For Want of A Sandwich - A Franz Ferdinand Lives Wikibox TL
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Rafael I, Emperor of Hispaniola
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina (24 October 1891-3 December 1973), also known as Rafael I, was the ruler of the Dominican Republic as its 36th President (16 August 1930-16 August 1938), as military strongman after, then as self-proclaimed monarch of its successor state, the Empire of Hispaniola, from his coronation on 24 September 1940 to his death.
Born into a lower-middle-class family, Trujillo rose into the ranks of the US-established National Guard, during the American occupation of the Dominican Republic (1916-1930), training with the US Marines, establishing himself as commander-in-chief of the Army and the country’s strongman until getting elected President with an implausible 99 percent of the vote, just after the US withdrawal.
Feigning democratic appearances, Trujillo quickly created a personality cult, changing the name of the capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo (Trujillo City), erecting statues of his likeness throughout the country, establishing the phrase “Dios y Trujillo” as an unofficial motto (even if it became the country’s official motto in 1974), forcing newspapers, churches and even license plates to include praise to his rule. He pursed reunification of the island, weighing the Parsley War (1937) against its neighbour Haiti in an attempt to annex the country ; the country was so named because it came along massacres of Haitian emigrants into the Dominican Republic, forcing the Creole speakers to pronounce the world “Perejil” (Parsley), barely pronounceable for non-native Spanish speakers.The Smith Administration, still dealing with the effects of the Great Depression, failed to intervene, but forced Trujillo not to pursue his plans further. Due to the uproar, and claiming to follow the tradition of George Washington, Trujillo relinquished the presidency in 1938, installing his puppet Jacinto Peynado instead and remaining the true ruler of the country.
Nevertheless, the early demise of President Peynado in 1940 decided otherwise. Trujillo was ready to assume the presidential role in a phony election, when he claimed that “the Dominican Republic needed to establish itself as a new nation by following the tradition of the great empires of Europe, as Theodore Roosevelt should have done” and called for a plesbcite to establish the Empire of Hispaniola, with himself at his helm. The referendum received a remarkable 100 percent and Trujillo was crowned Emperor Rafael I of Hispaniola in a lavish ceremony on September, 24 1940, that costed two years of the national budget and whose only attending foreign dignitary was the US Undersecretary of the Navy. If Trujillo’s apologists claimed that he acted in order to keep Hispaniola far from a syndicalist threat, the majority believe that it has more to do with syphilis.
The self-proclaimed Emperor was viewed internationally as a buffoon, a rare incarnation of the military caudillo, that continued to obey American leadership; an attempt at conquering Haiti in 1946, after US entry into the World War, in order to quell “black syndicalism” was quickly stopped by the US State Department. But, after an assassination attempt on the Emperor the following year, Trujillo’s rule grew even more paranoid and repressive.
On June, 14 1959, a failed invasion by opponents, led by exiled politician Juan Bosch, failed and Trujillo waged his finger at the United States for having attempted to overthrow him ; trying to sign an alliance with Japan or Russia, Trujillo turned to state terrorism, sponsoring Pyrist groups and welcoming disgruntled veterans of the Legions of Christ in his country. The assassination of President of Venezuela Romulo Betancourt, a known Trujillo critic, in 1960, was linked to Hispaniolan intelligence and a US-backed army of exiled insurgents tried a new invasion the following year, again defeated by the regime forces. Trujillo responded by invading Haiti, managing to take Port-au-Prince in October 1962. US President Yarborough, who feared a Japanese enclave in Latin America and who wanted to save his idea of a pan-American alliance, convinced the Emperor not to annex Haiti and officially reconcilied with Hispaniola.
As Rafael I grew old, military officers led by Generals Juan Tomas Diaz and Antonio Imbert Barrera tried to overthrow the tyrant on April, 24 1965 ; the bloody coup attempt ultimately failed and only saw the death of Prime Minister Porfirio Rubirosa and Trujillo’s heir apparent, his second son Radamés. Newly appointed Prime Minister Joaquin Balaguer assured the regime’s hold on the country, and Trujillo died in 1973, aged 82, leaving his throne to his son Ramfis. The self-proclaimed Emperor was interred into the lavish Trujillo Crypt in the National Cathedral of Ciudad Trujillo, and had established a dynasty that remains to this day.
Hispaniolan offcial history tend to consider Rafael I as the true founding father of the nation, that allowed it to count among the most respected powers of America, beloved by its people ; yet, the storming of the Trujillo Crypt and the desecration of the Emperor’s remains at the outbreak of the Civil War tend to contradict this legacy.
Rafael II, Emperor of Hispaniola
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Martínez (5 June 1929-6 May 2007), also known as Ramfis Trujillo and Rafael II, was the Emperor of Hispaniola from 3 December 1973 to his death.
The son of military dictator/self-proclaimed monarch Rafael I Trujillo and his third wife, Ramfis was named after the high priest in Aida and was appointed Brigadier General by the age of nine. Sent to study to the US Army’s Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, he skipped classes and took off for Hollywood, becoming known for his playboy antics, buying luxury cars, mink coats and jewelry for Hollywood startlets, being denied his diploma after competion. For his father, who wanted his eldest son to become his heir and to marry into German and Spanish nobility, it was a scandal : he forced his son to marry his girlfried, upcoming actress Kim Novak, and placed his hopes upon his second son Radamés.
Nevertheless, like his Prime Minister, womanizing diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa, the Ramfis-Novak marriage proved a great glamour facade for the Trujillo regime, even at the height of the crisis between Hispaniola and the United States. Some historians even believed that Ramfis had been married with one Octavia Ricart, having six children : the marriage, if it even happened, was quickly erased from public memory and his children disappeared. Nevertheless, Ramfis had a long history of depression and mental hospital stays, and was known for his unruly behavior, that included gang rapes of young women in Hispaniola along with ordering murders. His wife, Princess Kim Novak, reportedly tried to flee the Banana Empire and was impeded by Hispanolan intelligence : she would only bear a son to Ramfis one year after Rafael I’s demise. Anyway, Ramfis became first-in-line again after his brother’s death during the 1965 coup attempt, and succeeded his father as Emperor in 1973, taking the regnal name of Rafael II.
Foreign observers had hoped the son would prove better than his father ; yet, he left his Prime Minister, Joaquin Balaguer, to deal with day-to-day governance (leading Balaguer to become one of the longest terms as Prime Minister in modern history, from 1965 to his death in 2002), while indulging in an orgy of repression, rape and murder that established himself as one of the most brutal dictators in the world. Tales abound of the Emperor murdering opponents by himself, while having their entire families tortured, raped and killed. He even strengthened the cult of personality around his father, establishing the country’s motto as “God and Trujillo” and even, at one point, imagining to establish a Church of Hispaniola that would have established his father as a modern-day Messiah. The sight of the imperial limousine became synonymous with terror in the streets of Ciudad Trujillo.
But the regime became even horrific with the proclaimation of “Hispanidad” in 1975 : taking into account the racialist thesis that had been discredited in Europe and America for a long time, Rafael II established his goal to “make Hispaniola as a pure, white and hispanic country by the year 2000”. Pushed by supremacism and hatred against the Haitian minorities, black-skinned Hispaniolans were deprived of their civil rights, either expelled to Haiti and the United States, killed or sterilized by force, in order to wipe out the entire “non-Aryan” population of Hispaniola. The country became synonymous with pure horror and racialism, lauded by small political groups only, even disgusting South Africa. In the same time, Rafael II pushed for “white” emigration into Hispaniola, even welcoming Jewish emigrants that were likewise hated by European racialists, this policy only had successes with a few extremists. Of course, wiping out Black Hispaniolans, that formed the majorty of the country’s manual labor, proved catastrophic for the country, that suffered deeply from the 80’s Depression and experienced famine after famine, followed by droughts and riots, that the Hispaniolan army (one of the largest in the world, in terms of per capita) throughly repressed ; it was only in 1994, after the most extremist followers of Rafael II conspired to have their womanizing monarch overthrown, that Rafael II ended the Hispanidad policy. It is estimated that the Hispaniola Genocide led to the death of 2 million people from 1975 to 1994, while Florida became home to a vast Hispaniolan diaspora. Focusing on the building of the Treaty of Havana Organization, the United States failed to address the issue. To this day, the once numerous colored population of Hispaniola remains a persecuted minority.
Rafael II died in 2007, aged 77 ; even if his cause of death remains a state secret, historians claim that Rafael II died as a result of AIDS, having ordered his minions to purchase at all cost a remedy for the then-incurable disease. His wife, Empress Kim, from whom he had been separated for the duration of his reign, was authorized by his son to immigrate to California, from which she refused to give any statement of his spouse’s legacy.
Rafael II’s remains were mummified and interred at the Trujillo Crypt. During the sack of the latter in 2017, rioters had his corpse disembowled, castrated, sodomized with sharp objects, urinated, spat and defecated on, dismembered and cremated ; the event was well-publicized. When a witnessing journalist asked a rioter if the body had been eaten, he was told that Rafael II was too rooten for that.
Rafael III, Emperor of Hispaniola
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Novak (born 8 August 1974), also known as Rafael III, has been the reigning Emperor of Hispaniola since 6 May 2007.
The conditions of the birth of Rafael III were unclear : the marriage between Rafael II and his wife, Kim Novak, had born no fruit for 18 years, yet the future Emperor became the first ever born since the inception of the Trujillo Dynasty, becoming next-in-line to the Hispaniolan throne from his birth and reinvogorating the regime. Rumours abound to claim that Rafael III had been stolen to an opponent’s family as a baby and adopted by the newly crowned monarch.
Acceding to the throne at 33, succeeding his grandfather and father as Generalissimo and Emperor of Hispaniola, Rafael III tried, along with his Prime Minister Eduardo Estrella, to portray his regime as a respectable one, far from his ancestor’s deeds ; yet, Hispaniola remains one of the poorest countries on Earth, victim to many food shortages, only surviving thanks to US imports. Also, the fact that Rafael III remains unmarried to this day have led to rumours of homosexuality, a crime in a country where machismo had been elevated as a virtue by both his predecessors. Other critics of the regime consider Rafael III as a mere puppet of the Army and the Trujillo cronies.
The Hispaniolan Civil War began under his reign, on September, 24 2017 ; after weeks of protests, a bomb was thrown during the official parade in honor of the national feast, commemorating the coronation of Rafael I. Exiled opposition parties united under a government-in-exile in Miami and began to fight for regime change in Hispaniola. With 140,000 dead or missing, over one million refugees and numerous accounts of war crimes on each part, the Hispaniolan Civil War is one of the bloodiest ongoing conflicts in the world ; even if the Feingold Administration, along with other members of the Havana Organization, have supported the opposition forces, it has refused to engage American forces into Hispaniolan soil, fearing it would lead to an even greater disaster within the country. Instead, Haiti, that had been a victim of Hispaniolan nationalism for years, has intervened in the country since August 2019, providing support to the opposition.
Kaiser Wilhelm the Tenth
Banned
I must say, I'm rather enjoying this!
Creative and interesting worldbuilding. Hopefully, we'll get to see how some of these events are linked to FF's survival...
Keep it up, @MaskedPickle, I'm eagerly awaiting more!
Creative and interesting worldbuilding. Hopefully, we'll get to see how some of these events are linked to FF's survival...
Keep it up, @MaskedPickle, I'm eagerly awaiting more!
Denmark
...The XXth century saw the ending of the Danish overseas colonies. The Danish West Indies and Danish Greenland were sold to the United States, the former in 1917 after a referendum, the latter in 1950 for 100 million dollars in order to fund the reconstruction of Copenhagen. They remain American territories to this day, less Erik the Red’s Land that was recognized as a Norwegian possession in 1933. Iceland became an independent kingdom in personal union with Denmark in 1918, a partnership that was renewed in 1943 before ending in 1969, after a referendum held in Iceland that voted for an independent republic. The Feroe Islands became an independent kingdom in personal union with Denmark in 1950, also to relieve the Danish economy, before becoming an independent republic in 1973.
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Christian X, King of Denmark
Christian X (born Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm, 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was the King of Denmark from 14 May 1912, succeeding his father Frederik VIII, until his abdication on 19 October 1925, in favor of his son Frederik IX. He was also the first King of Iceland, ruling from 1 December 1918 until his abdication.
The brother of King Haakon VII of Norway, Christian X was a firm believer in royal dignity and power. As Denmark remained neutral during the Great European War, he saw the rise of the Social Democrats as tantamount with a Syndicalist takeover of Denmark and refused to appoint Social Democrat leader Thorvald Stauning as Prime Minister after the 1924 elections, appointing instead General Vilhelm Gortz. His hope was to personally lead Denmark into a closer relationship with Germany. Nevertheless, the king grew very unpopular, sparking riots throughout the country, until the Gortz government was overthrown in a motion of no confidence and a new election convened on 5 April 1925. The election saw a landslide victory of the Social Democrats and the King was forced to appoint Stauning as Prime Minister. Now deeply unpopular and unable to build confidence with the Social Democrats, he abdicated on 19 October 1925 in order to preserve the monarchy. He chose to keep a low profile, exiling himself in London ; he welcomed the Danish government in exile in his palace, before dying in 1947, in the middle of the World War and the Syndicalist occupation of Denmark. His body was rapatriated in Denmark after the liberation.
In retrospective, the Royal Crisis (1924-1925) was the milestone for Danish modern democracy, as the Stauning governement embarked into a far reaching constitutional revision and helped to build a true welfare state, renowed around the world. The Social Democrats would remain the first party in the Folketing from 1925 to 1985 even if, ironically, they became the first advocates of rapprochement with Germany after the World War ; Denmark’s relationship with his southern neighbour had been Christian X’s main concern when undertaking royal rule.
Frederik IX, King of Denmark
Frederik IX (born Christian Frederik Franz Michael Carl Valdemar Georg; 11 March 1899 – 14 January 1972) was the King of Denmark from 19 October 1925, succeeding his abdicating father Christian X, to his death on 14 January 1972. He was also the second and last king of Iceland, succeeding his father until the country became a republic on 19 September 1969, and also the first King of the Faroe Islands, beginning on 14 September 1950.
Frederik IX came to the throne at at uneasy time, the Danish Crown having been marred by the failed authoritarianism of his father, with talks of an abolition of the monarchy altogether. Nevertheless, his excellent relationship with long-seating (1925-1942) Social Democrat Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning and his successors fostered the new role of the monarchy in Danish politics, along with his support of grand coalitions to face the economic crisis and the World War ; he personally implicated himself in resolving the Erik the Red’s Land issue, pushing the government to acknowledge Norwegian claims over Eastern Greenland. His role during the World War and the Syndicalist Occupation cemented his status, as he governed in exile from London, collaborated with the Allies and fought personally, commanding warships during the invasion of Pas-de-Calais.
The latter part of his reign was marked by the Reconstruction of Copenhagen, that he fully supported, ending it with the inauguration of the New Amalienborg Palace in 1960. He also saw the 1953 Kolchak Incident, Danish neutrality during the Aland War, the entrance of Denmark into the Reichspakt and the European Community, the full independence of Iceland, the selling of Greenland to the United States and the establishment of the Kingdom of the Faroe Islands in personal union with Denmark (as the country would become fully independent in 1973, after a referendum held in 1971).
His marriage with his cousin Olga of Greece only procuced daughters ; rumours claimed he hoped his daughter Margarethe (1924-2015) would succeed him with a change in the succession rule ; nevertheless, he was succeeded by his brother Knud (who took the regnal name of Christian XI) after his death in 1972, after a reign of almost fifty years.
Christian XI, King of Denmark
Christian XI (born Knud Christian Frederik Michael, 27 July 1900 – 14 June 1976), was the King of Denmark from January 14, 1972, succeeding his elder brother Frederik IX, to his death on June, 14 1976, being succeeded by his eldest son Frederik X. He was also the second and last King of the Faroe Islands, with the country becoming a republic on January, 1 1973.
A career officer in the Danish Navy and a veteran of the World War, Christian XI only acceeded to the throne at 71, leaving all with the expectation of a short reign. His four-year rule was nevertheless marked by the end of the personal union with the Faroe Islands (a decision that had already been ratified by referendum in 1971, in the last year of his brother’s rule), an event that signified the end of the Danish colonial empire.
Frederik X, King of Denmark
Frederik X (born Ingold Christian Frederik Knud Harald Gorm Gustav Viggo Valdemar Aage, 17 February 1940) is the current King of Denmark, having succeeded his father Christian XI on 14 June 1976.
His reign saw the late XXth Century and the early XXIth Century, characterized in Denmark by the 1983 economic crisis, a political instability with uneasy coalitions from 1983 to 2001, that saw the steady decline of the Social Democrats, and the success of the Asatru neopagan religion, still frowned upon due to the 2005 terrorist attacks in Copenhagen committed by radicals.
Married to Christina of Sweden, daughter to King Gustaf VII Adolf, Frederik X is still childless. If his heir apparent is his nephew, Prince Frederik, born to his brother Prince Christian (1942-2013), his advanced age led to a debate about the abolition of monarchy in Denmark, as advocated by elements of the Socialist People’s Party, a populist party that has ruled Denmark since 2015.
@MaskedPickle
Don't know if you've thought about it, but which countries have territorial claims in Antarctica? I'd like to know!
Don't know if you've thought about it, but which countries have territorial claims in Antarctica? I'd like to know!
Panama Canal
...Since its inauguration in 1914, the Panama Canal was a fixture of American foreign policy and trade, even as the construction of the Nicaragua Canal was undertaken under Roosevelt : the threat from the Central American Federation remained real and securing the passage of foreign goods from the Pacific to the Atlantic was tantamount to the Monroe Doctrine. It led the United States to support Panama in the 1921 War against Costa Rica, and then to prop up support for the Arnulfo Arias Madrid regime (1940-1977), a civilian Pyrist-inspired corrupted administration, that led Dr. Madrid to be-reelected nine times as leader of Panama, in a series of heavily fraudulent elections. Each time Arias Madrid was under threat (after unsuccessful military coups in 1949 and 1959, and while a neo-Syndicalist guerilla was looming in 1955), the US sent military advisors and troops to secure the Panama Canal Zone, but popular discontent was growing against the corruption of the puppet regime and the lack of prosperity in spite of the closeness of the installation.
The January, 9 1964 Revolution in Panama was a huge blow to the Arias Madrid regime and American domination, as rebels managed to launch an armed assault against Balboa, the main city of the US Canal Zone : the assault was easily countered, but it was a serious blow to both the Panama government and US interests. The Yarborough Administration increased the military garrison in the Canal Zone and ordered commando strikes from the Special Forces for two years, but Arias Madrid was seen as a dead end. When the old tyrant was overthrown in 1977 by a military coup led by General Omar Torrijos, few in Washington complained for him.
Even if Torrijos retained the ways of the Arias Madrid days, he adopted a more populist tone and advocated for a complete US withdrawal from Panama : even if he found a good ear from President George McGovern, Congress was increasingly being dominated by Conservatives and Republicans and didn't want to hear about relinquishing such an asset. After the victory of John Ashbrook's Conservatives in the 1980 presidential election, Torrijos took matter into his own days and launched "Operation Huele A Quemado" (It smells like fire) on New Year's Eve 1981 : the Panamanian takeover of the Panama Canal Zone.
Launched a few minutes after midnight, the Panamamian assault completely caught the reduced military garrison by surprise, allowing a total takeover of the Zone ; as McGovern was still residing in the White House as a lame duck President, no immediate action could be undertaken ; and the Ashbrook Administration inherited a wary situation. Torrijos had managed to build up his reputation abroad, and throughout the world, all governments saw the takeover as a legitimate operation, as long as trade was maintained throughout the Panama Canal, and that the Nicaragua Canal remained free ; the only thing Ashbrook could undertake would be a complete embargo against Panama, that was without any large effect against Panama, that let foreign ships navigate through the waters and now collected the benefits.
In November 1987, willing to score a large victory for the coming election, US President Pat Robertson tried to take matters into his own hands and launch a military invasion of Panama that would be sponsored by the World Council : but US military prestige had been damaged in the Philippines, while Torrijos' good maintenance of the Panama Canal left his intact, and the resolution was defeated in the World Council. The embargo lasted for two years more until newly inaugurated President Al Gore entered talks in Havana with Torrijos, agreeing to put an end to this situation. The Havana Treaties, also known as the Torrijos-Gore Treaties, were signed on December, 20 1989 and put a date for the official takeover of the Canal Zone to the Government of Panama, on December, 2 2002, 99 years exactly after the approval of the Hay-Bunau-Varrilla Treaty by US Congress. The illegal control of the Canal ended, returning to the United States for the remaining duration.
The ceremony was officially conducted on this date, with US President Frank Keating and still Panamamian President Omar Torrijos, completing his 25th year in power and three years before his demise. The Panama Canal, that had been controlled by the United States from 1914 to 1981 and from 1989 to 2002, was no longer theirs and all for Panama.
The Panama Canal continues to play a large role in Panamamian politics : Martin Torrijos, son and successor of Omar, laid his popularity on the achievements of his father, leading to his successful and legitimate election in 2005 until his impeachment for corruption in 2007 ; General Hugo Spafadora, who won election as an independant, established his prestige with his conducting of Operation Huele A Quemado ; as of current President Ramon Fonseca, he is still one of the main shareholders of the conglomerate that administrates the Canal Zone for the Panama Government. Every month, Panamamian officials are linked to briberies and corruption connected to the management of the Panama Canal.
Manuel Noriega
Manuel "El Man" Noriega (1934-1992) was a Panama-born Cuban drug lord, one of the founders of the Panama Cartel (now known as the Gulf Cartel). Born into a poor mestizo family, he was forced to go into exile in Cuba due to his rebel sympathies during the Arias Madrid regime. Serving in the Cuban military and taking Cuban citizenship, he used his family links in Panama and his relations in the Caribbean to build up with Mexican drug lords the Gulf Cartel, then named the Panama Cartel due to the popularity of Noriega and the arrival of drugs from China that was secured at the Panama Canal Zone during Pananamian Occupation, from 1981 to 1989. Known for his lavish lifestyle and his violence, Noriega was condemned in the United States in Miami in 1988, and managed to escape to Cuba, where he was murdered by rivals from the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel in 1992, his car being gunned down by hitmen. He was featured in the third Season of the TV show "Narcos" as a minor character.