The War of the Worlds in Real Time - Week 4

[Andrew J Harvey]

The 1897 War of the Worlds in Real Time
Posted throughout June at http://wotw.name https://haguepublishing.com/Wo... and on twitter at https://twitter.com/1897WotW

And can I just say that on behalf of the team (Michael, Leonie, Ken, HG, and myself) we are so glad to have reached this point, and for the support, likes, and comments we have received. Thankyou. Only one more week to go

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Tuesday 22 June 1897
'A Deserted London'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

The reduction in the number of Martians patrolling London allows the NUWSS hospital to open quietly (see photograph). Red weed continues to choke the streets, and people still have to hide from the Martians to access help, but the wireless communication and organisation from the surviving NUWSS members provide hope for survivors.

Still at his underground base Morant and his followers toast Queen Victoria for her accession to the throne in 1837. This would have been the day of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Photograph: Source: Museum of the City of New York / Byron Co. Collection - photograph late 1890s or early 1900's)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Wednesday 23 June 1897
'Wells Escapes the House'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

Wells is drawn out of the house he had been imprisoned in Sheen by the sight of a dog fossicking around the Martian pit. Over the course of the day we follow his progress through Kew before he breaks into the inn at the top of Putney Hill to spend the night.

While elsewhere in London, Morant is focussed on a tripod that had been found motionless in Lambeth.

Illustration: ‘Martian over the Thames’. Original illustration by Henrique Alvim Corrêa for the 1906 edition of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds"

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Thursday 24 June 1897
'A Meeting of Future Enemies'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

On the edge of Wimbledon Common Wells meets the artilleryman he first met at Woking so many days before. The artilleryman has not seen any Martians for 5 days and they discuss his plans for resistance.

And FOR THE FIRST TIME we disclose the identity of Wells' 'artilleryman'.

In London Toni continues to be thankful for those who were left or stayed behind. Edith Cavell, who would, during The German War, be shot by the Germans for helping soldiers of both side, organises the nursing staff at Queen Anne’s Mansion, and the oldies who have found purpose despite their abandonment.

Toni continues to struggle with her own feelings of abandonment by the government of the day, and we begin to see her political awakening as she starts to appreciate that there may be more beyond achieving the vote. Now she has begun to question who should be in government.

Today is also the last we hear of Morant, who disappears while leading a force to release any humans still held prison in the Martian’s redoubt on Primrose Hill.

Photograph: ‘The Artilleryman in a photograph taken shortly after the Martian War’. (Manipulated Image)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Friday 25 June 1897
'Cry: Ulla, Ulla, Ulla'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

Today, we follow Wells (to some extent a victim of the Martians) as he passes through the heart of an apparently dead London, witnessed only by the mournful cry of ‘Ulla Ulla Ulla’ in the distance.

Against this, Toni’s diary chronicles the events of this momentous day through the eyes of a survivor. Even though strange sounds echo through London, she and Elizabeth Cadbury make the trek north to collect more supplies for the hospital. Along the way, they encounter an empty Martian machine, and the first incredulous seeds of hope are sown.
'The War of the Worlds - in real time'

Illustration: ‘The Handling Machine' by Henrique Alvim Corrêa, from the 1906 Belgium (French language) edition of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds", 1906.

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Saturday 26 June 1897
'The Cost of Deliverance'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

Despite the momentous events of the preceding day, Toni and Grace have no time to spend sitting around. There are too many people still needing help. Apart from a brief description of the end of Saturday’s trek. Toni continues to assist the infirm.

As we accompany Wells to the Martian’s last redoubt at Primrose Hill, from where he can look down upon the ruins of London, news reaches the Continent that the Martians are dead and aid begins to roll in.

Photograph: Source US National Archives 239-RC-90-3 (Palermo WW2)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Sunday 27 June 1897
'The Army Moves South to Restore Order'

#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

With the news that the Martian’s are dead, the army moves south to restore order, even as Queen Victoria acts to seize and protect all Martian artifacts by establishing #RotchWood to take ownership of all property previously belonging to the Martians.

Once again, Toni has little time to speculate on much except saving lives. However, her diary references her growing understanding of the politics of the time.

More importantly we get one of Toni's best hashtags from the war:

Apparently the #army is moving south.
#OhReally #NowTheyCome #WhereWereTheyWhenWeNeededThem #RestoringOrder #DoneThatAlready



Illustration: Rotch Wood begins its work Original illustration by Henrique Alvim Corrêa for the 1906 edition of H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds"

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Monday 28 June 1897
'The Queen Mourns'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

As HG Wells wanders through London in a fugue, the city begins to return to life around him.

Today the Queen attends a service in Balmoral to mourn those lost.

And for Toni, this is a defining day. For much of July, she’s been at the forefront of things. Now, there’s an attempt to shunt aside the women who stepped up when others didn’t.

Photograph: Queen Victoria with The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York and Prince Edward of York. (Source: The Royal Collection Aug 1899)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Tuesday 29 June 1897
'To Commemorate Victory Over the Martians'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

'To Commemorate Victory Over the Martians'

As the Daily Mail resumes publication with a special commemorative edition, Wells recovers sufficiently to bid farewell to London, but before he leaves he ventures out one more time to observe the return of its inhabitants.

And for Toni, released from the massive responsibility of operating the only functioning ‘hospital’ in London, her mind can turn to other things – like what to do now, and what the future might look like.

Photograph: Refugees returning to London (Source: Image of Belgium Refugees arriving in England in the first months of WW1)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today Wednesday 30 June 1897
'Reunions'
#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

Wells, back in his own mind, and taking advantage of the free trains running from Waterloo, returns to Woking to be reunited with his wife.

While Toni receives word from her friend (Well’s brother) that he had survived the war in a French refugee camp.

And for those still with us we explore what the future will bring for those who have shared their lives with us during this fictionalised docudrama, starting with the 1900 election and David Lloyd George’s landside victory that resulted in Salisbury’s coalition of Unionists and Conservatives being reduced to a mere rump as the Liberals win 54% of the vote, while the Labour Representation Committee, later to become the Labour Party, wins 25%.

Photograph: David Lloyd George (Taken: 31 December 1918)

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

Today:
'Postscript and After-words'

#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

While bidding farewell to those who have shared their lives with us over the past month, we should remember that many of those who survived the Martian invasion would continue to suffer its consequences for the rest of their lives.

Indeed, while Well's was eventually re-united with his wife, he continued to suffer, as many others did, the trauma of what they had lived through during that terrible time. The last words of his seminal work provide some insight into that:

'I must confess the stress and danger of that time have left an abiding sense of doubt and insecurity in my mind and suddenly I see again the valley below me set with writhing flames, and feel the house behind and about me empty and desolate...

'I go to London and see the busy multitudes in Fleet Street and the Strand and it comes across my mind that they are but the ghosts of the past, haunting the streets that I have seen silent and wretched, phantasms in a dead city the mockery of life in a galvanised body...

'Of a night I see the black powder darkening the silent streets, and the contorted bodies shrouded in that layer. They rise upon me tattered and dog-bitten, they gibber and grow fiercer…and I wake cold and wretched.'

A book is to be printed of the docu-drama, and if you are wish to be informed when it is available (some time in 2024 - I really need to take a slight break from 1897) please subscribe here: https://haguepublishing.com/WotW/subscribe/

 

[lordroel]

Today:
'Postscript and After-words'

#alternatehistory #althistory #scifi #TheWarOfTheWorlds #hgwells

While bidding farewell to those who have shared their lives with us over the past month, we should remember that many of those who survived the Martian invasion would continue to suffer its consequences for the rest of their lives.

Indeed, while Well's was eventually re-united with his wife, he continued to suffer, as many others did, the trauma of what they had lived through during that terrible time. The last words of his seminal work provide some insight into that:

'I must confess the stress and danger of that time have left an abiding sense of doubt and insecurity in my mind and suddenly I see again the valley below me set with writhing flames, and feel the house behind and about me empty and desolate...

'I go to London and see the busy multitudes in Fleet Street and the Strand and it comes across my mind that they are but the ghosts of the past, haunting the streets that I have seen silent and wretched, phantasms in a dead city the mockery of life in a galvanised body...

'Of a night I see the black powder darkening the silent streets, and the contorted bodies shrouded in that layer. They rise upon me tattered and dog-bitten, they gibber and grow fiercer…and I wake cold and wretched.'

A book is to be printed of the docu-drama, and if you are wish to be informed when it is available (some time in 2024 - I really need to take a slight break from 1897) please subscribe here: https://haguepublishing.com/WotW/subscribe/

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Thanks for posting it, i have a question, you mentioned George V is king in 1900-02, what happen to his father.

 

[Andrew J Harvey]

I have a question, you mentioned George V is king in 1900-02, what happen to his father.

Following Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1900, Edward's coronation had originally been scheduled for 26 June 1901. However, the coronation had to be delayed when two days before, he had been diagnosed with appendicitis. The disease was generally not treated operatively. It carried a high mortality rate, but developments in anaesthesia and antisepsis in the preceding 50 years made life-saving surgery possible. Sir Frederick Treves, with the support of Lord Lister, intended to operate on the King by performing the then-radical operation of draining pus from the infected abscess through a small incision. Unfortunately the abscess burst before the operation began and Edward died two days later.

King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 9 August 1902 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple.

I suspect your question relates to our commentary on the Universal Suffrage Act being one of the first Acts passed by the new Liberal government upon its election in 1900, but was subsequently rejected by the Conservative-dominated House of Lords.

Following a 2nd general election in December, the Act was passed with the assent of the new monarch, George V, after the House of Lords was forced to concede following the Government’s threat to overcome the Conservative majority in the Lords by creating a number of new peers. I note that George V actually became king on the death of his father, even though he was not crowned until over a year later.

Given your interest in Edward VII you might be interested in reading Harry Turtledoves famous alternate history: 'The Edwardians' in which he considered what might have happened if Treves and Lister had managed to operate on the King to drain the abscess before it ruptured. Alternatively you might want to consider Wikipedia's similar article on what might have been, and on which some of this reply has been based. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VII