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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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Italy 1936 - An alternate Italian history of World War II Part 18 By Vincent Longobardi
May 5th 1949 The Council of Europe is founded. It consists of all the democratic nations of Europe except for Switzerland. May 12th 1949 The Blockade on Berlin is lifted. May 20th 1949 After being denied admittance to the Council of Europe, Portugal requests and receives membership in the Lira Block. July 20th 1949 The Arab-Israeli war comes to an end with the signing of a truce between Israel and Syria. August 29th 1949 The Soviet Union tests its first Atomic Bomb. September 1949 The Federal Republic of Germany is founded. Mussolini announces that a plebiscite will be conducted by December to decide the fate of Italian controlled lands claimed by the French. October 1st 1949 Mao Zedong declares the formation of the People’s Republic of China. October 5th 1949 Anti-Fascist riots breakout throughout Greece. October 7th 1949 Amidst escalating riots, the Hellenic Council deploys the army to put an end to the rioting. The Democratic Republic of Germany is founded. October 10th 1949 The Italian military presence is increased around Italian embassies and consuls as well as military bases in Greece. October 14th 1949 Violence in Greece reaches unseen levels with 12 square blocks in Athens burnt down in a single day. Morale of Greek forces plummet and desertion becomes widespread. October 17th 1949 Italian Fighter Jets conduct overflies over Athens and drop down to treetop level to buzz protestors. Many protestors afraid that Italian Blackshirts are on their way begin fleeing sapping considerable strength from the riots. October 21st 1949 Greek forces gain the upper hand against the rioters. November 10th 1949 Peace is restored in Greece. However the riots did show how weak the Hellenic Council and how reliant they are on Italian support. November 12th 1949 Mussolini asks his generals to create a contingency plan for intervention in Greece should anymore uprisings occur. December 5th 1949 The Roman Empire holds a plebiscite in Savoy, Nice, Tunisia, Djibouti and Corsica. They have the choice of being returned to France or staying a part of the New Roman Empire, Corsica has the additional choice of independence. December 10th 1949 The polls are closed and the votes are being tallied. The results are expected within the week. December 16th 1949 The results are announced. Savoy and Nice have voted by a large margin to remain in the Roman Empire. Corsica has also voted to stay in the Empire but by a much smaller margin, in Corsica a large minority of votes went to independence. Both Tunisia and Djibouti stayed within the Empire by the smallest of margins. *Note: There was considerable government intervention within the elections. The European territories were flooded with Fascist party members before the election. Votes in favor of French control were also thrown out. The African territories had the least interference but just enough to turn the elections.* December 17th 1949 France protests the elections and demands the rest of the world consider them null and void. December 18th 1949 France’s allies in NATO though sympathizing with France do not take a stance on the election in Italy. December 20th 1949 Savoy, Nice, Corsica, Tunisia and Djibouti are officially incorporated into the New Roman Empire. January 6th 1949 Great Britain officially recognizes the People’s Republic of China. The Republic of China severs all ties with Britain. January 7th 1950 Mussolini announces that Rome will never betray her friends in China and will never accept Mao’s government. February 1950 Construction on the latest Italian aircraft carrier is completed. The Imperator will start its sea trials within the next few weeks and should be in active service by July. The Soviet Union and Communist China sign a Mutual Defense Pact. March 4th 1950 The Jupiter team brings the first Italian nuclear reactor online. Some members of the team argue that this is a waste of valuable uranium which could have been used for creating a bomb. Most scientists including Fermi feel this is a necessary step for any future nuclear program. Current estimates for an Italian atomic bomb is that one will be ready by mid to late 1952. March 8th 1950 The Soviet Union announces it has an atomic bomb. March 10th 1950 Within the Roman government a panic arises with the Soviet announcement of atomic weaponry. It was always assumed Italy would obtain an atomic bomb first and would have leverage over the Russians or at least a balance. More alarming, the military has no contingency plan for this situation. Jupiter project members are summoned before the Grand Council on the possibility of accelerating construction of a bomb. March 12th 1950 In a 8 hour session before the Grand Council. Enrico Fermi and other project leaders of Jupiter explain their gains and the status of the project. When asked if they could finish any quicker they respond with, that the research is completed and that a bomb could be constructed immediately except for the lack of the required uranium or plutonium. Barring any major changes in the gathering and enrichment of these materials production will continue on schedule. March 13th 1950 The Grand Council agrees that the Empire will not take any hostile action against the Soviet Union and will do nothing that could provoke an attack. May 1950 Thousands of Hungarian and Romanian refugees run the gauntlet into the Italian controlled Balkans. Dodging Soviet patrols and crossing the border does not necessarily mean safety, they often then have to cross through Italian minefields and walls of barbed wire. Despite this, thousands over the past 5 years have already decided to make the run and more continue to do so everyday. While initially welcoming the refugees, the situation has entered into epidemic proportions. Italy has to provide homes and jobs for these people and while they are kept on the border in border-towns there is still the fear of letting in Soviet Spies. June 28th 1950 The start of the Korean War with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. July 1950 The Imperator enters into service with the Italian Navy making it Italy’s fourth operational aircraft carrier. August 1950 In Sardinia the Italian rocket team has mounting success with its test models and reports to Rome that a weaponized version of the missile may be ready within the year. September 30th 1950 NSC-68 is enacted by Truman. This report sets the stage for American foreign policy with the Soviet Union and preparations for a possible war. In it, one suggestion for weakening the Soviet Union is to reestablish ties with Italy and promote military cooperation. Italy has strong strategic positions in the Balkans and by controlling access to the Black Sea. October 7th 1950 The Chinese launch an invasion of Tibet. November 4th 1950 Recognizing that the diplomatic and economic isolation of Spain and Greece has had very little effect with the availability of cheap Italian goods the United Nations votes to lift the diplomatic sanctions against Spain and Greece. Talks of the lifting of diplomatic sanctions against Italy are also underway but faces serious setbacks since many major parties in the United Nations still hold strong feelings against Italy. November 8th 1950 Italian-American political activists start pushing for the normalization of relationships between Italy and the United States. Leaders of these movements are confident that they will make this issue "THE issue" by the 1952 presidential election. November 22nd 1950 Anti-British revolts break out throughout Egypt. December 3rd 1950 Mount Etna erupts in Italy causing damage to the surrounding area. End of Part 18.
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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