French Trafalgar, British Waterloo (1940-1978)

Third Global War
The global calamity that was the, which lasted from the Argentinean Invasion of on February 17, 1940, to the Unconditional Surrender of  on December 5, 1946. The war was fought by two major alliances: the National Socialist nations of the world, namely, the and the , united in the. The other alliance, the, was composed mostly of the world's democracies, such as and the , as well as the right-wing and Sorelist dictatorships of  and. In all, it is estimated that over 100 million people around the world, which includes military and civilian deaths, as well as the estimated 23 million killed in the National Socialist nations based on race and culture called the Holocaust.

Europe in Ashes
The bitter fight in Europe, which started with the combined assault on Imperial France by German armored spearheads and the British Royal Marines, ended six years later after the atomic destruction of Berlin by a French nuclear weapon. Though the French campaign, originally expected to last three months tops, dragged on for a year before Emperor Louis II left across the Mediterranian to the colony of Algeria with most of the armed forces, in a miracle of organization and planning called "." After the supposed destruction of France, the invasion of Russia, was launched in May of 1942, nearly destroying the unready Poles and Russian Empire. But in a brave last stand in front of Moscow, the Russian army proved its resilience, and halted, and drove back the National Socialists. It would be another four bloody years of combat, and the French return to the homeland via Italy, and the eventual New World invasion of the United Kingdom (and the overthrow of ) and "Natso" Europe. However, the unleashing of the atom, in a race that all the major nations took part in, was just barely won by Germany and Britain, who used the power to level St. Petersburg and Lyon in radio active dust. But in response, the League of Nations used atomic weapons on Germany (as Britain was now fully occupied), destroying Hamburg and Leipzig. The incidental death of, the "Fuhrer" of Germany, at Leipzig, at last allowed General Erwin Rommel, the so-called "Knight of the Steppe," to surrender.

The Fight in the New World
As the war in Europe and South America raged, it seemed unlikely, at first, that North America would be drawn in. That is, until the, ongoing since 1937, spilled over into in July 1942. As the US attempted to try to resolve the crisis in the North, the Confederacy and the launched its sneak attack on the US from the reclaimed Kentucky, quickly occupying Ohio and Indiana, and splitting the US in two. The factories in the East, cut off from supplies from the west, began to ground to a halt, but President, a former supporter of Appeasement, rallied the nation to resist, and convinced and  to join in the fight. The wealth and resources of Alyseka and Mexico helped to divert the National Socialist attention from the US, allowing America, along with Assiniboia and Alyseka, to launch a counter attack in January 1944 that relinked the nation but it took until September to ready for an assault on the CSA itself. In this regard, the South American allies had defeated Argentina,, and  in turn, and launched an amphibious assault on the Gulf coast, surrounding the CSA, and dooming it. The war in North America ended with the capture of President on March 2, 1945, when all attention was focused then on Europe.

Asia in Upheaval
At the time of the start of the Third Global War, and imperialist had been driving deep into the fractured and divided. However, the invasion had brought the three bickering sides together in a common goal of driving Japan out of China. With all three sides working together: the communists under Mao Zedong, Lou Tseng-Tsiang's Greater China Movement (with a thinly disgusied National Socialist agenda), and Yan Huiqing, leader of the Yellow Dragon's, which called for a new Chinese Empire and rooting out Foreign influence. However, as the alliance was formed, it was soon clear that Lou Tseng-Tsaing was the most powerful of the three, as he was able to bring in those from the other factions quite easily. After the death of Huiqing druing the Battle of Nanking in 1941, the Yellow Dragon's virtually disolved, the majority joining the Greater China Movement, renamed the Chinese National Party. With the now overwhelming power of Tseng-Tsaing, and thast the fight against Japan had managed to liberate much of the coastal area's, including Shanghai and Beijing, the CNP made its move, and on March 15, 1942 atatcked the Communists, virtually shattering the unready Red Army. Mao fled to Russia with the remains of the Red Army, while the CNP began its plan to dominate Asia. An invasion of French Indo-china and Burma achieved great success, which was followed by the surendering of the last Japanese Armies in Manchuria in 1943. However, the CNP had overstretched itself, and its policy of "cleansing" China made the population, tired of war, revolt against the National Socialists. With the army split between defending the coast from a new invasion from Japan, in South-East Asia, and in Russia hunting down Mao, the revolt soon captured Bejing. The Japanese took this opportunity and invaded China again, though this time as liberators and not conquerors. The heroic French stand in Indo-China soon turned into a rout of the Chinese army, and and invasion of Southern China by the army lead by General Jacques Leclerc soon took over Hong Kong. However, the CNP refused to yield by the time the German Surrender in Europe, so it was decided to use another nuclear weapon, this time aimed at Shenyang. After a final nuke was used on Zhengzhou, a coup by Chinese General's killed Tseng-Tsaing, and signed an unconditional surrender. The Third Global War was now finally over.

The Hard Won Peace
With the war finally at an end, and National Socialism dead, it was time to try to rebuild the world. The first step was to determine the price and territorial adjustments to be made. France decided that, for once and for all, to destroy the power of Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. Germany was divided in two, with most of the land west of the Rhine and Hanover being directly annexed into the French Empire, while the rump German state became the Protectorate of Prussia. Northern Italy was also annexed, and Southern Italy became another protectorate. The United Kingdom was divided between a French dominated and American supported, while the US still had a presence in  which had been ravaged by the National Socialist presence. The population reduced from roughly 4 million to nearly 400,000 in forced labor and concentration camps that resulted in the death of thousands. The Confederacy was divided between a Latin-American occupied zone in the Southern States and a US zone in the Northern CSA. However, neither side would allow the other to begin the process of Unification, so by 1950, the was formed with US backing, and the  in the south by the Brazilian lead alliance.

In South America, a major redrawing of the map took place. Argentina was stripped of much land which was given to Brazil and Chile, while Venezuela was completely dismantled, divided between Colombia and Brazil. Peru and Bolivia, after having land taken from them by the victorious allies, were forcibly united into the.

The Organization of Sovereign Nations
Another of the first major plans was to establish, for the first time in the world's history, an international body which should help to bring the world's countries together. Pushed for by US President and Russian Prime Minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin, and with the support of the French Empire, the  was formed on January 1, 1947, made up of all the members of the winning Grand Alliance. By 1952, most of the neutral nations of the war had also joined, and in 1954 the losing nation's and their new governments finally joined the organization.

Some of the first efforts of the OSN was to try to provide loans to rebuild the war torn nations of the world, but were hampered by America, French and Russian difficulties in providing funds, and the majority had to be provided by smaller nations like Australasia, Assiniboia, Alyeska and Persia, who experienced a post war boom due to their relatively undamaged economies and their ability to export their resources to rebuild both the victorious and the vanquished.

The Russian Revolution
Despite the success of the Imperial Russian Armies in the Third Global War, discontent with the Romanov Dynasty reached its peak as the war drew to a close. Czar Micheal, who's only son was illegitimate, had sown the seeds when he pressured his brother, Nicholas II to allow his son to take a place in the Line of succession after himself. This was met with shock and outrage in Russia, but Nicholas agreed, and George was made second in line for the throne. After Nicholas died in 1937 and Micheal assumed the throne, there were protests and revolts, and the extremely harsh measures used to stop the turned many against the monarchy, despite Micheal having no role in ordering and executing those measures. The war, and Micheal's determination to stay in St. Petersburg, even as the National Socialist armies closed in, rallied the people around him, and managed to eventually turn the tide.

The stress of the war, however, killed Micheal a few short weeks after the victory, and the crisis of the Romanov succession, dropped during the war, reared its ugly head again. George was crowned the czar, but almost immediately after, his war record was called into question. It was known that he was purposely given the command post on the Persian border, and actively dodged combat duties. Although he had tried to get his father to give him a command on the front with China or the West, he was kept on the border with the neutral nation. As well, the efforts by the new Czar to try get more handle in day to day operations of the Empire soon turned more people, and most of the Duma against him. Non-violent protests, strikes and work stoppages soon shut down the empire, but George refused to budge, but every effort to try to salvage his reputation backfired or didn't go far enough. On 8 August 1948, Prime Minister Vyacheslav Skryabin, one of the most popular and respected politicians in Russia since Leon Trotsky, flatly stated to Czar George that, unless he abdicated, the Prime Minister and his cabinet would resign, and the Empire would collapse. George at last conceded, and announced he would abdicate the next day in favor of his cousin Andri, a respected Air Force officer during the war. However, Andri said he would only accept the throne if the citizens of the empire approved it. A referendum was held to decided the fate of Russia, and it narrowly came to voting down the monarchy, 47% to 53%. A new constitution was drawn up and approved in 1949, and Russia became a republic, with Skryabin being named the first.

Cold War, Hot Peace
However, despite the work to defeat the National Socialist nations, the also showed the bitter tensions and the rift that had come between the three major "groups": the South American Allies lead by, the North American Allies lead by the United States, and the French allies, which included  and her allies. This has lead to increasing tensions between the major powers, which has ultimately called the.

The conflict was perhaps most interesting in the fact that France and the United States, allies since the days of Napoleon, were now hostile enemies. The relationships of the two nations, now superpowers in every sense of the word, had now fractured, almost from the moment the war ended. The disagreements had started when French Prime Minister and American President, during a conference held in , nearly came to blows over the decisive course of the war, which France believed should control Europe for the cost of the war, while the US tried to speak for the liberation of the peoples of Europe to reform the nations into democratic societies. In the end, France would win the argument, and later create the "Greater French Empire", which stretched over most of Western Europe, North and Central Africa and South-East Asia.

The United States, with its allies stretching across North America, and reaching, and , stood as the only major democratic force in the world. In 1949, this was solidified in the, which created a globe spanning alliance to counter the forces of "...oppression, hate, bigotry, dictatorship and misery," in the words of Assiniboian President.

"Decade of Change" in Brazil
As Brazil was a major contributor to the victory of the Third Global War, the Empire was one of the founding members of the OSN, as well as a great power in its own right. Although friendly with both America and France, Brazil did its best to distance itself from either alliance, as they did not wish to be involved in any war between the two nuclear capable nations.

Domestic concerns were a more pressing issue, as the monarchy was starting to wobble and was nearing collapse. The long rule of Empress Isabel until 1921, then the reign of her son Pedro III until 1949 when he died had given Brazil a stable sense of identity and government, but this had been overthrown when it became clear that Pedro III was not going to have a heir. When he died, the issue was thrown to the Imperial Parliament. A strong Liberal majority forced a referendum, which only narrowly came to support a republic. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, a popular politician and former Prime Minister during the Third Global War, was named interim president until an election could be held in 1950, which he easily won. His Brazilian Progress Party dominated the new Parliament, and he worked on a series of social welfare projects and industrialization concerns in order to propel Brazil forward.

In 1955, at the age of 73, Vargas announced that he would not seek re-election. The Brazilian Progress Party named Emílio Garrastazu Médici as their candidate, who easily won despite misgivings by Vargas. He was to be proven correct when Médici orchestrated the majority in Parliament to hand all power to him, where he established himself as dictator by 1957. With this new position, Brazil's economy started to stagnate as his cronies were put in charge of the major businesses and state-run corporations, and the army was expanded and made more powerful, and the Brazilian Bloc soon centered around him personally. By 1960, he was the most powerful man in South America, the head of the a Great Power and a loose military alliance.

The British Isles War
In the Aftermath of the War, the British Isles had been divided between the US and France, with American controlled and, and Imperial dominated. The division between the two newly independent countries was based along the ancient boundary of the two ancient kingdoms, but almost from the beginning both sides were annoyed at the division, as both thought their boundaries would be further north or south. England, under their new Prime Minster, former General and defector to France in 1940, Bernard Montgomery sought to rearrange the borders in England's favor by force. France secretly sent supplies and weapon's to the English. Scotland, under Alexander Fleming, feared for the saftey of his new nation, but President did not share this point of view, so only the most limited of weapon's and supplies were sent to the nation. However, on March 6, 1951, President Marshall was proven wrong when the English attacked the north.

Despite the drive to the north, which captured Glasgow and Edinburgh with two weeks of the beginning of the war, America promised everything she could to help, and got the rest of the Juneau Pact on board as well. As the Scottish and the few American forces that remained were pushed back, President Marshall and Secretary of State Joseph Goebbels tired to get the League of Nations involved. France, however, did its best to try to prevent America and the Juneau Pact from interfering. France was hoping to allow the superior English armies, many of whom were veterans of the war, to knock Scotland out. However Marshall, annoyed with the delaying tactics, went ahead and convened an emergancy meeting of the Juneau Pact, and got the alliance to agree to send a support force, starting with two divisions of Marines. After the marines, under General Henry Barcortt, helped to organize the Scottish to defend the pocket around the city of Aberdeen, and eventually turned the tide, soon driving the English out of Scotland.

However, under direct command of President Marshall, General Barcortt was to halt at the disputed boundary. He venomously protested the orders, and actually tried to provoke the English to attack north again to allow him to push south. When news arrived in Washington of Barcortt's actions, he was immediately sacked by Marshall, and General Philip J. Harford was assigned in his place. By this time, the English had reorganized themselves, and launched a new attack under General Montgomery himself, which succeeded in smashing through the Juneau Pact defensive lines. A delaying action by Assiniboian Colonel Kenneth G. Bugg managed to allow the majority of the defenders to escape and regroup. Colonel Bugg and his regiment only surrendered after ten days of fighting, holding off three British division's. When he finally did surrender, Montgomery himself gave the order to ensure that Colonel Bugg, nor his men, were to be mistreated for their "unrelenting heroism and devotion to duty, even if it was for the enemy." However, he had ensured that the Scottish would not be defeated in 1951, and winter set in before any more offensive operations could be taken.

Establishment of Palestine
With the massive destruction caused by the Natso German's in Europe during the war made many Jews, how had been primarily targeted and nearly slaughtered as a whole, asked other nations to allow them to return the Holy Land of Palestine. France and Russia were eager to support this, both of whom saw a bulwark against the increasing power of in the Middle East to be in their best interests.

However, the majority of the population of the Middle East was primarily Arabian and Muslim, and though they origianlly welcomed the Jews with open arms since the end of the war, considering them to be refugees from a tyrannical system. However, as more and more came, with the increasing pressure to create their own state, resistance first appeared. Acts of discrimination of the shrinking Arab majority, which soon turned to open violence with the formation of the Palestine Defense Council in 1949, made the nations of Europe, Persia and sit up and take notice. The area, being a French Colony, was still under control from Paris, and Prime Minister Petain did not want to have yet another war, while France was still recovering from the Third Global War. Therefore, the Organization of Sovereign Nations was asked to try to resolve the dipute. President Skryabin of Russia vollunteered to chair the meeting, and the Council of Jeruselum was convened in 1951. A leader from the Jews, the Arabs, as well as Persian, French, Egyptian and, after much hastle, the United States (which aggreed to set aside the issues of the British Isles War, still unresolved at this time), all met in the fabled city. Negotiations continued for over 18 months, during which time tensions about the increasing Jewish population in the region, and the Muslim backlash to this, nearly brought the meeting to a unsuccessful conclussion. However, on November 16, 1952, all sides shook hands, and the Agreement of Jeruselum was signed.

The agreement called for the establishment of a unified Palestine state, where both Jews and Arabs will work together. The new government would be a model of compromise: the Presidency would be a two year post, where the President and Prime Minister, one of which must be a Jew, the other a Arab, would switch at the end of the two years. The Council of Represntatives would be composed of members elected by the people, while the Palestinian Seante would be composed of an equal number of Jews and Arabs.

The declaration of as an independent state was meet with celibration, and a collective sigh of relief around the world, as this possible hotspot was dealt with before it could burst into flames.

The Start of the Tri-Powers Conflict
With the lack of offensive operations after 1951, the started to wind down, with only some air and naval operations taking place. On September 5, 1952, a ceasefire was signed, ending the combat operations of the war. However, no peace treaty was ever signed, so the ceasefire only barely holds to this day.

However, the, sometimes called the "Cold War" soon took its place. The antagonism between the Juneau Pact Nations, and the newly formed, lead by France, soon started to spiral out of control. American and Allied soldiers left Germany and France in 1953, while the French contingent in the divided Confederacy left the next year. The debate over the punishing of the war criminals, which originally was going to be done by a United Tribunal of the League of Nations, was instead decided to be held separately, and that the nation's who captured the accused being tried under that nations. However this resulted in that some of those convicted, including Confederate Major Joshua Neilford, convicted of ordering the execution of American POW's being exonerated by Brazil (as he was acting under orders), while the US bitterly opposed this, but couldn't do anything about it, as Major Neilford was granted asylum in Brazil, and was not given to the American's to try as a war criminal.

The Failure of the "Truman Doctrine"
With the election of in 1953, the Tri-Powers Conflict moved away from a political confrontation to one with a more ideological perspective. Truman, with his "freedom at any cost" rhetoric, was swept into the White House, and immediately set out to secure peace for the democratic world. However, his bellicose stance, including expanding the army, increasing the nuclear arsenal, and an increasingly stringent stance on the diplomatic front soon turned the public and the international community against the US. The last straw, however, broke out in 1955, when it became known that the US was sponsoring revolutionaries in areas occupied by France, Brazil and Japan. These fights were being sponsored by US intelligence services, under authorization of President Truman, and many of the plots were simply unthinkable, and had they been achieved, would have been paramount to war. One of these plots included the assassination of Emperor Louis II of France and Emperor Hirohito of Japan to cause civil war.

Harry Truman was indited on charges of overstepping Presidential authority and for charges of trying to spark an aggressive war, and was impeached from office, only the second president to do so in history. His Vice-President, was sworn in, and spent the rest of the term trying to restore some semblance of normalcy to the nation, but all of his efforts were unable to solve the diplomatic and internal problems. In the 1956 election, Nationalist candidate was elected, and started to tackle the economic and external problems that plagued America. However, he suffered a heart attack in the Oval Office on December 6, 1958, and resigned his post a month later, leaving to his successor the economic problems of the US, and the beggining of a revolt in Occupied California.

French Dominance and the Death of Pétain
With France now secure in Western Europe, and with vassal states and minor allies in Eastern Europe, and almost all of non-Free Africa under her command, the French Empire had reached the height of its power.

However, the economy was in shambles from the destruction of France by both the Natso British and German invasions, and the armed forces, victorious in the conflict, was now exhausted, in serious disrepair, and a hodgepodge mixture of prewar designs, purchases from allies and captured equipment. The high command and the various ministries had been thrown into chaos after Operation Phoenix, was returning to Paris to find their offices in rubbled and the documents either destroyed or gone missing. And with the aging of Prime Minister Pétain, the various leaders tried to do their best to stand in the war hero's graces, and secure the position needed to succeed Pétain.

On the night of March 17, 1959, Prime Minister Pétain died in his sleep of a massive heart attack. Emperor Louis II called for a week of mourning, and the funeral at Notre Dame Cathedral was an exhibition of the greatness of Pétain, and how he transformed France into the Empire it was at his death. The funeral was attended by many dignitaries from around the world, including President Vyacheslav Skryabin of Russia and Japanese Prime Minister. However, the President of the United States, Joseph McCarthy did not attend, mostly due to his health issues at the time. However, this was considered a snub by the former allies.

The race to replace Pétain began almost the minute it was announced he had died. By the middle of the week of mourning, two contenders seemed to to be ready to battle it out: Marshal Charles de Gaulle, a hero of the Third Global War and now the Minister of Defense, and Paul Ramadier, a leader of the French Resistance during the occupation of Metropotalitan France by the Natso British and German armies. Eventually, de Gaulle was able to out maneuverer Ramadier, and secured the support of the, and its leader André Marie. Three days after the funeral, Emperor Louis II appointed de Gaulle the new Prime Minister of Imperial France.

Quebec and Scottish Missle Crisis
On May 7, 1960, American reconicasnce planes over French allied Quebec discovered missle sites being deloped in the former area of Labrador. The medium range missles would have been able to reach Washington D.C., once again the capital of the United States. This sparked a crisis in the White House, which the belicose Curtis LeMay, Vice President under the recently resigned Joseph McCarthy, decided to confront head on by establish nuclear missles in Scotland, which the new President, Charles MacDougall, readily agreed to a few months before, and missles, without the warheads, had already been secretly installed.

On May 25, the first ships carrying the nuclear warheads were sent to Scotland. However, they were stopped by English warships off the coast of Ireland, and were inspected to reveal the nuclear warheads. France was furious, and under Priemer de Gaulle, demanded the US witdraw the missles from Scotland, which was in reach within many cities of Metropotlian France and the Empire. At this point, President LeMay revealed the French missles in Quebec, which shocked many in the US, and sparked fear in both the America's and France. However, in a late night meeting on May 29 between the French and US Ambassadors to the Organization of Sovereign States in St. Petersburg, a deal was reached were both nations can maintain missles in Quebec and Scotland, respectively, but that the nuclear warheads be deactivated and removed, and a OSN inspection team would oversee this process. The world breathed a sigh of relief, though this was not ideal to either government, who wished the other's missles removed and their own to remain.

Rebellion in the America's
With the end of the Third Global War, nations like and the  were annexed and dismanteled. With the canadian province of Ontario being divided between and, while Atlantic Canada went as a whole to Quebec, the population of the areas occupied by the French allied Quebcouis seethed with anger, breaking out into riots and and attempted a March on Montreal in 1949. However, the Quebec army violently crushed the rebellion under the command General Maurice Richard, while the newly formed Quebec National Police Force swooped in, arresting thousands in the Night of Tears on January 6, 1950, and sending them to camps established in Northern Quebec and Labrador. This effectivly hobbeled the Canadian patriots; leaderless, with broken morale and teriffied that they may be picked up. Assiniboia had a much easier time, as they did their best to establish good will among the people, though most of the area they took over was wilderness.

The Californian Independence Movement


The Pacific Republic was annexed by the United States and, which gave the newly minted superpower and the loyal Brazilian ally a massive stretch of land and over 32 million people. However, the annexation was protested, and different groups tried to mount a resistance, which Mexico crushed like the Quebecois did in Occupied Canada, but the US Army managed to clamp down and destory the rebellions as they popped out without the heavy handed tactics of the dictatorships. But in 1958, a new struggle was launched, led by former Pacific Republic army officer Ronald Reagan, the head of the Californian Independence Movement. Reagan first started by trying to drive out the American Army out of bases near the major centers, byt this resulted in higher than expected casulaties by the rebels. As well, under the leadership of General George Patton (the Military Governor of the Occupied Territories), the rebels were continuously pushed back. Reagan tried to limit the violent aspects of the movement, but renegades within the movement soon launched a wave of terror through California.

General Patton was considered ineffective of trying to pacify the rebelious territory, as violence mounted and casulaties grew. Patton himself was attacked three times by rebels between 1961 and 1963, but the forth time in 1964 resulted in his assassination, and his replacement by the young General John F. Kennedy, who, under pressure from Washington, was forced to try to fight the rebels. The young generals policy lead to a wave of destruction, anger and violence that soon grew out of control, with American soilders being targeted and killed by the dozens each week. Kennedy kept asking for more troops, hoping that by confining the rebels to certian areas, then dealing with them from there, was the key to pacifying this "minor Western problem."

Escalation from France, and Morrison's Plan


France, under Primer Charles de Gaulle, recognized the need to try to fight America were ever it was struggling, so managed to convince its ally to send weapons and support to the Californian Rebels. Japan zealously undertook this task, sending weapons to California, as well as advisors. Within the Californian Independence Movement there were different factions, but Japanese (and later French) weapons were mostly funneled to those that were extreme right winger's, the so called "Cali's," who were the more violent and extreme of the many groups in the CIM. Reagan tried to purge the movement of Cali's, but was promptly told by his French and Japanese Advisors to mind his own buisness. The CIM's job was to hary the American's, and ultimatly defeat them, with help from France and Japan. If Reagan did try to force out the Cali's, thn French and Japanese support would disappear. Reagan acquised, but secretly approached the American's to try to end the fight, with California gaining representation in the US Congress.



The United States continued to pour troops in, Kennedy claiming that victory was "right around the corner." However, an improvised explosive device on a highway General Kennedy's convoy was traveling on exploded, destroying the General's armored transport, and knocking the General into a coma in 1965. A replacement was sent in the form of General Marion Mitchell Morrison, who, having studied his predecessors, developed the "Pacification Plan #1". In Morrison's plan, he took the belief that the rebels, who had by this time drove many ordinary people away from them with their violent attacks, could be further isolated by helping to defend these towns that the rebels had been fighting for, which would cut of the gruellia's support chain, ultimatly leaving the CIM out of the loop with the people. With the help of Reagan, who gave the hideouts of the Cali's, the US Army soon went on the offensive, destroying the rightest encampments. Other fighters were given amnesty to lay down their arms, and many soon became the leaders of the militias the US Army set up in villages to fight the Cali's.

The Assassination of President LeMay, and the End of the CIM


However, the Assassination of President in Chicago in 1966 stunned the nation, and Vice-President Edward R. Morrow, in his first speech as President, announced that intelligence had found that it was the Cali's that killed the President. Although no information was released to support this, and conspiracy theories continue to abound, the nation cried for blood. General Morrison went before Congress to defend his plan, only recently started, to ensure that another hothead doesn't undo the already visable results that were being achieved. General Morrison and President Morrow both asked the nation for calm, and the general then went to work, implementing his plan fullscale.

With the support and public links severed, and their bases and hideouts bombed and destroyed by the US Army as per Varmont's plan, the extremists in the Californian Independence Movement soon were on the run, and many surrendered in droves. By 1968, the CIM was virtually destroyed, with the extremist leaders being put on trial. Ronald Reagan also went on trial, captured by units in San Francisco, but was acquitted when it was revealed that he had ultimately betrayed his own movement.

It was ultimately found out that France and Japan had sent weapons to the Californian Rebels, which sparked outrage in America, tired of the war that made 450,000 soldiers fight, resulting in casualties that had skyrocketed to over 175,000. President Morrow demanded compensation, which France and Japan meekly agreed too, though no deal was ever fully worked out.

Jockeying for Supremacy
By the 1960's, it was becoming clear that if the Tri-Powers conflict were to go nuclear, the result could be the end of humanity as it was then known. Therefore, the major powers decided that other, more "peacefull" pursuits was perhaps the best way to show the power of their nations.

The best example of this was the ""; the goal of which was to achieve firsts in the field of space exploration. France was the first leader, having sent the first satelitte, the "Napoleon I" into orbit in 1956, followed soon after with the first living organism sent into space (a dog named Georgies), and successfully bringing him back in 1958. America eventually replied by being the first to send a man into space (Jack Dearborn, in 1960), but due to pressures in the Californian Revolt, funding was cut in 1962 before the first extended space flight was achieved.

Premier de Gaulle took this oportunity, and in a speech to the Empire, announced that France would do its best to land a man on the Moon by 1975. French scientists and enginneers set to work, and by 1967, the first of the "Alouette" crafts were launched to test the program. Despite setbacks in Alouette 6, whcih exploded on the launch pad, killing the three Astronauts on board, the project continued as fast as possible.

President LeMay of the US, in one of his last acts before being assassinated, set a secret goal for America and her allies to land a man on the Moon before France. The Apollo project was launched, and the combined efforts of the International Space Exploration Agency (ISEA), composed of members of the Juneau Pact nations, soon advanced by leaps and bounds, achieving results rivaling France for time by months.

But, the race for the moon was a virtual dead heat. France launched Alouette 12 on July 15 1972, which was the first aimed for the moon, and managed to orbit the space body for a week before returning home. The US launched Apollo 10 in September of 1972, and also encircled the Moon.

France launched Alouette 13 on January 5, 1973, with the plan to land the astronauts on board to the Moon. America launched Apollo 11 a week later, and both craft rocketed toward the Moon. The rockets on the American craft were more powerful, allowing Apollo 11 to catch up with the earlier Alouette craft, and both rockets reached lunar orbit at the same time, and, over communication channels, agreed to land at the same time, much to the protests of their respective authorities. The sight of both craft landing on the lunar surface, and planting their flags on the moon was, either way, an enormously proud moment for both nations, were their animosities were temporarily forgotten, and both teams shook hands. Neil Armstrong, the American astronaut, and Pierre Laforte, his French counterpart, shook hands, and Armstrong reported to Mission Command in Bismark, Dakota "We have reached the surface of the Moon, and this is a small step for man, a giant leap for mankind." Laforte radioed back that "France and the world has achieved the previously unthinkable, and has landed on a stellar body never before visited. The remaining boundaries of all humanity is now achievable."

The Middle East in Arms
As the major powers set their sights on the Moon, the dangerously volatile Middle East was a tinderbox waiting for a spark. Two the the most powerful nations in the region, and  had formed regional power structures into two countering alliances, which in turn was a smaller bloc of the Juneau Pact and the European Defensive Alliance; Persia, and  were aligned with America and Russia, while Egypt,  and  found comrades with France. , considering the mixture of a Jewish and Arabian population, did not formally align with any one alliance, was considered a more likely candidate for Persia than Egypt. Only by the influence exercised by outside powers was war avoided, as both the Democracies and the Sorelist nations believed that a conflict in the Middle East may spread quickly to the rest of the world.

As 1970 dawned, the major political experts of the Middle East predicted that the Middle East could be kept at a low simmer for many more years. However all beats were off in April when an assassin killed Turkish President Cemal Gürsel, and the Turkish investigation found a plot to try to kill the hierarchy of the state to allow a coup by left-leaning Generals to take over Turkey and dismantle the Sorelist dictatorship. This lead to finger pointing and accusations against Persia and the Juneau Pact, as they would benefit from a friendly power controlling the Dardanelles.

First Middle Eastern War
The new President of Turkey, Emin Özdilek immediately had the generals named in the plot arrested and imprisoned, and sent loyal Generals to reinforce the Persian border. This alarmed Tehran, and reflexively called up the reserves and sent forcecs to the common border with Turkey. President Özdilek asked the Leader of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, if they would come to the aid of Turkey in any war against Persia, but Sadat remained non-committal, unsure what France would say. But President Özdilek took it that Turkey would if the circumstances were right, aka, if Turkey was attacked first. Therefore, Turkey was planning on provoking Persia to attack first, so they can "liberate Mesopotamia from Persian influence," possibly with Egyptian and Arabian help.

Persia, under the aging Shah Mirza Qajar, knew it had to act due to the possibly destabilizing effects of Turkey. Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan therefore got the cabinet to authorize a first strike, using the powerful air force to strike at different targets in Turkey (and possibly Egypt if they enter the war), and prepare to attack Arabia and Turkey using land forces. On April 31, 1970 the first part of Plan Red was instituted, using waves of fighters and bombers to bombard radar stations, supply dumps, administrative centers, airbases with planes still on the ground and tanks in indefeasible launching off points and other military targets, overwhelming the unready anti-air forces of Turkey in a massive show of force, most planes being able to launch four sorties versus the average Turkish two.

Egypt, caught by surprise of the Persian attack, then declared war on the 1st of May, and almost immediately was hammered by airplanes that were allowed through Palestinian airspace to bomb Egypt. Egypt then instituted its own plan a few hours after the first wave struck Egyptian targets, Operation Jerusalem, to quickly capture and knock out Palestine (which was erroneously believed to be supporting Persia already). Palestine was furious, and the first wave of airplanes from Persia were allowed to land and reload in Palestine after the news of the attack was heard in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian's, believing to be mostly safe in their neutrality, had only partially mobilized its reserves before hand, with them still spread through out the country. But in a feat of military genius, and with the help of Persian air-superiority, where able to maneuver all its forces to the Egyptian front to hold off the attack within two days. Under General's Yitzhak Rabin and Nureddin al-Atassi, the Palestinian's managed to stabilize the line less than 50 miles from the border, and began to push back against the unprepared, over stretched and exhausted Egyptian Amry. Meanwhile, a combined attack on Turkey by Palestine and Persia, under the overall command of Persian Field Marshall Mohammad Rezā Pahlavi, executed a brilliant attack, overwhelming the Turkish in a fierce three day battle

On April 4, with Egypt and Turkey virtually defeated, Arabia declared war under false Turkish pretenses (including showing a picture of a radar display of Persian planes returning to base as Turkish and Egyptian planes attacking Tehran). However, in another quick air attack, the Arabian Army was also quickly removed from the board, causing them to sue for peace two days later.

Results of the "Week Long War"
Clocking in at just a bit over seven days, the First Middle Eastern War was a decisive Persian and Palestinian triumph. The whole Giza Pinninsula was occupied, as was a stretch of land 25 miles wide along the entire Palestinian-Persian border of Turkey. Field Marshall Pahlavi, and General's Yitzhak Rabin and Nureddin al-Atassi would later be considered heros, and all three gained political positions within the next five years in their respective countries.

Egypt was wracked by a series of strikes, riots and revolts by unwilling, under trained reservists within a few weeks of the end of the war, though all were later crushed by regular forces. President Emin Özdilek of Turkey was booted out of office, and a military Junta, with support of France, came to power. Efforts to rebuild the army were sped up with French and European help, and the army's of both nations were given much more modern machines and weapons than they fought with before, and the anger of having their land taken would set the stage for the next war.

The 1973 Revolution
Despite the achievement of the French Space Program, the Europe spanning empire was a pot that was on the verge of boiling over. For one thing, the French ranged in the ways they treated those that were in their Empire: from acceptance in the French Swiss regions; to toleration in Flanders, Wallonia, Holland, Northern Italy and Barcelona to downright hostility to those in Western Germany. The colonies in Africa and Asia were considered to be higher in Paris's opinions than those of many of the European territories. Some area's of Germany still had war damage into the 1970's, and the majority of people lived in prefabricated houses and apartments that were notorious for their cheap construction and the use of inferior materials, which lead to many of those apartment buildings collapsing in the 1950s and 1960s. The puppet States, like, , and  were little better off; they were able to focus the majority of their resources to reconstruction, as the French took charge of their defense (and not allow them to maintain their own standing armies).

The colonies, despite an enlightened, progressive stance adopted by Napoleon in the 1830's during the first wave of colonialism to establish industry and a functioning economy, had been neglected in the aftermath of the Third Global War, so much needed modernization had still not taken place.

And even in France itself, conditions were not as good as they had been before the Natso invasions. Rationing, instituted in the Occupation had been continued by the Sorelist government when they returned, and continued until 1960, all the resources saved going to reconstruction and trying to insure security. By 1953, the French Economy had reached its pre-war height, though living standards were still lower due to the large expansion of the empire.

All this lead to the 1973 Revolution, which started on June 3, 1973, when French officer's arrested several suspected agitators in Berlin, Hamburg and Budapest in Hungary. The police had brutally beat them into confessing (though most were innocent), which resulted in the death of four of them. The incident, though tried to be covered up, was leaked by an informant in the French Police to certain resistance members in Germany and Holland. This lead to calls for strikes and protests, which soon rocked the majority of the Empire and the satellite states. The Army was overwhelmed trying to restore order, as many units refused to follow orders and even in some cases joined the revolutionaries. Martial law was declared and the entire empire descended into panic.

With the Empire (minus France and the colonies) in chaos, Primer de Gaulle issued his "carrot and stick" proposal on June 7: if the revolutionaries were to stop, the Empire would begin negotiations with the leaders and institute reforms. If they refused, then the people would be blacklisted, arrested and imprisoned, and the army will put down any flare ups. Indecision rocked the fragmented leadership: many in the puppet states lay down they weapons and returned to work. Many dallied with giving up, while a few managed to get other's to continue. Without a strong central leadership, the Security apparatus then swung into action, arresting thousands on the night of the 9-10, while the army moved in to surround those that refused to give up. By the evening of the 11th, the ring leaders had either been killed, fled to the country or been arrested, and the Revolution broken. However, the Hungarian phase would last another week, the bases for the revolutionaries based in neighboring Russia and Poland, until French pressure forced both nations to close them.

In the aftermath, de Gaulle did manage to give those that did lay down their arms some new rights and promises: billions was promised to help rebuild the crumbling housing and infrastructure, and amnesty was granted to the masses that had rose up. The leaders of the aborted attempts were arrested and put on trial, but the majority were acquitted, and the few that were sentenced had their sentences reduced.

But the few that still fought on after the "carrot and stick" proposal were dealt with more harshly. As they were, for the most part, in Germany and Hungary, they were placed under military occupation and martial law continued on into 1975. the leaders were all tried, and in an opposite of those that gave up, were almost all sentenced, the majority to prison, while some were to be executed.

Start of the Venezuelan War


The end of the unsuccessful Californian Rebellion was greeted with relief in the US and Juenau Pact nations, of which some had contributed troops. However, the anger at France, and Brazil in supplying materials to the "Cali's" infuriated many Americans, and Congress knew that they have to do something. Negotiations with both France and Japan for compensation ended in naught in 1969.

But by this time, the area formerly known as, divided in two by and Brazil after the National Socialist nation was destroyed had burst into open rebellion as well in 1967. Freedom forces lead by Rómulo Betancourt, and his "Cooperativa de Liberación Venezolana" (Venezuelan Liberation Cooperative, the CLV) mounted a fight against both Colombian and Brazilian occupying forces. The initial attacks involved ambushes and capturing supply stores to arm the rapidly growing movement, while the South American powers tried to clamp down. The heavy handed tactics, and the killing of innocents who refused to name those that were part of the CLV drove numbers higher.

The United States recognized the time was right to try to get its revenge on Brazil, and conducted negotiations with the rebels, who gladly accepted aid and military training, though both were highly secret and denounced. President Morrow spoke with representatives of the Congressional Intelligence Committee, that the "drop-kick" to Brazil and its allies was "to valuable to pass up," and both the Socialist and Nationalist members of the Committee agreed, and agreed to do all that was possible to support it.

Escalation, and Operation Fuego Rugiente


Brazil and Colombia were in a quandary. Their attempts to fight the Venezuelan War were to naught: the rebellion was growing stronger, and even in pitched battles the civilian clad freedom fighters were able to defeat the armies sent against them. Marshal Artur da Costa e Silva, head of the Unified High Command (created between Colombia and Brazil to fight the in 1974, after the Battle of Calcara ended with both major armies being defeated), proposed a new plan, Operation Fuego Rugiente, or "Roaring Fire", using napalm air strikes to destroy large sections of forest, while Special Forces teams would attack and kill enemy leaders.

Launching the first of the coordinated air raids throughout the territory, bombing and setting fire to millions of acres of jungle, caused very little damage to the CLV, which had cleverly exposed some camps which were of no strategic value, while the main, still viable camps were hidden nearby and not attacked. As well, the air campaign killed even more civilians, driving even more people into the arms of the CLV, which was able to arm them all with American weapons. The results of the Special Forces, however, was more destructive, as Rómulo Betancourt and his lieutenant, Luis Herrera Campins were both killed in 1975. But, by the end of the year, Jaime Lusinchi had taken over the CLV, and launched the finally blow against the Brazilians and Colombians.

The "Bolivar" Offensive, and the Re-establishment of Venezuela


Lusinchi got his primary military leaders together to help organize a new offensive in 1976, which was termed the "Bolivar" Offensive. Using new tactics, the soon gained the upper hand, liberating Caracas in May after multiple failed attacks in the past eight years. With the former capital under rebel control, Lusinchi declared that the People's Liberated Republic of Venezuela was formed, with himself as provisional president.

The popular support in Brazil and Colombia, long wanning due to higher death tolls and the tightening grip of the dictatorships ruling them, at last bottomed out with the fall of Caracas. Marches, strikes and riots throughout the two nations left the leader of Brazil, Emílio Garrastazu Médici, with no option but to run, fleeing into exile in, while the Colombian dictator, Misael Pastrana Borrero, was captured and killed by the revolution. The military tried to restore order, but soon civil war broke out in Brazil, which forced the army in Venezuela to witdraw and return home, while Colombia at last also left.

With the occupying powers now in crisis by 1977, Venezuela was free, and was instantly recognized by the US, becoming a valuable ally, who received millions to help rebuild the war torn nation, which had suffered nearly 1.5 million killed in the nine year conflict. Attempts by the to try to end the dual civil Wars failed, though by 1979 the  ended with victory by the French backed Brazilian National Union (União Nacional Brasileira), while Colombia came under sway of the US and the Partido de la Libertad Colombiano, the Colombian Freedom Party.

Tri-Power Conflict to Dual Power Conflict
With the collapse of Brazil as a major player, the "Cold War" shifted to a two superpower confrontation: France and the United States, and their respective allies. Ally's of Brazil were evenly split between the Americans and French, with, and the , as well as Venezuela, becoming Juneau Pact members, while Brazil and  became French aligned.

The was now heating up, with the shock waves of the collapse of Brazil reverberating around the globe. France clamped down tighter on internal dissidents, not wishing to have the different peoples of the Empire wish for freedom, while the US was wary of trying to get involved in another conflict so soon after both the California Revolt and the Venezuelan War. However, as Venezuela held its first election in 1978, the greatest crisis was about to unfold.