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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 5 By Vincent Longobardi
July 25th 1966 In response to the ongoing blockades of Swaziland and Lesotho, Great Britain has ordered the Royal Navy to establish a counter-blockade against South Africa. July 28th 1966 Most Lira Block shipping to South Africa is rerouted through ports in Mozambique where the cargo is then transported overland. July 31st 1966 Representatives from South Africa meet with their British counterparts to see if a peaceful settlement can be reached regarding the current situation. Rome quietly pushes South Africa to accept a settlement promising that even if relations return to the status quo of embargo it will still be to the benefit of South Africa and the Lira Block. August 13th 1966 Mao Zedong begins the Cultural Revolution to purge the Chinese Communist Party and reorganize the government. August 20th 1966 South Africa agrees to lift the blockades against Swaziland and Lesotho in exchange for the removal of British warships off the South African coast. The committee continues to speak to see if an end to the embargo can be reached but the outcome looks bleak. September 3rd 1966 The Imperial Space Agency reports to the office of the Consul that the Empire will be able to launch a small satellite into orbit by the beginning of 1967. September 8th 1966 Star Trek premiers on television with the first episode "The Man Trap." September 22nd 1966 OVRA agents operating in Swizterland get wind of the fact that the former ODESSA Chief has submitted his memoirs to a Swiss Publishing Company. They immediately inform Rome of their findings. September 24th 1966 By order of Medici, Heinrich Himmler is arrested by the OVRA. Dozens of OVRA agents swarm the farm run by the nazi taking him into custody and assuring that all his records and writings are accounted for that still remain in-country. October 2nd 1966 A secret tribunal places Himmler on trial for treason against the Empire and Fascism as well as conspiracy to discredit Mussolini. October 10th 1966 The kangaroo court sentences Himmler to death by hanging the very next day. Himmler rages and screams against the justices that they and their fathers are faux-fascists who are the ones deserving death and if Italy were true to the cause they would of aided the Third Reich in the crusade against communism. Dragged from the court, the aging Nazi incessantly screams "Heil Hitler!" October 11th 1966 In a strange twist Medici commutes the sentence of Himmler to a life of internal exile. Remarking that death would be too good for the ungrateful man that the Empire risked all for. Let him brood and live out his miserable and hollow life as a prisoner. October 28th 1966 Remembering the March on Rome. This years celebration sees the return of festivities to last years somber mood, while not entirely returning to the grand celebration it was in the time of Mussolini Medici is satisfied. November 10th 1966 On behest of the Emperor, Medici meets with Crown Prince Vittorio Emanuele encouraging him to reconsider his choice for consort. A non-noble Swiss athlete is horribly inappropriate and the Grand Council would hardly approve of him to succeed his father. November 15th 1966 The Crown Prince calls off his long engagement to Marina Ricolfi-Doria. December 3rd 1966 A tentative launch date is set by the ISA(Imperial Space Agency) for January 3rd 1967. December 10th 1966 Crown Prince Vittorio is introduced to the Spanish Princess Margarita, granddaughter of the last king of Spain. January 3rd 1967 Poor weather conditions delay the launch of Italy’s first rocket and satellite. The new launch date is the fifth. January 5th 1967 From a launchpad in Sardinia, the first Italian rocket hurdles itself into Earth’s orbit where the satellite Janus would take orbit. It was the beginning of the Italians expedition into space and was done so everyone would take notice. While a tiny satellite, Janus was fitted with a tape player and a radio transmitter. As it made its tract around the Earth it would broadcast patriotic music to all those who wished to tune into its frequency. January 6th 1967 Celebrators take to the streets following the successful launch of the Empire’s first satellite launch. January 27th 1967 Three American Astronauts are killed when a fire breaks out aboard the Apollo 1 Shuttle during a launch test. The United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty detailing what countries can and can not do in Space. They encourage the other nations of the world to sign onto the treaty. February 3rd 1967 Negotiations breakdown between Britain and South Africa after common ground could not be reached for lifting the trade embargo. Britain also faced strong pressure from African colonial governments who opposed any deals with "break-away racist states." March 2nd 1967 Italian soldiers penetrate the Zambian border in pursuit of Rhodesian rebels. The Zambian government protests this as a violation of sovereignty but does not do anything that could be seen as provoking the New Roman Empire. March 10th 1967 It was a wise decision that the officer had the foresight to forward this request to the Consul’s office. Had he not there would have been repercussions. Medici read over the request again, his son Antonio who had just completed training and Officer’s School had requested to be sent to Rhodesia. This is hardly a surprise to the Consul, years earlier when Antonio was just beginning at the University he requested permission to drop out to fight in the Holy Land, of course Medici refused to allow it. Medici knew some would call it favoritism to grant the request, thousands of soldiers and officers clamor to be assigned to Rhodesia the only active combat zone and where ones presence put them on the fast track for promotion, but, favoritism would be sending his son to some office where he would never see a rebel. He had requested front line infantry and that is what he would get. Signing the request, he wrote a note to himself to give the officer that forwarded it on a promotion. March 15th 1967 Julius Evola causes an uproar amongst the Grand Council when he and other like-minded Italians begin conducting pagan rites at "holy sites" throughout Rome. The behavior is hardly appropriate especially as the NRE is still in negotiations with the Vatican over Vatican II and its impact on Italian clergy. April 1967 YFM organizations throughout the United States report record numbers of new members. Many returning Vietnam veterans take a liking to the YFM cause and their no-nonsense approach to suppressing communism. Youth attempting to reject the hippie counter-culture that is sweeping the nation join up also to show their support for traditional values. May 11th 1967 With a media circus accompanying him Lt. Antonio Medici ships out to Rhodesia to begin his tour of duty. May 13th 1967 Protestors march in front of the Capitol demanding that Congress ban the import and showing of all "Wild East" films from the NRE. Claiming that the movies are treasonous and seditious since they corrupt the youth and glamorize fascism and race violence. June 8th 1967 Following an altercation outside of a club in Chicago, three YFM members are stabbed to death by a group of Black Panthers. June 10th 1967 Only two of a dozen suspected Black Panthers are arrested in the response to the killings. Local YFM groups promise to enact their own justice if the police do not act swiftly. June 13th 1967 American Blackshirts incite a race riot in Chicago in response to the lack of arrests for the murders. Hundreds of Blackshirts were bused into the city and they are joined by additional rioters already on edge from rising racial tensions in the city. June 18th 1967 Wide scale rioting, arson and looting continues to rock Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley requests that the governor declare a state of emergency and activate the National Guard. June 20th 1967 National Guard units arrive in Chicago and aggressively work to stamp out the fighting. June 23rd 1967 The riots in Chicago are officially over. The city suffers millions of dollars in damages and over twenty deaths as a result of the rioting. July 7th 1967 Italian propaganda proudly reports that Antonio Medici had his first engagement with Rhodesians Rebels stating that "the brave Lt. Medici personally threw the grenade which flushed the savages out of their hut into the waiting guns of his fellow soldiers." End of Part 5.
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