The Butterfly Effect: A British AAR

[El Pip]

Hello gentlemen (and possibly ladies)

Even by the lax standards of this AAR I have been somewhat tardy. In my defence I have had some form of horrendous disease, personally I think it was Hemorrhagic fever or possibly the Motaba virus. The doctor seemed to think acute tonsillitis though. In any case I've recovered and hope to do an update this very weekend.

Funkatronica - You can't keep a good man down and Churchill will not vanish from these pages. As for appeasement, public opinion is still firmly against that.

canonized - Due to the wonders of timing I was on holiday when the AARlander came out and was ill from the day after my return. However now I'm somewhat healthy-ish

The link to the interview with you that Funky was asking for.

Allenby - Keep going old boy. I'm told the slog is worth it.

caffran - Britain is not so fallen as to only have one man with courage and foresight in Parliament. Whether these other gentlemen come into office is another question though.

GeneralHannibal - Lots of people have suggested real time AARs but not gone through with them, as the only sub-real time AAR going I have a duty to keep the slow paced flag flying.

jalex - In a lab in the deep west of Londonshire I will attempt to break the laws of physics and produce an update. Although it could be messy and possibly a bit later than I hope.

[Atlantic Friend]

Hello gentlemen (and possibly ladies)

Even by the lax standards of this AAR I have been somewhat tardy. In my defence I have had some form of horrendous disease, personally I think it was Hemorrhagic fever or possibly the Motaba virus.

Time for a little 'Outbreak' reference :

- You want to be a general one day, Colonel ?
- Of course, sir !
- Well, that'll never happen. Now obey my orders.

The doctor seemed to think acute tonsillitis though.

Ha ! What does he know ? Remember that an apple a day keeps the doctor away - especially if you have good aim.

In any case I've recovered and hope to do an update this very weekend.

So now, soldier, nownownownownowNOW !

[GeneralHannibal]

GeneralHannibal - Lots of people have suggested real time AARs but not gone through with them, as the only sub-real time AAR going I have a duty to keep the slow paced flag flying.

Not the only one. Allenby's and Sir Hump's might also be near real-time, although not so much slower as yours.

[El Pip]

Not the only one. Allenby's and Sir Hump's might also be near real-time, although not so much slower as yours.

I think both of those are just over real time.

Sacred Grove has been going since May '05 (27 months) and has gone from Jan '36 to April 38 (28 months). Close though

British Interests I think technically starts 1897 (Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee) so has over 10 years done since it started.

Thus I still claim the less than real-time throne as my own! Mwuhahahah!

[GeneralHannibal]

I think both of those are just over real time.

Sacred Grove has been going since May '05 (27 months) and has gone from Jan '36 to April 38 (28 months). Close though

British Interests I think technically starts 1897 (Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee) so has over 10 years done since it started.

Thus I still claim the less than real-time throne as my own! Mwuhahahah!

Oh, well, if you do British Interests from when the game starts it might be about even, but your definitely is the slowest ratio. However, A World in Flames by Commander-DK might be about the same speed, been going on since around July 1 and it is on January 14 now, but a fair amount of updates.

[Jalex]

Is that a throne you want to claim?

[RAFspeak]

I say El Pip, you really are taking this 'less than 1:1 time' thing seriously, aren't you? Not that I'm complaining old boy, but there are some chaps here who are probably going to shuffle off to that great mess tent in the sky before you finish this AAR!

Please delight us with another chapter, and remember that the Webley is always an option for an enraged Winston - he could use it at his farewell supper at Number 10 - wouldn't that wipe the smile off his deceitful fellow minister's faces?

[GeneralHannibal]

Update pretty please?

[Duritz]

I'm beginning to think that El Pip was nothing more than a group hallucination...

[TheExecuter]

No, No...El Pip is a leisurely updater...like me! So...I'm willing to wait for a while for a new update, if I have to.

That said, whenever you are ready El Pip, we'll take an update!

TheExecuter

[El Pip]

Jalex - It's the only throne on offer so I'll grasp it with both hands!

RAFspeak - I agree the update speed is perhaps even slower than it needs to be to reach my less than 1:1 goal, but frankly I can't find the time to write. How other writers manage I have no idea, at all.

GeneralHannibal - I am still working on it. Have faith.

Duritz - A hallucination, that would be like finding out what the IC plan is in the UK Co-op. Promised, discussed, argued over. But never actually seen. I wonder which lazy updater is responsible for that....

TheExecuter - It's exactly that kind of supportive and useful post that won you fan of the week. Patient yet demanding, perfect!

The next update is about half done and the other half is working late tonight so, with a bit of luck, I'll be able to finish and post the next part this very evening. Does that sate the mob for now?

[C&D]

Does that sate the mob for now?

It does. For now...

[RAFspeak]

Oh excellent news! ...I was just about to jump for it, and place my faith in ten square yards of silk!

Give it those bally jerries and misguided eyeties El Pip!

[caffran]

when you said 'update this very evening' exactly what day/week../month? were you thinking of??

later, caff

[C&D]

Alas, Pip wrote such a good story that his fans will never leave him alone again.

[Funkatronica]

yup, el pip is reaping the effects of such a great aar - maybe its too good for its own good!

[Spacehusky]

Maybe we need to start bothering him via PM

[GeneralHannibal]

Perhaps...

[El Pip]

Gentlemen, what can I say? I'm being harassed into updates, just like a proper writer. It brings a tear to my eye it really does.

To show my appreciation for your support here is an update, because I'm nice like that.

[El Pip]

Chapter XXXVI: A Just Reward for a Gentleman.

Like any venerable British institution the Conservative Party's procedures eschewed formal rules in favour of precedent and unwritten understanding. While the practical differences were normally slight the flexibility possible when not constrained by a rule book could produce surprising, and far more appropriate, results than by the letter systems. The leadership election of April 1936 was just such an occasion, normal procedures being short-cut by the pressures of politics, personalities and war. For the plotters grouped around Stanley Baldwin this would come as a most unpleasant surprise, not least due to the unexpected identity of the instigator; the recently deposed leader Winston Churchill.

In more conventional circumstances Churchill would have been expected to remain as Prime Minister, albeit a virtually impotent one, until the party had elected a new leader to replace him. Baldwin, having taken pains to ensure his whispering campaign never specified who the new leader would be, just that is shouldn't be Winston, had intended to use this gap to propel himself into the job as the proverbial safe and experienced pair of hands. While not declaring himself as the alternative had been tactically helpful, it would not do his campaign any good to be be perceived as an ambitious king-slayer grasping for power, it would prove to be a serious strategic mistake.

The crucial flaw in Baldwin's scheming became apparent in the immediate aftermath of the vote when Churchill, making the traditional speech of the defeated leader, sprung a surprise on all present. Deviating from the traditional acceptance of the vote and plea for party unity line he instead indicated his refusal to serve as a 'Lame duck' Prime Minister and his intention to head to the palace to tender his resignation to the King. In justification he argued that the gravity of Britain's position far from being a reason to hang on was actually the very reason he could not stay; "The present situation is most grave with issues both at home, and across the seas, requiring the full exertions of this country and her empire that they may be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Yet how can a man be expected to wield such power and influence when he does not even have the support of his own party?" Having bequeathed a problem to his party he moved on to provide the solution, a typically direct answer to a complex issue; elect a leader there and then. There was clearly no time for a formal election so the MPs present would have to select a sole candidate, removing the need for a vote and resolving the issue promptly.

Warming to his theme Churchill laid out what he saw as the requirements; experience of high office, wide support in the party and a proven history of putting country before party and party before self. Baldwin recognising that the last point seemed designed to explicitly exclude him prepared to speak up, but Churchill had not finished. The ideal candidate would also have to be proposed, for any man committed enough to party unity would not risk dividing the party by putting his own name forward, in short the party need to call a reluctant elder statesman back into service to see the country, and the party through the crisis. As a final flourish Churchill named his prefered candidate, the only man he felt could fulfil all the requirements he had lain out; The foreign secretary Austen Chamerbalin.

Austen Chamberlain, although over 70 at the time of his election, was still in good health both physically and mentally. His credentials on party unity were impeccable; many times putting duty or loyalty before ambition and thus earning the respect and support of much of the party. For many his election as leader for the second time was considered a just reward for his stalwart services to the party.

Chamberlain, who had been nodding in agreement to much of Churchill's speech, found himself propelled to the centre of attention. Having long since given up thoughts of returning to high office, let along ascending to the premiership, the shock was greater to him than anyone else in the room. Shaking off the shock the veteran MP accepted Churchill's nomination but said he would step aside should another, more worthy, candidate make himself know. Which, of course, no-one did, even Baldwin realising that to put oneself forward would be an act of naked ambition and that any attempt to promote a rival candidate meant running down Chamberlain, both acts unlikely to garner support in the current atmosphere. Thus as the sole candidate standing Austen Chamberlain was elected leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party for the second time, the Premiership once again within his grasp.

In the aftermath of the meeting, as MPs swarmed around the new leader seeking favours, preference and patronage the new leader sought a private meeting with his predecessor. There was one last task for which he was undoubtedly the best man for; dealing with the King. While the King was not regarded as the sharpest political tool in the box even he would have been able to spot the weakness in the freshly appointed Chamberlain threatening an en mass government resignation. Churchill on the other hand had been forced out of office for notionally not correctly handling the crisis, while both men knew that was not the full story the King would not. Therefore it was arranged that Churchill would see the King and lay down the ultimatum from parliament and empire; Wallace or the Crown, love or duty.

These carefully laid plans would be rent asunder by opportunists both in Europe and across the seas.