The People's Flag: A History of the Union of Britain, 1925-2010
- Thread starter Meadow
- Start date
It is on hold until September, when Meadow will try and start it again. If it ever dies apparently for good, then I might start my own version of it (not copying Meadow of course...) but with the United States instead of the Union of Britain.
Revolutionary Todyo
Banned
Wunderbar, I've been wondeirng if this was dead or not 
Also, just off the cuff, I'm going to guess that the Union shall be sending a taskforce to dear Eire to keep those damned Royalists out.
Also, just off the cuff, I'm going to guess that the Union shall be sending a taskforce to dear Eire to keep those damned Royalists out.
Red, White Or Blue – Irish Folk Song, c.1939
Dublin in the spring of 1939
After de Valera’s return from Ottawa, Irish public opinion reached a higher state of politicisation than any time since 1925. The O’Duffy government struggled to control public outpourings of dismay over Ireland’s perceived newfound love of the Royalists across the Atlantic. A country whose relationship with Britain transcended ideology, many Irish objected to being forced to align with one ‘pack of Britons’ over another. Through newspapers and radio broadcasts O’Duffy tried in vain to convey the seriousness of Ireland’s situation. With the Vatican encircled, John XXIII little more than Mussolini’s stooge and the Carlists rebuilding their own shattered Spain, Ireland found herself without friends in Europe. Her entanglement with the Catholic Wars had ended her détente with the Union of Britain and with Mitteleuropa recovering from the banking collapse of 1936, Canada was the only remaining obvious ally. Diplomatic realities apparently escaped the attention of the Irish people, however, for songs such as this could be heard in the pubs and streets of Dublin, Cork and Derry (and the parts of Belfast not still under martial law) long into the night.
In nineteen hundred and twenty-two
Irishmen vanquished the red, white and blue
We showed them we were sick of their King
And the people of Britain found they agreed.
They drove him away to the ends of the earth
(And we gained more trouble than Ulster was worth) [1]
Our friends were the Fathers, our brothers in God
The Red menace came and he mangled the lot
‘We need new friends,’ says O’Duffy, the clown
And says we can find them in Ottawa town.
Chorus
But Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
The Blues are in Canada, the Reds are nearby
And ask old Jim Larkin, they’re almost as sly!
They say, ‘We’re sorry, can we all just move on?
We’d like to make use of you, like at the Somme.’ [2]
The Whites are the bastards who decided to stay
The Orangemen hear from them four times a day [3]
But even they’ll promise the Irish the world
And all for a gallon of pure Gaelic blood.
Chorus
So Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
So if you are British, our message is clear
You’ll find no assistance, no comradeship here
Your King is your business, and not none of ours
Quite frankly, we’d sooner join the Central Powers.
Chorus
For Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
[1] The continued need for conscription caused by the ongoing Irish ‘re-integration’ of Ulster was continually unpopular throughout the interbellum.
[2] A reference to the catastrophically ill-judged attempt by the British government to apologise for the old regime’s treatment of Ireland. The timing (1939) made it obvious that the Union was doing so to lure Ireland into an alliance of convenience, which when married with the British Army’s perceived use of Irish units as cannon fodder (most infamously at the Somme) explains the disquiet conveyed by this line.
[3] A reference to the oft-romanticised, much-exaggerated ‘royalist underground’ that was purported to be operating in the interbellum Union of Britain. The joke regarding ‘four times a day’ stems from an increasingly senile (some say drunk) Stanley Baldwin taking to the Canadian airwaves in late 1939 and boasting that said underground network was in ‘near-constant communication’ with Loyalist and Protestant paramilitaries in Belfast, the closest thing the British Isles had to an armed group wanting to preserve the old regime.
Dublin in the spring of 1939
After de Valera’s return from Ottawa, Irish public opinion reached a higher state of politicisation than any time since 1925. The O’Duffy government struggled to control public outpourings of dismay over Ireland’s perceived newfound love of the Royalists across the Atlantic. A country whose relationship with Britain transcended ideology, many Irish objected to being forced to align with one ‘pack of Britons’ over another. Through newspapers and radio broadcasts O’Duffy tried in vain to convey the seriousness of Ireland’s situation. With the Vatican encircled, John XXIII little more than Mussolini’s stooge and the Carlists rebuilding their own shattered Spain, Ireland found herself without friends in Europe. Her entanglement with the Catholic Wars had ended her détente with the Union of Britain and with Mitteleuropa recovering from the banking collapse of 1936, Canada was the only remaining obvious ally. Diplomatic realities apparently escaped the attention of the Irish people, however, for songs such as this could be heard in the pubs and streets of Dublin, Cork and Derry (and the parts of Belfast not still under martial law) long into the night.
In nineteen hundred and twenty-two
Irishmen vanquished the red, white and blue
We showed them we were sick of their King
And the people of Britain found they agreed.
They drove him away to the ends of the earth
(And we gained more trouble than Ulster was worth) [1]
Our friends were the Fathers, our brothers in God
The Red menace came and he mangled the lot
‘We need new friends,’ says O’Duffy, the clown
And says we can find them in Ottawa town.
Chorus
But Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
The Blues are in Canada, the Reds are nearby
And ask old Jim Larkin, they’re almost as sly!
They say, ‘We’re sorry, can we all just move on?
We’d like to make use of you, like at the Somme.’ [2]
The Whites are the bastards who decided to stay
The Orangemen hear from them four times a day [3]
But even they’ll promise the Irish the world
And all for a gallon of pure Gaelic blood.
Chorus
So Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
So if you are British, our message is clear
You’ll find no assistance, no comradeship here
Your King is your business, and not none of ours
Quite frankly, we’d sooner join the Central Powers.
Chorus
For Ireland remembers
For how could we not?
Four hundred years
Are not quickly forgot.
And we know oppressors
Whatever their hue,
We’ll share with no Britons
Red, White, or Blue.
[1] The continued need for conscription caused by the ongoing Irish ‘re-integration’ of Ulster was continually unpopular throughout the interbellum.
[2] A reference to the catastrophically ill-judged attempt by the British government to apologise for the old regime’s treatment of Ireland. The timing (1939) made it obvious that the Union was doing so to lure Ireland into an alliance of convenience, which when married with the British Army’s perceived use of Irish units as cannon fodder (most infamously at the Somme) explains the disquiet conveyed by this line.
[3] A reference to the oft-romanticised, much-exaggerated ‘royalist underground’ that was purported to be operating in the interbellum Union of Britain. The joke regarding ‘four times a day’ stems from an increasingly senile (some say drunk) Stanley Baldwin taking to the Canadian airwaves in late 1939 and boasting that said underground network was in ‘near-constant communication’ with Loyalist and Protestant paramilitaries in Belfast, the closest thing the British Isles had to an armed group wanting to preserve the old regime.
Yummy yummy... the Irish are still in the game, but... for how long? And to what for?
Goes banannas
Yes please upload them soon!
On the actual update, I feel very sorry for the Irish. They are basically like Poland in World War II; two of their potential allies are useless (Carlist Spain and Germany) and the other two (Britain and Canada) want to eat them alive.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this is all a bit surreal; Canada and Britain fighting on opposite sides in World War II, Carlist Spain, divided United States... all with a PoD after 1900! Can't wait for more. Germany or France next?
Yes please upload them soon!
On the actual update, I feel very sorry for the Irish. They are basically like Poland in World War II; two of their potential allies are useless (Carlist Spain and Germany) and the other two (Britain and Canada) want to eat them alive.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this is all a bit surreal; Canada and Britain fighting on opposite sides in World War II, Carlist Spain, divided United States... all with a PoD after 1900! Can't wait for more. Germany or France next?
Goes banannas
Yes please upload them soon!
On the actual update, I feel very sorry for the Irish. They are basically like Poland in World War II; two of their potential allies are useless (Carlist Spain and Germany) and the other two (Britain and Canada) want to eat them alive.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks this is all a bit surreal; Canada and Britain fighting on opposite sides in World War II, Carlist Spain, divided United States... all with a PoD after 1900! Can't wait for more. Germany or France next?
France and Germany both have updates that are already written. I'll stick one up tonight and perhaps the other tomorrow. I'm glad you've captured the right idea about Ireland - the poor chaps are very much caught between a rock and a hard place. Collins and O'Duffy will probably have to relent to one side in order to survive - but which one, I wonder? Time will tell.
I'm hoping to move to a more regular update schedule once this interlude is complete - main updates every Sunday or something. I'll let you all know.
Interesting (in the Chinese sense (and the normal one too))... Does The Red, White & Blue go to an OTL tune, or does it have its own?
It has its own, it's not a particularly imaginative one. Just read the lyrics at a quick pace and you'll probably come across the same tune that popped into my head while I wrote it.
I'll update this again in a little while, as I said there are two short updates already written and ready to be posted.
Transcript of ‘Die Deutsche Wochenschau’, August 1939
The voice of the German state continued to thunder across the airwaves of the Reich, with this edition dealing with political machinations, rearmament and the seeds of fresh tension with France.
Die Wacht Am Whein is played. Images of the Kaiser, his son, the Armed Forces and bright views of cities and farms flash across the screen. These fade away to a black card upon which, in white gothic writing, is written ‘Die Deutsche Wochenschau’.
News from around the world! All the pictures and quotations that shaped this week in world affairs.
A montage of images of Chancellor von Papen meeting with the Kaiser and speaking in the Reichstag is played.
The Kaiser restated his support for Chancellor von Papen this week after a number of obstructivist factions in the Reichstag sought to depose him. The so-called ‘Imperial Moderates’, members of the Reichskanzler’s own party Standischer Verbund led by Carl Goerdeler, have grown angry with the tariff-heavy economic response to the Berlin Crash that has defined von Papen’s government. It is, however, undeniable that Germans are better off now than they were in the aftermath of September 1936. The Reichskanzler, together with Mr Schacht at the Finance Ministry, has worked to increase quality of life while making Germany’s armed forces stronger. The Kaiser told the Reichstag of this himself on Tuesday, gracing it with a rare visit. His Highest was in good health and accompanied by his son, the Crown Prince.
A crude cartoon of a villainous-looking cockerel struts about in front of a fluttering tricolor before pecking at the Rhine on a map. Images of tanks and aircraft are displayed where appropriate.
Speaking of the armed forces, the need to defend ourselves was confirmed to be never greater when another outrageous demand for the secession of Alsace and Lothringen was received from the French embassy. German soldiers were ordered to partial mobilisation after the Syndicalists in Paris appeared to issue an ultimatum, but after a show of force was conducted along the border, including the deployment of the new Reichskampfwagen II, a hasty memorandum was delivered to the Kaiser informing him that the demand was ‘no longer of concern’.
The French have once again shown that while they may hammer red to their banners, their true colour is the white of cowardice, spinelessness and surrender. Germany will never allow the good people, native or German, of Alsace and Lothringen to be oppressed under the yoke of Syndicalism. As the Kaiser himself said in his Christmas address: ‘While there is a soldier left in Germany we shall fight. If he should fall, I will take up his rifle myself.’ All Germans should take comfort in this, and men of viable age are reminded that the armed forces are always looking for new recruits. Who knows? Maybe a young man in your family could be lucky enough to end up in the Eagle Legion, the heroes of Burgos!
Obviously staged footage of caricatured Arab tribesmen charging at machine gun positions is played with drawn maps of Morocco overlaid. The scene fades into proud, tall German soldiers being inspected in Malta.
Georg von Brüchmuller, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, inspected Task Force Morocco on Friday as it took to sea. The agrarian rebellion in the country has, unfortunately, been intensified since the collapse of the nearby Spanish holdings and the driving out of their Syndicalist agitators. An unfortunate consequence of this has been a plague of Syndicalist rhetoric that is spreading across the country with violent speed, but the military intervention is firmly under control. We are, after all, the nation that quelled similar problems in Russia and China, Colonial Minister Von Lettow-Vorbeck reminded the Reichstag on the same day. ‘What problems should we expect from our own tiny colony a fraction of the size and complexity of those behemoths?’
Footage of a football match is shown, with primitive cards displaying score where appropriate.
Finally, in sporting news, the Reich’s football team defeated reigning Mitteleuropan champions Hungary in a tight contest on Saturday in Budapest. Captain Hermann Schleicher scored two, while Hungary looked set to win after a fine three thanks to impressive control. However, in the eighty-eighth minute the boys from Germany equalised with a strong header from Erich Höffer, and a free kick with just injury time remaining meant it all came down to midfielder Reinhard Heydrich, in the last game of his international career. With a beautifully curved ball, the retiring star secured a stunning victory over the champions. With a team of this calibre, there can be no doubt that Germany will take back the title properly at the next Mitteleuropa Cup in 1942!