Groundhog Day, Redux

The state of TIAH

February 3rd, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Obviously, we just escaped from a Groundhog Day - the time loop prevented us from posting, so we are thankful for having a Guest Historian to step in today! Sorry about that delay; one of the dangers of working at the nexus of so many alternate realities... Anyway, now that our NaNoWriMo novel, After, has been concluded, we are beginning work on a new project – a collection of several timelines with more-or-less complete stories inside them – The Fall, the Tolman timeline, the Mormon War, the Lascaux Cave story, and more – that will have After included with it. Once they're edited together, we'll put the lot up for sale on Lulu. 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. And, speaking of side projects, Guest Historian Stephen Payne has one, Crimson Kiss, available for free on Lulu. Check it out.

Sitting Bull	In 1871 the counter-history Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (BMHAWK) is published by the gifted Sioux author Tatanka Iyotake. In the what-if world of BMHAWK, indigenes were unable to summon the powerful magicks required to prevent the invasion of the fork-tongues. Literary critics in the ..
.. great Sioux nation ridiculed the fictional novel as preposterous, and henceforth Tatanka Iyotake was known by the comic name Sitting Bull.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1787 the armed uprising in western Massachusetts known as Shays' Rebellion ignites the eastern seaboard, dissolving the United States. Crushing debt and taxes fueled by a revolutionary fervor simply will not be denied even after Independence. Today, autonomous states govern the North ..	Shays Rebellion
.. American continent; every schoolchild knows that the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave was made possible by this liberating anarchy.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Pierre Laval	In 1941 Anglo-American Fascists forcibly restore Pierre Laval to office in occupied Vichy, France.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1945 the Soviet Union agreed to enter the Pacific Theatre conflict against Japan. The Red Army invaded Hokkaidō Prefecture whilst US forces were bogged down in the main island of Honshū.	Hokkaidō Prefec..
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Compromise In France; War In Virginia

The state of TIAH

June 20th, 2006

in 1789, deputies of the Troisieme Estate-General, a national body that represented the commoners of France, rename themselves the National Assembly and send an ultimatum to King Louis XVI – accept a constitution limiting his powers or face revolt from the commoners. King Louis had been remarkably inept at managing French national affairs, and the common folk, as well as many of the lesser nobles, wanted a new government along the lines of the American one they had helped fight for at the beginning of the decade. King Louis was reportedly furious at this imposition on his authority, and threatened to send troops to quell this miniature rebellion, but his ablest minister, Jacques Necker, advised him to accept the Assembly's terms and work with them to create a new constitution – otherwise, he might see himself headed for the gallows as a deposed king. Although his court was outraged, Louis accepted Necker's advice and crafted a constitutional monarchy in France that resembled the one in Britain, keeping some small powers, as well as considerable wealth, for himself while doling out most governmental powers to the National Assembly. The other Estates-General, which represented the nobles and the clergy, protested at their own diminishment, but when the National Assembly threatened to abolish them completely, came back into line. This spirit of compromise has allowed France to maintain its powerless but decorative noble classes and royalty to the present day, while letting the common classes run the country efficiently.

in 1863, internal strife within Virginia led to a civil war within the civil war – loyal Unionists in the western part of the state, who had been suppressed and cajoled into joining the Confederacy when Virginia seceded in 1861, erupted into open rebellion against the Confederate government. The west Virginians had always been resentful of their eastern neighbors, and had never been an area conducive to the plantations that held most of the state's slaves. These differences with the east boiled up into war meetings across the mountains, and they became a steady sieve of information to the Union. When the Richmond government attempted to send troops to settle them down, the westerners took up arms and attacked the easterners. CSA President Jefferson Davis moved the capital back to Montgomery, Alabama out of fear that the war in Virginia would reach Richmond. General Robert E. Lee, who had pledged himself to the Confederate cause solely because Virginia had joined it, abandoned the CSA and joined the westerners, providing them with excellent leadership and organization against their more numerous eastern foes. The United States exploited the chaos in Virginia by encouraging loyalist factions throughout the former states to rise up in rebellion against their governments, which many did. Alabama itself split in two, with the pro-Union north fighting the south; Arkansas mirrored this situation, and Texas was convulsed by numerous factions within itself that fought for Union, Confederacy, independence and even a reunion with Mexico. By the end of the year, what had been the Confederate States of America was a handful of plantation owners seeking to keep their less affluent citizens in line and failing miserably. Throughout 1864, state after state rejoined the US in order to quell the disorder and save themselves from the chaos that they lay squarely at the feet of the southern elites.

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Nat Turner's Rebellion

August 10th, 2004

in 1680, a popular rebellion rises among the Pueblo against the Spanish occupiers. Through years of harsh guerilla warfare, they are able to drive the Europeans from their land; but at the cost of their traditionally more peaceful culture. The Pueblo remained in an almost perpetual state of war against European invaders for the next century.

in 1831, African slave Nat Turner leads a rebellion against the slaveholders of Virginia. After killing his own masters, Turner began freeing every slave in the county; soon, he had followers numbering in the thousands. He led them west, slaughtering any who stood in the way, and they founded the nation of Uhuru, which was Swahili for freedom.

in 1911, the Parliament Act reduces the power of the British House of Commons to ceremonial duties. They are essentially a rubber stamp for the House of Lords, where virtually all parliamentary power is now concentrated. The Prime Minister, Lord Harold Fitzhugh, declares, “This is not America, where the Communists lead the rabble down to chaos. In Britain, the lower classes know their place.”

in 1919, the newly-formed Greater Zionist Resistance meets the Ukrainian Army in Podolia, Ukraine and crushes them utterly. Astrid Pflaume, the neo-Nazi time traveler who has organized the GZR for her own purposes, is amazed at how well the Jews under her command fight. She begins developing a grudging admiration for them.

in 1960, Spanish actor Antonio Banderas is born in Malaga, Spain. An international superstar famed for his smoldering sexuality, Banderas attempted to bring this success to American film, but didn’t translate well, and never took off in Hollywood.

in 1968, the investigation into Governor Schoemann’s death in the New Reich’s Chinese Protectorate uncovers a puzzling fact – Governor Schoemann had met with his twin prior to the suicide. His secretary saw the man; security cameras recorded him, and his exact likeness with Governor Schoemann was obvious. However, Governor Schoemann was an only child, according to all their records. Gestapo investigators were baffled by this.

in 1975, David Frost interviews President Richard Nixon the day after the last state’s vote to ratify the 27th Amendment, repealing the 2-term limit on the presidency. When Frost asks him how he felt about this Amendment, which had been pushed through in order to allow him to run for a 3rd term, Nixon replied, “It was the first time I cried since Eisenhower died.”

in 2002, Sylvie Gerard spirits her newborn daughter out of Jesu, France moments before Templars of the Holy British Empire arrive and begin slaughtering all the newborns. For forty days and nights, she wanders the French countryside, seeking refuge from the Pope’s edict.

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

The Choice To Stand

The state of TIAH

March 18th, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: Our Guest Historian, Stephen Payne, suggested that it was time for a contest, so we're going to have an April Fool's Day Contest! Email us up to 3 entries for an alternate April 1st and we will post the best 10, with your own credit and link to your website (if you have one). My lovely Co-Historian says that if we can get 30 entrants, we can offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we only have 2 entrants so far! Get researching those alternate histories now, folks! The deadline is March 29th.

in 1834, the Friendly Society of Agricultural Laborers, a non-violent union formed merely to encourage English farm workers to hold out for a living wage, is charged with violating a law against naval mutiny, and 6 of its leaders are rounded up for deportation to an Australian penal colony. The other FSAL members, outraged at the absurdity of the charge, gather at the courthouse where the men are held and smash the building to pieces. The magistrate in charge of carrying out the order is beaten severely by the mob and then burned alive. When the military is called out to restore order, the majority of them switch sides and join the FSAL. Before the summer, all of the English southern coast is in rebellion, and overtures of assistance to the crown are made by France and Prussia. King William refuses foreign aid, declaring, “England shall not cry for aid merely because some rabble threaten a village or two.” By the fall, though, the FSAL sacks London, capturing King William and several of his cousins and putting them to death. A frightened Parliament strikes a deal with the FSAL – they will abolish the nobility, in exchange for the retention of power. They also agree to full elections the following year, with a regular election schedule to follow. George Loveless, leader of the FSAL, is voted Prime Minister by the cowed MPs, and the nervous former farmer begins the work of reorganizing one of the most powerful empires in Europe along more democratic lines. He battles rebellious former nobles and the machinations of royalists and foreign powers for 10 years as the leader of England and hands off a thriving, growing democracy to his successor. “I merely wanted the ability to make a living as a farmer,” he says as he exits public life. “But when the great powers of the world are aligned against you, you must either stand as a free man, or bow as a slave. I believe that the world is better for our choice to stand.”

Mayan Officer	In 1988 a Boeing 727 jet liner operated by the national airline of Colombia, Avianca almost crashed into the side of the mountains at Cúcuta near the Venezuelan border. The spiritual beings on the mountain took the corrective action required to prevent the death of of the 7 crew and 136 passengers aboard. The form of that ..
.. action later became apparent; when the Boeing set down in Cartagena-Rafael Nunez Airport, the survivors were greeted by partially dressed flight traffic officers of the Mayan Empire.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1922 in India Mohandas Gandhi is found guilty of civil disobedience and sentenced to six years in prison where he dies. The consequent rebellion dissolves the British Raj. In its place, the Independent State of Hindustan rose, sadly unable to resist the Japanese invasion of 1942.	Gandhi
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Oil Embargo Cri..	In 1974 the Oil crisis concluded when most OPEC nations ended a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan. The price of the settlement was massive western investment in the new State of Palestine which was emerging from the Ramadan War known to the defeated Jewish Nation as either Yom Kippur War or simply 'The Catastrophe'.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1913 King George I of Greece was assassinated in the recently liberated city of Thessaloniki. As the first monarch of the new Greek dynasty, his 50-year reign was characterized by territorial gain and political coming-of-age as Greece established her place in pre-war Europe. On 9 November 1912, Greek forces annexed the ..	George I
.. second largest Greek city of Salonika and just a few days later, King George rode in triumph through the streets. Just as he did in Athens, the King went about Salonika without any meaningful protection force. While out on an afternoon walk near the White Tower, he was shot at close range in the back by Alexandros Schinas. Schinas was tortured in prison, confessed that he was a Turkish agent and six weeks later fell to his death from a police station window. Outraged, the Greek Government and her allies in the Balkan League (Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria) declared war on Turkey initiating a series of diplomatic disasters and misadventures that would lead to the outbreak of First World War.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Happy Father's Day!

Today In Alternate History

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The Announcement

Alternate Historian's Note: Happy Father's Day to all our readers out there who are male and have produced progeny! That includes your humble historian as well as his talented contributor, Steve, and I'm sure that we both will be showered with praise by our loving families today, right? That's what we all get on Father's Day, after all. What do you mean you need me to do some work around the Academy...?

in 1891, with the surrender of Topeka and the murder of 'Sockless' Jerry Simpson, General Theodore Monteith declares an amnesty for all the Kansas rebels who will turn themselves in during the coming week. Since the previous governor is dead, Monteith appoints Thaddeus Elridge, an erstwhile Farmers Councilor who had switched sides at the end of the conflict, political liaison between his forces and the Kansans. Elridge makes a quick round of the state, tamping down the fires of rebellion that he had so recently stoked, and reducing the fighting to a few scattered pockets here and there. As this day winds to a close, General Monteith hosts Lt. Colonel Mark Wainwright at the governor's mansion. “Much better than last time you were here, eh, Mark?” Wainwright had to agree. “No one's pointing a gun at me this time, sir.” The leaders of the Union expeditionary forces went to sleep that night, secure in the knowledge that they had at last quelled the Kansas Rebellion.

in 1999, the staff at the hospital where King Arthur II is being cared for notify Queen Gwen that the king is showing signs of coming out of his coma. “Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much,” she tells them tearfully on the phone. Once she hangs up, though, her expression hardens. She calls Sir Lance du Lac and orders him to return to London. “There is a task that must be done, my loyal knight, and you are the only one who can do it.”

In 2008, the Champion returned to Earth with Innocent Valentine Michael Smith onboard. During the journey, two thoughts filled Captain Von Tromp's mind. Smith was fabulously wealthy. As the sole survivor of the founding colony, he owned the real estate of planet Mars; also the patent revenues from the pioneering work of his mother Mary Jane Lyle Smith were huge – she had invented the very drive that enabled the crew to race back in just eighteen days. If the Old Ones of Mars destroyed the Earth it scarcely matter. What mattered was whether a Martian called Smith could invite the combatants of the Second Gulf War to share a water ritual. To become water brothers, to grok each other.

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

In 1980, scientists at the Atlanta Plague Center made a breakthrough with the perfectly healty patient Stuart Redmond, nicknamed "East Texas". Stu was naturally immune to the superflu known as "Captain Trips". Now the scientific community knew why Stu was still eating Breakfast Tacos and his buddies from Arnette were all dead.

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

In 1971, the Osmonds appeared on The Andy Williams Show. Before singing “Two Bad Apples”, Donny Osmond was asked the million dollar question by Williams, about the inclusion in the band of the two older Osmond brothers – who were both born deaf. Donny said sincerely that it was true that neither Virl or Tom could contribute much musically, yet the other six brothers loved them too much to exclude them from their success. In fact, the choice of the song title “Two Bad Apples” poked fun at record producers who had encouraged the brothers to stick with a reduced line-up of six, comprising Alan, Melvin, Merril, Jay, Donny and Jimmy. Williams smiled broadly when Donny told him that He who troubles his own house inherits the wind; he understood, he really did.

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

European Grapev..	In 1760, non-caucasoids understood that the healthful properties of grapes came from the seeds themselves. Using the sap of grapevines, folk healers cured skin and eye diseases. Another historical use includes the leaves being used to stop bleeding, pain and inflammation. For treating sore throats unripe grapes were used, ..
.. raisins were given as treatments for consumption (tuberculosis), constipation and thirst. For the treatment of cancer, cholera, smallpox, nausea, skin and eye infections as well as kidney and liver diseases, ripe grapes were used. Twenty-fourth century research into resveratrol, a chemical found in grape skins, identified a tool against cardiovascular disease, cancer and aging, had begun to back up some of the assertions of the non-caucasoids folk healers of the pre-pandemic epoch. The research said, "Resveratrol has been shown to modulate the metabolism of lipids, and to inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and the aggregation of platelets." Today in the twenty-fifth century, grape seed oil, from the crushed seeds are used for its perceived wide range of health benefits.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, a very nervous Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King received the alarming news that former British Prime Minister has arrived in Canada for medical attention. Chamberlain carried a communique of greetings from Jan Smuts in which the General indicated that the Fuehrer himself had approved the transatlantic ..	McKenzie King
.. flight. This of course contradicted a telegram from the Fuehrer himself, that communique stated that Chamberlains' entry into Canada would be considered an act of war by Nazi Germany and would invite immediate action from the Kriegsmarine currently moored off the east coast.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Watergate Compl..	In 1972, five well dressed men were arrested at 2:30 a.m. in the process of planting surveillance bugs at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate Hotel. US President Robert F Kennedy's conspiracy to prevent the election of arch-rival Richard M Nixon was about to be exposed. Tricky Dicky cannot let the ..
.. Kennedys cheat him out of the White House twice.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1940, Nazi Deputy Rudolf Hess was privately distressed by the war with Britain, as indeed was confidante Joseph Goebbels. Hess hoped to score a stunning diplomatic victory by sealing a peace between the Reich and Britain. Hess therefore organised a flight to Britain to meet the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon and Aleister ..	Rudolph Hess
.. Crowley, aka “The Beast”, “The Man We Would Most Like to Hang” and "The Wickedest Man In the World” inter alia at the latter's residence by Loch Ness. He would parachute from his Messerschmitt Bf 110 and engage in immediate peace talks with this pro-German circle.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Changes

In 1989, in the climactic scene in an old cemetery, the Warlock (having collected the final set of pages) assembled the Grand Grimoire learning the name of God - the backwards utterance of which will lead to the uncreation of the world. The witch-hunter Giles Redferne discovers that the mysterious figure who propelled them into 20th Century Los Angeles was Immanuel. God, seeing the wickedness which had entered man's heart, was saddened, and decided to undo creation to destroy mankind.

Pursuit

Sir Robert Hart	"In fifty years time there will be millions of Boxers in serried ranks and war's panoply at the call of the Chinese Government." ~ Sir Robert Hart, British Colonial administrator, anticipating Maoist chauvinism in 1901. When China turned against the West during the Righteous and Harmonious Society Uprising known to Europeans as the Boxer Rebellion. General Douglas MacArthur had other plans, escalating the Korean War by deploying nuclear and biological weapons in Manchuria during 1953.
Colonial Administrator

By defeating both Japan and China, “Brass Hat” ensured American hegemony in south-east Asia. There was he contended “no substitute for victory”. A synopsis of the Boxer Rebellion is provided at Wikipedia

Thalmus Rasulal..	In 1976/1767, the actor Thalmus Rasulala dreams of a great river running into a bay. African Americans are brought from a ship LORD LIGONIER in chains, and Rasulala is distressed to see Alex Haley amongst them. The author looks at him in misery and says HELP ME. The actor awakes, and packs his bags. He will must go to this place and find his brother, once he has discovered the entry port for the LORD LIGONIER.

In 2002, scientists investigated a significant fresh impact crater in a remote part of Siberia. The cause was presumed to have been caused by meteoroid or perhaps a 50-100m comet nucleus. Kosmopoisk sent an expedition in May 2003 led by V. Chernobrov which reached the presumed impact point about 50 km from Vitimsky settle point. The situation there looked similar to that of the Tunguska river after the Tunguska event in 1908. Snow and water samples were analysed and found to contain an abnormal amount of tritium, as well as radioactive isotopes of cobalt and caesium. The led a trail to the actual settle point, where they discovered a scene straight out of H.P. Lovecraft's novel the Old Ones.	Vitim Event

T.E. Lawrence	In 1940, Commander of the British Eighth Army Colonel T.E. Lawrence arrived in North Africa where he defeated Rommel's Afrika Corps and Italian allies. This incredible story is recounted in the semi-factual book Loose Cannon. The essence of Susan Shwartz's masterpiece is the book within the book, 'The Sphinx Lies Heavy' in which Lawrence does not survive his 1935 motorcycle accident. Instead the incompetent Command Claude Auchenlech is defeated and the Wehrmacht cross the Suez Canal to link up with Operation Barbarossa.

In 1992, George Zebrowski published Let Time Shape. The counter-factual masterpiece examines the possibilities of Columbus finding the Turtle Island populated by indigenous first nation Americans and not the technologically sophisticated descendants of refugees from Carthage. However, there is twist; the indigenes carry a lethal cocktail of diseases that wipe out the budding European colonists.	Columbus

A New Israel

The state of TIAH

March 31st, 2007

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Alternate Historian's Note: I promised you a collection, and we are working on it – but real life is getting in the way. Fortunately, the worst part of the real-life problems we were having has been resolved. I have found new employment (yay!). We're going to aim for an April release for the collection, and will make more announcements about it as we draw closer to actually making that a reality. And, speaking of April, the results of our April Fool's Day Contest will be appearing in tomorrow's post! If you are one of our entrants and didn't send us your own credit and link to your website (if you have one), please do so today! We didn't reach the 30 entrants my lovely Co-Historian said were necessary to offer an ultimate winner a complimentary TIAH mug, but we will give you your own Guest Historian status on the post. If we don't get your info, though, we can't give you a plug.

in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain announce the ejection of all Jews from their kingdom. Those Jews influential enough to buy their way into a meeting with the royal couple manage to delay the execution of this order while the Chosen of Spain find a new home. An Italian adventurer, Christopher Columbus, approaches these men and tells them of a westward route to India he has discovered, with promises of new lands that they can settle in without prejudice. They finance his expedition across the Atlantic, from which he returns a few months later with news of a tropical paradise. Impoverishing themselves, the Jewish exiles arrange for an armada to carry themselves across the ocean to this paradise that Columbus has told them of. Many perish on the way, but a substantial colony lands on the southern coast of the great continent that Columbus has found the route to. They begin forging a new life in the Indian Israel, in the great city they name New Jerusalem. It is over a decade later that they learn they are not, in fact, in India, but on a continent untouched by the Europeans that had tormented them for centuries. The New Jerusalemites throw open their land to all who would escape the oppression that they fled from, and Israel is reborn on the shores of the land now known as America.

in 1998, Arthur Pendrake begins speaking at rallies in the English countryside about the German nature of the current occupants of the kingdom's throne. He also claims to be a descendant of the true kings of Britain, and tens of thousands flock to his banner. In the summer, he has so many followers that the worried Prime Minister, Oliver Pembroke, sends out troops to quell what he sees as a minor rebellion. This proves to be a mistake, as the “minor” rebellion breaks into a major one. Pendrake's thousands of followers become millions, and he overthrows both Parliament and the Queen, installing himself as the True King of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Lord Louis Moun..	In 1972 Interim Prime Minister Lord Louis Mountbatten telephoned US President Omar Bradley to indicate qualified interest in Bradley's proposals for Anglo-American Union. Aware that Britain had been locked in negotiations with Brigadier General Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle over membership of European Economic Community, ..
.. the US President sensed Mountbatten had received a rejection from the French. He was not too surprised, he himself had barely treated de Gaulle with respect during Operation Torch.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1986 a Mexicana Boeing 727 en route to Puerto Vallarta erupted in flames and crashed in the mountains north-west of Mexico City, killing 101. The 61 survivors were greatly relieved when they saw a rescue party approaching the crash suite, clearly alarmed by the column of smoke issuing from the ruined plane. Relief turned ..	Aztec Warriors
.. to fear when the rescue party got a whole lot closer, it was composed of aggressive looking Aztec warriors.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Mohammed Ali	In 1968 President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for re-election. He said that his health had suffered immensely from the personal attacks on his leadership, which was disrespectful and ungrateful given that he had been chosen by fate to willingly serve the nation. This was a rather duplicitous reference to the ..
.. assassination of John F Kennedy which he himself had ordered to escape the scandals threatening his Vice Presidency; he needed the President to gain an amnesty from legal actions. With regard to the personal attacks, they related to the Vietnam conflict which of course Johnson had himself escalated by lying about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Most recently those attacks had been from Mohammed Ali who had baited him from the White House lawn in a reprise of his mind game he successfully played on Sonny Liston before the 1964 World Championship fight.
~ entry by Steve Payne from counter history in context - you're the judge!

In 1917 on this day the Bolshevik Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov "Lenin" was travelling across Eastern Germany in a sealed train with ready-to-go plans for Red October. The sealing of the train was absolutely necessary and a very sensible precaution by the German Government. Lenin would most likely have fed on the crew. And he could not face sunlight, being a vampire.	Vladimir Lenin
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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Announcement

The state of TIAH

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Alternate Historian's Note: Thanks for your patience waiting for today's post. I wanted to wait until after the anniversary for this announcement, because I wanted to give our anniversary posters all the attention they deserve. I know that I've hit you all with change-of-direction announcements before, so you're probably blasé about it by now. But, there is going to be a change in the direction of the site – mainly, with my contributions to it. I began this site thinking I would just use it as a place to jot story ideas, flesh out plots and characters, and possibly serialize long work. Instead, through the success of the format I initially chose, I've become the History Channel's illegitimate love child. While I enjoy writing alternate history, I never intended it to become all that I wrote. Unfortunately, because the only time that I have to write is used to put together the posts I co-write (Steve truly deserves credit as a Co-Historian), I have been unable to write anything else, except for the annual NaNoWriMo challenges, and even those were flavored by appearing on TIAH.
So, here's the deal – I'm going to finish the two timelines I'm currently writing (the Kansas Rebellion and The Return Of Arthur), which will probably take me to the end of June. From then until he decides he doesn't want it to appear here anymore, Steve's work will fulfill the alternate history quota for this site. My part of the site will be whatever I am currently writing – could be science fiction, could be fantasy, could be opinion, could even be alternate history – but it won't be in the standard format unless I get a hankerin' to write in the old style again.
I'm not going away. I even remember that I promised you a compilation of some of the site's more coherent timelines, and I'm going to use this time to work on that, too. Things are going to be different, though, and I want you all to know and have a chance to comment on them before they change. Our readers have been a big part of TIAH since the beginning, and I want to know what you think. Email me, leave a comment, write an insulting note on your own blog – whatever it takes to let us know what you think.
If you guys decide the site's no longer what you enjoy reading, then thanks for your patronage in the past, and I hope you'll look for my work (and Steve's) in the future, either on Lulu or (hopefully) in a bookstore near you. It's been a great 3 years – and I still look forward to Today each tomorrow.

May 29th, 2007

in 1891, 25,000 Union solders strike out from Concordia, Kansas in the direction of Topeka. General Theodore Monteith is at the head of the massive column of men, and he and his right-hand man, newly-promoted Lt. Colonel Mark Wainwright, have a sense of the inevitability of their final victory. Unfortunately for them, almost 50,000 Kansan volunteers are making their way towards Topeka, too, in a race to save the leaders of their rebellion from defeat.

in 1999, Doctor Archibald Mordred, the psychiatrist that King Arthur II is seeing at the behest of his queen, prescribes an experimental drug to His Majesty. “I believe that you suffer from a small chemical imbalance, sire,” the young doctor says to Arthur. “With this new drug, you will again have the confidence that led you to the throne in the first place. You will have the clear vision that will lead Great Britain to its rightful place as first among nations.” King Arthur, wary of medications after many years of Merl's admonitions against them, completely changes his mind after the first dose of the Brightol that Dr. Mordred gives him. He really does feel more his old self, and throws himself into the war and the task of governing his kingdom as if he were a man ten years younger.

Jack Ruby	"[To Earl Warren] Well, you won't see me again. I tell you that a whole new form of government is going to take over the country, and I know I won't live to see you another time" ~ Jack Ruby
Assassin

After he had ushered in a whole new system of government by preventing Lee Harvey Oswald from demonstrating his innocence, which would have revealed the CIA plot to kill Kennedy. The Wikipedia profile of Jack Ruby is available at Wikipedia

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

In 1919, Uncle Alf wrote - My very dearest and most beloved sweet Geli, Hail victory! The Quartermaster General has written to me from Sweden; Germany will recover from our stab-in-the-back. The Norse Gods have brought General Ludendorff into their confidence. The strange men who burst into the ward and injected your Uncle with the madness of lycanthropy are his agents! With much love, I remain your Uncle Alf.

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

Marshall	In 1947, US President Harry S Truman spoke candidly with the Joint Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff General of the Army George Catlett Marshall, Jr., US Army. The plan for Operation Overlord2 was to spring the eight divisions from the Caves at Hamelin and launch a surprise attack on the Fuehrer in Berlin. The old team was ..
.. back together again for D-Day2, General Dwight David Eisenhower, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay and Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay. And more significantly, Montgomery's glamour and the vial formerly owned by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Roosevelt had said that he could not sleep when Marshall was out of Washington, and he was right : Marshall was an absolute brick. Did he believe in the plan, enquired Truman. Hell, yes! replied Marshall.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, the security situation in the capital and major cities of Great Britain and Europe deteriorated very rapidly. The British Army stalled at the repressive measures ordered by the coup leaders. In Whitehall, labour movement leaders stood on top of tanks which refused to intimidate the protesters. The coup leaders called ..	Tank Protests
.. a meeting for that very evening. From outside they could hear the protests. To shut out the noise, far too much alcohol was drunk. Some insane orders were issued, then changed, then re-issued. It was madness.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Porsche 928	In 2001, he hung up without saying goodbye and replaced the telephone carefully back in the cradle. His boss had received the report dispassionately and his job was done. It was a quarter of midnight as he entered the car park and started the car.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian agreement called Ausgleich ("the Compromise") was born through Act 12, which established the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a dual monarchy; on June 8 Emperor Francis Joseph was crowned King of Hungary. The logic of shared sovereignty saved the Austrians, and by the second decade of the twentieth ..	Austro-Hungary ..
.. century the Habsburgs were ascendant. Just about the only nation that were not represented in the polity were the Jews who were considered non-citizens. Anti-semitism peaked during the 1930s under the dynamic and aggressive Chancellorship of Adolf Schicklegruber as he established the modern Mittle-Europa.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

May 30th, 2007

in 1891, Union scouts return to General Theodore Monteith with reports of massive troop movements along the Kansas borders. “They know where we're headed, Mark,” he says to his aide, Lt. Colonel Mark Wainwright. “And, damned if they aren't going to fight us for it. You know what this means, don't you?” Colonel Wainwright nods and says, “Plan B.”

in 1999, King Arthur II joins his prime minister, Kay Ector, on a mission to New Zealand to convince the island nation to contribute aid to the war effort. The presence of the king in the British delegation sways New Zealand's parliament, and they throw all of the resources they can spare into helping oust the last remnants of the Central European Empire's stranglehold on the world. The Kiwi troops join Sir Lance du Lac's Round Table Corps, and become the spearhead for clearing out the CEE's Asian possessions.

Douglas MacArthur	"By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder--infinitely prouder--to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life. And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, 'Our Father who art in heaven.'" ~ Douglas MacArthur
General

Before deploying super-weapons on the Korean Peninsula. Bacteriological weapons from Unit 731 had been surrendered to MacArthur in 1945 to secure the amnesty of the Japanese scientists against trial for the extermination of 200,000 Chinese citizens during World War II. These were used alongside the hydrogen bomb in order to re-unite the Peninsula and retain American hegemony over south-east Asia. The Wikipedia entry on Unit 731 is available at Wikipedia

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

In 1919, Uncle Alf wrote - Dear lovely Geli, So good to hear from you at last! When I got your letter, I first and foremost kissed the postage stamp, knowing it had touched your sweet lips but two days before. Hail victory! General Ludendorff has departed Sweden and will meet your Uncle Alf in Munich; together we will lead a German recovery from our stab-in-the-back - the Norse Gods have assured us. I remain your Uncle Alf.

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

Guderian	In 1947, General Hans Guderian spoke privately with the US President. 'I understand everything, but this' says Harry S Truman. Why did you come to America after you've won? Guderian replies, I had no choice, no choice at all. The vial started to incant Christabel. 'I don't understand says Truman..'
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1989, on this day occurred the final act of the fall of the House of Stuart. Lieutenant-General Sir Peter de la Billiere arrived at Downing Street with a splitting hangover headache. Number 10 was strangely quiet. He entered the Cabinet Office to find a beaming Peter Tatchell sitting behind his desk. The coup was over. ..	Peter Tatchell
.. The Republic was only just beginning.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

Car on fire	In 2001, he pulled out of the hotel car park onto the main road. It was still stiflingly hot as the electric window lowered; he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, starting to perspire. A motorbike shot past, then another, then two more. Brilliant lights flashed inside the car, he was blinded. He lost control. The car hit ..
.. a water hydrant and flipped over, caught fire, finally exploded.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

In 1995, the counter-history Napoleonic Options is published in paperback. The book contained detailed examinations by ten leading military each presenting different scenarios that might have changed the course of the American War of Independence. Perhaps the most controversial was James Lucas' Operation Whiff of ..	Napoleon Bonapa..
.. Grapeshot: Napoleon's European Strategy, in which the Little Corporal never fought in North America at all. The title was chosen from Bonaparte's clearing of the National Convention in Paris 1795 when he later boasted that he had cleared the streets with a "whiff of grapeshot" (musket balls fired in cloth bags from the cannon, a devastating anti-personnel munition), although the fighting had been vicious throughout Paris.
~ entry by Steve Payne from Counter History in Context - You're the Judge!

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