The Eleventh HoS Challenge

[Walpurgisnacht]

I apologise for the late start--I was making latkes and it took longer than expected.

The rules are simple; I give a prompt, and you have until 3:00pm on the 27th to post a list related to the prompt. As for what constitutes a list? If you'd personally post it in Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State rather than another thread, I think that's a good enough criterion. Writeups are preferred, please don't post a blank list, and I'd also appreciate it if you titled your list for polling purposes. Once the deadline hits, we will open up a multiple choice poll, and whoever receives the most votes after a week gets the entirely immaterial prize.

Of course, it's a very special time of year--it's the fourth night of Hanukkah, so we're halfway through the season! I'm also reliably informed that, at the end of the month, there is some sort of goyim holiday called "Crispmas". As such, this month's theme is Holidays. Said holidays don't have to be ones from this time of year--you could do a St Patrick's Day or Ramadan or Nowrus--but I would prefer seasonally appropriate ones.

Good luck!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

In Those Days, At This Season
​

Commanders of the Maccabean People's Army:
1922-1931: Berl Katznelson (political leader), Israel Shochat (military leader)
1931-1938: Berl Katznelson (political leader), Mordechai Anielewicz (military leader)
1938-1947?: Yitzhak Tabenkin (political leader), Mordechai Anielewicz (military leader)
1947?-1953: Yitzhak Tabenkin (political leader), Mordechai Anielewicz (military leader)
1953-1965: Yitzhak Tabenkin (political leader), Josef Glasman (military leader)
1965-1974: Zivia Lubetkin (political leader), Yitzhak Zuckerman & Mansur al-Nashashibi (military leaders)

Presidents of the Governing Council of the Union of Levantine Kibbutzim:
1974-1978: Transitional Council of All Factions
1978-xxxx: Murray Bookchin (HaKibbutz Hameuhad)
def 1978: (Minority with Arab People's and Young Zion support) Yigael Gluckstein (Adhut HaAvoda), Rostam Bastuni (Arab People's), Eliezer Livneh (HaOved HaTzioni), Jakub Berman (Makei), Moshe Unna (Emunah), Saadia Marciano (Young Zion), Yigael Yadin (HaIkarim), Bashir Barghouti (Arabic Workers Front)

They tried to kill us. We won. Let's eat.

[laughter from the audience]

...is that not enough? Fine, then. The full story. Oh you want it from the start? Well, in the beginning G_d created the heaven and the earth...

[more laughter]

Alright, alright, fine then! I think it's an important point, though. With history, it's hard--very hard indeed--to pick a "beginning" that properly, well, begins. Every point in history is dependent on the points before it, and so on and so forth...really, if I wanted to waste any more of your time I could start with the exodus from Egypt into the promised land, the first time we returned here, or the destruction of the Temple by Babylon, the first time we were forced to leave. While our national story does start there, or in another sense it starts with Maimonides' Thirteen Principles, or in a synagogue in Semlin, the best place to start for our purposes is the 1920s, with one of the more trouble Mutasarrifates of the Ottoman Empire...

A lot of accounts act like the New Maccabees came out of nowhere, that their history begins with Katznelson getting off the boat from White Russia--well, that's really not true. There had been Jewish communities in Palestine for, well, quite some time, and their number was increasing as aliyah began to look a more attractive option thanks to the barbarisms going on in Russia at the time under Denikin, and of course this began to cause friction. After 1908, the new government had started out by being friendly to us if we toed the line--accepting Ottoman citizenship, swearing loyalty, all that sort of thing--but they'd changed their tone not five years later, were trying to bar those making aliyah from landfall, accusing us of being foreign agents, the same old story from all over.

By the early Twenties, Djemal Pasha [hissing and booing] not now! Oh, alright, fine...a certain gentleman had managed to outmaneuver the other two members of the triumvirate, and the policies of discrimination became policies of destruction. Katznelson, at the time, was growing his influence in the Jewish community's left-wing through his labour organising efforts on behalf of Jewish workers, and so faced his work constantly being opposed by Ottoman authorities. The sudden shift to more direct cultural suppression, the burning of libraries, the breaking-up of prayer meetings, this was something new to him, that he knew had to be fought. So he reached out to the group that had been preparing for such a day--the HaShomer, the watchmen, who'd been acting as an internal police and protecting the Yishuv.

They both needed each other--Katznelson and the Histadrut had the foundations for a Hebrew civil society, and Shochat and the HaShomer had the means to defend that society. A sword in one hand, a plow in the other--that was the way. They took their name from the Maccabees not just because they fought in this land, once, and won, against an empire that hated them, but because in the midst of that bloodshed they found time to restore the Temple. Those were the ideals of Labour Zionism--that in building a new nation, we have a duty to make a just one, not just another state, but a light unto the nations.

The Ottoman armies laughed at us, said we didn't have the men or the resources to last, but once we got the port of Hadera secure, the whole diaspora could join the fight as well. Just like how what some though would last only one night was enough to last eight, what some thought would last only seven years lasted eight times that. It was thanks to His hand protecting us that we weathered the splits--between religious and secular, between kibbutznik and state-builder, and yes, between ourselves and the other inhabitants--and stayed united in our common struggle, to live in our land and keep our customs, whatever those customs were, with no Pasha to breathe down our neck!

On this day, so many years ago, the 7th of Tevet, we came out the other side. Decades of struggle were over--we could hold elections, be part of the community of nations, accomplish the dream of two thousand years. They tried to kill us, and we won.

So let's eat!

[applause from the audience]

 

[Time Enough]

So let's eat!

[applause from the audience]

This has the energy of Spalding Gray explaining Kibbutzim and I’m down for it.

 

[Yokai Man]

A Prussian War,Not a German One

Wilhelm I (1871-1888)

Friedrich III (1888-1888)

Wilhelm II (1888-1919)

DISPUTED LEADERSHIP,START OF GERMAN CIVIL WAR

Ferdinand Foch (1919-1919)

DISSOLUTION OF THE GERMAN REICH,FORMATION OF: the Rhenish Republic,the Kingdom of Saxony,the Kingdom of Bavaria,the Kingdom of Hanover,the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein etc


The German nation didn’t die because of the Socialists,the Jews or the Catholics or whoever the last living Freikorps nutters in exile hate this week. It died because of Prussia and its war obsessed aristocrats that led Europe to destruction and refused to ever accept any even slightly different than them.

Contrary to what some might believe,it didn’t start with Wilhelm the Second. It started from the beginning with Bismarck. He did everything in his power so that his Germany triumphed above all. The Catholics,the Jews,the Poles or the Russians? They didn’t matter and neither did the Saxons or the Bavarians or anyone who had a different identity from that of Prussia. They got sidelined from any power or deported because they weren’t good Protestant Prussians who did everything their ”betters” told them to. Most of Bismarck’s foreign policy,when it wasn’t about serving the interests of the Reich morality be damned,was all about fighting an imaginary menace of his,a Catholic Revenge Coalition that never happened and never could happen but that he always believed it could. Because he hated us. He hated the Jews and the Poles and the Russians because they weren’t apart of his Germany. A Germany that was just Prussia as master and ruler over all other Germans.

So no,it didn’t start with Wilhelm. All Wilhelm did was just spend up the inevitable. Showed what the Prussian elites were deep down inside: a bunch of reactionary twats obsessed with war. The Spartans reborn and just as worse as before.

To be unreasonable fair to Bismarck though,at least he had self control. He knew how to plot,charm,destroy,appear respectable. Wilhelm? Wilhelm was a bloody man child. The sequel to Caligula no one wanted. He stumbled into crisis after crisis,nearly starting the War early than it should over proudly stupid issues. He wanted everything at once and expected to be handed them on a silver plater just for existing. He had an ego the size of the Pacific Ocean and the intelligence of a drunken bull. His casual racialism made even some conservatives in his court unnerved.

In short,the leader that the Prussian elite deserved.

Too bad he had to be our too.

When he plunged the world into war,he promised us we’d rule the world and all those he viewed as inferior,worthy of only being his slaves. Four years after that,everyone was dying of hunger. His solution to that was just plunder from those who had food. Rickets and typhoid became common place. Our family members had to sent their food supplies in order not to die of hunger. We’ve reverted back to barbarian times.

But did the Prussians care? No. They never did. We never mattered to them. They just viewed us as their natural inferiors that were always meant to obey their orders and be thankful that they existed.

Well,we had enough. We no longer wanted to fight their war and listen to their orders. In mid November,the Junkers Empire fell apart. We all rebelled-Saxon and Bavarian regiments,Rhenish Republican,SDP folk and Commies alike,disorganized at first but united against one thing: the Junkers and their leader,Mad Willy.

By Christmas the Rhenish Republic had already been formed. Sure,we were helped by the French and we helped along fighting what remained of the Reich’s army. But better with them than with Junkers. The French at least treated us like human beings. The Prussians? They would never see us as brothers. The Kaiser said we betrayed the Germanic Race. We say he betrayed the whole human race. With brothers like that,who needs enemies?

Four years have gone since the end of that horror. Many loved ones died. But they didn’t die in vain. We’re all free now,free to decide our own fate,whether as Saxons or Bavarians or Rhenish or whatever we want to be. We as Catholics aren’t treated as an enemy in the Rhineland. We aren’t ruled by a ruled over by an unscrupulous caste of war-fixated militarist aristocrats anymore,but people we choose to lead us. We are the grown ups now.

Let the Saxons be run by the Social Democrats and have their women do whatever-it’s their right to decide. We must learn from the war. We must not order people around like the Prussians did,but listen,cooperate,help our fellow man. Let our neighbors live in peace and harmony. If we can’t,then the Junkers will have had the last laugh.

Let us remember this on Christmas Eve,when our Republic was born.

 

[Bene Tleilax]

Would it be cheating if I did a list based on "Stop the Cavalry?"

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Would it be cheating if I did a list based on "Stop the Cavalry?"

Not really, no. Just be sure to abide by the competition's rules, and there's no problem.

 

[Charles EP M.]

The Newborn King

Monarchs of England and Ireland

Mary I (1553 - 1558)

Philip I II of Spain (regent, 1558 - 1575)

Edward VII (1575 - 1609)

Philip II (1609 - 1652)

Edward VIII (1652 - 1653)

Monarchs of Britain

Charles I of Britain (1653 - 1685)

Charles II of Britain (1685 - 1686)
Liam I of Britain (1685 - 1686)
Henry IX of Britain (1685 - 1687)
Philip III (1686)

Mary II (1687 - 1688)

Mary III (1688 - xx)

Mary gave birth to a son in late December, something that a few catholics would take as a sign - her will stated her husband Philip would serve as regent and through a combination of legitimacy & potential violence (via both Spain's forces and the allied Mary of Scotland) the Tudors would retain power, allied to the Spanish Empire, and the young Edward had an uncomfortable political marriage to a Scottish noblewoman to keep the two kingdoms allied.

This led a problem in the mid-17th century: Spain and England had, as allies, kept France down, grown rich, and formed empires in the New World (with a few colonies formed by Scotland as well) and now tensions were growing as England wanted to be stronger yet and Spain worried about no longer being the senior partner. All of this would be fine if Edward VIII hadn't fallen off his sodding horse and cracked his skull before having children. Because Edward's older brother had died too, and his sister Mary had been married to Charles II of Scotland. Which now raised the spectre of a unified British monarchy, government and empire. (Ireland was duly counted as part of Britian, like it or not)

Which became inevitable when Spain overreacted and backed a pretender to the throne, who lost. The series of wars that followed were brutal and ravaged both country's naval forces, but Britain won and was the new power of Europe. The Charlesian Era was considered then and now as a golden age of wealth, conquests, and culture, not to mention hedonism, which also sewed the seeds of its own doom because Charles and Mary were... uh... not entirely faithful to each other, and it was known enough that two other connected young men would claim to be the illegitimate sons of Charles and Charles II to be an illegitimate son of Mary. The resulting "War of the Bastards" tore the British Isles apart, leading to the death of both Charles and his brother Philip before Henry of Yorkshire won.

What he forgot was the aging Mary, for all her hedonism, was a canny operator and a vengeful one - and had arranged 'favours' to get the overseas colonies to declare for "the legitimate monarch" to starve Britain of wealth, while appealing to parliament that they would see greater powers under a "legitimate" rule (implying as a "weak and feeble woman" they'd have the advantage) and appealing to the defeated Irish nobles that backed Liam that, well, someone had to stop that Henry kicking them, eh? The result was her taking power for the last of her life - and also killing all of the Liamites and replacing them with new nobles - and passing power to her young daughter.

Mary III was not her mother and was unable to cow the emboldened parliament. While Britain remains a monarchy, now begins an era of greater parliamentary control

 

[Bene Tleilax]

Stop the Cavalry

Hey, Mr. Churchill comes over here
To say we're doing splendidly
But it's very cold out here in the snow
Marching to win from the enemy
Oh, I say it's tough, I have had enough
Can you stop the Cavalry?

1911-1914: H.H. Asquith (Liberal with IPP and Labour support)
1914-16: Andrew Bonar-Law (Conservative/War Liberal war government)

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the outbreak of the Great War proved to be the final straw that broke Herbert Asquiths government, already under pressure from the Home Rule Crisis. Half of his cabinet were threatening to resign if he decided to follow King and Cousins to war over "a scrap of paper" protecting Belgian neutrality. Such things turned out to be irrelevant as the decision was made for him when Bonar Law persuaded the podgy First Lord of the Admiralty to lead the pro-war Liberals into coalition with the Conservatives. By the next month the BEF had begun reinforcing the French troops on the Western Front as the Kaiser advanced on Paris. Eventually it became clear that Bonar Law simply wasn't the man to lead his country through a war, especially as the 20th century caught up with him and pitched battle was replaced with the hellish mud of the trenches. This along with the outcry over the Munitions Scandal made him ill and Mr Churchill eventually became head of the War Government recently incorporating Mr Barnes' Labour splitters in the NDP.

Mary Bradley waits at home
In the nuclear fall-out zone
Wish I could be dancing now
In the arms of the girl I love

1916-19: Winston Churchill (War Liberal/Conservative war government)
1919-21: Winston Churchill (Constitutionalist leading Anti-Communist coalition)
1919: election suspended

The propoganda from the time would have one see Churchill as the British Bulldog flashing the V for Victory gesture (rather inappropriate given the easy connections to Agincourt in the popular conciousness) as he lead the country in the glory charge. The truth, as always, is rather inconvenient. He often drove cabinet members to distraction with stunts such as the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign and starving his colonial subjects diverting food and resources back to Britain. The most notorious incident occured on Bloody Sunday when the police massacred Irish Republicans occupying the Dublin Post Office. Such treason could not be tolerated and Secretary James Craig and the Unionists were installed as the de facto government within a military dictatorship. As the years went on, the mustard gas continued to cloud the battlefield. Eventually a horrifying new weapon began to be introduced. Derived from recent research into atomic physics and pioneered by a French-Polish medic named Marie, it would render whole patches of Northern France uninhabitable; radiation (or, in the new language of army slang, Curry Powder.) This weapon eventually poisoned cities in the Mother and Fatherland's increasing opoosition to the war and support for the burgeoning peace movement. In this chaos, many came to believe that the old order was collapsing. Within the period of a year both of the royal cousins Nicky and Billy would be unseated by revolutions painting nearly all of Europe red. And that was only the beginning...

Bang! That's another bomb on another town
While the Tsar and Jim have tea
If I get home, live to tell the tale
I'll run for all presidencies
If I get elected I'll stop
I will stop the cavalry

1921- : James Craig (Conservative leading Anti-Communist coalition)

To soldiers and civillians alike, it seemed that no sooner had one war reached an armistace than another one had started right back up in its place. The Red Menace had spread to the colonies (even if it didn't start off that way, Britain's response would ensure it would make it so) and so the Churchillite Liberals (reformed into the Constitutionalists) and thier coalition once again suspended elections (especially in the face of the resurgency of the anti-war Labour party) and sent thier citizens off to war. As with his handling of the Great War, Churchills maintaining the Empire left much to be desired as with his intervention in Russia which also drew the ire of Tsar Cyril's White government-in-exile in London. His time was numbered and would eventually come to an anti-climactic end. The colour orange, initally specific to Ulster militia, had begun to be worn by loyalists across the Empire. As such Unionist Leader and Chief Secretary of Ireland James Craig began to be seen as a natural replacement to the office of Prime Minister. Under these circumstances, when so-called Orangeshirts entered No.10 and requested that Churchill resign, the old bullldog felt he had to choice and handed control over to Mr Craig. The war would go on and the soldiers and protesters would keep marching.

Wish I was at home for Christmas...

 

[Kimkatya]

The Red On The White
xxxx-1903: Nicholas "Santa" Claus (Claus Oligarchy)
1903-1911: Roald N. "Santa" Claus (Claus Oligarchy)
1903-1917: Roald N. "Santa" Claus (Production Party)
1911 def. Snap Crispie (Elves United)
1916 def. Snap Crispie (Elves United)
1917-1925: Bibbley Bobbley (Revolutionary Elven Syndicate of Toymakers)
1917, contested def. Crackle Crispie (Elves United)
1925-1925: Rudolph "Red Nose" Reindeer (Revolutionary Elven Syndicate of Toymakers)
1925-1930: Rudolph "Red Nose" Reindeer (Revolutionary Syndicates)
1930-1937: Dancer Reindeer (Counter-Revolutionary Claus Loyalists)
1937-xxxx: Amelia Earhart (American Protectorate)

Grandma? Can you tell us a Christmas story?

Ok, darlings!
In 1903, Nicholas Claus finally dropped the paramount responsibility of his role of controlling the Republic of the North Pole, an apparently united front of Humans, Elves, and various animals, to his son, Roald Nicholas. The family had been in control of the Republic since time immemorial, and had spent their time giving gifts to children around the world. To the very few in the know in "the outside" about the microstate, the Claus family were viewed as an oddity, but in the end decent rulers.

Unfortunately, not all was as it seemed in the little republic. Having dropped their monarchical title years before in an attempt to seem more democratic, the Claus family had an iron grip on toymaking facilities in the North. The working population of the factories consisted almost entirely of Elves, and a few token bears toiled daily on toys for all the children of the world. On Christmas 1903, the day before Santa and his loyal generals would begin their distribution process, many Elves in the Toy Train factory in the North of the massive compound performed a sit-in strike.

This did not go well. Roald Claus decided the best response to this would simply be to send in the troops. The elves were slaughtered, with the exception of a handful. One of these handful was named Bibbley Bobbley, who had been working in the toy train factory for the past forty years, ever since Christmas Magic produced him. Bobbley was a productive worker, but barely had enough cookies and milk to feed his family. In the aftermath of the strike, Bobbley peeled what he needed to about political theory from the book production section of the compound. Bobbley produced a political manifesto in 1904, called "Toymaker's Solidarity".

Toymaker's Solidarity was quickly discovered and banned, but over the next thirteen years there were near-constant strikes. In 1911, there was the Great Tragedy, when those at the Toy Soldier factory were brutally ripped apart with bayonets. Claus realised the need for change, and held an election in 1912, thankfully rigged in his favour. Those who followed "Toymaker's Solidarity". now organised in the Revolutionary Elven Syndicate of Toymakers, or REST, refused to run, referring to Claus as a tyrant.

REST proceeded through the 1910's becoming increasingly brazen in their attacks, kidnapping Mrs. Tabitha Claus in 1915, before being tracked down and the kidnappers hanged publicly. Then, on Christmas 1917, Claus was preparing to deliver toys to the children, when a bomb, powered by pure Christmas Magic, went off in his sleigh. He was killed instantly. Over the next six days, a disorganised Claus family failed to prevent the revolutionary tide, as their palace was overtaken. On New Year's Eve 1917, Bibbley Bobbley was sworn in as President of the Worker's Republic of the North Pole. REST had won.

Bobbley started by doing what he believed was right, and called an election. However, intense voter intimidation led to his main opponent, prominent businessman Crackle Crispie, declaring election fraud. He was driven out of the Republic, and later went into business with his brothers in the United States. But now, Bobbley had absolute power. The constitutional convention was riven with complications, and led to Christmas Magic-Powered Guns being pulled in the renamed Bobbley Palace. It seemed like Bobbley was the only person who could hold the system together. The ideas that Bobbley made clear nearly collapsed in the face of mass starvation on behalf of the population. After all, who would send out the toys? The role seemed to originally fall to Bobbley, but luckily, another figure stepped up.

Rudolph was a general in Claus's army, his secret weapon for getting through the dark night. Due to an incident in the crib, Rudolph's consciousness came with a constantly glowing red nose. Ostracised by his fellow reindeer originally, Rudolph entered the military, where he got his nickname of "Red Nose". He built up connections within the revolutionary movement, and found himself being rapidly attracted to their ideals. Being noted by Santa to help lead through the dark nights, Rudolph was prematurely promoted to General. While at the head of the pack, none of the other legendary "Reindeer Generals" trusted Red Nose, as he came to be known. On that night in 1917, Rudolph planted the bomb that killed Claus.

Bobbley quickly came to know Red Nose after learning he was the one who incited the Six Day Revolution. Rudolph gained a lot of influence over Bobbley, and promoted the idea that toy production should continue as not to scare off the outsiders who knew about the micronation's existence. He also blockaded Bobbley's many friends, inciting the old man to believe that they could not be trusted. Additionally, he took the toys out on Christmas for the children of the world.

On July 16th, 1925, Bibbley Bobbley died. Red Nose quickly came to power, and his first pronouncement was that REST would be recreated into the Revolutionary Syndicates. Red Nose's second pronouncement was for enemies of the republic to quiver, for they would come for them. Over the next five years, Red Nose enacted a reign of terror which took hundreds of lives.

However, something was brewing. Red Nose had one friend in the old reindeer generals, and that was Dancer. Dancer Reindeer reached out to Rudolph in his days of isolation, and was the only person he could truly call a friend. Dancer was the only former reactionary that Rudolph allowed around, living with him in Bobbley Palace.

However, Dancer had other friends too. Five years after Red Nose assumed power, Dancer shot him in his sleep, and announced to the public the next day that the tyranny was over. She pronounced that the Claus family would return... soon! Eventually! Once they found where they had been exiled to. This was not met with great enthusiasm on behalf of the public, but they put their guns down years ago, and got prepared for a lifetime of hard labour. There was one problem: Dancer couldn't find the Claus's heir. A seven year search began, but all possible members of the family were either not willing to come back from protection on behalf of foreign powers, or had been mindwiped with what little the Americans knew of Christmas Magic.

As Dancer searched, society fell into disarray. Strikes began once more, bigger than before. Elf creation slowed down to a crawl. There seemed to be nothing to stem the tide of social collapse. As the sun dawned in June 1937, it seemed that there would be nothing to help them. Which is where the Americans came in.

The Americans had been aware of the micronation for a long time. The Claus family had established relations with each US President, and gained their trust. President Woodrow Wilson ordered intervention, in the interest of keeping the Americans happy for Christmas. And in the Republic's moment of great need, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered a meeting with the Aviator Amelia Earhart, and she agreed to a plan.

Earhart would be appointed "Governor" of the North Pole territory, and she, each year, would fly the gifts around the world. And so it went. Each year, Miss Earhart has flown gifts to children, spreading endless joy. But what of the workers? Well, that, children, is another story.

I'm confused.

Shut up and go to sleep.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Five days left to get your entry in!

 

[Mumby]

A really really spurious one this, with a very very soft POD with Chester Nimitz's appointment to command the Pacific Fleet on Christmas Day in 1941.

Know Me Better Man

1933-1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt I (Democratic)
1932 (with John Nance Garner) def. Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1936 (with John Nance Garner) def. Alf Landon (Republican)
1940 (with Henry A. Wallace) def. Wendell Willkie (Republican)
1944 (with Harry S Truman) def. Thomas E. Dewey (Republican)
1945-1949: Harry S Truman (Democratic)
1949-1953: Chester W. Nimitz (Independent / Democratic)
1948 (with Harry S Truman) def. Douglas MacArthur (Republican), Henry A. Wallace (Progressive)
1953-1955: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)
1952 (with William F. Knowland) def. Harry S Truman (Democratic), Wayne Morse (Progressive)
1955-1961: William F. Knowland (Republican)
1956 (with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.) def. Estes Kefauver (Democratic), Glen H. Taylor (Progressive)
1961-1961: Walter Reuther (Democratic / Progressive)
1960 DISPUTED; Adlai Stevenson II / Walter Reuther (Democratic), Walter Judd / Hubert Humphrey (Republican), Walter Reuther / Elliot Roosevelt (Progressive)
1961-1970: Ted Walker (Democratic / Union)
1964 (with Hubert Humphrey) def. Barry Goldwater (Independent Republican)
1968 cancelled
1970-1973: William Westmoreland (Union / Military)
1972 Presidential Renomination Referendum; REJECT 57%
1973-1977: Hubert Humphrey (Union / Action)
1977-1985: Jock Yablonski (Progressive)
1976 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt III) def. Nelson Rockefeller (Republican), Hubert Humphrey (Action)
1980 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt III) def. Gerald Ford (Republican), Samuel Beer (Action)
1985-0000: Franklin D. Roosevelt III (Progressive)
1984 (with Edward Sadlowski) def. John V. Lindsay (Republican), Jeane Kirkpatrick (Action)

America has had enough of Generals, but they never get tired of a Roosevelt it seems.

Nimitz was thrust into the Presidency, less out of any desire for the office, and more out of sheer contempt for MacArthur who was at serious risk of taking the executive office for himself.

Nimitz unwittingly began a creeping militarization of American politics, first by running the White House like an Admiral, second by staffing his offices with military figures albeit shorn of rank, and finally by taking little interest in policy.

Eisenhower promised more of the same but after his death, the ensuing Red Scare escalated the ongoing militarism further. The traditional party boundaries began to splinter as the Democrats remained theoretically ascendant but their Conservative and progressive wings began huddling closer to the Republicans and The Alleged Communist Front Organisation respectively.

The 1960 election was bitter and brutal as a conservative Republican aiming to appeal to Southern Whites tried to assuage his own party's liberals by appointing Hubert Humphrey to his ticket. Humphrey had taken up the banner of bitter anti-communism, calling for the outright ban of the Progressive Party and as Adlai Stevenson appointed Walter Reuther to his ticket at the same time ad the Progressive Convention acclaimed the union leader as their own, he crossed the aisle.

The election results showed a brokered electoral college. Then Stevenson died. It was predicted that Reuther, with the combined Democratic and Progressive votes would win the Presidency. The military stepped in, amidst rumours of assassination.

And so ensues over a decade of dictatorship. Walker fused the anti-communist elements of the political system into the military-industrial complex, but was removed in turn when he started talking about formally tearing up the Constitution and establishing a trust statocratic corporatist state. By the 1970s the wheels were coming off and a beleaguered Humphrey was thrust into power to salvage what he could, with the foundation of the Theoretically Liberal Action Party to displace the dictatorships Union.

As a new decade approaches, and a new century after that, the Cold War is over. FDRIII is a market socialist and new disarmament treaties have been brokered between the membership of the UN Security Council. A new prosperity is filtering down, the promise of the first Franklin D. Roosevelt finally being realised over half a century later.

Peace and goodwill, to all men on earth.

also the colours of the new party system is vaguely christmassy

 

[Kimkatya]

A really really spurious one this, with a very very soft POD with Chester Nimitz's appointment to command the Pacific Fleet on Christmas Day in 1941.

Know Me Better Man

1933-1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt I (Democratic)
1932 (with John Nance Garner) def. Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1936 (with John Nance Garner) def. Alf Landon (Republican)
1940 (with Henry A. Wallace) def. Wendell Willkie (Republican)
1944 (with Harry S Truman) def. Thomas E. Dewey (Republican)
1945-1949: Harry S Truman (Democratic)
1949-1953: Chester W. Nimitz (Independent / Democratic)
1948 (with Harry S Truman) def. Douglas MacArthur (Republican), Henry A. Wallace (Progressive)
1953-1955: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)
1952 (with William F. Knowland) def. Harry S Truman (Democratic), Wayne Morse (Progressive)
1955-1961: William F. Knowland (Republican)
1956 (with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.) def. Estes Kefauver (Democratic), Glen H. Taylor (Progressive)
1961-1961: Walter Reuther (Democratic / Progressive)
1960 DISPUTED; Adlai Stevenson II / Walter Reuther (Democratic), Walter Judd / Hubert Humphrey (Republican), Walter Reuther / Elliot Roosevelt (Progressive)
1961-1960: Ted Walker (Democratic / Union)
1964 (with Hubert Humphrey) def. Barry Goldwater (Independent Republican)
1968 cancelled
1970-1973: William Westmoreland (Union / Military)
1972 Presidential Renomination Referendum; REJECT 57%
1973-1977: Hubert Humphrey (Union / Action)
1977-1985: Jock Yablonski (Progressive)
1976 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt III) def. Nelson Rockefeller (Republican), Hubert Humphrey (Action)
1980 (with Franklin D. Roosevelt III) def. Gerald Ford (Republican), Samuel Beer (Action)
1985-0000: Franklin D. Roosevelt III (Progressive)
1984 (with Edward Sadlowski) def. John V. Lindsay (Republican), Jeane Kirkpatrick (Action)

America has had enough of Generals, but they never get tired of a Roosevelt it seems.

the ted walker/hubert humphrey ticket shall now haunt my fucking nightmares

 

[Bonniecanuck]

Black Christmas Under the Rising Sun
(CW: racism)

HONG KONG - December 26, 1991

Yesterday, Japanese troops fired on thousands of Hong Kong (Honkon) residents who had gathered near the grounds of Hong Kong Prison, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island near the suburban Akachu district, for a procession and vigil commemorating the 50th anniversary of the region's surrender by the British Empire to Japan in the Pacific War. The procession had begun to congregate when troops from the Imperial Japanese Army garrison at Akachu Fortress blocked access to the area, and eventually fired shots in the crowd's direction. While media censorship of the event has left details scarce, it is widely understood that at least 20 people have died, with more deaths and injuries likely due to the resultant stampede.

The procession took place amidst growing unrest across the Japanese Empire and its Co-Prosperity Sphere, as movements for self-determination and cultural rejuvenation have disrupted social and economic life across the Empire, as inflation and economic stagnation continue to contribute to falling standards of living across the Empire. Hong Kong has been no exception to this activity, as it still possesses a large Chinese population despite intensifying efforts to integrate the territory socially and culturally; however, until recently activity has been largely localised to certain districts and quickly snuffed out by the Kempeitai - yesterday's march has been the largest recorded so far.

Organised by local academics and students at public high schools, the procession aimed to commemorate and raise awareness of the thousands of British soldiers and European civilians who died in the Battle of Hong Kong and the subsequent wartime occupation. Akachu, which was known as Stanley during British rule, housed an internment camp for civilians, with its legacy maintained by the presence of a military and foreigners' cemetery, established when the territory was colonised by the British and later used to bury dead internees during the occupation. Evidence of the other POW camps has either been demolished or is off-limits, as a couple remain used by the IJA as barracks. The decision to march to Akachu is understood to have resulted from a consensus decision over where such a ceremony could take place without provoking the use of extrajudicial powers by the office of the Governor.

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, with Hong Kong being the first to fall. This was followed by over five years of military occupation, during which prisoners of war and European civilians were imprisoned at camps across the territory. Conditions in these camps, as would be the case across the Japanese Empire, would be harsh. Thousands would die of abuses by their Japanese captors, and thousands more perished from disease and famine resulting from overcrowding and poor food and sanitation. Still tens of thousands more would be sent across the Japanese Empire to work as forced laborers, undertaking the journey in extremely crowded "hell ships" with precious little fresh air, food, and water, with many dying before arriving at their destinations. After the war ended with the brokering of the Treaty of Seattle by President Gerald Nye, European internees were deported to their countries of origin, many of them yet again making the journey in the aforementioned hell ships, their livelihoods and property having been confiscated by the Japanese. Veterans of the conflict, along with sympathisers in the small and fading underground, refer to the date of Hong Kong's surrender, December 25, as "Black Christmas".

Since the war, Hong Kong has continued to retain a status of political and economic relevance, being a key axis of economic and trade activity in the South China Sea and southern China, while remaining a loyal stronghold of Japanese rule thanks to policies of settlement and assimilation. Later, it became a testbed for political reform in Japan's directly-ruled colonies - it was the first territory to have an ethnic Korean Governor, the governorship is largely seen as a stepping-stone to higher command in the IJA's General Staff Office or the Army Ministry, and many policies have acted as prototypes or experiments for the bureaucrats in Tokyo to later implement elsewhere in the Empire. Despite this, yesterday's events show that far from being tamed, anti-Japanese sentiment and resistance may yet re-emerge into the limelight, especially as the multitude of conglomerates which dominate its economy continue to lay off hundreds of workers every day, white and blue collar, Chinese and Japanese alike.

Unlike in most other colonies, public celebration of the Japanese takeover of Hong Kong has tended to have been relatively muted, with the Christmas holiday often overshadowing the event. However, under the current Governor, Lieutenant-General Shintaro Ishihara, the Army garrison now conducts an annual military parade down Meiji-dori, the main street of the central business district, emulating the victorious General Takashi Sakai some 50 years before. Yesterday's procession may mark a reaction to this new tact which glorifies Japanese conquests and nationalism, as the ongoing backlash against Japan's imperial policies may have spurred public interest in the "other side" of its wars, the defeated and vanquished, who have been out of the focus in Japanese historiography.

In a press conference this morning, Governor Ishihara denied any wrongdoing, insisting that "the opinions of Chinamen* and foreigners do not interest me. They are merely interested in blemishing Japan's upstanding role as liberator of the Asians." He further went on to state, regarding Japanese atrocities and war crimes in the Pacific War, that "Foreigners say that the Japanese committed heinous crimes and rapes, but that is not true. They are stories made up by the Chinese and barbarians. It has tarnished the image of Japan, but it is a lie."

Meanwhile in Tokyo, a spokesman for the Army blamed the violence on "radicals and provocateurs inspired by the Americans and Russians", while maintaining that the troops involved in the incident acted in self-defense. Ishihara's comments have not yet been disavowed by the Army; however, Taiwan politician Lee Teng-hui, who holds a seat in the House of Peers, called for Ishihara to be replaced in an interview on NHK Radio 1, warning that "further inaction and refusal to listen to the people utterly undermines our leadership of Asia. How can we say we are at the vanguard of Asia For The Asians if our loyal subordinates and partners are falling behind?"

* Editor's note: The term used by Governor Ishihara was "Shinajin," a common Japanese slur for ethnic Chinese. The term "Chinamen" has been substituted as a Western equivalent.


Joint Military Administrators of Hong Kong
1941-1942: Lt. Gen. Sakai Takashi (Imperial Japanese Army)/Vice Admiral Niimi Masaichi (Imperial Japanese Navy)

Occupation Governor of Hong Kong
1942-1945: Lt. Gen. Isogai Rensuke (Army)
1945-1948: Gen. Kimura Heitaro (Army)

Governor of Honkon Leased Territory
1948-1949: Gen. Kimura Heitaro (Army)
1949-1957: Gen. Muto Akira (Army)
1957-1964: Lt. Gen. Nishi Takeichi (Army)
1964-1970: Lt. Gen. Takagi Masao (Army)
1970-1975: Lt. Gen. Sonoda Sunao (Army)
1975-1981: Viscount Sasakawa Ryoichi (House of Peers)
1981-1987: Vice-Admiral Nakasone Yasuhiro (Navy)
1987-????: Lt. Gen. Ishihara Shintaro (Army)

 

[Charles EP M.]

Governor Ishihara denied any wrongdoing, insisting that "the opinions of Chinamen* and foreigners do not interest me. They are merely interested in blemishing Japan's upstart role as liberator of the Asians."

I love that nasty little detail, "how come the [ethnic slur] don't recognise us as Liberators of the Asian Races".

 

[Bonniecanuck]

I love that nasty little detail, "how come the [ethnic slur] don't recognise us as Liberators of the Asian Races".

Also entirely in character for Ishihara! The next line was actually a near ad verbatim paraphrase of his OTL denial of the Rape of Nanking.

 

[Mumby]

I'm actually going to write the description for my list now.

 

[Excelsior]

Holiday Executive Council

List of Chairs of the Holiday Executive Council:
?????-2008: Santa Claus (Christmas-Winter holidays coalition)
2008-2012: Padraig O'Donnell (SPD with Elf and Winter holidays confidence and supply)
2012-2015: Kemal Ataturkey (Thanksgiving-Harvest Alliance and Spooks coalition)
2015-2018: Jack Skellington (Spooks and THA coalition)
2018-2020: Jim "Santa" Claus XXXVII (Christmas minority)
2020-2020: Cupid Valentino (Valentino) interim
2020-present: "Uncle" Sam Wilson (Patriotic minority with Jewish Holidays and Christian Heritage c&s)

With the beginning of the global Great Recession, the governing coalition led by long time Chairman Santa Claus was significantly weakened heading into the 2008 election. The decline of the gift traffic meant a steep decrease in revenue and unpopularity for the Christmas Party. The election returned the Christmas Party with a narrow plurality of seats. Although they had the first shot at government formation, the Elf representatives defected due to the mass layoff of elfs working at the North Pole. The Elfs joined with their "cousins", the leprechauns of the SPD to form a minority coalition. The SPD had won a larger share of seats than ever before, which some attributed to insensitive remarks made by Santa Claus during the leader debates regarding gold and rainbows. The SPD-Elf government became a majority with the support of the Winter holidays working group, who emphasized calendar proximity and the alcoholic principles embraced by all involved.

The SPD government last for four years during which time the economy recovered and alcoholism increased. Chairman O'Donnell called an election in 2012 expecting to be returned with a larger government. However, the SPD lost seats and the Elfs returned to the Christmas Party as many elfs got their jobs back. However, the Christmas Party didn't have enough seats to form a government on their own. Instead, the holiday world was rocked by a surprise return of the once moribund Fall Coalition. The Thanksgiving-Harvest Alliance, which split with the Spooks decades ago due to encroachment of calendar rights, made a power sharing agreement with the Spooks in which they would each get three years as the lead party.

Kemal Ataturkey, the founder and only leader of the THA in its history, was impressed by new Spooks leader Jack Skellington's proposal and found the young man much more agreeable than his predecessors, the Count Dracula and Jack O'Lantern. As the more senior leader, Ataturkey was allowed to be Chairman first, for a successful three years in which Christmas aggression was curtailed and legislation was passed to uphold the sanctity of calendar order and clear demarcation of rights.

When the parties switched, Skellington's ministry was plagued by cabinet scandals and the resurgence of prominent killers such as Jason and Michael Myers, which hurt the Spooks Party's popularity immensely. At the next election, the Spooks lost seats for these reasons and also because their voters were not fond of the THA coalition, which was seen as a betrayal of hard earned gains. The Christmas Party was the party with the most seats. Government formation failed for many months until Old King Cole simply appointed Jim Claus to lead a minority government, even as no other party would support them. Claus, the son of Santa Claus and heir to that mighty title, had taken over the political leadership as his father decided to focus full-time on his yuletide obligations.

The younger Claus was a political neophyte, and an unexpected choice for leader, as he had never entered the political sphere and was permanently stationed at the North Pole before being named by his father as successor. Many suspected his appointment was a compromise demanded by the Elfs in order for them to return to the fold of the party. His ministry was plagued from the outset by internal strife, as many had designs on the top job with the big man away. The Jim government ended after just 16 months with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. An alliance of plotters led by Jack Frost and Kevin McAlister deposed him as leader of the Christmas Party for incompetence in the face of a crisis. However, the other parties responded by calling for a vote of no confidence and installing Cupid Valentino, sole member of the Valentino Party, as interim Chairman. Valentino was selected due to his status as the smallest party in the council, and was therefore seen as no risk to anyone.

Valentino proceeded to call a new election, in which Santa Claus himself returned to crush the dissenters of his party. They proceeded to leave the party and form the Noel Independence League. The fracturing of the grand old party lead to a very chaotic election where no party had more than a quarter of seats in the council. Uncle Sam Wilson, the elder statesman of the Patriotic Party was called upon to form a government, which he did by prevailing upon the usually independent Jewish Holidays and the fringe Christian Heritage Party (representing Easter, Orthodox Christmas, and other days such as Good Friday, Ash Wednesday). These parties had never been in government before and it was seen as a strange move for the Patriotic Party to call upon them.

Wilson's government passed laws to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the holiday industry and emphasized alternative methods of celebration. As things re-opened in 2021, many holidays were celebrated to great effect, and the government's release of the National Fireworks Reserves to the populace led to much detonation, even on non-holidays. However, with pandemic troubles beginning again, Wilson may find himself in trouble as the Winter holidays are imperiled.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

A bumper crop of entries this month, but submissions are now closed! The poll will be open until the end of the month. Vote early, vote often!

 

[Bene Tleilax]

Can we vote for ourselves?

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Can we vote for ourselves?

It's a multiple-choice secret ballot, vote for whoever you think should win.