Cuban Missile War: Rough Draft

1962 Cuban Missile War breaks out October 31.
Europe, Russia virtually leveled.
United States loses New York, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, Houston, Washington,
St. Louis, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas,
New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Buffalo, Cincinnati,
Denver, Atlanta, Portland, Birmingham, Honolulu and
Anchorage. Many states postpone election, and have
Governor or Legislature appoint offices. 30 million
American fatalities.
1963 Remaining Congress passes National Emergency Recovery Act,
giving President special emergency powers and establishing
the National Emergency Recovery Department as special
national police to restore order, using military forces
and the police. Africa collapses into warfare.
Severe influenza pandemic, especially virulent among
Asians (near Black Death levels in China, Japan).
Famine and disease in Asia causes collapse into warfare.
30 million additional American fatalities.
1964 South American War between Brazil and Argentina. Republicans
blame Kennedy for first getting into the mess by bungling
Bay of Pigs, then delaying a week and giving Soviets time
to provide weapons to Cubans before invading.
Goldwater-Miller ticket wins presidency in landslide.
1965 Hindu theocracy takes over India. Goldwater starts Arizona
War over flood of "wetbacks" into remaining undamaged
parts of American Southwest. Immigrants are herded into
camps and forcibly returned to Mexico, Mexican troops
invade Southern parts of western states and are wiped out
by nuclear weapons "used on our own territory to repel
invading enemy". Air bursts cause little if any fallout.
1966 Treaty of Rosario ends South American War. Brazilian border
extended to Parana River. Argentina demilitarized, pays
reparations to Brazil for the war. Puppet government
installed.
Consevative-Liberal Schism in Roman Catholic Church.
1967 Africa stabilizes into three parts...Muslim Caliphates
in the north, a welter of tiny tribal kingdoms and warlords
in the central belt and a racist, militant white-ruled
federation in the south. Brazil "returns" Argentina
territory due to difficulty controlling inhabitants,
but still dominates region through new Argentinan government.
1968 Australia launches first satellite. New space program
to be devoted primarily to Earth observation, secondarily
to such services as navigation, communication, etc.
Civil War in Argentina as natives rebel against Brazilian
influence. Goldwater re-elected POTUS.
1969 United States, India, Brazil, Australia and South African
Federation jointly move into the Middle East to "protect"
(actually seize) the oil feilds. This marks the de facto
formation of Pentagonal World and The Big Five. America
is still more concerned with healing its scars, but its
remaining nuclear arsenal commands respect, especially
as it has shown that it is still not afraid to use them
if someone pushes it too far. The other four are the
only nations in much shape to project their conventional
power out of their borders.
1970 RESERVED FOR SUGGESTIONS
1971 RESERVED FOR SUGGESTIONS
1972 William E. Miller elected President of United States.
His running mate is Arthur J. Peters, 36 year old
Governor of Illinois who attained governorship and
national fame by his part in helping to bring Chicago
into semi-recovered condition after the Cuban Missile War.
The election was narrow, however, and marked by riots
and civil unrest by both ends of the political spectrum
who were tiring of a decade under a State of Emergency
and wished for the country to return to normal. Indeed,
the charismatic running mate made the election for the
Republicans.
1973 President Miller is assassinated. Peters takes the Oath
of Office and "temporarily" suspends the Constitution
in order to "deal with the domestic enemies of our Nation
as we dealt with those foreign."

Some observations:
Unknown to people in TTL, Arthur J. Peters had a hand in the assassination of President Miller. He also has no intention of restoring the Constitution until his body assumes room temperature - and with his long-lived ancestors, that could be quite awhile.
I reseved a couple years in the early 70s for suggestions from members. Your imagination is at least as good as mines, and I am sure you will come up with ideas I would never have dreamed. I could also use some help in getting America to a state where it would be able to tolerate an indefinite dictatorship.
And now...flame away!
 
minor point

...1968 Australia launches first satellite...

Unless you mean that they launch the first _Australian_ satelite,
you should be aware that before the PoD there has been a number
of satelites and astronauts launched by both USA and the Soviet
Union...
 
Cool, but what's happening in Europe? Are there surviving governments claiming to represent countries that now scarcely exist? I wouldn't be surprised if countries like France have several such governments, some based in the French colonies, others centered around regions spared the worst of fallout. What happened to the Swiss? Do they try to rebuild Europe from the center or do most of them emigrate? Speaking of which, where did Europe's millions go when their continent died?

Some other, general thoughts: I'm not sure I quite understand the sudden rise of theocracies in North Africa and India. And how does nuclear havoc create a super-flu? Reminds me of Godzilla...
 
valio_98
Yes, that is what I meant, Australia launches its first satellite. Sorry, as a "spacenut" I know about the Russian and American satellites.
Admiral Matt
Yes, some colonies might be inclined to want to be governments in exile, but most are so concerned with surviving with Europe gone and natives restless that they have no time for such ambitions. Europe's in such a mess, I don't think the surviving tribes, bands and clans would bother with such silliness. and have even more trouble surviving anyway...even the Swiss, who are the best off. Most people went up or down, depending on their relationship with God (or were reborn as someone or something else, if you prefer). Anyone left alive left if they could. The Muslim world is not far from theocracy right now, in the best of times, this is the worst of times. India is at least as Hindu as America is Christian, and with famine and epidemics could go over to a theocracy, IMVHO. And my understanding is that stress, particularly mass migration and famine, can trigger epidemics, especially influenza (it is no coincidence, I have read, that the Dreat Flu came on the heels of the Great War). And radiation does increase mutations. In a weakened population, such as this, the death toll from flu can soar dramatically.
 
Cuban Missile Range

Texas to Virginia lose all their major industrial cities because that's all that Cuba can reach. Russia gets wiped out by the US before it can attack the US. It's a range thing.
 
They may get some Cuban Missiles snafued; alternately get some out of Russia (or bombers) in time to attack, even if Russia is one with Ninevah and Tyre by the time they reach their targets.
The Flu may be toned down but combined with other communicable diseases to make a multi-plague pandemic. This may be more plausible.
Maybe one of the other "Big Five" tests a nuke in the early Seventies. Would this be plausible? Would it make America more paranoid?
 
tom said:
Maybe one of the other "Big Five" tests a nuke in the early Seventies. Would this be plausible? Would it make America more paranoid?

That's what I was wondering, as well. I'm guessing China, due to their "Black Death level plague", doesn't detonate their nuke in 1964. Does India begin nuke research in the early '70s? I think the militant South African Federation would be a pretty good cantidate for a nuclear power in this TL. Perhaps someone in "Dar al-Islam" gets a nuke?
 
Is there really that much fallout in Northern Africa, India, and Southern China? Actually, why did India suffer anything at all? Did Portugal get nuked, and if not, why should it and Spain be assumed to be destroyed utterly?

I think you underestimate mankind if you don't think everyone and his brother would try to claim that their particular city represented its former country. People want power, dictators take it. And since the only 'governments' left anywhere in Europe will be dictatorships...

Honestly, though, what is to stop the authorities in New Caledonia or French Guyana from claiming to be the French government? What exactly is happening to them that they need to worry about surviving?

The Portuguese held their colonies down very well. With perhaps a million newly emigrated whites, and probably an alliance with South Africa, they could stay indefinately.

Bah, I say!
 
Maybe I am underestimating humanity here. But perhaps you are underestimating how interconnected even 1962 nations were, and what kind of environmental effects even a 1962 nuke war would cause. I do not think the population would drop to the millions, but 1 or 2 billion would not surprise me. And that is almost beyond any historical precedent I can think of (about one third would be Black Death, Paraguay post Triple Alliance, Fall of Rome or Potato Famine, two thirds would be Easter Island or Native Americans c 16th Century). Germany went berserk after losing a war and having an economic disruption...less of a perturbation than almost any nation would go through in this timeline.
 

Raymann

Banned
I think the SU only had about 30 ICBM's capable of reaching the US at that time and most of those would have been wiped out on the US first strike. Also on that strike I doubt more then 6 or 7 nukes in Cuba would have surived to be launched to the US. Soviet SLBM tech was also premative so i think a a worse case senerio would be only about 20 nukes hitting the US with perhaps 3/4 of those on industrial targets. As for Europe, there is still a war to fight there even though central Europe is a mess. France would still surive (they didn't pull out of NATO until 1965 I think) along with Britian Turkey and Greese although depending on how hard the war is, they may not surive long. I think though that Eastern Europe would break off from the Soviets the first chance they get so the Warsaw Pact would be too busy with itself to fight a war.
 
Raymann:
According to http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/nudb/datab10.asp#fortynine they had quite a few more, especially in bombers (could those reach Anchorage? Honolulu? Seattle?). I assumed a few would "fizzle" (like the one aimed at Minneapolis/St. Paul) and of course the Cleveland one fell short.
Also, I assume that they strike just before the "decapulation" strike reaches the Soviet targets.
 
Uhm, I just doubt that the USA can defeat the Soviet Union in a nuclear war so quickly, AND still maintain itself as a world power. The industrial heart of America gone, and 60 million (at least) dead (what was the population at the time? less than 200 million, I believe), don't equal a world power.

I'm always astounded by how severely the USSR is underestimated. Or the idea that they would only strike at America, and not at any of its allies; I'm pretty sure that Soviet missiles could just as easily hit Japan and Australia, and definitely would. I just don't see the US emerging at all from a nuclear exchange, honestly.
 
K of A:
The ONLY reason the US is still someone to reckon with is that we still have some nukes, or at least everyone else thinks we probably have them. America, even under President Peters iron fist for a generation or two, will be decades getting back to what it was aside from those nukes...maybe a lifetime. And almost by definition, a nuclear war is quick...Russia ceased to exist as a modern nation in a matter of hours. You might be right, and in the mid-60s you certainly would be right, about Japan, Australia et al. But in 1962 I figure they consider America the Great Satan of Evil Empires (to mix metaphors) and they still don't have quite enough to get to the Little Satans, as opposed to NW America, Alaska and Hawaii.
 
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