Stars and Sickles - An Alternative Cold War
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Probably not in hugely great detail, as the Free Arabian Republic is essentially a transitional government to be integrated into the UAR. But there will be future updates about the genesis (or-regenesis) of extreme Islamist elements in the Nejd and Hedjaz.
Also it's important to keep in mind that the radical Islamisation of Saudi Arabia was a result of the Mecca siege.
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Chapter 34c: Adventures around Aden - Arabia (1960s) (Part 3)
Arabian Disturbances: The Aden and Dhofar Emergencies (Part 3 of 3)
Concurrent with the violence and instability in the Yemen Arab Republic and Saudi Arabia, the southern part of Yemen entered into the throes of chaos. In accordance with their general policy of abandoning colonial possessions east of Suez, the British established in 1962 the Federation of South Arabia, a union of the Aden Colony and a number of native protectorates (Lahej; Aqrabi; Haushebi; Alawi; Dhala; Maflahi; Shaib; Lower Yafa; Upper Yafa Protectorate; Audhali; Dathina; Fadhli; Lower Aulaqi; Upper Aulaqi Sultanate; Upper Aulaqi Shiekhdom; Wahidi Balhaf; Beihan). Hadramaut was also attached to the Federation, which itself was under British protectorate, thus making the territory the protectorate of a protectorate. Despite these moves towards self-rule, the success of the United Arab Republic in unifying disparate Arab lands contributed to an atmosphere of militancy and haste amongst many of the natives of South Yemen.
Two anti-British guerrilla groups had emerged: the National Liberation Front (NLF), an Egyptian-supported Nasserist movement; and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY), a Marxist-Leninist offshoot of the NLF which had been established by 1965 and was supported by the Soviet Union and China. On December 10th 1963, hostilities commenced when the NLF orchestrated a grenade attack on the British High Commissioner of Aden Sir Kennedy Trevaskis at Khormaksar Airport. One bystander was killed and 50 injured. Trevaskis escaped unharmed. In response, a state of emergency was declared in Aden that night. On the 11th, another grenade attack was carried out on a party for the child of a British policeman, wounding a number of children, but resulting in no deaths. By this point, the guerrilla campaign focused on off-duty British officers and policemen, seen as the enforcers of the colonial administration.
Most of the violence during the Emergency was localised to the old Arab quarter of Aden, referred to by locals as 'Kraytar' (the Crater). Weapons were smuggled into the district via the Dhala Road, where the British unsuccessfully attempted to intercept supply of materiel to the guerrillas. As in previous remote colonial conflicts, the British attempted to use superior airpower to harass the rebels. By 1965, nine squadrons were operating out of RAF station Khormaksar, including transport units equipped with helicopters and Hawker Hunter fighter-bombers.
On the 19th of January 1967, the NLF provoked street riots in Aden, mobilising their supporters in a show of civil disobedience. The Aden police soon lost control to the masses of people. In response, the new High Commissioner, Sir Richard Turnbull deployed British forces to quell the rioting. As soon as the NLF riots were dispersed, FLOSY sought to exploit exhaustion by encouraging their supporters to take to the streets. Fighting between the British troops and rioters from both parties lasted into February. During this period there were 60 grenade and shooting attacks against British forces, including the midair destruction of an Aden Airways Douglas DC-3. British forces opened fire on Aden natives in 40 separate incidents.
On the 20th June, Arab soldiers and police in Aden mutinied en masse against the British colonial authorities. The mutineers killed 22 British soldiers and downed a helicopter. As a result of the mutiny, the British were ejected completely from the Kraytar District. In the aftermath of the incident, there was an outcry about the perceived treachery (in British circles) of the mutineers. The result was Operation Stirling Castle, an operation undertaken by Royal Marines of the 45 Commando to enter Kraytar and retrieve the bodies of the deceased British troops. On 3rd July, the attack commenced. Snipers took up positions on nearby high ground and killed 10 NLF and FLOSY fighters. The deaths prompted confusion from both NLF and FLOSY, who each assumed that their fighters were killed by forces of the other group. During the infighting, the Royal Marines swept through the district virtually unopposed. Having blocked off the main entrance, fighters within the district were trapped. The only resistance was sniper fire from an old Ottoman fort on Sira Island, which was silenced by a shell launched from a British armoured car. Despite the success of the operation, it had become apparent that the British lacked any indigenous support, forcing their hand and prompting British withdrawal from South Arabia.
In November, FLOSY was destroyed by NLF forces, which seized control of the country. Oddly, whilst FLOSY was crushed, their cause proved victorious, when in June 1969 a radical Marxist wing of the NLF took power and established the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), also known as South Yemen.
Neighbouring Muscat & Dhofar also experienced leftist rebellion. Sultan Said bin Taimur had maintained an extremely backwards state, both economically and socially. Dhofar was a dependency of Muscat and subjected to severe economic exploitation by Muscatis. The area itself consists of a narrow, fertile coastal plain, where the capital, Salalah, is located, as well as rugged hills inland (known as the Jebel Dhofar). Remarkably lush for Arabia, the Jebel Dhofar receives the 'Khareef' (monsoon), responsible for its natural extravagance. The inhabitants of this region are referred to as Jibalis, and had a major role in the conflict in the area.
In 1962, a dissatisfied tribal leader, Mussalim bin Nafl, formed the Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF) and obtained arms and vehicles from Saudi Arabia. He was also supported by Imam Ghalib bin Ali of the State of Oman, who had himself successfully seceded from Muscati rule with Saudi support years earlier. Bin Nafl and his men made an epic crossing of the Rub al-Khali to get back to Dhofar from Saudi Arabia. In December, bin Bafl's guerrillas sabotaged the British airbase at Salalah and ambushed oil industry vehicles in the region. The insurgency remained relatively minor until 1964, when the DLF intensified attacks on oil infrastructure and government posts. Many DLF members had military training, having been members of the Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF) or the Trucial Oman Scouts which operated in what became the UAE. The Sultan was outgunned by the rebels, having relied on the 60-man Dhofar Forces of irregulars to maintain order in the vast region.
In April 1966, the DLF attempted to assassinate the Sultan. Whilst unsuccessful, the Sultan spiralled into paranoia, arresting his son Qaboos and placing him under house arrest. Search-and-destroy missions were launched in Dhofar, where villages were burned and wells disabled. Nevertheless, the SAF had difficulty bringing DLF forces to battle, leading the Sultan to assume that his son had been feeding information to the rebels. In February 1967, the Sultan had Qaboos executed for treason [118]. This perturbed the British and Americans, leading the latter to expel Muscat from the GCSC. The withdrawal of Britain from Aden also assisted the DLF's efforts, providing a neighbouring supporter (The establishment of the Free Arabian Republic cut off Saudi aid) from which to receive arms, training and other supplies. The main base for these activities was the border town of Hawf.
May 1968 saw an attack by a battalion of the SAF against DLF rebels at Deefa in the Jebel Qamar, which was easily rebuffed. The "Second Congress" of the insurgents in September 1968 marked the transfer of power from traditionalists to Salalah-based young urban radicals. The movement then renamed itself the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG). The adoption of Marxist-Leninism by the PFLOAG gained the support of South Yemen, China and the Soviet Union. Both the Chinese and Soviets provided weapons and training in unconventional warfare to counter the SAF. In response to the radicalisation of the DLF, many of the 'conservatives' who had been fighting for local autonomy and recognition defected to the SAF.
By 1969, the rebels (known commonly as Adoo) had overrun much f the Jebel Dhofar and cut the only road across the region from Salalah to Thumrait in the northern desert. The Adoo were heavily-armed with AK47s, DShK heavy machine guns, mortars and 'katyusha' mobile rocket artillery. By contrast, the SAF were reliant on weapons of WWII-vintage until late 1969, when the first FN FALs arrived from Britain. The SAF was an under-strength force of only 1,000. Clothing and boots were unsuitable for the terrain and despite their pleas, the British and Americans repeatedly refused to provide their own troops to suppress the rebellion.
The Communists had seized control of the entire Jebel by 1970. They instituted a period of 'Red Terror' to break up the traditional tribal structure. Five elderly sheikhs were murdered by being pushed off of a 450-foot cliff. Other sheikhs were machine-gunned with their sons. Children were forcibly removed from their tribes and sent to South Yemen for education. Young men of fighting age were sent for training in China and the USSR. The SAF had attempted to set up the "Leopard Line", to interdict the movement of the rebels and the camel trains they relied on for supply, but this line was abandoned in monsoon season. In 1970, Said bin Taimur was deposed by his brother Majid bin Taimur, who entered into negotiations with the PFLOAG and recognised the independence of Dhofar, which then entered into association with the PDR Yemen, forming the "People's Democratic Republic of South Arabia" (PDRSA). 1969 also saw the emergence of the National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (NDFLOAG), which was Nasserist. Attacks on Muscat by the relatively-incompetent NDFLOAG failed miserably, but the fall of Saudi Arabia left the insular, clerical State of Oman virtually defenceless. The NDFLOAG toppled the Imam's regime and incorporated the territory into the Free Arabian Republic.
[118] IOTL, Qaboos was put under house arrest, but not executed.
Concurrent with the violence and instability in the Yemen Arab Republic and Saudi Arabia, the southern part of Yemen entered into the throes of chaos. In accordance with their general policy of abandoning colonial possessions east of Suez, the British established in 1962 the Federation of South Arabia, a union of the Aden Colony and a number of native protectorates (Lahej; Aqrabi; Haushebi; Alawi; Dhala; Maflahi; Shaib; Lower Yafa; Upper Yafa Protectorate; Audhali; Dathina; Fadhli; Lower Aulaqi; Upper Aulaqi Sultanate; Upper Aulaqi Shiekhdom; Wahidi Balhaf; Beihan). Hadramaut was also attached to the Federation, which itself was under British protectorate, thus making the territory the protectorate of a protectorate. Despite these moves towards self-rule, the success of the United Arab Republic in unifying disparate Arab lands contributed to an atmosphere of militancy and haste amongst many of the natives of South Yemen.
Two anti-British guerrilla groups had emerged: the National Liberation Front (NLF), an Egyptian-supported Nasserist movement; and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY), a Marxist-Leninist offshoot of the NLF which had been established by 1965 and was supported by the Soviet Union and China. On December 10th 1963, hostilities commenced when the NLF orchestrated a grenade attack on the British High Commissioner of Aden Sir Kennedy Trevaskis at Khormaksar Airport. One bystander was killed and 50 injured. Trevaskis escaped unharmed. In response, a state of emergency was declared in Aden that night. On the 11th, another grenade attack was carried out on a party for the child of a British policeman, wounding a number of children, but resulting in no deaths. By this point, the guerrilla campaign focused on off-duty British officers and policemen, seen as the enforcers of the colonial administration.
Most of the violence during the Emergency was localised to the old Arab quarter of Aden, referred to by locals as 'Kraytar' (the Crater). Weapons were smuggled into the district via the Dhala Road, where the British unsuccessfully attempted to intercept supply of materiel to the guerrillas. As in previous remote colonial conflicts, the British attempted to use superior airpower to harass the rebels. By 1965, nine squadrons were operating out of RAF station Khormaksar, including transport units equipped with helicopters and Hawker Hunter fighter-bombers.
On the 19th of January 1967, the NLF provoked street riots in Aden, mobilising their supporters in a show of civil disobedience. The Aden police soon lost control to the masses of people. In response, the new High Commissioner, Sir Richard Turnbull deployed British forces to quell the rioting. As soon as the NLF riots were dispersed, FLOSY sought to exploit exhaustion by encouraging their supporters to take to the streets. Fighting between the British troops and rioters from both parties lasted into February. During this period there were 60 grenade and shooting attacks against British forces, including the midair destruction of an Aden Airways Douglas DC-3. British forces opened fire on Aden natives in 40 separate incidents.
On the 20th June, Arab soldiers and police in Aden mutinied en masse against the British colonial authorities. The mutineers killed 22 British soldiers and downed a helicopter. As a result of the mutiny, the British were ejected completely from the Kraytar District. In the aftermath of the incident, there was an outcry about the perceived treachery (in British circles) of the mutineers. The result was Operation Stirling Castle, an operation undertaken by Royal Marines of the 45 Commando to enter Kraytar and retrieve the bodies of the deceased British troops. On 3rd July, the attack commenced. Snipers took up positions on nearby high ground and killed 10 NLF and FLOSY fighters. The deaths prompted confusion from both NLF and FLOSY, who each assumed that their fighters were killed by forces of the other group. During the infighting, the Royal Marines swept through the district virtually unopposed. Having blocked off the main entrance, fighters within the district were trapped. The only resistance was sniper fire from an old Ottoman fort on Sira Island, which was silenced by a shell launched from a British armoured car. Despite the success of the operation, it had become apparent that the British lacked any indigenous support, forcing their hand and prompting British withdrawal from South Arabia.
In November, FLOSY was destroyed by NLF forces, which seized control of the country. Oddly, whilst FLOSY was crushed, their cause proved victorious, when in June 1969 a radical Marxist wing of the NLF took power and established the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), also known as South Yemen.
Neighbouring Muscat & Dhofar also experienced leftist rebellion. Sultan Said bin Taimur had maintained an extremely backwards state, both economically and socially. Dhofar was a dependency of Muscat and subjected to severe economic exploitation by Muscatis. The area itself consists of a narrow, fertile coastal plain, where the capital, Salalah, is located, as well as rugged hills inland (known as the Jebel Dhofar). Remarkably lush for Arabia, the Jebel Dhofar receives the 'Khareef' (monsoon), responsible for its natural extravagance. The inhabitants of this region are referred to as Jibalis, and had a major role in the conflict in the area.
In 1962, a dissatisfied tribal leader, Mussalim bin Nafl, formed the Dhofar Liberation Front (DLF) and obtained arms and vehicles from Saudi Arabia. He was also supported by Imam Ghalib bin Ali of the State of Oman, who had himself successfully seceded from Muscati rule with Saudi support years earlier. Bin Nafl and his men made an epic crossing of the Rub al-Khali to get back to Dhofar from Saudi Arabia. In December, bin Bafl's guerrillas sabotaged the British airbase at Salalah and ambushed oil industry vehicles in the region. The insurgency remained relatively minor until 1964, when the DLF intensified attacks on oil infrastructure and government posts. Many DLF members had military training, having been members of the Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF) or the Trucial Oman Scouts which operated in what became the UAE. The Sultan was outgunned by the rebels, having relied on the 60-man Dhofar Forces of irregulars to maintain order in the vast region.
In April 1966, the DLF attempted to assassinate the Sultan. Whilst unsuccessful, the Sultan spiralled into paranoia, arresting his son Qaboos and placing him under house arrest. Search-and-destroy missions were launched in Dhofar, where villages were burned and wells disabled. Nevertheless, the SAF had difficulty bringing DLF forces to battle, leading the Sultan to assume that his son had been feeding information to the rebels. In February 1967, the Sultan had Qaboos executed for treason [118]. This perturbed the British and Americans, leading the latter to expel Muscat from the GCSC. The withdrawal of Britain from Aden also assisted the DLF's efforts, providing a neighbouring supporter (The establishment of the Free Arabian Republic cut off Saudi aid) from which to receive arms, training and other supplies. The main base for these activities was the border town of Hawf.
May 1968 saw an attack by a battalion of the SAF against DLF rebels at Deefa in the Jebel Qamar, which was easily rebuffed. The "Second Congress" of the insurgents in September 1968 marked the transfer of power from traditionalists to Salalah-based young urban radicals. The movement then renamed itself the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG). The adoption of Marxist-Leninism by the PFLOAG gained the support of South Yemen, China and the Soviet Union. Both the Chinese and Soviets provided weapons and training in unconventional warfare to counter the SAF. In response to the radicalisation of the DLF, many of the 'conservatives' who had been fighting for local autonomy and recognition defected to the SAF.
By 1969, the rebels (known commonly as Adoo) had overrun much f the Jebel Dhofar and cut the only road across the region from Salalah to Thumrait in the northern desert. The Adoo were heavily-armed with AK47s, DShK heavy machine guns, mortars and 'katyusha' mobile rocket artillery. By contrast, the SAF were reliant on weapons of WWII-vintage until late 1969, when the first FN FALs arrived from Britain. The SAF was an under-strength force of only 1,000. Clothing and boots were unsuitable for the terrain and despite their pleas, the British and Americans repeatedly refused to provide their own troops to suppress the rebellion.
The Communists had seized control of the entire Jebel by 1970. They instituted a period of 'Red Terror' to break up the traditional tribal structure. Five elderly sheikhs were murdered by being pushed off of a 450-foot cliff. Other sheikhs were machine-gunned with their sons. Children were forcibly removed from their tribes and sent to South Yemen for education. Young men of fighting age were sent for training in China and the USSR. The SAF had attempted to set up the "Leopard Line", to interdict the movement of the rebels and the camel trains they relied on for supply, but this line was abandoned in monsoon season. In 1970, Said bin Taimur was deposed by his brother Majid bin Taimur, who entered into negotiations with the PFLOAG and recognised the independence of Dhofar, which then entered into association with the PDR Yemen, forming the "People's Democratic Republic of South Arabia" (PDRSA). 1969 also saw the emergence of the National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (NDFLOAG), which was Nasserist. Attacks on Muscat by the relatively-incompetent NDFLOAG failed miserably, but the fall of Saudi Arabia left the insular, clerical State of Oman virtually defenceless. The NDFLOAG toppled the Imam's regime and incorporated the territory into the Free Arabian Republic.
[118] IOTL, Qaboos was put under house arrest, but not executed.
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Chapter 35: American Politics (1960-1970)
For more information about American politics (1944-1960), see: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...ternative-cold-war.280530/page-9#post-9345899
===
An Overview of American Politics: 1960-1970
After 12 consecutive years of Republican occupation of the White House, the American political landscape was in fact far more capricious than it would appear at a glance. The 1960 election saw the Democrats put forward Tennessee senator Al Gore, who was selected as a compromise candidate. Gore's platform was liberal in most areas of social policy, although he supported the outgoing Eisenhower's slowing of civil rights liberalisation. His foreign policy promises were to maintain a staunchly anti-Soviet stance and oppose Communist expansion. Despite the rest of his liberal policies, his stance on civil rights was unpalatable for liberal Democrats and African-Americans, who formed their own ticket under the name of the Progressive Party. The Progressives put forward as their presidential candidate the Oregon senator Wayne Morse, who had strong liberal credentials and had in the past been a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent. The Republican candidate for the presidency was the liberal Republican Nelson Rockefeller, who had won the governorship of New York in 1958.
The disruption to the two-party system caused significant violence in cities throughout America, particularly in the North, where the Democratic machines attempted to combat Progressive and Republican supporters. President Eisenhower had to mobilise the National Guard to disperse rioting in 14 separate states. This violence in the North overlapped with clashes in the South, where Black communities began engaging in "active self-defense" as respond to attacks by the Ku Klux Klan and other segregationists. The perception of instability that spread throughout the country via media coverage of the riots pushed undecided voters into the arms of the most conservative candidate in the liberal-dominated 1960 election, Gore. Gore easily won inside the electoral college, although he only garnered 40% of the popular vote, setting a trend that would persist throughout the 1960s: the relative weakness of the Presidency.
With a relatively strong Republican and Progressive presence in Congress, as well as the voting behaviours of dissident Democrats, several pieces of legislation passed without Gore's approval. These included the Equal Access National Health Service Act (1963) which outlawed the discrimination of Afro-Americans seeking to utilise healthcare services; and the Equal Rights Amendment, which amended the US Constitution to expand slightly the minimal amount of rights extended to minority groups and women (although from the 1970s onward the definition of these rights became increasingly subject to debate). The 1962 midterms saw the final gasp of the big-city Democratic machines of the North, swept out of power by Progressives and liberal Democrats.
Frustrated with his impotency as President, Gore refused to seek a second term. Wayne Morse once again ran as the Progressive candidate, whilst the Democrats put forward California Governor Pat Brown. Brown had only narrowly defeated Republican contender for the Governor position by a narrow margin. He proved incapable of replicated that same luck in the national contest, where Morse and Brown were swept aside by the Republican candidate, Illinois senator Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy. Percy was an extremely principled and liberal candidate, engaging in a number of policies to promote urban welfare and counter the decline of America's cities. These policies were tied together under the moniker of the "Urban Resurrection". The policies included construction of better urban housing and a greater provision of urban welfare to uplift low-income inner-city areas and assist in the racial integration of urban areas. Percy's advocation for subways also relieved pressure on roads, where commercial activity no longer jostled with commuters. This significantly streamlined all forms of activity within the city, as well as preventing the slum areas and crime hotspots that would have likely been the result of an alternate plan to build large freeways through urban areas.
Percy was also a dove, with a principled foreign policy sometimes compared to that of Woodrow Wilson. His refusal to support certain regimes with poor human rights records led to a number of controversial decisions, including his failure to support the Saudi monarchy when it was overthrown by the Nasserist Free Princes. Conservatives who grumbled about his domestic policies were enraged by his foreign policy, leading to widespread defection of conservative Republicans to the Democrats. This became particularly evident in the 1966 midterm elections.
The 1968 presidential election revealed a backlash to Percy's doveish policies, even if there was a general satisfaction with his Urban Resurrection program. The Progressives once again put forward Morse, although his running-mate Mark Hatfield would begin to garner greater attention in the coming decade. The Republicans put forward Robert B. Anderson, who had been Secretary of the Navy during Eisenhower's first term and Secretary of Finance in his second term. A personal favourite of Eisenhower, the old general's endorsement turned out to be a double-edged sword. Whilst gaining many votes from fans of the former President, he was unfairly perceived to be a conservative by many voters. Anderson was narrowly defeated by the Democratic candidate, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, the liberal hawk candidate from Washington. Jackson vigorously sought the expansion of military spending, particularly in strategic weapons platforms, drawing criticism from opponents who characterised him as "the senator from Boeing". Nevertheless, Jackson was instrumental in saving face as the United States competed with the Soviet Union both in space and on Earth.
By the 1970 midterms, the drift of conservatives from the Republicans was finally complete, leaving the Democratic Party as a monolithic conservative bloc.
===
An Overview of American Politics: 1960-1970
After 12 consecutive years of Republican occupation of the White House, the American political landscape was in fact far more capricious than it would appear at a glance. The 1960 election saw the Democrats put forward Tennessee senator Al Gore, who was selected as a compromise candidate. Gore's platform was liberal in most areas of social policy, although he supported the outgoing Eisenhower's slowing of civil rights liberalisation. His foreign policy promises were to maintain a staunchly anti-Soviet stance and oppose Communist expansion. Despite the rest of his liberal policies, his stance on civil rights was unpalatable for liberal Democrats and African-Americans, who formed their own ticket under the name of the Progressive Party. The Progressives put forward as their presidential candidate the Oregon senator Wayne Morse, who had strong liberal credentials and had in the past been a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent. The Republican candidate for the presidency was the liberal Republican Nelson Rockefeller, who had won the governorship of New York in 1958.
The disruption to the two-party system caused significant violence in cities throughout America, particularly in the North, where the Democratic machines attempted to combat Progressive and Republican supporters. President Eisenhower had to mobilise the National Guard to disperse rioting in 14 separate states. This violence in the North overlapped with clashes in the South, where Black communities began engaging in "active self-defense" as respond to attacks by the Ku Klux Klan and other segregationists. The perception of instability that spread throughout the country via media coverage of the riots pushed undecided voters into the arms of the most conservative candidate in the liberal-dominated 1960 election, Gore. Gore easily won inside the electoral college, although he only garnered 40% of the popular vote, setting a trend that would persist throughout the 1960s: the relative weakness of the Presidency.
With a relatively strong Republican and Progressive presence in Congress, as well as the voting behaviours of dissident Democrats, several pieces of legislation passed without Gore's approval. These included the Equal Access National Health Service Act (1963) which outlawed the discrimination of Afro-Americans seeking to utilise healthcare services; and the Equal Rights Amendment, which amended the US Constitution to expand slightly the minimal amount of rights extended to minority groups and women (although from the 1970s onward the definition of these rights became increasingly subject to debate). The 1962 midterms saw the final gasp of the big-city Democratic machines of the North, swept out of power by Progressives and liberal Democrats.
Frustrated with his impotency as President, Gore refused to seek a second term. Wayne Morse once again ran as the Progressive candidate, whilst the Democrats put forward California Governor Pat Brown. Brown had only narrowly defeated Republican contender for the Governor position by a narrow margin. He proved incapable of replicated that same luck in the national contest, where Morse and Brown were swept aside by the Republican candidate, Illinois senator Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy. Percy was an extremely principled and liberal candidate, engaging in a number of policies to promote urban welfare and counter the decline of America's cities. These policies were tied together under the moniker of the "Urban Resurrection". The policies included construction of better urban housing and a greater provision of urban welfare to uplift low-income inner-city areas and assist in the racial integration of urban areas. Percy's advocation for subways also relieved pressure on roads, where commercial activity no longer jostled with commuters. This significantly streamlined all forms of activity within the city, as well as preventing the slum areas and crime hotspots that would have likely been the result of an alternate plan to build large freeways through urban areas.
Percy was also a dove, with a principled foreign policy sometimes compared to that of Woodrow Wilson. His refusal to support certain regimes with poor human rights records led to a number of controversial decisions, including his failure to support the Saudi monarchy when it was overthrown by the Nasserist Free Princes. Conservatives who grumbled about his domestic policies were enraged by his foreign policy, leading to widespread defection of conservative Republicans to the Democrats. This became particularly evident in the 1966 midterm elections.
The 1968 presidential election revealed a backlash to Percy's doveish policies, even if there was a general satisfaction with his Urban Resurrection program. The Progressives once again put forward Morse, although his running-mate Mark Hatfield would begin to garner greater attention in the coming decade. The Republicans put forward Robert B. Anderson, who had been Secretary of the Navy during Eisenhower's first term and Secretary of Finance in his second term. A personal favourite of Eisenhower, the old general's endorsement turned out to be a double-edged sword. Whilst gaining many votes from fans of the former President, he was unfairly perceived to be a conservative by many voters. Anderson was narrowly defeated by the Democratic candidate, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, the liberal hawk candidate from Washington. Jackson vigorously sought the expansion of military spending, particularly in strategic weapons platforms, drawing criticism from opponents who characterised him as "the senator from Boeing". Nevertheless, Jackson was instrumental in saving face as the United States competed with the Soviet Union both in space and on Earth.
By the 1970 midterms, the drift of conservatives from the Republicans was finally complete, leaving the Democratic Party as a monolithic conservative bloc.
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The key pillars of the Republican Party are based upon a commitment to moderate-liberal social principles (for the time, that is); provision of the economic foundations for market-driven development via infrastructural development and limited government intervention; balance between employers and employees in labour disputes; and civil rights (although to a lesser degree than the Progressives, and largely concerned with desegregation, as opposed to economic and social equity).
And the Democrats here are along the lines of OTLs Southern Democrats? What's the electoral map looking like now? Speaking of, are the Progressives also-rans or serious third party contenders?
Essentially, yes. Their will be more detail on that in a future update.
They were becoming increasingly serious third-party contenders, but were still not capable of directly challenging the Republicans or Democrats. They can be kingmakers when it comes to certain legislation.
The Progressives tend to be focused on 'Progressive bastions', including the Pacific Northwest and parts of the North-East, as well as among certain groups like African-American workers in industrial cities. Much of the leadership in the 60s and 70s are from the likes of Oregon.
That being said, African-Americans are more politically-divided than they are IOTL. Some of the wealthier ones, and parts of the emerging African-American middle classes, are liberal Democrats, even with the increasing conservatism of that party. Industrial workers are likely to vote Progressive, whilst poorer blacks, especially those that live in the South, are going to be voting Republican.
But yes, the Democrats are becoming increasingly like the Southern Democrats, although the conservative Republicans streaming into the party are going to give it a more nationwide focus, although it maintains the following priorities:
-States' rights and sovereignty.
-Mixed to hostile view of civil rights and desegregation.
-Mixed views of foreign policy (both Cold Warriors and isolationists).
-Fiscal conservatism and opposition to government involvement in the economy.
-Anti-immigration.
-Christian 'family values'. Highly Protestant-leaning.
Chapter 36: Things Fall Apart - The Biafran War of Independence
Things Fall Apart: The Nigerian Civil War
The flight of the European powers from their colonies in Africa often provoked conflict within artificial states which had been arbitrarily drawn up by the White colonisers without regard for the social or historical landscape. No more obvious was this than in Nigeria, a state populated with more than 80 ethnic groups, with three dominant: the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. The Hausa-Fulani had historically dominated Nigeria, their Emirs collaborating with the British colonial project to maintain their social and economic privilege. Concentrated in the north, they were often at odds with the Igbo, who were primarily adherents of Christianity or traditional belief systems and lived in autonomous democratic communities in the southeast. The other main group, the Yoruba, lived in the southwest. The Yoruba were ruled by Oba (kings), but their society was significantly less autocratic than the Hausa-Fulani. Yoruba had good prospects for social mobility within their community, in stark contrast with their Hausa-Fulani compatriots.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. The first Prime Minister of Nigeria was a Baggara Muslim from the north (although his mother was Fulani), Sir Abubaker Tafawa Balewa. The first government was composed of an alliance between the Northern People's Congress (NPC), which Balewa had co-founded, and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). The NCNC was led by Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe, who became Governor-General and then President. The third major party was the Yoruba-aligned Action Group. From the start, Nigeria had internal issues. From 1963 onward, labour activity intensified as wage earners expressed widespread dissatisfaction with a lack of economic progress. June 1964 saw a nationwide general strike. Strikers disobeyed an ultimatum from the government to return to work after a general strike and they were dispersed by riot police. Eventually the strikers won a pay increase.
The election of December 30, 1964 brought ethnic and regional divisions into focus. The army was repeatedly deployed to the Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states in order to suppress political activism and disruption amongst the Tiv people of the region who called for greater self-determination. Hundreds were killed by Nigerian troops and thousands were arrested for their agitating. There were widespread reports of fraudulent voting practices and political violence throughout the country. Balewa remained in power, but was overthrown by a military coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and supported by a number of junior army officers. Balewa and the premier of the northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, were executed. President Azikiwe was on holiday to the West Indies Federation, where he was granted political asylum.
The plotters sought to spring Action Group leader Obafemi Awolowo out of jail and make him head of the new government. From there they intended to dismantle the northern-dominated power structure. The coup was toppled by a counter-coup led by Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and a loyalist head of the army. The majors surrendered and Aguiyi-Ironsi was declared Head of State on January 16, 1966. Aguiyi-Ironsi suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina, son of the Katsina emir Usman Nagogo, to govern the Northern Region. Aguiyi-Ironsi was also notable in his preferential release of northern political leaders, who were seen as less susceptible to separatism than those from the south.
Aguiyi-Ironsi managed to alienate virtually all political elites in the country, sometimes through no fault of his own. Alienated from his own Igbo people by his favouritism for northerners, he was also rejected by Yoruba who would have preferred Awolowo coming to power. The Hausa-Fulani distrusted him, especially after he showed clemency and failed to bring the putschists to trial. The coup was therefore seen as a false-flag Igbo power grab by the elites of the north. To weaken flare-ups in the Eastern (Igbo) Region, Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu was appointed military governor in the area at this time. On May 24, 1966, the military government issued the so-called "Unification Decree #34" which would have replaced the federation with a more centralised state system. The northern bloc felt that their suspicions were vindicated and could not accept the sequestration of their traditional autonomy. Provoked by southern media which showed humiliating depictions of northern politicians, northern soldiers in the Abeokuta barracks mutinied on July 24, precipitating another coup, which was at the time still being planned by the northern emirs. This coup led to the installation of Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Gowon was chosen as a compromise leader, being a northerner, but of Christian faith. Gowon repealed the unification decree. Gowon's leadership failed to cease the intercommunal violence that was flaring up across Nigeria, in many cases aggravating said violence. From June to October 1966, tens of thousands of Igbos were killed in pogroms throughout the north, causing millions to flee to the Eastern Region. Many of these massacres were led by or aided by units of the Nigerian military. During this time, anti-Igbo measures taken by the Federal Military Government laid the groundwork for the blockade of the Eastern Region, which would go into full effect in 1967.
On May 27, 1967, Gowon proclaimed the division of Nigeria into 12 states, organised in a matter that would cut off the Igbo from oil in the Eastern Region, which was largely located in the lands of the Ibibio and Ijaw peoples. Unable to tolerate this new arrangement, on May 30 Ojukwu declared the independence of the Igbo-led Republic of Biafra. In response, Nigeria put an immediate embargo on all shipping to and from Biafra with the exception of oil tankers. This was an acquiescence to the demands of Nigeria's British allies, who were the primary consumers of Nigerian oil. Eventually the embargo was extended to oil, when Shell-BP decided to do business with the Biafran government.
On July 6, Nigerian Federal troops advanced in two columns into Biafra from the north, led by Colonel Shuwa. On July 14, after encountering heavy resistance, the right column of Nigerian troops captured Nsukku, a mere two days after the left column had seized the town of Garkem. On August 9, the Biafrans responded with an offensive west, into the mid-Western region across the Niger River, passing through Benin City until they were halted at Ore on August 21, just 130 miles east of the capital city of Nigeria, Lagos. The Biafran offensive was led by a Yoruba, Lieutenant Colonel Banjo. There was little resistance due to the pre-secession arrangement that all soldiers should return to their regions of origin to prevent violence and ethnic cleansing. On August 24, the Republic of Benin was declared in the Midwestern Region, headed by an American-educated doctor, Albert Okonkwo []. Responding to the Biafrans' clear intention not only to succeed, but to splinter entirely the Nigerian federal government, General Gowon asked Colonel Murtala Mohammad to form the 2nd Infantry Division in preparation for a campaign to expel the Biafrans from the Midwestern Region. In order to complete his task in the shortest possible time, Col. Mohammad engaged in a forced recruitment campaign in the Western Region, which alienated many Yoruba and Edo people[]. By September 13, the Nigerian forces attacked Biafran and Beninese troops a few miles from Benin City. Although at first they gained ground, increasingly heavy resistance from the defenders led to the defection of many Yoruba and Edo troops, collapsing the Nigerian front line and forcing a retreat. Reprisal attacks on Yoruba villages for the "cowardice of their fighting men" led to widespread discontent in the Western Region, which erupted into full-blown rebellion on October 1, with Colonel Banjo declared the Commander-in-Chief of Yorubaland. Almost immediately Lagos came under attack from the Yoruba. Nigerian forces rushed from Biafra to Lagos to relieve the siege. Although successful, the Nigerian leadership realised the tenuous hold they had on the region and fled by air to the northern city of Kano. Lagos would be seized on December 18 by Yoruba troops.
The rebellion of Yorubaland completely altered the balance of power in the Nigerian conflict. Whilst the Nigerian military still held the majority of heavy weaponry, their supply situation was deteriorating as they could no longer be supplied by British and Soviet cargo ships. By contrast, Biafra especially was supplied by the French and eventually the Americans, who were acquiring increasingly powerful armaments and more secure access to ammunition. But towards the end of 1967, Nigeria still had plenty fight in it. Having learnt their lesson from recruiting disloyal ethnic groups, the Federal Military Government began to recruit incessantly from northern ethnic groups, not only the Hausa-Fulani but also the Kanuri, Gwari, Nupe and Bauchi. The resultant 3rd Infantry Division was lead by Nigeria's most effective and feared military commander, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, known to friend and foe alike as "the Black Scorpion". After a two-month campaign of terror in Yorubaland, temporarily incapacitating the Yoruba forces, Adekunle engaged on an offensive down the Niger River towards the Delta from March 1968. The Biafrans proved capable of slowing his advance and inflicting heavy casualties, but not turning away the offensive entirely. When they captured Asaba, the Nigerian troops committed a massacre of 1,400 civilians, outraging the international community. On May 15, Nigerian troops were halted after losing 5,000 men in an offensive against fixed Biafran positions, supported by mortars and reinforced with foreign mercenaries from France, South Africa, Rhodesia-Nyasaland and elsewhere. Mercenaries were a regular sight in the Biafran army, and notably included German soldier-of-fortune Rolf Steiner (although he volunteered without pay), Polish WWII ace Jan Zumbach, Welsh mercenary Hugh "Taffy" Williams, and Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen, who had previously been chief instructor for the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force and had experience fighting the Soviets in the Winter War.
By June, the international media became increasingly focused on the humanitarian situation in Biafra. Whilst military supply from certain quarters had been forthcoming, the same could not be said for food and medical supplies. This issue was compounded by the massive influx of Igbo refugees from northern cities. British media outlets ITV and The Sun were the first to show footage of starving Biafran children, wracked with kwashiorkor and marasmus. In response, Oxfam and Save the Children were deployed to the secessionist state to assist in humanitarian efforts. A number of Protestant and Catholic church groups cooperated in seeking funds which were put towards a massive airlift of food and medical aid to Biafra, the largest civilian airlift in history. By December, the war in Nigeria was seen by many in the West as having gone on for far too long.
On December 3rd, President Jackson of the United States made a nationwide speech denouncing the "genocidal" actions of the Nigerian government, as well as highlighting the role of Soviet military advisors (he conveniently left out the support given to Nigeria by America's British allies). He announced that the United States would intervene to ensure the safety and security of the peoples of Biafra, Benin and Yorubaland, whilst preventing the infiltration of Communism into West Africa. American troops arrived in Lagos on December 14 and in Port Harcourt a mere three days later. American troops were showered with praise from locals. Amongst the American forces were a relatively high number of African-Americans, whose experiences would significantly affect the attitude and culture of Afro-Americans. Many young Afro-American men ended up marrying Yoruba and Igbo women and brought them to America, where they instilled some more traditionally African values into their children. In many cases, the presence of American troops significantly demoralised the Nigerian soldiers. Whilst the Biafran Air Force had managed to fight the better-equipped but more poorly-trained Nigerian Air Force into a stalemate, the arrival of state-of-the-art American warplanes gave the separatist forces total control of the air. The Nigerians could not resupply their troops, with the British and Soviets cut off from supply, surrounded as Nigeria was by pro-French Subsaharan states. The Nigerian forces were rapidly forced back to the Niger River, when a ceasefire was announced and the two sides entered into negotiations which resulted in the recognition of independent Yorubaland, Benin and Biafra, who were all soon made full member states of the United Nations. One notable outcome of the Nigerian conflict for the US military was the revelation that many of their M16 assault rifles performed poorly in tropical conditions, a drawback that was increasingly mitigated by modifications to the weapon.
The Biafran conflict is notable for it's creation of strange bedfellows. Both the Soviets and the United Kingdom supported the Nigerian Federal Government for different reasons. The Soviets did so in the hope of creating a possible client in West Africa and because their relatively poor knowledge of Africa led some policy advisors to suggest that the northerners were more civilised than the southerners, despite Igbo adoption of Western-style education during the British colonial period. The prevailing belief amongst the Soviets was that the northerners could be manipulated into becoming a revolutionary vanguard, and an extremely valuable one, being in control of the largest African state, population-wise. The UK's support for Nigeria was more straightforward. They maintained significant economic ties with Nigeria. The British-owned United Africa Company had controlled 41.3% of Nigeria's foreign trade in 1964. British economic interests were strongly in favour of the status quo.
Counterintuitive convergence of interests weren't only prevalent on the Nigerian side. The Americans, led by a staunch liberal, found themselves working clandestinely with the two primary conservative forces on the continent, the French and the South Africans, both of whom supplied Biafra with training and weaponry. Whilst the Americans were largely motivated by principle, although both they and the French sought to gain access to Biafran and Beninese oil fields as a result of the fall of Saudi Arabia and increased concern about the safety of Persian Gulf energy supplies. Interestingly enough, the UAR also sent pilots to support the Nigerian elites, making a undesirable name for themselves from their liberal bombardment of civilian areas.
From the end of the civil war, the destinies of Nigeria and the "Bight States" (named after the Bight of Benin) diverged massively, the former descending into poverty, conflict, warlordism and extremism, whilst the latter became glistening pillars of African entrepeneurship and development.
The flight of the European powers from their colonies in Africa often provoked conflict within artificial states which had been arbitrarily drawn up by the White colonisers without regard for the social or historical landscape. No more obvious was this than in Nigeria, a state populated with more than 80 ethnic groups, with three dominant: the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. The Hausa-Fulani had historically dominated Nigeria, their Emirs collaborating with the British colonial project to maintain their social and economic privilege. Concentrated in the north, they were often at odds with the Igbo, who were primarily adherents of Christianity or traditional belief systems and lived in autonomous democratic communities in the southeast. The other main group, the Yoruba, lived in the southwest. The Yoruba were ruled by Oba (kings), but their society was significantly less autocratic than the Hausa-Fulani. Yoruba had good prospects for social mobility within their community, in stark contrast with their Hausa-Fulani compatriots.
On October 1, 1960, Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom. The first Prime Minister of Nigeria was a Baggara Muslim from the north (although his mother was Fulani), Sir Abubaker Tafawa Balewa. The first government was composed of an alliance between the Northern People's Congress (NPC), which Balewa had co-founded, and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). The NCNC was led by Nnamdi "Zik" Azikiwe, who became Governor-General and then President. The third major party was the Yoruba-aligned Action Group. From the start, Nigeria had internal issues. From 1963 onward, labour activity intensified as wage earners expressed widespread dissatisfaction with a lack of economic progress. June 1964 saw a nationwide general strike. Strikers disobeyed an ultimatum from the government to return to work after a general strike and they were dispersed by riot police. Eventually the strikers won a pay increase.
The election of December 30, 1964 brought ethnic and regional divisions into focus. The army was repeatedly deployed to the Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states in order to suppress political activism and disruption amongst the Tiv people of the region who called for greater self-determination. Hundreds were killed by Nigerian troops and thousands were arrested for their agitating. There were widespread reports of fraudulent voting practices and political violence throughout the country. Balewa remained in power, but was overthrown by a military coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and supported by a number of junior army officers. Balewa and the premier of the northern region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, were executed. President Azikiwe was on holiday to the West Indies Federation, where he was granted political asylum.
The plotters sought to spring Action Group leader Obafemi Awolowo out of jail and make him head of the new government. From there they intended to dismantle the northern-dominated power structure. The coup was toppled by a counter-coup led by Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Igbo and a loyalist head of the army. The majors surrendered and Aguiyi-Ironsi was declared Head of State on January 16, 1966. Aguiyi-Ironsi suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He appointed Colonel Hassan Katsina, son of the Katsina emir Usman Nagogo, to govern the Northern Region. Aguiyi-Ironsi was also notable in his preferential release of northern political leaders, who were seen as less susceptible to separatism than those from the south.
Aguiyi-Ironsi managed to alienate virtually all political elites in the country, sometimes through no fault of his own. Alienated from his own Igbo people by his favouritism for northerners, he was also rejected by Yoruba who would have preferred Awolowo coming to power. The Hausa-Fulani distrusted him, especially after he showed clemency and failed to bring the putschists to trial. The coup was therefore seen as a false-flag Igbo power grab by the elites of the north. To weaken flare-ups in the Eastern (Igbo) Region, Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu was appointed military governor in the area at this time. On May 24, 1966, the military government issued the so-called "Unification Decree #34" which would have replaced the federation with a more centralised state system. The northern bloc felt that their suspicions were vindicated and could not accept the sequestration of their traditional autonomy. Provoked by southern media which showed humiliating depictions of northern politicians, northern soldiers in the Abeokuta barracks mutinied on July 24, precipitating another coup, which was at the time still being planned by the northern emirs. This coup led to the installation of Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Gowon was chosen as a compromise leader, being a northerner, but of Christian faith. Gowon repealed the unification decree. Gowon's leadership failed to cease the intercommunal violence that was flaring up across Nigeria, in many cases aggravating said violence. From June to October 1966, tens of thousands of Igbos were killed in pogroms throughout the north, causing millions to flee to the Eastern Region. Many of these massacres were led by or aided by units of the Nigerian military. During this time, anti-Igbo measures taken by the Federal Military Government laid the groundwork for the blockade of the Eastern Region, which would go into full effect in 1967.
On May 27, 1967, Gowon proclaimed the division of Nigeria into 12 states, organised in a matter that would cut off the Igbo from oil in the Eastern Region, which was largely located in the lands of the Ibibio and Ijaw peoples. Unable to tolerate this new arrangement, on May 30 Ojukwu declared the independence of the Igbo-led Republic of Biafra. In response, Nigeria put an immediate embargo on all shipping to and from Biafra with the exception of oil tankers. This was an acquiescence to the demands of Nigeria's British allies, who were the primary consumers of Nigerian oil. Eventually the embargo was extended to oil, when Shell-BP decided to do business with the Biafran government.
On July 6, Nigerian Federal troops advanced in two columns into Biafra from the north, led by Colonel Shuwa. On July 14, after encountering heavy resistance, the right column of Nigerian troops captured Nsukku, a mere two days after the left column had seized the town of Garkem. On August 9, the Biafrans responded with an offensive west, into the mid-Western region across the Niger River, passing through Benin City until they were halted at Ore on August 21, just 130 miles east of the capital city of Nigeria, Lagos. The Biafran offensive was led by a Yoruba, Lieutenant Colonel Banjo. There was little resistance due to the pre-secession arrangement that all soldiers should return to their regions of origin to prevent violence and ethnic cleansing. On August 24, the Republic of Benin was declared in the Midwestern Region, headed by an American-educated doctor, Albert Okonkwo []. Responding to the Biafrans' clear intention not only to succeed, but to splinter entirely the Nigerian federal government, General Gowon asked Colonel Murtala Mohammad to form the 2nd Infantry Division in preparation for a campaign to expel the Biafrans from the Midwestern Region. In order to complete his task in the shortest possible time, Col. Mohammad engaged in a forced recruitment campaign in the Western Region, which alienated many Yoruba and Edo people[]. By September 13, the Nigerian forces attacked Biafran and Beninese troops a few miles from Benin City. Although at first they gained ground, increasingly heavy resistance from the defenders led to the defection of many Yoruba and Edo troops, collapsing the Nigerian front line and forcing a retreat. Reprisal attacks on Yoruba villages for the "cowardice of their fighting men" led to widespread discontent in the Western Region, which erupted into full-blown rebellion on October 1, with Colonel Banjo declared the Commander-in-Chief of Yorubaland. Almost immediately Lagos came under attack from the Yoruba. Nigerian forces rushed from Biafra to Lagos to relieve the siege. Although successful, the Nigerian leadership realised the tenuous hold they had on the region and fled by air to the northern city of Kano. Lagos would be seized on December 18 by Yoruba troops.
The rebellion of Yorubaland completely altered the balance of power in the Nigerian conflict. Whilst the Nigerian military still held the majority of heavy weaponry, their supply situation was deteriorating as they could no longer be supplied by British and Soviet cargo ships. By contrast, Biafra especially was supplied by the French and eventually the Americans, who were acquiring increasingly powerful armaments and more secure access to ammunition. But towards the end of 1967, Nigeria still had plenty fight in it. Having learnt their lesson from recruiting disloyal ethnic groups, the Federal Military Government began to recruit incessantly from northern ethnic groups, not only the Hausa-Fulani but also the Kanuri, Gwari, Nupe and Bauchi. The resultant 3rd Infantry Division was lead by Nigeria's most effective and feared military commander, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, known to friend and foe alike as "the Black Scorpion". After a two-month campaign of terror in Yorubaland, temporarily incapacitating the Yoruba forces, Adekunle engaged on an offensive down the Niger River towards the Delta from March 1968. The Biafrans proved capable of slowing his advance and inflicting heavy casualties, but not turning away the offensive entirely. When they captured Asaba, the Nigerian troops committed a massacre of 1,400 civilians, outraging the international community. On May 15, Nigerian troops were halted after losing 5,000 men in an offensive against fixed Biafran positions, supported by mortars and reinforced with foreign mercenaries from France, South Africa, Rhodesia-Nyasaland and elsewhere. Mercenaries were a regular sight in the Biafran army, and notably included German soldier-of-fortune Rolf Steiner (although he volunteered without pay), Polish WWII ace Jan Zumbach, Welsh mercenary Hugh "Taffy" Williams, and Swedish pilot Carl Gustaf von Rosen, who had previously been chief instructor for the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force and had experience fighting the Soviets in the Winter War.
By June, the international media became increasingly focused on the humanitarian situation in Biafra. Whilst military supply from certain quarters had been forthcoming, the same could not be said for food and medical supplies. This issue was compounded by the massive influx of Igbo refugees from northern cities. British media outlets ITV and The Sun were the first to show footage of starving Biafran children, wracked with kwashiorkor and marasmus. In response, Oxfam and Save the Children were deployed to the secessionist state to assist in humanitarian efforts. A number of Protestant and Catholic church groups cooperated in seeking funds which were put towards a massive airlift of food and medical aid to Biafra, the largest civilian airlift in history. By December, the war in Nigeria was seen by many in the West as having gone on for far too long.
On December 3rd, President Jackson of the United States made a nationwide speech denouncing the "genocidal" actions of the Nigerian government, as well as highlighting the role of Soviet military advisors (he conveniently left out the support given to Nigeria by America's British allies). He announced that the United States would intervene to ensure the safety and security of the peoples of Biafra, Benin and Yorubaland, whilst preventing the infiltration of Communism into West Africa. American troops arrived in Lagos on December 14 and in Port Harcourt a mere three days later. American troops were showered with praise from locals. Amongst the American forces were a relatively high number of African-Americans, whose experiences would significantly affect the attitude and culture of Afro-Americans. Many young Afro-American men ended up marrying Yoruba and Igbo women and brought them to America, where they instilled some more traditionally African values into their children. In many cases, the presence of American troops significantly demoralised the Nigerian soldiers. Whilst the Biafran Air Force had managed to fight the better-equipped but more poorly-trained Nigerian Air Force into a stalemate, the arrival of state-of-the-art American warplanes gave the separatist forces total control of the air. The Nigerians could not resupply their troops, with the British and Soviets cut off from supply, surrounded as Nigeria was by pro-French Subsaharan states. The Nigerian forces were rapidly forced back to the Niger River, when a ceasefire was announced and the two sides entered into negotiations which resulted in the recognition of independent Yorubaland, Benin and Biafra, who were all soon made full member states of the United Nations. One notable outcome of the Nigerian conflict for the US military was the revelation that many of their M16 assault rifles performed poorly in tropical conditions, a drawback that was increasingly mitigated by modifications to the weapon.
The Biafran conflict is notable for it's creation of strange bedfellows. Both the Soviets and the United Kingdom supported the Nigerian Federal Government for different reasons. The Soviets did so in the hope of creating a possible client in West Africa and because their relatively poor knowledge of Africa led some policy advisors to suggest that the northerners were more civilised than the southerners, despite Igbo adoption of Western-style education during the British colonial period. The prevailing belief amongst the Soviets was that the northerners could be manipulated into becoming a revolutionary vanguard, and an extremely valuable one, being in control of the largest African state, population-wise. The UK's support for Nigeria was more straightforward. They maintained significant economic ties with Nigeria. The British-owned United Africa Company had controlled 41.3% of Nigeria's foreign trade in 1964. British economic interests were strongly in favour of the status quo.
Counterintuitive convergence of interests weren't only prevalent on the Nigerian side. The Americans, led by a staunch liberal, found themselves working clandestinely with the two primary conservative forces on the continent, the French and the South Africans, both of whom supplied Biafra with training and weaponry. Whilst the Americans were largely motivated by principle, although both they and the French sought to gain access to Biafran and Beninese oil fields as a result of the fall of Saudi Arabia and increased concern about the safety of Persian Gulf energy supplies. Interestingly enough, the UAR also sent pilots to support the Nigerian elites, making a undesirable name for themselves from their liberal bombardment of civilian areas.
From the end of the civil war, the destinies of Nigeria and the "Bight States" (named after the Bight of Benin) diverged massively, the former descending into poverty, conflict, warlordism and extremism, whilst the latter became glistening pillars of African entrepeneurship and development.
Great update! An infusion of Yoruba cuisine should help mitigate America's lack of Korean BBQ ITTL
I have to imagine this will lead to a not-insignificant number of white soldiers marrying African women as well. They married Koreans IOTL, then Vietnamese. Not a population-altering number, but I believe the Vietnam War produced something in the range of 10k-20k Vietnamese/US servicemember marriages. Deployment brides happen wherever there are soldiers and women (at least in the US Army, I'm not sure about other services, but I wouldn't see why not.)
So since we have a different Benin here, will OTL's Benin remain Dahomey? Or will there be two Benins like the Congos?
I have to imagine this will lead to a not-insignificant number of white soldiers marrying African women as well. They married Koreans IOTL, then Vietnamese. Not a population-altering number, but I believe the Vietnam War produced something in the range of 10k-20k Vietnamese/US servicemember marriages. Deployment brides happen wherever there are soldiers and women (at least in the US Army, I'm not sure about other services, but I wouldn't see why not.)
So since we have a different Benin here, will OTL's Benin remain Dahomey? Or will there be two Benins like the Congos?
Great update! An infusion of Yoruba cuisine should help mitigate America's lack of Korean BBQ ITTL
I have to imagine this will lead to a not-insignificant number of white soldiers marrying African women as well. They married Koreans IOTL, then Vietnamese. Not a population-altering number, but I believe the Vietnam War produced something in the range of 10k-20k Vietnamese/US servicemember marriages. Deployment brides happen wherever there are soldiers and women (at least in the US Army, I'm not sure about other services, but I wouldn't see why not.)
So since we have a different Benin here, will OTL's Benin remain Dahomey? Or will there be two Benins like the Congos?
Those are actually some really good points, Expat! You have a great eye for potential cultural changes. Since we have a different Benin, OTL's Benin will remain Dahomey, yes.
Whilst there would be white servicemen marrying African women, I imagine it would be lower than the number of white servicemen that married Korean or Vietnamese women IOTL, simply because of the race issue in the US (after all, Asian war vets were largely exempt from anything more than a few raised eyebrows due to the comparatively small number of Asians in the US) as well as the fact that generally-speaking, African women are more far from conventional western beauty standards than Asian women, which is just another form of casual racism affecting black people, I suppose. That being said, there will be white servicemen/African marriages.
Chapter 37: "Kosybernetics" - Cybernetics in the Soviet Union (1960s)
"Kosybernetics" and the Foundation of "Collective Automation": The USSR 1960-1970
The 1960s was a period of significant global change, whether economic, social or political. Whilst the Soviet Union is often ignored by Western historians during this period, which saw such upheavals as the emboldening of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the development of feminism and the independence of great swathes of what would come to be known as the Third World, recent scholarship has uncovered the extent to which the foundations of the Soviet cybernetically-integrated command economy were laid during this decade.
Whilst popular history has coined the term "Kosybernetics" (a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin), in fact the project had its origins under the Khrushchev government. Khrushchev, who had been born in the 19th Century and had more experience with coal mines than with the technical laboratories of the day, is well known for his virtual fetishisation of high technology and patronage of ambitious technical experts such as Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko of Space Race fame. Equal if not more substantial (although less glamourous) in significance was the cybernetics pioneers, who envisaged a more efficient society built upon the principles of integration, efficiency and productivity. The mechanism by which this was to be achieved was through the development of information systems and effective feedback mechanism to quickly collect and process economic data.
The immediate impetus for the greater attention lavished on computer systems was the revelation (obtained through espionage) in the mid-60s that the Americans had developed the complex SAGE air defense system. Soviet military planners reacted to the development of SAGE by deciding to build three separate systems: one for air defense, one for missile defense and another for space surveillance. In 1956, the Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment was established especially to design a Soviet version of SAGE.
In October of that year, director of the Control Machines and Systems Laboratory, Isaak Bruk, proposed a hierarchical network of "control machines" to collect, transmit and process economic data and to facilitate decision-making by computer simulation. By 1958, his Laboratory had developed M4-2M computers for use in the space surveillance system, as well as M5 computers for processing economic data. The activities of the Control Machines and Systems Laboratory ran in tandem with that of the Moscow Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology, which developed a network for a prototype missile defense system, which was codenamed "System A" and based at the Sary-Shagan Proving Ground near Lake Balkhash. Two large universal computers, the M-40 and M-50 at the command-and-control (C2) centre were linked into several specialised computers that controlled remote radar installations.
In November 1959, three major trailblazers in cybernetics, Aksel Berg (chairman of the Cybernetic Council of the Academy of Sciences), Anatoly Kitov (deputy head of Computation Centre No.1 of the Ministry of Defence) and Aleksei Lyapunov (deputy head of the Cybernetics Council mathematician) presented a joint paper which suggested the establishment of a unified state-controlled network of information-processing centres under centralised control as a basis for a single uniform system of information and computer service. This was supposed to meet the demands of all institutions and organisations in the processing of economic information and in the execution of computing work. This trio published a joint article in the Party journal Communist in September 1960, arguing that an automated management system for the national economy, based on a unified territorial network of information computation centres would provide the means for the automatic collection of economic data, planning, distribution of resources, banking and transportation control. They claimed that such a system would complete in two or three minutes tasks which took human workers a week. They promised that supply planning time would be slashed from three to four months down to a mere three days. Management would be cut by half. The cost of supply management would be reduced to a fifth of its original cost. They predicted that computer installation expenses would be recouped in two years and would provide the basis for a general economic upsurge. Kitov personally suggested a dual-use system, believing (like many early cyberneticians) that supply would outpace demand. This was rejected by Minister of Defense Konstantin Rokossovsky, who believed that a dual-use system would be less-secure than separate exclusively military and civilian networks. Meanwhile, the Institute of Automatic Equipment had success in developing TETIVA, the first Soviet transistor-based computer, and built 8 computers (paired for backup) and located in distributed C2 centres. 1961 was the successful test of System A (the missile defense system). Khrushchev boasted that Russian anti-missiles could "hit a fly in outer space". In October, the Soviet Academy of Sciences published "Cybernetics in the Service of Communism", their most significant piece on the potential benefits of cybernetic integration of the national economy.
1962 saw the beginning of work on the space surveillance system. It had two remote nodes in Sary-Shagan and near Irkutsk, with a C2 centre near Moscow. Meanwhile, communications engineer Aleksandr Kharkevich proposed a nationwide information transmission system on the principles of SAGE, digitising all telephone, telegraph, radio and television communications, transmitting signals over a unified computer network for "information transport". He envisaged a "central depository of information" that would be fully-automated and provide an instant response to information enquiries from any terminal on the network. In November Khrushchev announced that "in our time, the time of the atom, electronics, automation and assembly lines, what is needed is clarity, ideal coordination and organisation of all links in the social system both in material production and "spiritual life" at Party Central Committee Plenum.
In 1963, Alexei Kosygin, then deputy chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, called to his office Mstislav Keldysh (president of the Academy of Sciences) and Viktor Glushkov (director of the Institute of Cybernetics in Kiev, and not to be confused with Valentin Glushko, the rocket engineer). Kosygin supported Glushkov's proposal to build an automated system for nationwide economic management, support which would be maintained as he rose to higher office. In May, the Party and the government issued a joint resolution with decreed drastic measures aimed at accelerating the introduction of computers into the national economy. Numerous central government agencies were ordered to set up their own computer centres and research institutes. Draft design of a nationwide computer network included 100-200 large centres in major cities as regional nodes, which would be linked to 20,000 smaller centres located in government agencies and large enterprises. Large centres would be linked by dedicated high-bandwidth channels without channel-switching or message-switching. The network would support a unified data bank which anyone could access from any terminal after an authorisation check. Glushkov also submitted a separate proposal that would rely entirely on electronic payments and eliminate paper money. This never gained support from the Party and was dropped, although it did foreshadow the later development of economic payment methods in later decades.
Glushkov published another proposal in 1964, with Nikolai Fedorenko (head of the Central Economic Mathematical Institute for the Academy of Sciences) suggesting the establishment of a unified system of optimal planning and management on the basis of a three-tier unified nationwide network of computer centres, consisting of tens of thousands of local computer centres, thirty to fifty mid-level nodes in major cities and one top-level centre controlling the entire network. The proposal was estimated to cost 20 billion rubles over 15 years. It was a system that would prove more complex and difficult to implement than the space program and the atomic bomb combined. Glushkov insisted that the project would bring in 100 billion rubles over the next twenty years, but that the plan would only work if implemented in full. The proposal was formally submitted to Gosplan in June.
Whilst the economic system was getting closer to total unification under a single management system, the military was going in the opposite direction. Concerns about security led to the construction of a variety of separate (and incompatible) systems. The military moved onto a new generation of distributed C2 systems with sophisticated networking capabilities. The Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology developed a network of eight 5E92B computers for a missile defense complex, codenamed "System A-35" to protect Moscow. Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment designed yet another network to support an automated control system for the Strategic Missile Forces. In the late 1960s, the Soviet leadership learned about ARPANET, giving a greater impetus for a focus on cybernetrics. Glushkov proposed OGAS, a management system for information collecting, processing and software development. The 24th Party Congress in 1971 authorised the full-scale implementation of the system.
The "Kosybernetics" programme wouldn't be completed until the mid-1980s, but Glushkov and Kitov argued effectively the importance of modularity to allow future updates of the system. Although the programme came under attack from conservatives like Suslov and Brezhnev, their marginalisation defeated the main threats to the massive programme. Khrushchev had drawn the ire of many within the government and the Party after the USS Pueblo Incident of 1968. Whilst many within the Soviet establishment opposed the Korean treatment of the captured crew members, Khrushchev made a number of offensive and bellicose remarks about them. Combined with the international tension that resulted from the Arabian Crisis, many within the Politburo believed that he was becoming too overconfident and erratic. He was removed from power, replaced by the collective leadership of Kosygin, Nikolai Podgorny and Andrei Kirilenko. This relatively progressive triumvirate ensured the paramountcy of Soviet "scientific megaprojects" and massive investment in the practical sciences in the 1960-1980 period.
The 1960s was a period of significant global change, whether economic, social or political. Whilst the Soviet Union is often ignored by Western historians during this period, which saw such upheavals as the emboldening of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the development of feminism and the independence of great swathes of what would come to be known as the Third World, recent scholarship has uncovered the extent to which the foundations of the Soviet cybernetically-integrated command economy were laid during this decade.
Whilst popular history has coined the term "Kosybernetics" (a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin), in fact the project had its origins under the Khrushchev government. Khrushchev, who had been born in the 19th Century and had more experience with coal mines than with the technical laboratories of the day, is well known for his virtual fetishisation of high technology and patronage of ambitious technical experts such as Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko of Space Race fame. Equal if not more substantial (although less glamourous) in significance was the cybernetics pioneers, who envisaged a more efficient society built upon the principles of integration, efficiency and productivity. The mechanism by which this was to be achieved was through the development of information systems and effective feedback mechanism to quickly collect and process economic data.
The immediate impetus for the greater attention lavished on computer systems was the revelation (obtained through espionage) in the mid-60s that the Americans had developed the complex SAGE air defense system. Soviet military planners reacted to the development of SAGE by deciding to build three separate systems: one for air defense, one for missile defense and another for space surveillance. In 1956, the Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment was established especially to design a Soviet version of SAGE.
In October of that year, director of the Control Machines and Systems Laboratory, Isaak Bruk, proposed a hierarchical network of "control machines" to collect, transmit and process economic data and to facilitate decision-making by computer simulation. By 1958, his Laboratory had developed M4-2M computers for use in the space surveillance system, as well as M5 computers for processing economic data. The activities of the Control Machines and Systems Laboratory ran in tandem with that of the Moscow Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology, which developed a network for a prototype missile defense system, which was codenamed "System A" and based at the Sary-Shagan Proving Ground near Lake Balkhash. Two large universal computers, the M-40 and M-50 at the command-and-control (C2) centre were linked into several specialised computers that controlled remote radar installations.
In November 1959, three major trailblazers in cybernetics, Aksel Berg (chairman of the Cybernetic Council of the Academy of Sciences), Anatoly Kitov (deputy head of Computation Centre No.1 of the Ministry of Defence) and Aleksei Lyapunov (deputy head of the Cybernetics Council mathematician) presented a joint paper which suggested the establishment of a unified state-controlled network of information-processing centres under centralised control as a basis for a single uniform system of information and computer service. This was supposed to meet the demands of all institutions and organisations in the processing of economic information and in the execution of computing work. This trio published a joint article in the Party journal Communist in September 1960, arguing that an automated management system for the national economy, based on a unified territorial network of information computation centres would provide the means for the automatic collection of economic data, planning, distribution of resources, banking and transportation control. They claimed that such a system would complete in two or three minutes tasks which took human workers a week. They promised that supply planning time would be slashed from three to four months down to a mere three days. Management would be cut by half. The cost of supply management would be reduced to a fifth of its original cost. They predicted that computer installation expenses would be recouped in two years and would provide the basis for a general economic upsurge. Kitov personally suggested a dual-use system, believing (like many early cyberneticians) that supply would outpace demand. This was rejected by Minister of Defense Konstantin Rokossovsky, who believed that a dual-use system would be less-secure than separate exclusively military and civilian networks. Meanwhile, the Institute of Automatic Equipment had success in developing TETIVA, the first Soviet transistor-based computer, and built 8 computers (paired for backup) and located in distributed C2 centres. 1961 was the successful test of System A (the missile defense system). Khrushchev boasted that Russian anti-missiles could "hit a fly in outer space". In October, the Soviet Academy of Sciences published "Cybernetics in the Service of Communism", their most significant piece on the potential benefits of cybernetic integration of the national economy.
1962 saw the beginning of work on the space surveillance system. It had two remote nodes in Sary-Shagan and near Irkutsk, with a C2 centre near Moscow. Meanwhile, communications engineer Aleksandr Kharkevich proposed a nationwide information transmission system on the principles of SAGE, digitising all telephone, telegraph, radio and television communications, transmitting signals over a unified computer network for "information transport". He envisaged a "central depository of information" that would be fully-automated and provide an instant response to information enquiries from any terminal on the network. In November Khrushchev announced that "in our time, the time of the atom, electronics, automation and assembly lines, what is needed is clarity, ideal coordination and organisation of all links in the social system both in material production and "spiritual life" at Party Central Committee Plenum.
In 1963, Alexei Kosygin, then deputy chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, called to his office Mstislav Keldysh (president of the Academy of Sciences) and Viktor Glushkov (director of the Institute of Cybernetics in Kiev, and not to be confused with Valentin Glushko, the rocket engineer). Kosygin supported Glushkov's proposal to build an automated system for nationwide economic management, support which would be maintained as he rose to higher office. In May, the Party and the government issued a joint resolution with decreed drastic measures aimed at accelerating the introduction of computers into the national economy. Numerous central government agencies were ordered to set up their own computer centres and research institutes. Draft design of a nationwide computer network included 100-200 large centres in major cities as regional nodes, which would be linked to 20,000 smaller centres located in government agencies and large enterprises. Large centres would be linked by dedicated high-bandwidth channels without channel-switching or message-switching. The network would support a unified data bank which anyone could access from any terminal after an authorisation check. Glushkov also submitted a separate proposal that would rely entirely on electronic payments and eliminate paper money. This never gained support from the Party and was dropped, although it did foreshadow the later development of economic payment methods in later decades.
Glushkov published another proposal in 1964, with Nikolai Fedorenko (head of the Central Economic Mathematical Institute for the Academy of Sciences) suggesting the establishment of a unified system of optimal planning and management on the basis of a three-tier unified nationwide network of computer centres, consisting of tens of thousands of local computer centres, thirty to fifty mid-level nodes in major cities and one top-level centre controlling the entire network. The proposal was estimated to cost 20 billion rubles over 15 years. It was a system that would prove more complex and difficult to implement than the space program and the atomic bomb combined. Glushkov insisted that the project would bring in 100 billion rubles over the next twenty years, but that the plan would only work if implemented in full. The proposal was formally submitted to Gosplan in June.
Whilst the economic system was getting closer to total unification under a single management system, the military was going in the opposite direction. Concerns about security led to the construction of a variety of separate (and incompatible) systems. The military moved onto a new generation of distributed C2 systems with sophisticated networking capabilities. The Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology developed a network of eight 5E92B computers for a missile defense complex, codenamed "System A-35" to protect Moscow. Scientific Research Institute of Automatic Equipment designed yet another network to support an automated control system for the Strategic Missile Forces. In the late 1960s, the Soviet leadership learned about ARPANET, giving a greater impetus for a focus on cybernetrics. Glushkov proposed OGAS, a management system for information collecting, processing and software development. The 24th Party Congress in 1971 authorised the full-scale implementation of the system.
The "Kosybernetics" programme wouldn't be completed until the mid-1980s, but Glushkov and Kitov argued effectively the importance of modularity to allow future updates of the system. Although the programme came under attack from conservatives like Suslov and Brezhnev, their marginalisation defeated the main threats to the massive programme. Khrushchev had drawn the ire of many within the government and the Party after the USS Pueblo Incident of 1968. Whilst many within the Soviet establishment opposed the Korean treatment of the captured crew members, Khrushchev made a number of offensive and bellicose remarks about them. Combined with the international tension that resulted from the Arabian Crisis, many within the Politburo believed that he was becoming too overconfident and erratic. He was removed from power, replaced by the collective leadership of Kosygin, Nikolai Podgorny and Andrei Kirilenko. This relatively progressive triumvirate ensured the paramountcy of Soviet "scientific megaprojects" and massive investment in the practical sciences in the 1960-1980 period.
The "Soviet cybernetically-integrated command economy" sounds interesting. I have allways wondered about a digitised command economy. It sounds like the Soviets are getting internet, or the Soviet Union is getting set up for a horrible robotic uprising. Maybe we can finally get a USSR that vindicates Marx's writings.
Maybe we can finally get a USSR that vindicates Marx's writings.bookmark95
Banned
This is a very fascinating TL. I got to ask though, does Dag Hammerskold survive the Congo Crisis, because that could alter the course of UN history.
Yes, Dag Hammarskjold did survive the Congo Crisis. I should really write some info about the UN at some point.
Another fascinating update! It'll be interesting to see how this new model economy works moving forward. It might even spur computer development forward globally, though I guess all the secrecy might dampen that. The Cold War often led to massive duplication of effort.
About differing beauty standards and GI mixed marriages, I'm not so sure it will make too much of a difference in the rate. I hope it's not too crass, but qualities that came to be admired among Asian populations weren't really admired in the US until after extended contact happened as a result of deployment. Also, a single ethnic group like the Yoruba are going to be as distinct from African Americans as the Japanese are from the Vietnamese, so I'm not sure if the (unfortunate) negative associations are going to carry over in the mind of a 20-year-old GI.
Moreover, Civil Rights might be more contentious ITTL, but it's also been advanced by 10-15 years. And white soldiers are one group that will definitely have contact with and form positive bonds with African Americans.
Weighed against that is the size and length of the deployment, which is likely never going to be as large or long as Vietnam. But taking other factors into account, I would imagine we're at least seeing rates as high as Vietnam, if not the same raw numbers.
About differing beauty standards and GI mixed marriages, I'm not so sure it will make too much of a difference in the rate. I hope it's not too crass, but qualities that came to be admired among Asian populations weren't really admired in the US until after extended contact happened as a result of deployment. Also, a single ethnic group like the Yoruba are going to be as distinct from African Americans as the Japanese are from the Vietnamese, so I'm not sure if the (unfortunate) negative associations are going to carry over in the mind of a 20-year-old GI.
Moreover, Civil Rights might be more contentious ITTL, but it's also been advanced by 10-15 years. And white soldiers are one group that will definitely have contact with and form positive bonds with African Americans.
Weighed against that is the size and length of the deployment, which is likely never going to be as large or long as Vietnam. But taking other factors into account, I would imagine we're at least seeing rates as high as Vietnam, if not the same raw numbers.
Computer development is likely to be better than OTL, at least in software, as a result of a greater number of people employed in the field. The secrecy is largely in military computing as opposed to civilian. There will however be greater development of cybersecurity later in the TL as a result of the computerisation of the economy.
You definitely make some great points about the Yoruba. I will concede on that one