Anarchy in the UK

I am an antichrist, I am an anarchist Dont know what I want but I know how to get it I wanna destroy the passer by cos i I wanna be anarchy !
Sex Pistols	Anarchy for the u.k its coming sometime and maybe I give a wrong time stop a traffic line Your future dream is a shopping scheme cos i I wanna be anarchy ! In the city ~ Anarchy in the UK - Click to Watch
Anarchy in the UK

To watch the Sex Pistols singing "Anarchy in the UK" in Airstrip One during the summer of 1975 was a shocking, profoundly shocking experience. In particular, the contorting rage of John Lydon's face, and the very definition of dysfunctionality in his dance was an open challenge to the norm of Ingsoc - civilised Oceanic society. A time traveller from 1917 would be appalled, would demand an explanation of what had happened in Britain? To Britain. And yet the profound changes that were bubbling under British society were on naked display even in 1917. The French lesson that Alduous Huxley delivered to Eric Arthur Blair and his colleagues at Eton showed all of the tell tales signs of a society in meltdown. Both men would describe the dystopian futures in "Brave New World" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four". That was before they were edited by the Ministry of Truth, of course. The lyrics are available at at Lyricsfreak

~ quotation by Steve Payne

Harry Truman	"As President of the United States, I proclaim Sunday, September the second, 1945, to be V-J Day -- the day of formal surrender of Japan. It is not yet the day for the formal proclamation of the end of the war nor of the cessation of hostilities. But it is a day which we Americans shall always remember as a day of retribution -- as we remember that other day, the day of infamy." ~ Harry S Truman, 34th Vice President and 33rd President of the United States
President

Speaking on 1st September 1945. By refusing to announce the end of the war, Truman dropped a large hint regarding the forthcoming war with the Soviet Union which was to follow a few short months later. The full text of the speech is available at American Rhetoric

~ quotation by Steve Payne

In 1975, in Panama, Robert Neville had been bitten by a vampire bat. After the war, he guessed that his immunity was due to his body's unique defence system. What other explanation could there be?

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Seymour Hersh	In 1998, Seymour M Hersh published the controversial “Light Side of Gomorrah” based on his investigations into the presidency of John F Kennedy. Hugely sympathetic to the impeached and discredited playboy, the cover jacket reads “If the Kennedys are America's royal family, then John F. Kennedy was the nation's crown prince. Magnetic, handsome, and charismatic, his perfectly coiffed image overshadowed the successes and failures of his presidency, and his impeachment cemented his near-demoniacal status in American culture and politics.
Struck down by Congress in his prime, he represented the best and the brightest of America's future, and when he died, part of the nation's promise and innocence went with him. That, at least, is the true version of the story.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in a deep cell of Paddington Green Police Station. Being interviewed are twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith.	Paddington Green
To a disbelieving audience, Brent says the world of 2127 is most definitely not a Newt Gingrich pipe dream. The UN has been reconstructed and is run by first nations. Indigenous control has been re assumed of the Turtle Island (America), the Dreamtime (Australia) and Eurasians have returned to semi-barbarism, starving in the unlit and unheated city slums.
~ entry by Steve Payne

Sopot Incident	In 1939, the opening strike of the Second Great War occurred on this day as German soldiers destroyed Polish border checkpoint in Sopot. Molotov's failure to agree a neutrality pact with the Russian Government ensured that Sopot was viewed as an act of war, provoking the Red Army into entering Eastern Poland to preserve the buffer state. The Wehrmatch had to face the brilliance of Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky.
Appointed by Trotsky to the Bolshevik Defence Commissar, Leon Trotsky gave Tukhachevsky command of the 5th Army in 1919, and he led the campaign to capture Siberia from the White forces of Aleksandr Kolchak. He also helped defeat General Anton Denikin in the Crimea in 1920. Both the Kronstadt rebellion and the Tambov peasant revolt were crushed by forces under Tukhachevsky's command. And by early 1940, he would enter Berlin at the Head of the Red Army crushing the Third Reich.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 1939, in Harry Turtledove counter-history masterpiece, the Guns of the East the Border Defence Corps is supplied with AK-47's by early-21st century Polish time-travellers. In this far-fetched alternative history, Polish Forces repulse the initial Wehrmacht attack, but face a two front war with both the Russians and Germans, ending in their ultimate defeat.	Rydz-Śmigly
~ entry by Steve Payne

So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

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A Final Note From Robbie: This is it – my last posting as your Alternate Historian. From today forward, I will be a Visiting Professor Emeritus, at most, while Steve will take over the daily duties here at the Academy as its chief Alternate Historian.

I naturally want to thank everyone who's read me regularly over the last 3 years for sticking with TIAH, and I hope you'll give RATMANifesto a look – but not till after the Labor Day weekend, because I'm going on vacation for the next 3 days. That's something that I've been a little reluctant to do since I started this page; it's going to be odd to be able to sleep late. I'll miss the routine of having a set schedule to post – but not getting up in the morning 2 hours before the crack of dawn to do it.

I hope that you will take it easy on Steve as he begins his tenure as the AH – save the hard knocks till after he's had a couple of months to acclimate himself (just kidding, Steve!) He has a lot of great ideas and will be attempting to push TIAH further than it's ever gone before, and I will certainly be following him on this journey. I hope that you will, too.

Appropriately enough, for my last posting I have an alternate history entry. Today is my sister's birthday, and I'm going to use my last day as the Big Man On Campus to send out a happy birthday to her.

So, good luck, Steve, and thanks to everybody! My entry follows this, the limey line (used for the last time here) follows that, and then Steve takes over. You will be able to reach him at althistorian@gmail.com - he inherits the email from me. I am keeping the hotmail account, though, so you can reach me with your goodbyes at althistorian@hotmail.com. And now, farewell, so long, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye.

in 1959, Gari Lynn Taylor was born in Houston, Texas, the last child of the Reverend W.D. and Peggy Taylor. A heart attack brought the reverend to an end when Gari Lynn was 2, and she grew up without a father figure. Some critics have speculated that this tragedy is what forged the strength of character that Ms. Taylor showed in her journalism and opinion writing, and the self-reliance she learned from her childhood stood her in good stead when she began her own publishing company, Slap Upside The Head, Inc. Today, Ms. Taylor's advice books on everything from child-rearing to alternative energy sources routinely top the bestseller lists, and she is a regular fixture on talk shows, famous for her earthy, home-spun wisdom.

In 1997, a telephone call was placed to the Hôtel Ritz in Paris. Codewords spoken that trigged deep-mind instructions, programmed under hypnosis by agents of the Security Services of France. An ex-pilot consumed a large amount of alcohol from a hotel mini-bar. Chauffeured two young people in a 1994 Mercedes-Benz S280 sedan (registration no. 688 LTV 75). Went into seizure as agents on motorcycles flashed bright lights into the vehicle. Crashed into the thirteenth pillar of the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel. Stole a beacon of light from a world of need.

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

In 2026, the editorial team set down the key themes for The World in 2027. Put simply, could the Center of International Research for the Continuance of Life on Earth (CIRCLE) solve the myriad of problems threatening humanity with extinction?

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1947, the Indian Hockey team withdrew from the Games of the XIV Olympiad to be held in London, England the following year. The decision had been prompted by the Indian Emergency, after Winston Churchill's reneged on a promise to grant Independence to the Subcontinent, preferring instead to announce Dominion Status. The withdrawal was a deep source of embarrassment to the British Government. The Indian Hockey Team had won the Gold Medal in every Olympics since 1928, and in a moment, a feeling of British pride had been transformed into shame. Churchill himself was disturbed greatly by the protest. He desperately needed the Indian Divisions of the British Army to maintain Great Power status, and now he feared that he could not longer depend upon the loyalty of these fine troops.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1975, in Richard Matheson's I am Legend the bombings had spread the vampiris bacteria, killing everyone including Robert Neville's wife and daughter. The survivors of the war were the vampires, the infected, and Neville himself, trapped inside his fortified home.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris. Controversy raged for many years over the culpability of paparazzi on motorbikes who had shone bright lights into the vehicle for flash photography. Newspaper refused to publish the pictures taken after the crash. Those photographs finally emerged in 2015. They showed Diana very composed, not injured at all.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Master Tubby	In 2003, Master Tubby Bear was arrested in Toy Town for breach of the peace. Miss Pink had "reported a loud 'orrid noise" to PC Plod, who was unable to hear what she was saying because of a "loud 'orrid noise". In his defence, Master Tubby had stated "My Uncle Tubby bought me this drum set. Its my birthday, I'll do what I like."
The case continues.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Cary Grant	In 1943, on Broadway reporters ask the British actor Cary Grant how he feels about the events since the premier of “Castle Bonny” in which he played the part of Dick Blaine. The final scene shows Dick, Laszlo and a detachment of Free British soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1943 invasion of England. In ..
.. the real world that invasion had succeeded just the day before. "Everyone wants to be Cary Grant; even I want to be Cary Grant" quipped the actor.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in a deep cell of Paddington Green Police ..	Paddington Green..
.. Station. Being interviewed are twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith. To a disbelieving audience, Hollis says the world of 2127 is most definitely not a Newt Gingrich pipe dream. First nations have risen up in Jihad after the Second Gulf War, and theyrule the roost.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Diana	In 1997, the Prince of Wales and his lover Camilla Parker-Bowles die in a car crash in Paris. Conspiracy theories on the internet abound for the next fifteen years, including the most scandalous of all. The event was no accident, but a deliberate assassination organised by the British State to prevent the Heir to the Throne ..
.. from besmirching the Royal Family at a crucial moment in its long history. The Prince had seen no reason, often being smuggled out of Palaces in the boots of cars to meet with Camilla. Republicanism was rife, the British public simply could not understand this adultery from “the Queen of Hearts”, Princess Diana who was universally adored throughout the nation and Commonwealth. The facts were never proven, yet the fires of republicanism died down as Diana and her sons occupied the thrown and ushered in a new era of change for the Royal Household.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1939, on this day the terminally ill British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned. The popular figure Anthony Eden succeeded him, a move which had been widely anticipated since he had architected the Munich Settlement two years before. “Friction between the Great Powers was understandable,” said Eden in his ..	Chamberlain
.. maiden speech “ but there was a larger picture. European powers had a shared interest and gathering forces outside the continent would, if unchecked, become a major problem in ten to twenty years time.” Actually, Eden had suffered a terrible dream in which his beloved son Simon died in a future war. As the leader of the nation, he would not suffer such a personal tragedy, he had seen what it had done to Asquith during the great war.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Design Changes

This is the beginning of the design changes - there will be more to come, so stay tuned!

Plans

August 30th, 2007

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Don't forget - Birthday Contest for Steve – November 22, 1967. Send in an alternate birthday for him for us to post!

Alt-Notes: In RATMANifesto, I'm going to collect the continuing timelines and give them a home, finally. That's one of the projects I've been meaning to do or some time, but couldn't get around to because I had to keep putting up new posts. RATMANifesto is also going to be a site for my projects, no matter what they are – I plan on putting up a podcast or two, provided we can swing the bandwidth.
In the meantime, he's Steve, our future Alternate Historian, with today's post. Look for changes in the design of the site tonight – Steve is looking to make TIAH simpler and more conducive to the kind of visual posts he has created for us.

	"Britain was in the wrong Union. Rather than the European Union, a group hostile to Britain and the English language, Britain belonged in the American Union, on the road to worldwide English-Speaking Union. " ~ Expansionist Party of the United States

~ quotation by Co-Historian Steve Payne from Counter-history – You're the Judge!

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee agrees to a proposal from a powerful but nameless figure in the British establishment which will settle the dispute between the two nations. Lee agrees to an act of self-sacrifice by resigning his position, admitting that the execution of Confederate President Jefferson Davis for treason was a strike against democracy and the constitution of the founding fathers. He reflects briefly on the insincerity of Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address - You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it." Lifting his pen to write the statement, he says - “I will pay the price to keep that oath”.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1946, former US Vice President John Nance Garner coined the term “Day of Infamy” when he delivered his Sinews of Peace speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. The anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fast approaching, and debate raged in the United States about Truman's falsehood in describing the cities as military bases, chosen to minimise civilian casualties.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 2007, Northern Prime Minister John Kerry flew into London, England to meet with the new British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. “We know that we cannot solve any of the world's major problems without the active engagement of the U.K.," Kerry said in a statement to journalist Niall Ferguson at Heathrow Airport.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content from the climax of Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

Gruffalo	In 2007, Dustin Hoffman was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for his potrayal of the Gruffalo. Famous for going to extreme lengths to get "in character", Hoffman had spent six months in the deep, dark wood eating scrambled snake, owl ice cream and roasted fox.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 4 (1945-1965) - Robert L. Thompson subsequently admitted on his death bed that Eisenhower had General George Smith Patton III assassinated; that the auto accident in which Patton broke his neck was not an accident at all. Patton was planning either to retire or resign his commission, and enter politics. Given his popularity with the American people and the respect in which he was held by his men, it is entirely possible he could have won the same nomination his erstwhile friend accepted. Evidence suggests that the American public shared Patton's assessment of the Soviet threat. Patton's biography notes "[The] course of World War II would lead these two men to very different ends: one to the office of President of the United States and the other to a soldier's grave on a foreign shore." We now know that these different ends were by design and not by accident.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1963, Kwame Nkrumah, founder and first president of the modern Ghanaian state delivered a historic breakthrough for the troubled people of New Africa in their centennial year. During the War of the States, the North had refused to enlist African Americans soldiers. Whites had been ejected from from the South after devastating epidemics had destroyed the Confederacy. After the founding of New Africa, African Americans found that their only common language was the oppressor's English. Some refuse to speak until a better tongue was found. A true visionary, Nkrumah was much more than an African anti-colonial leader. He was also one with a dream of a united Africa which would not drift into neo-colonialism. The people of New Africa understood that unity around the English medium was the key to Ghana's success in nation building, a necessary step given the hundreds of languages of West Africa *. Silent no more, New Africa strode forward into its second century with renewed confidence, taking is place amongst the nations.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of Suzette Haden Elgin's classic Hush My Mouth.

* Author's note - Even today in 2007 the Bible has not been translated into all the language of every micro-ethnicity.

Von Runstedt	In 1943, rioters overwhelm defending Fascist Blackshirts to storm Buckingham Palace. British Prime Minister Oswald Mosley and King Edward VIII are seized and hung from lampposts on Whitehall. Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel issued a command instruction to German forces in Britain that the occupation was over and the Wehrmacht should cease further combat operations.
FeldmarschallKarl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt shot Rommel dead with a service revolver. “Death before dishonour” he said before also shooting himself in the head. He was thus unavailable to confirm whether his final statement referred to the cessation of hostilities, or the release of of huge quantities of poison gas just three days before at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking, in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2003, from behind a one-way mirror in Paddington Green Police Station, the Prime ..	Paddington Green..
.. Minister of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland observes the two interviewees, twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith. That suicide had prevented Goldsmith from issuing confidential legal advice that British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq would be legal despite the absence of a UN Security Council Resolution explicitly sanctioning participation by the “coalition of the willing”. Now the whole schedule for the invasion was delayed, damn!.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

General-san	In 1945, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur landed at Atsugi Air Force Base with instructions to accept Japan's surrender. Swiftly installed as military governor and de facto Head of State, it was some time before the United States realised that Brass Hat had no intention of letting going of the reins of power.
The incredible story of how General-san crushed post-war Japan under his heel was described in the biography "The Rising Sun at Dusk" by Jack Nimersheim, published in Alternate Tyrants by the editor Mike Resnick in 1997.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful sequel "What if Sirhan Sirhan had missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario where Robert Kennedy had served as U.S. president from 1969. The essence of Burns' masterpiece ..	Snake Eyes
.. is the competition of mysterious forces in Los Angeles. Two green pinpricks are amongst the ocean of eyes who watch the Kennedy's car arrive at the Ambassador Hotel. The presidential candidate enters a service area to greet supporters working in the hotel's kitchen. As he enters a crowded kitchen passage way, he notices a young man with a t-shirt banner which declares Snake Eyes watching you. Kennedy instinctively ducks, and the assassins bullets thud into the kitchen wall as the 24-year Palestinian assassin is bundled to the ground by security guards. The novel ends with RFK speaking to Neil Armstrong in the Sea of Tranquillity as his brother's goal “to send a man to the moon in this decade” is achieved.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Queen Of Hearts

August 29th, 2007

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Changes a-comin' – but not yet! I'm still here. There'll be some design changes to the site starting tomorrow as I surrender the site to Steve. I'll still be posting through the end of the week, though, sobbing over the page as I say goodbye to you all. I will be continuing my work on the web at RATMANifesto, including finishing a lot of the stories that you have seen begun here, so check it out after my tenure here at the Academy has ended.
My reminiscence today is about disagreement with other alternate history fans – some people don't consider alternate history authentic if you're adding things like magic, or aliens, or talented Pete Bests into the mix. They prefer a very tightly and narrowly defined alternate history that springboards from single changes in events within our own timeline. I, of course, like a broader definition. I like to look at it as “What if we added X to this point in history?” To me, that provides a more robust template from which I can draw. The narrower definition has always seemed to strict to me – more like an academic exercise than a jumping off point for great fiction. But that's just what I think – let me know your opinion in the comments!

In 2007, last minute changes were made to the arrangements for the tenth memorial service of the late Princess Diana Spencer. The Prince of Wales decision not to attend the memorial had been met with widespread approval from the British public. Royal commentators considered it highly unlikely that Princes William and Harry would meet with their father (both have lived with the Earl of Spencer at his home in South Africa for the last decade). Attendees of the service were therefore shocked to see the Prince arrive with his second wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. They were amazed to see his two sons arrive, and present their father with a wristwatch engraved ASNF (A Son Never Forgets). In his emotional acceptance speech, Prince Charles said he was so sorry, so very sorry for what had happened, but he would set it right or die trying. The Queen of Hearts continues to remain a positive force for change in this world, even today. Diana taught us that we can wake up with a fresh perspective, and change our world if we really want to. Robbie Taylor once said something was missing in this harsh world, but now it is finally fulfilled. He's right - love conquers all.

~ entry by Co-historian Steve Payne

Jakers	In 2008, artistic differences brought a sad and premature ending to the children's TV show Jakers. Following speculation in the Irish media, Ferny the badger resigned after a long running dispute with Jakers (the pig).
He just couldn't get himself motivated for piggerley wiggerley time for everyone anymore, and needed a fresh opportunity to move forward in his acting career. A number of British TV studios expressed limited interest in the concept of badgerley wadgerly time for everyone.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1983, the publication of a critical article in People Magazine forced New York Major Ed Koch to cancel Diana Ross' much-heralded concert in Central Park. Ross had reunited with former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. The three singers performed their 1969 number-one hit "Someday We'll Be Together", although altercations on stage between Ross and Wilson became an issue during the taping of the special. Wilson conspired with Birdsong to take a step forward every time Ross did. Wilson did not follow the script set by producer Suzanne DePasse which did not go over well with Ross. Ross was to introduce Berry Gordy, however Wilson took it upon herself to do so, at which point Ross pulled Wilson's hand down and said "It's been taken care of." Ross then proceeded to introduce Gordy herself. These incidents were excised from the final edit of the taped special, but still made their way into the news media; People magazine reported that "Ross [did] some elbowing to get Wilson out of the spotlight."

~ entry by Co-Historian Steve Payne

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee has a clandestine meeting with a powerful but nameless figure in the British establishment. Inside the British Foreign Office he confronts busts and paintings of the executed Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Many of Davis' words belatedly ring true - All we ask is to be let alone and I worked night and day for twelve years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind, would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came. A tearful Lee finally accepts “he was my President too”.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1916, combat tension created a new and frightening level of intensity for Second Lieutenant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Serving in the eleventh battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, Tolkien's imagination was over-stimulated by the horror of the Somme.
Balrog	At night, he saw that most frightening of creatures charging across no-mans land. A creature of the imagination which he would never speak directly. Only W.H. Auden would guess at the depiction of the 1916 apparition. Later in the year, Tolkien was invalided with trench fever. And it was as this time he was gripped by the epic struggle, as Gandalf battled a Balrog, an ancient demon creature, and fell into a deep chasm under the Mines of Moria, apparently to his death.
~ variant entry by Steve Payne from extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author’s genius.

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 3 (1944-1945) - On December 9, 1945, in Germany a day before he was due to return to the United States, General George Smith Patton III suffered a broken neck in a road accident on a daytrip to hunt pheasants in the country outside Mannheim. Their 1939 Cadillac Model 75 was driven by PFC Horace Woodring. Patton sat in the back seat, on the right with General Gay on his left, as per custom. At 11:45 near Neckarstadt, (Käfertal), a 2½ ton truck driven by T/5 Robert L. Thompson appeared out of the haze and made a left-hand turn towards a side road. The Cadillac smashed into the truck. General Patton was thrown forward and his head struck a metal part of the partition between the front and back seats. Gay and Woodring were uninjured. Patton was paralyzed from the neck down.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

Churchill	In 1943, former War Leader Winston Churchill reacted to Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel's release of huge quantities of poison gas at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking, in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention. Speaking from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, Churchill condemns the development, ..
.. but suggests the Free British Forces should respond with their own chemical attack. "I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. We have definitely adopted the position at the Peace Conference of arguing in favour of the retention of gas as a permanent method of warfare. It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas. I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against the Nazis. The moral effect should be so good that the loss of life should be reduced to a minimum. It is not necessary to use only the most deadly gases: gases can be used which cause great inconvenience and would spread a lively terror and yet would leave no serious permanent effects on most of those affected... "
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in a deep cell of Paddington Green Police ..	Paddington Green Station.
Being interviewed are twenty-second century fugitive Brent and first Asian QC Kim Hollis. Urgent investigations are being pursued in relation to the apparent suicide of the Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Joe 1	In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. Fearful that the Cold War will turn hot, Western leaders instantly regretted the post World War II conflict.
Desperate attempts were now made to accelerate the progress of the Manhattan Project, which had been stalled by a surprise German attack in 1944. The question was, what could be done in the three-five year interregnum whilst the West developed its own bomb?
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, on this day NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces. The direct involvement of Western Europeans in the Balkans was of course a recipe for disaster, and as soon often, agitated the Pro-Slav Government in Moscow.	Pristina
The police involvement in the former Yugoslavia finally ended in a violent confrontation with Russian KFOR forces at Priština International Airport. The Cold War between the two power blocs had finished, the Soviet Union had dissolved, and yet a new Hot War was improbably about to begin.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Singing Openly

August 28th, 2007

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More of the departing Alternate Historian's meandering farewell: One of the things that has always amused me since starting TIAH has been the number of people who just didn't get the alternate part of the page's title. I've had people ask me for my sources for certain 'historical' events, compliment me on how accurate I was (?!?), and one memorable Indian gentleman became so offended by the fact that I was taking liberties with history that he declared himself the Anti-Alternate Historian. It's both funny and a little disturbing – especially when you consider what set some of these people off. On a post with alien invasions and ancient wizards battling over Wales, they would become upset because Pete Best was portrayed as a superstar. Aliens and wizards, those were believable – but Pete Best with talent? That was stretching it too far.
I've also enjoyed the enthusiasm of the people who read TIAH – one of my favorite people was the guy who set up the Annotated Today In Alternate History site, so that he could post the real-world events that inspired my posts. He only lasted a couple of months, but I loved him, and read his site every day. I also had people set up feeds on other sites – often just for themselves, since I have a feed already that they could have used. But, they wanted it in their own special way, and I never begrudged them that.
Enough of my sentimentality for today – I'll greet you with more weepiness tomorrow as we count down to my final farewell. Speaking of enthusiastic readers – here's one that went on to become the Historian himself! Steve's stuff after the Limey Line...

In 2007, the Prince of Wales decision not to attend a memorial to mark the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death met with widespread approval from the British public. One of Diana's friends, Rosa Monckton, said it would be "deeply inappropriate" for Charles to attend Friday's service. Charles said he feared his attendance "could divert attention from the purpose of the occasion". Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, said the Queen would have sanctioned the Prince's decision. It is not yet clear whether Princes William and Harry will meet with their father. Both have lived with the Earl of Spencer at his home in South Africa for the last decade. It is the tenth anniversary of the Earl's eulogy, at which he famously stated : "On behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly, as you planned."

~ entry by Steve Payne

Jesse Owens	In 1935, German athlete Lutz Long wrote to Jesse Owens to express his deep regret that they would not compete together in the Long Jump at the Games of the XI Olympiad in Archona, capital city of the Dominion of Draka. Lutz was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
The decision by Chief Justice von Shrakenberg to deny a travel permit to Jesse Owens was by now backfiring disastrously United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage had already announced the withdrawal of the participation of the American athletics from the Games. It was the moment when the world wobbled on its axis, and for the first time it was not so clear that the Dominion of the Draka would inherit the earth. Unmistakably, the Draka feared that Owens would win up to four medals at the Games, debunking the myth of white supremacy. In the tragic years to come, Owens became the icon of the the Alliance for Democracy. His Olympic flame burnt so very brightly as the world defeated the dystopian vision of von Shakenberg and his "super-men".
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: details of the Draka World have been used to celebrate the genius of S.M. Stirling

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee has a clandestine meeting with a powerful but nameless figure in the British establishment. An emotional Lee confronts the deep-seated guilt of abandoning Virginia. And the shame of Confederate President Jefferson Davis execution in custody after he was captured in 1865, held in a federal prison for two years and charged with treason.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1950, the withdrawal of United Nations forces forced President Harry S Truman to accept the counsel of advisors, who called for unilateral U.S. airstrikes against the North Korean forces. Truman had already ordered the Seventh Fleet to protect Chiang Kai-Shek's Taiwan, thereby ending America’s policy of non-interference in Chinese domestic affairs. The Nationalist government (now confined to Taiwan) asked to participate in the war. Their request had been denied by the Americans, who felt they would only encourage PRC intervention. Despite the post-World War II demobilization of U.S. and allied forces, which caused serious supply problems for American troops in the region, the United States still had substantial forces in Japan to oppose the North Korean military and its largely outdated Soviet equipment. These American forces were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Trouble was that apart from British Commonwealth units, no other nation could supply sizeable manpower. Pusan changed everything, and the regional containment strategy had failed. Truman, needing allies, reluctantly invited Taiwan into the war. By September of 1950, a state of war existed between the United States and China. It became apparent that World War III would be fought in Asia-Pacific.

~ entry from Co-Historian Steve Payne

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 2 (1918-1944) - After the war General George Smith Patton III was an advocate of armored warfare but was reassigned to the cavalry. In World War II he commanded major units of North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. During this period, Patton saw service alongside unorthodox British General T.E. Lawrence. Like Patton, Lawrence had also survived a near death experience (in a 1935 motorcycle accident), and both individuals shared a common sense of immortality which verged on recklessness. The popular image of "Old Blood and Guts", contrasts with the historians' image of a brilliant military leader whose record was also marred by insubordination and some periods of apparent instability. Hitler described Patton as "that crazy cowboy general". Previously considered friend, superior officer, and mentor, Eisenhower demoted Patton after the famous slapping incident but re-appointed him in France.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

In 1963, Dr. Huey Percy Newton of the Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) led militant civil right activists in an occupation of the White House following the Million Man March. There was no point making fine speeches from the Lincoln Memorial, said Newton, talk was cheap.

~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Rommel	In 1943, and in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel released huge quantities of poison gas at the liberating invasion forces in Dorking. The Free British Forces had been racing up the south coast at uncomfortable fast speed for the Fascists and the Nazi German and ..
.. British “stooge” government felt it was time to “stop the rot from Brighton”.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127/2003, a dramatic scene is played out in the London office of Lord Peter Goldsmith. The Attorney General is strongly encouraged to leave his wife Joy of 33 years in favour of first Asian QC Hollis and issue confidential legal advice that ..	Kim Hollis
.. British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq would be illegal. Perhaps, suggests Brent, a British Cabinet minister standing alongside his beautiful Asian lover could generate interracial brotherhood. “Drink anyone?” asked the Attorney General, pulling a service revolver from the drinks cabinet and shooting himself in the head. Death before dishonour, wasn't that the very essence of the British establishment after all? They would have never made it since the Middle Ages without it..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

“Mick”	In 2003, on this day the compendium “A Collection of Political Counterfactuals” was published. Simon Burns' masterful entry "What if Denis ("Sonny") O'Neill had not missed?" was a keynote contribution, considering the scenario where Michael Collins, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Free State Army was killed ..
.. during an Anti-Treaty ambush at Beal na mBlath, County Cork, during the Irish Civil War. Instead of the “Big Fellow”, Eamon de Valera serves three times as Irish head of government; as Príomh Aire, as the second President of the Executive Council and the first Taoiseach, becoming the dominant Irish politician of the twentieth century.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, on this day in États-Unis d'Amérique a survey into language groups was published by the Berlitz International. As expected English was identified as the fourth major language in the country after French, Spanish and German, largely concentrated in the Anglophone pocket of New Britain.	Elizabeth II
In that mini-state the Queen's English was spoken by the British Royal Family who had lived there in exile since 1940.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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My Long Farewell

August 27th, 2007

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Robbie's Long Goodbye: I'm sure that some of you have been anticipating this – I have decided to turn over TIAH to my Co-Historian, Steve, who has been doing most of the work here since he started, anyway. I will be starting another project, The RATMANifesto, which will be more along the lines of what I am writing now. This week, I'll be making the changes that Steve wishes to see in the design of TIAH before I hand over things to him, and I'll be writing a note of fond farewell each day as I do so. I have a couple of Guest Historians who have sent in material for future dates, and I will suggest to Steve that he take advantage of the great pool of talent out there among the Alternate Readership. We'll be letting you know by the time Steve takes over whether that will be the case. Steve has also graciously asked that I post from time to time, and I'm sure that I will – who could resist being the Visiting Alternate Professor Emeritus? But, this week will mark my last as your chief Alternate Historian, and so I will have maudlin farewells at the beginning of each post as I make them. Thank you for your attention, and your readership over the last three years.

Jesse Owens	In 1935, American athlete Jesse Owens commented on the decision by United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage to withdraw the participation of the American athletics from the Games of the XI Olympiad in Archona, capital city of the Dominion of Draka.
With Owens expected to win up to four gold medals, a tinge of bitterness could reasonably be expected from most human beings. It is widely repeated that Chief Justice von Shrakenburg "snubbed" Jesse Owens and his achievements. Brundage believed that politics had no place in sport; von Shrakenberg feared sport would define politics by debunking the Draka assertion of white supremacy. Owens said, "I think journalists showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in the Dominion of the Draka". One can only wonder if his tongue had crept into his cheek before making this memorable statement.
~ variant entry by Steve Payne: details of the Draka World have been used to celebrate the genius of S.M. Stirling

In 1868, in Lee Allred's West of Appomattox US Secretary of State General Robert E. Lee receives a chilly welcome in the Foreign Office. Britain's continued alliance with the Confederacy is creating major problems for the defeated North. Officially ignored, he finds a deeper game is afoot.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1950, UN Commander in Chief for the Korean Peninsula General Douglas MacArthur ordered the evacuation from Pusan. He told the people of South Korea “I will return”, a promise he was unable to keep.

~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

BITBBH	In 2007, troubled Pals series star Jennifer Anniseed announced a trial separation from her husband of only six weeks, the TV celebrity formerly known as the Bear in the Big Blue House. Saddened, BITBBH suggested that Jen had never got over Bradley Putz and didnt really want a bear for all seasons at all.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

"Old Blood and Guts" Part 1 (1885-1918) - General George Smith Patton III has died, aged eighty. He was survived by his wife of fifty-five years Banning Ayer, the daughter of a wealthy textile baron. The Pattons had two daughters Beatrice Smith (died 1953) and Ruth Ellen. Their son George Smith IV was a 1946 graduate of West Point, serving in Korea as a company commander. In Vietnam he commanded the 11th Armored Cavalry as a colonel during three tours of duty there, before retiring from the Army in 1980. Alongside his contemporary cavalryman General George Armstrong Custer, George Patton III was instrumental in the development of armored warfare during the mid-20th. In World War I General John "Black Jack" Pershing assigned Patton to the newly formed United States Tank Corps. Depending on the source, he either led, or was an observer at the Battle of Cambrai in which first tanks were used as a significant force. From his successes (and his organization of a training school for American tankers in Langres, France), Patton was promoted to major and then lieutenant colonel and was placed in charge of the U.S. Tank Corps, which was part of the American Expeditionary Force and then the First U.S. Army. He took part in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, September 1918, and was wounded by machine gun fire as he sought assistance for tanks that were mired in the mud.

~ alternate obituary from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to re-examine the significance of a controversial historical figure.

Castle Bonny	In 1943, British Prime Minister Oswald Mosley and King Edward VIII presented the view of the British Government to the movie Castle Bonny which premièred eight days before on Broadway.
The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, and starred Cary Grant as Dick Blaine, Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund and Paul Henreid as resistance leader Victor Laszlo, caught in a love triangle. The rekindled romance between Blaine and Lund was set during Great War II in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, off the Bight of Bonny – then controlled by the Nazi Protectorate of Britain. The final scene shows Dick, Laszlo and a detachment of Free British soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1943 invasion of England. “This unpleasant and beastly business will shortly come to an abrupt end” said the King from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. “The invasion or the movie reviews?” quipped the Prime Minister and they both laughed. Actually, it was no laughing matter, because that very day both had reluctantly approved the Nazi decision to use gas to repel the Free British Forces racing up the south coast at uncomfortable fast speed for the Fascists.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 2127, through the functioning of the Hussein-Sadat time dilation device, and assisted by the kidnapping by the Eurasian fugitive known as Brent first Asian QC Kim Hollis and the Attorney General return to the London office of Lord Peter Goldsmith on 11 March 2003.	Goldsmith
Goldsmith is being strongly encouraged to leave his wife Joy of 33 years in favour of Hollis. He is also being prevailed upon to issue confidential legal advice to the Prime Minister of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that British involvement in a land invasion of Iraq would be illegal due to the absence of a UN Security Council Resolution explicitly sanctioning participation by the “coalition of the willing”. Neither prospect was particularly savoury. People just didn't seem to understand the difference between private and public morality, really – it was quite maddening.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

USS Eldridge	In 1943, on this day the U.S. naval destroyer escort Eldridge was commissioned by the ..
.. Navy for Project Rainbow. In a military application of Albert Einstein’s unified field theory, the destroyer escort was fitted with powerful generator equipment, designed to distort electromagnetic radiation and gravity, rendering the ship invisible to radar. On or before October 28 1943 USS Eldridge was rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period of time. Upon her return, she left a very visible tear in the fabric of the Universe. The observers reported a thermal distortion much like the running of gas out of a pipe, or hot air rising off the desert. By the time President Truman arrived for a personal viewing on October 30th, there were some seriously worried people on the Project. That included Albert Einstein, who offer absolutely no guarantees to the President that the tear could be fixed up.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1962, on this day the Mariner 2 was launched to Venus. On the way it measured for the first time the solar wind, a constant stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun. It also measured interplanetary dust, which turned out to be more scarce than predicted.	Mariner 2
And something else was discovered which the Mariner 2 was not simply designed to report. The spacecraft is now defunct in a heliocentric orbit, where it is bristles with a virulent space plague.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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