TAOISEACHS OF IRELAND:
Eamon de Valera (FF) - 1951-1954 Fianna FailMinority (IndependentSupply-and-Confidence) - 1951-1954 Liam Cosgrave (FG) - 1954-? Fine Gael-LabourCoalition - 1954-?
Elections were held in Ireland on March 20, 1957. The incumbent coalition government of Fine Gael and Labour ran for a second term.
Over the past three years, the country had seen numerous reforms. These included the introduction of universal healthcare and reduced taxes for the working class. Labour was seen as behind most of this, however, which is why they expanded their majority on election day. The coalition was retained, although Fine Gael had much less power.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- LBJ's First 100 Days
-Interstate Highway Act as OTL but without most of the inner-city roads. Instead it invests in trains and public transit. Also formally funds a US Partnership with the Japanese to develop more advanced transportation technology.
-Makes technical & vocational education free for all citizens
-Increases the minimum wage from $0.75 to $1.15 per hour, a solid twelve and a half bucks adjusted for inflation
-Creates the Peace Corps, similar to OTL but with a domestic component
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1957 Danish Folketing Election
September 6, 1957 - German Federal Election: CHANCELLORS OF GERMANY:
Konrad Adenauer (CDU) - 1949-? Christian DemocraticUnion-Christian Social UnionMajority - 1949-?
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1957 Norwegian Storting Election
October 7, 1957 - Norwegian General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF NORWAY:
Oscar Torp (LAB) - 1951-1953 Labour Majority - 1951-1953 Einar Gerhardsen (LAB) - 1953-1954 Labour Minority (CommunistSupply-and-Confidence) - 1953-1954 Halvard Lange (LAB) - 1954-1957 LabourMinority (Communist Supply-and-Confidence) - 1954-1957 Jens Christian Hauge (LAB) - 1957-? LabourMinority (Liberal Supply-and-Confidence) - 1957-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT (1953-1957):
-Expanded national health insurance to include dental and vision care
-Introduced full sectoral bargaining for all industries
-Established a $25 per month child allowance (nearly ten times that inflation adjusted)
-Signed an expanded trade deal with the United States
-Founded the European Economic Community along with Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Portugal, and West Germany.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1957 Portuguese National Assembly Election
November 6, 1957 - Portuguese General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF PORTUGAL:
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar (UN) - 1932-1953 NationalUnion Majority - 1932-1953 Humberto Delgado (UF/SD) - 1953-? UnitedFront Majority - 1953-1956 Social DemocraticMajority - 1956-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE UNITED FRONT/SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT (1953-1957):
-Abolished the secret police force
-Eliminated all restrictions on freedom of speech/press -Introduced universal suffrage for all regardless of race or gender
-Introduced government healthcare for senior citizens
-Founded the European Economic Community along with Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Portugal, and West Germany.
-Fully decriminalized organized labor
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1957 Philippine Presidential Election
PRIME MINISTERS OF NEW ZEALAND:
Sidney Holland (NAT) - 1949-1954 NationalMajority - 1949-1954 Walter Nash (LAB) - 1954-1956 LabourMajority - 1954-1956 Phil Holloway (LAB) - 1956-? LabourMajority - 1956-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT (1954-1957):
-Implemented full universal healthcare
-Expanded pensions for vulnerable beneficiaries
-Invested more in public education
-Protected those attempting to unionize
-Reformed the foster care system
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 Greek National Elections
PRESIDENT: PRESIDENTS OF GREECE:
Sofoklis Venizelos (DU) - 1958-1965
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE DEMOCRATIC UNION GOVERNMENT (1956-1958):
-Abolished the monarchy
-Created the office of President to take over all of the King's functions and several of the PM's (7 year, non-(consecutively) renewable term)
-Mandated that large companies provide health insurance coverage for their employees
-Implemented twenty weeks of paid maternal leave
-Made trade and vocational training free
-Invested in expanded housing
-Establishes a system similar to OTL Medicare for those over 65 (except with a maximum out-of-pocket)
-Mandates that companies with over 100 employees provide them with health insurance if they volunteer to pay 20% of the premiums
-Creates a 'Healthcare Standards Agency' to ensure quality of hospitals and treatments
-Encourages the training of more doctors and nurses via public-private partnership subsidies
-Increases the employer FICA contribution from 2.5% to 5.5% and raises the tax cap from $5,000 to $50,000
-Doubles spending on education by 1960
-Focuses this on beautification of school buildings, the introduction of universal school meals, and implementing maximum class sizes of 10 in elementary schools and 15 in middle and high schools.
-Makes college free for those who become teachers for at least 10 years
-Implements a minimum teacher salary of three times the local poverty line
-Does this via a small wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy and a 1% education tax on all income
-Halves federal support for states practicing segregation
-Caps college tuition at 25% a states' median income for out of state residents and 10% for in-state residents
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 Italian Chamber of Deputies Election
April 1, 1958 - Japanese General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF JAPAN:
Shigeru Yoshida (LP) - 1948-1954 LiberalMinority (RyokufukaiSupply-and-Confidence) - 1948-1949 LiberalMajority - 1949-1952 Liberal-KaishintoCoalition - 1952-1953 Liberal-Kaishinto-HatoyamaCoalition - 1953-1954 Katsuo Okazaki (LP) - 1954-1955 Liberal-Kaishinto-HatoyamaCoalition - 1954-1954 Liberal-KaishintoCoalition - 1954-1955 Kanju Kato (RS) - 1955-? Right Socialist-Left SocialistCoalition - 1955-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT (1955-1958):
-Implemented universal healthcare
-Passed comprehensive environmental protection laws
-Signed a more advantageous trade deal with the US
-Introduced comprehensive minimum wage laws
-Abolished the death penalty
-Announced a government program to redistribute excess produce
-Loosened restrictions on unions
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 South African General Assembly Election
April 11, 1958 - South African General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF SOUTH AFRICA:
D.F. Malan (NP) - 1948-1957 National-AfrikanerCoalition - 1948-1951 NationalMajority - 1951-1957 J.G. Strijdom (NP) - 1957-1958 NationalMajority - 1957-1958 D.F. Malan (NP) - 1958-? NationalMinority - 1958-? (Interim Government)
(NOTE: Because no party has enough seats- the Native Representatives were stripped of voting rights but still count in terms of percentage- a snap election will be called)
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 South Korean House of Representatives Election
May 10, 1958 - South Korean General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF SOUTH KOREA:
Paik Too-chin (IND) - 1952-1954 IndependentLeading LiberalMajority - 1952-1954 Pyon Yong-tae (IND) - 1954-1955 IndependentLeading LiberalMajority - 1954-1954 IndependentLeading LiberalMinority - 1954-1955 Yun Chi-young (LIB) - 1955-1955 LiberalMinority - 1955-1955 Pyon Yong-tae (IND) - 1955-1956 IndependentLeading LiberalMinority - 1955-1956 Shin Song-mo (IND) - 1956-1957 IndependentLeading LiberalMinority - 1956-1956 IndependentLeading Grand Coalition - 1956-1957 Louise Yim (IND) - 1957-1958 IndependentLeading Grand Coalition - 1957-1958 Cho Pyong-ok (DEM) - 1958-? DemocraticMinority (IndependentSupply-and-Confidence)
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE MYON ADMINISTRATION (1956-1958):
-Rolled out a national ID card system, which can be used as voter ID
-Passed an omnibus voting rights package
-Introduced a full pension system for veterans
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 United Kingdom Parliamentary Election
May 20, 1958 - United Kingdom General Election: PRIME MINISTERS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM:
Winston Churchill (CON) - 1951-1954 ConservativeMajority - 1951-1954 Anthony Eden (CON) - 1954-1955 ConservativeMajority - 1954-1955 Aneurin Bevan (LAB) - 1955-? LabourMajority - 1955-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE BEVAN GOVERNMENT (1955-1958):
-Expanded the NHS to include vision coverage and all medication
-Creation of the Consumer Advisory Service, similar to the FDA
-Made it easier to adjust benefits for inflation
-Abolished all tuition fees and introduced a small stipend for students
-Renegotiated war debt
-Increased the top income tax rate from 94% to 96%
-Increased funding for nuclear energy
-Nationalized the steel industry
-Implemented sectoral bargaining
-Founded the European Economic Community along with Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, the UK, Italy, Portugal, and West Germany.
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 Belgian Chamber of Representatives Election
PRIME MINISTERS OF BELGIUM:
Jean Van Houtte (CSP) - 1952-1954 Christian SocialMajority 1952-1954 Paul Henri Spaak (BSP) - 1954-1957 SocialistMinority (LiberalSupply-and-Confidence) - 1954-1957 Achille Van Acker (BSP) - 1957-1958 SocialistMinority (Liberal Supply-and-Confidence) - 1957-1958 Joseph Pholien (CSP) - 1958-? Christian Social-People's UnionCoalition - 1958-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT (1954-1958):
-Abolished the monarchy (effective June 1, 1961)
-Implemented government healthcare for those under 18 and over 65
-Introduced environmental protection laws
-Increased social security payments
-Reduced the role of religion in schools
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1957-8 Soviet Invasion of Syria
The 1957-1958 Warsaw Pact Invasion of Syria was an armed conflict fought between the Soviet Union and it's allies and the Republic of Syria. Troops entered the country via Iraq, but quickly got bogged down. The Communist forces resorted to large-scale carpet bombings of Syrian cities, although military assistance to Syria from NATO quickly resulted in many downed Soviet planes, some of which were taken by the Americans for research.
Wanting to save face, General Vasyl Tkachenko forged an order from General Secretary Andropov authorizing the deployment of a 100 kiloton nuclear device on Damascus. Over 300,000 would die in just a few hours, with the city and government being completely leveled. The Syrians, who had been winning, capitulated quickly.
The backlash to Andropov's supposed decision was fierce, with the Politburo removing him within two weeks and replacing him with Vasyl Tkachenko. The new premier, in a supposed 'gesture of goodwill' agreed to cap the total number of warheads at 1,000.
It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 Finnish Parliamentary Election
PRIME MINISTERS OF FINLAND:
Urho Kekkonen (AG) - 1950-1953 AgrarianMinority (Swedish People'sand National ProgressiveSupply-and-Confidence) - 1950-1951 Agrarian-Social DemocraticCoalition (Swedish People'sand National ProgressiveSupply-and-Confidence) - 1951-1951 Agrarian-Social DemocraticCoalition (Swedish People'sSupply-and-Confidence) - 1951-1953 Reino Oittinen (SDP) - 1953-1957 Social Democratic-Agrarian-National CoalitionGrand Coalition - 1953-1957 Tyyne Leivo-Larsson (SDP) - 1957-1958 Social Democratic-Agrarian-National CoalitionGrand Coalition - 1957-1958 Vaino Tanner (SDP) - 1958-? Social Democratic-Agrarian-National CoalitionGrand Coalition - 1958-1958 Social Democratic-Agrarian-Liberal Coalition - 1958-?
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE COALITION GOVERNMENT (1954-1958):
-Ended friendly relations with the Soviets
-Joined the European Economic Community
-Implemented single-payer healthcare
-Cut taxes for the middle class
-Increased farm subsidies
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It Wasn't For Lack of Trying- 1958 Chilean Presidential Election
