By Popular Demand: Pandora in a Bottle
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Can you clear up which eastern European countries are under USSR rule at this time? And whether they are supporting Greek communist guerillas?
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How did I miss this?! Keep it comming Garvin ;D
ironduke57
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It´s now a week. Did you find time to write a bit?
Regards,
ironduke57
Regards,
ironduke57
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Slacker! Im still waiting....
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Yeah! What he said!GreyMatter said:
ironduke57
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,ironduke57
ironduke57
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"cough" "cough"
Regards,
ironduke57
Regards,
ironduke57
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BACK FROM THE BRINK
In spite of the increased tension along the border, relations at the political cooled somewhat that autumn. As time went by, the units stood down and the brinkmanship was over. Both sides crowed in the press that they showed the moral fortitude to refrain from engaging the other side. In reality, neither side could afford to go to war. The previous war had nearly destroyed Great Britain. Economically, it was a shadow of its former self. Former colonies across the globe were gaining independence and they no longer had guaranteed access to the goods required for their economies. France too had lost much, and the United States, though relatively untouched by the war at home, had no stomach to once again send its young men off to die in a war on foreign soil.
The Soviet Union was literally decimated in the war, losing some 10% of its population in the previous fifteen years, first in the purges, then to the Germans, and finally in the civil war that erupted at the end of the last year of the war. The majority of these losses were the young men who even now should have been moving up in society as managers and bosses of the various economic initiatives across the USSR.
Germany, though a member of NATO, had no real say at the political decision making level. Having been let off relatively easily at the end of the war, it was still rebuilding across the land. The centres of Hamburg and Berlin were being rebuilt from scratch, and as in the case of the USSR, there was a literal shortage of manpower across the land.
So, in the end, though both sides glared at each other, neither wanted to start a war. Having said that, the USSR did indeed have plans to push their agenda west.
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Still good. When can we expect some more?
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Woo Hoo! ;DCaptain Sensible said:
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YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?
Though Poland, Germany and the rest of north western Europe were now fairly stable, economically and politically, the same could not be said for the south east. Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Greece and even Bulgaria were all in a state of near revolt. None of those countries had any democratic history (in spite of the word “democracy” coming from the Greek). Stalin looked that way, and realised that if he were to secure a series of puppet governments that stretched to the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, he would have access to a whole new world of opportunities.
He sat with his Politburo late in 1950. The mood was somewhat euphoric after the recent “stand off” with NATO along the border in Poland. The USSR had “The Bomb”, the army was rebuilding and the forces of NATO, though united, appeared to be dismantling.
“Gentlemen. We’ve been going at this all wrong. We tried through force of military power to influence our neighbours. It didn’t work in Poland in 1920, and the Germans nearly did us in, but they too failed. I ask you. How did communism take over this land of ours? Let me tell you: revolution! It was the will of the people! It comes from within, not from without. The same happened in China. So, I ask you: how do we get the rest of Europe to fall under our control? From within!”
Stalin went on to propose a covert offensive operation aimed at all the nations in the south and east of Europe. From Italy to Turkey, Stalin foresaw a sea of revolution. All he had to do was to sow the seeds and the bounty of communism would indeed be a bountiful harvest.
His plan was relatively simple. He would introduce into each “targeted nation” a collection of “refugees”, among whom would be several agents of the USSR. They would form unions, make demands of the governments, stage demonstrations, and the like. When the time was ready, they would provoke revolution. Stalin realised that this would take time, and he was indeed quite old. He wanted more, but given the internal troubles within the USSR, he was too busy to be worried about the fact that he would not probably live to see the Hammer and Sickle stretch from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.
The USSR, though at peace and rebuilding, was still suffering the political aftershocks of the civil war. Reconciliation was not an option, and though Moscow was intent on fostering revolution abroad, it was wary of revolution at home. The NKVD was indeed targeting leaders of the revolutionaries, but their methods of suppression were less than violent. Mostly, they discredited these leaders, by creating scandal and doubt as to their character. Naturally, they weren’t always successful, and in some cases were comically unsuccessful, but nevertheless, they were winning the battle for the state.
In early 1951, Stalin announced that a great number of refugee applicants in the Ukraine were being allowed to migrate west. 15 thousand refugees arrived at border crossings in Rumania and soon there were refugee camps across that land. Among these mostly legitimate refugees were well-trained members of the KGB. Almost at once, they began their work. They agitated and pointed out the low standard of living across the land. Though it was true that the standard of living in Rumania was indeed low, it wasn’t as bad as the agitators were saying. Still, that didn’t matter. They were rather successful in getting people to join their “cause”. They didn’t call it “communism” or “socialism”, they called their movement the “People’s Justice Coalition”.
By late 1952, some 18 months after the “refugees” started across the border, Rumania was a hotbed of revolution. The state police had been dispatched several times to quell riots, especially workers’ riots that were started to protest oppressive conditions and poor wages. As the fires began to rise throughout Rumania, the USSR warned the government of Rumania that they would not stand idly by if any Soviet Nationals were harmed. Secretly, they armed their revolutionaries who were now recruiting large numbers of young Rumanians. The stage was set for revolution.
ironduke57
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Captain Sensible said:
LOL! I am reading an fanfic story (Crossover between StarWars and PerryRhodan Universe.) which started in in 01 and it isn´t nearly finished.
But that doesn´t mean that you shouldn´t get your lazy ass to work! ;D
SCNR,
ironduke57
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And while Southern Europe is cooking, what about Iran, the rest of the Middle East, Africa, Korea, Japan (or for that matter the fifth column activities in Canada and the United States?)
There is also a missile gap, a Space Race (look up Project Horizon to see how it *might* have turned out), South American revolutions, Africa, Australia......
Even without ginger addicted aliens or time travelling Confederates it seems you have bitten off a very big piece of steak. Now we all want to see you chew and swallow.
op:
There is also a missile gap, a Space Race (look up Project Horizon to see how it *might* have turned out), South American revolutions, Africa, Australia......
Even without ginger addicted aliens or time travelling Confederates it seems you have bitten off a very big piece of steak. Now we all want to see you chew and swallow.
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