The Union Forever: A TL

[metastasis_d]

For some reason I can't do it. The map you posted is good I just removed the internal borders for Germany, Russia, and French and Italian North Africa.

Imgur or Deviantart can be useful, but since the changes aren't too important I suppose reposting would be unnecessary.

I like the 1st flag better as well.

It seems Japan will be the only power able to land troops, unless someone else is dragged into the war. Still, if they do it'll likely be a meat grinder.

 

[Corder]

Flag One! Flag Two looks like some sort of odd naval ensign to me.

 

[metastasis_d]

I think this year you could take the Turtledove.

 

[Mac Gregor]

I think this year you could take the Turtledove.

It would be nice to win for once, and thanks for the nomination! Competition will be stiff I think between TUF, American King, and Union and Liberty for best continuing 19th Century. I will be stepping up the updates with the next one getting posted in a days’ time. Cheers!

 

[metastasis_d]

Well Union and Liberty will be your competition again this year. American King is Continuing 18th Century.

 

[Utgard96]

Don't forget about SoaP! I was fairly high in the polls last year.

 

[Zoidberg12]

I'm all caught up! Excellent, simply excellent! Things are really starting to get serious in Asia. The Indian War continues to rage on, China and Japan are duking it out, God only knows how all of this is going to end.

Two questions; is Japan still under the contorl of the Kobushi Party? Also, I remember "the Great New York Handball Riot". Is that what Baseball is called ITTL, cause I remember you called it baseball earlier. I assume that was retconned.

On a side note, let's hope this wins a Turtledove folks.

Also, here are some wiki infoboxes! Fixed the Second French Empire one. Plus, I also made an infoxbox for the Great War.

 

[Mac Gregor]

1954

Domestic Developments​

First Transistor Computer
Ohio Institute of Technology
June, 1954​

After nearly two years of sluggish growth the American economy entered a mild recession during the first quarter of 1954. Economists differed as to the exact cause of the recession. Some cited the war in Asia and the near total stoppage of trade with China and Japan. Others believed it was the scandals that plagued the Bank of the United States under bank president Robert Carstarphen. President Conner would relieve Carstarphen in February and appoint Allison Jensen, then an assistant secretary of the treasury, as the first woman ever to be made head of the Bank of the United States.

The first transistor computer came online at the Ohio Institute of Technology in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio on June 19th. After over a decade of relying on vacuum tubes, the transistor was an important step in computer technology. Some benefits of transistor computers were that they were considerably less bulky than their predecessors and did not generate nearly as much heat making them far more practical. Throughout the 1950s and early 60s transistor computers continued to develop but remained largely in the hands of universities, government agencies, and large businesses.

During the 1954 congressional elections the Democrats captured the House of Representatives for the first time since 1948. The Republicans managed to hold on to the Senate but only by one seat. The primary cause of the Republican defeat was widely believed to be the recession however, the Democrats also capitalized on President Conner’s response to the Sino-Japanese War. As the turbulence over integration lessened support for the American Conservative Party continued to wane with its remaining members mostly defecting back to the Democrats over the next two years.

On November 30th at 2:46pm a 4kg meteorite struck and killed a man near Sylacauga, Alabama. The causality, a Mr. Lionel Toft, was grilling in his back yard when he was hit. Adding insult to injury it was discovered that Toft was only home that afternoon because he had been laid off from his job at the Sylacauga post office that very morning. The story garnered nationwide attention and had at least two important repercussions on American culture. The first was a surge in interest in astronomy with the United States Army Air Corp even launching a study of near earth objects. The second would be the coining of the term “toftian” as a synonym for an extremely unlucky string of occurrences.

Toft's Meterorite​

 

[Utgard96]

Two questions; is Japan still under the contorl of the Kobushi Party? Also, I remember "the Great New York Handball Riot". Is that what Baseball is called ITTL, cause I remember you called it baseball earlier. I assume that was retconned.

You know, there is a sport called handball. It's odd how few people outside Scandinavia and the Balkans know about it.

 

[Zoidberg12]

You know, there is a sport called handball. It's odd how few people outside Scandinavia and the Balkans know about it.

I never knew that. Interesting, so is this what he was referring too, what with Soccer being popular in the US IITL, I assume other European sports are popular as well.

 

[metastasis_d]

Don't forget about SoaP! I was fairly high in the polls last year.

I was merely referring to the fact that Union and Liberty beat TUF last year.

 

[metastasis_d]

On a side note, let's hope this wins a Turtledove folks.

Also, here are some wiki infoboxes! Fixed the Second French Empire one. Plus, I also made an infoxbox for the Great War.

Agreed on the Turtledove, and awesome infoboxes!

On November 30th at 2:46pm a 4kg meteorite struck and killed a man near Sylacauga, Alabama. The causality, a Mr. Lionel Toft, was grilling in his back yard when he was hit. Adding insult to injury it was discovered that Toft was only home that afternoon because he had been laid off from his job at the Sylacauga post office that very morning. The story garnered nationwide attention and had at least two important repercussions on American culture. The first was a surge in interest in astronomy with the United States Army Air Corp even launching a study of near earth objects. The second would be the coining of the term “toftian” as a synonym for an extremely unlucky string of occurrences.

Awesome butterflies!

 

[ZincOxide]

Nice! I especially like that tidbit about the term "toftian"

 

[Mac Gregor]

I'm all caught up! Excellent, simply excellent! Things are really starting to get serious in Asia. The Indian War continues to rage on, China and Japan are duking it out, God only knows how all of this is going to end.

Two questions; is Japan still under the contorl of the Kobushi Party? Also, I remember "the Great New York Handball Riot". Is that what Baseball is called ITTL, cause I remember you called it baseball earlier. I assume that was retconned.

On a side note, let's hope this wins a Turtledove folks.

Also, here are some wiki infoboxes! Fixed the Second French Empire one. Plus, I also made an infoxbox for the Great War.

Very cool wiki boxes!

To answer your questions yes, the Kobushi party still rulls Japan under premier Tatsuo Shimoji. Baseball ITTL is still baseball. The handball mentioned ITTL is a mix of OTL basketball and handball.

Cheers!

 

[Mac Gregor]

Agreed on the Turtledove, and awesome infoboxes!



Awesome butterflies!

Nice! I especially like that tidbit about the term "toftian"

Glad y'all like the update!

 

[Mac Gregor]

I like the first one.

The first one is sexy.

Nice map And I like both flags about equally.

Imgur or Deviantart can be useful, but since the changes aren't too important I suppose reposting would be unnecessary.

I like the 1st flag better as well.

It seems Japan will be the only power able to land troops, unless someone else is dragged into the war. Still, if they do it'll likely be a meat grinder.

Flag One! Flag Two looks like some sort of odd naval ensign to me.

Well let’s go with one then. Two can be the Naval Ensign. We still need a flag for Madras though.

 

[metastasis_d]

In a bit I can search the Flag Thread to see if there are any good ones, and ask the creator if it can be used.

 

[Mac Gregor]

In a bit I can search the Flag Thread to see if there are any good ones, and ask the creator if it can be used.

sounds good

 

[metastasis_d]

sounds good

I didn't find any with the thread search function, so I put in a request in the Request Maps/Flags Here thread.

 

[Mac Gregor]

1954​

Foreign Developments
Part 1 ​

Japenese forces landing on Hainan
January, 1954​

The first three weeks of the Second Sino-Japanese War would see little activity except for the submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy driving to port most of China’s merchant and fishing vessels. The calm would come to a sudden end however when the Japanese launched Operation Izanagi, the invasion of the island of Hainan on January 20, 1954. Located off the coast of China’s Leizhou Peninsula, Hainan was China’s largest island and home to over two and half million people. The choice to attack Hainan was obvious for the Japanese who wished to protect their access to their allies in Southwest Asia. Also Hainan being an island allowed the Japanese to bring their superior naval power to bear while offsetting China’s superior numbers on the ground. The Chinese expected that a move might be made against Hainan though and bolstered the island’s garrison to nearly 105,000 troops under General Heng Bai of the 30th Infantry Corp.

The operation began with carrier based Japanese aircraft making a surprise attack on four Chinese airfields. Within an hour China lost the majority of its fighter aircraft on the island and with it their ability to seriously contest the Japanese landings. The strike on the Chinese airfields also saw the combat début of Japan’s first mass produced jet fighter the Tachibana J86 which would decimate the propeller driven aircraft of the Chinese Republican Air Force. By the end of February, the Japanese had landed nearly 128,000 men with more arriving every day and began to push inland. The first large scale engagement of the war occurred on February 16th at Dongluzhen in which the Chinese and Japanese traded fire for over three days. The Chinese were eventually forced to yield the city after the dense fog that often blankets northern Hainan during the winter lifted allowing the Japanese to use their air superiority.

As Chinese forces began falling back on the island's capital city of Haikou, Peiking decided that an attempt must be made to break the Japanese blockade and reinforce Hainan. Against the wishes of the Chinese Navy, President Dewei Chou ordered the fleet to sail and give battle to the Japanese. On March 9th, the combined Japanese and Chinese fleets met in the South China Sea about 135 miles southwest of Hong Kong in what would be the largest naval battle since Dogger Bank in 1909. The Japanese with their clear advantage in aircraft carriers had the advantage from the beginning, destroying or crippling all of China’s capital ships in wave after wave of attacks. The one high point of the battle for the Chinese was the sinking of the Japanese battleship Echigo by a Chinese submarine. By the time the smoke cleared after nearly 11 hours of fighting it was clear to all that the Japanese had won a historic victory. Less than half of the Chinese fleet made it back to port losing a total of 46 ships and 8,929 men compared to 4 vessels and 418 men for the Japanese.

With the fleet destroyed and resupply across the strait of Hainan cutoff the Chinese defenders prepared for a last stand at Haikou. After 52 days of a tenacious defense, General Heng Bai and his 57,000 troops were forced to surrender on April 29th due to lack of supplies and ammunition. Upon hearing of the garrison’s capitulation President Dewei Chou is rumored to have sobbed uncontrollably.

Japanese troops celebrate the fall of Haikou
April 29, 1954​