So I won't be able to post any updates until after next week due to a lot of uni work, but I'd like to put some feelers out to see what part of the world readers want covered next.
Stars and Sickles - An Alternative Cold War
- Thread starter Hrvatskiwi
- Start date
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- Tags
- cold war
Latin America? I like Latin America. Or the UN and the state of international relations, as suggested above.
Chapter 38a: Of Eagles and Condors - Latin America (1960s) (Part 1)
Of Eagles and Condors: Latin America, 1960s (Part 1)
For information about S&S Latin America in the 1950s: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=280530&page=9
===
With General Arumburu giving up power in Argentina to a civilian administration (determined by elections), Arturo Frondizi became President of Argentina, leading the party he founded, the Intransigent Radical Civic Union. Under Frondizi's programme of "Developmentalism" he encouraged foreign investment in heavy industry, especially motor production, made Argentina self-sufficient in oil production and increased public spending for loans which served the joint purpose of encouraging business and developing infrastructure for the expansion of the electric grid. He also implemented the construction of a number of hydroelectric dams, most notably at El Chacón (near the Chilean border) and Salto Grande (on the border near Uruguay). He also resolved minor (but long-standing) border disputes with Brazil.
Under pressure from the remnants of the junta, Frondizi signed the Conintes Plan in 1960, banning Communism and suspending civil liberties. Nevertheless, he eschewed implementation of the plan, failing to subject leftist sympathisers to the degree of persecution they would find themselves victim a few years later. In 1962, Frondizi lifted the electoral ban on Peronistas. In the 1962 legislative election, they won significant victories, including the governorship of Buenos Aires, won by Andrés Framini.
Frondizi recognised that the rapid success of the Peronistas would spook the military and responded by nullifying the results of the election. Frondizi's perceived lack of backbone in opposing the military's primary bogeymen, leftists and Peronists, led to a coup which overthrow the President on March 29th, 1962. The coup was orchestrated by Army Chief of Staff Raúl Poggi. Frondizi himself was spirited away to the Andean resort town of Bariloche, where he would spend the next year or so. Poggi demanded that the Vice President, José Maria Guido, would become the civilian face of the new regime. At first he refused out of loyalty to Frondizi, but with the latter's insistence, he took up the post. The plotters however proved unable to put aside personal rivalries, and developed into two opposing camps: the Azules (blues) and the Colorados (reds). The former were relative moderates, whilst the latter were hard-line ultraconservatives. The Azules were represented by Poggi, whilst the Colorados were typified by the commander of the Cavalry Corps, General Enrique Rauch.
In 1963, the tensions between the two sides came to a head when the Colorados mounted their own coup d'etat, spearheaded by the Argentine Navy, on the night of April 11. The next day, commanders of key naval bases declared their support for the coup. Around Puerto Belgrano, Admiral Jorgé Palma used the threat of his numerically-superior marine force to elicit the surrender of the army's 5th Infantry Regiment. There was moderate support amongst the army for the coup, with most of the pro-coup units stationed away from Buenos Aires. A number of these units began to converge on the capital, which was stormed in conjunction with Argentine marines, brushing aside the minimal loyalist resistance. The air force had been largely against the coup, but were unably to solely prevent the Colorados from taking control. Whilst the navy's aircraft alone wasn't able to defeat the air force, the impact of Swiss-made RSD 58 missiles employed by the army prevented the air force from riskily engaging with the insurrectionists[118]. Admiral Isaac Rojas, who had been Vice President under Aramburu, declared himself "Head of the Provisional Military Junta" and "Protector of the Integrity of the Nation".
The rest of the decade was marked by the violent struggle between revolutionary and reactionary forces. One of the two primary opposition groups was the Worker's Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, PRT) which was a merger of the Revolutionary and Popular Amerindian Front (FRIP) and the Trotskyist group Worker's Word (WO). The PRT was unique in it's synthesis of Trotskyist and Indigenist revolutionary ideology, which would be copied by many other movements in Latin America. The PRT's armed wing, the People's Revolutionary Army (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP), engaged in clashes with the Argentine army throughout the 1960s, following the foquista doctrine of striking at multiple points to keep the enemy off-balance and incapable of maximising the advantage conferred by greater firepower. The other major insurgent group was the Montonero Peronist Movement (Movimiento Peronista Montonero, MPM), an urban guerrilla movement who contrasted with the ERP by shunning rural environments in favour of attacks within Argentina's cities. The Montoneros utilised an emergent and intricate ideology. They rejected democracy, maintaining that it was a complex fraud that obscured the parasitism of political elites through faux-empowerment of the productive sector of society. This ideology echoed amongst many urban guerrillas, who became particularly widespread in the 1970s. The Montoneros would finance their activities through ransoms of captured VIPs, whilst they acquired arms and ammunition from Uruguay.
The Colorado junta in Argentina would maintain power throughout the 60s and into the 70s, where their support for the traditional large rancher class retarded economic development and lead to stagnation in the national economy. Challenged by leftist insurgents, they engaged in increasingly repressive methods of torture, exceeded only by Stroessner's regime in Paraguay. For many, the years of the Colorado junta represented the dying throes of the traditional reactionary classes in that country.
In Uruguay, the Tupamaros, led by Raúl Sendic, successfully challenged the government and it's security forces. By 1966, President Jorge Pacheco had declared a state of emergency and unsuccessfully requested American assistance [119]. After months of bleeding the small Uruguayan army, the Tupamaros seized Montevideo in October 1967, brushing aside police resistance and seizing the presidential palace. Sendic was declared "Salvador Nacional" and immediately went to work supporting other leftist groups in Latin America. His support for a number of Trotskyist groups prevented the Soviets from giving Uruguay any significant assistance, although the Chinese gave support in terms of arms to undermine the "imperialist and collaborationist regimes" of Latin America.
Brazil continued to be characterised by a dichotomy seen in much of Latin America. Whilst the Southeast saw increased economic and infrastructural development, as well as immigration and in-migration, the Northeast and the interior of the country continued to be dominated by quasi-feudal latifundioros who owned the huge plantations which produced Brazil's key export commodities, including cacao, coffee and citrus. Vargas continued his policy of favouritising technocrats within his administration rather than the military. The threat of a military coup swayed above Vargas' head like the sword of Damocles. The army had allies within the civilian administration, foremost amongst them José de Magalhaes Pinto. What benefitted Vargas was the military's inability to agree on a civilian politician to represent their heterogenous interests. Taking advantage of this, President Vargas installed leftists in some governorships, confident that they would not cooperate with the intrigues of the military. Amongst these were Juscelino Kubitschek and Joao "Jango" Goulart. Despite massive economic development and modernisation, the unequal distribution of this assistance and the ongoing grievances of slum dwellers, peasants and Amerindians saw the emergence of two groups analogous to the ERP and Montoneros in Argentina: the urban guerrilla Revolutionary Movement 8th October (Movimento Revolucionario 8 de Outubro, MR8) and the Tiradentes Revolutionary Movement (Movimento Revolucionario Tiradentes, MRT) which was primarily active in the Northeast.
===
[118] IOTL, this coup failed.
[119] IOTL, the US Office of Public Safety assisted the Uruguayan government in suppressing the Tupamaros rebellion.
For information about S&S Latin America in the 1950s: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=280530&page=9
===
With General Arumburu giving up power in Argentina to a civilian administration (determined by elections), Arturo Frondizi became President of Argentina, leading the party he founded, the Intransigent Radical Civic Union. Under Frondizi's programme of "Developmentalism" he encouraged foreign investment in heavy industry, especially motor production, made Argentina self-sufficient in oil production and increased public spending for loans which served the joint purpose of encouraging business and developing infrastructure for the expansion of the electric grid. He also implemented the construction of a number of hydroelectric dams, most notably at El Chacón (near the Chilean border) and Salto Grande (on the border near Uruguay). He also resolved minor (but long-standing) border disputes with Brazil.
Under pressure from the remnants of the junta, Frondizi signed the Conintes Plan in 1960, banning Communism and suspending civil liberties. Nevertheless, he eschewed implementation of the plan, failing to subject leftist sympathisers to the degree of persecution they would find themselves victim a few years later. In 1962, Frondizi lifted the electoral ban on Peronistas. In the 1962 legislative election, they won significant victories, including the governorship of Buenos Aires, won by Andrés Framini.
Frondizi recognised that the rapid success of the Peronistas would spook the military and responded by nullifying the results of the election. Frondizi's perceived lack of backbone in opposing the military's primary bogeymen, leftists and Peronists, led to a coup which overthrow the President on March 29th, 1962. The coup was orchestrated by Army Chief of Staff Raúl Poggi. Frondizi himself was spirited away to the Andean resort town of Bariloche, where he would spend the next year or so. Poggi demanded that the Vice President, José Maria Guido, would become the civilian face of the new regime. At first he refused out of loyalty to Frondizi, but with the latter's insistence, he took up the post. The plotters however proved unable to put aside personal rivalries, and developed into two opposing camps: the Azules (blues) and the Colorados (reds). The former were relative moderates, whilst the latter were hard-line ultraconservatives. The Azules were represented by Poggi, whilst the Colorados were typified by the commander of the Cavalry Corps, General Enrique Rauch.
In 1963, the tensions between the two sides came to a head when the Colorados mounted their own coup d'etat, spearheaded by the Argentine Navy, on the night of April 11. The next day, commanders of key naval bases declared their support for the coup. Around Puerto Belgrano, Admiral Jorgé Palma used the threat of his numerically-superior marine force to elicit the surrender of the army's 5th Infantry Regiment. There was moderate support amongst the army for the coup, with most of the pro-coup units stationed away from Buenos Aires. A number of these units began to converge on the capital, which was stormed in conjunction with Argentine marines, brushing aside the minimal loyalist resistance. The air force had been largely against the coup, but were unably to solely prevent the Colorados from taking control. Whilst the navy's aircraft alone wasn't able to defeat the air force, the impact of Swiss-made RSD 58 missiles employed by the army prevented the air force from riskily engaging with the insurrectionists[118]. Admiral Isaac Rojas, who had been Vice President under Aramburu, declared himself "Head of the Provisional Military Junta" and "Protector of the Integrity of the Nation".
The rest of the decade was marked by the violent struggle between revolutionary and reactionary forces. One of the two primary opposition groups was the Worker's Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, PRT) which was a merger of the Revolutionary and Popular Amerindian Front (FRIP) and the Trotskyist group Worker's Word (WO). The PRT was unique in it's synthesis of Trotskyist and Indigenist revolutionary ideology, which would be copied by many other movements in Latin America. The PRT's armed wing, the People's Revolutionary Army (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP), engaged in clashes with the Argentine army throughout the 1960s, following the foquista doctrine of striking at multiple points to keep the enemy off-balance and incapable of maximising the advantage conferred by greater firepower. The other major insurgent group was the Montonero Peronist Movement (Movimiento Peronista Montonero, MPM), an urban guerrilla movement who contrasted with the ERP by shunning rural environments in favour of attacks within Argentina's cities. The Montoneros utilised an emergent and intricate ideology. They rejected democracy, maintaining that it was a complex fraud that obscured the parasitism of political elites through faux-empowerment of the productive sector of society. This ideology echoed amongst many urban guerrillas, who became particularly widespread in the 1970s. The Montoneros would finance their activities through ransoms of captured VIPs, whilst they acquired arms and ammunition from Uruguay.
The Colorado junta in Argentina would maintain power throughout the 60s and into the 70s, where their support for the traditional large rancher class retarded economic development and lead to stagnation in the national economy. Challenged by leftist insurgents, they engaged in increasingly repressive methods of torture, exceeded only by Stroessner's regime in Paraguay. For many, the years of the Colorado junta represented the dying throes of the traditional reactionary classes in that country.
In Uruguay, the Tupamaros, led by Raúl Sendic, successfully challenged the government and it's security forces. By 1966, President Jorge Pacheco had declared a state of emergency and unsuccessfully requested American assistance [119]. After months of bleeding the small Uruguayan army, the Tupamaros seized Montevideo in October 1967, brushing aside police resistance and seizing the presidential palace. Sendic was declared "Salvador Nacional" and immediately went to work supporting other leftist groups in Latin America. His support for a number of Trotskyist groups prevented the Soviets from giving Uruguay any significant assistance, although the Chinese gave support in terms of arms to undermine the "imperialist and collaborationist regimes" of Latin America.
Brazil continued to be characterised by a dichotomy seen in much of Latin America. Whilst the Southeast saw increased economic and infrastructural development, as well as immigration and in-migration, the Northeast and the interior of the country continued to be dominated by quasi-feudal latifundioros who owned the huge plantations which produced Brazil's key export commodities, including cacao, coffee and citrus. Vargas continued his policy of favouritising technocrats within his administration rather than the military. The threat of a military coup swayed above Vargas' head like the sword of Damocles. The army had allies within the civilian administration, foremost amongst them José de Magalhaes Pinto. What benefitted Vargas was the military's inability to agree on a civilian politician to represent their heterogenous interests. Taking advantage of this, President Vargas installed leftists in some governorships, confident that they would not cooperate with the intrigues of the military. Amongst these were Juscelino Kubitschek and Joao "Jango" Goulart. Despite massive economic development and modernisation, the unequal distribution of this assistance and the ongoing grievances of slum dwellers, peasants and Amerindians saw the emergence of two groups analogous to the ERP and Montoneros in Argentina: the urban guerrilla Revolutionary Movement 8th October (Movimento Revolucionario 8 de Outubro, MR8) and the Tiradentes Revolutionary Movement (Movimento Revolucionario Tiradentes, MRT) which was primarily active in the Northeast.
===
[118] IOTL, this coup failed.
[119] IOTL, the US Office of Public Safety assisted the Uruguayan government in suppressing the Tupamaros rebellion.
Chapter 38b: A Jamboree of Jaguars - Latin America (1960s) (Part 2)
A Jamboree of Jaguars: Latin America, 1960s (Part 2)
Chile experienced a generally prosperous decade in the 1960s. Having been President since 1958, Jorge Alessandri of the Liberal Party was still in the driving seat of Chilean politics. Whilst his fiscal policies had seen modest but steady growth in economic terms, his presidency was put under stress by the demands of the 1960 Valdivia Earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded (at 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale). Valdivia caused more than $400 million US dollars in damages to Chilean property. The 1961 legislative elections saw large losses for both the Conservatives and Liberals, forcing Alessandri to include more members of the Radical Party in his cabinet.
In September 1964, Eduardo Frei Montalva of the Christian Democrats was elected as President of Chile. He implemented a number of reforms, in spheres from the agrarian to the social, from education to the endorsement of community spirit. The Frei presidency tackled poverty, especially in rural areas (where wages rose by 40% in real terms). Between 1964 and 1970 total enrolment increased by 46%, primarily because of Frei's reforms. The housing problem for poor Chileans was also eased, with 250,000 houses built by the government. A wealth tax was introduced and a reassessment was carried out to determine a new progressive tax rate. 20 clinics and 16 hospitals were built between 1965 and 1969. Local self-help organisations were encouraged in slum areas around Chilean cities, whilst rural unionisation was accelerated. More radical initiatives included the expropriation of latifundia of more than eighty "basic" hectares from large landholders. Estates were converted to "asentamientos", joint enterprises between government and the local peasants, with the state providing credits, land and technical assistance, whilst the peasants provided labour. In 1969, Chile saw a non-violent military demonstration at Tacnazo, leading to a pay increase for the chronically-underpaid Chilean Army.
Peru's elections in 1962 saw a split between Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, the leader (and founder) of APRA, Fernando Belaúnde and Manuel A. Odria. The split result gave APRA the greatest share of the vote by a narrow margin, but none of the candidates reached the one-third of votes necessary to be elected President. In the event, APRA and Odria allied to excluse Belaúnde. Seeing their chance to intervene, the Peruvian military led a coup which ousted President Manuel Prado from power and installed Perez Godoy. Godoy did the best he could to cooperate with the military whilst still paving the way for future elections. This kowtowing involved the construction of a new air force hospital and 6 new ships for Torres Matos' national steamship line [120]. The June 1963 elections were won convincingly by APRA. Under the leadership of President de la Torre, Peru instituted agrarian reform, universal democracy, state control of industry and a greater degree of indigenous rights. De la Torre is also famous for announcing at the first Andean Pact (Later Andean Community of Nations, ACON) summit "Ni con Washington ni con Moscú! solo el aprismo salvara al Peru" (neither with Washington nor with Moscow! only the aprism with save Peru).
In neighbouring Ecuador, President Velasco had promised government support to the masses of urban poor, most of whom were recent migrants to Guayaquil looking for employment. Overall his performance appears to have been poor, and he managed to alienate both the left wing of his own party (led openly by his own Vice President, Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy) as well as the military and the general public. After a general strike by Ecuadorian workers, the military mounted a coup and installed Otto Arosemena, a puppet president, from 1961-1963. Fed up with the pretense of Arosemena, the military took direct control in 1963. Unlike most other Latin American military juntas, the Ecuadorian junta attempted to engage in a "carrot-and-stick" approach to reform. Universities were reformed in an effort to eliminate left-wing political activity. In 1964 the junta abolished the huasipungo system (similar to the latifundia) but failed to give any other meaningful assistance to the peasants of the Sierra. Disagreements between personalities within the junta exacerbated difficulties with governance. This was itself aggravated by the 1965 economic crisis which resulted from a drop in global banana prices as Central American producers recovered from the diseases which had killed banana harvests in the 1950s. After multiple expressions of popular discontent in 1966, the military leaders stepped down. Velasco, who had greater sympathy due to the circumstances surrounding his ouster, was reelected, if only just, in a field with five candidates, winning barely a third of the vote. Velasco started unpopular but necessary economic reforms, and was more confident to do so with his country's entry into the Andean Pact in 1967.
Bolivia was faced with a unique issue in the 1960s, that of the armed miners and worker's militias which had helped overthrow the autocratic governments of the past and refused to disarm. President Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro began to lean increasingly on the "novo ejército" whilst the militias were supportive of his radical Vice President Lechin. In 1964, Lechin was expelled from the MNR prior to the elections. Paz decided that year, seeing that there appeared to be no other MNR candidates capable of effectively managing these crises, to amend the constitution to allow him to run for reelection. He did so successfully [121] and won yet again in 1964. The militia problem was taken care of after Paz joined the Andean Pact, with assurances given both by Paz and by regional leaders of the sanctity of the militias' cause.
In 1963 Romulo Betancourt was reelected and continued his programme of democracy promotion and economic modernisation. He focused in particular on the improvement of education, employment opportunities and healthcare for both urban and rural poor, who were seen as being most susceptible to the messages of leftist radicals. Gaitán's Colombia followed an almost-identical development path, leading many foreign observers to note that the two countries were "kindred spirits". This was assisted by the famous personal friendship between the two men, who became icons of a "new Latin America" moving out of America's shadow into the world with confidence and competence.
The most significant consequence of South America's historical experience in the 1960s was the establishment of the Andean Pact in 1965. The founding members were Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela, with Ecuador joining in 1967. Alongside a commitment to development and the expansion of commercial integration in the region, there were also political and military dimensions. The organisation sought to protect human rights, particularly the rights of indigenous communities in it's member states. There was also a political-ideological element to the Pact, which was explicitly opposed to both radical left movements and military regimes. It had member states contribute to a shared military force separate from the national militaries, which would be employed as an anti-coup measure. This drastic tactic was also extremely effective. None of the Andean Pact nations have experienced a successful military coup since joining the union. In later decades, the Andean Pact would restyle itself the Andean Community of Nations (ACoN) and would adopt a full common market and a shared currency, as well as establishing their own financial institutions and nuclear programme.
===
[120] IOTL, his failure to do these things led the junta to kick Godoy out and seize direct control.
[121] Unlike OTL.
Chile experienced a generally prosperous decade in the 1960s. Having been President since 1958, Jorge Alessandri of the Liberal Party was still in the driving seat of Chilean politics. Whilst his fiscal policies had seen modest but steady growth in economic terms, his presidency was put under stress by the demands of the 1960 Valdivia Earthquake, the largest earthquake ever recorded (at 9.5 on the moment magnitude scale). Valdivia caused more than $400 million US dollars in damages to Chilean property. The 1961 legislative elections saw large losses for both the Conservatives and Liberals, forcing Alessandri to include more members of the Radical Party in his cabinet.
In September 1964, Eduardo Frei Montalva of the Christian Democrats was elected as President of Chile. He implemented a number of reforms, in spheres from the agrarian to the social, from education to the endorsement of community spirit. The Frei presidency tackled poverty, especially in rural areas (where wages rose by 40% in real terms). Between 1964 and 1970 total enrolment increased by 46%, primarily because of Frei's reforms. The housing problem for poor Chileans was also eased, with 250,000 houses built by the government. A wealth tax was introduced and a reassessment was carried out to determine a new progressive tax rate. 20 clinics and 16 hospitals were built between 1965 and 1969. Local self-help organisations were encouraged in slum areas around Chilean cities, whilst rural unionisation was accelerated. More radical initiatives included the expropriation of latifundia of more than eighty "basic" hectares from large landholders. Estates were converted to "asentamientos", joint enterprises between government and the local peasants, with the state providing credits, land and technical assistance, whilst the peasants provided labour. In 1969, Chile saw a non-violent military demonstration at Tacnazo, leading to a pay increase for the chronically-underpaid Chilean Army.
Peru's elections in 1962 saw a split between Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, the leader (and founder) of APRA, Fernando Belaúnde and Manuel A. Odria. The split result gave APRA the greatest share of the vote by a narrow margin, but none of the candidates reached the one-third of votes necessary to be elected President. In the event, APRA and Odria allied to excluse Belaúnde. Seeing their chance to intervene, the Peruvian military led a coup which ousted President Manuel Prado from power and installed Perez Godoy. Godoy did the best he could to cooperate with the military whilst still paving the way for future elections. This kowtowing involved the construction of a new air force hospital and 6 new ships for Torres Matos' national steamship line [120]. The June 1963 elections were won convincingly by APRA. Under the leadership of President de la Torre, Peru instituted agrarian reform, universal democracy, state control of industry and a greater degree of indigenous rights. De la Torre is also famous for announcing at the first Andean Pact (Later Andean Community of Nations, ACON) summit "Ni con Washington ni con Moscú! solo el aprismo salvara al Peru" (neither with Washington nor with Moscow! only the aprism with save Peru).
In neighbouring Ecuador, President Velasco had promised government support to the masses of urban poor, most of whom were recent migrants to Guayaquil looking for employment. Overall his performance appears to have been poor, and he managed to alienate both the left wing of his own party (led openly by his own Vice President, Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy) as well as the military and the general public. After a general strike by Ecuadorian workers, the military mounted a coup and installed Otto Arosemena, a puppet president, from 1961-1963. Fed up with the pretense of Arosemena, the military took direct control in 1963. Unlike most other Latin American military juntas, the Ecuadorian junta attempted to engage in a "carrot-and-stick" approach to reform. Universities were reformed in an effort to eliminate left-wing political activity. In 1964 the junta abolished the huasipungo system (similar to the latifundia) but failed to give any other meaningful assistance to the peasants of the Sierra. Disagreements between personalities within the junta exacerbated difficulties with governance. This was itself aggravated by the 1965 economic crisis which resulted from a drop in global banana prices as Central American producers recovered from the diseases which had killed banana harvests in the 1950s. After multiple expressions of popular discontent in 1966, the military leaders stepped down. Velasco, who had greater sympathy due to the circumstances surrounding his ouster, was reelected, if only just, in a field with five candidates, winning barely a third of the vote. Velasco started unpopular but necessary economic reforms, and was more confident to do so with his country's entry into the Andean Pact in 1967.
Bolivia was faced with a unique issue in the 1960s, that of the armed miners and worker's militias which had helped overthrow the autocratic governments of the past and refused to disarm. President Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro began to lean increasingly on the "novo ejército" whilst the militias were supportive of his radical Vice President Lechin. In 1964, Lechin was expelled from the MNR prior to the elections. Paz decided that year, seeing that there appeared to be no other MNR candidates capable of effectively managing these crises, to amend the constitution to allow him to run for reelection. He did so successfully [121] and won yet again in 1964. The militia problem was taken care of after Paz joined the Andean Pact, with assurances given both by Paz and by regional leaders of the sanctity of the militias' cause.
In 1963 Romulo Betancourt was reelected and continued his programme of democracy promotion and economic modernisation. He focused in particular on the improvement of education, employment opportunities and healthcare for both urban and rural poor, who were seen as being most susceptible to the messages of leftist radicals. Gaitán's Colombia followed an almost-identical development path, leading many foreign observers to note that the two countries were "kindred spirits". This was assisted by the famous personal friendship between the two men, who became icons of a "new Latin America" moving out of America's shadow into the world with confidence and competence.
The most significant consequence of South America's historical experience in the 1960s was the establishment of the Andean Pact in 1965. The founding members were Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela, with Ecuador joining in 1967. Alongside a commitment to development and the expansion of commercial integration in the region, there were also political and military dimensions. The organisation sought to protect human rights, particularly the rights of indigenous communities in it's member states. There was also a political-ideological element to the Pact, which was explicitly opposed to both radical left movements and military regimes. It had member states contribute to a shared military force separate from the national militaries, which would be employed as an anti-coup measure. This drastic tactic was also extremely effective. None of the Andean Pact nations have experienced a successful military coup since joining the union. In later decades, the Andean Pact would restyle itself the Andean Community of Nations (ACoN) and would adopt a full common market and a shared currency, as well as establishing their own financial institutions and nuclear programme.
===
[120] IOTL, his failure to do these things led the junta to kick Godoy out and seize direct control.
[121] Unlike OTL.
I'll see what I can do, although this is not a culture-heavy TL (although the eventual post-completion reboot will be).
Really enjoyable info on South America! ACON sounds like exactly the thing for this region. That stability is going to lead to some interesting consequences later on!
I'd love to see you continue moving north from here to cover Central America and the Caribbean.
I can think of one important difference in American pop culture. IOTL, the Baby Boomers more-or-less dropped out of politics and mainstream life in very large numbers. This gave us the free love and peace movements, the back-to-the-earth crowd, the new-agers, and a plethora of other splinter groups that focused on personal development and satisfaction rather than societal well-being.
ITTL, US politics is much more contentious, and the left-wing is much more active and visible. It really looks like an engaged populace might be able to change something, and in the Progressive Party (and the other third-party campaigns that predate it) the Baby Boomers are actively sought out as a constituency and their concerns are listened to.
Rather than the political establishment giving them cues that their opinions aren't wanted (as IOTL) and deciding to drop out of the mainstream, Boomers are being invited to tune in and help make a difference in a way that they get to define (rather than being dictated to about right and wrong as IOTL.)
So while a lot of the radicalism of 1960s popular culture won't change, the focus of that radicalism might be a lot less about personal fulfillment and a lot more about harmony/communal fulfillment.
I'm just sort of "thinking out loud" here, so I don't have any immediate ideas about what that culture might look like, but it's probably a good question to throw out to everybody, right?
Anyway, just a thought...
I'd love to see you continue moving north from here to cover Central America and the Caribbean.
I can think of one important difference in American pop culture. IOTL, the Baby Boomers more-or-less dropped out of politics and mainstream life in very large numbers. This gave us the free love and peace movements, the back-to-the-earth crowd, the new-agers, and a plethora of other splinter groups that focused on personal development and satisfaction rather than societal well-being.
ITTL, US politics is much more contentious, and the left-wing is much more active and visible. It really looks like an engaged populace might be able to change something, and in the Progressive Party (and the other third-party campaigns that predate it) the Baby Boomers are actively sought out as a constituency and their concerns are listened to.
Rather than the political establishment giving them cues that their opinions aren't wanted (as IOTL) and deciding to drop out of the mainstream, Boomers are being invited to tune in and help make a difference in a way that they get to define (rather than being dictated to about right and wrong as IOTL.)
So while a lot of the radicalism of 1960s popular culture won't change, the focus of that radicalism might be a lot less about personal fulfillment and a lot more about harmony/communal fulfillment.
I'm just sort of "thinking out loud" here, so I don't have any immediate ideas about what that culture might look like, but it's probably a good question to throw out to everybody, right?
Anyway, just a thought...
Chapter 38c: Mess-oamerica - Latin America (1960s) (Part 3)
Mess-oamerica: Latin America, 1960s (Part 3)
Within Mexico, the 1960s were dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which maintained a programme of economic and infrastructural development. Adolfo Lopez Mateos, president from 1958 to 1964, was most notable for nationalising the electric industry in 1960. He also settled the minor Chamizal border dispute with the United States in Mexico's favour. His post-presidency life was possibly more significant, as he was the First Chairman of the Organisation Committee of the 1968 Summer Olympics and called the meeting which led to the creation of the World Boxing Council. There were ten founding member states of the WBC: The United States, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil [122].
Mateos was succeeded by Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, who was infamous for his authoritarian manner of control over his cabinet and his country. He handled protests very strictly, including forcible dispersion of a medic's strike, and most notoriously the Tlatelolco massacre of October 1968, where students protesting in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas were mowed down by military and police forces. Despite civilian opposition amongst students and other groups, there was little armed opposition to Ordaz' leadership, with only minor guerrilla movements in Guerrero and parts of the far South. Ordaz did achieve some positives though, establishing the Mexican Institute of Petroleum in 1965, as well as being the driving force behind the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established a nuclear-weapons-free zone over Latin America. Ordaz opposed foreign intervention in the affairs of Latin American nations, which led to some tensions with the United States.
In 1959, Guatemalan caudillo Major Francisco Javier Arana transferred power to Carlos Castillo Armas. He removed the voting ability of illiterates, effectively repealing the right of suffrage from over half of the population. At the request of the CIA, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, the first modern death squad in Latin America. The National Committee engaged in purges of left-wing elements in government, trade unions and amongst the peasantry. They have also been accused of being involved in genocide and other atrocities against the Mayan peasants. Utilising terror as an instrument of political control, Arana maintained power throughout the 1960s.
After the bloodless coup which ousted Jose Maria Lemus in El Salvador, the country was led by a Civic-Military Directory which gave way to elections in 1962, which appointed Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo as president for five years. Rivera, like many Central American leaders, utilised death squads to target political opponents and suspected leftists. Rivera is known for being fairly extravagant, and is noted for his fondness of driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle through San Salvador. Rivera also accepted US aid for low-cost housing and public works, slightly weakening the traditional land-owning classes. In 1967 he was succeeded by Fidel Sanchez Hernandez, who continued some of the more progressive of Rivera's works. He also created a mostly civilian cabinet. In 1969, El Salvador was involved in the so-called 'Football War' against Honduras.
In Honduras, Ramon Villeda Morales (1957-1963) was a liberal leader. His social policies angered the military, who mounted a coup ten days before the 1963 election, where Villeda Morales' Liberal Party candidate, Modesto Rodas Alvarado, looked set to tin the election. Villeda Morales and Rodas Alvarado were deported to Panama [123]. Alvarado had sought demilitarisation, which is perceived to be a major factor behind his overthrow. The new military regime of Oswaldo Lopez Arallano was supported by Nicaraguan strongman Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who gave military support to Honduras during the Football War. This war broke out not due to a football game, as the name suggests, but due to standing grievances about land use. El Salvador is one-fifth of the size of Honduras, but has a larger population. Land-starved Salvadorians have historically crossed the border and occupied unused land to cultivate it for subsistence farming. In 1966, the United Fruit Company, the largest landholder in Honduras (with 10% of all land in the country) formed the Federacion Nacional de Agricultores y Granaderos de Honduras (FENAGH) with other large companies. FENAGH pushed the economic interests of exploitative extraction industries and multinational corporations, and was thus anti-campesino (anti-peasant) and anti-Salvadorian. In 1967, land reform redistributed land occupied illegally by Salvadorians and transferred ownership to native-born Hondurans. Thousands of Salvadorians were expelled to their home country. In 1969, qualifiers for the 1969 FIFA World Cup erupted in violence, illustrating the tensions between the two countries. On 14 July, the Salvadorian Army attacked Honduras, advancing 8 kms in the first day. They quickly seized a number of cities and were within striking distance of Tegucigalpa. The Hondurans responded by bombing Ilopango Airbase, which disrupted the Salvadorian supply line. On the 17th, the Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional crossed the Honduran border in support of the Honduran regime, forcing back the Salvadorian forces at Choluteca. Significantly, the Honduran-Nicaraguan force achieved air superiority with the entry of the Nicaraguan Air Force, which had two Douglas A-4 Skyhawks purchased from the United States [124]. These Skyhawks made short work of the Salvadorian air fleet, as well as bombing Salvadorian positions, forcing them to withdraw. As the Salvadorians retreated from Honduras, the Hondurans and Nicaraguans began to prepare for a counter-invasion of the country, which was prevented by the deployment of UN peacekeepers (largely from the ACoN countries) and OAS emergency sessions which made it very clear that neither the United States nor ACoN would tolerate a counter-invasion, yet also reprimanded El Salvador for it's aggression. A ceasefire was declared and Anastasio Somoza Debayle was de-facto in control of three Central American countries.
In Nicaragua, the family patriarch Anastasio Somoza Garcia had ruled with an iron fist until he died in 1964 of natural causes. He was succeeded by his eldest son Luis Somoza Debayle, who ruled slightly more generously than his father, prompting hopes from many in the Hemisphere that he would liberalise. There was also excitement over Luis' promotion of a Central American common market. These hopes were dashed in 1967, when Luis died of a heart attack and was succeeded by his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was every bit as ruthless and repressive as his father. Nicaragua's death squads were the most feared in the region, and the harshness of his rule sparked sympathy for Nicaraguan dissidents living abroad, some of whom were victims of the Dominican intelligence service, as a result of Anastasio's friendship with Dominican dictator Ramfis Trujillo.
In Costa Rica, Calderon's support of economic development and increased social justice drew the ire of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, who had him assassinated in 1963 and Mario Jose Echandi Jimenez installed as leader of Costa Rica. Echandi promoted infrastructural development, but repealed social programs and ignored government corruption. In 1963, Irazu volcano erupted, showering San Jose and the central highlands in ash. It would continue to erupt more passively until 1965.
In Panama, Liberal Party candidate Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon wins 1960 election. His administration worked hard on developing the education sector. He also developed an extensive vaccination program. On January 9, 1964 (known from then on as Martyr's Day), a dispute between American and Panamanian students over raising of the Panamanian flag next to the stars and stripes at Balboa High School led to the Panamanian flag being torn. This sparked four days of fighting between local civilians and the US military. 22 Panamanians and 4 Americans died. Chiari decided to break diplomatic relations with the United States, the first Latin American country to do so, as well as opened negotiations about the status of the Canal Zone, which was defined as "being a key area of national interest, as well as a reminder that Panama is not a truly independent country. We merely swapped Colombia for the United States". Chiari was a noble character, who donated his entire presidential salary to the Panamanian Red Cross. He was known as "el presidente de la dignidad" by his supporters.
From 1964-1968, Marco Aurelio Robles was president of Panama. Corrupt and oppressive against urban workers, he nevertheless assisted peasants, built the Interamerican Highway and a private university operated by the Catholic Church, the Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua. From 1968, Dr. Arnulfo Aria Madrid was president [125]. He campaigned on the promise of strong social policy changes and equitable development. In 1969 he also started to develop "community militias", ostensibly to combat drug smuggling and crime. In reality, it was the genesis of an ideological counter-army to the conventional military.
===
[122] Historically, France was in as well, but isn't ITTL because of issues with the junta.
[123] Historically, this was Costa Rica, but with a more authoritarian Costa Rica controlled by vassals of the Somozas, they are not welcome there.
[124] They didn't have these IOTL.
[125] IOTL he was ousted in a military coup after 10 days. ITTL, he doesn't send Omar Torrijos overseas, and is less obvious about his erosion of the military's power. This prevents his overthrow.
Within Mexico, the 1960s were dominated by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which maintained a programme of economic and infrastructural development. Adolfo Lopez Mateos, president from 1958 to 1964, was most notable for nationalising the electric industry in 1960. He also settled the minor Chamizal border dispute with the United States in Mexico's favour. His post-presidency life was possibly more significant, as he was the First Chairman of the Organisation Committee of the 1968 Summer Olympics and called the meeting which led to the creation of the World Boxing Council. There were ten founding member states of the WBC: The United States, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil [122].
Mateos was succeeded by Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, who was infamous for his authoritarian manner of control over his cabinet and his country. He handled protests very strictly, including forcible dispersion of a medic's strike, and most notoriously the Tlatelolco massacre of October 1968, where students protesting in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas were mowed down by military and police forces. Despite civilian opposition amongst students and other groups, there was little armed opposition to Ordaz' leadership, with only minor guerrilla movements in Guerrero and parts of the far South. Ordaz did achieve some positives though, establishing the Mexican Institute of Petroleum in 1965, as well as being the driving force behind the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established a nuclear-weapons-free zone over Latin America. Ordaz opposed foreign intervention in the affairs of Latin American nations, which led to some tensions with the United States.
In 1959, Guatemalan caudillo Major Francisco Javier Arana transferred power to Carlos Castillo Armas. He removed the voting ability of illiterates, effectively repealing the right of suffrage from over half of the population. At the request of the CIA, Armas formed the National Committee of Defense Against Communism, the first modern death squad in Latin America. The National Committee engaged in purges of left-wing elements in government, trade unions and amongst the peasantry. They have also been accused of being involved in genocide and other atrocities against the Mayan peasants. Utilising terror as an instrument of political control, Arana maintained power throughout the 1960s.
After the bloodless coup which ousted Jose Maria Lemus in El Salvador, the country was led by a Civic-Military Directory which gave way to elections in 1962, which appointed Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo as president for five years. Rivera, like many Central American leaders, utilised death squads to target political opponents and suspected leftists. Rivera is known for being fairly extravagant, and is noted for his fondness of driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle through San Salvador. Rivera also accepted US aid for low-cost housing and public works, slightly weakening the traditional land-owning classes. In 1967 he was succeeded by Fidel Sanchez Hernandez, who continued some of the more progressive of Rivera's works. He also created a mostly civilian cabinet. In 1969, El Salvador was involved in the so-called 'Football War' against Honduras.
In Honduras, Ramon Villeda Morales (1957-1963) was a liberal leader. His social policies angered the military, who mounted a coup ten days before the 1963 election, where Villeda Morales' Liberal Party candidate, Modesto Rodas Alvarado, looked set to tin the election. Villeda Morales and Rodas Alvarado were deported to Panama [123]. Alvarado had sought demilitarisation, which is perceived to be a major factor behind his overthrow. The new military regime of Oswaldo Lopez Arallano was supported by Nicaraguan strongman Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who gave military support to Honduras during the Football War. This war broke out not due to a football game, as the name suggests, but due to standing grievances about land use. El Salvador is one-fifth of the size of Honduras, but has a larger population. Land-starved Salvadorians have historically crossed the border and occupied unused land to cultivate it for subsistence farming. In 1966, the United Fruit Company, the largest landholder in Honduras (with 10% of all land in the country) formed the Federacion Nacional de Agricultores y Granaderos de Honduras (FENAGH) with other large companies. FENAGH pushed the economic interests of exploitative extraction industries and multinational corporations, and was thus anti-campesino (anti-peasant) and anti-Salvadorian. In 1967, land reform redistributed land occupied illegally by Salvadorians and transferred ownership to native-born Hondurans. Thousands of Salvadorians were expelled to their home country. In 1969, qualifiers for the 1969 FIFA World Cup erupted in violence, illustrating the tensions between the two countries. On 14 July, the Salvadorian Army attacked Honduras, advancing 8 kms in the first day. They quickly seized a number of cities and were within striking distance of Tegucigalpa. The Hondurans responded by bombing Ilopango Airbase, which disrupted the Salvadorian supply line. On the 17th, the Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional crossed the Honduran border in support of the Honduran regime, forcing back the Salvadorian forces at Choluteca. Significantly, the Honduran-Nicaraguan force achieved air superiority with the entry of the Nicaraguan Air Force, which had two Douglas A-4 Skyhawks purchased from the United States [124]. These Skyhawks made short work of the Salvadorian air fleet, as well as bombing Salvadorian positions, forcing them to withdraw. As the Salvadorians retreated from Honduras, the Hondurans and Nicaraguans began to prepare for a counter-invasion of the country, which was prevented by the deployment of UN peacekeepers (largely from the ACoN countries) and OAS emergency sessions which made it very clear that neither the United States nor ACoN would tolerate a counter-invasion, yet also reprimanded El Salvador for it's aggression. A ceasefire was declared and Anastasio Somoza Debayle was de-facto in control of three Central American countries.
In Nicaragua, the family patriarch Anastasio Somoza Garcia had ruled with an iron fist until he died in 1964 of natural causes. He was succeeded by his eldest son Luis Somoza Debayle, who ruled slightly more generously than his father, prompting hopes from many in the Hemisphere that he would liberalise. There was also excitement over Luis' promotion of a Central American common market. These hopes were dashed in 1967, when Luis died of a heart attack and was succeeded by his younger brother Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was every bit as ruthless and repressive as his father. Nicaragua's death squads were the most feared in the region, and the harshness of his rule sparked sympathy for Nicaraguan dissidents living abroad, some of whom were victims of the Dominican intelligence service, as a result of Anastasio's friendship with Dominican dictator Ramfis Trujillo.
In Costa Rica, Calderon's support of economic development and increased social justice drew the ire of Anastasio Somoza Garcia, who had him assassinated in 1963 and Mario Jose Echandi Jimenez installed as leader of Costa Rica. Echandi promoted infrastructural development, but repealed social programs and ignored government corruption. In 1963, Irazu volcano erupted, showering San Jose and the central highlands in ash. It would continue to erupt more passively until 1965.
In Panama, Liberal Party candidate Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon wins 1960 election. His administration worked hard on developing the education sector. He also developed an extensive vaccination program. On January 9, 1964 (known from then on as Martyr's Day), a dispute between American and Panamanian students over raising of the Panamanian flag next to the stars and stripes at Balboa High School led to the Panamanian flag being torn. This sparked four days of fighting between local civilians and the US military. 22 Panamanians and 4 Americans died. Chiari decided to break diplomatic relations with the United States, the first Latin American country to do so, as well as opened negotiations about the status of the Canal Zone, which was defined as "being a key area of national interest, as well as a reminder that Panama is not a truly independent country. We merely swapped Colombia for the United States". Chiari was a noble character, who donated his entire presidential salary to the Panamanian Red Cross. He was known as "el presidente de la dignidad" by his supporters.
From 1964-1968, Marco Aurelio Robles was president of Panama. Corrupt and oppressive against urban workers, he nevertheless assisted peasants, built the Interamerican Highway and a private university operated by the Catholic Church, the Universidad Santa Maria la Antigua. From 1968, Dr. Arnulfo Aria Madrid was president [125]. He campaigned on the promise of strong social policy changes and equitable development. In 1969 he also started to develop "community militias", ostensibly to combat drug smuggling and crime. In reality, it was the genesis of an ideological counter-army to the conventional military.
===
[122] Historically, France was in as well, but isn't ITTL because of issues with the junta.
[123] Historically, this was Costa Rica, but with a more authoritarian Costa Rica controlled by vassals of the Somozas, they are not welcome there.
[124] They didn't have these IOTL.
[125] IOTL he was ousted in a military coup after 10 days. ITTL, he doesn't send Omar Torrijos overseas, and is less obvious about his erosion of the military's power. This prevents his overthrow.
Chapter 38d: Revolution and Repression - Latin America (1960s) (Part 4)
Furtive Seas: Latin America/Caribbean, 1960s (Part 4)
Within the Caribbean, the West Indies Federation was a bastion of peace in a region marked with conflict during this period. The Federation became fully independent in 1964. Whilst it was another example of the British post-colonial policy of establishing regional federations, it couldn't have been more different to the Central African Federation (also known as Rhodesia-Nyasaland). Whilst the latter was a white minority-ruled state, the West Indies Federation was a politically moderate and black majority-ruled polity. In many senses the West Indies Federation benefitted from the generosity of fate. It had a strong agricultural focus, especially oriented towards the production of sugar. The disruptions to the Cuban plantations of the 1959-1965 period boosted economic growth in the West Indies, which became the major supplier of sugar to US markets. This growth became exponential after the construction of two sugar refineries, one in Jamaica and the other on Antigua. The Federation benefited from the establishment of a customs union in 1960, which facilitated capital transfer throughout the Federation. Initially, there were restrictions on freedom of movement, although these were loosened after the beginning of a number of development programs were instituted on smaller islands, decreasing Jamaican fears of mass immigration from the "outer islands"[126]. In 1961, the Canadian government donated to the West Indies two merchant ships: The Federal Palm and The Federal Maple which formed the backbone of the Federation's merchant fleet and assisted with communications between the islands. Initially, Kingston was designated as the provisional federal capital of the Federation, although most major figures throughout the Federation wanted a new capital built at Chaguaramas on the island of Trinidad, which was occupied by a US naval base which had been acquired under the 1940s 'destroyers for bases' agreement between the US and the UK. Eventually this was achieved in 1966, when President Percy, who sought demilitarisation of the Caribbean, transferred ownership of Chaguaramas to the WIF. The town was then designated as the federal capital. After Norman Manley's death in 1969, the town would be renamed Port Manley in his honour. Manley unsuccessfully pushed for the inclusion of Guyana into the Federation, although after his death, Belize and the Bahamas would agree to join. In the case of Belize, this would be complicated.
Unfortunately, the same stability was not repeated in the largest Caribbean island. The ruling coalition of Fidel Castro's MR-26-7, Frank Pais' Accion Nacional Revolucionara and Jose Echevarria's Directorio Revolucionaro (DR) proved insufficient to run the country. It became increasingly apparent that Castro was leaning further and further left, engaging in meetings with the Popular Socialist Party and appointing Che Guevara as Governor of the Central Bank and Minister of Industries. In protest to the latter action, Air Force commander Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz defected to the United States. He also made a trade deal with the USSR, striking a deal to supply the Soviets with sugar, fruits, fibers, hides and tobacco in exchange for fertiliser, oil, industrial goods and a $100 million loan. He also nationalised American-owned oil refineries when they refused to process Soviet oil. Castro also tried unsuccessfully to acquire loans from Betancourt in Venezuela, although a separate visit by Echeverria succeeded in acquiring financial support. Nevertheless, Echeverria (and Pais) were increasingly perturbed by Castro's attempts to act as the sole voice of the Cuban revolutionary government. His followers rearmed and, with support from Trujillo, who had been insulted by the personal attacks against him by Castro, took to the Escambray Mountains to fight another guerrilla war in early 1962. Castro's forces engaged the DR rebels, but only experienced mixed success due to the tough terrain of the area and Echeverria's strong support in the central part of the island. As it turned out, the Directorio Revolucionaro owed its success to the support of President Gore, who refused to send American troops to fight on the island but supported DR operations with air support. On several occasions, Castroite forces took massive casualties attacking mountainside DR positions whilst DR guerrillas acted as spotters for American air strikes. In a televised debate in 1962 (in the run-up to the mid-terms), President Gore stated, on the subject of supportive airstrikes for the DR, that: "What we have in Castro and his movement is the imposition of foreign forces, of the international Communist movement, which has maneuvered itself into the driving seat of Cuban politics. We are glad that Cuba is rid of Batista, but we don't want the island falling to something much worse, for Cuba, for America, and for the region as a whole. The DR is representative of a more authentically-Cuban set of ideals. They are for social justice, for political liberty, and for God". The thunderous applause he received for that speech was matched only by the calamitous explosions which scarred the Cuban countryside as American attack aircraft ravaged Castro's forces. In August 1963, the DRs, having built up their strength and bled the Cuban army white, began to march west, within striking distance of Havana. As panic spread throughout the leadership of the MR-26-7, only Castro remained steadfast in the face of Echeverria's troops. Whilst most of the Cuban army was out in the field, hoping to stop the DR before they could enter Havana, Frank Pais, resentful of his subordination of Castro and imbued with a youthful arrogance that he alone could reverse the tides, mounted a coup. Members of Pais' ANR militia took up arms and stormed the presidential palace in a dramatic shoot out with the palace guards. They were delayed for an hour by machine gun emplacements the guards set up on the palace's facade. During this time, word got to Che Guevara about the coup, and that ANR militia were no doubt searching for him. He was smuggled out of Cuba and ended up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he would be involved in a number of African intrigues in the coming years. After a while, the ANR militia silencing the machine guns using mortar rounds and charged into the palace. Upon reaching Castro's room, he burst out in his trademark fatigues and cap, chomping on a cigar and holding a Skorpion submachinegun. "Any last words, Castro?!" yelled one of the ANR lieutenants from cover. "Only a handful, amigo. A man can die. I know, I've seen many die. But the revolution, the revolution never will!". Castro opened fire, and a shootout ensued, which left the bearded revolutionary and a number of militiamen dead on the ground, blood seeping onto the marble floors.
Pais' coup had taken control of the capital just as DR forces had forced the army back onto the outskirts of the city. Coming under fire from DR and ANR, the army became embroiled in a three-sided civil war playing out in the streets of Havana. The DRs continued to make steady progress, eventually forcing their was to Pais' headquarters, where he surrendered to Echeverria's forces. Having taken control of the city, Echeverria declared victory, claiming to have "prevailed over the perversion of the revolution". Within a few months Echeverria's forces had abolished the military, he returned nationalised US refineries to their owners (although increased the amount of tax these companies had to pay), and cut trade ties with the Soviets, with Echeverria publicly declaring "we god-fearing Cubans want nothing to do with those who would arrogantly deny his power and claim instead the primacy of man". The sugar trade experienced significant disruption, and despite concessions to US enterprises, never achieved Batista levels of value from it, with the West Indies becoming an increasingly effective competitor.
Things were no more peaceful in neighbouring Hispaniola. In Haiti, which occupied the western half of the island, the autocratic Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier became increasingly deranged following his heart attack in 1959, which many suspect left him with neurological damage. Whilst recovering, Papa Doc Duvalier had left the leader of the Tonton Macoute, Clement Barbot, in charge of the country. Upon his return, he accused Barbot of trying to supplant him as leader of Haiti. In April 1963, Barbot was released, a rare occasion of Papa Doc showing mercy. Barbot did not seem to respond as positively as one might have hoped. Barbot reacted by trying to kidnap Duvalier's children, hoping to use them as leverage to have Duvalier relinquish his power. The plot failed, and resulted in Duvalier ordering a nationwide manhunt for Barbot and his fellow conspirators. Having heard rumours that Barbot had transformed into a black dog, Duvalier ordered all black dogs in the country killed. Barbot was captured in July and shot. Duvalier showed blatant disregard for the 1957 constitution throughout his reign. In 1961 he replaced the bicameral parliament with a unicameral one. He also called a new presidential election as the only candidate, claiming a fraudulent 99% approval level. Another rigged constitutional referendum declared Duvalier "President for Life". The only foreign head of state to visit Haiti during Duvalier's presidency was Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1966. Duvalier awarded him the Necklace of the Order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines the Great, whilst Selassie bestowed upon Duvalier the Great Necklace of the Order of the Queen of Saba. In 1967, bombs detonated near the Presidential Palace. Papa Doc had 19 Presidential Guard officers shot. Duvalier, true to his noirismo ideology, dispossessed the mulatto elite and replaced them with his own. This led to an exodus of educated and professional Haitians, many of whom fled to the Congo (some later ended up in the Bight States of Biafra and Yorubaland). Nevertheless, his shattering of established elites didn't coincide with liberation of the peasantry. Instead, he confiscated land off of the peasantry and gave it to members of the Macoute, rewarding loyalty to his regime. Selassie was known also for a strong belief in Vodou, which affected his decision-making. The strongly superstitious dictator began increasingly to style himself on the loa of death, Baron Samedi.
In the neighbouring Dominican Republic, local caudillo Rafael Trujillo survived an assassination attempt in 1961[127]. Having ordered so many attempts of his own, it is somewhat surprising that Trujillo was so affected by the attempt on his life. His security regime became stricter than ever, and he became increasingly concerned about the military and their potential to take armed action against him. He began to dissolve the military, allowing high-ranking officers to maintain their privileges but removing the viability of their troops as combat forces. Trujillo also began recruiting his own personal bodyguard/private army, the Legion for National Preservation, utilising training from a band of soldiers of fortune led by Gerry Hemming. In 1967, Rafael passed away at the age of 76 and was succeeded by his playboy son, Ramfis Trujillo. Ramfis proved just as mercurial a ruler as Rafael, if not more so. His playboy status did not endear him to personal slights, and his volatility was likely also a result of some time in a French sanitarium, where he was exposed to electroshock therapy. Ramfis saw the Dominican public in many ways as completely subject to him, evident to his kidnap and gang rape of teenage girls who took his fancy. Under Ramfis, Joaquin Balaguer was the puppet president, although Ramfis' disinterest in rule meant that intelligence chief Johnny Abbes Garcia was the real power behind the throne. Ramfis Trujillo was also known for a pathological hatred of the Duvaliers and blacks in general, although this didn't seem to extend to the mulatto population. In 1968, after a border incident, Duvalier made a number of disparaging comments about Ramfis Trujillo publicly, pegging him as a "spoilt brat" and "only half a man", reiterating (sarcastically) that the people of Haiti will "never be pushed around by the master's son", implying that Haiti's stance was one of defiance to the Dominican Republic, as well as adding a racial dimension to the argument. As the Legion amassed on the border, Duvalier called to arms the "fighting men and boys" of Haiti, declaring that he would avenge the Parsley Massacre and "bleed them whiter". The Dominican war plan proved extremely poor. The Dominicans attacked in two prongs, one north and one south of the Massif du Nord. The northern half, tasked with capturing Cap-Haitien, was halted almost immediately after crossing the border, getting bogged down by a determined defense at Fort-Liberte. The southern prong had more success, following the Conol River and capturing Hinche, with the rest of the Central Plateau falling quickly. It was planned that this force would move westwards to Gonaives and then march south along the coast all the way to Port-au-Prince. In reality, this was not so. Haitian forces ambushed the Dominicans just as they tried to break out of the plateau near Saint-Michel. Often armed with little more than machetes, the Haitians slaughtered the Dominicans in what survivors referred to as a "horrific scene". Testimony of these events have often been criticised amongst analysts of Dominican media, who note they are contextualised in a way to further the idea that Haitians are vicious animals, and dehumanise the people of that country. In any case, the offensive capacity of the Dominicans forces destroyed, the Haitians quickly retook the Central Plateau and began to march into the Dominican Republic, taking their revenge on mixed-race populations on the Dominican side of the border through mass rape and summary executions. In response to these events, the OAS and the United Nations called for an immediate ceasefire. In response to the attacks on Dominican civilians, the northern prong of the Dominicans had retreated from Fort-Liberte in order to redeploy south. After redeploying and pushing some of the Haitian attackers back, the front stabilised four miles into Dominican territory, which facilitated the deployment of peacekeepers in the area from the UN. Those peacekeepers have remained in place ever since, and has been one of the longest-lasting of all UN missions. Although many have asked why it continues to be in place despite the winding down of inter-governmental tensions, observers say there is still palpable tension between communities on both sides of the border, and that withdrawal could lead to vigilantism that would spiral into greater violence.
===
[126] Both the customs union and freedom of movement wasn't instituted in OTL.
[127] IOTL, the assassination attempt was successful.
Within the Caribbean, the West Indies Federation was a bastion of peace in a region marked with conflict during this period. The Federation became fully independent in 1964. Whilst it was another example of the British post-colonial policy of establishing regional federations, it couldn't have been more different to the Central African Federation (also known as Rhodesia-Nyasaland). Whilst the latter was a white minority-ruled state, the West Indies Federation was a politically moderate and black majority-ruled polity. In many senses the West Indies Federation benefitted from the generosity of fate. It had a strong agricultural focus, especially oriented towards the production of sugar. The disruptions to the Cuban plantations of the 1959-1965 period boosted economic growth in the West Indies, which became the major supplier of sugar to US markets. This growth became exponential after the construction of two sugar refineries, one in Jamaica and the other on Antigua. The Federation benefited from the establishment of a customs union in 1960, which facilitated capital transfer throughout the Federation. Initially, there were restrictions on freedom of movement, although these were loosened after the beginning of a number of development programs were instituted on smaller islands, decreasing Jamaican fears of mass immigration from the "outer islands"[126]. In 1961, the Canadian government donated to the West Indies two merchant ships: The Federal Palm and The Federal Maple which formed the backbone of the Federation's merchant fleet and assisted with communications between the islands. Initially, Kingston was designated as the provisional federal capital of the Federation, although most major figures throughout the Federation wanted a new capital built at Chaguaramas on the island of Trinidad, which was occupied by a US naval base which had been acquired under the 1940s 'destroyers for bases' agreement between the US and the UK. Eventually this was achieved in 1966, when President Percy, who sought demilitarisation of the Caribbean, transferred ownership of Chaguaramas to the WIF. The town was then designated as the federal capital. After Norman Manley's death in 1969, the town would be renamed Port Manley in his honour. Manley unsuccessfully pushed for the inclusion of Guyana into the Federation, although after his death, Belize and the Bahamas would agree to join. In the case of Belize, this would be complicated.
Unfortunately, the same stability was not repeated in the largest Caribbean island. The ruling coalition of Fidel Castro's MR-26-7, Frank Pais' Accion Nacional Revolucionara and Jose Echevarria's Directorio Revolucionaro (DR) proved insufficient to run the country. It became increasingly apparent that Castro was leaning further and further left, engaging in meetings with the Popular Socialist Party and appointing Che Guevara as Governor of the Central Bank and Minister of Industries. In protest to the latter action, Air Force commander Pedro Luis Diaz Lanz defected to the United States. He also made a trade deal with the USSR, striking a deal to supply the Soviets with sugar, fruits, fibers, hides and tobacco in exchange for fertiliser, oil, industrial goods and a $100 million loan. He also nationalised American-owned oil refineries when they refused to process Soviet oil. Castro also tried unsuccessfully to acquire loans from Betancourt in Venezuela, although a separate visit by Echeverria succeeded in acquiring financial support. Nevertheless, Echeverria (and Pais) were increasingly perturbed by Castro's attempts to act as the sole voice of the Cuban revolutionary government. His followers rearmed and, with support from Trujillo, who had been insulted by the personal attacks against him by Castro, took to the Escambray Mountains to fight another guerrilla war in early 1962. Castro's forces engaged the DR rebels, but only experienced mixed success due to the tough terrain of the area and Echeverria's strong support in the central part of the island. As it turned out, the Directorio Revolucionaro owed its success to the support of President Gore, who refused to send American troops to fight on the island but supported DR operations with air support. On several occasions, Castroite forces took massive casualties attacking mountainside DR positions whilst DR guerrillas acted as spotters for American air strikes. In a televised debate in 1962 (in the run-up to the mid-terms), President Gore stated, on the subject of supportive airstrikes for the DR, that: "What we have in Castro and his movement is the imposition of foreign forces, of the international Communist movement, which has maneuvered itself into the driving seat of Cuban politics. We are glad that Cuba is rid of Batista, but we don't want the island falling to something much worse, for Cuba, for America, and for the region as a whole. The DR is representative of a more authentically-Cuban set of ideals. They are for social justice, for political liberty, and for God". The thunderous applause he received for that speech was matched only by the calamitous explosions which scarred the Cuban countryside as American attack aircraft ravaged Castro's forces. In August 1963, the DRs, having built up their strength and bled the Cuban army white, began to march west, within striking distance of Havana. As panic spread throughout the leadership of the MR-26-7, only Castro remained steadfast in the face of Echeverria's troops. Whilst most of the Cuban army was out in the field, hoping to stop the DR before they could enter Havana, Frank Pais, resentful of his subordination of Castro and imbued with a youthful arrogance that he alone could reverse the tides, mounted a coup. Members of Pais' ANR militia took up arms and stormed the presidential palace in a dramatic shoot out with the palace guards. They were delayed for an hour by machine gun emplacements the guards set up on the palace's facade. During this time, word got to Che Guevara about the coup, and that ANR militia were no doubt searching for him. He was smuggled out of Cuba and ended up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he would be involved in a number of African intrigues in the coming years. After a while, the ANR militia silencing the machine guns using mortar rounds and charged into the palace. Upon reaching Castro's room, he burst out in his trademark fatigues and cap, chomping on a cigar and holding a Skorpion submachinegun. "Any last words, Castro?!" yelled one of the ANR lieutenants from cover. "Only a handful, amigo. A man can die. I know, I've seen many die. But the revolution, the revolution never will!". Castro opened fire, and a shootout ensued, which left the bearded revolutionary and a number of militiamen dead on the ground, blood seeping onto the marble floors.
Pais' coup had taken control of the capital just as DR forces had forced the army back onto the outskirts of the city. Coming under fire from DR and ANR, the army became embroiled in a three-sided civil war playing out in the streets of Havana. The DRs continued to make steady progress, eventually forcing their was to Pais' headquarters, where he surrendered to Echeverria's forces. Having taken control of the city, Echeverria declared victory, claiming to have "prevailed over the perversion of the revolution". Within a few months Echeverria's forces had abolished the military, he returned nationalised US refineries to their owners (although increased the amount of tax these companies had to pay), and cut trade ties with the Soviets, with Echeverria publicly declaring "we god-fearing Cubans want nothing to do with those who would arrogantly deny his power and claim instead the primacy of man". The sugar trade experienced significant disruption, and despite concessions to US enterprises, never achieved Batista levels of value from it, with the West Indies becoming an increasingly effective competitor.
Things were no more peaceful in neighbouring Hispaniola. In Haiti, which occupied the western half of the island, the autocratic Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier became increasingly deranged following his heart attack in 1959, which many suspect left him with neurological damage. Whilst recovering, Papa Doc Duvalier had left the leader of the Tonton Macoute, Clement Barbot, in charge of the country. Upon his return, he accused Barbot of trying to supplant him as leader of Haiti. In April 1963, Barbot was released, a rare occasion of Papa Doc showing mercy. Barbot did not seem to respond as positively as one might have hoped. Barbot reacted by trying to kidnap Duvalier's children, hoping to use them as leverage to have Duvalier relinquish his power. The plot failed, and resulted in Duvalier ordering a nationwide manhunt for Barbot and his fellow conspirators. Having heard rumours that Barbot had transformed into a black dog, Duvalier ordered all black dogs in the country killed. Barbot was captured in July and shot. Duvalier showed blatant disregard for the 1957 constitution throughout his reign. In 1961 he replaced the bicameral parliament with a unicameral one. He also called a new presidential election as the only candidate, claiming a fraudulent 99% approval level. Another rigged constitutional referendum declared Duvalier "President for Life". The only foreign head of state to visit Haiti during Duvalier's presidency was Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 1966. Duvalier awarded him the Necklace of the Order of Jean-Jacques Dessalines the Great, whilst Selassie bestowed upon Duvalier the Great Necklace of the Order of the Queen of Saba. In 1967, bombs detonated near the Presidential Palace. Papa Doc had 19 Presidential Guard officers shot. Duvalier, true to his noirismo ideology, dispossessed the mulatto elite and replaced them with his own. This led to an exodus of educated and professional Haitians, many of whom fled to the Congo (some later ended up in the Bight States of Biafra and Yorubaland). Nevertheless, his shattering of established elites didn't coincide with liberation of the peasantry. Instead, he confiscated land off of the peasantry and gave it to members of the Macoute, rewarding loyalty to his regime. Selassie was known also for a strong belief in Vodou, which affected his decision-making. The strongly superstitious dictator began increasingly to style himself on the loa of death, Baron Samedi.
In the neighbouring Dominican Republic, local caudillo Rafael Trujillo survived an assassination attempt in 1961[127]. Having ordered so many attempts of his own, it is somewhat surprising that Trujillo was so affected by the attempt on his life. His security regime became stricter than ever, and he became increasingly concerned about the military and their potential to take armed action against him. He began to dissolve the military, allowing high-ranking officers to maintain their privileges but removing the viability of their troops as combat forces. Trujillo also began recruiting his own personal bodyguard/private army, the Legion for National Preservation, utilising training from a band of soldiers of fortune led by Gerry Hemming. In 1967, Rafael passed away at the age of 76 and was succeeded by his playboy son, Ramfis Trujillo. Ramfis proved just as mercurial a ruler as Rafael, if not more so. His playboy status did not endear him to personal slights, and his volatility was likely also a result of some time in a French sanitarium, where he was exposed to electroshock therapy. Ramfis saw the Dominican public in many ways as completely subject to him, evident to his kidnap and gang rape of teenage girls who took his fancy. Under Ramfis, Joaquin Balaguer was the puppet president, although Ramfis' disinterest in rule meant that intelligence chief Johnny Abbes Garcia was the real power behind the throne. Ramfis Trujillo was also known for a pathological hatred of the Duvaliers and blacks in general, although this didn't seem to extend to the mulatto population. In 1968, after a border incident, Duvalier made a number of disparaging comments about Ramfis Trujillo publicly, pegging him as a "spoilt brat" and "only half a man", reiterating (sarcastically) that the people of Haiti will "never be pushed around by the master's son", implying that Haiti's stance was one of defiance to the Dominican Republic, as well as adding a racial dimension to the argument. As the Legion amassed on the border, Duvalier called to arms the "fighting men and boys" of Haiti, declaring that he would avenge the Parsley Massacre and "bleed them whiter". The Dominican war plan proved extremely poor. The Dominicans attacked in two prongs, one north and one south of the Massif du Nord. The northern half, tasked with capturing Cap-Haitien, was halted almost immediately after crossing the border, getting bogged down by a determined defense at Fort-Liberte. The southern prong had more success, following the Conol River and capturing Hinche, with the rest of the Central Plateau falling quickly. It was planned that this force would move westwards to Gonaives and then march south along the coast all the way to Port-au-Prince. In reality, this was not so. Haitian forces ambushed the Dominicans just as they tried to break out of the plateau near Saint-Michel. Often armed with little more than machetes, the Haitians slaughtered the Dominicans in what survivors referred to as a "horrific scene". Testimony of these events have often been criticised amongst analysts of Dominican media, who note they are contextualised in a way to further the idea that Haitians are vicious animals, and dehumanise the people of that country. In any case, the offensive capacity of the Dominicans forces destroyed, the Haitians quickly retook the Central Plateau and began to march into the Dominican Republic, taking their revenge on mixed-race populations on the Dominican side of the border through mass rape and summary executions. In response to these events, the OAS and the United Nations called for an immediate ceasefire. In response to the attacks on Dominican civilians, the northern prong of the Dominicans had retreated from Fort-Liberte in order to redeploy south. After redeploying and pushing some of the Haitian attackers back, the front stabilised four miles into Dominican territory, which facilitated the deployment of peacekeepers in the area from the UN. Those peacekeepers have remained in place ever since, and has been one of the longest-lasting of all UN missions. Although many have asked why it continues to be in place despite the winding down of inter-governmental tensions, observers say there is still palpable tension between communities on both sides of the border, and that withdrawal could lead to vigilantism that would spiral into greater violence.
===
[126] Both the customs union and freedom of movement wasn't instituted in OTL.
[127] IOTL, the assassination attempt was successful.
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Wow, a lot to take in there!
Too bad about Central America. I was hoping a more hands-off USA would lead to (relatively) greater prosperity there, but then I guess it's oversimplified to blame all the region's problems on the Norteamericanos.
You mentioned that Mexico City is the Olympic host in 1968. Have there been any changes to the host cities? Finland in 1952 could be one place for a change. And France had the winter games in '68, which might be unpalatable for many ITTL.
Too bad about Central America. I was hoping a more hands-off USA would lead to (relatively) greater prosperity there, but then I guess it's oversimplified to blame all the region's problems on the Norteamericanos.
You mentioned that Mexico City is the Olympic host in 1968. Have there been any changes to the host cities? Finland in 1952 could be one place for a change. And France had the winter games in '68, which might be unpalatable for many ITTL.
Just added them in. But to clarify, the first footnote is in reference to the West Indies Federation; whilst the second is in reference to the assassination attempt on Rafael Trujillo.
I hadn't really thought about it, although I suppose since Grenoble, France only won by three votes, instead it would likely go to Calgary, Canada ITTL.
Great to hear! Don't worry, there will be an update sometime in the next few days. And it will be a pretty big one, covering Indochina from the mid-50s through the 1960s.
If you haven't already, reading through it from the beginning should hold you over for a while!
There's a few changes that are going to have an impact on Canadian political culture, but I'd rather not expose those quite yet. It's going to have a big impact on the 1970s in particular. That being said, I may actually drop some of that info in a mini-update before the Indochina one (I'll admit that despite having a lot of knowledge about the Cold War, I'm iffy on the Vietnam War, so I'm doing a LOT of research on it to make sure I don't make any big mistakes).
Chapter 39: Uranium Hex - Nuclear Proliferation in the West (1960s)
Uranium Hex: Nuclear Proliferation and Condemnation in the West (1960-1970)
For prior information on nuclear development in Western Europe see Of Atoms and Allies: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=9205493&postcount=158
===
The arrival of the 1960s heralded the end of what was known as the Atomic Age, a time where economic growth and the emergence of new technologies heralded a sense of optimism in the cities of North America. Technologies which had been touted as a panacea for global problems, mechanisms by which to reconstruct the world, came to be seen as dangerous and unstable. The only new world that would be built with nuclear technology would emerge from the ashes of the old. Whilst both viewpoints were greatly oversimplified, and typical of the black-and-white thinking which characterised Cold War American culture, it is easy to identify the origins of these currents of social futurism. The rapid technological progress of the WWII-era and the transformation of American society from the Great Depression to the Atomic Age gave rise to the association of the buoyancy of the post-war period with scientific progress.
This vision of the future was abruptly shattered by the accident at Goldsboro, North Carolina. In January 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping the bombs. One of the bombs detonated on impact with the ground, wiping out all life within a 17 mile radius[128]. The death toll from the explosion is estimated to be 6,800 or so people. Seymour Johnson AFB, the base of the plane, was outside of the blast radius, but the area as a whole had to be evacuated due to concerns about radiation. Whilst all large-scale movements of people have their difficulties, the evacuation of Goldsboro was eased by the presence of a nearby booming manufacturing town, High Point. High Point's furniture manufacturing industry could absorb enough labour to allow most of the Goldie families to support two children. Whilst there were some grumbles about the influx of desperate families driving the price of labour down in the town, overall the spirit of Southern hospitality shone through and the Goldies were well-received by their neighbours, who sympathised with their tragic plight. This incident is often emphasised in the North Carolina public consciousness, with the friendship and cooperation between Goldies and "Pointers" overcoming the tragedy of the Goldsboro Incident. The resettlement effort was also assisted by a televised request for assistance from the rest of the nation from Kenneth Claiborne Royall, former brigadier general, defence lawyer for the Operation Pastorius saboteurs and partner at the prestigious New York City-based Rogers & Wells law firm.
That isn't to say that the Goldsboro Incident was without significant consequences. Heads rolled within the Air Force administration as the top brass desperately sought scapegoats. Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay found it impossible to effectively deflect criticism. His rivals in the Army and Navy were quick to point out that his insistence in the maintenance of a massive and perpetually-active bomber force made this kind of accident merely a matter of time. Even the usually belligerent and bellicose LeMay was humbled. An accident by one of his planes had killed more American civilians than all intentional military action had by the Axis powers in the whole of WWII (if the merchant marine were excluded). The USAF had never before experienced this kind of criticism. The so-called Chrome Dome missions were halted immediately. LeMay ended up pressured into retirement, which opened the doors for a greater shift away from manned bomber dominance of the Strategic Air Command towards less volatile missile-based weapons systems.
Outside of the military, the nuclear detonation caused a number of negative consequences for region. Having exploded at ground level, the concentration of radioactive contamination was greater than it would have in an air-burst attack. The radiation tainted the Neuse River nearby, carrying radionuclides downriver through the towns of Kinston and New Bern into the Pamlico Sound. At the time, the effects of nuclear radiation on waterways was all but unknown, and no serious attempts were made at altering life downriver. A comparatively light scattering of radionuclides were carried by winds to Raleigh, Durham and High Point, which resulted in a notable increase in the rates of cancer in the next thirty-or-so years. The most grim human impact was not the result of direct interaction with environmental radiation, however, but by the consumption of milk from cows which had eaten grass which active radionuclides had seeped into. This led to a spike in thyroid cancer in all towns downriver of Goldsboro. As a result of the irradiation of the Neuse, it was recognised that the sickliness of local cows was the result of irradiation, although the source was not certain. As a result, entire herds were culled, bankrupting many smaller farms. The larger farmowners absorbed the rest of the newly available farmland, introducing new herds which they thought would remain unsullied by radiation. As they became sick too, the North Carolina governor Terry Sanford introduced a moratorium on all dairy production within the vicinity of the Neuse. Many remaining dairy producers were forced to shut down, however, as retailers nationwide were extremely reluctant to risk stocking North Carolinian milk. Along the Neuse River towns, childhood thyroid cancer skyrocketed from children drinking contaminated milk. The nickname of the state became tragically ironic, as the Tar Heel State found its reputation tarred.
Culturally, few events have had such a deep and jarring impact on the American psyche. The experience of the incident bought crashing home the realities of the Cold War and the risk that it held not only for the United States but for all countries dragged into conflict by the machinations of the two superpowers. For the first time, supporters of the Progressive Party started to emerge in the South. In one fell swoop, atomic-themed motifs were scuttled by architects, artists and designers. Support for nuclear disarmament became a more-divisive issue. An opinion that had once been perceived as a fringe policy of the Progressive far-left became an object of greater popular discourse. There was a noticeable impact on popular culture too. The British-American film Gorgo was the biggest hit of 1961, and the creature-feature genre received a second wind, becoming a lasting feature of twentieth-century film-making and adapting itself robustly to the concerns of successive decades. Gorgo would become a major powerhouse franchise in and of itself, eclipsing the similar Japanese franchise Gojira, although the latter has garnered a cult following in the West for its outlandish elements including fairies, giant sentient moths and alien invaders. Other notable films of the genre would be Star Beast (1979), about a giant creature inhabiting the dark side of the moon and menacing Soviet and American cosmonauts/astronauts [129]; Chipekwe! Killer of Elephants (1970) about a relic ceratopsian dwelling in the Congo basin, criticised by paleontologists for its unrealistic depiction of a carnivorous triceratops-like creature, despite the fact that all of its kind were herbivorous; Mahamba! (1981) based in the Niger Delta (although the legendary creature it is based on supposedly lives in the Congo) and recounting a story of young American ethnographers and zoologists led into the jungle by a mad professor with a messianical complex, with a surprisingly sophisticated subplot involving the intrigues of a fictionalised King of Benin (which is a republic), all of whom fall prey to the titular crocodile-like beast; and Predator (2006), a remake of the 1953 feature The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, rewritten to incorporate the 1968 Thule Accident into the storyline.
The 1968 Thule Incident was the second major nuclear accident to occur on American soil. A cabin fire in a B-52 forced the crew to abandon the aircraft whilst flying near the Thule Airbase in the US Territory of Greenland. Six of the crew members ejected safely, whilst one was killed attempting to bail out. The bomber crashed into sea ice in North Star Bay. Conventional explosives onboard detonated and the nuclear payload of the bombs ruptured and dispersed, resulting in radioactive contamination of the area, although there was no nuclear detonation. This was reported to the American press by journalists visiting the base at the time. A media circus resulted, as the B-52 was on a mission analogous to the Chrome Dome operations supposedly halted seven years earlier[130]. As it turned out, the USAF had maintained a successor programme, Skull Cap in the Arctic regions, justifying it by their lack of dense population centres and the closer proximity of the area to the Soviet Union. Outrage was particularly felt in Canada, where North Star Bay became used as an example of the environmental damage that could result from Canadian development of nuclear power facilities or nuclear weapons.
Despite these incidents, nuclear proliferation in Western Europe continued in earnest. France, which had developed an A-bomb by 1960, detonated a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb in Opération Canopus at Fangatafoa Atoll in the Tuamotu chain of French Polynesia in 1968. Sweden tested an atomic bomb in 1964 at Kongeøya Island in Norwegian Svalbard, blasting open a channel between Nordneset and Tømmerneset. In reference to the tests, two-piece swimsuits in Europe became more commonly-known as Nordneset (rather than bikinis), partially due to the increased popularity of a number of Scandinavian models in European films at the time. Switzerland tested an atomic bomb in 1967, testing it in French Algeria. Historians have theorised a number of reasons behind European development of independent nuclear deterrents. In Sweden's case, the proximity of Warsaw Pact member state Finland and the post-war experience in the Aland Islands created a greater sense of insecurity. Switzerland felt the development of weaponry was essential to protect their neutrality in the event of WWIII. France's ruling junta, increasingly isolated from defence cooperation with the rest of the West, as well as anxious to maintain great power status, saw the development of advanced nuclear weaponry as key to the country's self-reliance and relevance. But overall there emerges a common thread. During the 1960s, Europeans became increasingly wary of American trustworthiness in the provision of a nuclear umbrella. If Goldsboro could happen, why couldn't it happen in Europe, where the Americans would probably be more careless about the towns and cities of that continent? Some Europeans felt that there were now two Damocles' swords hanging over their heads, one from the Soviets, one from the Americans. If a sword hung over their heads, the Europeans at least wanted to be sure it was tied correctly.
===
[128] IOTL, neither of the Goldsboro bombs detonated, but one was prevented from detonation only by a single low-voltage switch, which could easily have been activated in the collision with the earth.
[129] The title of this movie is a comic homage to the original title of the 1979 Alien film (yes, the one with Sigourney Weaver and the Xenomorph). It shares few characteristics with the Alien films, but the title was so campy and great I couldn't help but reference it.
[130] IOTL, the Thule Incident wasn't revealed until 1995. ITTL, because the US purchased Greenland after WWII, it is American territory, not Danish, and American journalists are more likely to be around.
For prior information on nuclear development in Western Europe see Of Atoms and Allies: https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=9205493&postcount=158
===
The arrival of the 1960s heralded the end of what was known as the Atomic Age, a time where economic growth and the emergence of new technologies heralded a sense of optimism in the cities of North America. Technologies which had been touted as a panacea for global problems, mechanisms by which to reconstruct the world, came to be seen as dangerous and unstable. The only new world that would be built with nuclear technology would emerge from the ashes of the old. Whilst both viewpoints were greatly oversimplified, and typical of the black-and-white thinking which characterised Cold War American culture, it is easy to identify the origins of these currents of social futurism. The rapid technological progress of the WWII-era and the transformation of American society from the Great Depression to the Atomic Age gave rise to the association of the buoyancy of the post-war period with scientific progress.
This vision of the future was abruptly shattered by the accident at Goldsboro, North Carolina. In January 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress carrying two Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping the bombs. One of the bombs detonated on impact with the ground, wiping out all life within a 17 mile radius[128]. The death toll from the explosion is estimated to be 6,800 or so people. Seymour Johnson AFB, the base of the plane, was outside of the blast radius, but the area as a whole had to be evacuated due to concerns about radiation. Whilst all large-scale movements of people have their difficulties, the evacuation of Goldsboro was eased by the presence of a nearby booming manufacturing town, High Point. High Point's furniture manufacturing industry could absorb enough labour to allow most of the Goldie families to support two children. Whilst there were some grumbles about the influx of desperate families driving the price of labour down in the town, overall the spirit of Southern hospitality shone through and the Goldies were well-received by their neighbours, who sympathised with their tragic plight. This incident is often emphasised in the North Carolina public consciousness, with the friendship and cooperation between Goldies and "Pointers" overcoming the tragedy of the Goldsboro Incident. The resettlement effort was also assisted by a televised request for assistance from the rest of the nation from Kenneth Claiborne Royall, former brigadier general, defence lawyer for the Operation Pastorius saboteurs and partner at the prestigious New York City-based Rogers & Wells law firm.
That isn't to say that the Goldsboro Incident was without significant consequences. Heads rolled within the Air Force administration as the top brass desperately sought scapegoats. Chief of Staff Curtis LeMay found it impossible to effectively deflect criticism. His rivals in the Army and Navy were quick to point out that his insistence in the maintenance of a massive and perpetually-active bomber force made this kind of accident merely a matter of time. Even the usually belligerent and bellicose LeMay was humbled. An accident by one of his planes had killed more American civilians than all intentional military action had by the Axis powers in the whole of WWII (if the merchant marine were excluded). The USAF had never before experienced this kind of criticism. The so-called Chrome Dome missions were halted immediately. LeMay ended up pressured into retirement, which opened the doors for a greater shift away from manned bomber dominance of the Strategic Air Command towards less volatile missile-based weapons systems.
Outside of the military, the nuclear detonation caused a number of negative consequences for region. Having exploded at ground level, the concentration of radioactive contamination was greater than it would have in an air-burst attack. The radiation tainted the Neuse River nearby, carrying radionuclides downriver through the towns of Kinston and New Bern into the Pamlico Sound. At the time, the effects of nuclear radiation on waterways was all but unknown, and no serious attempts were made at altering life downriver. A comparatively light scattering of radionuclides were carried by winds to Raleigh, Durham and High Point, which resulted in a notable increase in the rates of cancer in the next thirty-or-so years. The most grim human impact was not the result of direct interaction with environmental radiation, however, but by the consumption of milk from cows which had eaten grass which active radionuclides had seeped into. This led to a spike in thyroid cancer in all towns downriver of Goldsboro. As a result of the irradiation of the Neuse, it was recognised that the sickliness of local cows was the result of irradiation, although the source was not certain. As a result, entire herds were culled, bankrupting many smaller farms. The larger farmowners absorbed the rest of the newly available farmland, introducing new herds which they thought would remain unsullied by radiation. As they became sick too, the North Carolina governor Terry Sanford introduced a moratorium on all dairy production within the vicinity of the Neuse. Many remaining dairy producers were forced to shut down, however, as retailers nationwide were extremely reluctant to risk stocking North Carolinian milk. Along the Neuse River towns, childhood thyroid cancer skyrocketed from children drinking contaminated milk. The nickname of the state became tragically ironic, as the Tar Heel State found its reputation tarred.
Culturally, few events have had such a deep and jarring impact on the American psyche. The experience of the incident bought crashing home the realities of the Cold War and the risk that it held not only for the United States but for all countries dragged into conflict by the machinations of the two superpowers. For the first time, supporters of the Progressive Party started to emerge in the South. In one fell swoop, atomic-themed motifs were scuttled by architects, artists and designers. Support for nuclear disarmament became a more-divisive issue. An opinion that had once been perceived as a fringe policy of the Progressive far-left became an object of greater popular discourse. There was a noticeable impact on popular culture too. The British-American film Gorgo was the biggest hit of 1961, and the creature-feature genre received a second wind, becoming a lasting feature of twentieth-century film-making and adapting itself robustly to the concerns of successive decades. Gorgo would become a major powerhouse franchise in and of itself, eclipsing the similar Japanese franchise Gojira, although the latter has garnered a cult following in the West for its outlandish elements including fairies, giant sentient moths and alien invaders. Other notable films of the genre would be Star Beast (1979), about a giant creature inhabiting the dark side of the moon and menacing Soviet and American cosmonauts/astronauts [129]; Chipekwe! Killer of Elephants (1970) about a relic ceratopsian dwelling in the Congo basin, criticised by paleontologists for its unrealistic depiction of a carnivorous triceratops-like creature, despite the fact that all of its kind were herbivorous; Mahamba! (1981) based in the Niger Delta (although the legendary creature it is based on supposedly lives in the Congo) and recounting a story of young American ethnographers and zoologists led into the jungle by a mad professor with a messianical complex, with a surprisingly sophisticated subplot involving the intrigues of a fictionalised King of Benin (which is a republic), all of whom fall prey to the titular crocodile-like beast; and Predator (2006), a remake of the 1953 feature The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, rewritten to incorporate the 1968 Thule Accident into the storyline.
The 1968 Thule Incident was the second major nuclear accident to occur on American soil. A cabin fire in a B-52 forced the crew to abandon the aircraft whilst flying near the Thule Airbase in the US Territory of Greenland. Six of the crew members ejected safely, whilst one was killed attempting to bail out. The bomber crashed into sea ice in North Star Bay. Conventional explosives onboard detonated and the nuclear payload of the bombs ruptured and dispersed, resulting in radioactive contamination of the area, although there was no nuclear detonation. This was reported to the American press by journalists visiting the base at the time. A media circus resulted, as the B-52 was on a mission analogous to the Chrome Dome operations supposedly halted seven years earlier[130]. As it turned out, the USAF had maintained a successor programme, Skull Cap in the Arctic regions, justifying it by their lack of dense population centres and the closer proximity of the area to the Soviet Union. Outrage was particularly felt in Canada, where North Star Bay became used as an example of the environmental damage that could result from Canadian development of nuclear power facilities or nuclear weapons.
Despite these incidents, nuclear proliferation in Western Europe continued in earnest. France, which had developed an A-bomb by 1960, detonated a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb in Opération Canopus at Fangatafoa Atoll in the Tuamotu chain of French Polynesia in 1968. Sweden tested an atomic bomb in 1964 at Kongeøya Island in Norwegian Svalbard, blasting open a channel between Nordneset and Tømmerneset. In reference to the tests, two-piece swimsuits in Europe became more commonly-known as Nordneset (rather than bikinis), partially due to the increased popularity of a number of Scandinavian models in European films at the time. Switzerland tested an atomic bomb in 1967, testing it in French Algeria. Historians have theorised a number of reasons behind European development of independent nuclear deterrents. In Sweden's case, the proximity of Warsaw Pact member state Finland and the post-war experience in the Aland Islands created a greater sense of insecurity. Switzerland felt the development of weaponry was essential to protect their neutrality in the event of WWIII. France's ruling junta, increasingly isolated from defence cooperation with the rest of the West, as well as anxious to maintain great power status, saw the development of advanced nuclear weaponry as key to the country's self-reliance and relevance. But overall there emerges a common thread. During the 1960s, Europeans became increasingly wary of American trustworthiness in the provision of a nuclear umbrella. If Goldsboro could happen, why couldn't it happen in Europe, where the Americans would probably be more careless about the towns and cities of that continent? Some Europeans felt that there were now two Damocles' swords hanging over their heads, one from the Soviets, one from the Americans. If a sword hung over their heads, the Europeans at least wanted to be sure it was tied correctly.
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[128] IOTL, neither of the Goldsboro bombs detonated, but one was prevented from detonation only by a single low-voltage switch, which could easily have been activated in the collision with the earth.
[129] The title of this movie is a comic homage to the original title of the 1979 Alien film (yes, the one with Sigourney Weaver and the Xenomorph). It shares few characteristics with the Alien films, but the title was so campy and great I couldn't help but reference it.
[130] IOTL, the Thule Incident wasn't revealed until 1995. ITTL, because the US purchased Greenland after WWII, it is American territory, not Danish, and American journalists are more likely to be around.
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As a Tar Heel myself, your take on the Goldsboro incident is chilling and strikes me as quite realistic. One nitpick, though: Durham is upstream from there, not downstream. Keep up the good work!