The Stormlord]

A propaganda poster from 1943. Notable in showing only the flag of the CFRA, and for showing the three slogans of the Communist Party alongside the military exhortations:

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from Rise to Power: A History of the Republic of Britannia

Mosley's rise to power was largely a matter of promising to the right people that he would support their causes once in power. He said to the Aristocrats that they would become important again. He said to the captains of industry that they would become rich. And he said to the military that they would gain the power they wanted.

So, in 1936 Mosley launched his March on London, a three-pronged coup targeted at three areas - Parliament, Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Shots were heard at Parliament and Number 10 Downing Street. Military troops took over the streets, as Totalist mobs forced the Royal Family to flee for Dover, and eventually Australia.

After the coup, the aristocracy demanded that Mosley fulfil his promises - Mosley had lied to them about what he was going to do, and stripped them of their titles and privileges, abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with the House of Chancellors of the Glorious Republic of Britannia, a long-winded name if there ever was one.

Britain was now a Republic in Mosley's iron grip, and it would be ten years of terror for Europe until his reign, and it, ended.

 

[The Vet]

The royal family would have to be pretty unpopular to be ousted in a coup - what did they to to become so unpopular? did Edward VIII insist on Wallace Simpson becoming Queen or something?

 

[The Stormlord]

The royal family would have to be pretty unpopular to be ousted in a coup - what did they to to become so unpopular? did Edward VIII insist on Wallace Simpson becoming Queen or something?

Hmm...that might be an interesting butterfly/POD. Consider it canon.

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from The CFRA: How It Works

To summarise, the CFRA's government has three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.

The Executive Branch is that of the Premier and the Cabinet, and was for the early years of the CFRA by far the most important, particularly during the Jones Administration, with both other branches of government being essentially a rubber stamp for Alfred F. Jones and his Cabinet. Nevertheless, reforms by James O'Brien decreased the prominence of the Executive Branch, and it was reduced in power to being what it is today.

The Legislative Branch consists of two Houses - Congress and the Bureau. The Bureau is more important than Congress, although the support of both (and the Executive Branch) is required to get a bill signed into law.

The Judicial Branch is the Red Star Ultimate Court, where the highest of cases, both civil and criminal, are heard. The court consists of six judges, who are appointed directly by the Premier. No more than three judges can be replaced in the transition from one Premier to another, although more can be replaced later.

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from The American Diaspora

With the Revolution, the upper political and military echelons of the United States fled to the only piece of US territory safe from Communism - the Philippines. The nouveau riches, the Rockefellers and J.P Morgans, as well as a sizeable slice of the American middle classes, were not so lucky, and had to run as fast as they could to any port that could take them, hoping that the places they were fleeing to wouldn't be in Red hands by the time they arrived.

Also, whole families ran across the border to Canada, as it swiftly became clear that this was not a simple series of riots. As many as 200,000 people are estimated to have fled the U.S during this period, in every direction, some to their ethnic European homelands, but most to Britain and Canada.

With the CFRA's conquest of Canada, many of these people became once more American citizens, an irony that was not lost on them.

However, the Philippines eventually grew into a hybrid American/Hispanic culture, as the two groups mingled with each other. The Philippines remain to, this day, the last outpost of the United States of America, now neither American, made up of States, or united.

 

[The Stormlord]

The flag of the Worker's State of Japan (not my own, but I asked):

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from Film-making in the Early CFRA

The most famous director in the early CFRA was Karl Eisenstein, who directed propaganda films for Alfred F. Jones. The two had a heavy partnership - Jones gave Eisenstein plot ideas and funding and Eisenstein would bring them to life as films. Eisenstein made heavy use of extras - for instance, he used more extras in his film The Storming of the White House than took place in the actual event.

His magnum opus was his epic Liberty or Death released in the early 1950's, dealing with the Second American Civil War, being shot wholly in colour (then incredibly expensive), and lasting about three hours. For the battle scenes, Eisenstein used realistic props and vehicles. He also dealt realistically with warfare, pleasing Jones, who said that 'it shows the great struggles of Revolution realistically'.

Liberty or Death was shown across the CFRA, and was widely watched - sometimes, whole towns would gather to see it, and thousands of cinemas were built simply to show it. It was also a massive exercise in propaganda. Eisenstein outlived Jones by a decade, but his later films, dealing extensively with World War Two, were not as famous as his piece de resistance.

 

[The Stormlord]

The revised map:

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from The London Pact

The London Pact was Mosley's brainchild, created by him to contain the French and Germans, whom he saw as Britain's enemies. Originally, it contained three nations - Italy, Britain, and Poland, but expanded to include Japan and China after the creation of the Triple Alliance (consisting of France, Germany and Russia), Mosley keeping the two in line by threatening to stop trading vital oil and metal supplies with Japan if the two nations commenced hostilities.

On the 16th January, Poland declared war on Germany after a break-down in negotiations over Danzig, and thus began World War Two...

 

[The Stormlord]

'Back in the CFRA', by the Quarrymen

Flew in from Heathrow, BOAC
Didn't get to bed last night
On the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man, I had a dreadful flight

I'm back in the CFRA
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the CFRA

Been away so long I hardly knew the place
Gee, it's good to be back home
Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey, disconnect the phone

I'm back in the CFRA
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the CF, back in the CF
Back in the CFRA

Well the Mid-west girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And New York girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia's always on m-m-my mind
Oh, come on

I'm back in the CFRA
You don't know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the CFRA

Well the Mid-west girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And New York girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia's always on m-m-my mind

Oh, show me round the snow-peaked mountains way down west
Take me to you daddy's farm
Let me hear you guitars ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm

I'm back in the CFRA
Hey, you don't know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the CFRA
Oh, let me tell you honey

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from A Strategic Analysis of the Second American Civil War

Victory in the Second American Civil War was a matter of two things: morale, and supplies. The Communists always kept up a high level of morale.

There are several reasons for this. One was Alfred F. Jones, a skilled propagandist as well as an excellent military commander. He created several myths about the war, the most notable of which was the Myth of Atlanta, which claimed that during the Battle of Atlanta, during an attack on machine-gun posts (intended to divert the attention of enemy forces), the young men charging into battle had sung The Red Flag as they were mercilessly gunned down, as depicted in Karl Eisenstein's Liberty or Death (note the slow-motion scene in which the singing of The Red Flag is heard as Communists attack a machine-gun post and are slaughtered, a powerful moment if there ever was one). It is known that soldiers sometimes sung The Red Flag into battle, but actual singing during an attack is extremely unlikely.

The second was that the Communists had the conviction that even in death, their sacrifices would earn victory.

Meanwhile, the Communists had other advantages, namely using conscription while the Blues were still trying to get people to volunteer. This increased their available manpower vastly as the Blues were still trying to play catch-up. There were also mutinies on the side of the Blues, while the Communists suffered from few issues with discipline.

Finally, while the rest of the world did nothing to help the Blues, from 1932 onwards the Reds received supplies, weapons and equipment from Russia, and this eventually won them the war.

 

[The Stormlord]

Compiled most of the stuff at http://redbanner.weebly.com/. Tell me if I missed anything.

P.S: I'll still be posting here.

 

[The Stormlord]

I hope this isn't controversial among my readers, and that it offends nobody.

Extracted from Blood and Sand: The Saudi War

The Saudi War came about because of one foolish assassin. He attempted to shoot Arthur Daniel Jones, Premier of the CFRA, as the motorcade passed, and later was arrested. The CFRA investigated a purported link between him and the Saudi Arabian government, and asked the Saudis to explain.

The Saudis were enraged and threatened to cut off oil supplies, as well as attempting to arrest the CFRA's ambassador. They succeeded only in angering the CFRA, which resulted in the Bureau declaring war unanimously.

500,000 men and the Atlantic fleet went to Saudi waters, as planes bombed Riyadh and Jedda from bases in Egypt. From the Sinai, Operation Michael began. 15 Tank and 20 Mechanised Divisions attacked, swiftly conquering many areas in a Blitzkrieg that wiped out most of the Saudi military.

Meanwhile, what remained of the Saudi navy attempted to make a stand in the Red Sea, but were wiped out in a matter of hours. Jedda was taken on the 15th June 1996, but the holy cities of Mecca and Merdina were left untouched by the forces marching to Riyadh.

What little was left of Atabia's military forces prepared to make a last stand at Riyadh, as the Sauds attempted to escape across the border, but were betrayed and driven back to Riyadh.

The military made their last stand, fearful to use weapons of mass destruction, as Jones had said that their use would be met with nuclear weapons.

They were butchered, and the Saudi Royal Family were arrested, charged with crimes against humanity, found guilty, and executed to the last man and woman (the minors were set free, but would live in poverty and obscurity thereafter).

The religious police were similarly found guilty, and rounded up, then executed en masse by being imprisoned in boats that were taken out of sight of land, then scuttled with remote-detonated explosives. It was harsh justice, and many have called these acts war crimes, somewhat truthfully.

As for the ordinary citizens of Arabia, the Arabian Workers' State was set up, and their lot in life improved markedly, as laws that were reasonable were put up, and those who continued to follow the old laws punished harshly.

This war was an example of gunboat diplomacy in action, and while people can debate its morality, they cannot ignore its effectiveness

 

[Whanztastic]

I hope this isn't controversial among my readers, and that it offends nobody.

Extracted from Blood and Sand: The Saudi War

(snip)

Wow, an interesting turn. I don't think it is offensive, nuking Mecca would've been but also totally ASB. This is an interesting TL, a little closer to the USSR than JB's Communist America, probably more realistic in that way considering Communism's track record.

Starting a new TL is difficult so don't let the lack of commentary discourage you. Just keep putting them out like you have been and people will read it.

 

[The Stormlord]

Extracted from The Philadelphia Conference: Remaking the World

The Philadelphia Conference was the place and time where the CFRA asserted itself, and imperialism began its death-knell. Before it, the Great Powers were squabbling over spheres of influence, and after, the world would never be the same.

It began in a rainy day in Philadelphia - Alfred F. Jones had invited the world's diplomats several weeks prior - and ended seven days later. The first matter on the table was North America. Jones was given a free hand in North America and the Caribbean, and Canada was formally annexed into the CFRA.

Next on the table was Europe. Poland was put under German occupation (under which it still is) and the Corridor was stripped from it. Ireland was given North Ireland, even though it had not been party to the war.

Third was Asia. India was made independent, and Russia annexed Mongolia and areas of China. Japan's Empire was broken up, and the Home Isles became a puppet of the CFRA.

In Africa and the Middle East, the British colonies and mandates were granted independence, and so were Italy's.

Finally, a 'Council of Nations' was set up in Berlin, headed by a Security Council consisting of the CFRA, Russia, France, and Germany, the victors of World War Two.

The Philadelphia Treaty (as the treaty that marked all these developments) was signed by every nation that sent diplomats to the Conference, including the CFRA.

 

[The Stormlord]

Information about the CFRA:



THE CITIZEN'S FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF AMERICA



CITIZEN'S FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF AMERICA

Capital: Washington D.C

Form of Government: Federal Communist Republic with Legislative Body (Bureau)

Head of State and Government: Premier

Official Language: None (Predominantly English)

Official Religion: None

Monetary Unit: Freedom Dollar

GDP: $20,000,000,000,000


Demographics

Population: 311,000,000

Sex Distribution: 51% Female; 49% Male

Religous Affiliation: Christian 72%; Jewish 3%; Islam 2%; nonreligous 22%; other 1%

Major Cities: New York City (15,000,000); Alfred City (5,000,000); Chicago (3,500,000); Houston (2,500,000); Detroit (2,230,000)


Military

Total Active Duty Military Personnel: 2,000,000 (Army 40%; Navy 28% Air Force 22%; Marines 10%)

Military Expenditure of GNP: 10%

 

[SilverSwimmer]

Im assuming the population is about the same because of the harshness of the CFRA, even though it has more territory under its belt than OTL USA?