Glad I could help. I thought you had ditched Chamberlain already?
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Glad I could help. I thought you had ditched Chamberlain already?
Giant robotic cartoonists from outer space?
No, rather closer to home, within the Life Belt of the system. And only in literary form.
Next update nearly done. There'll be great silvery birds, and politics. Rendez-vous next week!
I like the insight you gave into Chamberlain's mind at the end- he is very sympathetic in his own way, even if it's all too easy to condemn him knowing what we do know. I hope this means that there'll be more Anglo-French cooperation in the future- the world certainly needs some sort of force capable of standing up to Germany.
I feel Chamberlain can be credited for having had his "road to Damascus" moment after Munich, as well as for having built Britain's tools of war that Churchill ended up using and expanding. People like black and white, so it's only natural that they want Churchill's credit to come at Chamberlain's expense, but History rarely works like that. I've bought Churchill's War Memories and his political journal, should give me ideas about the cooperation between the two men.
Anglo-French cooperation is certainly about to be rekindled - convergence of interests as well as of threats demands it. But the term of cooperation is probably be a better description that that of alliance, of only because of the game's mechanics (we are two different alliances). I'm not sure what the British (and Italian) AI will do at war. I hope they'll initiate independent operations, as it will make for interesting updates and complicate my own planning, which is always good.
Returning to your previous reference to Italy as a near-fascist state, how does that work when De Gasperi (a pretty ardent anti-fascist) is prime minister?
No, I'm not trying to keep you from updatingo
No, I'm not trying to keep you from updating
o
Returning to your previous reference to Italy as a near-fascist state, how does that work when De Gasperi (a pretty ardent anti-fascist) is prime minister?
No, I'm not trying to keep you from updating
De Gasperi came to power as party of a joint French and Vatican effort to sideline Fascism in Italy and favor a Christian-Democrat monarchy instead. As Mussolini's demise didn't follow a particularly disastrous time for Italy, or particular despicable actions from Mussolini's regime (which has collapsed before it could really align with Nazi Germany), that means Fascism is still popular with some Italians, and that there are still Fascist Ministers and Parliament members.
It is therefore impossible, IMHO, for de Gasperi to just outlaw the Fascist party (as it would cause dangerous ripples throughout Italian society, not to mention Italian armed forces), and he has to find ways to limit Fascist influence until such a time the Conservative Right will be able to ignore/absorb them altogether. This might lead to a 1964 situation where Fascism in this ATL will be like Communism in our OTL: a viable and legal political idea, marred with pretty few positive examples of a succesful implementation, but that still attracts people nonetheless.
The next update (which I'm currently working on with the objective of posting it in the next few days) will be French-flavored and American-based, but the one coming after that will actually be about Italy, or at least about some Italian policies.
CHAPTER 105 - AIR SHOW POLITICS
Willow Grove Airfield
Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, March the 16th, 1939
"Over there! Here they come!"
The cries rose over the field and stirred the crowd, and thousands of heads turned expectantly toward the southern end of the airfield. The four planes had come from the sun and, one by one, plunged menacingly towards the airfield. They flew so low they grazed the line of elm trees that bordered the road that connected Horsham to Willow Grove, leaving behind them dozens of parked cars and farmers' pick-ups. Preceded by the roar of their engines, which the pilots were pushing to their limits, they rushed towards the spectators of the air show like birds of prey. Instinctively the audience ducked when the planes' shadow fell over them, the machines passing directly over their heads in deafening thunder. In their wake, a violent gust of wind snatched the hats from the men's heads and messed up the hair of the ladies. Spectators exploded into cheers, and applauded when the planes started a lazy turn left, that let the tricolored American star and the French roundel gleam into the morning sun. Completing their U-turn, the planes made another pass at a higher altitude, and suddenly broke formation to begin a sharp chandelle in a rumble of pistons. Kids - boys, mostly - cheered and waved their caps at the rising planes, while their fathers pointed towards the rapidly disappearing silhouettes. All across Willow Grove, the air seemed to echo the howling of the planes' engines and the shrieking of the aviation enthusiasts. The officials' tribune where the French delegation and their American hosts had taken place quite literally vibrated every time the loudspeakers commenting the show screeched into life to add their blaring to the general ruckus. In the crowd, vendors proposed sandwiches and sodas, and small toy planes as souvenirs. The importance of interacting with the audience had been stressed upon by the young man from Young and Rubicam, and Mermoz patted himself on the back for having accepted - and imposed - that recommendation from the American ambassador. "It's not so much a fair as it is advertising France", Bush had said, "and that's why you need professionals. If you win over the advertisers, the newspapers will follow." So, between flight demonstrations, the audience gathered around the plane hangars where pilots and mechanics - sometimes with the help of interpreters - talked about their machines, while representatives from the industry gave interviews to the journalists. His ears still ringing from the last announcement, Jean Mermoz allowed himself a melancholic smile as he followed the evolution of the planes, now making their final approach to land. A part of him longed to be flying with them. The advertising consultant from had even thought it would make a great stunt - the French Minister of Aviation stepping out of a cockpit to give a press conference in a pilot's suit. Mermoz had nevertheless agreed with the young man that it would best used in New York, which would be the Fair's big finale. Still, the 1939 Franco-American Fair was a promising success.
And with Czechoslovakia all but gone, we badly need a success, he thought, a shadow falling over his face.
Jean Mermoz, France's Aviation Minister
Jean Mermoz, France's Aviation Minister
From the beginning, the idea of sending an Air Mission to the United States had been closely associated with the development of the Sudetenland crisis. While perfectly able to produce enough planes to equip the Armée de l'Air, Air Force General Vuillemin had said, it was doubtful that France's aeronautics industry would be able to keep up with its German counterparts in case of a conflict with Nazi Germany. During the conflict with Soviet Spain, it had already appeared that the French factories were operating at about 75% of their maximum capacity as they struggled to satisfy competing orders for delivering spare parts, fully-assembled planes and developing new models. That, Vuillemin had said, would put France at a severe disadvantage if it was dragged by the Luftwaffe in a battle of attrition, with every non-compensated loss swiftly moving the odds in Germany's favor. Again, the war in Spain had shown how a few badly-mauled squadrons could spiral down into losing total control of the airspace and put troops in grave danger. Not only would French troops move under constant threat of bombardment, Vuillemin had said, but so would French workers. Most of the country's plane factories were concentrated around Paris and in the East, well in range of German bombers, which meant early fighter losses would also hamper France's ability to regain air parity, which in turn would cause further losses, and start a potentially lethal circle. Gathered at the War Ministry, the French industrialists had stressed out that this wasn't a situation that could be solved by simply expanding the existing assembly lines. Aeronautics engineers took between six and eight years to train, and would not reach peak competence and productivity before two or three more years after that. There were productivity gains to be made by automatizing the production process, naturally, but not everything could be left to machines, and more advanced machine-tools would require to train skilled operators anyway. From Raoul Dautry at the War Ministry to Guy La Chambre at the Assemblée Nationale, the experts had concluded that the solution for France would be to buy foreign-made planes, or to lease foreign factories to license-build French models. War Minister Jean Fabry had forwarded their conclusions to the Prime Minister, adding a memo advising that the cardinal qualities France should look for in any prospective partner would be technical proficiency, ability to deliver rapidly in large quantities, and assurances that the deliveries would not be used as political leverage by the partner's government. To Fabry, and since German and Russian planes were out of question, that left Italian, British and American plane manufacturers. Within a week of his memo's reaching the Prime Minister, Fabry had sent the Air Attachés in London, Rome and Washington to find prospective partners and evaluate the technical and political feasibility.
"So! What do you think, Mr Minister?" asked James Davis, leaning towards Mermoz to cover the last of the loudpseaker.
At 66, the Senator of Pennsylvania was still an impressive man, and it wasn't difficult to imagine him in the steel mill where he had first worked. But it would also, as Mermoz had learned, be a mistake to let the Senator of Pennsylvania's unassuming stance and slight just-off-the-boat Welsh accent fool him. Davis was a power breaker, who felt even more at ease in the maze of Washington's corridors than at unions' rallies. The Republican had served three Presidents in a row as Labor Secretary, and some said Roosevelt's worst mistake had been to replace him. Davis was presently Landon's unofficial expert on all industrial issues. As Prescott Bush had said when Mermoz had embarked on the Normandie two weeks ago, Davis was a key player in all industrial issues. Beyond his ample experience with American conglomerates as well as with American unions, he had developed an impressive network of connections that ran from labor organizations to manufacturing dynasties, in the United States and beyond. James Davis was the natural "go-to man" for a number of special interest groups, and his expertise was sought after by politicians from both sides of the aisle, even at White House level. While Davis had declined Landon's offer to take back his new job, he had accepted to work behind the scenes to put the New Deal back on track and to take care of the mess the National Recovery Agency had turned into after the "Johnson scandal". These various responsibilities, Bush had stressed out, meant Davis would be directly interested by shaping up a Franco-American industrial partnership. Mermoz had also obtained valuable information from the French consulate in Pittsburgh: Davis had a personal interest in aviation, and had notably helped a local company, All-American Aviation, to set up an air mail service that was starting to expand across the East Coast. That, Mermoz had thought, could be what his American friends called a deal sweetener. As it happened, Air France was trying to develop its activities in North America, and switch its operations from airmail to the more profitable passenger flights via the Azores. Still, the board of directors was unwilling to abandon the airmail business entirely, fearing that any interruption of service there would reflect badly upon the company as a whole, and end up hurting passenger flights as well. The problem was, there was only so many planes Air France could fly, and the conversion of the company's Bloch-160s mail planes to passenger-only standard had to be decided soon, before another company could set up a competing transatlantic service. To Mermoz, that provided him with the opportunity to offer All-American Aviation a contract making them Air France's North American partner for the delivery of air mail, while the French company would be able to use AAA's facilities to strengthen its position along the East Coast and start radiating across the continental United States.
"Senator, the warmth of your welcome is overwhelming. The American people's passion for aviation is truly amazing!"
"Ah, but we invented it, remember?" said Davies, pointing at the landing pair of Curtiss fighters, passing by the Dewoitines' hangars. "Though by the lines of those planes, you haven't exactly been sleeping at the wheel yourselves"
"Senator" said Mermoz, "it does strike me that our two Republics share the certitude that the key to a prosperous future lies in the peaceful mastery of air and space, for commercial and scientific purposes. Then think of what we could do together, with the energy of our workers, and the vision of our industrialists! We could build bigger planes. We could fly mail, cargo and people higher, faster, and safer. We could make aviation even more popular, an everyday service. Actually, Senator, I think there's nothing our two countries couldn't achieve, in this field as well as in others, if they set themselves a clear goal and start working to meet it"
"I hear you. Give the American worker a dream and a challenge, and there's no stopping him. Provided he can make ends meet, that is, and take care of his family. That's what we're trying to do here, Mr Minister. Look at these people here. Some have been laid off. Some have just bounced back. Some are struggling to keep their job or their farm or their company, things they have invested their whole life into. Between you and me, I hate to see all this potential go to waste just because we can't make our markets and economy grow fast enough. So, working together? Sure, why not. But can you tell me how it'll help them?"
"It just would, Senator. We look for American partners to help us produce in the United States, not for American blueprints to bring back home. There are some things we'll want to assemble in France, I'll grant you that, but mostly our needs would be covered by our partners' factories and workers in America - or elsewhere if we can't agree on a deal here."
"That's all very good" growled Davis, recognizing the implicit mention of British or Italian competitors for what it was. "But from what I understand, you don't need US factories to meet your current, peacetime needs. So this partnership of yours seems to be for wartime only. If there is war. Now don't get me wrong, I've seen kids coming back from Argonne, all mauled up, and God knows I hope we'll b spared another Great War. But American will enjoy peace better if they have jobs and wages and save up for a house or a car, you know. So what do you bring me, Mr Minister? What can I say to the President on your behalf, what can he promise American workers today?"
Mermoz expected the question. It was only natural that America, enjoying the advantage of being an ocean away from either Nazi or Japanese peril, would worry more about the rapid creation of wealth and curbing down its two-digit unemployment figures than about facing down military adventures. In a way, he hoped it would remain so, and that the kids who had jumped on their feet at the passage of the planes wouldn't have to be told their dads had been killed in some faraway field in Europe. Still, he also knew that this might be what France's very survival would depend upon - a strong friend and partner abroad, out of the enemy's reach but whose weight would be felt daily with planes, machines, money, and if needed be, men on the ground. It was quite evident for the French Cabinet that the only partner it could trust to deliver planes rapidly and without political interference would be the United States. Italy couldn't be relied upon as it was reorganizing its aeronautics industry, and Spain's more modest facilities had already signed a contract with Bloch to produce MB-152s for the Spanish Air Force as well as convert a hundred MB-210 bombers into transports for the Armée de l'Air. The British plane manufacturers were producing excellent designs, who the Air Attaché in London deemed superior to current French planes in various respects. The British workers' technical proficiency was excellent, and the factories were both out of practical range for the Luftwaffe's twin-engined bombers and close enough to French bases that the planes could be delivered by ferry flights as well as by ship. Unfortunately, the Air Attaché had reported, British factories were just as busy as the French ones, trying to keep up with Chamberlain's orders to modernize the Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm. As it was almost unimaginable that a war between France and Germany wouldn't involve Great Britain at some point, when war broke British factories would find themselves unable to satisfy all of the RAF's demands, and the Armée de l'Air's would logically become secondary. So in Mermoz' mind that meant dragooning America into helping France's war preparations, no matter what. Having paid the blood price in full in the last conflict, France desired peace as much as America. However, sitting just across an enemy that threatened its colonies as well as its homeland, it didn't have as much say in the matter. There was little doubt in Mermoz' mind that if war once again pitted France against Germany, the only options would be to prevail, or to perish.
"Actually there is an aviation contract that we could negotiate here and now" Mermoz replied after a moment of reflexion. "As a premise to a broader partnership, of course. It concerns a specialized need that our own industry would be hard-pressed to satisfy fully, and where US firms would have quite an edge over competitors."
"You have all my attention. How many planes are we talking about?"
"Over two hundred and fity" said Mermoz. "Plus spares."
"Military planes?"
"Military planes - fighters and dive bombers, for the Aéronavale. Over the next three years, our Navy is going to commission four aircraft carriers. One of them is nearing completion as we speak, with a sister ship following next year. Two more ships have already been started. For the time being our only carrier-capable aircraft are old Dewoitine biplanes that we need to replace rapidly. We also have some Loire-Nieuport dive bombers, but we've been disappointed with those - serious structural problems, nothing we could fix without a complete overhaul of the design. That's why the War Ministry, I think, could be amenable to buying American-made planes. I have been told Curtiss, Douglas and Vought have some experience in this. I know that's not a very large number of planes by American standards, but as I said it would usher in further contracts. Think of it as an appetizer, with the main course still to follow. We could practically sign up this one today, provided it paves the way for further cooperation."
Carrier planes, mmh? mused Davis, squinting at the crowd that was moving towards the hangars.
The French offer could prove interesting indeed. Curtiss, Vought and Douglas happened to be based in Republican States, and a big contract there might prove crucial for the Party in the coming 1940 elections. Davis wondered if the Frenchman had dropped these names in purpose. If so, the partnership Mermoz sought would be political as well as industrial, and that warranted some serious thinking. The ailing US economy had so far deprived the Landon administration from a domestic success it could flaunt in front of the voters, and the pacifist wing of Congress, which encompassed Democrats, Republicans and the brand-new Nationals, kept a tight watch on the White House's foreign adventures. the US efforts to enforce non-intervention in the Peruvian War by setting up the International Squadron had been eclipsed by the attacks on neutral shipping by unidentified ships, and the Marines' success in Peru had been offset by the Communist revolution in Brazil. Most of American Interventionists were demanding actions against Rio de Janeiro and stronger language against Tokyo, but Berlin was off-limits for a number of reasons. Americans regarded European affairs with unease, to begin with, when it was not with a certain degree of condescension. What use was Europe for Americans? Centuries ago their forefathers had left the damn place by the millions, in search of a better place they had built for themselves on American shores. Only twenty years ago, their brothers and fathers had returned to Europe to fight another one of its wars, for little in return but bitter debates about debts. Foreign affairs, many Americans thought, were best limited to trade. American politicians openly said that price-fixing should be the only foreign policy of the United States, and during campaigns they regularly threw accusations of warmongering at each other, as it proved as effective as 'Communist'. Davis, himself an immigrant from Wales, didn't care much about what happened beyond the ocean either, but he knew it just couldn't be shrugged away either. Beyond the sea were clients, suppliers, markets, friends and enemies, that maybe America didn't want to mingle with but whose troubles always impacted American interests. Also, Davis knew Washington politics well enough to see that both parties' reluctance to devise a real foreign policy was hurting them badly. As politicians from both sides had taken to equate foreign policy with warmongering, they had encouraged a strong isolationist wing in their midst. It hadn't taken too much time before some Isolationist partisans had devised a common political program, that had coalesced into the rapidly-growing National Party. The Nationals were becoming a real nuisance in Davis' eyes. They did their own advertising of course, but also encouraged like-minded Americans to become members of the Democratic or Republican party, in a clear attempt to gain traction beyond their own ranks. They put candidates in every election, and negotiated their desisting with Democratic and Republican front-runners until they out-paced each other in making isolationist pledges. As could be expected with a Republican in the White House, the National Party's strategy was hurting the Grand Old Party more than it did the Democrats, to the point Vice-President Knox was contemplating the prospect of a sound defeat in the 1940 presidential race.
Pennsylvania Senator James Davis
"Our Air attachés say these firms make planes that could satisfy our needs" continued Mermoz. "As you can see we have already made good friends with Curtiss, but maybe you could help us arrange some meetings with the others?"
"Meetings, yes, certainly" said Davis, still pondering whether he should commit or not. On the one hand, 1940 would see a number of elections in the US, and that meant the National Party would make its presence felt, attacking any candidate suspected of leaning towards internationalism. On the other hand, Davis' own Senatorial seat was assured for a few more years, and he knew he had the kind of credential that would make a National candidate pause twice before attacking him. Wasn't he the man who had set up the Border Patrol to keep America safe, after all? As he saw it, the only issue - though a pretty thorny one he had to admit - was that he might rub some of his campaign contributors the wrong way. Would the French contracts offset that? He wasn't sure.
"And in acknowledgment to the American people's admirable love for peace", Mermoz continued, "maybe we could extend the scope of the meetings to commercial aviation? There is a burgeoning American company, from your own district I think, which has caught the attention of some Air France directors. They'd like to hire the services of this company, with an eye toward wider cooperation in the future, I think"
Well, well. Two hundred and fifty planes, contracts for American firms, and jobs in Republican districts. And a little something thrown my way? All right, I suppose this is as good a deal as I'll ever get.
"I think I agree with you, Mr Minister" said Davis, putting a hand on Mermoz' shoulder as he shook his hand. "There's nothing our two countries cannot do together - particularly when they understand each other so well."
"Ah, Jean Mermoz" said a voice behind Davis. "And already trying to seduce America I see."
Mermoz turned towards the newcomer. He knew him well enough - who didn't? People like them tended to check each other's out anyway. Within their small - and shrinking - circle, men and women looked at each other with a mix of competition, emulation, and admiration. Friendly or not, open or not, rivalry was to be expected. Human nature compels men to compete among equals, and as they were adventurers of the skies who didn't bond easily with those who didn't share their passion, they measured up against each other. Between them, the obsession was to set up new records, and go after the others' at risk of life and limb. The ambition to always go higher and the omnipresence of physical danger reinforced their impression they belonged to an elite ordinary men could never really relate to. Within that small elite, every man - and woman - was at the same time everybody else's friend, everybody else's role model, and everybody else's rival. What made Mermoz and the newcomer different from the rest of the group wasn't that they had finally developed an interest for earthly affairs - ever since the Wright brothers had flown their machine, aging aviators had been replaced by younger pilots, and had turned to different aspects of aviation. Some had turned to plane design, some had set up factories, and others had created airlines. What made today's situation unique was Mermoz and the American's parallel course from aviation to politics. Never before had two rival pilots risen to positions of prominence in such a different domain, only to find themselves rivals once again. And while the old pilots' rivalry concerned only the temporary possession of a flying record, both men knew that the stakes were now considerably higher.
"Senator Lindbergh" said Mermoz. "I am sure the seduction is mutual."
Lindbergh flashed a boyish smile that for a second brought Mermoz twelve years behind. Lindbergh next to his plane. Lindbergh at the banquet. Lindbergh giving interviews with that shy, timid stance. Mermoz, who had revered Lindbergh at the time, marveled at their parallel course. They were almost the same age. They had started flying at the same time, Mermoz in the Army, the American as an air mail pilot. They had both grown tired of it, and had longed for greater challenges. Both had struggled to defeat the vastness of the Atlantic, to bring two continents closer but most of all to prevail over time and space. Both had been feted deliriously for their success, and had renounced Earth for the glory Air. And like Icarus, both had had their wings cut by personal tragedy. Lindbergh's infant son had been kidnapped in the spring of 1932, and after months of nerve-wrecking uncertainty the small, lifeless body had been discovered in a ditch. Something had broken within Lindbergh that neither time nor the arrest and execution of this child's murderer had been able to repair. That same spring, Mermoz' Latécoère 300 flying boat had disintegrated into mid-air as it approached the Azores, after a faulty engined had lost its propeller, lacerating the fuselage's mid-section. The radio and navigator, who were located aft, had probably died instantly, either from the whirring blades or from the crash. The mechanic who worked on the engine had been blown away when the damaged wing had torn from the rest of the fuselage. Having donned parachutes an hour before as the plane had gone through a squall, Mermoz and his co-pilot, had managed to jump, although too low and too fast. When a Portuguese patrol boat had located Mermoz nine hours later, the co-pilot's body had already been hauled from the sea. He had broken both his legs, and had drowned inside his wet parachute. These deaths had changed the two men, who had turned inward for a while. After some months, they had crept out of their inner darkness, and had found a new interest in earthly affairs. As merely flying now felt too personal, they had turned to politics. Mermoz had joined the Croix de Feu, hoping to use the movement's growing influence as a soapbox from which he could rekindle France's interest for the development of its commercial aviation. At de La Rocque's request he had given a series of lectures, and he had given flight lessons to the Croix de Feu's youth movement. When the riots of 1934 had unexpectedly swept the Croix de Feu into power, Mermoz had naturally accepted de La Rocque's offer to create an Aviation Ministry and to reorganize the industry. In America, Lindbergh had turned to supporting scientific research, using his fame and his not exactly negligible wealth to secure investments for a number of projects. That had brought him in contact with industrialists and Army officers, as well as with scientists, engineers and workers. He had been comforted to see that, despite of the current economic setback, Americans kept faith in the destiny of their country. He had also been touched that so many worried about the perils of another war, now that Europe seemed to be mulling another Franco-German quarrel. Americans were ready to suffer any hardship, but not to squander their boys' lives in futile foreign adventures. There lied, Lindbergh felt, an immense undercurrent, that neither party tapped adequately. After a series of meetings with like-minded politicians, Lindbergh had chosen to enter the Washington arena and his political movement, the America First Committee, had soon enough grown into the small but vocal National Party. The Nationals were far behind the Republicans and Democrats in terms of membership and audience, but their aggressiveness and persistence had nevertheless managed to dislodge a number of Congressmen, and to send Charles Lindbergh to the Senate after Democratic support had allowed him to soundly defeat one of Landon's partisans in New Jersey.
And so once again we are rivals, thought Mermoz, in wooing the world's audience.
"Isn't that a shame, Mr Minister?" said Lindbergh waving his hand towards the plane hangars. "The planes are over there, and we are both stuck on this official tribune. Do you think it'd be a terrible breach of protocol if we both sneaked up in these hangars and enjoyed ourselves a little? I'd fly your Dewoitine, you'd fly the Curtiss."
"Wouldn't that make you complicit of war preparations, Senator?" mused Davis with a smirk.
"Who knows, Jim?" replied Lindbergh with a quiet chuckle. "But Jean, surely we could do a little race, just you and me. The press would love that: the two heroes of the Atlantic, trying to out-race each other aboard sleek flying machines. That would be the stuff of legends."
"If it is a race, then what would the prize be?"
"How about American support? You win, I'll fully support your acquisition plans. You lose, you stop trying to enlist our help to fight your wars. Wouldn't that be a prize worth fighting - or rather, flying for?"
The National PArty, the dark horse of American politics
"Oh, I'm sure it would" said Mermoz after a moment of silence. It was hard to see if Lindbergh joked, or if he was serious. The American's smiles never fully reached his eyes, or affected the tone of his voice. "It's the highest prize I could ever covet. But I will have to decline your offer nonetheless. We are grown men, you and me. Old enough to know that there are some issues that one cannot solve in a youthful challenge. Regrettably."
"Yes. Regrettably indeed" said Lindbergh with a sad nod. "I won't lie to you: I'll do my best to make things difficult for you, and for those who might be tempted to listen to your siren's song. But it's nothing personal, I want you to understand that. If war comes, I wish you and France the best of luck"
"So you'd rather watch us toil and die from afar with a prayer in your heart and a tear in your eye?" said Mermoz, surprised it was that hard not to take Lindbergh's attitude personally.
"I'd do all I could to help such a war stop - short of fighting it for you. You can't expect me, or America, to do anything more."
"Then let us hope that war never comes, or that, should it come, we'll be able to deal with Germany's war machine. Hitler isn't like anything you and I ever met before, Charles. Should he overwhelm French defenses, it'd be a simple question of time before he points his guns at Britain - or America and make new demands"
"Don't get me wrong, Jean" said Lindbergh, nodding pensively. "I'm not advocating that America ignores foreign peril and buries her head into the sand. I'm not naive enough to think we won't ever have enemies, or that we don't have some already. Have you ever met Robert Goddard?"
"I beg your pardon?" said Mermoz, puzzled. "No, the name isn't familiar at all I'm afraid. Who's he?"
"One of the engineers I helped getting funds - a Professor, actually. He works in aeronautics, though his domain looks so minor today that many people regard it as a mere hobby, when they don't call it a waste of resources"
"And that domain is?"
"Rocketry. Goddard sends small rockets into the sky, things no bigger than a Magnum of Champagne. I'll tell you that, Jean, when he first came to me, I thought he was a very clever man with a bee in his bonnet. He showed me one of the rockets he had devised, - a mere engine and fuel tank encased in a pipe. The thing couldn't even fly straight unless you strapped it to a launch contraption made of tent pickets welded together"
"So?" despite of himself, Mermoz was interested. Lindbergh's eyes had seemed to turn inward to some essential truth.
"He set it up in a field I own, and fired it. The thing howled, it just howled as it blasted into the sky, like a bullet. Within seconds we had lost it from sight, until a moment later we saw it coming down, its fuel exhausted after a mere seconds of flight. When we got it back, all charred and twisted from heat and crash, I asked Goddard what use he foresaw for this kind of toy."
"So what did he tell you?"
"He told me that this rocket was indeed little more than a clever toy, but that just as today's airplanes could go higher, faster and further than the Wright brothers' first plane, pretty soon we'd be able to build rockets that would dwarf this one in terms of size and performance. He told me that the day would come when Man could use them to move cargo and passengers anywhere on Earth, in a matter of mere hours. And that this Earth's sky might not be the limit actually - beyond the sky lied the space between planets that rockets could travel. And he told me another thing that changed my world forever."
"What was it?"
"Goddard said that even sooner the day would come when Man could use rockets to wage war across incredible distances. That someone in Europe would be able to bomb Russia or America without battleships, airships, or four-engine bombers. And he was right. Do you understand, Jean? Sooner or later America will be denied the protection of its two oceans, so every help we send your way today to fight your enemies will be something we'll sorely miss tomorrow to deter ours. I am sorry, Mr Minister. I won't allow my country to squander away its defense for old times' sake."
I see, thought Mermoz. Despite of Prescott Bush's ample warning about Lindbergh's associates, he felt a great burden fall on his shoulders. The stakes had gone higher than he had thought, and Charles Lindbergh, the man he had admired and revered was not his rival anymore. Now he was his enemy. Mermoz extended his hand with a sad smile of his own.
"I'm glad we could have this conversation, Senator. I certainly look forward to our next meeting."
********
Game effects :
None yet.
Writer's notes
Willow Grove is an airfield located near Horsham, in Pennsylvania. Established in the mid-1920s, it is now a Reserve Naval Air Station.
James Davis, aka Puddler Jim, was the Republican Senator of Pennsylvania in 1939. He did serve three Presidents as Labor Secretary, and as such would have been a likely candidate to serve under the Landon administration in some capacity, and given what we heard about the New Deal and General Johnson's troubles in a much earlier update, I thought Davis could be the knowledgeable man behind the scene.
Jean Mermoz was a French aviator, who began flying for the Army during the Druze rebellion in Syria, and got sick of bombing/strafing people. He turned to commercial aviation, and notably pushed for the development of airmail lines between Europe and South America (he notably helped develop Argentina's Aerolineas with another famous French pilot, Antoine de Saint Exupéry). As it happens, Mermoz joined the Croix de Feu in 1931 and, possibly because of the publicity boon such a name gave the movement, was made Vice-President of the association. Had the Croix de Feu managed to attain power, Mermoz would have been the natural candidate for the Aviation Ministry, as he had the required fame, talent, and political affiliation. The dramatic accident related in this update about the Latécoère is my version (based on a similar accident that happened to another Laté-300 plane) of what really happened to Mermoz' plane, the "Croix du Sud", which crashed in the Atlantic in 1936 with no survivors.
Young and Rubicam was (and still is) an advertising firm in the 1930s. I picked it because it's firms like these that gave New York's Madison Avenue its fame.
All-American Aviation was a real company, created in Pennsylvania in 1937 by scions of the wealthy DuPont dynasty. It began operating in 1939, and would have probably relished the opportunity to score a major contract with a bigger company. While AAA stopped going under this name in the 1950s, it still flies planes, under the name of US Airways. While James Davis had no direct interest in the company that I know of, I felt a US Senator would do his best to help the DuPont family, if only as potential donors for his re-election campaign.
Air France was created in 1933, when it appeared necessary to merge various smaller (and hitherto competing) companies. Upon its creation, the company claimed it had the longest lines network in the world. It employed Jean Mermoz as a pilot, and as the Inspector-General of the company, and pushed for better, safer planes. He might have become one of Air France directors if his career (and life) hadn't been cut short in 1936.
Charles Lindbergh certainly doesn't need an introduction. His flying records are well known, as is the tragedy that struck the Lindberghs in 1932. His calls for isolationism as also quite largely documented. Less known is his 1939 letter to the French and British governments urging them not to resist German's policies towards Czechoslovakia. Even less known is his invention of a pump for heart transplants along with a French surgeon, even though I'm not using that bit here.
The America First Committee was set up by Lindbergh and like-minded Americans in 1940, as France and Britain demanded help from the United States to fight Nazi Germany. The AFC (and this ATL's National Party) wasn't a bunch of peaceniks or Fascist stooges, and it attracted quite an interesting collection of characters from Walt Disney to John F. Kennedy (not to mention 800,000 members). The AFC's credo was: America needs to be strong on defense, and keep out of European wars, any war matériel delivered to European nations would be war matériel the US Army would lack. Here, for the sake of political drama, I beefed up the AFC by giving it a formal existence as early as 1938 (since Lindbergh was politically active at the time of the Sudetenland crisis) and to have it evolve into a full-fledged political party (that nevertheless functions more like a lobby, trying to plant its issues on Republicans' and Democrats' programs, and "punishing" candidates who'd be too internationalist in their eyes).
Rober Goddard is of course the pioneer of American rocketry. He did meet Lindbergh, who helped him secure funds from the Guggenheim Foundation (but earlier than what I write here), and the two met remained friends - if that is the right word - ever since.
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Here's some more reading. Alien beings from outer space are bombarding my home with Inspiration Rays that make updates grow until they split in two full-size updates, which means the next update is 50% done and should be posted within the next few days. It'll be back to France, and will deal with colonial issues.
As usual I'll add a few pictures soon, to make this a little more reader-friendly.
As usual I'll add a few pictures soon, to make this a little more reader-friendly.
Reading this update I felt the urge to burn some Latécoère 300s...
Well, let's see what comes from these deals.
Well, let's see what comes from these deals.
Hrmm. I wonder about the expansion in aircraft production in WW2 America, then.
I'm glad this is still kicking; I've been away for a while, but it's good to see it back.
Can he please die in a fire at some point in the future? The argument is bad and he should feel bad.
I'm not sure this expansion could have happened in Britain and France. I'm thinking out loud, but I think factors such as a smaller industrial base, availability of key resources, a smaller workforce that would have been tapped by other defense-related industries and by the mobilization, tighter financial constraints and issues of rapid delivery would have made it impossible for both countries to just order Supermarine or Dewoitine (and SOMUA, Vickers, etc) to produce more to match their needs.
Anyone had thoughts or info about that, I welcome the discussion!
And me who wanted to have him sworn in!
What's the definition of "mixed feelings"? French aviation and industrial development - good; stronger French ties with the US - good; the rise of Lindbergh and the America Firsters - so not good. Particularly with Prof Goddard's rockets to throw into the mix - has the US AI been experimenting with rocket tech?
The US AI indeed has been developing early rocket tech. Not sure it'll keep pushing for operational rockets, but...