The Airship Legacy - Part 12

Click here for Part 11

PART XII: REBIRTH IN THE SKIES, GROWTH ON THE MOON, ARRIVAL ON MARS, AND OTHER MARVELS

            At the close of the 1970s, it was becoming obvious to those in charge of ZGI, BAW and CAW that the jetliner would eventually become more practical form of passenger air travel, simply due to the increased speed of the jetliners. At a special industry meeting in Friedrichshafen in 1979, they all agreed that they should start pushing cargo shipping via airship, along with tourism and research, and move away from relying solely on passenger carrying like they had in the past.

            One of the biggest saviors of the British airship industry was the outbreak of the Iran War, and the expansion of the powers of the Central Security Police. Prior to this, the fascist government in the United Kingdom had been less than supportive of the airship industry, and had made repeated cuts to the research budget for BAW, and had been downsizing the British Naval Airship Corps. When Mosley and the BUF first took power, there had been serious discussion by the government of closing down the BAW. Mosley considered the airship an “un-British” invention, and supported early research into jet engines for civilian and military use. However, in 1969, as the powers of the Central Security Police began to expand, it was pointed out that the airship could be used to monitor the populace from the air, so Mosley and his cohorts let up on their anti-airship agenda, and ordered a whole new class of airship be built by the BAW for the Central Security Police.

By 1978, there had been serious talk of disbanding the Naval Airship Corps altogether, but these ideas were swept aside after war broke out in Iran. The military soon realized that the naval airships made ideal scouts for the army, as well as for launching fighter aircraft close to the enemy. And since the Iranians had no real air force to speak of, the airships were almost immune to enemy attack, except when landing and taking off. In 1981, the British government actually ordered the expansion of the airship corps, and the Royal Army also began use of airships to haul cargo and personnel to the battle zones.

The American airship program also benefited from the Iran War, with an expansion of the US Naval Airship Fleets, and 40 new cargo airships for the Army. This exposed a whole new generation to the importance of the Airship program for the military, and boosted the interests of many young boys who saw the airships flying overhead, just like it had in the 1930s. It also helped that President Bush was a big supporter of the airship program, and refused to fly by jet plane. The completion of the USS Eagle II in 1986 helped boost the image of the airship even further. The Eagle II was the most sophisticated airship when it was launched. The president could literally run the country from the air, thanks to satellite communication technology that had never made it’s way to the ship’s predecessor, which became a museum in 1987. The ship had modern radar, computers that could communicate with the nation’s budding military computer network, along with the ability for reporters to broadcast live from the ship. PanAm quickly converted this new model, called the Golden Eagle Class, for civilian use on the major transatlantic routes, replacing several older classes of Goodyear-Zeppelin airships.

-Anderson, Dr. Alexander. The Modern Zeppelin. New York: Colombia University Press: 2009.

GERMANS LAUNCH MARS ROCKET!

BERLIN, APRIL 1- The Imperial Government has confirmed that the Imperial Rocket Force’s Warner von Braun A-21 Rocket launched this morning from Peenemunde and has started it’s 7 month journey from Earth to Mars. On board the rocket are cosmonauts Heinrich Frank (brother to German actress Anne Frank), Otto Reichmann, Adolf Mueller, and Rudolph Schultz. This first mission, if successful will be followed up within a year or so with a larger mission to establish a more permanent presence on the Red Planet.

            The 77-year-old Kaiser Louis Ferdinand I declared in a televised address this morning that “The sacrifices of the past decade, and all the misfortunes the IRF have suffered, have today been set to rights. Today our brave cosmonauts are headed towards Mars, and will become the first human beings to set foot on another planet. We should all feel proud that our Empire has been able to bring about the technical and scientific expertise to make this expedition possible. To the men and women of the IRF, know that the entire German nation salutes you this day.” Germans from all walks of life seem very interested in this feat of science. In schools across the nation, teachers have left behind their normal lessons and are talking about space exploration, and many class rooms have set up bulletin boards to monitor the progress of the Warner von Braun rocket, which will be reporting in regularly with the IRF Control Center in Peenemunde.

            In Washington, President King congratulated the Germans in an official statement released by the White House. “Germany has embarked on a brave and impressive journey today, the likes of which have not truly been seen since Christopher Columbus set out to cross the Atlantic. The United States congratulates the German people and especially the scientists at Peenemunde, and I can honestly say that I will be closely following all developments concerning mankind’s first expedition to another world with much interest, and I look forward to seeing images coming from the Red Planet in November when the Warner von Braun reaches it’s destination, and also look forward to the day when our own cosmonauts will make the same journey.”

“Germans Launch Mars Rocket!” The New York Times, April 2, 1984.

            The entire world tuned in on November 2, 1984, when German cosmonaut Heinrich Frank became the first human being to set foot on the surface of Mars. The grainy image, suffering about a 10-minute delay, showed Frank and his other space explorers walk off the Mars Lander and make the first human footprints on Martian soil. As Frank walked forth from the craft and planted the German flag in the red soil of this new planet, he said “Like the countless explorers from centuries past, myself and my crewmates have come to Mars in search of it’s mysteries and secrets, its riches and resources, and above all, the chance to start a new way of life and enhance our understanding of this universe.” Millions of people from all over the planet watched as the cosmonauts explored the planet, and sent back daily video broadcasts that were carried on the air by not only the KDF in Germany, but by television stations in nearly every nation on Earth. Even in the United Kingdom, which was doing it’s best to play down the German’s achievement, had daily coverage. And just like when Rudolph Nollert stepped onto the surface of the moon twenty years before, a “space fever” swept through the West. In Germany, Britain, and the United States, every little boy (and many little girls) wanted to be a cosmonaut when they grew up.  When the three space explorers returned in early July 1985, they were greeted by their countrymen as heroes, and would tour Germany talking about Mars. The IRF would return to Mars in 1987 with a 35-person crew with the mission to set up a permanent settlement, which was named Von Braun Base.

            In 1989, the Germans would also join the United States on the moon with a permanent base called New Peenemunde. When the British launched the E-18 rocket and landed their first “astronauts” on the moon on June 11, 1990, it was decided that a formal agreement was needed to regulate moon exploration and territorial claims. In October of 1990, officials and scientists from the Untied States, Germany, and the United Kingdom met in Frankfurt to hammer out an agreement. On October 22, 1990, the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed, which divided up portions of the moon’s surface between the three countries, and left the rest under joint jurisdiction for the time being, with the option to give the remaining territory to one of the three countries or a new country in the future. At that point in time, there were nearly 2,000 Americans living on the moon, and nearly 450 Germans. The British would set up a permanent settlement in 1991.

            America would join the Germans on Mars in May of 1990, taking only 6 months to travel from Earth. The first American mission consisted of 50 cosmonauts, with orders to set up a permanent settlement on Mars. It had been six years since Germany had first traveled to the Red Planet, and there were nearly 500 Germans living on the surface when the 50 Americans arrived and founded New Philadelphia Base. Though the British would start a Mars Exploration Program, the unstable political climate of the 1990s would derail any attempt at placing the Union Jack on Mars, and when the BUF lost power at the end of that decade, funding for the British Space Agency was cut nearly in half, and it is unclear at this point whether or not the British will go to Mars anytime in the near future.

-Williams, Dr. Andrew, Space Exploration in the 21^st Century. New York: Random House Publishing. 2003.

           

            In 1983, in the midst of soaring gas prices that seemed to have no end in sight, Ford Motor Company announced that they would have a viable non-gasoline powered car ready for production by 1985. And they delivered. In 1985, FMC released the Ford Independence, a hydrogen/electric powered car. And working investors, Ford sponsored the creation of  Hydron Fuel Company, to set up hydrogen fuel stations throughout the United States. Within 5 years, GMC would release it’s own hydrogen powered car, and HFC had stations nearly coast to coast.

            Most environmentalists agree that the development of alternative fuel cars was the single good by-product of the Iran War. And it’s hard to argue with them. Today, nearly half of all cars on the road in the United States are hydrogen powered, and the trend is catching on worldwide. Several experts believe that, barring any unforeseen events, hydrogen-powered vehicles will completely replace their gas-powered counterparts by 2030, or 2050 at the latest.

-“The Power of the Sun under the Hood,” American Automotive, May 2005

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The First Thanksgiving - Part 2

The Captain called out commands to the warriors and other men in the area. He wanted them to secure the women and children. Then he called out to a few of his closest men that he trusted the most to follow him to the stream bank. He walked slowly, keeping his hands slightly raised and visible, and called out a greeting to the Pale Ones across the stream. They looked as frightened as the Captain felt, talking to themselves quickly and in hushed voices in a language that the Captain and his men found incomprehensible. Well, to most of them. One of this men, who had been his navigator on the voyage across the Great Sea, approached. 

"Captain, I recognize some of the words that these men are using. It sounds like the tongue used by the Priests from that strange sect in some of the towns in the Eastern Nations. I travelled there while I was a student at the Ten Nations School in the Capital."

"How could they possibly speak the same tongue as those back in our land?"

"The Priests in the Eastern Nations, they claim that some of their rites and rituals come from the Pale Ones that visited our shores centuries ago, and that they continued their legacy through their faith. The religion of the Eastern Nations is somewhat different from our own, and it could be because of the influence of these long ago Pale Ones that maybe came from this land?"

It was a crazy notion, but all the Captain had to go on.

"How much of this religious tongue to you know?"

"Some, enough maybe to make basic communication with these people."

That was enough for the Captain. He told his navigator to come with him as he stepped forward closer to the stream's edge. He told the man to translate for him, and began to call out to the Pale Ones. In short, concise sentences, he told natives that he and his people did not come to harm them, that they were peaceful settlers from across the Great Sea. The navigator struggled to make find the right words, but was able to get the point across.

"Captain, they say that they want no fight with us, that they only came to see what was going on here. They come from a village not too far away. They want to know if you are our leader and if you would be interested in meeting with theirs, apparently some sort of Priest-Chief." 

"Tell them yes I am, and yes I would, so long as I can bring some of my men with me."

The Pale Ones agreed. The Captain went back to the settlement to make some arrangements and to calm the people who were still hiding in the not-quite completed buildings. Then, the Captain, the navigator, the engineer, two warriors and one of the Priest's disciples crossed the stream and met up with the Pale Ones. 

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The party of Settlers and Pale Ones walked through the woods for a time, before coming to an old, partially overgrown dirt road that wrapped through the forrest. The Pale Ones motioned for the Settlers to follow them down this path. After an hour or so, the woods thinned out, and the Settlers looked out across green fields patched with woodlands, the landscape rolling gently up and down in small hills. in the distance, over the crest of a hill, the party could make out a plum of smoke rising into the sky.

"That is where their village is." the navigator said after the Pale Ones spoke to him. The Captain nodded, then asked, "See if you can find out what they call their village." After some back and forth between the navigator and the main Pale One who seemed to speak for the group, the navigator said, "They say their village is called 'Noopleamot.' They say it is the largest settlement in the region, with several hundred people." The Priest's disciple wrote down the information in a small deer-lether bound journal. All the temple workers were keeping a record of their experiences here, and the Priest himself had started a sacred record of the new settlement. The navigator continued. "They want to know what we have named our new settlement. Shall I tell them?" "Yes of course," the captain said. The navigator looked back at the Pale Ones and said, "New Mannhatta."

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After another hour of traveling along the old road, the party approached Noopleamot. There was a low palisade wall of wood and stone surrounding the small town. The Pale Ones in the party called out to their fellow villagers who stood on small towers on either side of the gate. The men on the inside opened up the gate and the party entered inside. 

The people of the village stopped what they were doing as they saw the Settlers walk by. The men were mostly dressed in some sort of heavy cloth shirt, and some sort of cloth or leather full length leg coverings that seemed very strange to Settlers. The women mostly were in full length skirts that were of strange cuts and again seemed foreign to the Settlers. The buildings themselves were mostly single floor dwellings that were a mix of wood and stone. Some looked sturdy. Others looked dilapidated and thrown together very haphazard. Most of the roofs were of some sort of thatched grass, and many had little shoots of stone sticking out for smoke to escape. As they walked to the center of town, a large stone building loomed ahead, with a tower in front and a larger hall in the back. The navigator explained that the men said it was some sort of religious temple, and that the Chief-Priest ruled the village from there. As the villagers looked on, the men led the Captain and his men were ushered into the temple through a large wooden door.

Entering the main temple, there were rows of long benches on either side of a main aisle, and at the far end there was a podium and some sort of alter in front of that. Behind the podium, on the wall, there was what the Captain assumed to be an image of the local’s deity, a man that appeared to be in pain and somehow attached to two crossed timbers. It seemed very strange to the Captain. The navigator, when he saw the image, stopped and stared.

“What is it?” the captain asked, when he noticed his companion’s reaction.

“I’ve seen something like this before, at a temple back in the Eastern Nations. It looks a lot like one of the spirits that some of the Easterners worship. I can’t recall what they call it though. He’s supposed to be the son of the Great Spirit who came to Earth to purify people.”

“Well, maybe the legends of from the East are true, that some Pale Ones did come and settle amongst the Eastern tribes and joined them after no other Pale Ones followed to settle.” As the Captain pondered all this, he followed their guides through a door on the left side of the main hall that led into the private rooms of the Priest-Chief. Standing in the main room was a man of what the Settlers thought of as average height, with bright orange hair, long and flowing just like his beard, which was going gray in places. He was dressed in strange looking green and yellow robes decorated with what the Captain could only assume was religious symbols. The Pale men bowed in reverence to the Priest-Chief, and then began to converse. The navigator informed the Captain that they were introducing the Settlers and explaining that they had set up a village a few hours from Noopleamot and that they’d come from across the Great Sea. Then the Chief-Priest began to talk to the navigator, who then translated for the Captain.

“He says welcome in the name of his god and of the people of Noopleamot. He asks if it is true that we have legends of Pale Ones coming to our shores. He says that according to their own legends and scrolls that a party of Pale Ones did set off into the sunset hundreds of years ago from the place where their ancestors lived by the Sea. I told him that we did. He seems very excited and interested in this. He want to know what our intentions are.”

“Tell him that we have traveled here to make a new start, that we are at odds with the people in charge of our homeland and have been granted permission to start a new settlement in a new land in peace instead of being punished at home. We come here with peaceful intentions as our Prophet calls for, and wish to coexist with the people here.”

After talking with the Cheif-Priest for a few minutes, the navigator turned to the Captain and said, “He says that we are welcome, and that he hopes to have peace with our people. He asks us to stay tonight as his guests and return to our village tomorrow.”

“Give him our thanks.” Said the Captain.

“Sir, may I volunteer to stay behind for a time?” asked the Navigator.

“Stay behind? Why?”

“I want to stay behind and learn more of their language and culture. I think it will benefit our people if someone does this soon, to avoid any misunderstandings between ourselves and the Pale Ones.”

“I think that’s a good idea Captain. I’d like to stay as well.” said the Priest’s disciple. 

“This does sound like a wise decision. If the Pale Ones will allow it I agree with your request.”

Celebrating our Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! I hope that you get a chance to spend time with family and friends and celebrate all that you are thankful for this year. For this holiday's special "did you know?" historical fact, instead of looking at the "First Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, the familiar story we've learned since childhood, I wanted to take a look at some other fun Thanksgiving Day facts.

When did Thanksgiving Day become a national holiday? During Colonial Times? Right after the American Revolution? The Civil War? In a way, all those answers would be correct in the right light. During the colonial era, most New England colonies celebrated a Day of Thanksgiving in the fall that would be declared yearly by the colonial governor. This would usually be a mix of a religious holiday to give thanks to God, and also a harvest festival to celebrate that years bounty of crops. The first nation wide Thanksgiving was declared by President George Washington, who declared that November 26, 1789 would be "a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God."

Despite this early precedent of proclaiming a national day of thanksgiving, in most years following Washington, days of thanksgiving were declared on a state-by-state basis throughout the Fall. This would change under President Lincoln, and due in large part to the efforts of a woman who is unknown to most: Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale is best known, of all things, for writing the well known nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb," which was published in 1830. Hale grew up in New England and was a big supporter of the traditional thanksgiving day celebrations in the New England area. She wrote 5 U.S. Presidents calling on them to make Thanksgiving a national holiday, starting with President Zachary Taylor in 1846. All her pleas fell on deaf ears until President Lincoln, who in 1863 signed into law legislation that made the last Thursday in November as the national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated in all states. Now, since this was during the U.S. Civil War, this tradition would not reach the states of the Confederacy until after 1865. When Lincoln signed this legislation, Thanksgiving Day became the third official national holiday in the United States after Independence Day and Washington's Birthday. 

The First Thanksgiving - Part 1

The captain looked out at the horizon, pleading with the Creator for there to be land. His ship had been sailing for many many weeks, and his sailors and the settlers they carried were restless. They'd lost several to disease and malnutrition, something that couldn't be helped on such a long voyage into what might as well be the unknown, but had nevertheless began to undermine the moral of those aboard. All those many weeks ago, leaving home for the legendary land of the Pale, the so-called "New World," had seemed like a good alternative to having to face the consequences of his brother's faction loosing power in the capital. Now, however, with no end in sight to the Great Sea, his belief in the Land of the Sunrise seemed foolish.

Just then, a lookout cried out, "Land, Land!" The captain's gaze rescanned the horizon, squinting to see what the lookout did. And sure enough, there it was. A sliver of green, still vague in form, that was obviously NOT ocean. "Land!" cried out the captain, and soon shouts of excitement and thanksgiving were heard from all those aboard, as they strained to see what they hoped would be their new home.

A few hours later, with the sun setting behind them, they were upon the coast. It was green. Patches of forest came to the rocky coastline, which in places rose up into magnificent cliffs. The ship laden with hopeful explorers and pioneers, who gazed out at the foreign land they hoped to tame as their own, cruised along the coast for a time, before the crew spotted a beach they felt would be good to make a landing. They lowered the anchor, and the captain announced that in the morning, they would make landfall.

As dawn poked above the horizon, the crew moved about the deck, preparing the small row boats to be lowered into the water. It had been decided that the women and children aboard would not venture out yet, but wait a day or two until the warriors and secured an area for the settlers to camp until a more permanent location could be found to settle. The captain was among those going ashore that morning. He was excited. He was also nervous. He would be among the first of his people to set foot in the New World. There had been only one or two voyages here before this, and no one really know what this place was like. He looked out over the water as the row boat he was in crossed the distance from the ship to the beach. Things looked familiar, and yet different as well.

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The captain looked into the roaring fire as he listened to the priest that had accompanied the landing party offer thanks to the Creator for the safe voyage and for providing them with this apparently bountiful land. Listening to the words of the prayers, some of which would be standard in any religious ceremony, felt like being back home again to the captain. A little bit of their culture transplanted halfway across the world to the land of the Pale. It was a fitting way to mark their first night ashore. The day had been successful. They'd explored the woods near the shore, and discovered a good-sized stream that had fresh water. They thought that they could find a good settlement spot the next day by following the stream. One of the men who'd come with them ashore had been an engineer back in the capital, and he was already laying out where the settlers could erect a small wharf and then cut a road to the stream and then follow that to wherever they decided to build the main settlement. The captain liked the idea, even if it might have seemed ambitious to some.

One of the warriors leaned over to talk to the captain after the priest had finished his prayers, asking, "Captain, do you think we will see any of the natives soon?"
"It is possible. From what the legends say, the land of the Pale Ones is vast, so we may have landed in an area where they do not live."
"Oh I hope not. I want to see a real live native savage from this land."
"And why would you want to do that?" the Captain asked.
"For one, so I can see for myself that they exist! And I also hope that they can lead us to the great piles of Gold that the legends say are here in the New World."
The Captain laughed. "You really believe the legends about the gold?"
The young warrior shook his head in the affirmative. "I think it's possible. Who knows what sort of strange and amazing things could be waiting for us here."
The captain grinned at the youth's enthusiasm. They'd all heard the legends of what existed here in the New World. Back a few hundred years before, at least according to legend, a small band of men and women came across the Great Sea from the New World to set up a settlement in a land neighboring the captain's own homeland. They claimed that more of them would follow, but they never did. Eventually, the small band was said to have intermarried with the local people. The Captain himself had seen a few envoys in the capital from that land, one of whom claimed lineage to those strangers from across the sea, and his complexion did seem lighter than that of his other countrymen. Belief in strange, pale men inhabiting this new land, but the idea of piles of gold laying around, that was asking too much of the imagination, in the Captain's opinion.

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The men and women settlers, along with the warriors and most of the sailors, had been working for several weeks to clear the settlement site that they first landing party had selected. The site lay about half a mile from the shore, along the small stream that had been discovered. The brush had been cleared, and the first shelters had already been started and were in various phases of completion. The captain surveyed the scene. He was impressed with what they'd done. At a high point, a small hill that rose above the rest of the settler's village, men were working on the small gathering house that would also serve as a temple. A sacred fire had already been started and kept burning day and night by the priest and his two disciples. back down from the hill, more men were working on clearing a path that would lead to the sea and the small wharf that would be built there. Hopefully within a month, they could unload the rest of the supplies, and the ship would return across the Great Sea to the homeland. Lost in his thoughts for the future, the Captain failed to hear what someone shouted in his direction the first time. Coming back to the present, he looked about and heard, "Pale Ones! There are Pale Ones!"

That got his attention. The Captain whirled around in the direction of the shout, and saw one of the female settlers pointing to the tree-line on the opposite bank of the stream. And sure enough, there were a small band of men, in strange clothes and...so pale. So the stories were true. This WAS the land of the Pale Ones......

The Airship Legacy - Part 11

Click here for Part 10

PART XI: THE ACHY EIGHTIES

            In our review of the last century, the 1980s come in as the worst decade of the Twentieth Century. Granted, the economic situation wasn’t quite as bad as in other decades, but the Iran War coupled with the so-called “Second Depression”, makes the 1980s worse than even the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Starting with the murder of the First Lady-elect Coretta King in December 1980 was a bad omen for the rest of the decade. In 1981, the British government began to increase costs on oil exported to all non-commonwealth nations or nations that weren’t allied with them in the conflict in Iran. And since BNP was the largest controller of Middle Eastern oil, it meant that nation’s like the United States were at the mercy of the new “Non-Empire Oil Tariff”. By 1983, the price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was nearing $5,  and there were frequent shortages in many cities. These shortages would lead to a growing sense of unrest that would ultimately spell the end of the King administration in the 1984 election.

-“The Century In Review,” Time Magazine, February 21, 2000.

THE LEADER HAS DIED!

LONDON, JUNE 24- The Ministry of Information has announced that Our Leader Sir Oswald passed away late last night of a heart attack. Her Majesty the Queen has declared that the next 100 days shall be a time of mourning for the nation. It is reported that, even less than 12 hours since the death occurred, mourners have already started laying flowers in front of Number 10 Downing Street, and the London police believe that by noon today there will be thousands upon thousands of flower in front of the Prime Minister’s residence.

            The Prime Minister’s spokesperson stated that the funeral will be within one week, and that an election to replace Leader Mosley will occur two days after that. Although there is no official word as to who may replace Sir. Oswald, many expect that his youngest son Michael Mosley will likely fill his father’s shoes. In the last five years, the younger Mosley has been increasingly included in the affairs of state by his father.

            The funeral will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Central Security officials believe that nearly 1 million people will descend on the capital to pay their final respects to what many in the BUF are calling one of Britain’s greatest leaders.

-“The Leader Has Died,” The Daily Mail, June 24, 1980.

            Sir Oswald Mosley’s funeral was one of the largest funerals ever held in London, only dwarfed by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 1993. On June 30, 1980, Britons from all over the United Kingdom poured into the city to pay their respects to the Leader. It was estimated by the Central Security Police that approximately 1.2 million people were in London for the event, lining every street that the funeral procession would go down, filling every park where large television screens where erected, and filling every public stadium that was also set up for people to view the funeral that was being broadcast live via the BBC and the BNN. There wasn’t an empty hotel room in London, and the transit systems of the British capital were taxed to their max.

            In attendance at St. Paul’s cathedral was the Queen and her family, every member of Parliament, the Prime Minister of Russia, the Chancellor of Germany, the Vice President of the United States, the President of France, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Chancellor of South Africa, and Premier of Australia, and Prime Minister of India, and many other heads of state and government. Notably absent, however, was the Premier of Pakistan, who refused to attend in protest to the Iran War.

            The Queen praised the departed Prime Minister for his wise leadership and his ability to pull Great Britain out of the economic depression that had set in after the London Treaty. “He put the ‘Great’ back in Great Britain.” Sir Oswald’s son Michael reminisced about how good of a father the Leader had been, and how he’d taught him to use good judgment and humility in anything he did.

            Two days following the funeral, the 100 members of the House of Commons met to elect Sir Oswald’s successor. As predicted, Michael Mosley won the majority vote (79), and was sworn in as Prime Minister.

-Hayes, Dr. Thomas. Rise of Fascism in Britain. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS LAW!

WASHINGTON, OCT 1- President King’s broad ranging Affirmative Action Bill was signed into law this morning by the President at a special ceremony at the White House. The law, known also as the 1 to 4 Law, will require all employers to hire 1 person of non-Caucasian descent for ever 4 persons of Caucasian descent. This also applies to university enrollment. Leaders from the Republican Party, along with the newly formed States Rights Party and even the American People’s Party, state that this is a step in the wrong direction.

            Republican Senator George Bush stated that, “While I support efforts to bring about greater equality in this nation, I fear that the 1 to 4 Law will only bring about greater racial tensions and hostility across the country.” APP Congressmen William Clinton echoed these sentiments, saying “the American People’s Party is committed to full equality for all Americans, but we believe this law will do more harm than good, creating more rifts between the races instead of healing the ones that already exist.”

-“Affirmative Action is Law!” The Washington Post, October 2, 1981.

GAS RIOTS STRIKE ACROSS THE COUNTRY

ST. LOUIS, AUG 1- From coast to coast, people have taken to the streets to protest the high prices of gas, and demanding that President King and Congress fix the situation. Republicans are calling for the United States to enter the Iran War so that Britain will drop the oil tariff. Here in St. Louis, there were numerous drive offs at city gas stations, and impromptu riots at several others. One gas station was actually set on fire.

            In California, there were multiple reports of people with weapons taking control of gas stations and allowing people to fill up without paying. At the moment, the highest gas in the country is over $4 a gallon, and even in places like Oklahoma and Texas, where there are gas production facilities, fuel prices are hovering around $3. President King is urging the American people to be patient and that fuel prices will come down soon. Protestors have been picketing in front of the White House for weeks, chanting “Fix the Gas Crisis!” “Invade Iran!” “Help out the Brits!” and “Lets Join Mosley!”.

            This year’s mid-term elections are expected to bring numerous victories to Republicans across the country, and it is likely that the Republicans could gain control of both houses of Congress. And if the gas crisis keeps up, King’s chances for reelection in 1984 do not look good.

-“Gas Riots Strike Across the Country,” The New York Times, August 1, 1982.

PROJECT LUNA TEAM LANDS ON MOON!

CAPE CANAVRERAL, SEP 2-  The ASEA has confirmed that the team that launched from Cape Canaveral last week has successfully landed on the surface of the Moon. In a statement issued soon after the ASEA confirmed the landing, President King said, “Today is a great day in the history of not only our nation, but in the history of all mankind. For today, for the first time since Adam and Eve first walked this Earth, there is a permanent settlement of man that is not on the surface of our beloved home planet. I congratulate the ASEA and it’s engineers, scientists, and our brave cosmonauts for this great feat, and wish them luck and wisdom in their future expansion of this base on the Moon.”

            Project Luna’s 27 cosmonauts will be setting up a small 3,000 square foot base facility that is to be expanded over the coming years and decades. The facility has been named Liberty Base by the ASEA.

-“Project Luna Team Lands on Moon!” The New York Times, September 2, 1982.

            In the mid-term election of 1982, the Liberty Party lost it’s control of both houses of Congress, resulting in Republican control of the Senate and a plurality in the House of Representatives where the Republicans had the largest number of seats. This resulted in one of the worst political deadlocks in U.S. History, with President King blocking much of the Republican’s legislation while they blocked his agenda. For two whole years, very little got done in Washington. Senator George HW Bush of Massachusetts announced his intent to run in late 1983, and immediately began campaigning. Voter frustration at the skyrocketing gas prices and the worsening economy ultimately doomed the King campaign, and with it the Liberty and APP congressional elections, since the APP again backed King for the presidency.

            George H.W. Bush received nearly 60% of the vote in November of 1984, bringing to a close 12 years of Democrat/Liberty rule from the White House. Having won their first Presidential election since 1968 and only the second Presidential election since the 1930s, the Republicans were exuberant, and the Liberty Party was in shock. Party leaders immediately began asking themselves, “How did we get so disconnected from the people of this country?”

-Johnson, Dr. Kyle. The King Presidency, 1981-1985. New York, American Press Company: 2000.

BUSH: WE ARE AT WAR

WASHINGTON, FEB 1- President Bush, in a special address this evening before both houses of Congress, called on the legislators to declare a state of war to exist between the United States and the so-called Islamic Republic of Iran. Congress has since approved this request, and now the US finds itself at war. President Bush said he would be going to London within the next month to visit with Prime Minister Michael Mosley to “heal wounds caused by past administrations and to work with Premier Mosley to plan America and Britain’s join war effort to put down the rebels in Iran and to secure the oil fields in that country for the West.”

            Many across the country have started to celebrate the long-awaited declaration of war, burning flags of the Islamic Republic, and effigies of the Ayatollah. A rally is planned for tomorrow night on the steps of the capital to show support for the decision. At the same time, opposition protests have also started to break out, and there are several protest rallies planned for tomorrow night. The most fervent opposition is coming from the West Coast, where the American People’s Party enjoys a majority in all three states. In a dramatic scene of protest, the California Congressional Delegation got up and walked out of the joint session after war was officially declared.

            Mobilization of the Armed Forces will begin soon, and it is expected that U.S. troops will be in Iran before the end of March.

-“Bush: We Are At War,” The Washington Post, February 2, 1985.

1 TO 4 LAW REPEALED

WASHINGTON, APR 9- The Republican-controlled Congress has repealed the highly unpopular “1 to 4 Law”, officially known as the “Affirmative Action Law”. Passed under the King Administration, the law forced all employers to higher one non-white citizen for ever four whites they had employed, and required all universities to enroll one non-white student for every four white students. The high rate of unemployment, which peaked at 12.5% in 1985, is blamed on the law.

            President Bush promised during the 1984 campaign that if elected, he and his party would do all they could to repeal the law as part of their efforts to pull America out of the “Second Depression”. The president told reporters this afternoon that, “Today is a great victory for the American people, and for the cause of true racial equality. It is my hope, and the hope of millions of Americans, that someday our society will truly be color-blind, and it will not matter whether your skin is white, black, red, yellow or brown. We are all Americans, and it is time the law represented this future we hope to build.”

            It is expected that tougher anti-discrimination laws will be passed in the next few months, to replace the 1 to 4 Law.

-“1 To 4 Law Repealed,” The Washington Post, April 10, 1986

            President Bush went to London aboard the newly launched GZ-305, the USS Eagle II, which replaced the largely antiquated GZ-9 that had sat in it’s hangar for nearly a decade, unofficially retired following the assassination of President Humphrey. The plans for the Eagle II had been on the drawing board for several years, but Presidents Kennedy and King would not give them the go ahead. When Bush was elected, he had the ship put under construction the day after the inauguration, and it was launched in July of 1986, and President Bush took the craft on it’s maiden voyage to a conference in London with Prime Minister Michael Mosley and several leaders of the Commonwealth. By this time, American forces had already been deployed to Iran for over a year, and were fighting side-by-side with Commonwealth troops. The republican capital of Tehran was still in enemy hands, but was being bombarded daily by US and UK forces. Many experts figured that most of Iran would by under US-UK control by the end of 1987, and so Prime Minister Mosley wanted to try and nail down a preliminary post-war plan for Iran. There were two main plans that were put forth, the Division Plan and the Dominion Plan. The first, suggested by Mosley and supported by Bush and the Australians, called for the division of Iran between Iraq and the Dominion of Pakistan. Pakistan, which didn’t support the war and did not want the extra territory once it finished, was against this plan. Britain’s ally, Iraq, supported the idea, however. Pakistan and the Dominion of South Africa both supported the idea of making Iran a dominion of the Empire, which they believed would be the best way to avoid post war violence. In the end, the Division Plan was chosen, but was to be kept secret until the end of the war.

-Flemmings, Dr. Samuel. The Black Hole that was Iran. British Press House, London: 2002.

PAKISTANI’S REVEAL SECRET OF LONDON CONFERENCE

ISLAMABAD, DEC 11-  Several anti-war members of the Pakistani government that were recently dismissed for their strong opinions against the Iran War have released information to the world press that reveals the post-war plans decided upon by the British Commonwealth and the United States. It appears that the hopeful victors plan on dividing Iran between the Dominion of Pakistan and Iraq, essentially dissolving the Iranian state. This news has been met with wide-spread protests throughout the Dominion of Pakistan, where protesters gathered outside Parliament and chanted “Down with the Queen,” “Islamic Solidarity for Iran,” “Say No to London!” and even a few “Islamic Revolution Now.”

            British Prime Minister Michael Mosley has denied these allegations, saying that “Iran will not be divided after the war. The London Conference decided we’d give the Iranians a few choices to vote on once the Islamic Republic has been defeated in the north.” However, the Pakistani’s who released the information have distributed official papers with Mosley’s signature that seem to indicate otherwise. These documents very clearly state that Mosley, along with President Bush, approved of the so-called “Division Plan,” and that it was approved at the London Conference this past summer. So far, the White House has yet to make any sort of statement about the validity of these allegations.

            In Iran, the British Military announced this morning a ban on all large public gatherings, seemingly to stem the chance of any major rioting like what has occurred in Pakistan, although the British commanders in Iran say that the order is unrelated.

-“Pakistani’s Reveal Secret of London Conference,” The New York Times, December 11, 1986.

            The “Division Plan Crisis” during the winter of 1986-1987 led to a lot of anti-war support in the United States and in several of the Dominions that put increasing pressure on all the Coalition governments to bring an end to the war. And, it forced the British to abandon the Division Plan, when President Bush announced that he was in full support of “any plan that left pro-Western Iranian independence intact.” In April of 1987, all the allied nations agreed to the Dominion Plan, including the rump Iranian government that had been largely a puppet since the British invasion in 1979. This seemed to settle things down considerably in the United States, where support for the war increased.

            Things in Pakistan, however, were not as peaceful. In October of 1987, the “Pakistani Islamic Party” was formed, calling for a thorough “Islamification” of the country. The more radical PIP members called for an end of Dominion, since it was improper for Pakistan to have a Christian Queen. In February of 1988, the British Central Security Police “discovered” a link between the PIP and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and forced the Dominion’s government to ban the party. This led to major unrest in that country that would sow the seeds of future revolt.

-Flemmings, Dr. Samuel. The Black Hole that was Iran. British Press House, London: 2002.

TEHRAN FALLS!!

TEHRAN, OCT 1- Her Majesty’s Armed Forces have confirmed that the rebel forces in Tehran have fled to the countryside, and that the nation’s former capital has been mostly secured. There have still been sporadic firefights in some parts of the city where random clusters of holdouts evaded the initial British and American troops that stormed the city yesterday morning. Coalition commanders believe that these pockets of resistance will be  routed out in due course.

            Prime Minister Mosley declared tomorrow, October 2, as a national holiday in celebration of this great victory. “We have been fighting the good fight for 9 long years now, and our determination and perseverance has been rewarded. Great Britain, the Commonwealth, and our allies are triumphant. It is my promise to the British people that our troops will begin to come home within a year! This war shall be over soon!”

            Iran’s former capital lies in ruins, a sign of nearly a decade of fighting. For more than a year, the city has been under nearly constant siege by Coalition forces, and thousands of  rebel non-combatants are believed to have been killed in the run-up to the final push on the city. Initial estimates by commonwealth engineers is that it will take up to ten years to get the city to about where it was before the war, and at the costs of close to a billion pounds.

-“Tehran Falls!” The Daily Mail, October 1, 1988.

BUSH WINS REELECTION!

WASHINGTON, NOV 5- President George HW Bush has been reelected as President of the United States, beating out Socialist candidate William Clinton and Liberty Party candidate Joseph Lieberman. Many political analysts believe that the Socialists and the Liberty Party hurt their chances of getting their candidate into office since they decided to field separate candidates instead of both backing the same person. This divided their support base and gave the Republicans the chance to keep Bush in office for four more years. However, this might still be optimistic, since the President received 56% of last night’s vote.

            Bush has been given a lot of credit for pulling the United States out of the “Second Depression” that started during the King Presidency, caused mostly by high oil tariffs imposed by the United Kingdom. Since Bush was elected and the United States entered the Iran War, oil prices have plummeted down to their lowest in over 15 years, and there has been a flood of new jobs on the market that have put the economy on a high note.

            Also giving a boost to President Bush’s reelection was the recent fall of Tehran to Coalition forces, and the prospect of the successful end to the Iran War within the next year.

-“Bush Wins Reelection!” The Washington Post, November 6, 1988.

REBELS SIEZE PAKISTANI CAPITAL

ISLAMABAD, JAN 12- Her Majesty’s Government has confirmed that rebels belonging to the anti-Commonwealth “Pakistani Islamic Party” have seized control over the government sector of the Pakistani capital. Radio reports coming from the rebels state that they have executed the leaders of the Dominion government. This cannot be independently confirmed. The rebels have apparently proclaimed the birth of the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”, and are calling on all “good Muslims” to overthrow the British regime that has “oppressed” the Pakistanis.

            So far, there has been no official response from the Royal Government as to what sort of action will be taken against the rebels, if any. The Dominion of India has placed their military on high alert, fearing that the violence could spread into it’s territory. There are reports of violence in every major city in Pakistan, and the British Foreign Office is urging all British citizens in Pakistan to evacuate as soon as possible, and has suspended all civilian travel to the country until further notice.

-“Rebels Seize Pakistani Capital,” The London Times, January 13, 1989.

            The Islamic Revolution in Pakistan in 1989 was a game changer for the whole Iran War. On January 20, the British government announced that they would be invading Pakistan to “put down the anti-Commonwealth, anti-Western” rebellion that had engulfed the Dominion of Pakistan. British troops stationed in Pakistan rolled out to secure the areas near their bases, and troops in Iran rolled across the boarder into Pakistan on January 31^st. The Dominion of India ordered in troops on February 2.

            Initially, the British Government stated publically that their invasion would crush the rebellion in just a few short months. Most of their armed forces remained in Iran, to mop up the resistance there. This turned out to be a hopeful fantasy, however. A vast majority of the Pakistani population supported the rebellion, and guerrilla fighting was much more fierce than it had been in Iran. The United Kingdom began to drain more and more troops from the first theater of war and into the new one, leaving the United States with an increasing burden in Iran, where the rebels renewed their efforts to drive out the invaders.

            In Great Britain, many British-born Pakistani’s, along with those who were citizens of the Dominion, began to protest the invasion, saying that this was a popular revolution that the British had no right to interfere in. On May 1, 1989, 100,000 people gathered in front of Parliament to protest the war. The Central Security Police was called in to disperse the protest, which soon after devolved into a riot. 300 people were arrested, and several hundred more were wounded, with 2 being killed. A far larger rally was held in November of that year, in front of Buckingham Palace. This became known as the Buckingham Palace Riots, where the nearly 250,000 people turned to violence after the CSP showed up and began beating the protestors. When one CSP officer opened fire and killed three people, all hell broke loose, and in the end, the CSP arrested nearly 700 people, and it was estimated that 5,000 were injured. Nearly 200 rioters were killed, along with 90 CSP officers.

            On November 15^th, the Queen made an address from the Palace, condemning the rioters use of violence and called on the nation to remain calm. This would turn those who had been out in protest more radical, and did nothing more than add fuel to the fire.  A mere ten days later, the Pakistani Solidarity Coalition was formed, and quickly become one of the most feared terror organizations in the UK throughout the 1990s. On December 1^st, the PSC bombed three Tube stations in London, killing 340 people. The violence would only get worse from there.

            In the United States, there was a very mixed reaction from the public about the early stages of the operations in Pakistan. The United States was not formally involved, but their responsibilities in Iran (and with them, casualties) began to increase, and the population began to get extremely war-weary. A major anti-war rally was held in Washington with around 150,000 people on July 1, 1989, calling for an end to hostilities and calling on the US to pressure the British into pulling out of Pakistan. It wouldn’t be until the 1990s that the situation in America would become more violent, and this would lead to a major political shift in Washington.

-Gordman, Dr. Jacob. Pakistan: A revolution that changed the world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2009.

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PART X: EVOLVING POLITICS IN AMERICA, WAR IN IRAN AND MARS

            After the Equal Rights Movement and the dark episode of the “Alabama War”, the landscape of American politics shifted drastically. Almost immediately after the crisis in Alabama, the Democratic Party began to disintegrate. By the end of 1974, the Democratic Conventions of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina voted to leave the Democratic National Convention. On February 3, 1975, delegates from these seceding state conventions met in Atlanta for the formation of the Southern Democratic Party of the United States. By July of that year, the state democratic conventions in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Texas voted to leave the DNC and Join the new Southern Democrats.

            The 1976 presidential elections were the most tense and interesting elections the USA had had in years, with three parties having candidates in the running for the first time since the 1936 elections. The Democratic Party at their convention in Philadelphia nominated President Kennedy on July 26. The Republicans nominated Barry Goldwater in Chicago on July 30.  The Southern Democrats nominated Orval Faubus, the party’s chairman and founder, at their convention in Little Rock on August 3. Kennedy’s high approval rating and the large support from African American’s across the country led to Kennedy’s close win over Goldwater. Kennedy ended up with 51% of the votes, with Goldwater having 32% and Faubus having 28%.

- Hallis, Dr. Robert. The Great Political Earthquake: 1974 and the End of the Two-Party System. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: 1999

SPACE STATION IN ORBIT

CAPE CANAVRIL, AUG 4-  The American Space Exploration Agency (ASEA) announced today that their first space station is in orbit, and that 4 American cosmonauts are aboard. President Kennedy hailed today’s event as “another positive step in the history of space exploration”.

            ASEA also announced today that they plan on having three more space stations up in orbit by the end of 1978, and that they are eyeing some sort of permanent structure on the Moon by the end of either this decade or the early part of the next. If this is so,  America would pull ahead of the German space program, which is lagging behind on its attempt to have a manned mission to Mars.

            When asked about a possible Mars mission, ASEA officials said that one was not currently planned, but that it wasn’t “off the table”. Germany had been ahead of the American’s in space up until 1974, when the A-19 test rocket exploded violently, followed later that year by the death of Warner von Braun, Germany’s leading rocket scientist. The Imperial Rocket Force hopes that their new A-20 rocket will be ready for testing sometime later this year. The purpose of the A-20 is for an eventual manned mission to Mars.

“Space Station in Orbit,” Washington Post, August 4, 1976.

FAMED GERMAN ACTRESS TO STAR IN FIRST AMERICAN FILM

HOLLYWOOD, MAY 9- One of the most famous and beloved actress of the Babelsberg Studios, Anne Frank, will be the star of the upcoming film Western Front, which will be set during the Great War.

            Frank, 48, began acting in 1950 with a small role in Neue Liebe. Her first staring role came in 1954 in Berliner Sommer. To date, what is considered her best film is the 1970 film Ostland, a gripping drama telling the story of a young woman caught in the upheaval of the Polish War.  Ostland won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and Frank’s acting is what made that award possible.

            Filming on Western Front is expected to begin next week, and producers hope to have the film ready by next summer.

“Famed German Actress to Star in First American Film,” The Los Angeles Times, May 9, 1977.

A-20 ROCKET EXPLODES, KILLS 58

PEENAMUNDE, MAY 23- In the worst disaster to plague the beleaguered IRF to date, the new A-20 rocket exploded on the launch pad in a fiery blast that claimed the lives of 58 scientists and engineers, including all of the rocket’s principle design team.

            Emperor Louis Ferdinand I declared a state of mourning in honor of the lives lost in the disaster. Senior IRF officials say that despite disaster, their plan of going to Mars will not be scrapped. Many Germans are loosing their faith in the IRF’s ability to get past the loss of the A-19 and A-20 rockets, and have serious doubts as to whether or not the mission to Mars will ever occur.  Recent gains by the Americans in the so-called “Space Race” have made many people doubt the leadership of the IRF. One politician in the Reichstag stated that he thought that the IRF should be “reorganized and given completely new leadership, and should focus on goals closer to home, like lunar colonization.” Placing a permanent settlement on the Moon has been the subject of much debate by scientists throughout the Empire, some arguing that for the American’s to do so first would be a disgrace to the memory of von Braun, while other’s say the Moon isn’t as important as going to Mars.

-“A-20 Rocket Explodes, Kills 58,” Berliner Morgenpost, May 23, 1977.

REVOLT IN IRAN

TEHRAN, APRIL 12- The strikes and riots that began earlier this year have exploded into full-scale revolt against the British and American-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Rebels have been pushed out of the capital by loyal troops. There are several areas, however, that are totally in the hands of the rebels.

            The Shah’s government has requested British and American aid. Prime Minister Mosley has pledged that Great Britain and the Commonwealth will fully support the Shah’s government and help it crush the rebellious religious fanatics that are calling for the creation of an Islamic Republic in Iran.  So far, much to the disappointment of the United Kingdom and the Shah, the United States has not pledged any support, and our sources in Washington say that it is unlikely to come, that President Kennedy and the Liberty Party do not support the war nor it’s goals and intend to stay neutral.

-“Revolt in Iran,” The Times (London), April 12, 1978.

TROOPS TO IRAN!

LONDON, MAY 1- Prime Minister Mosley announced today that Her Majesty’s Armed Forces will begin to invade Iran this morning, arriving in the Ports of Bushehr and Chabahar. It is expected that the armed forces of Australia, Canada, South Africa, and India will soon join British troops in the region. The Dominion of Pakistan has yet to pledge troops. The Iranian Shah has moved his seat of government from Tehran to Bushehr, due to increased activity of the Iranian rebels. Tehran has since fallen to the so-called “Islamic Republic of Iran.” In general, the rebels have occupied the northern part of Iran, and the south has stayed loyal to the Shah.

-“Troops to Iran,” The Daily Mail, May 1, 1978.

TRIUMPH IN PEENAMUNDE!

PEENAMUNDE, OCT 11- The scientists, engineers, and soldiers at the Peenemunde Rocket Facility are jubilant today, after the A-21 rocket successfully made it into Earth’s orbit. IRF spokesperson Joachim Frank told reporters that “the success of the A-21 rocket means that the Imperial Rocket Force is now back on track to launching a successful mission to the planet Mars within the next three to five years. Despite the past rocketry failures, our cosmonauts have been diligently training for the coming mission to Mars. Germany will win the race to Mars. There is no question of that in our minds.”

            One reporter from the KDF asked Frank if the IRF was going to consider Moon settlement in the near future. Frank replied that “at the moment, our focus remains Mars. However, now that this goal is within reach, discussions are moving forwards on an eventual Moon settlement, but this will probably be more than a decade away from now.”

-“Triumph in Peenemunde!” Frankfurter Zeitung, October 12,  1978.

BRITS IN SPACE!

LONDON, FEB 11- The newly formed Ministry of Information has released a press release today announcing that the British Space Agency has successfully launched Britain’s first satellite into space. “Her Majesty’s Government is pleased to inform her public and the world at large that yesterday morning at approximately 7:30 a.m. the E-1 rocket made a successful launch from the BSA Launch Center near Liverpool carrying Great Britain’s first satellite. A celebratory rally is planned for February 14^th to honor the scientific and engineering success of the British people.”

            Prime Minister Oswald Mosley declared in a short speech on the BBC this evening that “Germany and America are no longer alone in Space. British astronauts (the Fascist government’s term for cosmonaut) WILL be on the Moon no later than 1985. We WILL catch up to our rivals in the Space Race!”

-“Brits in Space!” The Washington Post, February 12, 1979.

            The early part of the Iran war went very poorly for the British. By the start of 1979, as the nation celebrated it’s foray into the Space Race, Britain had only been able to secure the costal region of Iran. The rest of the country was up for grabs, and the north was fully under the control of the Islamic Republic. At the request of the Shah’s government, the British were not allowed to bomb Tehran, which greatly hindered the British ability to weaken the Republic’s government. In addition to these problems, Commonwealth assistance was slow to get off the ground. By March of 1979, only the South Africans and Australians had sent troops. Canada and India’s governments were having a change of heart, and Pakistan stood openly opposed to the war, and had declared it’s neutrality, much to the chagrin of Prime Minister Mosley.

-Hammon, Dr. Samuel. Iran: Twenty Years of War, Revolt and Chaos. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.

            In 1972, the American People’s Party met in Seattle, Washington, for their first-ever national convention.  The Chairman, California Assembly Speaker Ronald Greer stated that, “at this early point in our movement, we will seek to organize party groups in every state, and to place our members in Congress. The Presidency shall come later.” This attitude angered some, but it was officially adopted as the party policy and would guide the party throughout the 1970s and 80s, and it would not be until the 1988 election that an APP candidate would even appear on the national presidential ballot.

            By 1975, both California and Oregon had Socialist majorities in their state legislatures, and socialist Thomas Camden had recently been sworn in as Governor of Oregon. Washington also had a large contingent of socialists in their legislature. Outside the Pacific Coast region, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas were becoming major socialist centers. In 1976, both Texas and Oklahoma had APP majorities in their legislatures, and in Oklahoma socialist candidate Greg Sampson had narrowly been defeated in the gubernatorial elections. By this time, there were 5 APP members in the House of Representatives, and the APP had an operating party in 47 states, in all but Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana.

            In 1978, California sent it’s first APP senator, Ronald Greer, to Washington, and Arkansas elected future President William Clinton to the House of Representatives. In total, there were 45 Congressmen and 2 Senators that belonged to the APP in 1978. 7 states now boasted to have socialist majorities in their legislatures, including Florida, Arkansas, and New York.

            It was during the 1970s that the APP membership among African American’s really began to grow. After the split of the Democratic Party, the Southern Democrats intimidated the reestablishment of the National Democrats in their states, so many former Democrats who disagreed with the Southern Democratic Party began to join the APP. Although the African Americans tended to vote for the National Democrats in the Federal elections, they began to more and more identify with the socialist organizations in their states, and in the 1980s and 1990s would help catapult the APP into become one of the largest parties in the nation.

-Jennings, Dr. Karl. The Rebirth of American Socialism: The Growth and Success of the APP. Los Angeles: UCLA Academic Press, 2009.

KING WILL RUN IN 1980

WASHINGTON, NOV 12- Secretary of the Interior Martin L. King has announced that he intends to run for the Presidency in next year’s election. King has become a popular leader among the National Democrats and a favorite among President Kennedy’s advisors. This announcement comes a week after Republican Barry Goldwater announced his intention to run in the election as well. Although it has not yet been announced, it is widely expected that the Southern Democrats will again nominate Orval Faubus as their presidential candidate. Some political analysts for the National Democrats fear that this may detract votes away from King and give Goldwater the chance he would need to win the Presidency.

            There is talk amongst National Democratic leaders to possibly change the party name to distance themselves from the Southern Democrats, but as of yet there has been no action on this issue.

-“King Will Run in 1980,” The New York Times, November 13, 1979.

            The Election of 1980, although technically consisting of three candidates, was really just between Republican Barry Goldwater and Liberty Party candidate Martin L. King, Jr. The Republican’s were supporting an entry into the Iran War to help lower fuel prices that had begun to skyrocket in 1978.  King and the Liberty Party countered that getting involved in Iran would not be in the best interest of the American people, and that they should not support the “imperialistic war of the Fascist regime in Great Britain.”

            At the summer National Democratic Convention, the party officially voted to change it’s name to the American Liberty Party, on August 2, 1980. Also that month, the American People’s Party officially endorsed King as their choice for the Presidency, since they were not nominating a candidate of their own to run. King promised keeping the peace with Iran, increased integration efforts, and more funding to the ASEA. In the end, King received 58% of the popular vote, with Goldwater getting 32% and Faubus getting 10%.

            However, before the January inauguration, tragedy struck the President-elect. Armed men stormed his home in Atlanta while he was at a meeting in Washington. The men overwhelmed the secret service guards present and then killed King’s wife Coretta King and 18-year-old daughter Bernice on December 3, 1980.  The nation was shocked and appalled, and there was a great backlash against the Southern Democrats and white supremacy. Barry Goldwater was quoted in the Washington Post saying, “This dark and dirty dead is not the work of civilized men but of monsters who, for some unknown reason, seem to think that they are better than everyone else simply because their skin is a little lighter than other people on this planet. Racism is the single most lethal cancer known to mankind, and this tragedy proves it. My thoughts and prayers are going out to our President-elect and his children.” The funeral service was held at King’s church in Atlanta on December 9, 1980, and was nationally televised.

            SD leader Orval Faubus positioned himself at the center of a very nasty firestorm two days after the funeral when he remarked to a fellow member of Congress that, “it is too bad that Martin wasn’t home on the 3^rd as well.” These comments ultimately led to Faubus being ejected from Congress before the start of the 1981 session, and destroyed whatever credibility the Southern Democrats had outside the South.

            Martin Luther King, Jr. was sworn in as President of the United States on January 20, 1981, becoming the United State’s first African American president.

-Johnson, Dr. Kyle. The King Presidency, 1981-1985. New York, American Press Company: 2000.

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