AnActualFam
Well-known member
- Location
- Somewhere at Sea
- Pronouns
- He/They
Blessed President Springsteen. Blursed President Warren.
-
Hi Guest!
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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State
- Thread starter Mumby
- Start date
Blackentheborg
Dennis Skinner's molotov
- Location
- Grand Hotel Abyss
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A fellow LPOTL fan, nice!
Also "a better constitution party" sounds like a challenge
OHC
deep green blue collar rainbow
- Location
- Little Beirut
- Pronouns
- they/she
Nerd alert, but - I do think it's kind of fun to see how the show and Kissel's semi-serious run for Brooklyn borough prez under the label of this defunct party kind of do fit with whatever the Reform Party was supposed to be. Normal dudes facing down all the weird chaos of the world, etc. (I don't listen to his politics show, but I think it comes across in LPOTL too; everything's got its Ideology.)
Domestic Gladio Killed RFK: A Conspiracy Half-Exposed
1961-1963: John F. Kennedy/ Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) [1]
def. Richard Nixon/ Henry Lodge Jr. (Republican), Harry Byrd Sr./ Storm Thurmond (Unpledged Democratic)
1963-1968: Lyndon B. Johnson/ Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) [2]
def. Barry Goldwater/ William E. Miller (Republican)
1968-1969: Hubert Humphrey/ vacant (Democratic) [3]
1969-1977: Richard Nixon/ Eugene McCarthy (Republican-Independent) [4]
def. George Wallace/ John Wayne (Courage), Elliot Roosevelt/ Carlton B. Goodlett (Progressive)
def. George Wallace/ John G. Schmitz (Courage), Terry Sanford/ Walter Mondale (Democratic)
1977-1981: Eugene McCarthy/ Zell Miller (Republican) [5]
def. Ted Kennedy/ Fred Harris (Democratic)
1981-pres: Ted Kennedy/ Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) [6]
def. Eugene McCarthy/ Zell Miller (Republican)
[1] Assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, following federal and independent investigations show Oswald was a lone actor
[2] Resigned following the exposure of the Thane Cesar-Secret Army Organization-FBI connection and acquitted following investigations
[3] Refused to run for re-election following the Ambassador Hotel Scandal
[4] Endorsed by the Democratic Party
[5] Became an Independent to become Vice-President, became a Republican to become President
[6] Won thanks to the aftermath of the Rebozo affair, the Little Recession, and the Ugandan Embassy Massacre
1961-1963: John F. Kennedy/ Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) [1]
def. Richard Nixon/ Henry Lodge Jr. (Republican), Harry Byrd Sr./ Storm Thurmond (Unpledged Democratic)
1963-1968: Lyndon B. Johnson/ Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) [2]
def. Barry Goldwater/ William E. Miller (Republican)
1968-1969: Hubert Humphrey/ vacant (Democratic) [3]
1969-1977: Richard Nixon/ Eugene McCarthy (Republican-Independent) [4]
def. George Wallace/ John Wayne (Courage), Elliot Roosevelt/ Carlton B. Goodlett (Progressive)
def. George Wallace/ John G. Schmitz (Courage), Terry Sanford/ Walter Mondale (Democratic)
1977-1981: Eugene McCarthy/ Zell Miller (Republican) [5]
def. Ted Kennedy/ Fred Harris (Democratic)
1981-pres: Ted Kennedy/ Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic) [6]
def. Eugene McCarthy/ Zell Miller (Republican)
[1] Assassinated in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, following federal and independent investigations show Oswald was a lone actor
[2] Resigned following the exposure of the Thane Cesar-Secret Army Organization-FBI connection and acquitted following investigations
[3] Refused to run for re-election following the Ambassador Hotel Scandal
[4] Endorsed by the Democratic Party
[5] Became an Independent to become Vice-President, became a Republican to become President
[6] Won thanks to the aftermath of the Rebozo affair, the Little Recession, and the Ugandan Embassy Massacre
Better Constitution is just Trump getting angry and winning them West Virginia and Alabama.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Megustalations
Never bring a gun fighter to a political fight.
1932:wyatt Earp Democratic
Defeated:Herbet Hoover Republican
1936 Wyatt Earp (died in office.lived about 8more years then real life.
Def: morgan Thompson a senator that doesnt exist in real life.
1940:John Nance Garner Democratic
Def:Richard Clampton missouri senator that fought in w.w. 1.
The effects of wyatt Earp has on the Democeatic party. Is there known as a law and order party.Earp served 6 years as u.s. presidency.this butterflies away the two term
Amendment and Joeseph Kennedy as ambassador to England.
1932:wyatt Earp Democratic
Defeated:Herbet Hoover Republican
1936 Wyatt Earp (died in office.lived about 8more years then real life.
Def: morgan Thompson a senator that doesnt exist in real life.
1940:John Nance Garner Democratic
Def:Richard Clampton missouri senator that fought in w.w. 1.
The effects of wyatt Earp has on the Democeatic party. Is there known as a law and order party.Earp served 6 years as u.s. presidency.this butterflies away the two term
Amendment and Joeseph Kennedy as ambassador to England.
Nizams of Hyderabad
1762-1803: Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II
1803-1807: Sikandar Jah, Asaf Jah III
1807: Overthrown by British and Maharashtrian troops
1807-1834: Mubarez-ud-Daulah, Asaf Jah IV
1834-1872: Mir Farkhunda Ali Khan Nasirud-Daula, Asaf Jah V
1872-1903: Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI
1903-1925: Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, Asaf Jah VII
1925-1941: Mir Barkat Ali Khan Bahadur, Asaf Jah VIII
1941: Hyderabad overthrown by Andhra Revolution, replaced by the Andhra Workers' and Peasants' Republic
The state of Hyderabad suffered defeat after defeat during the Maharashtrian resurgence of the late eighteenth century. The Maharashtrians won great victories in the 1780s and, most famously, the Battle of Kharda in 1798 saw vast swathes of the state, including Aurangabad, fall under Maharashtrian rule. This led Hyderabad into an alliance with the British, who forced it to secede the coastal region in return for bringing about an alliance against Tipu Sultan's Mysore - an alliance that proved successful come the Third Anglo-Mysore War in 1790. However, at the same time Hyderabad employed a French officer, M. Raymond, which caused consternation among British authorities who feared he would influence the court into taking an anti-British stance. In 1800, the Afghan invasion of India in alliance with Mysore resulted in Hyderabad, Maharashtra, and Britain allying with one another and, after much difficulty, this alliance was able to sweep the Afghans off to Punjab, while in Mysore Anglo-Maharashtrian troops were able to put Seringapatam under siege and kill Tipu Sultan in battle, resulting in a reduced Mysore being placed under British administration, by 1802. This war, as well as the resolution of a succession dispute, brought Maharashtra into an alliance with the British, similar in character to the one with Hyderabad. But with M. Raymond leading a French battalion in Hyderabad, Britain became increasingly concerned that Hyderabad would break away and pondered moves to stop it.
With the death of Asaf Jah II in 1803 and the rise of his son to the throne, British heavy-handed attempts to force him to remove Raymond proved alienating as he believed this was a plot to destroy his army. Fearing that the British alliance with Maharashtra would lead to a sneak attack, in 1804 he assembled his troops. They forced the British battalion meant to "protect" him to flee to the Northern Circars. And though Asaf Jah III attempted to renegotiate a looser alliance with Britain, they fell through and instead Britain declared its intentions to depose him. The ensuing Anglo-Hyderabadi War proved a costly one for Britain despite the Maharashtrian alliance reducing some of these costs, but it ended with British and Maharashtrian troops in Hyderabad itself, with Asaf Jah III being deposed and replaced by his brother.
The resulting administration was forced to perpetually recognize Maharashtrian rule over Aurangabad and its environs, and also accept heavy British influence. A large British cantonment was established near Hyderabad, around which formed the city of Moobaurezabad (now Andolanabad). British officers were appointed in charge of revenue, while the pro-British official Raja Chandulal was made finance minister where he embezzled great amounts of money. The ensuing financial crisis resulted in a great deal of chaos and weakened the princely state further. His successor, Asaf Jah V, was initially ruled under a regency, but upon achieving majority in 1839 he initiated a period of great economic reform to make the state more independent; with the British of the era seeking to reduce the cost of empire, they welcomed this. But at the same time, debts accumulated and resulted in him being forced to grant the British administrative control over part of his kingdom in return for them waiving off some of his debts. This aside, the modernization of the era was dramatic and largely successful. It saw the first railways and telegraph lines being laid out, as well as the creation of educational institutions, such as Hyderabad Medical College (now the Andhra Revolutionary University of Medicine). He died in 1872.
Upon his death, with the ascent of his son, the state saw further modernization attempts. However, Hyderabad was impacted quite severely by the Great Indian Famine of 1876-78, and the general British failure to provide aid also affected the state. Furthermore, as the Famine incited an era of constitutional reform in neighbouring Maharashtra, he ignored the clamour for establishing a national assembly of consultation. Nevertheless, he did issue reforms such as a ban on the practice of sati, where Hindu widows would commit suicide upon the deaths of their husbands, becoming the second princely state after Maharashtra to do so. He also continued to establish railways and educational institutes even as this threatened to empower a new class. He also saw Hyderabad's first forays into cotton production in this era, representative of a general model of aristocratic-feudalistic state driven industrialization. However, he proved unwilling to concede further reform. The next ruler, Asaf Jah VII, saw an early crisis in the form of the Great Musi Flood of 1908, which entirely flooded the city of Hyderabad. This forced him to open the doors of the palace to flood victims, and afterwards the city of Hyderabad was dramatically reconstructed according to a plan he personally approved of. It was a major success, and it made the city an extremely modern one, with room new for public institutions - today, much of this remains intact, despite the great change in regime. Great reservoirs were built to keep any such flood from ever happening again. But at the same time, the brewing radical-liberal movement which advocated the establishment of a legislature was one he clamped down upon quite hard as he viewed it as disloyal and potentially leading to Punjabi-style republicanism. It prevented him from reforming the state as much as he could have, and feudalism remained prominent and uncontested, as power continued to be the domain of a small elite entirely separate from the peasantry - even as in neighbouring Maharashtra feudalism began to weaken under constitutional government.
But it was his successor who saw this unstable order blow up. With radicals and liberals clamped down hard, instead a revolutionary associationist movement began to emerge, led by the Association of Workers and Peasants. When it began to attract a peasant following in the name of anti-feudalism and a revolutionary society, the Nizam ordered it shut down. Instead it moved underground, though the new public face of the anti-Nizam movement, the Andhra Mahasabha, brought together Associationists with other elements; it increasingly adopted the character of a movement by Telugu peasants against the Dakhni- and Hindustani-speaking court of the Nizam. Over the 1930s, tensions grew and grew. When in Hindustan the British bombardment of Patna in 1936 resulted in the Hindustani War of Independence (albeit in the name of radical-liberal ideals), peasant rebellions in Hyderabad began to increase in magnitude as it seemed aspirational. At the same time, pro-Nizam militias known as "Razakars" began to form, both under the state and adjacent to it, and they suppressed peasant revolts with heavy brutality. Finally, in 1937, following some last-ditch compromise efforts that failed, the Andhra Mahasabha declared an armed revolution against the Nizam.
These rebellions were concentrated in Telugu-speaking areas, and specifically the countryside. They proved effective in forcing the zamindars, doras, jagirdars, and other landowners to flee to the cities, allowing for parallel village administrations to be established. They ensured radical reforms such as land redistribution and collective ownership would be enacted, and it was wholly unclear in these provisional administrations where the party ended and the embryonic state began - often the authority was simply called the "Sangham", or the Association. The purple banner of the Association of the Workers and Peasants was omnipresent, as well as the tricolour of the Andhra Mahasabha. Social revolution was afoot. But Razakars combatted them hard, massacring peasants as well as political opponents of the Nizam. And though they often claimed this was in the name of religion, they were just as willing to kill anti-regime Muslims as they were Hindus. But these massacres only had the measure of escalating the revolution, and it spread across the Telugu-speaking parts of the state of Hyderabad. Indeed, the only part not to rise up was Kalyana, where the Telugu nationalist character of the revolution meant attempts to stir up revolt in this Kannada-speaking region failed. Nevertheless, the rebellion continued to escalate further and further, and peasant rebels took over numerous cities where they often extracted bloody retribution against their former feudal lords. Many peasant heroes were created in this period, but so were peasant martyrs, as blood flowed across the nation. Arms flowed from Hindustan southwards, particularly after its independence in 1939, and Hyderabadi counterinsurgency tactics did little to stem the rebellion.
By late 1940, the revolutionaries reached Hyderabad district. When it slowly became apparent that the state could hardly stop the march of the revolutionaries and that there were even rebel sympathies within Hyderabad city itself, the Nizam fled to Maharashtra, and from there to Turkey where he lived out the rest of his life. His flight was so hectic that he even left his Crown Jewels (now known as the Revolutionary Peoples’ Jewels) behind, though his assistants took much of the treasury with him. The Kannada-speaking Kalyana region, still under control of the Nizam's administrators, subsequently fell under British occupation, and it would be part of British plans. In Hyderabad city, the revolutionaries declared the Andhra Workers' and Peasants' Republic, and threw out the British cantonment in Moobaurezabad. The convened Andhra Mahasabha ratified the Constitution of 1943 after much discussion, which successfully unified the disparate village councils under a central authority, while at the same time confirming that the nation would be a one-party state. This revolution, with all its extremely radical ideals and great messiness, was both idolized and reviled by many in India, as Dakhni revolutionary ghazals were sung as far north as Punjab by labour strikers, while princes and aristocrats shivered at the bloody sights of nobility murdered by their own peasants. An Anglo-Maharashtrian invasion, which sought to destroy the revolutionary state in its crib, was halted, and afterwards Maharashtra's unilateral abrogation of the Anglo-Maharashtrian alliance made such cooperation impossible. But at the same time, the Andhra revolutionary government cultivated sympathizers in the Northern Circars, now under the rule of the Dravidian Federation established by the British to keep the Associationists out, with the aim of claiming and incorporating it. Their territorial plans often included Andhraite control as far south as Madras and as far north as Jeypore, claims that stretched the very real sympathies among Coastal Telugus for the revolution for irredentist aims over Tamil- and Odia-speaking areas. Nevertheless, the government believed in a United Andhra, and this inevitably brought it into a confrontation with its neighbour.
1762-1803: Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II
1803-1807: Sikandar Jah, Asaf Jah III
1807: Overthrown by British and Maharashtrian troops
1807-1834: Mubarez-ud-Daulah, Asaf Jah IV
1834-1872: Mir Farkhunda Ali Khan Nasirud-Daula, Asaf Jah V
1872-1903: Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI
1903-1925: Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, Asaf Jah VII
1925-1941: Mir Barkat Ali Khan Bahadur, Asaf Jah VIII
1941: Hyderabad overthrown by Andhra Revolution, replaced by the Andhra Workers' and Peasants' Republic
The state of Hyderabad suffered defeat after defeat during the Maharashtrian resurgence of the late eighteenth century. The Maharashtrians won great victories in the 1780s and, most famously, the Battle of Kharda in 1798 saw vast swathes of the state, including Aurangabad, fall under Maharashtrian rule. This led Hyderabad into an alliance with the British, who forced it to secede the coastal region in return for bringing about an alliance against Tipu Sultan's Mysore - an alliance that proved successful come the Third Anglo-Mysore War in 1790. However, at the same time Hyderabad employed a French officer, M. Raymond, which caused consternation among British authorities who feared he would influence the court into taking an anti-British stance. In 1800, the Afghan invasion of India in alliance with Mysore resulted in Hyderabad, Maharashtra, and Britain allying with one another and, after much difficulty, this alliance was able to sweep the Afghans off to Punjab, while in Mysore Anglo-Maharashtrian troops were able to put Seringapatam under siege and kill Tipu Sultan in battle, resulting in a reduced Mysore being placed under British administration, by 1802. This war, as well as the resolution of a succession dispute, brought Maharashtra into an alliance with the British, similar in character to the one with Hyderabad. But with M. Raymond leading a French battalion in Hyderabad, Britain became increasingly concerned that Hyderabad would break away and pondered moves to stop it.
With the death of Asaf Jah II in 1803 and the rise of his son to the throne, British heavy-handed attempts to force him to remove Raymond proved alienating as he believed this was a plot to destroy his army. Fearing that the British alliance with Maharashtra would lead to a sneak attack, in 1804 he assembled his troops. They forced the British battalion meant to "protect" him to flee to the Northern Circars. And though Asaf Jah III attempted to renegotiate a looser alliance with Britain, they fell through and instead Britain declared its intentions to depose him. The ensuing Anglo-Hyderabadi War proved a costly one for Britain despite the Maharashtrian alliance reducing some of these costs, but it ended with British and Maharashtrian troops in Hyderabad itself, with Asaf Jah III being deposed and replaced by his brother.
The resulting administration was forced to perpetually recognize Maharashtrian rule over Aurangabad and its environs, and also accept heavy British influence. A large British cantonment was established near Hyderabad, around which formed the city of Moobaurezabad (now Andolanabad). British officers were appointed in charge of revenue, while the pro-British official Raja Chandulal was made finance minister where he embezzled great amounts of money. The ensuing financial crisis resulted in a great deal of chaos and weakened the princely state further. His successor, Asaf Jah V, was initially ruled under a regency, but upon achieving majority in 1839 he initiated a period of great economic reform to make the state more independent; with the British of the era seeking to reduce the cost of empire, they welcomed this. But at the same time, debts accumulated and resulted in him being forced to grant the British administrative control over part of his kingdom in return for them waiving off some of his debts. This aside, the modernization of the era was dramatic and largely successful. It saw the first railways and telegraph lines being laid out, as well as the creation of educational institutions, such as Hyderabad Medical College (now the Andhra Revolutionary University of Medicine). He died in 1872.
Upon his death, with the ascent of his son, the state saw further modernization attempts. However, Hyderabad was impacted quite severely by the Great Indian Famine of 1876-78, and the general British failure to provide aid also affected the state. Furthermore, as the Famine incited an era of constitutional reform in neighbouring Maharashtra, he ignored the clamour for establishing a national assembly of consultation. Nevertheless, he did issue reforms such as a ban on the practice of sati, where Hindu widows would commit suicide upon the deaths of their husbands, becoming the second princely state after Maharashtra to do so. He also continued to establish railways and educational institutes even as this threatened to empower a new class. He also saw Hyderabad's first forays into cotton production in this era, representative of a general model of aristocratic-feudalistic state driven industrialization. However, he proved unwilling to concede further reform. The next ruler, Asaf Jah VII, saw an early crisis in the form of the Great Musi Flood of 1908, which entirely flooded the city of Hyderabad. This forced him to open the doors of the palace to flood victims, and afterwards the city of Hyderabad was dramatically reconstructed according to a plan he personally approved of. It was a major success, and it made the city an extremely modern one, with room new for public institutions - today, much of this remains intact, despite the great change in regime. Great reservoirs were built to keep any such flood from ever happening again. But at the same time, the brewing radical-liberal movement which advocated the establishment of a legislature was one he clamped down upon quite hard as he viewed it as disloyal and potentially leading to Punjabi-style republicanism. It prevented him from reforming the state as much as he could have, and feudalism remained prominent and uncontested, as power continued to be the domain of a small elite entirely separate from the peasantry - even as in neighbouring Maharashtra feudalism began to weaken under constitutional government.
But it was his successor who saw this unstable order blow up. With radicals and liberals clamped down hard, instead a revolutionary associationist movement began to emerge, led by the Association of Workers and Peasants. When it began to attract a peasant following in the name of anti-feudalism and a revolutionary society, the Nizam ordered it shut down. Instead it moved underground, though the new public face of the anti-Nizam movement, the Andhra Mahasabha, brought together Associationists with other elements; it increasingly adopted the character of a movement by Telugu peasants against the Dakhni- and Hindustani-speaking court of the Nizam. Over the 1930s, tensions grew and grew. When in Hindustan the British bombardment of Patna in 1936 resulted in the Hindustani War of Independence (albeit in the name of radical-liberal ideals), peasant rebellions in Hyderabad began to increase in magnitude as it seemed aspirational. At the same time, pro-Nizam militias known as "Razakars" began to form, both under the state and adjacent to it, and they suppressed peasant revolts with heavy brutality. Finally, in 1937, following some last-ditch compromise efforts that failed, the Andhra Mahasabha declared an armed revolution against the Nizam.
These rebellions were concentrated in Telugu-speaking areas, and specifically the countryside. They proved effective in forcing the zamindars, doras, jagirdars, and other landowners to flee to the cities, allowing for parallel village administrations to be established. They ensured radical reforms such as land redistribution and collective ownership would be enacted, and it was wholly unclear in these provisional administrations where the party ended and the embryonic state began - often the authority was simply called the "Sangham", or the Association. The purple banner of the Association of the Workers and Peasants was omnipresent, as well as the tricolour of the Andhra Mahasabha. Social revolution was afoot. But Razakars combatted them hard, massacring peasants as well as political opponents of the Nizam. And though they often claimed this was in the name of religion, they were just as willing to kill anti-regime Muslims as they were Hindus. But these massacres only had the measure of escalating the revolution, and it spread across the Telugu-speaking parts of the state of Hyderabad. Indeed, the only part not to rise up was Kalyana, where the Telugu nationalist character of the revolution meant attempts to stir up revolt in this Kannada-speaking region failed. Nevertheless, the rebellion continued to escalate further and further, and peasant rebels took over numerous cities where they often extracted bloody retribution against their former feudal lords. Many peasant heroes were created in this period, but so were peasant martyrs, as blood flowed across the nation. Arms flowed from Hindustan southwards, particularly after its independence in 1939, and Hyderabadi counterinsurgency tactics did little to stem the rebellion.
By late 1940, the revolutionaries reached Hyderabad district. When it slowly became apparent that the state could hardly stop the march of the revolutionaries and that there were even rebel sympathies within Hyderabad city itself, the Nizam fled to Maharashtra, and from there to Turkey where he lived out the rest of his life. His flight was so hectic that he even left his Crown Jewels (now known as the Revolutionary Peoples’ Jewels) behind, though his assistants took much of the treasury with him. The Kannada-speaking Kalyana region, still under control of the Nizam's administrators, subsequently fell under British occupation, and it would be part of British plans. In Hyderabad city, the revolutionaries declared the Andhra Workers' and Peasants' Republic, and threw out the British cantonment in Moobaurezabad. The convened Andhra Mahasabha ratified the Constitution of 1943 after much discussion, which successfully unified the disparate village councils under a central authority, while at the same time confirming that the nation would be a one-party state. This revolution, with all its extremely radical ideals and great messiness, was both idolized and reviled by many in India, as Dakhni revolutionary ghazals were sung as far north as Punjab by labour strikers, while princes and aristocrats shivered at the bloody sights of nobility murdered by their own peasants. An Anglo-Maharashtrian invasion, which sought to destroy the revolutionary state in its crib, was halted, and afterwards Maharashtra's unilateral abrogation of the Anglo-Maharashtrian alliance made such cooperation impossible. But at the same time, the Andhra revolutionary government cultivated sympathizers in the Northern Circars, now under the rule of the Dravidian Federation established by the British to keep the Associationists out, with the aim of claiming and incorporating it. Their territorial plans often included Andhraite control as far south as Madras and as far north as Jeypore, claims that stretched the very real sympathies among Coastal Telugus for the revolution for irredentist aims over Tamil- and Odia-speaking areas. Nevertheless, the government believed in a United Andhra, and this inevitably brought it into a confrontation with its neighbour.
napoleon IV
Sheer Animal Cunning of the Groundhog
- Location
- Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- Pronouns
- he/him
Vice President Kissel hijacks every NSC meeting to have his friend Henry Zebrowski deliver a talk about the Left Hand Path. When Zebrowski is too hungover to attend the meetings (which is often) Kissel instead launches into a rant about every fucking conspiracy theory imaginable, even the ones he knows aren't real because he's seen the classified documents.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'm more here for Ben to fuck up pronunciation of everything at the NSC meetings and the NSA having to hire Marcus just to make Ben be quiet.
Yeah, this is the important bit. John Major would probably be a completely different person if the Nazis had invaded when he was a toddler and he'd grown up in a Britain where Anglo-style nazism is the norm, and he'd probably not be too different if he'd become a bus conductor in 1962 (he'd still be three years into being a very politically active young man) - but when Kim Newman wrote a story where John Major is in charge of a British Nazi state celebrating the D-Day landings in Kent, he wrote Major as recognisably a mean take on OTL Major because contemporary Britain in a mirror darkly was the point. And when he wrote one where Major's On The Buses, he wrote a very different guy because part of the point was about fair play over winning and presenting the contemporary PM as a man happy & contented being a bus conductor - while his boss Jeffrey Archer expresses venomous contempt for people 'settling' - was part of that point.
Whereas a timeline going:
What If Major Was A Bus Conductor?
1979 - 1990: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)^
1990 - 1997: John Major (Conservative)*
1997 - 2007: Tony Blair (Labour)^
* has jokes in media about the time they worked as a bus conductor
^ does not have jokes in media about the time they worked as a bus conductor
wouldn't be very interesting, and a timeline where an unrecognisable Nazi war criminal version of Major was in power would just be weird to write as a major thing, like Michael Foot dunking people in acid baths.
(OTOH a story about John Major in a Nazi Britain might be interesting if Major's the character to illustrate how much history is out of whack, how the world here works etc - "here's a guy you know, feel unsettled seeing them different." Major as a two-fisted PI on the mean streets of blackshirt-oppressed Brixton or something)
List of Presidents of the United States
1968-1973: Richard Nixon/ Spiro Agnew (Republican)
def. Hubert Humphrey/ Edmund Muskie (Democratic), George Wallace/ Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
def. George McGovern/ Sargent Shriver (Democratic)
1973-1977: Richard Nixon/ George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1977-1981: Mo Udall/ Reubin Askew (Democratic)
def. George H.W. Bush/ Phil Crane (Republican)
1981-1989: George H.W. Bush/ Guy Vander Jagt (Republican)
def. Reubin Askew/ John Glenn (Democratic), Larry MacDonald/ Jim Bunning (Patriotic Republican)
def. Gary Hart/ Herman Badillo (Democratic), John Jay Hooker/ Paul Findley (Alliance '84)
1989-1997: Guy Vander Jagt/ Pete Wilson (Republican)
def. Jerry Brown/ Bob Kerrey & Laura Eisenhower (Democratic-Alliance)
def. Jay Rockefeller/ Dick Lamm (Democratic)
List of Shadow Presidents of the United States of America
1977-1981: George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1981-1984: Reubin Askew (Democratic)
1984-1987: Gary Hart (Democratic)
1987-1988: Geraldine Ferraro (Democratic)
1988-1988: Reubin Askew (Democratic)
1988-1989: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
1989-2021: Position Abolished
2021-pres: Gary Johnson (Republican)
This is probably the funniest thing I've ever made ngl
1968-1973: Richard Nixon/ Spiro Agnew (Republican)
def. Hubert Humphrey/ Edmund Muskie (Democratic), George Wallace/ Curtis LeMay (American Independent)
def. George McGovern/ Sargent Shriver (Democratic)
1973-1977: Richard Nixon/ George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1977-1981: Mo Udall/ Reubin Askew (Democratic)
def. George H.W. Bush/ Phil Crane (Republican)
1981-1989: George H.W. Bush/ Guy Vander Jagt (Republican)
def. Reubin Askew/ John Glenn (Democratic), Larry MacDonald/ Jim Bunning (Patriotic Republican)
def. Gary Hart/ Herman Badillo (Democratic), John Jay Hooker/ Paul Findley (Alliance '84)
1989-1997: Guy Vander Jagt/ Pete Wilson (Republican)
def. Jerry Brown/ Bob Kerrey & Laura Eisenhower (Democratic-Alliance)
def. Jay Rockefeller/ Dick Lamm (Democratic)
List of Shadow Presidents of the United States of America
1977-1981: George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1981-1984: Reubin Askew (Democratic)
1984-1987: Gary Hart (Democratic)
1987-1988: Geraldine Ferraro (Democratic)
1988-1988: Reubin Askew (Democratic)
1988-1989: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
1989-2021: Position Abolished
2021-pres: Gary Johnson (Republican)
This is probably the funniest thing I've ever made ngl
Last edited:
- Location
- Das Böse ist immer und überall
- Pronouns
- he/him
this is the greatest list yet posted in this thread
2001 - 2001: Al Gore / Joe Lieberman (Democrat)
2000 def. George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican), Ralph Nader / Winona Laduke (Green)
2001 - 2002: Joe Lieberman / vacant (Democrat)
2002 - 2009: Joe Lieberman / John McCain (Democrat)
2004 def. Rudy Giuliani / Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Republican), Ralph Nader / Dennis Kucinich (Green), Alan Keyes / William E. Dannemeyer (Constitution)
2009 - 2011: John McCain / John Edwards (Democrat)
2008 def. Mike Huckabee / Mark Andrew Green (Republican), Pete McCloskey / Cynthia McKinney (Green), Tucker Carlson / Penn Jillette (Libertarian)
2011 - 2011: John McCain / vacant (Democrat)
2011 - 2013: John McCain / Michael Bloomberg (Democrat)
2013 - 2015: Ron Paul / Gary Johnson (Republican / Libertarian)
2012 def. Bernie Sanders / Nina Turner (Green), Hillary Clinton / Rahm Emanuel (Democrat), Donald Trump / Lou Dobbs (Constitution-American Independent)
2015 - 2017: Ron Paul (Republican) / Gary Johnson (Libertarian)
2017 - 2018: Kyrsten Sinema / Alan Grayson (Green)
2016 def. Ron Paul / Bon Conley (Republican), Michael Bloomberg / Geoffrey Canada (Democrat), Gary Johnson / Jesse Ventura (Libertarian), Jeb! Bush / Bill Kristol (Conservative), Bob Avakian / Aaron Dixon (Revolutionary Communist)
2018 - 2021: Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) / Alan Grayson (Green)
2021 - 2025: Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) / Steven Seagal (Republican)
2020: Rand Paul / Steven Seagal (Republican), Matt Gonzalez [replacing Alan Grayson] / Chris Hedges (Green), Kyrsten Sinema / Elizabeth Colbert Busch (Democrat), Nicholas Sarwark / Lisan Kennedy Montgomery (Libertarian), Bob Avakian / Sunsara Taylor (Revolutionary Communist), Curtis Yarvin / Ron Unz (Workers’)
Avocados defeat Watermelons in Green National Primary
June 6th, 2016
Yesterday’s national Green Party presidential primaries has turned out to be a strong victory for the Avocados. Despite finishing first, 2012 nominee Bernie Sanders’ path to renomination has just become a lot harder. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist received an impressive 33% percent of the vote, though even if other ‘Watermelons’ votes were added, the Vermont Senator would only reach 38,6%. The ‘Avocados’ on the other hand total 47,2%, though they only received 616 of the possible 1501 delegates. Nevertheless, it’s considered all but certain that the Greens will nominate an Avocado for President in 2016.
The likeliest of these candidates is Arizona congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema. With an impressive 20,3% of the vote, the 39-year old defied all polls, and finished in a comfortable first place among the moderates, with only the socialist Sanders receiving more votes than her. Sinema is the number two of the Green party’s leadership, and is considered one of the most moderate members of the party. Her victory may have seemed like a huge upset two years ago, but the increasingly right-ward shift of the Democratic Party, has started to push less progressive Democrats to the Green party as well, which formed the backbone of her victory this Thursday.
Aside from Sanders doing worse than most polls expected, the other major upset was Governor Alan Grayson receiving over 15% of the vote. The Floridan populist repeatedly refused to label himself as either an Avocado or Watermelon, instead referring to himself as a “left-wing populist”. His numbers may just be an indication of Green voters wanting to move on from the current split within the party. Others argue that Grayson’s surprise victory in 2014 is the main reason for votes flocking his way, as he may be the most electable candidate in the general election. Either way, the Governor will be a kingmaker for the upcoming convention, though everything seems to indicate that a deal with the Sinema campaign is close to being finalized, with her campaign manager Tom Steyer stating that they’re very optimistic about reaching a deal with the Floridan.
Obviously inspired by @BClick
2000 def. George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican), Ralph Nader / Winona Laduke (Green)
2001 - 2002: Joe Lieberman / vacant (Democrat)
2002 - 2009: Joe Lieberman / John McCain (Democrat)
2004 def. Rudy Giuliani / Kay Bailey Hutchinson (Republican), Ralph Nader / Dennis Kucinich (Green), Alan Keyes / William E. Dannemeyer (Constitution)
2009 - 2011: John McCain / John Edwards (Democrat)
2008 def. Mike Huckabee / Mark Andrew Green (Republican), Pete McCloskey / Cynthia McKinney (Green), Tucker Carlson / Penn Jillette (Libertarian)
2011 - 2011: John McCain / vacant (Democrat)
2011 - 2013: John McCain / Michael Bloomberg (Democrat)
2013 - 2015: Ron Paul / Gary Johnson (Republican / Libertarian)
2012 def. Bernie Sanders / Nina Turner (Green), Hillary Clinton / Rahm Emanuel (Democrat), Donald Trump / Lou Dobbs (Constitution-American Independent)
2015 - 2017: Ron Paul (Republican) / Gary Johnson (Libertarian)
2017 - 2018: Kyrsten Sinema / Alan Grayson (Green)
2016 def. Ron Paul / Bon Conley (Republican), Michael Bloomberg / Geoffrey Canada (Democrat), Gary Johnson / Jesse Ventura (Libertarian), Jeb! Bush / Bill Kristol (Conservative), Bob Avakian / Aaron Dixon (Revolutionary Communist)
2018 - 2021: Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) / Alan Grayson (Green)
2021 - 2025: Kyrsten Sinema (Democrat) / Steven Seagal (Republican)
2020: Rand Paul / Steven Seagal (Republican), Matt Gonzalez [replacing Alan Grayson] / Chris Hedges (Green), Kyrsten Sinema / Elizabeth Colbert Busch (Democrat), Nicholas Sarwark / Lisan Kennedy Montgomery (Libertarian), Bob Avakian / Sunsara Taylor (Revolutionary Communist), Curtis Yarvin / Ron Unz (Workers’)
Avocados defeat Watermelons in Green National Primary
June 6th, 2016
Yesterday’s national Green Party presidential primaries has turned out to be a strong victory for the Avocados. Despite finishing first, 2012 nominee Bernie Sanders’ path to renomination has just become a lot harder. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist received an impressive 33% percent of the vote, though even if other ‘Watermelons’ votes were added, the Vermont Senator would only reach 38,6%. The ‘Avocados’ on the other hand total 47,2%, though they only received 616 of the possible 1501 delegates. Nevertheless, it’s considered all but certain that the Greens will nominate an Avocado for President in 2016.
The likeliest of these candidates is Arizona congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema. With an impressive 20,3% of the vote, the 39-year old defied all polls, and finished in a comfortable first place among the moderates, with only the socialist Sanders receiving more votes than her. Sinema is the number two of the Green party’s leadership, and is considered one of the most moderate members of the party. Her victory may have seemed like a huge upset two years ago, but the increasingly right-ward shift of the Democratic Party, has started to push less progressive Democrats to the Green party as well, which formed the backbone of her victory this Thursday.
Aside from Sanders doing worse than most polls expected, the other major upset was Governor Alan Grayson receiving over 15% of the vote. The Floridan populist repeatedly refused to label himself as either an Avocado or Watermelon, instead referring to himself as a “left-wing populist”. His numbers may just be an indication of Green voters wanting to move on from the current split within the party. Others argue that Grayson’s surprise victory in 2014 is the main reason for votes flocking his way, as he may be the most electable candidate in the general election. Either way, the Governor will be a kingmaker for the upcoming convention, though everything seems to indicate that a deal with the Sinema campaign is close to being finalized, with her campaign manager Tom Steyer stating that they’re very optimistic about reaching a deal with the Floridan.
Obviously inspired by @BClick
- Location
- Sandford, Gloucestershire
- Pronouns
- She/They
I really like this. I don't think I've seen this take before
Steve Brinson
The possum is not OK. Neither are we.
- Location
- Brooklyn (originally Houston)
- Pronouns
- he/him
Presidents of the United States of America (Springfield Constitution)
1897-1913: William Jennings Bryan
1897-1913: William Jennings Bryan
Resigned 1913 over Legislature approving military aid to British Revolution
1913-1928: John ReedDied 1928 of pneumonia
1928-1931: Benjamin GitlowResigned 1931 over National Rail scandal
1931-1933: Samuel SeaburyResigned 1933 over ideological disagreements over industrial democracy
1933-1943: James P. CannonRetired 1943 due to term limits
1943-1945: William O. DouglasDismissed 1945 due to interpersonal issues
1945-1947: James BurnhamResigned 1947 over ideological disagreements over industrial democracy
1947-1951: Claude PepperResigned 1951 over Legislature refusing to approve military aid to United Front South Africa
1951-1952: Orval FaubusResigned 1952 over ideological disagreements over race relations
1952-1956: John Kenneth GalbraithResigned 1956 due to public discontent over wage controls
1956-1956: Robert MosesDismissed 1956 due to interpersonal issues and ideological disagreements over transport policy
1956-1958: Jasper McLevyRetired 1958 due to illness
1958-1968: Lyndon JohnsonRetired 1968 due to term limits
1968-1969: Norman PodhoretzResigned 1969 due to ideological disagreements over race relations
1969-1971: Stewart UdallResigned 1971 due to ideological disagreements over environmental policy
1971-1973: Daniel Patrick MoynihanResigned 1973 due to ideological disagreements over welfare policy
1973-1975: Jay LovestoneRetired 1975 due to age
1975-1979: Robert F. KennedyDismissed 1979 due to scandals over internal surveillance
1979-1980: Dennis KucinichResigned 1980 due to interpersonal issues and ideological disagreements over race relations
1980-1990: Bob BullockRetired 1990 due to term limits
1990-1991: Jack BrooksDismissed 1991 due to desire for a "clean break"
1991-1993: Gary HartpenceResigned 1993 due to interpersonal issues and ideological disagreements over military policy
1993-1995: Bobby Ray InmanResigned 1995 due to ideological disagreements over foreign policy
1995-: Francis Fukuyama- Location
- Municipal Commune of Bourne
- Pronouns
- He/Him
1997-2004: Tony Blair (Labour)
1997 (Majority) def. John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
2001 (Majority) def. William Hague (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), John Swinney (Scottish National), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist)
2004-2004: John Prescott (Labour majority; effective minority with unofficial Conservative support), Acting
2004 Impeachment of Tony Blair; 383 Y def. 263 N
2004-2005: Gordon Brown (Labour minority with unofficial Conservative support)
2005-2006: Alan Johnson (Labour minority with unofficial Conservative support)
2006-0000: Hugh Grant (Love Actually)
2006 (Majority) def. Michael Portillo (Conservative), Alan Johnson (Labour), Alex Salmond (Scottish National), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)
2009 American Invasion - ongoing
2001-2001: George W. Bush (Republican)
2000 (with Dick Cheney) def. Al Gore (Democratic)
2001-2005: Dick Cheney (Republican)
2005-0000: Wesley Clark (Democratic / National Union)
2004 (with John McCain) def. Orrin Hatch (Republican), Bernie Sanders (Progressive)
2008 (with Erik Prince) def. Dennis Kucinich (Free Democracy), Roy Moore (Republican)
Bush gets killed on 9/11 and things are ratcheted even harder and faster than IOTL, with Cheney and Blair urgently throwing their respective nations into war. However, it doesn't take long for things like Halliburton contracts to leak out into the ether, and while Cheney fends off impeachment it puts a lethal hole in his Presidency. His British counterpart was less lucky, an ancient impeachment procedure being unearthed and used to push Labour's hitherto most successful leader out of office.
Labour staggers on in power, Brown being essentially crowned Leader of the Labour Party, but only remaining in power thanks to begrudging support from the Tories thanks to a spike in the fortunes of anti-war parties. The Lib Dems briefly enjoy a time leading the polls until Charles Kennedy's hospitalisation, and then as the 2006 election approached, things started to get really serious. A scandal about newspaper phone hacking and general journalistic malfeasance in British tabloids breaks, ranging from colluding with SPADs to push xenophobic rhetoric to exposing celebrities' private lives, it pushes one Hugh Grant to begin putting together an electoral coalition to oppose the 'crooked coalition'.
From SCG Labourites who left the party in disgust at Brown's coronation, to the Lib Dems, to 'Anti-Federalists' the Love Actually coalition was a broad tent that could be broadly described as libertarian and populist, opposed to the authoritarian excesses of successive governments, to the traditional Atlantic Alliance, and to the pre-existing 'establishment. With LA rising in the polls, and Brown on the wane, Labour drew out the knives once again to put Alan Johnson in command. His jovial relationship with the Leader of the Opposition and de facto coalition partner ironically only confirmed the fears LA had emerged in reaction to.
Meanwhile across the ocean, Cheney didn't stand for re-election, while the Democrats were captured not by anti-war activists but by those who promised to run the war more competently. Clark was elected as a Democrat, with a former Republican on his ticket and calling his campaign one of 'National Union', evoking Lincoln in 1864. Clark proceeded to clamp down even harder on civil liberties, further spurring on fears amongst erstwhile American allies. At Clark's 2008 campaign he replaced an aging McCain with the former Viceroy of Afghanistan. The Democratic Party was reduced to an appendage of a 'National Union' vehicle dominated by the very military-industrial complex Clark had initially been elected to replace.
Hugh Grant has entered office and made it clear that the 'Special Relationship' isn't so special any more. He has sought to row back on Britain's military commitments, and has established a series of investigative commissions to reform wide sectors of British public life. Obviously the United States could not brook the loss of it's most reliable military partner. An increasingly paranoid Clark Administration has orchestrated a slow motion military crisis, culminating in an invasion from virtually every angle.
The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming!
But the British have learnt a lot from the abortive 2007 invasion of Iran...
1997 (Majority) def. John Major (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), Alex Salmond (Scottish National)
2001 (Majority) def. William Hague (Conservative), Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrat), David Trimble (Ulster Unionist), John Swinney (Scottish National), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist)
2004-2004: John Prescott (Labour majority; effective minority with unofficial Conservative support), Acting
2004 Impeachment of Tony Blair; 383 Y def. 263 N
2004-2005: Gordon Brown (Labour minority with unofficial Conservative support)
2005-2006: Alan Johnson (Labour minority with unofficial Conservative support)
2006-0000: Hugh Grant (Love Actually)
2006 (Majority) def. Michael Portillo (Conservative), Alan Johnson (Labour), Alex Salmond (Scottish National), Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist), Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)
2009 American Invasion - ongoing
2001-2001: George W. Bush (Republican)
2000 (with Dick Cheney) def. Al Gore (Democratic)
2001-2005: Dick Cheney (Republican)
2005-0000: Wesley Clark (Democratic / National Union)
2004 (with John McCain) def. Orrin Hatch (Republican), Bernie Sanders (Progressive)
2008 (with Erik Prince) def. Dennis Kucinich (Free Democracy), Roy Moore (Republican)
Bush gets killed on 9/11 and things are ratcheted even harder and faster than IOTL, with Cheney and Blair urgently throwing their respective nations into war. However, it doesn't take long for things like Halliburton contracts to leak out into the ether, and while Cheney fends off impeachment it puts a lethal hole in his Presidency. His British counterpart was less lucky, an ancient impeachment procedure being unearthed and used to push Labour's hitherto most successful leader out of office.
Labour staggers on in power, Brown being essentially crowned Leader of the Labour Party, but only remaining in power thanks to begrudging support from the Tories thanks to a spike in the fortunes of anti-war parties. The Lib Dems briefly enjoy a time leading the polls until Charles Kennedy's hospitalisation, and then as the 2006 election approached, things started to get really serious. A scandal about newspaper phone hacking and general journalistic malfeasance in British tabloids breaks, ranging from colluding with SPADs to push xenophobic rhetoric to exposing celebrities' private lives, it pushes one Hugh Grant to begin putting together an electoral coalition to oppose the 'crooked coalition'.
From SCG Labourites who left the party in disgust at Brown's coronation, to the Lib Dems, to 'Anti-Federalists' the Love Actually coalition was a broad tent that could be broadly described as libertarian and populist, opposed to the authoritarian excesses of successive governments, to the traditional Atlantic Alliance, and to the pre-existing 'establishment. With LA rising in the polls, and Brown on the wane, Labour drew out the knives once again to put Alan Johnson in command. His jovial relationship with the Leader of the Opposition and de facto coalition partner ironically only confirmed the fears LA had emerged in reaction to.
Meanwhile across the ocean, Cheney didn't stand for re-election, while the Democrats were captured not by anti-war activists but by those who promised to run the war more competently. Clark was elected as a Democrat, with a former Republican on his ticket and calling his campaign one of 'National Union', evoking Lincoln in 1864. Clark proceeded to clamp down even harder on civil liberties, further spurring on fears amongst erstwhile American allies. At Clark's 2008 campaign he replaced an aging McCain with the former Viceroy of Afghanistan. The Democratic Party was reduced to an appendage of a 'National Union' vehicle dominated by the very military-industrial complex Clark had initially been elected to replace.
Hugh Grant has entered office and made it clear that the 'Special Relationship' isn't so special any more. He has sought to row back on Britain's military commitments, and has established a series of investigative commissions to reform wide sectors of British public life. Obviously the United States could not brook the loss of it's most reliable military partner. An increasingly paranoid Clark Administration has orchestrated a slow motion military crisis, culminating in an invasion from virtually every angle.
The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming!
But the British have learnt a lot from the abortive 2007 invasion of Iran...
Last edited:
- Location
- Toronto, ON, CA
1984-1990: Brian Mulroney (Progressive Conservative)
1984: John Turner (Liberal), Ed Broadbent (New Democratic)
1988: John Turner (Liberal), Ed Broadbent (New Democratic)
1990-1992: Michael Wilson (Progressive Conservative)
1992-1993: Benoît Bouchard (Progressive Conservative)
The NDP make some minor breakthroughs in Quebec and Ontario, hurting the Liberals as much as the Tories. While the Liberals fall into another round of infighting, Mulroney is undeterred and through frantic, high-stakes negotiations he is able to pass the Meech Lake Accord at the end of 1990. He decides to retire on a high, and starts campaigning for the post of United Nations Secretary-General.
He left quite a mess behind - while the constitutional question was settled, the Canadian economy was sinking into deep recession and the Tories' poll ratings with them. While Michael Wilson was an undoubted heavyweight he was also the Finance Minister whose tenure had ended in this economic crisis, and he quickly became associated with painful spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the ballooning deficit. In addition, it quickly became clear that no-one could manage the Tories' sprawling coalition nearly as well as Mulroney could, with the Quebec and western wings of the party frequently at loggerheads and the caucus barely manageable. Collapsing poll ratings in Quebec sent the party into a panic and Wilson was removed a caucus and cabinet revolt in late 1992. Which only made things worse.
The secretive nature of the backroom coup - and Mulroney's alleged involvement - conjured up the electorate's worst assumptions about politics. And the image of the Anglophone Wilson being stitched up by a "Montreal Mafia" incensed Western Tories and played right into the hands of the Reform Party. Bouchard's eleven months in power were dominated by near-open warfare between Tory factions, and only his popularity in Quebec saved the Tories from coming behind Reform in seat tallies.
1993-1997: Jean Chrétien (Liberal)
1993: Ed Broadbent (New Democratic), Benoît Bouchard (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
The Chrétien ministry was on of disappointments. The slender size of Chrétien's majority was a disappointment given the deep unpopularity of his predecessors. The tiny alterations to NAFTA after campaigning so hard against it five years earlier was an even bigger disappointment. And Finance Minister John Manley turning away from the left-leaning manifesto that won them the election in favour of deep cuts to government spending and retaining of Tory tax rises was the biggest disappointment of all. The NDP soon seized the initiative and became the face of an anti-austerity movement nationwide. By 1997 the Canadian economy was in recovery and Chrétien a majority that could not be erased by a handful of rebellious MPs. The snap election initially appeared to be a move of political savvy, with the Canadian right hopelessly divided. But the Liberal lead slowly but consistently diminished over the course of the campaign as the focus of the campaign moved away from the falling deficit and focused increasingly on the stubbornly high unemployment rate. Election night proved to be the upset of the century.
1997-2002: Johanna den Hertog (New Democratic)
1997: Jean Chrétien (Liberal), Perrin Beatty (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
The first NDP government had been fifteen years in the making, but for former NDP President and Broadbent loyalist Johanna den Hertog is was only three days before the election before she was informed that she was about to become Prime Minister. After the jubilation of the historic victory wore off, that unpreparedness became apparent. While the Hertog Government had a few experienced members from provincial governments her cabinet and caucus struggled with a lack of experience, with frequent scandals and resignations. This was just one of the reasons why the NDP struggled to fulfil their manifesto commitments. The decentralised federal structure established with Meech Lake made the process of establishing new federal programmes fraught and slow, especially when relations with provincial governments was poor. The broad coalition of westerners, urban liberals, Quebec nationalists, trade unions and progressive activists soon frayed and the Hertog government became just as paralysed by infighting as the Tories were in their last three years. Despite the robustness of the economy by the turn of the century, Hertog remained deeply unpopular; the party was lucky to come second.
2002-2012: Art Eggleton (Liberal)
2003: Johanna den Hertog (New Democratic), Isabel Bassett (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
2007: François Beaulne (New Democratic), Frank Stronach & Deborah Gray (PC-Reform Alliance), Yves Lévesque (National)
2011 (Minority): Frances Lankin (New Democratic), Yves Lévesque (National), Frank Stronach (Conservative)
After a decade of infighting between Chrétien, Turner and their various acolytes, Art Eggleton was almost the last man standing, able to come up through the middle between the divisive leadership campaigns of Paul Martin, John Manley and Sheila Copps. The Liberals did not make many promises going into 2002, focusing on a generic message of "good government" to contrast with the dysfunction of Hertog and the endless factional divisions, defections and backbiting of the Canadian right. And in government, they stuck true to their word. The Eggleton government was able to pay down much of Canada's once-crippling national debt, and pursued an agenda of modest tax cuts and public service reforms; the most notable domestic policy was perhaps the showering of money on infrastructure, which eventually yielded results in the form the Toronto-Montreal ViaExpress high speed rail link years after he left office. Eggleton's biggest successes were on the international stage, able to with the help of Foreign Minister Alison Redford marshal support for UN-backed interventions into Pakistan in the aftermath of its devastating conflict with India, as well as signing numerous free-trade agreements with the EU and South America.
Canada was hit hard by the late 2000s recession; one of the first acts of the Eggleton Ministry had been to deregulate the banking sector. Economic crisis combined with a succession of scandals involving unethical donations and misleading parliament damaged Eggleton's reputation even further; Eggleton came only two seats away from losing the 2011 election. This near defeat was as much about the right as it was about the re-emergence of the left. The Progressive Conservatives had controversially gone into alliance with their Western arch-rivals, which in left the party shorn of the Quebec nationalists who had often been at odds with more traditional Toryism. The latter turned out to be the greatest problem for Eggleton, erasing their majority by winning a majority of seats in Quebec.
2012-: Mario Dumont (Liberal)
2013: Frances Lankin (New Democratic), Brian Jean (Conservative), Yves Lévesque (National), Linda McQuaig (New)
2017: Brian Jean (Conservative), Moe Sihota (New Democratic), Daniel Turp (National), Dmitri Lascaris (New)
One of the lesser-known prodigies of the Eggleton Ministry beat more established candidates like Alison Redford, Sandra Pupatello and Thomas Mulcair to the leadership and used the fleeting period of "Dumont-mania" to win the Liberals their majority back. Dumont was part of a new generation of liberals who was fully comfortable with the economic and constitutional settlement established by Brian Mulroney and had little time for the factional infighting that had defined all three main parties through the 1990s. The Dumont government, while maintaining the fiscal discipline of the Eggleton years, shifted to the left in terms of foreign policy, implementing a carbon tax and many reforms to immigration laws and LGBT rights.
These shifts caused much of a backlash in the West and on the right, with the Conservatives able to properly take the initiative for the first time in twenty years, with constant protests targeting Dumont. The election of the PQ in Quebec and their championing of a very specific version of "Quebec Values" and the backlash it caused outside the province left the governing Liberals caught in the middle of an increasingly polarised country. Ultimately Dumont was only able to win re-election due to another lurch to the left, winning the tactical votes of many NDP and Parti national du Québec voters due to the possibility of the hard-right Brian Jean and the hardline culture warriors who had won him the leadership entering power. Jean was more empowered by the result than the Liberals were, promising that next time, the Tories would truly "take back Canada..."
1984: John Turner (Liberal), Ed Broadbent (New Democratic)
1988: John Turner (Liberal), Ed Broadbent (New Democratic)
1990-1992: Michael Wilson (Progressive Conservative)
1992-1993: Benoît Bouchard (Progressive Conservative)
The NDP make some minor breakthroughs in Quebec and Ontario, hurting the Liberals as much as the Tories. While the Liberals fall into another round of infighting, Mulroney is undeterred and through frantic, high-stakes negotiations he is able to pass the Meech Lake Accord at the end of 1990. He decides to retire on a high, and starts campaigning for the post of United Nations Secretary-General.
He left quite a mess behind - while the constitutional question was settled, the Canadian economy was sinking into deep recession and the Tories' poll ratings with them. While Michael Wilson was an undoubted heavyweight he was also the Finance Minister whose tenure had ended in this economic crisis, and he quickly became associated with painful spending cuts and tax increases to reduce the ballooning deficit. In addition, it quickly became clear that no-one could manage the Tories' sprawling coalition nearly as well as Mulroney could, with the Quebec and western wings of the party frequently at loggerheads and the caucus barely manageable. Collapsing poll ratings in Quebec sent the party into a panic and Wilson was removed a caucus and cabinet revolt in late 1992. Which only made things worse.
The secretive nature of the backroom coup - and Mulroney's alleged involvement - conjured up the electorate's worst assumptions about politics. And the image of the Anglophone Wilson being stitched up by a "Montreal Mafia" incensed Western Tories and played right into the hands of the Reform Party. Bouchard's eleven months in power were dominated by near-open warfare between Tory factions, and only his popularity in Quebec saved the Tories from coming behind Reform in seat tallies.
1993-1997: Jean Chrétien (Liberal)
1993: Ed Broadbent (New Democratic), Benoît Bouchard (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
The Chrétien ministry was on of disappointments. The slender size of Chrétien's majority was a disappointment given the deep unpopularity of his predecessors. The tiny alterations to NAFTA after campaigning so hard against it five years earlier was an even bigger disappointment. And Finance Minister John Manley turning away from the left-leaning manifesto that won them the election in favour of deep cuts to government spending and retaining of Tory tax rises was the biggest disappointment of all. The NDP soon seized the initiative and became the face of an anti-austerity movement nationwide. By 1997 the Canadian economy was in recovery and Chrétien a majority that could not be erased by a handful of rebellious MPs. The snap election initially appeared to be a move of political savvy, with the Canadian right hopelessly divided. But the Liberal lead slowly but consistently diminished over the course of the campaign as the focus of the campaign moved away from the falling deficit and focused increasingly on the stubbornly high unemployment rate. Election night proved to be the upset of the century.
1997-2002: Johanna den Hertog (New Democratic)
1997: Jean Chrétien (Liberal), Perrin Beatty (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
The first NDP government had been fifteen years in the making, but for former NDP President and Broadbent loyalist Johanna den Hertog is was only three days before the election before she was informed that she was about to become Prime Minister. After the jubilation of the historic victory wore off, that unpreparedness became apparent. While the Hertog Government had a few experienced members from provincial governments her cabinet and caucus struggled with a lack of experience, with frequent scandals and resignations. This was just one of the reasons why the NDP struggled to fulfil their manifesto commitments. The decentralised federal structure established with Meech Lake made the process of establishing new federal programmes fraught and slow, especially when relations with provincial governments was poor. The broad coalition of westerners, urban liberals, Quebec nationalists, trade unions and progressive activists soon frayed and the Hertog government became just as paralysed by infighting as the Tories were in their last three years. Despite the robustness of the economy by the turn of the century, Hertog remained deeply unpopular; the party was lucky to come second.
2002-2012: Art Eggleton (Liberal)
2003: Johanna den Hertog (New Democratic), Isabel Bassett (Progressive Conservative), Preston Manning (Reform)
2007: François Beaulne (New Democratic), Frank Stronach & Deborah Gray (PC-Reform Alliance), Yves Lévesque (National)
2011 (Minority): Frances Lankin (New Democratic), Yves Lévesque (National), Frank Stronach (Conservative)
After a decade of infighting between Chrétien, Turner and their various acolytes, Art Eggleton was almost the last man standing, able to come up through the middle between the divisive leadership campaigns of Paul Martin, John Manley and Sheila Copps. The Liberals did not make many promises going into 2002, focusing on a generic message of "good government" to contrast with the dysfunction of Hertog and the endless factional divisions, defections and backbiting of the Canadian right. And in government, they stuck true to their word. The Eggleton government was able to pay down much of Canada's once-crippling national debt, and pursued an agenda of modest tax cuts and public service reforms; the most notable domestic policy was perhaps the showering of money on infrastructure, which eventually yielded results in the form the Toronto-Montreal ViaExpress high speed rail link years after he left office. Eggleton's biggest successes were on the international stage, able to with the help of Foreign Minister Alison Redford marshal support for UN-backed interventions into Pakistan in the aftermath of its devastating conflict with India, as well as signing numerous free-trade agreements with the EU and South America.
Canada was hit hard by the late 2000s recession; one of the first acts of the Eggleton Ministry had been to deregulate the banking sector. Economic crisis combined with a succession of scandals involving unethical donations and misleading parliament damaged Eggleton's reputation even further; Eggleton came only two seats away from losing the 2011 election. This near defeat was as much about the right as it was about the re-emergence of the left. The Progressive Conservatives had controversially gone into alliance with their Western arch-rivals, which in left the party shorn of the Quebec nationalists who had often been at odds with more traditional Toryism. The latter turned out to be the greatest problem for Eggleton, erasing their majority by winning a majority of seats in Quebec.
2012-: Mario Dumont (Liberal)
2013: Frances Lankin (New Democratic), Brian Jean (Conservative), Yves Lévesque (National), Linda McQuaig (New)
2017: Brian Jean (Conservative), Moe Sihota (New Democratic), Daniel Turp (National), Dmitri Lascaris (New)
One of the lesser-known prodigies of the Eggleton Ministry beat more established candidates like Alison Redford, Sandra Pupatello and Thomas Mulcair to the leadership and used the fleeting period of "Dumont-mania" to win the Liberals their majority back. Dumont was part of a new generation of liberals who was fully comfortable with the economic and constitutional settlement established by Brian Mulroney and had little time for the factional infighting that had defined all three main parties through the 1990s. The Dumont government, while maintaining the fiscal discipline of the Eggleton years, shifted to the left in terms of foreign policy, implementing a carbon tax and many reforms to immigration laws and LGBT rights.
These shifts caused much of a backlash in the West and on the right, with the Conservatives able to properly take the initiative for the first time in twenty years, with constant protests targeting Dumont. The election of the PQ in Quebec and their championing of a very specific version of "Quebec Values" and the backlash it caused outside the province left the governing Liberals caught in the middle of an increasingly polarised country. Ultimately Dumont was only able to win re-election due to another lurch to the left, winning the tactical votes of many NDP and Parti national du Québec voters due to the possibility of the hard-right Brian Jean and the hardline culture warriors who had won him the leadership entering power. Jean was more empowered by the result than the Liberals were, promising that next time, the Tories would truly "take back Canada..."
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oh my god
- Pronouns
- He/Him
“Forever Striving for the Starry Plough”:
First Ministers of Ireland:
1933-1937: Oswald Mosley (Centre)
1933 (Coalition with National Farmers) def: William O'Brien (Labour), Frank MacDermot (National Farmers), Michael Collins (Sinn Fèin), Arthur Maxwell,11th Baron Farnham (Unionist), Jim Larkin (Workers)
1937-1943: Oswald Mosley (Páirtí Náisiúnta Corparáidíoch)†
1937 (‘Action Coalition’) def: Arthur Maxwell,11th Baron Farnham (Unionist), Michael Heffernan (The Soil), Seán Russell (Antoú)
1941 Election Cancelled Due to ‘Anti-Socialist War’
1943-1944: Brigadier Leopold Canning (Military leading ‘Action Coalition’)
1944: Ernest Blythe (Páirtí Náisiúnta Corparáidíoch leading‘Action Coalition’)†
1944-: Jack White (Saor Éire leading Provisional Government)
1944-1945: James Larkin (Labour leading Provisional Government)
Designated Heads of the Irish Republican Army:
1937-1940: Moss Twomey (Sinn Fèin)
1940-1942: Tom Barry (Sinn Fèin)†
1942-1943: Peadar O'Donnell (Saor Éire)†
1943-1945: Jack White (Saor Éire)
President of the Irish Republic:
1945-1949: Gavin A.Arthur (Independent)
1945 def: Roddy Connolly (Saor Èire)
1949-: Owen Sheehy-Skeffington (Labour)
1949 def: Gerald Boland (Fine Ghaedheal), Michael Donnellan (Clann na Talmhan), John J. O'Kelly (An Páirtí Poblachtánach), Sean Murray (Saor Éire)
Taoiseach of the Irish Republic:
1945-1946: Seán T. O'Kelly (Fine Ghaedheal)
1945 (‘Grand Coalition’) def: Seán MacBride (Sinn Fèin), James Larkin (Labour), Jack White (Saor Éire), Tony Magan (An Páirtí Poblachtánach), Michael Donnellan (Clann na Talmhan)
1946-1949: Frank Aiken (Fine Ghaedheal leading Grand Coalition)
1949-: Michael Collins (Sinn Fèin)
1949 (Coalition with Labour) def: Frank Aiken (Fine Ghaedheal), James Larkin (Labour), Oliver J. Flanagan (Clann na Talmhan), Nora Connolly (Saor Èire), Tony Magan (An Páirtí Poblachtánach)
~~~
Welcome to the The Starry Plough, the preeminent podcast for all Irish, Left Wing, Intersectional Discussion.
I’m Saoirse O'Brien and today we have some excellent guests on;
Our first guest is Nora Twomey who is one of the creators of the ‘Seasons of Youth’ an animated show for young adults about four teenagers growing up during the ‘The Strife’ and the subsequent Post-War world, with the Final Series, Winter coming out this spring but is already gaining buzz amongst the critical circles. Anyway let me thank you being here during this busy time for you Nora.
Oh it’s fine, I’m glad to be on myself.
Thanks, now Winter is the final series in which the characters of Ruairí/Rory, Siobhan, Ewen and Maeve having now become adults must deal with the Post-War situation, the question to ask is why did you decide to extend the story beyond just the Mosley years and the Revolution?
Well we found that most films and television about ‘The Strife’ don’t discuss the immediate aftermath, the secularisation efforts, the Irish Constitution and the buildings of the Welfare State we all know and love. Additionally it was still a chaotic and troubled time for many, fears of Anarchists and Syndicalism nearly lead to Kelly and Aiken to pondering more aggressive measures against Saor Èire which have lead to a Civil War. It’s why we realised that ending the show on the election of Michael Collins and the relative peace that would ensue from his decade of premiership seemed to be a good stopping off point.
Speaking of Anarchists and Syndicalism, this show has been praised for it’s relatively restrained look at figures like Jack White and Nora Connolly who are met by the fascinating character Ewen. Why did you decide to explore the fields of Syndicalism through the show?
Well I’ll start by mentioning why we chose Ewen. Ewen is kind of a condescension of numerous young Leftists from Unionist families who became part of the vanguard of the Saor Èire movement. As for your question, Syndicalism would directly influence the building of the modern Ireland we all know, whilst individuals like James Larkin were slightly more moderate than folks like Connolly and White, his ideas of thinking were directly influenced by his father’s trade unionist background. Even the more Christian Socialist, Sinn Féin would espouse Syndicalist ideas at points, though they were always more of a general Left Wing Populist grouping over being based in a general ideology. With much of the resistance being influenced by Syndicalist thought in some manner of thinking, it was only right to portray the movement as accurately and respectably as possible.
Indeed, now there’s a question on the other end of the spectrum. In this series you have mentioned how Rory after being part of Mosley’s organisation turns back towards his Irish identity after ‘The Strife’. Why did you decide to do this after his efforts to assimilate himself into the Mosley structure?
Well Ruairí represents the many Irish Young Men who believed in the idea of Mosley’s Modernisation rhetoric and accepted assimilation as being part of creating a modern Ireland. In the aftermath of the War, those who found out about the Concentration Camps and the sterilisation campaign against various groups often went one of two ways; denial or going in the other direction and becoming full on Irish Nationalists. We do portray Ruairí as a conflicted man at the start of the series and much of the show will be him coming to grips with his Irish identity once and for all.
Of course we do also showcase the various groups that tried to prey on these conflicted young men in the aftermath of the War, with the Republicans and the Flanagan folks being the biggest culprits. Much of this part of the series was inspired by a book I read during the animation process for series two; Blood and Soil: Ireland’s Right after The Strife which discusses how these groups operated during the immediate aftermath of The Strife.
Indeed, the figure of Ruairí is partially based on a young man who became Tony Magan’s Assistant during the beginnings of the S-Plan which is another under discussed area of the Post War situation, the continuation of Inter-Resistance fighting that had occurred during ‘The Strife’ which continued into the Post-War series of bombings and assassinations that the S-Plan produced.
Fascinating, a question to ask is as someone who is part of the GLBT+ community, I love your inclusion of Maeve and her friend Brendan’s story of being GLBT+ indidvduals during ‘The Strife’ and afterwards. Why did you decide to explore these stories in the show?
A lot of fiction on ‘The Strife’ is incredibly Hertronormative and Male from what we’ve found. Originally Maeve was just another farmer girl with her plot revolving more about the Countryside side of the conflict. It was only after one of the Character Designers told me of a book by Zoë Playdon about GLBT+ Resistance fighters in Britain and Ireland did we actually start considering more about Maeve’s character and she was inspired by actual figure called Maeve. Indeed the eventual use of figures like Gavin Arthur, Michael Dillon and Margaret Skinnider was inspired by discussions with Zoë Playdon, who we eventually asked to become one of our executive producers.
Indeed, speaking of Margaret Skinnider much of this series will focus on Maeve and Brendan setting themselves in Cork and becoming friends with Margaret. Why did you decided to have them move to Cork?
Simply because Cork was probably the most GLBT+ friendly city in the aftermath of ‘The Strife’. Gavin Arthur resided there in the early months of the Reconstruction due to how damaged Dublin and Belfast were and Margaret Skinnider’s Mayorship lead to a more conciliatory relationship between the community and the authorities unlike what would happen in Dublin with the various crackdowns and Lavender Scares that lasted till the Early 60s. Finally, some of the animators are from Cork and they said they wanted to be able show off there home City in the show, so I told them they could go nuts.
-laughs-
Excellent stuff, I’m thankful that you’ve decided to explore all this, finally with this being the final series, do you have an further projects in the pipeline?
Well we’ve made a deal with the BBC and PictureBook Films to help them make a similar series on the British Civil War. Not much I can say there due to it all being a bit hush hush at the moment.
We’re also continuing our work with Lumire Productions for the ‘Manchette In Motion’ anthology series and also working with èire digital for a series’s dealing with Fae and Irish Folklore so yeah, fun times ahead.
Thank you so much Nora Twomey, now up next we have the ever wonderful Roland McSweeney to discuss his new book on the Irish Labour Party and we go further afield to talk to Noël Godin about how his field of Anarchist action has gained a passionate following in recent years.
This is after a quick word from our sponsor; The Saor Éire Publishing House...
First Ministers of Ireland:
1933-1937: Oswald Mosley (Centre)
1933 (Coalition with National Farmers) def: William O'Brien (Labour), Frank MacDermot (National Farmers), Michael Collins (Sinn Fèin), Arthur Maxwell,11th Baron Farnham (Unionist), Jim Larkin (Workers)
1937-1943: Oswald Mosley (Páirtí Náisiúnta Corparáidíoch)†
1937 (‘Action Coalition’) def: Arthur Maxwell,11th Baron Farnham (Unionist), Michael Heffernan (The Soil), Seán Russell (Antoú)
1941 Election Cancelled Due to ‘Anti-Socialist War’
1943-1944: Brigadier Leopold Canning (Military leading ‘Action Coalition’)
1944: Ernest Blythe (Páirtí Náisiúnta Corparáidíoch leading‘Action Coalition’)†
1944-: Jack White (Saor Éire leading Provisional Government)
1944-1945: James Larkin (Labour leading Provisional Government)
Designated Heads of the Irish Republican Army:
1937-1940: Moss Twomey (Sinn Fèin)
1940-1942: Tom Barry (Sinn Fèin)†
1942-1943: Peadar O'Donnell (Saor Éire)†
1943-1945: Jack White (Saor Éire)
President of the Irish Republic:
1945-1949: Gavin A.Arthur (Independent)
1945 def: Roddy Connolly (Saor Èire)
1949-: Owen Sheehy-Skeffington (Labour)
1949 def: Gerald Boland (Fine Ghaedheal), Michael Donnellan (Clann na Talmhan), John J. O'Kelly (An Páirtí Poblachtánach), Sean Murray (Saor Éire)
Taoiseach of the Irish Republic:
1945-1946: Seán T. O'Kelly (Fine Ghaedheal)
1945 (‘Grand Coalition’) def: Seán MacBride (Sinn Fèin), James Larkin (Labour), Jack White (Saor Éire), Tony Magan (An Páirtí Poblachtánach), Michael Donnellan (Clann na Talmhan)
1946-1949: Frank Aiken (Fine Ghaedheal leading Grand Coalition)
1949-: Michael Collins (Sinn Fèin)
1949 (Coalition with Labour) def: Frank Aiken (Fine Ghaedheal), James Larkin (Labour), Oliver J. Flanagan (Clann na Talmhan), Nora Connolly (Saor Èire), Tony Magan (An Páirtí Poblachtánach)
~~~
Welcome to the The Starry Plough, the preeminent podcast for all Irish, Left Wing, Intersectional Discussion.
I’m Saoirse O'Brien and today we have some excellent guests on;
Our first guest is Nora Twomey who is one of the creators of the ‘Seasons of Youth’ an animated show for young adults about four teenagers growing up during the ‘The Strife’ and the subsequent Post-War world, with the Final Series, Winter coming out this spring but is already gaining buzz amongst the critical circles. Anyway let me thank you being here during this busy time for you Nora.
Oh it’s fine, I’m glad to be on myself.
Thanks, now Winter is the final series in which the characters of Ruairí/Rory, Siobhan, Ewen and Maeve having now become adults must deal with the Post-War situation, the question to ask is why did you decide to extend the story beyond just the Mosley years and the Revolution?
Well we found that most films and television about ‘The Strife’ don’t discuss the immediate aftermath, the secularisation efforts, the Irish Constitution and the buildings of the Welfare State we all know and love. Additionally it was still a chaotic and troubled time for many, fears of Anarchists and Syndicalism nearly lead to Kelly and Aiken to pondering more aggressive measures against Saor Èire which have lead to a Civil War. It’s why we realised that ending the show on the election of Michael Collins and the relative peace that would ensue from his decade of premiership seemed to be a good stopping off point.
Speaking of Anarchists and Syndicalism, this show has been praised for it’s relatively restrained look at figures like Jack White and Nora Connolly who are met by the fascinating character Ewen. Why did you decide to explore the fields of Syndicalism through the show?
Well I’ll start by mentioning why we chose Ewen. Ewen is kind of a condescension of numerous young Leftists from Unionist families who became part of the vanguard of the Saor Èire movement. As for your question, Syndicalism would directly influence the building of the modern Ireland we all know, whilst individuals like James Larkin were slightly more moderate than folks like Connolly and White, his ideas of thinking were directly influenced by his father’s trade unionist background. Even the more Christian Socialist, Sinn Féin would espouse Syndicalist ideas at points, though they were always more of a general Left Wing Populist grouping over being based in a general ideology. With much of the resistance being influenced by Syndicalist thought in some manner of thinking, it was only right to portray the movement as accurately and respectably as possible.
Indeed, now there’s a question on the other end of the spectrum. In this series you have mentioned how Rory after being part of Mosley’s organisation turns back towards his Irish identity after ‘The Strife’. Why did you decide to do this after his efforts to assimilate himself into the Mosley structure?
Well Ruairí represents the many Irish Young Men who believed in the idea of Mosley’s Modernisation rhetoric and accepted assimilation as being part of creating a modern Ireland. In the aftermath of the War, those who found out about the Concentration Camps and the sterilisation campaign against various groups often went one of two ways; denial or going in the other direction and becoming full on Irish Nationalists. We do portray Ruairí as a conflicted man at the start of the series and much of the show will be him coming to grips with his Irish identity once and for all.
Of course we do also showcase the various groups that tried to prey on these conflicted young men in the aftermath of the War, with the Republicans and the Flanagan folks being the biggest culprits. Much of this part of the series was inspired by a book I read during the animation process for series two; Blood and Soil: Ireland’s Right after The Strife which discusses how these groups operated during the immediate aftermath of The Strife.
Indeed, the figure of Ruairí is partially based on a young man who became Tony Magan’s Assistant during the beginnings of the S-Plan which is another under discussed area of the Post War situation, the continuation of Inter-Resistance fighting that had occurred during ‘The Strife’ which continued into the Post-War series of bombings and assassinations that the S-Plan produced.
Fascinating, a question to ask is as someone who is part of the GLBT+ community, I love your inclusion of Maeve and her friend Brendan’s story of being GLBT+ indidvduals during ‘The Strife’ and afterwards. Why did you decide to explore these stories in the show?
A lot of fiction on ‘The Strife’ is incredibly Hertronormative and Male from what we’ve found. Originally Maeve was just another farmer girl with her plot revolving more about the Countryside side of the conflict. It was only after one of the Character Designers told me of a book by Zoë Playdon about GLBT+ Resistance fighters in Britain and Ireland did we actually start considering more about Maeve’s character and she was inspired by actual figure called Maeve. Indeed the eventual use of figures like Gavin Arthur, Michael Dillon and Margaret Skinnider was inspired by discussions with Zoë Playdon, who we eventually asked to become one of our executive producers.
Indeed, speaking of Margaret Skinnider much of this series will focus on Maeve and Brendan setting themselves in Cork and becoming friends with Margaret. Why did you decided to have them move to Cork?
Simply because Cork was probably the most GLBT+ friendly city in the aftermath of ‘The Strife’. Gavin Arthur resided there in the early months of the Reconstruction due to how damaged Dublin and Belfast were and Margaret Skinnider’s Mayorship lead to a more conciliatory relationship between the community and the authorities unlike what would happen in Dublin with the various crackdowns and Lavender Scares that lasted till the Early 60s. Finally, some of the animators are from Cork and they said they wanted to be able show off there home City in the show, so I told them they could go nuts.
-laughs-
Excellent stuff, I’m thankful that you’ve decided to explore all this, finally with this being the final series, do you have an further projects in the pipeline?
Well we’ve made a deal with the BBC and PictureBook Films to help them make a similar series on the British Civil War. Not much I can say there due to it all being a bit hush hush at the moment.
We’re also continuing our work with Lumire Productions for the ‘Manchette In Motion’ anthology series and also working with èire digital for a series’s dealing with Fae and Irish Folklore so yeah, fun times ahead.
Thank you so much Nora Twomey, now up next we have the ever wonderful Roland McSweeney to discuss his new book on the Irish Labour Party and we go further afield to talk to Noël Godin about how his field of Anarchist action has gained a passionate following in recent years.
This is after a quick word from our sponsor; The Saor Éire Publishing House...