Okay, this isn't my favorite part. At the time, I found it to be an interesting twist. But looking back I'm not sure how realistic some of this was, and then what happens with Russia really sets me up for what I've termed as an "awkward ending" for this whole story. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.
PART VII: KENNEDY
FIGHTS RACISM AS SOVIETS DISAPPEAR
August 27, 1974:
Everything is moving very rapidly in regards to Alabama. The state government,
led by that fool Wallace, have continued to pledge unwavering defiance against
the Federal Government’s attempts at desegregation. Humphrey’s funeral was only
two days ago, and now I get word that Governor Wallace is planning more
outright defiance of the Racial Equality Act. We’ve got to do something, and
fast, or the situation might spiral further out of our control.
-Personal Diary of President Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.,
“Personal Documents of President Kennedy Jr.,” The Kennedy Institute, Boston,
MA.
ALABAMA CLOSES BORDERS TO FEDS
MONTGOMERY, SEP 1- Alabama Governor George Wallace today
declared a state of emergency along the state’s borders, and has dispatched the
Alabama National Guard to the border crossings along all major highways. From
what our correspondents in the state have learned through undisclosed sources
at the Alabama State House, the National Guardsmen are ordered not to allow any
federal official to cross into Alabama. Furthermore, Governor Wallace has given
a 72-hour notice to all officials of the Federal Government to leave the state.
The governor said this a press conference held at the Alabama Governor’s
Mansion: “This state will fight for the rights of all states in this Union, and
that is the right to govern themselves as they see fit, without interference
from the government in Washington. It is the duty of the Federal Government to
protect the many states from foreign invasion and to ensure that all the states
in this Union get along. It is NOT the right of the Federal Government to
dictate how the states should behave within their own borders. The sooner that
President Kennedy learns this lesson, the better it will be for all of us!”
As
of yet, the President nor any official in Washington has given any sort of
public response to Alabama’s actions, but the mood in the capital is tense, and
our sources at the White House have stated that the President has been in high
level meetings with his advisors since the announcement from Montgomery went
out over the wires.
-“Alabama Closes Borders to Feds,” The New York Times, September 1, 1974.
PETROGRAD BOMBED
PETROGRAD, SEP 3- Soviet terrorists exploded a bomb onboard
a crowded U-bahn train in Petrograd,
killing 84 people. The terror group, called the Soviet Russia Liberation Force,
stated that this was in retaliation for the Imperial Baltic acceptance of
refugees from the war-torn Soviet Union.
Czar
Vladimir I declared that “up until now, Free Russia and the Imperial Baltic
Federation had no interest in involving itself in the affairs of the
disintegrating Soviet Union. However, now that the violence from that country
has spread over into ours, claiming 84 innocent Russian lives, we must act.
That is why I am calling on the Imperial Duma to declare a state of war to
exist between us and the Central Russian Republic and the Socialist Republic of
the Ukraine. It is time to end this failed experiment in socialism one and for
all!” This was given to an address before the Imperial Duma, and broadcast live
on the Baltic Radio Network.
Troop
mobilization has begun in Russia, and it is expected that the Russian Army will
make a strike towards Moscow within the month. The Imperial Baltic Federation
has also requested that Poland and Germany give assistance in bringing down the
“decaying Soviet states”. So far, neither nation has given any statement as to
whether or not they will support the IBF’s invasion of the Soviet States.
-“Petrograd Bombed,” Frankfurter
Zeitung, September 3, 1974.
SHOWDOWN IN MONTGOMERY
MONTGOMERY, SEP 4- In Alabama's state capital a showdown is
fast approaching as the 72-hour “eviction” notice for all Federal officials
expires at noon. At the Federal Building on Church St., the employees are still
at their posts. We have been told that President Kennedy ordered the officials
in Montgomery to stand their ground. Outside the building, the Montgomery
Police Department has closed off the road, and members of the Alabama National
Guard are poised outside, supposedly to go in and evict the officials at noon.
Governor Wallace has stated “the Federal officials here in Montgomery have
known about the deadline since the first. Since they’ve chosen to ignore our
orders, we will remove them by force.”
The
White House issued a statement this morning that if any member of the Alabama
National Guard or other Alabama law enforcement official were to cause harm to
any Federal official, that army units from surrounding states would be called
in to deal with the problem.
-“Showdown in Montgomery,” The Washington Post, September 4, 1974.
CIVIL UNREST IN AMERICA
WASHINGTON, SEP 5- U.S. government officials have confirmed
that rebels in the state of Alabama have opened fire on the U.S. Federal
building in that state’s capital, Montgomery. According to a statement issued
by the White House this morning, “members of the Alabama National Guard stormed
the Church Street Federal Building in Montgomery Alabama shortly after 12:00
p.m. on September 4, 1974. The Guardsmen forced all Federal Officials in the
building to leave. When some refused, the Guardsmen opened fire. When those
outside heard the gunshots, more Guardsmen entered the building, guns blazing.
It is currently estimated that over 100 people were killed in the massacre,
most of which were civilian employees of the Federal Government.”
In
response to this attack on the Church Street Federal Building, President
Kennedy has ordered that the nationalization of the Tennessee, Georgia, and
Florida National Guards, and has called out regular U.S. Army troops. These
armed forces are massing on the Alabama border, and are preparing for what
looks like an all out invasion of the state. The U.S. Navy has been deployed in
the Gulf Coast, to blockade the Port of Mobile, and several U.S. Navy airships
have been deployed, flying over Mobile, Montgomery, and Birmingham. Loudspeakers
aboard the airships are calling on the state’s citizens to ignore the orders
being given by Alabama’s Governor, George Wallace.
In
a televised address to the nation, President Kennedy told the American people
that the Alabama State Government had 24 hours to resign and allow Federal
troops to come in and pacify the area, or face forceful removal from office.
This
crisis started after the passage of the Racial Equality Act, which is supposed
to bring about the end of racial segregation in the United States.
-“Civil Unrest in America,” The Times (London), September 5, 1974.
VON BRAUN DIES
PEENEMÜNDE,
GERMANY, OCT 9- Officials at the Imperial Rocket Force Command in Peenemünde,
Germany, have confirmed that the famed Dr. Wherner von Braun has died from
complications due to pancreatic cancer. Dr. von Braun was the head of the
design team at the IRF, and was responsible for most of the recent rocket
designs used by the space agency.
Kaiser
Louis Ferninand has declared a period of mourning throughout the German Empire,
and it is expected that Dr. von Braun will receive a state funeral in Berlin.
This
new development is just the latest in a line of recent setbacks endured by the
German space program, after the terrible loss of the A-19 rocket in May of this
year, which has postponed the German’s goal of going to Mars before 1980. The
A-19 rocket had been deemed a failure by Dr. von Braun, and his team was still
in the early stages of design on the new A-20 rocket when the scientist
collapsed a week ago and was sent to the Peenemünde Military Hospital.
-“Von Braun Dies,” The
Times (London), October 20, 1974.
What is sometimes referred to as the “Alabama War” was the
worst point for the Racial Equality Movement in the United States. Alabama
Governor George Wallace declared via the radio that “Alabama no longer
recognizes the legitimacy of the Government in Washington, and will not do so
until the Racial Equality Act is repealed and President Kennedy, Jr., resigns.”
So, at 7:00 p.m. on September 5, 1974, U.S. Army and Navy troops “invaded” the
State of Alabama. The U.S. Navy blockaded the Port of Mobile, and fired on 7
different ships that tried to attack the blockade ships. The U.S. Navy’s
airships served as scouts as the U.S. Army poured in from Alabama’s three
landlocked borders.
The
U.S. Air Force bombarded the National Guard Armory in Montgomery while Army
troops headed towards the state capital. As dawn rose on September 6, the City
of Birmingham had declared its
loyalty to the Federal Government, and became the base of operations for the
U.S. Army in Alabama. By the end of September 6, Mobile was in Federal hands as
well, after the U.S. Marines landed and took over the city. On September 8, the
Air Force began to bomb the Alabama state government offices in Montgomery,
including the Alabama State House and the Alabama Governor’s Mansion, along
with other key strategic points in the city. On September 9, Federal troops
began the so called Battle of Montgomery, which lasted until the early hours of
September 10, when the Alabamans surrendered after Governor Wallace took his
own life in the ruins of the Alabama Governor’s Mansion. On September 12, the
last pockets of resistance to the Federal authorities had surrendered, and
President Kennedy signed an executive order placing the State of Alabama under
Martial Law until a new state constitution could be written and a new state
government could be established.
The
1974 Alabama Constitutional Convention met in Birmingham from October 1, 1974
until November 21, 1974. The new constitution guaranteed equal rights for all
the citizens of Alabama, and specifically banned the practice of segregation in
the state. Another important clause was that the new document banned anyone who
had taken part in “Wallace’s Rebellion” from holding office in the State of
Alabama. In April of 1975, special elections were held to choose the new state
Governor and the new state legislature. Thomas Whistler, the Mayor of
Birmingham who had been against Wallace, became the new governor. Birmingham
officially became the state capital when the legislature passed the New Capital
Act on August 1, 1975.
After
the uprising in Alabama, and the huge show of force from the Federal
Government, the rest of the south knew that the Kennedy administration meant
business. By the end of 1974, every state but Mississippi and Louisiana had
passed equality laws, and those two states did so by February of 1975. Racial
Equality was now the law throughout the United States. In most places,
integration went fairly smoothly, with a few minor riots in Mississippi and
Louisiana at the start of the 1976 school year.
The
Movement gained even more prominence in 1977, when the reelected President
Kennedy made Martin Luther King, Jr. the Secretary of the Interior.
-Macon, Dr. Allen. Equality
and America. Atlanta: Southeast Dixie Press, 1998.
IMPERIAL ARMY SMASHES INTO KREMLIN
MOSCOW, NOV 19- The Imperial Baltic Army has taken the
Kremlin. Moving swiftly, the Imperial Army was able to defeat what remained of
the Red Army of the Central Russian Republic within just a few short months.
The remnant of the CRR government was captured as units of the Imperial Army
took the Kremlin, and a cease-fire has been signed. It is expected that the
“Russian War” will be coming to a close. We have learned from sources in
Petrograd that the Imperial government has also called for a cease-fire with
the Socialist Republic of Ukraine, and that is expected to go into effect
within a day or so.
-“Imperial Army Smashes Into Kremlin,” Berliner Morgenpost, November 20, 1974.
The
Imperial Baltic Army took Moscow on November 19, 1974. On that day, the hammer
and sickle of the Soviet state came down from the Kremlin, and the double eagle
of the restored Russian monarchy took its place, for the first time in 57
years. Communism in Russia was finished for good. On November 22, a cease-fire
was signed with the Socialist Republic of Ukraine, ending the fighting of the
Russian War of 1974. On January 1, 1975, delegations from the Imperial Baltic
Federation, the former Central Russian Republic, the Socialist Republic of
Ukraine, and the Vladivostok Democratic Republic met in Warsaw, Poland, to
discuss the permanent dissolution of the former Soviet Union.
Imperial
Russia wanted to take back all lands of the former Russian Empire that had been
in Soviet hands after the Polish War. However, the IBF had failed to defeat the
Ukrainians, who were demanding independence to “form a true Socialist Republic
based on Marx, not on Stalin and Lenin.” And the Vladivostokians wanted
independence as well, arguing that “the old Russian Empire was just to vast to
make administration truly effective, and we would do much better operating on
our own.” And the CRR delegation argued, most unsuccessfully, that after nearly
six decades without a monarchy, their portion of the Soviet Union would not
likely wish to be back under such a “counter-revolutionary system.”
On
February 12, 1975, after many days of heated debates, all the parties signed
the Warsaw Treaty, formally ending the Russian War and dissolving the Soviet
Union. In the document, the Imperial Baltic Federation formally recognized the
independence of the Socialist Republic of Ukraine and the Vladivostok
Democratic Republic. The rest of the Soviet Union was to be incorporated into
the Imperial Baltic Federation, as 2 separate Imperial states, Muscovy and
Siberia, separate from Russia.
However,
the trouble was not over for this region. In 1979, a revolution began in the
territory of Georgia, part of the Imperial State of Muscovy. The Georgians
demanded independence from the IBF. Soon, other non-Russian nationalities
demanded their independence. The issue was resolved the Volvograd agreement,
which gave independence to 9 different states in the Caucuses and Central Asia.
The breakup of the former Soviet Empire was complete.
- Plaks, Dr. Jeffry, History
of the Baltic Empire, Cambrigde, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991.
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