What if? The Iron Curtain on the Bug river

Demographics of Lithuania-Byelorussia
  • 1959:

    • Belarusians: 6,562,561 (60.9%)
    • Lithuanians: 1,851,234 (17.2%)
    • Polish: 1,091,121 (10.1%)
    • Russians: 890,093 (8.3%)
    • Jews: 172,361 (1.6%)
    • Ukrainians: 151,119 (1.4%)
    • Others (below 10,000): 53,091 (0.5%)
    Total: 10,771,580

    1970:

    • Belarusians: 60.8%
    • Lithuanians: 17.1%
    • Polish: 10.6%
    • Russians: 8.5%
    • Jews: 1.6%
    • Ukrainians: 1.0%
    • Other - 0.4%

    Total: 12,408,860

    1989:

    • Belarusians: 60.8%
    • Lithuanians: 16.9%
    • Polish: 11%
    • Russians: 9.4%
    • Jews: 0.9%
    • Ukrainians: 0.6%
    • Other - 0.3%


    Total: 14,557,601
     
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    World War II divergences
  • 1943

    July - Red Army attacks Wehrmacht during Kursk offensive. Soviet forces mishandle the offensive and receives massive casualties during attacks against well-defended positions. While victorious, Stalin and his generals are forced to be more cautious in future.

    September - Allied invasion of Italian Mainland begins. Benito Mussolini is killed during his escape attempt. Armistice is signed between new Italian government and the western powers. Due to lacks in German armies on the peninsula and 82nd Airborne Division (American) landing in Rome, Germans are less successful than OTL and fail to seize Rome (but inflict big casualties on civillians and completely destroys several historical areas including Vatican City, uniting Italians against Germans). As a result, Allied forces are capable of making greater gains than OTL, while Italian resistance is stronger.

    1944

    June - Western Allies successfuly land in Normandy.
    August - Liberation paris turns badly when German forces begin to destroy the city (similar to OTL Warsaw). Dwight D. Eisenhower dies in a chemical attack perpetrated by SS forces (as a response, United States' Air Forces use chemical weapons against the city of Essen). George Patton takes over seat of the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Germany (no slapping incident).
    September - Operation Market Garden is successful. Allies cross the Rhine in a rapid advance.

    1945

    February - Allied forces defeat German counteroffensive and seizes Potsdam. Chancellor Hermann Goering surrenders to General Patton.
    August - Southern California is attacked by biological weapons during Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night (August 5). Nuclear bomb over Hiroshima explodes (August 6). Nuclear bomb over Nagasaki fails to explode and is recovered by the Japanese Army. In the same day, Red Army crosses into Manchuria and engages Imperial japanese Army. As immediate result to the Cherry Blossoms at Night, American air forces dropped anthrax on the Home Islands.
    September - four nuclear bombs are dropped over Japan - in Yokohama, Kokura, Kyoto and Osaka (September 19). Japanese government surrenders a day later.
     
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    Polish post-war governments
  • Mikolajczyk.jpg


    Stanisław Mikołajczyk
    (July 18, 1901 - December 13, 1966)

    Prime Minister of the Polish goverment in exile
    (July 14, 1943 - February 9, 1945)

    Chairman of the Polish Provisional Government
    (February 9, 1945 - March 14, 1946)

    Prime Minister of Poland
    (March 14, 1946 - March 18, 1954)
    Achievements:

    • Imposition of the Polish occupational zone in Germany. (1945)
    • Acquisition of East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia. (1945)
    • Securing war reparations payment for Poland from Germany. (1946)
    • Membership in the United Nations. (1946)
    • Creation of national, compulsory education system. (1946)
      • 8 years of basic education.
      • 5 years of high technical education/4 years of high school/3 years of basix technical education.
      • 3,5/5/9 years of Technical University/University.
    • Creation of national healthcare system - it was hampered by lack of funds and overall destruction of Polish nation following the World War II - but it had slowly been expanded by successive governments of 1950s and 1960s. (1946)
    • Land Reform - 2 million hectares are divided and distributed to farmers. (1946-1951)
    • Participation in the European Recovery Program. (1947)
    • Membership in NATO. (1949)
    • Economic plans drafted by the Central Bureau of Planning and enacted by Mikołajczyk:
      • I Four-Years' Plan (1947-1950)
        • Rise of Gross National Income by 76% (OTL 53%).
      • II Four-Years' Plan (1951-1954)
        • Increase in a foreign trade.
        • Acceleration of urbanization.
        • Rise of industrial output (mainly in a light industry).
    • Creation of Warsaw Metro. (1953)

    Elections:

    • Presidential:
      • 1946
        • Tomasz Arciszewski - Polish Socialist Party (coalition with Polish People's Party) (31%) (61%)
        • Jędrzej Giertych - National Party (26%) (39%)
        • Stanisław Michałowski - Democratic Party (22%)
        • Władysław Gomułka - Polish Workers' Party - (11%)
        • Bolesław Piasecki - National Radical Camp (10%)
      • 1951
        • Tomasz Arciszewski - Polish Socialist Party (coalition with Polish People's Party) (44%) (55%)
        • Stanisław Michałowski - Democratic Party (31%) (45%)
        • Jędrzej Giertych - National Party (12%)
        • Władysław Gomułka - Polish Workers' Party - (7%)
        • Bolesław Piasecki - National Radical Camp (6%)
    • Parliamentarian:
      • 1946
        • Senate (total seats: 100):
          • Polish Socialist Party - 28 seats
          • National Party - 27 seats
          • Polish People's Party - 23 seats
          • Democratic Party - 22 seats
        • Sejm (total seats: 480):
          • Polish Socialist Party - 123 seats
          • Polish People's Party - 118 seats
          • Democratic Party - 91 seats
          • National Party - 86 seats
          • Polish Workers' Party - 29 seats
          • National Radical Camp - 16 seats
          • Labour Party - 6 seats
          • Catholic Club - 5 seats
          • Silesian Party - 4 seats
          • Union for Economic Reconstruction - 1 seat
          • Centre Party - 1 seat
      • 1950
        • Senate (total seats: 100):
          • Polish Socialist Party - 40 seats
          • Democratic Party - 25 seats
          • Polish People's Party - 23 seats
          • National Party - 12 seats
        • Sejm (total seats: 500):
          • Polish Socialist Party - 133 seats
          • Polish People's Party - 118 seats
          • Democratic Party - 91 seats
          • National Party - 51 seats
          • Home Army Association - 37 seats
          • Polish Workers' Party - 26 seats
          • National Radical Camp - 19 seats
          • Labour Party - 12 seats
          • Catholic Club - 5 seats
          • Silesian Party - 4 seats
          • Centre Party - 3 seats
          • Union for Economic Reconstruction - 1 seat
          • Agrarian Union for Poland - 1 seats

    Cyrankiewicz.jpg


    Józef Cyrankiewicz
    (April 23, 1911 - January 20, 1989)

    Prime Minister of Poland
    (March 18, 1954 - March 17, 1958)
    Achievements:

    • Development of Polish coal and steel industry.
    • Formation of Central European Economic Assistance Union with Czechoslovakia and Hungary. (1956)
    • Normalization of relationships with the Soviet Union (1957)
    • III Four-Years' Plan (1955-1958):
      • Expansion of coal and steel production.
      • Expansion of state-funded higher education:
        • Thaddeus Kosciuszko's University of Technology in Krakow. (1955)
        • Poznan University of Technology. (1955)
        • Częstochowa University of Technology. (1956)
        • Kielce University of Technology. (1958)
        • Rzeszów University of Technology (1958)
      • Development of civillian nuclear technology.
        • Polish-American project to build three atomic power plants in Poland.

    Elections:

    • Presidential:
      • 1956
        • Józef Haller - Independent/Home Army Association - 29% (53%)
        • Zygmunt Zaremba - Polish Socialist Party - 25% (47%)
        • Stefan Ignar - United People's Party - 21%
        • Jan Wende - Democratic Party - 20%
        • Jędrzej Giertych - National Party - 5%
    • Parliamentarian:
      • Senate (100 seats):
        • Polish Socialist Party - 40 seats
        • Democratic Party - 23 seats
        • Home Army Association - 17 seats
        • Polish People's Party - 11 seats
        • United People's Party - 9 seats
      • Sejm (500 seats):
        • Polish Socialist Party - 128 seats
        • Democratic Party - 89 seats
        • Home Army Association - 54 seats
        • Polish People's Party - 51 seats
        • United People's Party - 49 seats
        • National Party - 48 seats
        • National Radical Camp - 22 seats
        • Polish Socialist Party (Democratic Revolution) - 21 seats
        • Polish Workers' Party - 19 seats
        • Labour Party - 14 seats
        • Christian Union - 5 seats
        • Silesian Party - 3 seats
        • Union for Economic Reconstruction - 2 seats
        • Centre Party - 2 seats
        • Neutrality Alliance - 1 seats
        • Self-Defence Forces - 1 seat
        • Union of Economical Freedom - 1 seat
        • Ruling coalition: Polish Socialist Party, Home Army Association, Polish People's Party, Labour Party, Silesian Party, Self-Defence Forces (Total: 251 seats)
     
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