Introduction - October 1960
Eternal National Glory
Kein Ende in Sicht für den Nationalstaat
Guójiā róngyù yǒng wú zhǐjìng - 国家荣誉永无止境
Kokka no meiyo wa kesshite owaru koto wanai – 国家の名誉は決して終わることはない
Великая нация продолжает свой долговременный путь
For as long as man has been on this earth, change has been a constant factor. The 20th century in particular was a century of defining moments that came right after the latter half of industrial development, with 2 world-spanning wars having been waged in 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. Increasingly in the proceedings of each world war and other events of the times, technology was observed to play a greater and greater role in these instances. The proceedings of events after 1945 would be no different.Kein Ende in Sicht für den Nationalstaat
Guójiā róngyù yǒng wú zhǐjìng - 国家荣誉永无止境
Kokka no meiyo wa kesshite owaru koto wanai – 国家の名誉は決して終わることはない
Великая нация продолжает свой долговременный путь
Saturday, 8th October
It was a breezy Autumn morning in Taipei, at around 8am, and the Generalissimo was seated in his office. He in one hand was flicking through the morning papers and with the other, taking a sip every now and then of his tea, the taste was watered-down and weak, not too strong, just the way he liked it. Normally he would have been drinking water as usual, but unfortunately he needed to keep active and awake, times had become stressful as of recent, all indicated with the reports in the papers on what shady inner-affairs were taking place back on the mainland. The communists, the PLA, the CCP, and the head of it all, Mao, all of them were at the top of his thoughts, the Generalissimo was constantly immersed in the ins and outs of what feuds and tribulations were going on between this clique of radical dogs. All this constant reporting from countless sources supplied by upper echelons of his government, to even the local reporter wasn’t for vain reason though, it was there for one reason. That reason being so that the Generalissimo and his advisors could spot cracks in the decrepit communist regime. That crack finally had been spotted.
The Generalissimo took another sip of his tea, emptying the porcelain tea cup and placing it on the saucer, flicking through the papers once more, he made sure that whatever he was reading in these papers alligned with his expectations, anything too far against his nation would be nothing more than possible subordination. The Generalissimo knew that Mao Zedong’s second set of 5-year plans, this one called the “Great Leap Foward” had been nothing but a failure so far, millions of people across the country were starving, dissidents were building up in anger, even those in the party themselves had begun questioning the legitimacy of their supposed “enlightened” leader and the time had become ripe for the taking. As the Generalissimo put down his papers, satisfied with the local headlines of the day, he received a knock on his door to which he responded, “come in,”. His secretary opened the door to his office, telling him that mister Allen Dulles and his interpreter were finally there, the Generalissimo nodded his head telling her to let the Americans in. For a moment Chiang observed his two maps hanging on the walls of his office, one of the island of Taiwan and the other displaying all of China. His dream was ever closer in reach, to return back to the mainland that he had once controlled, the middle kingdom which had stood proudly in history as one of the world’s greatest powers. The visits from American diplomats and advisors in particular from the CIA, and the US military had become more and more common over the years. These visits and diplomatic dialogues held between the highest echelons of the KMT and US governments had been in many ways a double-edged sword, on the one hand, they were greatly appreciated since his ideas for the future would require external support, but on the other, the Generalissimo was “encouraged” more and more to compromise with others he would’ve normally held grudges against, such as his top general, Sun Li-jen or the “Eastern Rommel” as many westerners referred to him as. And as the steps from the hallway came closer and closer to his office doors, he turned to the windows, looking out momentarily, having thought of the name for the project that would become his masterwork. He turned his seat back to the opening door… a thought arose, a project to restore China’s National Glory…
The mighty National Army guarantees the rescue of our compatriots on the mainland!
Friday, 7th October 1960
At about the same time as Chiang Kai Shek was going through morning errands, the sun had set in Washington DC as the two candidates for the presidential run of 1960 got their last few minutes of preparation in for their second live debate. The first candidate was Democrat nominee, senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Kennedy was born and raised by the well-off and diplomatically prominent Kennedy family in Massachusetts. Owing to his Irish heritage, he was also one of the only politicians in government who was a holder of the Catholic faith, something that was unusual with regards to the typical WASP establishment of the United States and something that campaign managers were aware of if Kennedy was to gain sufficient votes from the American Catholic population to make up for the loss of Protestant voters. His early life up until this election was that of the American role-model archetype, having served heroically in the pacific theater of WW2 and publishing works in reporting that even earned him a Pulitzer Prize! Kennedy though, was facing an uphill battle for this election, firstly having challenged the “party bosses” like Adlai Stevenson II and even Harry S. Truman, but he was pragmatic enough, utilising his youth as one of his greatest assets in refute of having inexperience. One other strength that was foreseen with Kennedy was his willingness to work more liberally with the countries’ minorities, signified by his running mate for vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, something that would come in very handy when the black population would cast their votes. One other aspect about the senator that remained of particular note was his admiration for the former general MacArthur, despite his Democrat position, Kennedy had come to see MacArthur’s role in the White House as generally excellent, Kennedy having come to think that keeping staunch international peace was the best approach in carrying out MacArthur’s legacy. This line of thought was best signified by his campaign slogan: “We Can Do Better”. And with his liberal albeit tough against communist appearance, Kennedy was going to make this uphill battle count.
The second opposing candidate was Republican nominee, vice president Richard M. Nixon of California. Nixon was of a more typical American background with his early childhood having been defined by his Quaker heritage, his parents were both keen on instilling many traditional values into the young fellow and taught him much of the resourcefulness that would end up serving him well when he entered politics and gained the nickname of “Tricky Dick”, something that always humoured Nixon. Akin to his political opponent, he too had served in the military’s Pacific campaigns during WW2 ending up with a commander rank to his name by 53’. Unlike Kennedy however, Nixon had a far smoother path to go through to end up as the current presidential candidate, his shrewd and charismatic youthfulness of the 50s such as his famous Checkers Speech, garnered the admiration of the public in spite of reportings of having a political fund propelled him to end up serving as the 36th vice president during the MacArthur days, his position to be that of a younger partner to the oldest president up until that point. Nixon was for many, due to his greater prominence in American politics compared to Kennedy, seen as the more likely or traditional candidate for the election, with Nixon encouraging this thought process with his emphasis of wisdom and experience over Kennedy, summarised by his party slogan: “Experience Counts”, making him more likely to gain votes from the traditionally conservative Anglo population. Despite his more conservative appearance, he could be just as pragmatic as Kennedy. This was highlighted with how Nixon saw the continuation of MacArthur’s doctrine, unlike Kennedy, Nixon was on the mind that the Communists in China, who had become far more ideologically motivated compared to their Russian counterparts under Khrushchev, would have to be staunchly faced, and none more was this stance clearer than with Nixon’s selected running mate for vice president, a recommendation from Douglas MacArthur himself, Walter Judd.
Both candidates were speaking with their campaign advisors behind the TV set, Kennedy chuckling every now and then, more confident now than ever since the sucesses of his first live television debate against the Republican. The more stern Nixon discussed with his campaign group about the importance of emphasising the good economy that had been maintained since Douglas MacArthur’s foray into politics. However, for both candidates, as much as their confidence carried them in their respective campaigns, the two knew that no matter how much they opposed one another on the party line basis, at the end of the day, they were both advocating for what were nearly the same political initiatives and one thing above all else, showing their opposition to the Soviet giant behind the iron curtain. Nixon checked his watch, it was currently 7:10 pm, he adjusted his tie momentarily as he was beckoned to get on stage, in 20 minutes, the 2nd live debate for millions to watch would be taking place on the NBC’s 4th Channel. Kennedy, the younger candidate also got off his chair as he walked up to the television set. He saw the large television cameras pointed in his direction, producers and more producers setting everything up for the two and their upcoming debate as other reporters for the live event were seated on set too, discussing amongst each other about the most recent American politics as they then greeted senator Kennedy and then vp Nixon. As the two candidates exchanged formalities and greeted each other in kind, at the back of their minds, they were thinking of many of the key-issues they’d have to discuss. Policies with regards to approaching the USSR, necessary improvements to the US’s space capabilities to tackle the Soviet space program, the issues and aftereffects of the Korean crisis, the emerging industrial-defense-complex, the problems closer in America’s, backdoor: Cuba, and of course the ongoing “straits situation” between China and the KMT on Taiwan. The debate was to be tough between Nixon and Kennedy, Nixon shook the senator’s hand and the two engaged in small-talk before their debate.
Thank you for reading the introduction ladies and gentlemen, this is the beginning of my Alternate History Timeline “Eternal National Glory”. The events that shall take place will mainly be from the focal point of divergence of 1962, the beginning of Chiang Kai Shek’s carrying out of Project National Glory. Project National Glory, known as Guóguāng Jìhuà-國光計劃 was a dream of the former dictator of China, Generalissimo Chiang, then in Taiwan for a reconquest and liberation of the Chinese mainland. In this timeline this general plan becomes a reality due to a variety of very small and seemingly minor changes, that don’t change much of the general world-trends as we know it in the 40s and 50s, but have a far greater effect later on and lead to the huge butterfly-outcomes seen from the focal point of 1962. The technologies and geopolitics that develop will be quite different to our own, with the plan being to have the TL end in the year 2022 in a worldwide landscape not too dissimilar from fictional worlds seen in Ghost in the Shell or the Bladerunner franchise. Some countries in this diverging TL will also have more prominence than others, China for one will be a major player a lot earlier than in OTL, and expect some great leaps in the fields of biotechnologies, computer hardware and space sciences and a generally competitive attitude between the nations of Eternal National Glory…
Just to put it briefly, these secondary changes before the main narrative are as such:
- Beginning of reductions in Western Allied lend-lease to the Soviets around the very end of WW2 when Nazi Germany was in full-retreat.
- Change in Anglo-American approach to Stalin’s demands during the conferences of the last years of WW2.
- Some changes to Germany’s post-war situation due to the decisions made earlier as well as an earlier approach to Germany’s recovery in the West rather than deindustrialisation.
- Increased scepticism, as if it couldn’t get worse by Stalin against the west, gets worse from events mentioned above, including increased Soviet intervention in Korea.
The general written style of each chapter will vary, with the plan being for the first 3 chapters to be “prelude” chapters, which will go through many of the events highlighted above in greater detail to fill out the gaps between 1945-1960. The written sections for these prelude chapters will be more documentative in style as well as (hopefully) immersing the reader into this universe I’ve been thinking up of for some time now. If you dear reader have any ideas, thoughts you’d like to suggest, I’d love to hear em’ out! Anyways, hopefully I can succeed in bringing this underutilized topic in alternate history to reality, bringing people’s interest to said subject-matter!
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