King John Refuses The Magna Carta

The state of TIAH

June 15th, 2006

in 1215, rather than sign a document guaranteeing a multitude of rights for his barons, King John of England meets them on the field of battle. Although he inflicts much damage on their forces, he is captured and deposed, and his older brother Geoffrey is placed on the throne. Geoffrey signs this Magna Carta willingly, but slyly adds in a few lines about the rights of commoners, which the king is bound to protect. With this addendum to the charter, King Geoffrey is able to exercise extraordinary powers over the kingdom, since the barons routinely violated the rights of the commoners.

in 1943, SS Colonel Paul Blobel is ordered to “save the Reich embarrassment” by destroying the evidence of Nazi war crimes. Pangs of conscience obviously hit Blobel for the first time in his life, because he ordered his Special Commando Group 1005 to preserve as much evidence as they could, and to set free Jewish prisoners rather than kill them and burn as his orders dictated. Many credit a meeting that Blobel had with Albert Speer for his newfound morality; most historians of the period simply believe that Blobel didn't want to be charged with war crimes himself. In either case, he was responsible for freeing tens of thousands of Nazi prisoners until the German surrender in 1945, and was pardoned for his own considerable crimes in Russia because of his commando work at the war's end.

in 2017, the human crew of the Eagle met with scientists and leaders of the Amandaran Union, as news of their presence was transmitted across the entire solar system. The P'Tar ambassador, K'lo, was using all her skill to keep their public appearances brief and not give the humans any stress. “I don't want you to feel like the newest addition to the zoo,” she told them. She was also getting the human scientists time to work on the alien device that brought them here. The AU scientists were just as baffled by it as the humans, and appreciated fresh outlooks. Commander Patterson, with not much to do since the comet that had been her mission objective was sitting in a Quarai ship's cargo bay, asked K'lo if she could see the capitol of the AU. The ambassador arranged for a Quarai tour guide to take the commander around the huge city.

Today's "Six Degrees of Star Trek" challenge: Connect the 1952 TV movie King John to Star Trek. Place your answers in the comments and see the Forum for previous results. For more on 6 degrees games, click here.

Get yourself into TIAH!

And, another cool thing - Let us know where you are on Frappr!

The Forum lives again!

Good long fiction from the AH. See a review of Warp at Universe Pathways Magazine

Help the Alternate Historian keep the site from growing stale!
My email address for contacting me with your writing samples, or good news, or for more direct goodness, go to the web site and leave a comment, buy a book, or leave a Paypal donation! Thanks again!

You can also visit the Co-Historian's store -

Mandates

Jesse Owens	In 1913, on this day African-American athlete James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was born in Lawrence County, Alabama to Henry and Emma Owens. Owens lead a remarkable, controversial life. In particular, controversy still surrounds Owens participation in the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.
In 2006, Guy Walters published a book entitled Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream. The legend is that Carl 'Luz' Long, his German rival in the long-jump, assisted him by giving him valuable advice in a conversation moments before he made the jump. Owens later said - "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four kilates friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment. " Long himself could not confirm this story. He died in a British military hospital after fighting in Sicily, just months after his thirtieth birthday. However, Walters revealed that in fact, no such conversation between Owens and Long took place.
~ entry by Steve Payne

Bernard Montgomery	"The result of being driven out of Palestine would be to weaken our overall strategic position in the Middle East, and that of the Western world generally in the struggle between East and West." ~ Monty justifying the extension of the British Mandate in Palestine
Imperialist

Field Marshall Montgomery, Chief of the Imperial General Staff reacting to pressure for Britain to withdraw its forces from Palestine in response to Jewish terrorism. Avi Shlaim said in 2001 that in times of crisis, the fledgling Zionist project had been protected by the bayonets of the British army. This was particularly true during the Arab Rebellion of 1936-39. The rebellion showed that there could be no compromise between the two rival communities in Palestine: only war could decide the issue. The Jewish community was weak and defenceless. It would have easily been defeated had Britain not intervened to restore law and order. In November 1938 Major General Bernard Montgomery arrived in Palestine. His task was to crush the revolt. ‘Monty’ was a short-tempered professional soldier with no inclination to study the details of the conflict in Palestine. He gave his men simple orders on how to handle the rebels: kill them. This is what his men did and, in the process, they broke the backbone of the Arab national movement. So when the struggle for Palestine entered its most critical phase, following the passage of the UN partition resolution on 29 November 1947, the Jews were ready to do battle whereas the Arabs were still licking their wounds. In 1948, Montgomery was promoted to CIGS. Having seen service between the wars in India, Egypt and Palestine he had a unique method of dealing with insurgency. This time around, he faced up to Irgun and the bombers of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The full article is available at The Black Vault

~ quotation by Steve Payne

Berlin 2010	In 2010, Heinrich Gimpel received a mysterious call from the Friends of Zion advising him not to report for duty at Oberkommando office in Berlin. Ninety minutes later, he switched on the television just in time to see a newsflash. Two hijacked Lufthansa Jets has crashed into the Great Hall. Iraki insurgents were behind this unspeakable act of terrorism.
~ variant from Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the author's genius.

In 1999, in Center Lovell, Maine driver Bryan Smith was distracted by an unrestrained Rottweiler named Bullet, moving in the back of his 1985 Dodge Caravan. He swerved to avoid three riders on horseback, the Gunslinger Roland Deschain and his friends Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns. As a result, he narrowly missed the author Stephen King who was walking on the right shoulder of Route 5. Soon afterwards, he could not remember anything about the three riders at all.

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

Glubb Pasha	In 1941, English Patient László de Almásy shared a revelation from the spy Geoffrey Clifton with Loose Cannon Colonel "Ned" Lawrence. In accepting the mission to turn Rommel, Churchill had told Lawrence that he had been secretly rescued from a German "hit" by Zionist agents acting under the orders of Chaim Weizmannm Herzog and Aaron Aaronsohn.
The Zionists had their own plans for Lawrence, needing him to do a similiar job by "turning" the Commanding General of the Arab Legion, Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb. Glubb Pasha had built the most disciplined force of arms under Arab control. In the forthcoming battle to establish Eretz Yisroel, Weizmann and Aaronsohn could not afford to have such a powerful threat from “the wing” on the West bank.
~ variant by Steve Payne: extensive use of original content has been made to celebrate the genius of Susan Shwartz and Michael Ondaatje

Otto Skorzeny	In 1943, German commando Otto Skorzeny pulled off a most daring mission. After fighting on the Eastern Front, Skorzeny was known as the commando leader who attempted to rescued Benito Mussolini from imprisonment after his overthrow. He also was the initiator of Operation Greif, for which he was judged after the war: this special operation involved false flag tactics, that is wearing the uniform of the enemy to confuse him and advance into his lines.
He also helped train the Werwolves, a Nazi stay-behind organisation which tried to engage in guerilla warfare against the Allies. On September 12th 1943, Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy, was rescued from house arrest on the Gran Sasso in Abruzzi. Blood thirst craze had driven the Duce insane unfortunately, and an unsuspecting Skorzeny was brutally attacked by the lycanthrope Duce leaving a huge gash on his right cheek.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 1994, Frank Eugene Corder crashed a Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West wing and killing US President Michael Dukakis. The crash caused a re-evaluation in security procedures around the White House, as the pilot had entered restricted airspace. Though the White House was reportedly rigged with surface-to-air missiles, none were fired. Vice President Lloyd Bentsen became the second Texan in thirty years to succeed to the Presidency through assassination.	Frank Corder
~ entry by Steve Payne

Luna 2	In 1959, the Soviet Union launched a large rocket, Lunik II, at the moon. Being the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the Moon, it impacted the lunar surface west of Mare Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters. Scientifically, Luna 2 is most famous for making the discovery of the solar wind, via its hemispherical ion traps designed by Konstantin Gringauz. Having studied these stream of charged particles for thirty years, Russian Scientists developed the first space craft driven by this thermal energy, enabling the USSR to colonize the solar system by the end of the twenty-first century.
~ entry by Steve Payne

In 1890, Salisbury, Rhodesia, was founded and named after the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, then British prime minister. From Salisbury, the Premier of the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia, Ian Douglas Smith declared Unilateral Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom on November 11, 1965. Smith was staunchly opposed to Britain's insistence that the government of Rhodesia be transferred to the black majority control as an essential prerequisite for independence.	Ian Smith
Smith at one point, stated that there would be no plans to bring Rhodesia under black majority rule in his lifetime, and he later added, "or children's". Smith himself bowed to the inevitable in 1980, but his supporters did not, launching Operation Quartz which sustained a brutal white settler rule until this day.
~ entry by Steve Payne

Whatever happened to Leon Trotsky? He got an ice pick That made his ears burn
Stranglers	Whatever happened to dear old Lenny? The great Elmyra, and Sancho Panza? Whatever happened to the heroes? ~ Lyrics to “What Ever Happened to the Heroes?” - Click to Watch Sample
Punk Band

In 1977, an off-site Cabinet meeting by the executors of the Plot Against British Prime Minister Harold Wilson was held at Chequers. Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten and his deputy Major General Ord Wingate, DSO were in the Chair. Both officers were hurting real bad inside, believing that the British establishment had won both world wars (described by Churchill as "an incalculable prize") yet lost the peace. Worse, the British establishment had turned to them as the icon of that victory, and fundamentally they had no answers at all. In fact, Mountbatten had not felt so powerless since he was appointed Viceroy of India. Instead of overseeing a peaceful transition to independent rule, he had played a meaningless bit part in a humanitarian disaster where 10,000,000 had died during the tragedy of partition. Unknown to Mountbatten, the shadowy individuals that had selected him considered this experience to be a vital element of his resume. Qualification: master of disaster. Also present was the Home Secretary Margaret Thatcher. So was newly appointed Minister for Citizenship Mary Whitehouse, who had recently resigned her position as founder and first president of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, a pressure group for Christian ethics and morals with a particular emphasis on the media. They had just finished watching the latest installment of horror - the Stranglers playing "No More Heroes" on Top of the Pops, a barefaced insult to Mountbatten and Wingate of course. Vocalist Hugh Cornwall was in turns arrogant, hateful, disrespectual, shouting, haughty, scruffy..a dictionary definition of the word punk. Most disturbing was that Cornwall was clearly an individual of intelligence, "of the right sort". Worse, he had the kind of face that a military officer could expect to see as a mirror image with that recognizable tint of control and pride. Cornwall's behaviour was highly indicative of just how British society had gone off the rails in such a short space of time. Whereas you could (try to) dismiss the Sex Pistols as extremists, Cornwall's outward respectibility was an open endorsement to misbehaviour that was far too acceptable to British Youth. Mountbatten looked around the room - "How do we get British Youth back to watching Sitcoms and the Two Ronnies?", making reference of course to that mildest of sketch comedies. It was somewhat quiet for a while. Then Thatcher and Whitehouse descended into a stereo parrot mode, entering a long, pointless tirade about morality and authority that just went on. At one point Thatcher disturbingly asserted that "Society does not exist", it was all utterly incomprehensible to the military leader's ears. Afterwards, Mountbatten and Wingate retired with brandys and cigars. "Perhaps we should have appointed Barbara Woodhouse at the Citizenship Ministry" quipped the defeated deputy, a reference to a well known authoritarian dog breeder in the UK. "Perhaps we should tell Hugh Cornwall 'down, boy!'" replied Mountbatten, his spirits returning somewhat. They both laughter long and hard. Howled, actually. It was a mission impossible, there was just no point worrying about it too much really. The lyrics are available at at Ottosell

~ quotation by Steve Payne

Reinstatement Of Chiang Kai-Shek

The state of TIAH

January 15th, 2007

Digg this

Alternate Historian's Note: We have a side-project that was announced over the weekend – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War and more – that will be up for sale on Lulu, as soon as we have it edited together. If you would be interested in this, or would like to suggest something for inclusion in the collection, please email me and let me know. Meanwhile, enjoy Guest Historian Stephen Payne's entry for today, followed by the continuation of our NaNoWriMo novel. Also, in honor of an MLK holiday that actually falls on Dr. King's birthday, check out our past MLK postings.

Lord Curzon	In 1924 Prime Minister of Great Britain Baron George Nathanial Curzon announces the discovery of huge oil resources in the North Sea. Trouble is the good news is just too late to save the humbled Lion. After the French mutinied at Verdun in 1916, the Triple Entente was forced to surrender ..
.. to the Kaiser. Britain is now a bankrupted and defeated nation suffering hyperinflation being tackled by the hopelessly incompetent Chancellor of the Exchequer Winston Churchill. Worse, Britain is a satellite of the Second Reich and thus a shadow of her former glorious and illustrious past. Now in 1924 the Dreadnoughts of the German High Seas fleet operate with impudence out of the former British Naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, patrolling the maritime zone above the oil fields. Not only have the Germans been given a fresh impetus to rules the waves, they now have a plentiful supply of fuel to do so. The North Sea is not quite what the Kaiser had in mind back in 1910 when he spoke of the 'place in the sun' he wanted for Germany. But he is not complaining too loudly about how things have turned out for the House of Hohenzollern.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1982 Prime Minister of England Margaret Thatcher nationalizes the Channel Tunnel, refusing to pay financial compensation to the Confederate States of America who had built and paid for it. President William Westmoreland orders CS 101st Airborne Division to scramble from their bases on ..	Margaret Thatch..
.. the Rhine and march to Sangatte to seize back the Confederate property. Already in position at the French mouth of the Tunnel is a crack British force consisting of 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment and 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert 'H' Jones. 'Bring it, bring it on' says 'H' to the Iron Lady as she inquires about the readiness of her troops.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Chiang Kai-Shek	In 1954 with considerable Anglo-American support Chiang Kai-shek is re-instated in Beijing as Chairman of the National Government. One of his first actions is to gratefully extend the lease on Hong Kong Island to his ally Great Britain for a further one hundred years. In reality he needs ..
.. the British to keep up the pressure on deposed Chairman Mao. The 'great helmsman' has fled to the Soviet Union where he is regathering his shattered Communist forces for a fresh assault on the Kuomintang.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 2093 the United Nations Commission for the Survival of Life on Earth (UNCSLE) confirms the extinction of penguins in the southern hemisphere.	United Nations
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

After(cont.)
Just as the sun was being cut in two by the horizon, Jake pulled the jeep up to the wall of a small creek and turned off the engine. “OK,” Janice said, studying the map on her laptop. “We just need to hop over that little cliff there, hike about a mile and half, and we're at the ranch. I'm amazed that we could get this close.”
“You can have a talk with his security people after we've got him,” Kevin said.
“We should wait for night, then send somebody in for a look-around,” Eli said. “Recon, like you said, Sarge. Get a good feel of what their layout is before we go in.”
“Right,” Jake said. He studied the creek side for a good way up. “All right, I'm gonna head up and do that. Should be dark by the time I get close enough for a look. Hand me those goggles, Janice.” She took out her night-vision goggles and handed them to him. “Y'all try to keep quiet and stay outta sight. I'll be back after dark.” He then took off up the wall and out of sight.
Eli took out his guns, pulled out the ammunition, and started cleaning them. Janice pulled a small radio out of her pack and plugged in small earphones. She handed one to Kevin. “Share?”
“OK.” He took the bud and stuck it into his ear as she adjusted the channel. After a minute, they got the Emergency Lady, and Janice paused.
“...of emergency, the citizens of Texas are asked to report to the nearest military recruitment center or base and volunteer their assistance in whatever capacity they are able to contribute. If you have information about the terrorists or the invading force...”
“Invading force?” Kevin and Janice looked at each other as they spoke in unison. Eli looked up from his guns at them.
“...der, you are required by law to report to the nearest police station or Guard unit and surrender this information. General Wilson McNeil, commander of the military units currently repulsing the invaders, has requested all able-bodied Texans near the borders of the state to immediately join the Guard with whatever weapons they possess and assist in keeping these foreign forces off of our soil.”
“What does this mean?”
Janice turned to Eli and told him what had been said, then answered Kevin. “I'd lay odds that it means that they want as many Texans in uniform as they can get, and they've pulled together this cockamamie story to get them. That puts another deadline on us.”
“Wonderful.”
Eli was smiling. “Yeah, this is gonna be the big one, here.”
“Sometimes, Eli, you scare me,” Janice said.
He grinned wider. “Just sometimes?”
“That's gonna make it harder to get Bush out,” Janice told Kevin. “There's gonna be more soldiers.”
“Forget Bush, what about Steph and the kids?” Kevin looked very concerned. “Do you think they meant the border with New Mexico, or just the border with Mexico?”
“I'd say both,” Janice said.
“How are they going to get across if there's fighting going on at the border?”
Janice shrugged. “Well, they've got that SUV, so they might be able to find a way over to New Mexico without using a road. Mike's pretty good at finding information that's supposed to be secret - “
“He's the best,” Eli piped in.
“So,” Janice continued, “he should be able to find them a route that'll bypass any fighting. They've got some cash to spread around, thanks to you, and that always help grease your way.” She put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed. “They'll get through.”
“I sure hope so.” He shook himself and looked embarrassed. “For Jake's sake, I mean.”
“Yeah,” she smirked, “for Jake's sake.”

Cool stuff - Let us know where you are on Frappr! and We've been Dugg

We have links again! Yay, us. Check them out on the side of the page, and if you have some suggestions, send them to us!

Visit the Co-Historian's store -

Constraints

The Breaker

In 1905, Commander Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant with brother officers Lieutenants Handcock, Witton received a heroes welcome at a reception held in their honour at the Hotel Australia. Originally sentenced to death for the execution of Boer prisoners, the protests of the Austrialian government had resulted in the commuting of the sentences of imprisonment. The soldiers had been transported to naval detention quarters England and then to Lewes prison in Sussex. Some time later they were transferred to the prison at Portland, Dorset and released after serving twenty-eight months. Their life sentence was overturned by the British House of Commons on 11 August 1905.

The pivotal event of the Morant affair took place two days later, on the night of August 5, 1901. Capt Hunt led a seventeen-man patrol to a Boer farmhouse called 'Duiwelskloof' (Devil's Ravine), about 80 miles south of the Fort, hoping to capture its owner, the Boer commando leader Veldt Cornet Viljoen. Hunt had been told that Viljoen had only twenty men with him, but this appears to have been a ruse and Viljoen was lying in wait with eighty men. The Boers surprised the British as they approached and during the ensuing skirmish, Viljoen was killed. Witnesses later testified that Capt Hunt was wounded in the chest while firing through the windows and his Sgt Frank Eland was killed while trying to recover his body. Hunt's body was recovered the next day. It had been found lying in a gutter, naked and mutilated; the sinews at the backs of both knees and ankles had been severed, his legs were slashed with long knife cuts, his face had been crushed by hob-nailed boots. According to Kit Denton, he had also been castrated. Significantly, Morant did not see Hunt's body himself; according to Witton, Morant arrived about an hour after the burial. He questioned the men about Hunt's death and, convinced that his friend had been murdered in cold blood, he again vowed to give no quarter and take no prisoners. Witton recounted that Morant then declared that he had, on occasion, ignored Hunt's order to this effect in the past, but that he would carry it out in the future.

In 1961, an embarrassed curator informed the staff at New York’s Museum of Modern Art that they had hung Matisse’s painting Le Bateau upside down for over a month. After a quick vote, it was decided that it looked better that way, and it was left upside down.

In 1397, Bokassa of the heathen Empire of Central Africa crowned himself Emperor. The lavish ceremony in the impoverished nation enraged the populace and led to a revolt against Bokassa, which the Islamic nations surrounding the Empire were all too happy to assist with. Bokassa was overthrown a mere 8 months after declaring himself emperor.

In 2003, the US President, George W Bush, confirmed a punitive tax on imported steel which is certain to ignite a damaging trade war between the United States and Europe. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month turned down a US appeal against its July ruling that the duties, imposed in March 2002, are illegal. Mr Bush justified them by saying foreign steel firms were driving US firms out of business with unfair competition and government subsidies. The EU is planning sanctions worth $2.2bn in retaliation against the move.

In 1961, on this day the Birth control pill was officially outawed by the British Government. Women who wish to have oral contraception will now have to travel overseas of risk imprisonment, the Health Minister, Enoch Powell, said in an announcement in the House of Commons on this day. "It is not for me to indicate to doctors when they should decide for medical reasons to prescribe for their patients," he said. Most GPs are in a dilemma over whether they should support the prescription of the Pill, as it is commonly known, which has been requested for social as well as medical reasons.

In 1872, at 1 pm at the wheel of the Dei Gratia, mariner John Johnson sighted a vessel five miles off the port bow. He called second mate John Wright and they both summoned Captain Morehouse, who decided to approach the ship. By 3 pm the Dei Gratia was 400 yards away. Taking the lifeboat, Captain David Reed Morehouse, chief mate Oliver Deveau, and Johnson rowed to the ship where they were greeted by Captain Benjamin Briggs and his crew. First Mate Albert Richardson joked that they had not seen a single human being since leaving New York City on November 7, 1872. The crew laughed, rather nervously. Actually, it was not a laughing matter. The crew of the Dei Gratia had left November 7 and they had not seen anyone else either.

Huey Long

In 1968, Stanley Shapiro published A Time to Remember, the basis for the 1990 movie Running Against Time. To prevent his brother's death at Pearl Harbour, a man travels back to the Louisiana capitol building in 1935 to prevent the assassination of Huey Long. He finds an altered history also need correction. The "Kingfish" steals away FDR's vice-president John Nance Gardner; they strike a pact, and then dealt with Hitler. Trouble is an infinitely more destructive Great War against the Soviet Union is fought a decade later with nuclear weapons.

In 1983, “the long-dreaded nuclear conflict. The city torn apart, shattered, its people destroyed or mutilated beyond hope. For just a few, survival is possible only beneath the wrecked streets - if there is time to avoid the slow-descending poisonous ashes. But below, the rats, demonic offspring of irradiated forebears, are waiting. They know that Man is weakened, become frail. Has become their prey..." through found hand experiences of Domain the shocking true story of how London became the Rats' Domain was recounted by journalist James Herbert.

James Herbert

Eden	In 1967, the fourth installation of A Rage in Eden was serialised in the Times. Former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden focused on his moment in history, the Suez Crisis of 1956. Churchill outmanoeuvred US President Dwight D Eisenhower, giving support to his former subordinate, Anthony Eden. An unlikely ally was sent to remind Eisenhower about his war-time affair with the English driver, Kay Summersby. It was Eisenhower's superior General George Marshall who quashed a plan to divorce his wife Mamie and marry Summersby. Should Eisenhower persist with his obstruction of the Suez intervention, certain New York newspapers might receive highly damaging details of the affair during Presidential election month.

In 2005, the government of (censored) reviewed security measures after blocking YouTube, Today in Alternate History and several other leading web sites the day before in an attempt to impede corrupting foreign films and music. Of particular concern to the (censored) was the computing resources of the revolutionary blogger known as Rat. Did anyone really believe he was running the Academy on a PC133-style computer?

Rat