- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
"Old Vulcan proverb."
Though you really have to hear it in the original Klingon.
Reds! A Revolutionary Timeline
- Thread starter Aelita
- Start date
- Timeline Post-1900 Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Though you really have to hear it in the original Klingon.
Does the UASR have a stock market? A little curious how they deal with that, if they do use it that is.
- Location
- France
- Pronouns
- She/They
If I remember the discussions correctly, investment is done by publicly run local and national finance. You can't have a stock market if you can't sell shares of businesses. Since all workplaces are owned by either state institutions, workers directly or a mix of the two, there's no reason for it.
Miss Teri
The Queen
- Location
- West
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Pretty much this. There's no use for a stock market without actually stocks
Hey guys
I am making a Star Wars saga synopsis that I created to fit within the world of reds, A revolutionary timeline.
this is a fantastic setting that I want to contribute to by giving it a version of Star Wars that uses the political context of reds to reshape its story.
anyone interested in me posting the opening crawls for this radically different saga?
I am making a Star Wars saga synopsis that I created to fit within the world of reds, A revolutionary timeline.
this is a fantastic setting that I want to contribute to by giving it a version of Star Wars that uses the political context of reds to reshape its story.
anyone interested in me posting the opening crawls for this radically different saga?
King Washington
Semi-Depressed Lurker
- Location
- Indiana
Well for starters I doubt any of the heroes will be royalty.
Also a little known fact is that OTL George Lucas apparently based Palpatine on Richard Nixon and the original trilogy as a whole was something of a protest of the Vietnam War.
Miss XTC
2 kawaii 2 live 2 sugoi 2 die
- Location
- HelLA.
- Pronouns
- She/They
we already have a snyopsis for the first Star Wars movie and some preliminary work on the second one in the Discord
thanks anyway, though! if you'd like an invite, ask!
Last edited:
true on both counts, also since Lucasfilm will likely be a workers' cooperative, it means that Star Wars will never have the same filmmaker for different movies.
can you send me a link to this synopsis?
- Location
- Georgia, US
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is the exact situation that Death of The Author exists for, nothing about the original trilogy especially parallels Nixon. The Empire was clearly modeled after Nazi Germany, and its rise was mostly kept vague.
As protests to the Vietnam War go the OT is the lamest and least visible one I have ever seen.
Last edited:
The empire's backstory mirrored Nixon at the time of writing.
corporations funded the rise of the empire By funding the creation of race riots and crime in order to radicalize the people to right wing ideas in the original backstory of the empire.
the race riots are obviously a reference to how the rise of Nixon being a backlash to the rising civil rights movement and corporations funding it mirrored how Nixon marked the beginning of America's right wing radicalization that would be cemented with the rise of Reagan.
the rise of palpatine in the prequels mirrors the bush administration phony war to gain power.
But let's talk about things that aren't Star Wars...
how are anarchists treated in The United Republic's?
what are their relationship to the communists?
since de-Leonism(The ideology of the workers communist party) was heavily syndicalist based I would assume that they would have a better relationship than in our timeline?
Last edited:
- Location
- France
- Pronouns
- She/They
DeLeonism has little to do with anarcho-syndicalism. It's more about a strategy for regular Marxists than a refutation of what separate it from anarchists.
Anarchists are present and on board during the revolution. Some of them join within the system after the victory, though they don't fit into the WCP that well. I imagine most grassroot anarchists just don't participate beyond the local level, though.
- Location
- Lake Wobegon
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
This. Contemporary syndicalism rubbished party organization and politically-orientated action (electoralist or otherwise) completely. The unions, for syndicalists, were both the fighting organs of the working class in capitalism and the germ of the new society that would take over after the old was smashed. Parties were superfluous at best and parliamentary cretins at worst. For the DeLeonists, having an industrial strategy was important, but their party remained the thinking head of the class.
1938 General Election
Miss Teri
The Queen
- Location
- West
- Pronouns
- She/Her
1938 General Election
On January 11th, General Secretary Haim Kantorovich announced that elections for the Congress of Soviets would be held for May 15th.
The parties contesting the election are: The Workers' Communist Party (and constituent groups the Independent Socialist Labor Party, the African National Congress, the Jewish Labor Bund, the American Indian Movement, the Asiatic Council, and the Women's Revolutionary Union), the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, the Democratic Republican Party, the "Official" Democratic Party (traditionally called the True Democratic Party) and the "Provisional" Democratic Party (a split faction.)
Candidates:
Workers' Party:
Having secured full support for his government and its policies amongst the Party ranks, Foster secured his continued leadership of the WCP government at the Party Congress. Haim Kantorovich, long revered as a Marxist theoretician, replaced Sinclair as General Secretary as part of the consolidation of power by Foster and WCP Chairman Earl Browder. His success and prominence ensured he would keep the role if Foster won again.
Democratic Farmer-Labor Party:
After its defeat in the last election, the DFLP went through major changes as it struggled to make the transition as an independent party. Already, leaders like Roosevelt and Wheeler had pushed for a leftward transition, marked by a shift towards "Christian Communism", and with the success of the WCP, a more moderate stance on social policies. Complete opposition to social changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution was softened to support for "restraint" and "Christian compassion", in a bid to appeal to minorities.
This was also followed by a shift in leadership. Robert LaFollette, Jr., one-time Vice-Premier and Party Leader, was caught one day by an aide with a small pistol in his hand. LaFollette had spent years struggling with chronic depression, and the loss may have exacerbated these feelings. His brother Phillip was flown in from Wisconsin to talk him down, and after a discussion, he agreed that he should step down from party leadership to seek treatment.
With Roosevelt and LaFollette's endorsement, Missouri DFL flank Harry S. Truman was chosen as the new Party leader. Truman's record as a celebrated veteran with the Minutemen during the Revolution, his socially progressive and socialist economic stances made him the perfect candidate to appeal both to the DFL base and to those potentially disenchanted with the Foster administration.
Democratic-Republican Party
The 1936 defeat saw the final defeat of pre-Revolution Republican Progressivism that had defined them. Robert Taft shifted the Party economic stance towards full market socialism, that could be seen as a middle ground between capitalism and communism, in hopes of becoming more palatable to the radicalized populace.
It was also decided a new face was needed to represent this shift and show their change. That new face was Thomas Dewey. New York District Attorney under Communist Metropolis Attorney General Joseph Brodsky, Dewey parlayed his success prosecuting mobster and reactionary Lucky Luciano to a political career, successfully becoming a Metropolis delegate. His prosecution of Luciano made him a famed figure nationwide, and his reputation lended towards him being a strong figure against the tide of reactionaries and criminals against the revolution, while appealing to the moderate base.
True Democrats
The continued battle against counterrevolution saw strain put on the True Democrats, as they battled the increasing presence of StateSec agents and tried to disassociate with the growing anti-government radicals. The official ticket, John Nance Garner and Martin Dies, Jr., endorsed cutting ties with counterrevolutionaries, and advocating a "deliberate, peaceful, democratic transition to Constitutionalism."
For some in the party, this was unacceptable, at least in secret. While not loudly proclaiming the violent overthrow of the Union government, they wanted to a more forceful response to "Judeo-Bolshevikism". They also felt that Garner and Dies had failed to sufficiently fight off StateSec investigation (ironically, the split was fermented by StateSec).
Finally, a group of True Democrats under Pennsylvania representative Francis E. Walter split off from the main party. In a 1958 interview, Walter admitted that representatives of the Sons of Liberty had convinced him to split with Garner and Dies, instead making a party representing "regional interests" (i,e, Northern bourgeois), against the Southern dominated party. Walter denied later allegations of direct meddling from Grand Wizard John E. Rankin.
The "Provisional" Democrats (given by the press for its primarily Northeastern membership) would hold their own conference, where Walter was elected Party Leader and Edward J. Hart as Party Chairman. The squabbling between the two (and local bans on the party) prevented them from any national prominence.
Platforms
Workers' Party
The Party Congress drafted a platform that satisfied Foster's newfound power and the growing left-communist membership following the Revolt of the Cadres. The platform was far more left than the previous election, calling for the "disentanglement of bureaucracy", more power to local councils and democratic entities in decision making, and "a full, final purge of bourgeois culture".
Foster's decision to make rearmament a major campaign plank was controversial, but ongoing events in Czechoslovakia put it into sharper relief.
Democratic Farmer-Labor
The DFLP platform would also shift left in some regards. Instead of denouncing moral degeneracy as last time, the platform called for a "reasonable reexamination of cultural ideals" and backed certain liberal reforms made under the Cultural Revolution, though still criticizing excess. On economics, they completed a transition to full "Christian Communism", committing to workers' control of the means of production and ensuring "all have decent living standards".
The DFLP also attempted to triangulate on the growing revolt from the left, to increase support from traditional WCPA constituencies whose interests as stakeholders in cooperative enterprises might be threatened by the "communization" that regarded them as a petit-bourgeois transitional form.
Democratic-Republican
Taft kept the Democratic Republican platform the same from the previous election, though the events of Hugo Black's resignation compelled Taft and Dewey to add a provision calling for the continued fight against counterrevolution.
The Campaign
Foster found stronger opponents in Truman and Dewey as opposed to LaFollette and Borah. The young, folksy Truman drew on Norman Thomas' Christian socialism and appeals to agrarianism and moderation to make a larger splash among rural and conservative crowds. Dewey largely ran on his prosecution record to make himself the law-and-order candidate, (partially to distance the party from accusations of reactionary sympathy following the resignation of Hugo Black). Dewey's fame prosecuting mobsters and embezzlers helped bolster the DemReps from their losses in 1936 in terms of popularity
Still, Foster knew how to fight back. Foster lambasted Truman as a "crypto-reactionary", who was peddling pseudo-socialism and regressive social doctrines and Dewey as "Northeastern bourgeois, untrustworthy elitist." Local WCP branches spread rumors that Truman had been a Klansman while an attorney in Jackson County, Missouri. Truman denied the allegations, (later records show he was for a time actually allied to the local Red Guards in their anti-Klan campaign) but the association hurt his appeal to New Afrika voters. Foster publicly accused Dewey of wiring tapping socialist and anarchists pre-Revolution, which Dewey denied.
The vigorous campaign proved much more animated and contentious than 1936, with Foster working to tout his left-communist bona fides, the success dealing with the Revolt of the Cadres and the accomplishments of the administration and the continued progress made.
Election Night
Foster's strategy paid off, and the WCPA kept its majority in the Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Council. However, under Truman, the DFLP had rebounded from the defeat of 1936, creating a sizeable minority in the CEC. Even the DRP had managed to make up some of their losses and gained seats in the CEC.
Foster was forced to recognize this when considering Secretaries for the next government, making various concessions to both parties to appease them.
The split with the True Democrats had paid off very poorly, with the Official Democratic Party hemorrhaging members and the Provo Democrats (who were classified as "independents" due to the lack of official recognition for their party) failing to make any impression. Of course, later events would overshadow the drama behind the split.
IV Congress (15 June 1938 to 28 April 1940 )
Workers' Party: 1312 seats (+110)
Democratic-Farmer-Labor: 522 seats (-19)
Democratic-Republicans: 214 seats (+69)
"Official" Democrats: 32 seats(-13)
Independents: 48 seats (-14)
III Central Executive Council
Workers' Party: 271 seats (+72)
Democratic-Farmer-Labor: 121(+38)
Democratic-Republicans: 62 (+26)
Central Committee (Foster III)
Premier: William Z. Foster
Deputy Premier: Benjamin Gitlow
People's Secretary for Foreign Affairs: John Reed
Attorney General: Crystal Eastman
People's Secretary for Defense: Martin Abern
People's Secretary for Labor: Eugene Dennis
People's Secretary for Finance: Jack Stachel
People's Secretary for Foreign Trade: Franklin D. Roosevelt (DFLP)
People's Secretary for Agriculture: Henry A. Wallace
People's Secretary for Education: John Dewey
People's Secretary for Public Safety: Henry Winston
People's Secretary for Railways: Robert Taft (DRP)
People's Secretary for Communication: Max Eastman
People's Secretary for Maritime Transport: Alben Barkley (DFLP)
People's Secretary for Energy: Max Schactman
People's Secretary for Manufacturing: WEB Du Bois
People's Secretary for Light Industry: Cyril Briggs
People's Secretary for Construction: Charles S. Zimmerman
People's Secretary for Culture: Louise Bryant
People's Secretary for Welfare: Antoinette Konikow
People's Secretary for Aviation: Theodore von Karmen
Chairman, State Planning Commission: Solon Deleon
Chairman, Academy of Arts and Sciences: Henry W. Jones, Sr.(DFLP)
Chairman, Union Bank: Robert A. Brady
Speaker of the CEC: Jessica Smith
Chief Whip, CEC: Louis F. Budenz
(Special thanks to @Asami for the wikibox)
Excerpt from transcript of "The Cultural Revolution", documentary aired February, 1977 on PBS-10
PBS-10 and PBS-11 were experimental satellite TV networks modeled on the Soviet Orbita networks, launched in 1976. To help promote the new networks, a slate of history documentaries were created to fill air time before more permanent programming could be placed. "The Cultural Revolution", 4 hours long, deals with the titular period from 1934-1940.
Narrator: …. In Rankin's office were piles of telegrams and communiques from the Continental Congress. Among these were wire transfers for cash. While most of these were directed at Rankin, he sent some of the money to candidates in that year's election, both to the Official Democrats and the "Provo" Democrats.
HENRY WINSTON (Secretary of Public Safety, 1937-1940; Secretary General of the UASR, 1960-1968): We also found these ledgers with large amounts of money being transferred to each of these candidates. Ten candidates from both the main and splinter factions. Rankin would facilitate the transfer of CC funds to these Ten candidates.
Narrator: The ledgers and the names inside would reach the pages of the Daily Worker, and soon nationwide. Under this pretext, Attorney General Eastman moved to arrest the ten delegates who were named in the documents. Coincidentally, they were arrested on the Fourth of July.
JOHN B. FRAZIER, JR.(One of the True Democrat Ten): They arrived at my home late in the evening. I didn't read the Worker, so I didn't know what they were there for until they showed the warrant. I was cuffed and led to the wagon in front of a large crowd of reporters.
CARL CURTIS (One of the True Democrat Ten): I had just been elected the delegate for the "Official" Democratic Party, and they arrived in my office to arrest me. I had no idea about the ledgers or even that my campaign had been funded by the Grand Wizard.
Narrator: Party leader Martin Dies, Jr., having recently suffered the split of his party was placed under arrest in front of the Congress of Soviets, profusely denying any knowledge of funding.
ROY COHN (Lawyer, WCPA Legal Council, Metropolis District Attorney 1972- ): The fact of the matter is, these men were reactionaries who were collaborating with anti-state terrorists and Klansmen to bring down the Union government and set up a dictatorship loyal to MacArthur and Hitler. Their arrest was the only option against the threat of counterrevolution
Narrator: Francis E. Walter, who had led the charge to split from the main party, was now the face of what the press had deemed "The True Democrat Ten": Walter, Dies, Joe Starnes, J. Parnell Thomas; Edward J. Hart ; John B. Frazier, Jr.; Noah M. Mason; Herbert C. Bonner; John McDowell; and Carl Curtis
[...]
Narrator: Thomas, in a shocking turn of events, announces he will plead guilty and testify against his co-defendants. "I have witnessed corruption within the ranks of the Democratic Party, that is to be routed out at once!"
Winston: We never really coerced him into confessing. He simply made the deal with prosecutors to ensure he wouldn't serve more time in prison than his co-defendants.
Narrator: Several days later, the trial of Francis Walter begins. Walter pleads not guilty, claiming that he never willingly took money from Rankin or the Continental Congress, and claims that he was being set up for his views.
HAROLD MEDINA (Lawyer, Francis E. Walter): It was a set-up. They were trying to frame my client for treason and had every means by which to do it. I made sure to note that he had freedom of speech under Article V in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and could not be prosecuted for his beliefs.
JERRY COONS (ex-Walter Staffer, Sons of Liberty informant, author "I Was a StateSec Informant" (1955)): I had on several occasions, seen Comrade Walter meet with members of the Sons. I had seen John Rankin's name brought up in discussions with Comrade Walter. I had seen him accept cash donation made in Rankin's name by said members. I and several other informants testified to our truthful recollections.
NORMAN THOMAS WASHINGTON (Historian): Walter was a racist and a xenophobe. He wrote privately that "alien communists and people of differing complexions and cultures mislead intellectually stunted negroes and low class white men into rebelling against the natural order." He believed in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon and distrusted the very heavily immigrant and non-white Union government. His alliance with Rankin was an inevitable part of his ideology. He wanted to restore white rule over America.
Narrator: Indeed, Walter's case was also not helped by Rankin's own recent trial, where he had regular outbursts of violent rage against Africans, Jews, Communists, and everyone else he opposed. It had also emerged that the Continental Congress and the German American Bund had exchanged money, possibly precluding the possibility that the True Democrat Ten had been funded by Nazi Germany.
Winston: I regret that particular part of this case, given there was little actual evidence that they had received money from Nazi Germany.
Narrator: 27 year old Henry Winston,newly appointed to replace J. Edgar Hoover as Secretary of Public Safety after the Revolt of the Cadres, feels pressure to take full advantage of the case.
Winston: I was appointed because of my youth, which was an asset during the Revolt of the Cadres, and I tried my best to follow Hoover's legacy. Thus, I wanted to make sure the threat of counterrevolution isn't left to fester right when its wounds were exposed. Foster intimated as much to me. Unfortunately, that meant having to expedite the trial and use it as the pretext for the ban.
Cohn: There were certain… extrapolations done that may not have reflected the facts of the case. However, speaking as a lawyer, I maintain that the basic facts remain incriminating enough for the convictions to be legitimate.
Narrators: The jury agreed, and Walter was convicted of bribery and treason.
Curtis: After Walter's conviction and what I had seen being said, I decided that I didn't believe in the cause of the Democrats enough to accept what I had heard about who had funded me. Especially when I heard the viciousness and racism of Rankin on the radio and how Walter constantly dodged questions about his views on race. So, I accepted a plea deal to testify about the finances I had received from the Sons of Liberty.
Narrator: As the trials went underway, other True Democrats were also prosecuted based on further evidence.
STROM THURMOND (Chairman, Democratic Party ("True Democrats"), 1947-): With the power of the state behind them, we were no match. We were tracked down, and arrested and StateSec planted press splashed our faces onto the Daily Worker, with the likes of MacArthur and Mussolini. I say in a South Car…. I mean, New Afrika courtroom and sat as they called for my arrest.
Washington: Despite the modern protests of men like Thurmond, there was ample evidence of collusion between the Sons of Liberty and the True Democrats. It was an open secret before the Rankin raid, and there was more than enough evidence to show it.
Coons: I saw for myself how close True Democrats and Sons leaders were. They would frequent the same establishments, send each other letters and money. The Democratic representatives would spout anti-communist, racist dogma when they thought they were comfortable.
Narrator: With the level of evidence leveled against them, there was finally cause to outlaw the party.
Winston: The ban was a measure conceived by Foster and Eastman to help rid of any potential fifth columns and keep reactionaries from planning domestic attacks in the lead-up to war. However, as the trials went on, I felt I hadn't really acted well enough on that front, especially since I hadn't ensured it was properly neutralized before they slinked underground. Apparently, others in the administration felt similarly. I tendered my resignation before the war, and Hoover was once again in his rightful seat.
On January 11th, General Secretary Haim Kantorovich announced that elections for the Congress of Soviets would be held for May 15th.
The parties contesting the election are: The Workers' Communist Party (and constituent groups the Independent Socialist Labor Party, the African National Congress, the Jewish Labor Bund, the American Indian Movement, the Asiatic Council, and the Women's Revolutionary Union), the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, the Democratic Republican Party, the "Official" Democratic Party (traditionally called the True Democratic Party) and the "Provisional" Democratic Party (a split faction.)
Candidates:
Workers' Party:
Having secured full support for his government and its policies amongst the Party ranks, Foster secured his continued leadership of the WCP government at the Party Congress. Haim Kantorovich, long revered as a Marxist theoretician, replaced Sinclair as General Secretary as part of the consolidation of power by Foster and WCP Chairman Earl Browder. His success and prominence ensured he would keep the role if Foster won again.
Democratic Farmer-Labor Party:
After its defeat in the last election, the DFLP went through major changes as it struggled to make the transition as an independent party. Already, leaders like Roosevelt and Wheeler had pushed for a leftward transition, marked by a shift towards "Christian Communism", and with the success of the WCP, a more moderate stance on social policies. Complete opposition to social changes brought on by the Cultural Revolution was softened to support for "restraint" and "Christian compassion", in a bid to appeal to minorities.
This was also followed by a shift in leadership. Robert LaFollette, Jr., one-time Vice-Premier and Party Leader, was caught one day by an aide with a small pistol in his hand. LaFollette had spent years struggling with chronic depression, and the loss may have exacerbated these feelings. His brother Phillip was flown in from Wisconsin to talk him down, and after a discussion, he agreed that he should step down from party leadership to seek treatment.
With Roosevelt and LaFollette's endorsement, Missouri DFL flank Harry S. Truman was chosen as the new Party leader. Truman's record as a celebrated veteran with the Minutemen during the Revolution, his socially progressive and socialist economic stances made him the perfect candidate to appeal both to the DFL base and to those potentially disenchanted with the Foster administration.
Democratic-Republican Party
The 1936 defeat saw the final defeat of pre-Revolution Republican Progressivism that had defined them. Robert Taft shifted the Party economic stance towards full market socialism, that could be seen as a middle ground between capitalism and communism, in hopes of becoming more palatable to the radicalized populace.
It was also decided a new face was needed to represent this shift and show their change. That new face was Thomas Dewey. New York District Attorney under Communist Metropolis Attorney General Joseph Brodsky, Dewey parlayed his success prosecuting mobster and reactionary Lucky Luciano to a political career, successfully becoming a Metropolis delegate. His prosecution of Luciano made him a famed figure nationwide, and his reputation lended towards him being a strong figure against the tide of reactionaries and criminals against the revolution, while appealing to the moderate base.
True Democrats
The continued battle against counterrevolution saw strain put on the True Democrats, as they battled the increasing presence of StateSec agents and tried to disassociate with the growing anti-government radicals. The official ticket, John Nance Garner and Martin Dies, Jr., endorsed cutting ties with counterrevolutionaries, and advocating a "deliberate, peaceful, democratic transition to Constitutionalism."
For some in the party, this was unacceptable, at least in secret. While not loudly proclaiming the violent overthrow of the Union government, they wanted to a more forceful response to "Judeo-Bolshevikism". They also felt that Garner and Dies had failed to sufficiently fight off StateSec investigation (ironically, the split was fermented by StateSec).
Finally, a group of True Democrats under Pennsylvania representative Francis E. Walter split off from the main party. In a 1958 interview, Walter admitted that representatives of the Sons of Liberty had convinced him to split with Garner and Dies, instead making a party representing "regional interests" (i,e, Northern bourgeois), against the Southern dominated party. Walter denied later allegations of direct meddling from Grand Wizard John E. Rankin.
The "Provisional" Democrats (given by the press for its primarily Northeastern membership) would hold their own conference, where Walter was elected Party Leader and Edward J. Hart as Party Chairman. The squabbling between the two (and local bans on the party) prevented them from any national prominence.
Platforms
Workers' Party
The Party Congress drafted a platform that satisfied Foster's newfound power and the growing left-communist membership following the Revolt of the Cadres. The platform was far more left than the previous election, calling for the "disentanglement of bureaucracy", more power to local councils and democratic entities in decision making, and "a full, final purge of bourgeois culture".
Foster's decision to make rearmament a major campaign plank was controversial, but ongoing events in Czechoslovakia put it into sharper relief.
Democratic Farmer-Labor
The DFLP platform would also shift left in some regards. Instead of denouncing moral degeneracy as last time, the platform called for a "reasonable reexamination of cultural ideals" and backed certain liberal reforms made under the Cultural Revolution, though still criticizing excess. On economics, they completed a transition to full "Christian Communism", committing to workers' control of the means of production and ensuring "all have decent living standards".
The DFLP also attempted to triangulate on the growing revolt from the left, to increase support from traditional WCPA constituencies whose interests as stakeholders in cooperative enterprises might be threatened by the "communization" that regarded them as a petit-bourgeois transitional form.
Democratic-Republican
Taft kept the Democratic Republican platform the same from the previous election, though the events of Hugo Black's resignation compelled Taft and Dewey to add a provision calling for the continued fight against counterrevolution.
The Campaign
Foster found stronger opponents in Truman and Dewey as opposed to LaFollette and Borah. The young, folksy Truman drew on Norman Thomas' Christian socialism and appeals to agrarianism and moderation to make a larger splash among rural and conservative crowds. Dewey largely ran on his prosecution record to make himself the law-and-order candidate, (partially to distance the party from accusations of reactionary sympathy following the resignation of Hugo Black). Dewey's fame prosecuting mobsters and embezzlers helped bolster the DemReps from their losses in 1936 in terms of popularity
Still, Foster knew how to fight back. Foster lambasted Truman as a "crypto-reactionary", who was peddling pseudo-socialism and regressive social doctrines and Dewey as "Northeastern bourgeois, untrustworthy elitist." Local WCP branches spread rumors that Truman had been a Klansman while an attorney in Jackson County, Missouri. Truman denied the allegations, (later records show he was for a time actually allied to the local Red Guards in their anti-Klan campaign) but the association hurt his appeal to New Afrika voters. Foster publicly accused Dewey of wiring tapping socialist and anarchists pre-Revolution, which Dewey denied.
The vigorous campaign proved much more animated and contentious than 1936, with Foster working to tout his left-communist bona fides, the success dealing with the Revolt of the Cadres and the accomplishments of the administration and the continued progress made.
Election Night
Foster's strategy paid off, and the WCPA kept its majority in the Congress of Soviets and the Central Executive Council. However, under Truman, the DFLP had rebounded from the defeat of 1936, creating a sizeable minority in the CEC. Even the DRP had managed to make up some of their losses and gained seats in the CEC.
Foster was forced to recognize this when considering Secretaries for the next government, making various concessions to both parties to appease them.
The split with the True Democrats had paid off very poorly, with the Official Democratic Party hemorrhaging members and the Provo Democrats (who were classified as "independents" due to the lack of official recognition for their party) failing to make any impression. Of course, later events would overshadow the drama behind the split.
IV Congress (15 June 1938 to 28 April 1940 )
Workers' Party: 1312 seats (+110)
Democratic-Farmer-Labor: 522 seats (-19)
Democratic-Republicans: 214 seats (+69)
"Official" Democrats: 32 seats(-13)
Independents: 48 seats (-14)
III Central Executive Council
Workers' Party: 271 seats (+72)
Democratic-Farmer-Labor: 121(+38)
Democratic-Republicans: 62 (+26)
Central Committee (Foster III)
Premier: William Z. Foster
Deputy Premier: Benjamin Gitlow
People's Secretary for Foreign Affairs: John Reed
Attorney General: Crystal Eastman
People's Secretary for Defense: Martin Abern
People's Secretary for Labor: Eugene Dennis
People's Secretary for Finance: Jack Stachel
People's Secretary for Foreign Trade: Franklin D. Roosevelt (DFLP)
People's Secretary for Agriculture: Henry A. Wallace
People's Secretary for Education: John Dewey
People's Secretary for Public Safety: Henry Winston
People's Secretary for Railways: Robert Taft (DRP)
People's Secretary for Communication: Max Eastman
People's Secretary for Maritime Transport: Alben Barkley (DFLP)
People's Secretary for Energy: Max Schactman
People's Secretary for Manufacturing: WEB Du Bois
People's Secretary for Light Industry: Cyril Briggs
People's Secretary for Construction: Charles S. Zimmerman
People's Secretary for Culture: Louise Bryant
People's Secretary for Welfare: Antoinette Konikow
People's Secretary for Aviation: Theodore von Karmen
Chairman, State Planning Commission: Solon Deleon
Chairman, Academy of Arts and Sciences: Henry W. Jones, Sr.(DFLP)
Chairman, Union Bank: Robert A. Brady
Speaker of the CEC: Jessica Smith
Chief Whip, CEC: Louis F. Budenz
(Special thanks to @Asami for the wikibox)
Excerpt from transcript of "The Cultural Revolution", documentary aired February, 1977 on PBS-10
PBS-10 and PBS-11 were experimental satellite TV networks modeled on the Soviet Orbita networks, launched in 1976. To help promote the new networks, a slate of history documentaries were created to fill air time before more permanent programming could be placed. "The Cultural Revolution", 4 hours long, deals with the titular period from 1934-1940.
Narrator: …. In Rankin's office were piles of telegrams and communiques from the Continental Congress. Among these were wire transfers for cash. While most of these were directed at Rankin, he sent some of the money to candidates in that year's election, both to the Official Democrats and the "Provo" Democrats.
HENRY WINSTON (Secretary of Public Safety, 1937-1940; Secretary General of the UASR, 1960-1968): We also found these ledgers with large amounts of money being transferred to each of these candidates. Ten candidates from both the main and splinter factions. Rankin would facilitate the transfer of CC funds to these Ten candidates.
Narrator: The ledgers and the names inside would reach the pages of the Daily Worker, and soon nationwide. Under this pretext, Attorney General Eastman moved to arrest the ten delegates who were named in the documents. Coincidentally, they were arrested on the Fourth of July.
JOHN B. FRAZIER, JR.(One of the True Democrat Ten): They arrived at my home late in the evening. I didn't read the Worker, so I didn't know what they were there for until they showed the warrant. I was cuffed and led to the wagon in front of a large crowd of reporters.
CARL CURTIS (One of the True Democrat Ten): I had just been elected the delegate for the "Official" Democratic Party, and they arrived in my office to arrest me. I had no idea about the ledgers or even that my campaign had been funded by the Grand Wizard.
Narrator: Party leader Martin Dies, Jr., having recently suffered the split of his party was placed under arrest in front of the Congress of Soviets, profusely denying any knowledge of funding.
ROY COHN (Lawyer, WCPA Legal Council, Metropolis District Attorney 1972- ): The fact of the matter is, these men were reactionaries who were collaborating with anti-state terrorists and Klansmen to bring down the Union government and set up a dictatorship loyal to MacArthur and Hitler. Their arrest was the only option against the threat of counterrevolution
Narrator: Francis E. Walter, who had led the charge to split from the main party, was now the face of what the press had deemed "The True Democrat Ten": Walter, Dies, Joe Starnes, J. Parnell Thomas; Edward J. Hart ; John B. Frazier, Jr.; Noah M. Mason; Herbert C. Bonner; John McDowell; and Carl Curtis
[...]
Narrator: Thomas, in a shocking turn of events, announces he will plead guilty and testify against his co-defendants. "I have witnessed corruption within the ranks of the Democratic Party, that is to be routed out at once!"
Winston: We never really coerced him into confessing. He simply made the deal with prosecutors to ensure he wouldn't serve more time in prison than his co-defendants.
Narrator: Several days later, the trial of Francis Walter begins. Walter pleads not guilty, claiming that he never willingly took money from Rankin or the Continental Congress, and claims that he was being set up for his views.
HAROLD MEDINA (Lawyer, Francis E. Walter): It was a set-up. They were trying to frame my client for treason and had every means by which to do it. I made sure to note that he had freedom of speech under Article V in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, and could not be prosecuted for his beliefs.
JERRY COONS (ex-Walter Staffer, Sons of Liberty informant, author "I Was a StateSec Informant" (1955)): I had on several occasions, seen Comrade Walter meet with members of the Sons. I had seen John Rankin's name brought up in discussions with Comrade Walter. I had seen him accept cash donation made in Rankin's name by said members. I and several other informants testified to our truthful recollections.
NORMAN THOMAS WASHINGTON (Historian): Walter was a racist and a xenophobe. He wrote privately that "alien communists and people of differing complexions and cultures mislead intellectually stunted negroes and low class white men into rebelling against the natural order." He believed in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon and distrusted the very heavily immigrant and non-white Union government. His alliance with Rankin was an inevitable part of his ideology. He wanted to restore white rule over America.
Narrator: Indeed, Walter's case was also not helped by Rankin's own recent trial, where he had regular outbursts of violent rage against Africans, Jews, Communists, and everyone else he opposed. It had also emerged that the Continental Congress and the German American Bund had exchanged money, possibly precluding the possibility that the True Democrat Ten had been funded by Nazi Germany.
Winston: I regret that particular part of this case, given there was little actual evidence that they had received money from Nazi Germany.
Narrator: 27 year old Henry Winston,newly appointed to replace J. Edgar Hoover as Secretary of Public Safety after the Revolt of the Cadres, feels pressure to take full advantage of the case.
Winston: I was appointed because of my youth, which was an asset during the Revolt of the Cadres, and I tried my best to follow Hoover's legacy. Thus, I wanted to make sure the threat of counterrevolution isn't left to fester right when its wounds were exposed. Foster intimated as much to me. Unfortunately, that meant having to expedite the trial and use it as the pretext for the ban.
Cohn: There were certain… extrapolations done that may not have reflected the facts of the case. However, speaking as a lawyer, I maintain that the basic facts remain incriminating enough for the convictions to be legitimate.
Narrators: The jury agreed, and Walter was convicted of bribery and treason.
Curtis: After Walter's conviction and what I had seen being said, I decided that I didn't believe in the cause of the Democrats enough to accept what I had heard about who had funded me. Especially when I heard the viciousness and racism of Rankin on the radio and how Walter constantly dodged questions about his views on race. So, I accepted a plea deal to testify about the finances I had received from the Sons of Liberty.
Narrator: As the trials went underway, other True Democrats were also prosecuted based on further evidence.
STROM THURMOND (Chairman, Democratic Party ("True Democrats"), 1947-): With the power of the state behind them, we were no match. We were tracked down, and arrested and StateSec planted press splashed our faces onto the Daily Worker, with the likes of MacArthur and Mussolini. I say in a South Car…. I mean, New Afrika courtroom and sat as they called for my arrest.
Washington: Despite the modern protests of men like Thurmond, there was ample evidence of collusion between the Sons of Liberty and the True Democrats. It was an open secret before the Rankin raid, and there was more than enough evidence to show it.
Coons: I saw for myself how close True Democrats and Sons leaders were. They would frequent the same establishments, send each other letters and money. The Democratic representatives would spout anti-communist, racist dogma when they thought they were comfortable.
Narrator: With the level of evidence leveled against them, there was finally cause to outlaw the party.
Winston: The ban was a measure conceived by Foster and Eastman to help rid of any potential fifth columns and keep reactionaries from planning domestic attacks in the lead-up to war. However, as the trials went on, I felt I hadn't really acted well enough on that front, especially since I hadn't ensured it was properly neutralized before they slinked underground. Apparently, others in the administration felt similarly. I tendered my resignation before the war, and Hoover was once again in his rightful seat.
Last edited:
Miss XTC
2 kawaii 2 live 2 sugoi 2 die
- Location
- HelLA.
- Pronouns
- She/They
you need Spoiler access on our Discord. you can find the invite in the Informational threadmarks
- Location
- The left-wing of the impossible
The Congress of Soviets doesn't have a fixed size. At least in its present construction, there is one delegate for every 30,000 voters
Hey im enjoying this timeline, been a lurker.
How rich is India TTL compared with OTL, and how is Africa doing by the present day overall (i know rhodesia vaguely, but not the rest)? India is the largest AFS economy, so would it be comparable to OTL China?
Hows China compared with dengist counterpart around modern day? I mean the command economy is probably more advanced I would think and without great leap forward might do great strides in general. Also I think its implied they are a great power because in the fanfic threat on ah.com there are Russian protectionist parties opposing "Sino American Hegemony"
How's South America compared with OTL, notably Brazil, Argentina, and Chile?
How rich is India TTL compared with OTL, and how is Africa doing by the present day overall (i know rhodesia vaguely, but not the rest)? India is the largest AFS economy, so would it be comparable to OTL China?
Hows China compared with dengist counterpart around modern day? I mean the command economy is probably more advanced I would think and without great leap forward might do great strides in general. Also I think its implied they are a great power because in the fanfic threat on ah.com there are Russian protectionist parties opposing "Sino American Hegemony"
How's South America compared with OTL, notably Brazil, Argentina, and Chile?
Last edited:
Miss XTC
2 kawaii 2 live 2 sugoi 2 die
- Location
- HelLA.
- Pronouns
- She/They
TTL India is, by the 21st century, one of THE biggest power players in capitalism. Imagine modern day China, or Japan in the 80's. T
Without wishing to spoil too much (DISCORD TALK), present day Africa can best be described as a mixed bag. In some ways, it is better than OTL present day--some African countries being major players in their own right. In other ways, it's worse than OTL present day--it's a major Cold War battleground.
And as for China: it's one of the big power players in the TCI
So Africa overall is more developed and powerful, yet it could also be described in many ways as more chaotic at times?
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
Correct, it has received more development from both sides but also has been a major battleground for the Cold War.
Durabys
Miaow! Break the Chains!
- Location
- the land of the Boii
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It also does have a population of much less than OTL's billion and a half.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I've made sure to prune the world population quite a bit.
Durabys
Miaow! Break the Chains!
- Location
- the land of the Boii
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Feminism, Egalitarianism, and Economic Uplift can have such a useful effect.
So 5 billion by 2020?
edited
Last edited: