Macmillan at Suez

RobinCarmody

Very interesting indeed.

Looking forward to whether or not the road to the Beatles, and thus global pop culture as we know it today, is in any way different. And *obviously* whether the UK signs the treaty of Rome and is a founder member of the EEC (which I think is inexorably bound up with the development of British rock music, or not).
 
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SteveW

NthBelisarius said:
Interesting and the only timeline I've seen that mentions Coventry (my hometown) even in passing. Subscribed :D.
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Well I've been over to Coventry a few times in the last couple of years, and always thought about how it could have been- and a friend of mine from the Cov area has told me on many occasions that some of the worst ravages on the city were executed in the Fifties by the town planners, so it seemed a useful place to throw in a bit of pork-barrel politics!
 

SteveW

Summer of Content

The summer of 1954 proved to be a great time for Macmillan. As Gaitskell bitterly fought Bevan for control of Labour, the Prime Minister was allowed a relatively free hand, but one that, as ever, he used with calculated restraint. He and MacLeod continued to arrange for the early independence of more colonies, including Ghana, which would go its own way in 1955. Kenya was proving to be a headache, and a conference was called for later in the year to thrash out an agreement between the Europeans and Africans. In the meantime, Europeans started to leave Kenya, convinced that independence was on its way soon. 10,000 had left by the end of the year, mostly urbanites with no land- most went to South Africa or to the UK. Malaya was also proving to be a problem, and Macmillan was struggling to find a way to resolve the issue.

The real news of the summer came from firstly from Brazil, where a plot was uncovered to kill the opposition figure Carlos Lacerda. The plot was swiftly traced back to the president, Getulio Vargas, who was arrested by the military and imprisoned on the island of Fernando de Noranha temporarily. [1] Martial law was declared and a reluctant General Joao Baptista de Morais was installed as interim president.

The second, and most disturbing news, a young soldier named Robert Denard assassinated the French Prime Minister, Pierre Mendes-France. Amidst a great deal of anger, he was replaced by Edgar Faure. This led to significant embarassment, and the Defence Minister (and Gaullist hero) Marie-Pierre Koenig was forced to indulge in a purge.

Elsewhere, Hungary defeated West Germany 2-1 in Berne to win the 1954 World Cup for the first and only time.

[1] IOTL, he committed suicide to avoid this. This damaged his opponents for years later.
 

Othala

SteveW said:
Elsewhere, Hungary defeated West Germany 2-1 in Berne to win the 1954 World Cup for the first and only time.
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I'm not really a football fan, but even I can see how this tiny little difference will have rather big consequences.
No 'Miracle of Bern' will have hugh effect on BRD.
Consider this: Germany after the war was a heavily damaged country, hugh amounts of people dead or POW. Rebuilding the most nessecary had just about finished, POWs mostly had trickled back home, limited self governance was back in action. Then on the first major international sporting event after the war this team comes out of nowhere, surprising everyone with how well they do - and then lose in the finals.
Instead of what some historians call a modern founding myth of a country, it will be reenforcing, that no matter how well they start out with, they will always lose in the end.
I'm not certain how big an effect there will be, but it will be felt compared to OTL. Without the often propagated virutes that allowed Germany to triumph in Bern (diligance, discipline, teamwork, doing your part for the whole) the Wirtschaftswunder might just be more sluggish...

There will be changes in Hugary as well, but those will be more on a personal level. The team that was unbeaten for several years brough home another title. Without the punishment they received OTL they might just all stay in Hungary even after the Revolution in '56. Less experienced players in Spain - more staying in Hungary. It might have some long term consequences on a larger scale, but just as likely it might not.
 

SteveW

Othala said:
I'm not really a football fan, but even I can see how this tiny little difference will have rather big consequences.
No 'Miracle of Bern' will have hugh effect on BRD.
Consider this: Germany after the war was a heavily damaged country, hugh amounts of people dead or POW. Rebuilding the most nessecary had just about finished, POWs mostly had trickled back home, limited self governance was back in action. Then on the first major international sporting event after the war this team comes out of nowhere, surprising everyone with how well they do - and then lose in the finals.
Instead of what some historians call a modern founding myth of a country, it will be reenforcing, that no matter how well they start out with, they will always lose in the end.
I'm not certain how big an effect there will be, but it will be felt compared to OTL. Without the often propagated virutes that allowed Germany to triumph in Bern (diligance, discipline, teamwork, doing your part for the whole) the Wirtschaftswunder might just be more sluggish...

There will be changes in Hugary as well, but those will be more on a personal level. The team that was unbeaten for several years brough home another title. Without the punishment they received OTL they might just all stay in Hungary even after the Revolution in '56. Less experienced players in Spain - more staying in Hungary. It might have some long term consequences on a larger scale, but just as likely it might not.
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That all sounds pretty sensible to me, I will have to think that over- thanks!

Unfortunately I'm not sure where I want to go with this so I'm taking a break to think it through properly, also have another idea I want to play with.
 
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