Grabbag: Wipe out nations
- Thread starter tom
- Start date
The Iraqis grab Kuwait without foreign interference, be it in the 60s (first time they tried) or in 1991. That eliminates one nation.
How about North Korea?
Decisions, decisions.
Well, North Korea is a singularly nasty place, but how can we come up with a new, creative, and plausible way to erase it from the map? And, as recently as possible? Hmmm, how about this?
In 1994, North Korean Dictator Kim Il Sung dies. His son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Il, attempts to consolidate power. In OTL, he succeeded, after a several week struggle against various people in the Communist Party and military. So, what if he does less well, just as a result of chance contacts, information getting leaked to his opponents, that sort of thing? An opponent of his in the military gets wind that he is about to go down, and, in desperation tries to pull off a coup. He is able to take Pyongyang, and Kim Jong Il retreats from the capitol, surrounding himself with the troops of loyal generals. Those generals who have sat on the fence need to decide where to jump. Seeing that Kim has not been able to control the Party, and that there is civil strife, they decide to back the rebel.
The two sides are now about evenly matched, with Kim actually a bit stronger. Civil war breaks out in earnest. Being a North Korean civil war, both sides get nasty right off the bat. Kim is especially nasty, and begins using chemical and biological agents right from the get-go. This about depopulates Pyongyang, but breaks the back of rebel power. Before they go down, the rebels also use chemical and bio agents, which damages Kim's armies quite badly. Still, he is able to re-take Pyongyang, and start massacring suspected rebels. This includes just about anyone not actually in his army, so the results aren't pretty.
Meanwhile, with troops concentrated around Pyongyang, and the government in turmoil, civic order begins breaking down in the rest of the country. Result #1 - famine. Result #2 - uprisings in the camps for unreliable elements in the central mountains. Several of these succeed, and there are now dissident micro-states forming in the mountains of central North Korea. When the secret police get wind of this, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and eliminate the unreliable leader they feel has created the problem. Kim's column is ambushed by formerly loyal Secret Police troops, and Kim is killed, along with several of his closest aides. The Secret Police try to declare a new government "based on the inspiring model of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung".
The generals meet shortly after the declaration, to sort matters out. They cannot agree. Several back the Secret Police. Others back a "moderate" Party faction. Still others decide that the whole house is collapsing and push for reform, before it's too late. After the meeting, each of the three factions rally their loyal troops......
There are now _four_ governments in North Korea: the barking mad Secret Police Government, the "moderate" Party Government, the "liberal" Military Government, and the rebels up in the mountains. Worse, _none_ of them is in anything like a position to win, and are in fact afraid to act too aggressively, lest biochem warfare be used again. The famines get even worse, and even ordinary citizens begin rebelling. These rebellions are put down bloodily, except in the mountains, where the rebel enclaves grow. The Secret Police and Party factions invade the mountains, using their biochem arsenal, in an attempt to break the rebels. The Military faction sees this is a chance to attack the territory of the Secret Police, and does so. Both sides use biochem weapons here, as well.
By now, it's 1995. South Korea and China are being flooded with refugees, and it is clear to all that North Korea is imploding. Worse, it's clear that the hermit kingdom is going down very messily, with all kinds of danger for its neighbors. Heads of state confer.
As a result, in the summer of 1995, the Chinese and South Korean armies jointly invade North Korea, backed up by American and Russian troops. The North Korean armies, already utterly demoralized and throughly fought out by the civil war, cannot resist effectively, so the invasion advances rapidly. One of the factions, probably the Secret Police, uses biochem weapons on advancing South Korean troops. This puts a stop to their advance, as the leaders of the South Korean and US militaries try to figure out their response. The Chinese have no such scruples, and begin using their own stockpile rather liberally. The South Koreans shrug, and begin doing the same. Such resistance as is left in the North Korean factions collapses, and most the fighting is over in another month or so. None of the North Korean factions actually surrenders, however, and small-unit engagements will continue for some time.
North Korea, however, is finished. The Chinese and South Koreans each begin administering their respective occupation zones, with protocols in place that the Chinese will hand their zone over to the South Koreans in several years, essentially, to keep South Korea from going bankrupt trying to rebuild North Korea. US troops stay in Korea, but now help out in the occupied North, rather than policing the now unneeded DMZ.
As bad as it was, it coulda been worse.
Decisions, decisions.
Well, North Korea is a singularly nasty place, but how can we come up with a new, creative, and plausible way to erase it from the map? And, as recently as possible? Hmmm, how about this?
In 1994, North Korean Dictator Kim Il Sung dies. His son and heir apparent, Kim Jong Il, attempts to consolidate power. In OTL, he succeeded, after a several week struggle against various people in the Communist Party and military. So, what if he does less well, just as a result of chance contacts, information getting leaked to his opponents, that sort of thing? An opponent of his in the military gets wind that he is about to go down, and, in desperation tries to pull off a coup. He is able to take Pyongyang, and Kim Jong Il retreats from the capitol, surrounding himself with the troops of loyal generals. Those generals who have sat on the fence need to decide where to jump. Seeing that Kim has not been able to control the Party, and that there is civil strife, they decide to back the rebel.
The two sides are now about evenly matched, with Kim actually a bit stronger. Civil war breaks out in earnest. Being a North Korean civil war, both sides get nasty right off the bat. Kim is especially nasty, and begins using chemical and biological agents right from the get-go. This about depopulates Pyongyang, but breaks the back of rebel power. Before they go down, the rebels also use chemical and bio agents, which damages Kim's armies quite badly. Still, he is able to re-take Pyongyang, and start massacring suspected rebels. This includes just about anyone not actually in his army, so the results aren't pretty.
Meanwhile, with troops concentrated around Pyongyang, and the government in turmoil, civic order begins breaking down in the rest of the country. Result #1 - famine. Result #2 - uprisings in the camps for unreliable elements in the central mountains. Several of these succeed, and there are now dissident micro-states forming in the mountains of central North Korea. When the secret police get wind of this, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and eliminate the unreliable leader they feel has created the problem. Kim's column is ambushed by formerly loyal Secret Police troops, and Kim is killed, along with several of his closest aides. The Secret Police try to declare a new government "based on the inspiring model of the Great Leader Kim Il Sung".
The generals meet shortly after the declaration, to sort matters out. They cannot agree. Several back the Secret Police. Others back a "moderate" Party faction. Still others decide that the whole house is collapsing and push for reform, before it's too late. After the meeting, each of the three factions rally their loyal troops......
There are now _four_ governments in North Korea: the barking mad Secret Police Government, the "moderate" Party Government, the "liberal" Military Government, and the rebels up in the mountains. Worse, _none_ of them is in anything like a position to win, and are in fact afraid to act too aggressively, lest biochem warfare be used again. The famines get even worse, and even ordinary citizens begin rebelling. These rebellions are put down bloodily, except in the mountains, where the rebel enclaves grow. The Secret Police and Party factions invade the mountains, using their biochem arsenal, in an attempt to break the rebels. The Military faction sees this is a chance to attack the territory of the Secret Police, and does so. Both sides use biochem weapons here, as well.
By now, it's 1995. South Korea and China are being flooded with refugees, and it is clear to all that North Korea is imploding. Worse, it's clear that the hermit kingdom is going down very messily, with all kinds of danger for its neighbors. Heads of state confer.
As a result, in the summer of 1995, the Chinese and South Korean armies jointly invade North Korea, backed up by American and Russian troops. The North Korean armies, already utterly demoralized and throughly fought out by the civil war, cannot resist effectively, so the invasion advances rapidly. One of the factions, probably the Secret Police, uses biochem weapons on advancing South Korean troops. This puts a stop to their advance, as the leaders of the South Korean and US militaries try to figure out their response. The Chinese have no such scruples, and begin using their own stockpile rather liberally. The South Koreans shrug, and begin doing the same. Such resistance as is left in the North Korean factions collapses, and most the fighting is over in another month or so. None of the North Korean factions actually surrenders, however, and small-unit engagements will continue for some time.
North Korea, however, is finished. The Chinese and South Koreans each begin administering their respective occupation zones, with protocols in place that the Chinese will hand their zone over to the South Koreans in several years, essentially, to keep South Korea from going bankrupt trying to rebuild North Korea. US troops stay in Korea, but now help out in the occupied North, rather than policing the now unneeded DMZ.
As bad as it was, it coulda been worse.