Ah shit prepare for the oil crash guys the Middle East is about to hit its low points
Peace in Our Time! - A TRO Inspired Franco-British Union Quest
- Thread starter Fission Battery
- Start date
- Alt. History
The are five crises kicking off around the same time in 1965, four of which involve your allies. The good news is most of them aren't your problem if you don't want them to be.
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Spain has been getting rather uppity of late...
Compared to OTL, how would the oil production distribution even look like?
A crisis in the UAE would have a similar effect like the oil crisis caused by the Iranian revolution
Ignore all five crises and invade. We must protect international peace by denuclearizing Spain.Spain has been getting rather uppity of late...
I'd like to note upon further reflection and discussion with other people, I felt that the Turkish Revolt ended a bit too quickly and conclusively. I was looking at Hungary or Czechoslovakia, when instead I should have taken more inspiration from the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. I've updated the Grimond's Foreign Policy Results post to reflect that change. The Grey Wolves have been pushed underground to continue fighting as a far right insurgency in Turkey.
Thank liberalism no Japanese fleet showed up.
It would be hilarious if Spain and Portugal got punched so hard they form the Iberian Union.
This film is dedicated to the brave Grey Wolf fighters of Türkiye
Well at least our relationship is improving with france.
1965 - Crises! The Thousand Cuts!
===
1965 - Crises! The Thousand Cuts!
===
Catalonia and Basque
In Spain, the seemingly smooth transition of power following Franco's death plastered over a deeper rot within the country. It was plagued by non-stop unrest, aided by Soviet arms and advisors smuggled into the country across the border and by sea. Outwardly, the regime under Prime Minister and Generalissimo Carrero Blanco projected strength by cracking down on the usual suspects following his predecessor's death. Behind the scenes however, it was only the beginning of a wave of assassinations, bombings, and worker and ethnic agitation. The calm many hoped for in the months after Franco's death was an illusion, facade, and delusion that the dictatorship desperately grasped at.
Its police were attacked nearly daily by 1965, and not a day went by without some party official, garrison, or politician getting shot at. The insurgencies were armed and organized, and the thorn in the regime's side was far larger and dug in deeper than anyone in power ever wanted to acknowledge. The FBU withdrawing troops from Spain had begun to hurt it when other Commonwealth members followed suit a few years later as a show of solidarity with London. Madrid was increasingly reliant on American soldiers to help keep it stable.
That's why Carrero Blanco agreed to station nuclear weapons in the country. He knew that it was the ultimate defense of the regime against Soviet invasion and communist revolution. He was right on only one of those points. It may have brought more American soldiers to Spain, but it did nothing to stop the rapidly escalating violence in old Republican territory. Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona, Oviedo, Gijón, Aviles, and parts of Madrid started to resemble low intensity war zones. The police dared not enter parts of these towns, while the military was deployed in an attempt to crack down on dissidents. The Falaganists were deployed as auxiliaries too, given a free reign to terrorize civilians as they saw fit.
They did not carry out their brutal occupations unopposed. There was no official declaration of revolution, not at first, merely a spiraling feedback loop of violence as civilian protests pushed back against paramilitaries, only for the military to open fire on crowds of people. The air force was deployed to bomb sections of their own cities, only to in turn face unexpected resistance as insurgents armed anti-air rockets and anti-air cannons shot them from the sky and tanks began taking rpg fire from the buildings.
The mayors of multiple Spanish cities were killed, police stations bombed, and barricades erected to fend off the police and military. Insurgents began to come down from the hills in droves, hunting down Civil Guard officers in the countryside. Old stockpiles of weapons long since buried were broken open and passed around, as militias seemingly appeared out of thin air. The Catalonian Revolution had begun with a thousand bangs across Spain.
===
West Sahara
This unrest was not limited to the mainland either. In Spain's Moroccan and West Saharan territory resistance against their rule had only intensified over the years, reaching a fever pitch in late 1964. More Moroccan, Egyptian, and Soviet aid and advisors snuck across the border to infiltrate the colonial regime, organizing the Army of Liberation in Spanish holdings. The loose collection of insurgencies were brought together under a single command by experienced FLN fighters that had fled Algeria. Attacks against Spanish officials only increased following the death of Franco. The dictatorship found itself attacked on multiple fronts behind the scenes. There wasn't one week that went by without an attack against an official or army garrison.
In Mauritania Spain faced similar difficulties as local leaders routinely ignored or killed officials sent out to control them. Aid was smuggled to them across the Sahara by sympathetic nomadic groups. Azawad itself did nothing to stop the activities of these arms smugglers, claiming it did not have the ability to crack down on nomadic tribes nor did it want to in fear of angering a large section of its population. West Africa itself also turned a blind eye to arms smuggling between it and Spanish Mauritania, though it did crack down on members of communist groups it caught crossing the border or living in exile.
King Hassan II of Morocco had sent feelers to Madrid to see if the new generalissimo was open to talks on granting Spanish Morocco and West Sahara independence, however Carrero Blanco categorically refused any negotiations on decolonization. The admiral-general turned dictator did not want to appear weak at a critical time in securing his legitimacy. He felt that agreeing to talks so soon after taking power would undermine his regime, and possibly risk losing office. Madrid felt playing hardball until the domestic situation had calmed down would give them a stronger hand to negotiate with in a year or two.
It was unfortunate for Madrid that no such calm came nor was King Hassan II interested in waiting a year or two. Seeing the situation rapidly unravel in Catalonia, the king approved mobilizing the army to aid the insurgency that he and his father had spent so long cultivating. It needed little prompting, as the Army of Liberation had already ramped up its attacks in anticipation. The chaos in Spain drew more soldiers out of Africa, leaving the local garrisons weaker than ever.
It was no surprise then when the regular well trained forces of the Army of Liberation alongside several divisions of volunteers from Morocco marched over the border into Spanish West Africa. There was no French Army to save Spain's ass this time.
===
Arabian Peninsula
On the other side of the Arab world, unrest stirred in the United Arab Emirates. Its far eastern regions of Yemen and Dhofar suffered from instability. They lacked the oil resources or population centers of the Gulf Emirates, so their rulers invested little into their economies. Some even went as far as to ban foreign goods in certain parts of Yemen and Oman to keep the rural population poor and underdeveloped. Slavery too remained legal in Yemen, something willingly overlooked by many foreign investors unconcerned with human rights abuses. Franco-British naval base in Aeden helped keep order in the region with the threat of violence against any wayward locals.
That was until local circumstances had changed. The end of Saudi occupation years prior had established a socialist leaning Arab republic right on the borders of the UAE. Its alliance and loose political union with Egypt gave Cairo a foothold on the peninsula. While normally focused on Levant and Libya, it did mean the Egyptian military could help organize and train the local military up to standard. The Yemenis did not lack in skill, only equipment. They began smuggling weapons into the UAE to arm local rebels and recruit more Pan-Arab socialists inspired by Nasser and Gaddafi's struggles.
When Piano Solo occurred and North and East Africa were thrown into chaos, the situation shifted. Franco-British forces were deployed to monitor CAF and LoN Peacekeeper withdrawal from Somalia and were otherwise distracted by guarding the border against Ethiopia or busy in Libya. Insurgents used the opportunity to ramp up their own operations in the UAE. The locals, already disillusioned with their rulers and sick of foreign soldiers on their soil, needed little motivation to join forces with Yemenis Free Officers, under General Abdullah al-Sallal.
Now, it was not as if Aeden was completely empty of Franco-British forces. It simply demonstrated a distraction which the Yemen Arab Republic sought to take advantage of the situation. The revolts in UAE Yemen and Dhofar escalated in the first months of 1965, disrupting the Emirates' control over the regions. Saudi Arabia, Hashemite Arab Federation, and Iran all lent support to the UAE to put down these revolts, but to no avail. Their money bought a lot of weapons, but corruption in the UAE military meant they were not put to good use against a much more experienced insurgency. The latter two were also still focused on supplying the ongoing Grey Wolf insurgency in Turkey.
This situation took a turn for the worst for the UAE when Yemen invaded without a declaration of war. Their network of insurgents mobilized ahead of regular forces, who quickly beat back well armed but poorly trained border guards.
===
Belgian Exiles in Katanga
Central Africa
Socialist Guinea may have been defeated, but it was not the end of the dream for African and Iberian revolutionaries. They found refuge in the DRC, where they continued their work training and organizing revolutionary exiles and local soldiers. Congo had begun to slowly push into Katanga against Portuguese, South Africa, and Rhodesian resistance. The influx of Soviet aid from Masherov had helped give the beleaguered republic a second wind, allowing it to stabilize the front and maintain power domestically. The real life savior was Soviet financial aid and military advisors. It stabilized the country's currency and increased the safety of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who narrowly dodged several assassination attempts thanks to them.
The situation for the colonial regimes had begun to turn against them by 1965. President LBJ stopped weapons sales to Portugal in favour of sending arms to liberal and conservative African liberation groups when Prime Minister Salazar refused to decolonize. This was a policy that Nixon was adamant about maintaining as well. DRIL organizing in Angola had begun to pay off as conscripted soldiers began to kill their commanding officers or go AWOL to join the revolutionary group. The intensity of the war meant more soldiers were going back home injured or in body bags with no end in sight. Soviet aid had begun reaching Angola and Mozambique too to a lesser extent.
This came to a head when the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and DRIL seized control of Angola's capital city of Luanda. Defectors within the local garrison helped make it possible, allowing the revolutionary groups to take Portuguese forces off guard. Portugal's control of Angola began to unravel rapidly as loyal forces suddenly found themselves isolated in rural areas, cut off from support or even basic communications with the outside. DRC and Soviet volunteers moved into the liberated territory to help the MPLA establish control over the northern cities and interior. In the southeast several weeks later, National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) under command of Holden Roberto launched its own uprising with American aid and gained control over several provinces. Their own forces moved to seize control of Angola's mineral resources to sell to help finance their operations. Alongside it was a splinter group called National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) under the command of Jonas Savimbi. It was nominally aligned with the FNLA, but sought to maintain its independence from the larger, more established group.
Lisbon watched in horror as in only a few short weeks they lost complete control in Angola. South Africa and Rhodesia remained committed to helping them onto Mozambique, but both apartheid regimes could see where the wind was blowing and began to reluctantly support FNLA and UNITA against MPLA. Prime Minister Salazar was utterly terrified that the chaos in Spain or Africa would spill over into Portugal proper. Amidst the chaos he began a purge of the military to remove disloyal officers in the hopes that would stop defections and low morale.
He also requested immediate aid from CAN to restore order in its colony, even arguing in favour of invoking Article 5 to have the entire alliance declare war against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
===
Rhodesia
The trouble child of Britain's African colonies, the assembly continued to refuse to allow majority rule in the colony. Its distance from London and geographical position gave it a degree of independence to flaunt commands from the top in favour of its own autonomy. Its well trained, well equipped, but small forces acted however they pleased in joining South Africa and Portugal in fighting insurgents in neighbouring countries. In recent years it'd given up any hope of London 'coming to its senses,' especially when the RLD failed to pivot to the right or enter into a coalition with the Tories.
Their hope of unquestioned support for a white minority ruled settler state were dashed. It was no surprise then when they'd finally declared unilateral independence after decolonization talks with London completely stalled. They left CAN and the Commonwealth entirely, seizing any stockpiles of weapons left behind in their country. Almost immediately rebellions broke out against them in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Its new government did not hesitate to begin fire bombing its own country. The only thing that stopped them from leveling entire provinces was their lack of munitions and airplane fuel.
===
Franco-British Union's Response
These cascading crises demanded some sort of response from London.
Portugal and Spain were still members of CAN, though the FBU and Commonwealth had chosen to withdraw their troops from both countries for repeated human rights abuses. It was almost exclusively American CAN soldiers that held the border forts and towns between Spain and France to dissuade the Weimar Pact from invading. It was believed that was the only reason Premier Masherov hadn't already ordered Soviet tanks to cross the border to aid the Catalonian Revolution.
The government coalition did not like the possibility of the Soviets gaining even more ground in Europe. However, none shared any particular love for the Fraconist regime. Many of the FBU's Mediterranean response forces were already busy in Libya. There was the possibility of deploying regulars from Britain or Algeria, but there were the optics and humanitarian cost involved in putting down a revolt. The government had spent several years demonizing its own ally to the population, so it felt that the public response to British and French soldiers dying for Madrid would not go over well with the average voter.
Diplomats in Madrid discussed the possibility of deploying troops if Generalissimo Carrero Blanco's regime liberalized, which he refused to humor as a possibility. He also refused to entertain the idea of allowing League of Nations Peacekeepers to enter the country. Members of the cabinet compared the situation to the crisis in Libya. London had no qualms intervening there. A possibility was brought up that the Commonwealth could deploy soldiers to Spain that didn't take part in the fighting. They'd simply guard the border and military installations, freeing up Spanish military personnel to be relocated to handle the fighting themselves. It was felt that if London was going to intervene then that was the best option in maintaining peace in Ibera.
The Yemeni invasion of the UAE was considered a less pressing matter. Yemen and Dhofar didn't have major oil deposits compared to the Gulf States. The insurgents were goat farmers and nomads with AKs fighting rent-a-cop soldiers on the border. In Nixon's own words, "Get the Saudis on the horn and tell them to deal with this shit now. Isn't this what we pay them for anyway?" It was felt that increasing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE would sort the issue out itself in due time, maybe a bit of air support at most.
Prime Minister Grimond was prepared to write off Angola. The Commonwealth had secured Equatorial Guinea, so he felt the best option was to shore up forces on the border to potential Congolese aggression. Portugal invoking Article 5 was a little tricky though. The FBU had no obligation to honour it and could rightfully argue against the validity of invoking it. American ambassadors made it clear that President Nixon was on the fence on the issue. He didn't want to restore Portuguese control over Angola, however he did see it as an opportunity to topple the socialist regime in Congo. He didn't want to see it align closer with the Soviet Union. Its reverses of cobalt and uranium could not be allowed to fall in Moscow's hands.
However America was already busy in the Indonesian Civil War, so he was hesitant to attempt an invasion of Congo without guaranteed Franco-British support. He was ready to approve bombing runs to raze every city and village in the country regardless and send "advisors" as proxies, but boots on the ground was a step too far. Nixon was also concerned invading the DRC could sour America's relationship with African independence groups. Washington found itself facing an uphill battle against Japan in influencing the few free countries in Africa thanks to its ties to Portugal, Spain, and the FBU. He didn't need to make his job any more difficult by blatantly invading a country on behalf of a colonial regime.
America considered this an opportunity to recognize the FNLA as the new legitimate government and back it against the MPLA. UNITA was expected to fall in line with the larger organization once the communists were defeated. American and Franco-British analysts both agreed that a proxy war was less costly and damaging to their international standing than an outright invasion. That'd give CAN the chance to contain Congolese, and thus Soviet, influence. It was also proposed that FBU and America provide support for Nigeria, Gabon, and East Africa to destabilize the DRC by invading to support separatist groups. It'd help give the CIA and MI6 access to the ground to run missions themselves. Removing Prime Minister Lumbara was considered a major priority in the hopes that it'd break apart the government. There was the potential of contacting old colonial NCOs in Ubangi-Shari and former French Congo to rally troops against Léopoldville.
Commonwealth military staff generally agreed that building up on the border and supplying proxies in or around the DRC was a productive course of action. If they wanted boots on the ground then sending advisors into the country to destabilize it was an option that didn't require a massive commitment. The African Dominions were confident in their ability to beat the DRC, they were also hesitant to outright invade. There was the possibility of sending LoN Peacekeepers into the DRC to stop the fighting, but the Soviets or French would veto that immediately.
Rhodesia was perhaps the easiest issue to deal with. The Franco-British Union refused to recognize it and issued sanctions against it. The ECCU followed suit shortly afterwards. MEC was expected to as well once their current crises die down. America hadn't yet, but also didn't recognize it. Nixon had the Dixiecrats back home to think about who didn't want to see a white supremacy state be left out to dry, so he couldn't out and out sanction it, but also had to comply with the ECCU as an observer with special privileges.
The Franco-British Union was not in a good position to invade Rhodesia if it wanted to restore control. There was the option of going through East Africa to reach Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Rhodesia's control over those provinces was limited. An expeditionary force could tip the scales against Ian Smith's government in Salisbury. East African diplomat's expressed willingness to invade Rhodesia as well, but only if it received guarantees that its constituent provinces would receive majority rule and the white minority state dissolved entirely.
There was of course always the option to do nothing, or next to it. These smaller crises demanded far less from London, so it could continue selling weapons to allies without putting boots on the ground or planes in the air. The swift, decisive response to the crisis in Libya had gone over well with the public. Thanks in no small part to the limited casualties suffered by Franco-British soldiers and the enemies that they faced. Some rebels in Emirate Yemen or Angola didn't require nearly a fraction of the same response that neofascists in Libya did.
So, what is to be done?
This is a write in vote.
You have a 50 word limit per category.
[ ][CAT]
[ ][MOR]
[ ][UAE]
[ ][CON]
[ ][RHO]
===
Please vote by plan. There is a moratorium.
===
1965 - Crises! The Thousand Cuts!
===
Catalonia and Basque
In Spain, the seemingly smooth transition of power following Franco's death plastered over a deeper rot within the country. It was plagued by non-stop unrest, aided by Soviet arms and advisors smuggled into the country across the border and by sea. Outwardly, the regime under Prime Minister and Generalissimo Carrero Blanco projected strength by cracking down on the usual suspects following his predecessor's death. Behind the scenes however, it was only the beginning of a wave of assassinations, bombings, and worker and ethnic agitation. The calm many hoped for in the months after Franco's death was an illusion, facade, and delusion that the dictatorship desperately grasped at.
Its police were attacked nearly daily by 1965, and not a day went by without some party official, garrison, or politician getting shot at. The insurgencies were armed and organized, and the thorn in the regime's side was far larger and dug in deeper than anyone in power ever wanted to acknowledge. The FBU withdrawing troops from Spain had begun to hurt it when other Commonwealth members followed suit a few years later as a show of solidarity with London. Madrid was increasingly reliant on American soldiers to help keep it stable.
That's why Carrero Blanco agreed to station nuclear weapons in the country. He knew that it was the ultimate defense of the regime against Soviet invasion and communist revolution. He was right on only one of those points. It may have brought more American soldiers to Spain, but it did nothing to stop the rapidly escalating violence in old Republican territory. Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Pamplona, Oviedo, Gijón, Aviles, and parts of Madrid started to resemble low intensity war zones. The police dared not enter parts of these towns, while the military was deployed in an attempt to crack down on dissidents. The Falaganists were deployed as auxiliaries too, given a free reign to terrorize civilians as they saw fit.
They did not carry out their brutal occupations unopposed. There was no official declaration of revolution, not at first, merely a spiraling feedback loop of violence as civilian protests pushed back against paramilitaries, only for the military to open fire on crowds of people. The air force was deployed to bomb sections of their own cities, only to in turn face unexpected resistance as insurgents armed anti-air rockets and anti-air cannons shot them from the sky and tanks began taking rpg fire from the buildings.
The mayors of multiple Spanish cities were killed, police stations bombed, and barricades erected to fend off the police and military. Insurgents began to come down from the hills in droves, hunting down Civil Guard officers in the countryside. Old stockpiles of weapons long since buried were broken open and passed around, as militias seemingly appeared out of thin air. The Catalonian Revolution had begun with a thousand bangs across Spain.
===
West Sahara
This unrest was not limited to the mainland either. In Spain's Moroccan and West Saharan territory resistance against their rule had only intensified over the years, reaching a fever pitch in late 1964. More Moroccan, Egyptian, and Soviet aid and advisors snuck across the border to infiltrate the colonial regime, organizing the Army of Liberation in Spanish holdings. The loose collection of insurgencies were brought together under a single command by experienced FLN fighters that had fled Algeria. Attacks against Spanish officials only increased following the death of Franco. The dictatorship found itself attacked on multiple fronts behind the scenes. There wasn't one week that went by without an attack against an official or army garrison.
In Mauritania Spain faced similar difficulties as local leaders routinely ignored or killed officials sent out to control them. Aid was smuggled to them across the Sahara by sympathetic nomadic groups. Azawad itself did nothing to stop the activities of these arms smugglers, claiming it did not have the ability to crack down on nomadic tribes nor did it want to in fear of angering a large section of its population. West Africa itself also turned a blind eye to arms smuggling between it and Spanish Mauritania, though it did crack down on members of communist groups it caught crossing the border or living in exile.
King Hassan II of Morocco had sent feelers to Madrid to see if the new generalissimo was open to talks on granting Spanish Morocco and West Sahara independence, however Carrero Blanco categorically refused any negotiations on decolonization. The admiral-general turned dictator did not want to appear weak at a critical time in securing his legitimacy. He felt that agreeing to talks so soon after taking power would undermine his regime, and possibly risk losing office. Madrid felt playing hardball until the domestic situation had calmed down would give them a stronger hand to negotiate with in a year or two.
It was unfortunate for Madrid that no such calm came nor was King Hassan II interested in waiting a year or two. Seeing the situation rapidly unravel in Catalonia, the king approved mobilizing the army to aid the insurgency that he and his father had spent so long cultivating. It needed little prompting, as the Army of Liberation had already ramped up its attacks in anticipation. The chaos in Spain drew more soldiers out of Africa, leaving the local garrisons weaker than ever.
It was no surprise then when the regular well trained forces of the Army of Liberation alongside several divisions of volunteers from Morocco marched over the border into Spanish West Africa. There was no French Army to save Spain's ass this time.
===
Arabian Peninsula
On the other side of the Arab world, unrest stirred in the United Arab Emirates. Its far eastern regions of Yemen and Dhofar suffered from instability. They lacked the oil resources or population centers of the Gulf Emirates, so their rulers invested little into their economies. Some even went as far as to ban foreign goods in certain parts of Yemen and Oman to keep the rural population poor and underdeveloped. Slavery too remained legal in Yemen, something willingly overlooked by many foreign investors unconcerned with human rights abuses. Franco-British naval base in Aeden helped keep order in the region with the threat of violence against any wayward locals.
That was until local circumstances had changed. The end of Saudi occupation years prior had established a socialist leaning Arab republic right on the borders of the UAE. Its alliance and loose political union with Egypt gave Cairo a foothold on the peninsula. While normally focused on Levant and Libya, it did mean the Egyptian military could help organize and train the local military up to standard. The Yemenis did not lack in skill, only equipment. They began smuggling weapons into the UAE to arm local rebels and recruit more Pan-Arab socialists inspired by Nasser and Gaddafi's struggles.
When Piano Solo occurred and North and East Africa were thrown into chaos, the situation shifted. Franco-British forces were deployed to monitor CAF and LoN Peacekeeper withdrawal from Somalia and were otherwise distracted by guarding the border against Ethiopia or busy in Libya. Insurgents used the opportunity to ramp up their own operations in the UAE. The locals, already disillusioned with their rulers and sick of foreign soldiers on their soil, needed little motivation to join forces with Yemenis Free Officers, under General Abdullah al-Sallal.
Now, it was not as if Aeden was completely empty of Franco-British forces. It simply demonstrated a distraction which the Yemen Arab Republic sought to take advantage of the situation. The revolts in UAE Yemen and Dhofar escalated in the first months of 1965, disrupting the Emirates' control over the regions. Saudi Arabia, Hashemite Arab Federation, and Iran all lent support to the UAE to put down these revolts, but to no avail. Their money bought a lot of weapons, but corruption in the UAE military meant they were not put to good use against a much more experienced insurgency. The latter two were also still focused on supplying the ongoing Grey Wolf insurgency in Turkey.
This situation took a turn for the worst for the UAE when Yemen invaded without a declaration of war. Their network of insurgents mobilized ahead of regular forces, who quickly beat back well armed but poorly trained border guards.
===
Belgian Exiles in Katanga
Central Africa
Socialist Guinea may have been defeated, but it was not the end of the dream for African and Iberian revolutionaries. They found refuge in the DRC, where they continued their work training and organizing revolutionary exiles and local soldiers. Congo had begun to slowly push into Katanga against Portuguese, South Africa, and Rhodesian resistance. The influx of Soviet aid from Masherov had helped give the beleaguered republic a second wind, allowing it to stabilize the front and maintain power domestically. The real life savior was Soviet financial aid and military advisors. It stabilized the country's currency and increased the safety of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who narrowly dodged several assassination attempts thanks to them.
The situation for the colonial regimes had begun to turn against them by 1965. President LBJ stopped weapons sales to Portugal in favour of sending arms to liberal and conservative African liberation groups when Prime Minister Salazar refused to decolonize. This was a policy that Nixon was adamant about maintaining as well. DRIL organizing in Angola had begun to pay off as conscripted soldiers began to kill their commanding officers or go AWOL to join the revolutionary group. The intensity of the war meant more soldiers were going back home injured or in body bags with no end in sight. Soviet aid had begun reaching Angola and Mozambique too to a lesser extent.
This came to a head when the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and DRIL seized control of Angola's capital city of Luanda. Defectors within the local garrison helped make it possible, allowing the revolutionary groups to take Portuguese forces off guard. Portugal's control of Angola began to unravel rapidly as loyal forces suddenly found themselves isolated in rural areas, cut off from support or even basic communications with the outside. DRC and Soviet volunteers moved into the liberated territory to help the MPLA establish control over the northern cities and interior. In the southeast several weeks later, National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) under command of Holden Roberto launched its own uprising with American aid and gained control over several provinces. Their own forces moved to seize control of Angola's mineral resources to sell to help finance their operations. Alongside it was a splinter group called National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) under the command of Jonas Savimbi. It was nominally aligned with the FNLA, but sought to maintain its independence from the larger, more established group.
Lisbon watched in horror as in only a few short weeks they lost complete control in Angola. South Africa and Rhodesia remained committed to helping them onto Mozambique, but both apartheid regimes could see where the wind was blowing and began to reluctantly support FNLA and UNITA against MPLA. Prime Minister Salazar was utterly terrified that the chaos in Spain or Africa would spill over into Portugal proper. Amidst the chaos he began a purge of the military to remove disloyal officers in the hopes that would stop defections and low morale.
He also requested immediate aid from CAN to restore order in its colony, even arguing in favour of invoking Article 5 to have the entire alliance declare war against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
===
Rhodesia
The trouble child of Britain's African colonies, the assembly continued to refuse to allow majority rule in the colony. Its distance from London and geographical position gave it a degree of independence to flaunt commands from the top in favour of its own autonomy. Its well trained, well equipped, but small forces acted however they pleased in joining South Africa and Portugal in fighting insurgents in neighbouring countries. In recent years it'd given up any hope of London 'coming to its senses,' especially when the RLD failed to pivot to the right or enter into a coalition with the Tories.
Their hope of unquestioned support for a white minority ruled settler state were dashed. It was no surprise then when they'd finally declared unilateral independence after decolonization talks with London completely stalled. They left CAN and the Commonwealth entirely, seizing any stockpiles of weapons left behind in their country. Almost immediately rebellions broke out against them in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Its new government did not hesitate to begin fire bombing its own country. The only thing that stopped them from leveling entire provinces was their lack of munitions and airplane fuel.
===
Franco-British Union's Response
These cascading crises demanded some sort of response from London.
Portugal and Spain were still members of CAN, though the FBU and Commonwealth had chosen to withdraw their troops from both countries for repeated human rights abuses. It was almost exclusively American CAN soldiers that held the border forts and towns between Spain and France to dissuade the Weimar Pact from invading. It was believed that was the only reason Premier Masherov hadn't already ordered Soviet tanks to cross the border to aid the Catalonian Revolution.
The government coalition did not like the possibility of the Soviets gaining even more ground in Europe. However, none shared any particular love for the Fraconist regime. Many of the FBU's Mediterranean response forces were already busy in Libya. There was the possibility of deploying regulars from Britain or Algeria, but there were the optics and humanitarian cost involved in putting down a revolt. The government had spent several years demonizing its own ally to the population, so it felt that the public response to British and French soldiers dying for Madrid would not go over well with the average voter.
Diplomats in Madrid discussed the possibility of deploying troops if Generalissimo Carrero Blanco's regime liberalized, which he refused to humor as a possibility. He also refused to entertain the idea of allowing League of Nations Peacekeepers to enter the country. Members of the cabinet compared the situation to the crisis in Libya. London had no qualms intervening there. A possibility was brought up that the Commonwealth could deploy soldiers to Spain that didn't take part in the fighting. They'd simply guard the border and military installations, freeing up Spanish military personnel to be relocated to handle the fighting themselves. It was felt that if London was going to intervene then that was the best option in maintaining peace in Ibera.
The Yemeni invasion of the UAE was considered a less pressing matter. Yemen and Dhofar didn't have major oil deposits compared to the Gulf States. The insurgents were goat farmers and nomads with AKs fighting rent-a-cop soldiers on the border. In Nixon's own words, "Get the Saudis on the horn and tell them to deal with this shit now. Isn't this what we pay them for anyway?" It was felt that increasing arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE would sort the issue out itself in due time, maybe a bit of air support at most.
Prime Minister Grimond was prepared to write off Angola. The Commonwealth had secured Equatorial Guinea, so he felt the best option was to shore up forces on the border to potential Congolese aggression. Portugal invoking Article 5 was a little tricky though. The FBU had no obligation to honour it and could rightfully argue against the validity of invoking it. American ambassadors made it clear that President Nixon was on the fence on the issue. He didn't want to restore Portuguese control over Angola, however he did see it as an opportunity to topple the socialist regime in Congo. He didn't want to see it align closer with the Soviet Union. Its reverses of cobalt and uranium could not be allowed to fall in Moscow's hands.
However America was already busy in the Indonesian Civil War, so he was hesitant to attempt an invasion of Congo without guaranteed Franco-British support. He was ready to approve bombing runs to raze every city and village in the country regardless and send "advisors" as proxies, but boots on the ground was a step too far. Nixon was also concerned invading the DRC could sour America's relationship with African independence groups. Washington found itself facing an uphill battle against Japan in influencing the few free countries in Africa thanks to its ties to Portugal, Spain, and the FBU. He didn't need to make his job any more difficult by blatantly invading a country on behalf of a colonial regime.
America considered this an opportunity to recognize the FNLA as the new legitimate government and back it against the MPLA. UNITA was expected to fall in line with the larger organization once the communists were defeated. American and Franco-British analysts both agreed that a proxy war was less costly and damaging to their international standing than an outright invasion. That'd give CAN the chance to contain Congolese, and thus Soviet, influence. It was also proposed that FBU and America provide support for Nigeria, Gabon, and East Africa to destabilize the DRC by invading to support separatist groups. It'd help give the CIA and MI6 access to the ground to run missions themselves. Removing Prime Minister Lumbara was considered a major priority in the hopes that it'd break apart the government. There was the potential of contacting old colonial NCOs in Ubangi-Shari and former French Congo to rally troops against Léopoldville.
Commonwealth military staff generally agreed that building up on the border and supplying proxies in or around the DRC was a productive course of action. If they wanted boots on the ground then sending advisors into the country to destabilize it was an option that didn't require a massive commitment. The African Dominions were confident in their ability to beat the DRC, they were also hesitant to outright invade. There was the possibility of sending LoN Peacekeepers into the DRC to stop the fighting, but the Soviets or French would veto that immediately.
Rhodesia was perhaps the easiest issue to deal with. The Franco-British Union refused to recognize it and issued sanctions against it. The ECCU followed suit shortly afterwards. MEC was expected to as well once their current crises die down. America hadn't yet, but also didn't recognize it. Nixon had the Dixiecrats back home to think about who didn't want to see a white supremacy state be left out to dry, so he couldn't out and out sanction it, but also had to comply with the ECCU as an observer with special privileges.
The Franco-British Union was not in a good position to invade Rhodesia if it wanted to restore control. There was the option of going through East Africa to reach Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Rhodesia's control over those provinces was limited. An expeditionary force could tip the scales against Ian Smith's government in Salisbury. East African diplomat's expressed willingness to invade Rhodesia as well, but only if it received guarantees that its constituent provinces would receive majority rule and the white minority state dissolved entirely.
There was of course always the option to do nothing, or next to it. These smaller crises demanded far less from London, so it could continue selling weapons to allies without putting boots on the ground or planes in the air. The swift, decisive response to the crisis in Libya had gone over well with the public. Thanks in no small part to the limited casualties suffered by Franco-British soldiers and the enemies that they faced. Some rebels in Emirate Yemen or Angola didn't require nearly a fraction of the same response that neofascists in Libya did.
So, what is to be done?
This is a write in vote.
You have a 50 word limit per category.
[ ][CAT]
[ ][MOR]
[ ][UAE]
[ ][CON]
[ ][RHO]
===
Please vote by plan. There is a moratorium.
===
Last edited:
Oh gee I hope this doesn't cause our economy to collapse again
Again, it's a matter of priority and triage.
All of colonies could have potential benefits if pacified but the costs are very different. I imagine in increasing order of difficulty RHO<UAE<MOR<CON
Just why would anyone want to fight in Congo's environment and geography? Proxy investment seems by far the sensible option.
Western Sahara's geography makes intervention that much easier. Boots on the ground is not unmanageable. It has resources in Phosphate and oil.
Yemen…. The geography makes hard intervention just difficult but loosing Aden is out of the question. The priority is to hold on to the city and using proxies outside.
(Also Yemen's ethnographic, religious and historical tribal contexts are extremely fascinating.
My one take away from the excerpts is that we don't want Saudis as our proxy in Yemen. The web is tangled enough. Britain must have some tribal clients more local to the country.)
Rhodesia is just Libya 2.0. I would say we nuke them but there shouldn't be any need. Commit to a majoritarian rule and invade it.
I have not considered much over Catalonia but the idea of Spanish civil war 2 electric boogalo is horrifying. I say we give mad Nixon a free hand. Let him deal with it.
All of colonies could have potential benefits if pacified but the costs are very different. I imagine in increasing order of difficulty RHO<UAE<MOR<CON
Just why would anyone want to fight in Congo's environment and geography? Proxy investment seems by far the sensible option.
Western Sahara's geography makes intervention that much easier. Boots on the ground is not unmanageable. It has resources in Phosphate and oil.
Yemen…. The geography makes hard intervention just difficult but loosing Aden is out of the question. The priority is to hold on to the city and using proxies outside.
(Also Yemen's ethnographic, religious and historical tribal contexts are extremely fascinating.
Thread with excerpts from "Tribes and Politics in Yemen: A History of the Houthi Conflict" by @BrandtMarieke
x.com
twitter.com
My one take away from the excerpts is that we don't want Saudis as our proxy in Yemen. The web is tangled enough. Britain must have some tribal clients more local to the country.)
Rhodesia is just Libya 2.0. I would say we nuke them but there shouldn't be any need. Commit to a majoritarian rule and invade it.
I have not considered much over Catalonia but the idea of Spanish civil war 2 electric boogalo is horrifying. I say we give mad Nixon a free hand. Let him deal with it.
Last edited:
LuxemburgLover69
There are more things between Heaven and Earth...
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I want to invade Rhodesia so bad it's not even funny.
[X] Plan Triage:
[ ][CAT]: Encourage the Nixon administration to provide all levels of support necessary and give him a free hand when it comes to diplomacy in return for the US supporting our policies for the other crises. Propose restoring Infante Juan or his line as a compromise.
[ ][MOR]: Attempt a LoN resolution for peacekeeping and anticipating vetoes threaten to retaliate against Morocco with an CAN wide Air campaign if they don't pull back.
[ ][UAE]: Send troops into Aden to ensure control of the straits. Sidestep the Emirati military corruption by finding more suitable local tribal clients and arming/supporting them directly against Egyptians and Republican infiltrators. Incite Saudis to rack up pressure on their border but no more.
[ ][CON]: Prepare to recognize UNITA as legitimate government of Angola in return for accession to ECCU and its economy remaining open. Encourage US to coordinate on proxy campaign to contain Congo.
[ ][RHO]: invade with the intention to institute majoritarian rule conditioned on gradual land reform and retaining ECCU access.
[ ][CAT]: Encourage the Nixon administration to provide all levels of support necessary and give him a free hand when it comes to diplomacy in return for the US supporting our policies for the other crises. Propose restoring Infante Juan or his line as a compromise.
[ ][MOR]: Attempt a LoN resolution for peacekeeping and anticipating vetoes threaten to retaliate against Morocco with an CAN wide Air campaign if they don't pull back.
[ ][UAE]: Send troops into Aden to ensure control of the straits. Sidestep the Emirati military corruption by finding more suitable local tribal clients and arming/supporting them directly against Egyptians and Republican infiltrators. Incite Saudis to rack up pressure on their border but no more.
[ ][CON]: Prepare to recognize UNITA as legitimate government of Angola in return for accession to ECCU and its economy remaining open. Encourage US to coordinate on proxy campaign to contain Congo.
[ ][RHO]: invade with the intention to institute majoritarian rule conditioned on gradual land reform and retaining ECCU access.
Last edited:
[] Plan: Liberalism, By Hook or By Crook
-[ ][CAT] Tell Blanco to liberalize or die. Zero support from the FBU until he caves. Serve as a diplomatic intermediary to prevent further American or Soviet intervention in the name of preventing nuclear war, seek a concession from the Soviets to get rid of the American nukes in Spain.
-[ ][MOR] Do nothing unless Blanco cracks. If so, mediate peace talks to preserve Spanish assets in independent Morocco as much as possible. In the meantime, secure Spanish Mauritania with CAN troops and offer favorable aid and trade to King Hassan, so long as he stays away from Soviet alignment.
-[ ][UAE] Condemn Yemen's perfidy in the League of Nations. Provide air support. Hold Aden at all costs. Use cut outs to hire reliable mercenary forces for the UAE without the UAE ever meaningfully handling the money. Demand the UAE at least ban slavery and prosecute some scapegoats.
-[ ][CON] Tell Salazar to liberalize or not die exactly, but fuck off. Bog down his illegitimate Article 5 claim. If he cracks, offer UNITA air support and generous loans in exchange for preserving Portuguese assets. Prepare to deal with the Portuguese military directly if he continues acting like this.
-[ ][RHO] Declare Rhodesia traitors to the crown. Give East Africa the green light, arms, air support, and a volunteer expeditionary force. Agree to all terms so long as atrocities are avoided and the majority rule state remains a Commonwealth member for at least 10 years.
Is this a meme plan? Even I can't tell. But by god, we shall save the world from Spanish-American nukes.
-[ ][CAT] Tell Blanco to liberalize or die. Zero support from the FBU until he caves. Serve as a diplomatic intermediary to prevent further American or Soviet intervention in the name of preventing nuclear war, seek a concession from the Soviets to get rid of the American nukes in Spain.
-[ ][MOR] Do nothing unless Blanco cracks. If so, mediate peace talks to preserve Spanish assets in independent Morocco as much as possible. In the meantime, secure Spanish Mauritania with CAN troops and offer favorable aid and trade to King Hassan, so long as he stays away from Soviet alignment.
-[ ][UAE] Condemn Yemen's perfidy in the League of Nations. Provide air support. Hold Aden at all costs. Use cut outs to hire reliable mercenary forces for the UAE without the UAE ever meaningfully handling the money. Demand the UAE at least ban slavery and prosecute some scapegoats.
-[ ][CON] Tell Salazar to liberalize or not die exactly, but fuck off. Bog down his illegitimate Article 5 claim. If he cracks, offer UNITA air support and generous loans in exchange for preserving Portuguese assets. Prepare to deal with the Portuguese military directly if he continues acting like this.
-[ ][RHO] Declare Rhodesia traitors to the crown. Give East Africa the green light, arms, air support, and a volunteer expeditionary force. Agree to all terms so long as atrocities are avoided and the majority rule state remains a Commonwealth member for at least 10 years.
Is this a meme plan? Even I can't tell. But by god, we shall save the world from Spanish-American nukes.
Last edited:
Rhodesia can be brought into the fold quite easily. We should have good will from the locals due to how persistent we have been in trying to get reforms through. Invade and they should follow us.
Morocco is a ticking timebomb. Same problem as Libya as the French would go apocalyptical if there is a Soviet puppet right next to them. Thankfully they are surrounded on all sides, and more importantly not ideologically compatible with the Commies. They have a king after all. Offer him full independence and economic aid in exchange for turning over certain advisors to the nice men in suits.
Yemen is a mess, and Nasser stepped right into it. Flood that peninsula with guns and have troops in Aden. Tell the Saudis to shape the fuck up.
We can't deal with Spain at all. Theres no other way to put it. Nixon can do his foreign policy magic there all he wants.
Jonas Savimbi... That is all that needs to be said.
Morocco is a ticking timebomb. Same problem as Libya as the French would go apocalyptical if there is a Soviet puppet right next to them. Thankfully they are surrounded on all sides, and more importantly not ideologically compatible with the Commies. They have a king after all. Offer him full independence and economic aid in exchange for turning over certain advisors to the nice men in suits.
Yemen is a mess, and Nasser stepped right into it. Flood that peninsula with guns and have troops in Aden. Tell the Saudis to shape the fuck up.
We can't deal with Spain at all. Theres no other way to put it. Nixon can do his foreign policy magic there all he wants.
Jonas Savimbi... That is all that needs to be said.
Last edited:
I think this is a good plan but I'd like to make a suggestion on the spanish portion where we specifically reinforce our garrison in gibraltar to deter anyone from getting ideas and ask french algeria to make noises on the border with morocco to make our threats scarier.
Last edited:
nachtingale
19. On that "honk, mimimi" type beat everyday.
- Location
- Malaysia
- Pronouns
- He/They
I Like this plan, and will probably vote for it, but I would suggest adding some wording for the Morocco plank for the placing of CAN troops in Spanish Mauritania to place it under """temporary""" WAF jurisdiction
I do wonder if it's worth declaring that Blanco's government in Spain is de facto dead and launching a "security operation" to seize South Spain (at a minimum) from him while the rest goes to the Soviets, with the intent being to set up a CAN mandate that'll transition to a liberal democracy (and also let Nixon keep nukes in Spain whilst giving Gibraltar some breathing room against the communists)
Last edited:
[] Plan Franco-British Superpower
-[][CAT] Commonwealth forces would only guard the border and military installations and would give no further support until Blanco liberalize or allow LoN Peacekeepers in. Request the US to coordinate with us.
-[][MOR] Support West Africa and Azawad to secure Mauritania and declare an independent country with collaborators. Request Morocco to allow refugees to leave to CAN countries. Recognize Morocco's gains and offer beneficial trade deals and low interest loans to keep them neutral if the Commonwealth agree with it.
-[][UAE] Advise the UAE to give independence to South Yemen with local collaborators with promise of compensation and investment from us. Whether they take our advice or not, give them our support to hold Yemen at all cost.
-[][CON] Recognize and support FNLA as the legitimate government of Angola in return for accession to ECCU and its economy remaining open if the Commonwealth agree to it. Coordinate with the US on proxy campaigns to contain Congo.
-[][RHO] Invade with Commonwealth forces with the intention to institute majority rule conditioned on gradual land reform and retaining ECCU access.
The French and British superpower to draw a line on map and materialize a new country from thin air should be used here.
Let the Spanish bleed while still making sure the commies won't take over the whole country.
We should also ask about the Commonwealth's opinion before we recognize a country or something like what they request after Libya.
-[][CAT] Commonwealth forces would only guard the border and military installations and would give no further support until Blanco liberalize or allow LoN Peacekeepers in. Request the US to coordinate with us.
-[][MOR] Support West Africa and Azawad to secure Mauritania and declare an independent country with collaborators. Request Morocco to allow refugees to leave to CAN countries. Recognize Morocco's gains and offer beneficial trade deals and low interest loans to keep them neutral if the Commonwealth agree with it.
-[][UAE] Advise the UAE to give independence to South Yemen with local collaborators with promise of compensation and investment from us. Whether they take our advice or not, give them our support to hold Yemen at all cost.
-[][CON] Recognize and support FNLA as the legitimate government of Angola in return for accession to ECCU and its economy remaining open if the Commonwealth agree to it. Coordinate with the US on proxy campaigns to contain Congo.
-[][RHO] Invade with Commonwealth forces with the intention to institute majority rule conditioned on gradual land reform and retaining ECCU access.
The French and British superpower to draw a line on map and materialize a new country from thin air should be used here.
Let the Spanish bleed while still making sure the commies won't take over the whole country.
We should also ask about the Commonwealth's opinion before we recognize a country or something like what they request after Libya.
Last edited:
[X] Plan: Liberalism, By Hook or By Crook
- Location
- Ireland
- Pronouns
- He/They/She
[X] Plan: Liberalism, By Hook or By Crook