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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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An Empire Reborn Part 12 By Vincent Longobardi
December 15th 1970 Construction begins on a new Italian aircraft carrier which is slated to be completed sometime in 1974. The currently unnamed carrier will be Italy’s first nuclear powered aircraft carrier and when completed will be the largest aircraft carrier in the world. December 27th 1970 In what has become an epidemic over the past few years, American Fascist David Fox hijacks an airliner leaving Miami demanding that he be taken to Cuba. Instead of being treated as a conquering hero like he expected he would he is instead dragged off the plane by Cuban police and beaten on the tarmac. The other passengers are allowed to spend the next few hours enjoying Havana while the plane is refueled before returning them to the United States. Mr. Fox will spend the next 5 years in a Cuban prison. January 1st 1971 The position of Viceroy of Italian East Africa will remain temporarily vacant as the Consul begins considering new candidates following the official resignation of Marshall Guillet. January 3rd 1971 The NRE releases previously classified recordings of Soviet failed space missions including one which is alleged to be a female Cosmonaut dying upon reentry. The information is startling in that it reveals covered up attempts by the Soviets to hide dramatic failures in their space attempts and also that Italian intelligence had been able to listen in on what was considered secure telemetry and radio transmissions. *Note: This is heavily based on the on the historical case of the Judica-Cordiglia, two Italian brothers who were able to listen in on Soviet radio transmissions and recorded a female cosmonaut saying she was burning. In this timeline they are working with military intelligence in tracking Soviet communications.* January 5th 1971 The Soviet Union declares that the Italian tapes are forgeries and that there were no secret space missions or "phantom cosmonauts." January 6th 1971 Time Magazine announces that writer William Montgomery will be visiting America’s Fascist neighbor Cuba. January 12th 1971 The controversial television show "All In The Family" airs for the first time. January 14th 1971 OVRA agents planted within the rocketry team visiting the US are instructed to speak about how the ISA is abandoning their plans to land on the moon in favor of solar exploration. The OVRA is hoping that Soviet spies within NASA will pick up on these conversations and their reports to Moscow will sway Moscow away from their attempt at the Moon. January 15th 1971 The Aswan Dam is opened in Egypt. January 27th 1971 Representatives from Rhodesia and South Africa arrive in Rome for a conference about the state of Africa. Important topics of discussion include how white minority rule will be kept in the face of rising black populations. February 1st 1971 Finland is forced to give ships of the Soviet Navy docking rights in Finnish ports. February 5th 1971 Henri Cartier author of "The Last Bastille Day" dies suddenly while writing a sequel to his best selling book. February 10th 1971 The conference on the state of Africa concludes. The representatives will bring back the discussed plans to reduce the Black populations to their governments. Ideas presented include increases taxes on Black families that have children(the opposite of what is already in place in Italy for Italians.) Another proposal involves giving tax breaks to those who voluntarily get sterilized if they have no or few children. February 11th 1971 The United States, Soviet Union and United Kingdom sign the Seabed treaty banning nuclear weapons from being deployed on the ocean floor. February 15th 1971 Taken from William Montgomery’s article on Havana, Cuba: "The streets here are still dominated with old American cars with the occasional interruption by Italian made Vespas or the latest Italian automobile, reserved only for the upper class. The inevitable Italianization of the country is apparent as it is with every Lira Block nation. While the markings of "Made in Spain," or "Made in Greece" can sometimes be seen on products nearly everything is stamped with "Made in Italy..." "While wandering the streets I stumbled upon a café owned by an Italian immigrant. Not being busy, he sat down with me and we started conversing in Italian until noticing my accent he asked in perfect ‘We can speak English?’ I learned that the man had spent 15 years with Imperial Military Intelligence working to decipher English and American communications. He proudly points out one of the pictures hanging over the bar, it is him being presented an award by Mussolini for his unit’s service during the Border War. He then talked very fondly of his three sons all of whom are working for the government back in the Empire, he beamed ecstatically that his youngest son had just returned from Rhodesia, a hard assignment to get he reminded me and has been accepted to enter into military intelligence... The old soldier had retired in 1965 after 25 years of service with the army. His wife died shortly afterwards and he felt a change of scenery was necessary and decided to move to Cuba. He stated that while he can live comfortably on his pension in Italy that here in Cuba he can live very well. He then introduced me to his second wife, a pretty Cuban girl many years his junior... The tourism business here has only recently gotten out of a multi-year slump. Originally the tropic paradise to go to for Italian travelers it had lost its popularity with the inclusion of Mozambique into the Empire. Only the recent increase in violence in Mozambique has made Cuba once again the tourist destination for Italians looking for a tropic resort. It is especially popular for young Italian men where it is the new fad in Italy to have a "Cuban girlfriend." They flock to the beaches to pick up the island’s native beauties. Do not feel bad for this island girls, they are far from naive and many an Italian boy goes home several thousand Lira poorer as a result..." February 23rd 1971 The "All in the Family " episode "The Friend Benny Comes to Visit" airs for the first time and will become one of the most if not most controversial episode of the show for its portrayal of American Fascists. The premise of the episode is that Archie’s son-in-law Mike invited an old hippie friend he had not seen in years over for dinner following his return to the United States after spending a year in Europe. What Mike doesn’t know is that since the last time he saw his friend Benny(a play on Benito) had become a diehard Fascist. Everyone is in for a shock when at the door shows up a well-spoken clean cut man wearing a black shirt and has just come back from his "Grand Tour of Fascism." Sparks fly as politics is quickly brought up in the threeway debate and Archie complaining that an "Itie Fascist" is in his house but eventually starts reluctantly agreeing with Benny on some levels. As the show nears its conclusion Mike demands that Benny leave saying their friendship is over, Edith(Archie’s wife) intervenes with a gem of wisdom reminding Mike that him and Benny have been friends since they were children and that they should still be friends despite their political differences. A last minute reconciliation between the two leads to everyone sitting down for dinner. Italian and anti-fascist groups attack this episode for its stereotypical portrayal of Italian-Americans as fascists and for what appears to be a very positive and friendly take on the character with the other characters acting as if its perfectly acceptable to a fascist in the end. Even with the heavy criticism "Benny" rates highly with test audiences and will go on to become a minor recurring character in the series. March 5th 1971 The Pakistani Army moves into East Pakistan(Bangladesh.) March 14th 1971 Princess Margarita gives birth to a son. He is named Emanuele Filiberto. March 25th 1971 Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan initiating the Bangladeshi Independence War. April 3rd 1971 A dispute arises between Antoine Cartier(son of Henri Cartier) and Claude Aubert a long time friend of the late Cartier over who was given permission to continue writing the sequel book to "Last Bastille Day." Antoine contends that the right to write the sequel automatically extends to him since his father was the original author. Aubert states that the senior Cartier gave him permission to write a book based in the same universe and he is going to use that right to finish the sequel. April 5th 1971 Amedeo Guillet is made an honorary Field Marshall by the Argentina and will establish a core curriculum of classes for prospective Argentine officers. End of Part 12.
Please visit my forum for discussion and access to new parts as they become available. http://z11.invisionfree.com/LongVinsWritingDen/index.php?
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