Timeline (The New West)

What if the series of events begining in the summer of 1989, that led to the collapse of communism in Europe, had been reversed? Instead, America and its allies collapse.

November 1988: George H.W. Bush is elected the Republican successor to Ronald Reagan. Reagan's legacy was carried on by Bush, and has been looked on since 1991 as a negative one. "...Reagan was the figurehead for a paranoid gerontocracy, that wasted tremendous sums of money on weapons, and practiced brinkmanship against the Soviet Union."

January 1989: Dissatisfaction erupts in West Germany, when it is revealed that Daimler-Benz has been purchased by Japan. Despite West Germany's protective policies towards its industries, Japan has negotiated secret deals, to buy German auto manufacturing companies. Within weeks, it is revealed that Japan has secretly purchased not only Daimler-Benz, but has purchased controlling shares in Volkswagen, Opel, and BMW. Right wing extremists angered by East Asian interference in German industries, torch the Japanese embassy in Bonn. Under German law, the military is prevented from intervening in internal affairs. Due to the large number of protesters, the police are stretched to the limit, and eventually call on border troops to come to their assistance. The incident is embarassing for the West German government, which enters into negotiations with the auto makers, and Japan, to rescind the purchases.

Summer 1989: Another secret deal is passed between American auto maker GM and Japanese Mitsubishi, whereby the Japanese purchase several cumbersome GM brands, such as OIdsmobile. Americans are angered by the move.

July 1989: West German-Japan negotiations over the auto issue fail. A wave of anti government, and anti Japanese violence sweeps the country. In Bavaria, a letter from the Hungarian government is published in a major newspapers. Thousands of Germans, fed up with the under handed deals made by corporations go for summer holidays into Austria. In mid-month, Hungary opens sections of its borders to western immigration. Hundreds of West Germans slip across the border.