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I pick option 2.PS: I also wanted to ask something, since the beginning of this AAR I employed "future" sneak peak updates to show a bit more about the world I envisioned for this AAR in the long run (for the eventual day I reach it, haha). One of the most interesting plots I started writing with those updates was the Second Russo-Japanese War (also possibly known as the Soviet-Korean War) which develops at the same time the USSR experiences a coup and a possible civil war. Little did I know back then how (OTL) events would evolve and I say this due to war in Ukraine, I won't delve into any discussion about current events in our world and I beg you all to do the same as well (despite that never being an issue in this AAR), but before continuing the "future" sneak peak updates I want to ask if you ReadAARs would prefer me avoiding any possible update dealing with THIS TIMELINE Ukraine. (It's a different entity, it's a different world and there's certainly other divergences from OTL).
Question: Should the next "future" updates in the AAR avoid covering TTL's civil war in the Soviet Union?
1) Yes. [Merely focus on the conflict between the Soviets and Korea/Japan/China.
2) No. [Continue covering the inner conflict in the USSR]
Whichever option wins the AAR will obviously continue to follow forum guidelines and rules.
Once more dear ReadAARs, I ask you kindly to avoid engaging in discussion about current events in our world. Thanks for you time and attention ^^
I pick this option as well. You have a very interesting story going, and I would like to keep seeing what you have in store for the USSR.
And yes; having the CIA do my bidding is quite the perk.
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Chapter XII: Closing off a decade. (Part III)
Chapter XII: Closing off a decade. (Part III)
“We will build a powerful military force to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our nation.” – Yoon Suk-yeol.
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“We will build a powerful military force to safeguard the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our nation.” – Yoon Suk-yeol.
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Mokpo City, Republic of Korea. ~ July 9th, 1959.
“Dae-Jung-ssi, would I be wrong to assume this meeting has some purpose related to your local newspaper?”, that was Kim Young-sam, the member of the National Assembly from the Geoje constituency and one of the few independent ones remaining.
“Young-sam-ssi, you know the real reason for this meeting as much as I do,” Kim Dae-jung had lost an election at Mokpo City over a year ago, having faced one of the members of the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation; he wasn’t surprised at all due to numerous voter fraud allegations. “Democracy is now a rubber-stamping process directed by the army, practically most of the Northern population has been disenfranchised due to their association to Communist movements and let’s not talk about the dangerous belligerence directed against China…”
The Supreme Council for National Reconciliation had easily managed to absorb some of the most prominent politicians in the country, however, several numbers of junior politicians felt disillusioned once realizing the amount of fraud, manipulation, and outright censorship in some constituencies after the events of the Korean Summer and Park Chung-hee’s ascension to the presidency. Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-sam were an example of those younger politicians unwilling to simply accept democracy’s silent death at the hands of a military strongman, at the beginning these independent politicians viewed the Progressive Party (previously led by former president Cho Bong-am) as a viable choice to resist the consolidation of Park’s government: though following Kim Tu-bong’s nomination as party leader they lost any hope placed on the once strong progressives.
“I do recognize we need to fight for freedom and democracy, but we must also open our eyes, Park Chung-hee is currently seen as a hero,” and that statement was more than accurate so far, following the stabilization of the country after the assassination of President Cho along the surprising victory against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army practically everyone in Korea recognized Park’s remarkable achievements. “His popularity is currently sky-high, even support for our ideals has been waning among the youth, the economy keeps growing, I understand we need to act but what I fail to grasp is the way we can possibly do it; how can we sway the people towards us?”
An outsider visiting Korea would get the image of a country tightly governed both by Generalissimo Park on one side and the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation on the other, a certainly unique blend of authoritarianism provided with some degree of democratic approval given by those politicians willing to accept Park’s olive branch after 1957. Despite the nationalistic programs enacted by the president the influence of the Progressive Party and his former leader was still felt among the youth, mainly within the students’ organizations, added to this was a vast number of North Koreans dissatisfied with the high degree of government surveillance and the effective disenfranchisement they experienced regarding local and national politics; unrest was slowly simmering in the Korean Peninsula. Kim Dae-Jung recognized that outright ending Park’s tenure as president would be a challenge of colossal proportions, but he figured out a possible way to gradually weaken his hold, it was a bold plan but if it succeeded Korea would be able to have a way out of the military dictatorship with democratic dressing that had been established in 1957.
“Young-sam-ssi, I will be honest to you, there’s plenty of work to do and details to be hammered,” Dae-Jung’s voice reflected confidence and determination. “I don’t know how we’ll achieve this, but 1960 will mark the end of Park’s dominance over our country, democracy will be back.”
The small meeting that took place at Mokpo would go down in history as one of the most important events in modern Korean history, both Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-sam agreed that Park’s presidency was unconstitutional due to him having taken power through a military coup and recognizing that the only viable way to remove him would be causing enough political pressure to force him into calling elections for 1960. Protests, riots, strikes, whatever it would take; both independent politicians were determined to restore real democratic governance to Korea.
“What could they be planning?” that man was Cha Ji-cheol, a lieutenant with membership to the Hanahoe. “Tae-woo, I don’t trust these men, they will try to flip towards the Soviet Union and China whenever they get a chance to do so.” He told his surveillance partner, a young man going by the name of Roh Tae-woo; he also had military background and had joined the Hanahoe even before the Korean Summer took place. Both had been screened by the director of the KCIA and transferred to surveillance duties of the main figures of the opposition, Dae-Jung and Young-sam were not considered important enough to be directly watched by Kim Jong-pil, but they proved to be worrying nonetheless; ironically enough, it was an accurate observation.
“Dae-Jung-ssi, would I be wrong to assume this meeting has some purpose related to your local newspaper?”, that was Kim Young-sam, the member of the National Assembly from the Geoje constituency and one of the few independent ones remaining.
“Young-sam-ssi, you know the real reason for this meeting as much as I do,” Kim Dae-jung had lost an election at Mokpo City over a year ago, having faced one of the members of the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation; he wasn’t surprised at all due to numerous voter fraud allegations. “Democracy is now a rubber-stamping process directed by the army, practically most of the Northern population has been disenfranchised due to their association to Communist movements and let’s not talk about the dangerous belligerence directed against China…”
The Supreme Council for National Reconciliation had easily managed to absorb some of the most prominent politicians in the country, however, several numbers of junior politicians felt disillusioned once realizing the amount of fraud, manipulation, and outright censorship in some constituencies after the events of the Korean Summer and Park Chung-hee’s ascension to the presidency. Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-sam were an example of those younger politicians unwilling to simply accept democracy’s silent death at the hands of a military strongman, at the beginning these independent politicians viewed the Progressive Party (previously led by former president Cho Bong-am) as a viable choice to resist the consolidation of Park’s government: though following Kim Tu-bong’s nomination as party leader they lost any hope placed on the once strong progressives.
“I do recognize we need to fight for freedom and democracy, but we must also open our eyes, Park Chung-hee is currently seen as a hero,” and that statement was more than accurate so far, following the stabilization of the country after the assassination of President Cho along the surprising victory against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army practically everyone in Korea recognized Park’s remarkable achievements. “His popularity is currently sky-high, even support for our ideals has been waning among the youth, the economy keeps growing, I understand we need to act but what I fail to grasp is the way we can possibly do it; how can we sway the people towards us?”
An outsider visiting Korea would get the image of a country tightly governed both by Generalissimo Park on one side and the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation on the other, a certainly unique blend of authoritarianism provided with some degree of democratic approval given by those politicians willing to accept Park’s olive branch after 1957. Despite the nationalistic programs enacted by the president the influence of the Progressive Party and his former leader was still felt among the youth, mainly within the students’ organizations, added to this was a vast number of North Koreans dissatisfied with the high degree of government surveillance and the effective disenfranchisement they experienced regarding local and national politics; unrest was slowly simmering in the Korean Peninsula. Kim Dae-Jung recognized that outright ending Park’s tenure as president would be a challenge of colossal proportions, but he figured out a possible way to gradually weaken his hold, it was a bold plan but if it succeeded Korea would be able to have a way out of the military dictatorship with democratic dressing that had been established in 1957.
“Young-sam-ssi, I will be honest to you, there’s plenty of work to do and details to be hammered,” Dae-Jung’s voice reflected confidence and determination. “I don’t know how we’ll achieve this, but 1960 will mark the end of Park’s dominance over our country, democracy will be back.”
The small meeting that took place at Mokpo would go down in history as one of the most important events in modern Korean history, both Kim Dae-Jung and Kim Young-sam agreed that Park’s presidency was unconstitutional due to him having taken power through a military coup and recognizing that the only viable way to remove him would be causing enough political pressure to force him into calling elections for 1960. Protests, riots, strikes, whatever it would take; both independent politicians were determined to restore real democratic governance to Korea.
“What could they be planning?” that man was Cha Ji-cheol, a lieutenant with membership to the Hanahoe. “Tae-woo, I don’t trust these men, they will try to flip towards the Soviet Union and China whenever they get a chance to do so.” He told his surveillance partner, a young man going by the name of Roh Tae-woo; he also had military background and had joined the Hanahoe even before the Korean Summer took place. Both had been screened by the director of the KCIA and transferred to surveillance duties of the main figures of the opposition, Dae-Jung and Young-sam were not considered important enough to be directly watched by Kim Jong-pil, but they proved to be worrying nonetheless; ironically enough, it was an accurate observation.
On the international stage, everyone had been shook when the Korean Armed Forces took power after the Korean Summer, though the situation normalized over the time for the rest of the countries, internally the situation had not yet fully stabillized.
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Blood-stained Indochina. – Min Ji-hyo.
Over the years Ho Chi Minh’s health had steadily declined, there had been a short period of time in which the Indochinese leader even considered Chinese involvement behind his numerous ailments though no conclusive evidence was ever found. In this regard both him and his country shared something in common, they both were internally ill and weakening with each passing day. Ho Chi Minh was no fool however, recognizing his growing inability to govern the country he decided that a successor was needed to continue furthering the revolution and delivering prosperity to the numerous peoples under Indochina’s banner.
Within Hanoi there were two distinct factions, the pro-Soviet and the pro-China, each advocated for alignment with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China respectively. However, the weight of the pro-Chinese had considerably declined after the botched land reform approved by Truong Chinh which caused a wide array of issues at Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea; though their influence had partially recovered by 1959 they were still behind in terms of popularity and were seen negatively by most of the pro-Soviet faction members. Truong Chinh despite being the responsible for the issues that plagued the countryside kept his position as the leader of the pro-Chinese, something that only emboldened Vo Nguyen Giap’s opposition to him and his faction.
Numerous politicians from both factions tried their best to sway Ho Chi Minh’s opinion on them and their respective groupings, some were more successful than others as can be seen in Nguyen Chi Thanh’s appointment as Minister of Defence, spelling an end to Vo Nguyen Giap’s primacy over the ministry. But the most important consequence of Thanh’s promotion was providing some sort of legitimacy to the pro-China faction, being aligned to Truong Chinh this was seen as an endorsement by Ho Chi Minh to their ideals and goals: worrying Moscow, the pro-Soviet faction and even nationalists in the process.
The Indochinese leader had briefly considered promoting a minor government official known as Le Duan, though enough motives to justify this action were not found at all, despite being the mind behind the work called “The Road of Indochina” which basically detailed how Vietnam had the historical responsibility to lead and export the Socialist ideals to the rest of the Indochinese peninsula. Ho Chi Minh was wary about leaning too much towards Moscow or Beijing, the rhetoric coming out from Moscow was inflammatory to say the least, while at the same time the Chinese proved to be nothing more than a paper tiger: he was caught right in the middle of what could be considered extreme belligerence and humiliating passiveness.
In an attempt to tread through the middle, he chose to support Nguyen Chi Thanh, thus angering their foreign backers along one of the most prominent military figures within the high echelons of power. But this action was not only felt within the Vietnamese parts of Indochina, the apparent strengthening of the pro-China faction also served to enflame tensions at Kampuchea, the Cambodians were afraid of Vietnamese officials seizing their crops once more and soon resistance sparked through the whole region; minor armed clashes were reported within Kampuchea following Nguyen Chi Thanh’s promotion.
Within Hanoi there were two distinct factions, the pro-Soviet and the pro-China, each advocated for alignment with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China respectively. However, the weight of the pro-Chinese had considerably declined after the botched land reform approved by Truong Chinh which caused a wide array of issues at Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea; though their influence had partially recovered by 1959 they were still behind in terms of popularity and were seen negatively by most of the pro-Soviet faction members. Truong Chinh despite being the responsible for the issues that plagued the countryside kept his position as the leader of the pro-Chinese, something that only emboldened Vo Nguyen Giap’s opposition to him and his faction.
Numerous politicians from both factions tried their best to sway Ho Chi Minh’s opinion on them and their respective groupings, some were more successful than others as can be seen in Nguyen Chi Thanh’s appointment as Minister of Defence, spelling an end to Vo Nguyen Giap’s primacy over the ministry. But the most important consequence of Thanh’s promotion was providing some sort of legitimacy to the pro-China faction, being aligned to Truong Chinh this was seen as an endorsement by Ho Chi Minh to their ideals and goals: worrying Moscow, the pro-Soviet faction and even nationalists in the process.
The Indochinese leader had briefly considered promoting a minor government official known as Le Duan, though enough motives to justify this action were not found at all, despite being the mind behind the work called “The Road of Indochina” which basically detailed how Vietnam had the historical responsibility to lead and export the Socialist ideals to the rest of the Indochinese peninsula. Ho Chi Minh was wary about leaning too much towards Moscow or Beijing, the rhetoric coming out from Moscow was inflammatory to say the least, while at the same time the Chinese proved to be nothing more than a paper tiger: he was caught right in the middle of what could be considered extreme belligerence and humiliating passiveness.
In an attempt to tread through the middle, he chose to support Nguyen Chi Thanh, thus angering their foreign backers along one of the most prominent military figures within the high echelons of power. But this action was not only felt within the Vietnamese parts of Indochina, the apparent strengthening of the pro-China faction also served to enflame tensions at Kampuchea, the Cambodians were afraid of Vietnamese officials seizing their crops once more and soon resistance sparked through the whole region; minor armed clashes were reported within Kampuchea following Nguyen Chi Thanh’s promotion.
General Vo Nguyen Giap began to exert more and more influence over Indochina, Pham Van Dong's counterweight in the political stage would prove not to be enough to easen the rising tensions between the pro-Soviet and pro-China factions, allowing Nguyen Giap to exercise and strengthen his factions control over the country.
Vo Nguyen Giap recognized he lacked enough political influence and support to just launch a move of his own aimed against Thanh, thus he organized the second-best response he could’ve achieved during the height of this political crisis. He engaged in conversation with both Ho Chi Minh and Pham Van Dong, the latter was widely recognized as one of the first communists along being also quite moderate and close to Ho Chi Minh (he was also aligned with the pro-Soviet faction), these conversations proved fruitful during the Summer of 1959. Recognizing his mistake, Ho Chi Minh removed Thanh from the ministry (reinstating Giap in the process) and elevated Pham Van Dong to the post of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Indochina: banishing the pro-Chinese once more from the public stage and strengthening the pro-Soviet group.
Pham Van Dong lacked connections and support both within the army and the party, thus he became reliant on Vo Nguyen Giap once he was reinstated as the Minister of Defence and this spelled the end to the ambitions of the pro-Chinese faction in an unofficial way. Even if some degree of stability had returned to Indochina, everyone had already noticed the shady actions taking place at Kampuchea along the lack of proper consequences being enacted by the central government. Vo Nguyen Giap became heavily invested on putting an end to the chaotic situation that was going on in Kampuchea, he also recognized the role the Americans and Thai had in the sudden unrest plaguing the Socialist Republic of Kampuchea and was determined to stop their involvement once and for all.
Ammunition, artillery shells, and other kinds of military supplies were rushed towards the border with Thailand and to the internal borders with Kampuchea, during this military buildup Pham Van Dong engaged in diplomatic talks with Phibunsongkhram, Thailand’s PM, to peacefully defuse the tensions that had been growing ever since Vietnam’s swift victories over Laos and Cambodia. The Indochinese thought they were having success by distracting their to-be enemies through diplomacy, but in reality this stalling technique was also being used by Phibun, building more supply depots along the border while at the same time enlarging the amount of support provided to the GRUNK and their ally within it: general Lon Nol. But Lon Nol and the Cambodian forces supported by Thailand weren´t the only ones taking advantage of the situation and slowly strengthening themselves, the Khmer Rouge had been gradually stealing equipment left by their Vietnamese peers to prepare as well for the upcoming war they would have to wage.
While Thailand and Indochina focused on getting prepared and acquiring the upper hand in the seemingly unavoidable conflict that would take place, the United States of America tried to keep their involvement as low as possible, not desiring to be fully involved in Southeast Asia while the situation in the Middle East continued evolving and not in their favor. President Eisenhower allowed the supplies to keep flowing towards Bangkok, according to the information from the CIA Phibun’s regime was solid enough to withstand a blow from the Indochinese; especially after the political infighting that took place in Hanoi. US intelligence indicated that the most likely outcome of war breaking out between both countries would be a swift defeat for Indochina owing to the vast number of resources spent on strengthening the GRUNK and Thailand’s military over the years.
At this point it was known yet by the fully fledged actors that we have already discussed, but there was another party interested in the possibility of hostilities breaking out in Southeast Asia. The Republic of Korea had kept as a closely guarded secret the information about Sihanouk’s relations with the PRC as well as the existence and real strength of the Khmer Rouge, the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation had deemed necessary to keep the information they had acquired during the border war with China as secret as possible to not disrupt the flow of ongoing events at the Indochinese Peninsula. The Koreans were certainly not friends of the Khmer Rouge nor of Pham Van Dong’s Indochina, but they had vested interests in the outcome of any possible conflict that could take place: Generalissimo Park considered that a full-blown war could be beneficial for Korea, but there was also a chance of it backfiring on the regime.
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Modern History: Korea. – Wade Barnett.
Modern History: Korea. – Wade Barnett.
To the uneducated observer, Korea had suddenly thrown away the advancement of democracy as an attempt to further the goals of a military strongman whose only interest was strengthening the country and allowing the military to have political pre-eminence over all the decision-making processes of the country. Though viewing the years of the informal Second Republic as the peak of Korean democracy would also be considered as a mistake by experts on this subject, despite democracy and liberal values strengthening over those years and the situation of the peninsula stabilizing after the chaotic aftermath of Syngman Rhee’s assassination: the reality is that democratic foundations were not properly placed yet. While it is impossible to ascertain that an event as complex as the Korean Summer was inevitable, in hindsight it is almost guaranteed that it would happen in one way or another; tensions after Rhee’s death were not entirely solved if this happened in the first place, they were just postponed.
Though at the same time, we can’t state that Park Chung-hee’s ascent to power was predetermined in the history of the Korean Peninsula, especially the quite specific circumstances which led to him gaining the support of the Hanahoe and being able to prevail both over the other claimants of late president Cho’s legacy as well as over the People’s Liberation Army. There were numerous military officers with far much better reputation or even more experience than what Park Chung-hee could prove by his own, though all those candidates lacked the political maneuvering instinct Park had to even the field: and that’s without considering his reputation as a hero of war for staying at Seoul during the toughest of the war against the DPRK. Despite the Hanahoe having a strong degree of importance in Park’s seizure of power, he was also quite involved throughout the process, the Hanahoe as an entity had its own interests and methods while Park as an independent actor was also engaging on his own with lieutenants and junior colonels within the army, spreading his influence at the lower levels before pushing upwards.
Another key development that contributed to Park Chung-hee’s legitimation of the coup that finalized the informal Second Republic was the astounding victory against the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese attempted incursion not just ended in absolute failure, it also ended up with Korean boots on Beijing and caused numerous internal issues for the Chinese Communist Party due to Mao’s reaction to the defeat suffered by the Koreans. The Korean counteroffensive was planned impressively since it not just allowed them to fight the entirety of the war in Chinese soil, it also allowed them to render inoperative the Chinese air force thus guaranteeing their cities’ safety. In the end, with most of the country just desiring a return to stability and some semblance of normalcy back in their lives, while also feeling proud of their nation for defeating such an apparently stronger foe Park Chung-hee got more than enough public support to present his military coup as a fait accompli, without having to face consequences of any kind with his American backers or the rest of the population: for he had averted a worse fate.
Since the Americans had already been involved in plotting a regime change in Korea to a government with a more acceptable foreign policy, they quickly granted their recognition to the new regime in power at Seoul. They felt that it was a matter of time for Korea to slip into the Soviet Bloc, so they were eager to recognize Park as the new leader of the country and after he extended amnesty throughout the political stage to organize and legitimize his Supreme Council for National Reconciliation the Americans were more than happy since it gave the military coup some degree of popular support and legitimacy in the eyes of the so called free world. Park Chung-hee immediately started to follow the main “slogan” of his political vision, puguk kangbyong which basically meant “Rich nation, strong army”, something inspired by Meiji Japan’s fukoku kyohei. Park also tried to assure the Americans of his anti-communism and the anti-communist nature of his regime, once seizing power he publicly declared that anticommunism was Korea’s kuksi (national essence) thus assuaging American’s fears. These carefully calculated steps allowed Park Chung-hee to bring some degree of stability and acceptance of his regime both in a domestic and international manner, though it would be an overstatement to say that it had universal recognition within the populace or the international community.
Even within the country there were politicians that refused Park’s amnesty and thus were shoved away from the main political stages of the country, their campaigns suddenly receiving legal sanctions or politicians starting to feel being always watched. One of the most vocal groups of people organized against the new state of the country were the students, plenty of students had been satisfied with the way president Cho Bong-am had administered the country through the last years and seeing the military remove the legal, yet despised, president set a bitter precedent over Korean politics. Going even further than that, another considerable and wide sector of opposition against Park Chung-hee and his Supreme Council was the population within northern Korea, effectively disenfranchised and politically ignored: the population previously living under the DPRK were still viewed with suspicion and the Hanahoe reinforced that feeling on the southern parts of the country, attempting to make it the bulwark against opposition.
Disregarding what is usually said, even if Park Chung-hee held the status of war hero and was also appraised for being the one responsible for defeating the Chinese, the Korean society of the late fifties was even more complex and heterogenous than its usually told. And not just the Korean society, each actor involved in Park’s seizure of power had a wide array of motivations and interests which in fact point us towards the conclusion of this event not being inevitable or predetermined by the historical conditions of the country: they facilitate certain developments, but they didn’t guarantee them. So, the position of Park Chung-hee after his takeover of the Korean State is much more complex than just picturing a strongman annihilating democracy in mere days, in a parallel fashion his strength kept growing throughout the time just as his rivals and allies’.
Though at the same time, we can’t state that Park Chung-hee’s ascent to power was predetermined in the history of the Korean Peninsula, especially the quite specific circumstances which led to him gaining the support of the Hanahoe and being able to prevail both over the other claimants of late president Cho’s legacy as well as over the People’s Liberation Army. There were numerous military officers with far much better reputation or even more experience than what Park Chung-hee could prove by his own, though all those candidates lacked the political maneuvering instinct Park had to even the field: and that’s without considering his reputation as a hero of war for staying at Seoul during the toughest of the war against the DPRK. Despite the Hanahoe having a strong degree of importance in Park’s seizure of power, he was also quite involved throughout the process, the Hanahoe as an entity had its own interests and methods while Park as an independent actor was also engaging on his own with lieutenants and junior colonels within the army, spreading his influence at the lower levels before pushing upwards.
Another key development that contributed to Park Chung-hee’s legitimation of the coup that finalized the informal Second Republic was the astounding victory against the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese attempted incursion not just ended in absolute failure, it also ended up with Korean boots on Beijing and caused numerous internal issues for the Chinese Communist Party due to Mao’s reaction to the defeat suffered by the Koreans. The Korean counteroffensive was planned impressively since it not just allowed them to fight the entirety of the war in Chinese soil, it also allowed them to render inoperative the Chinese air force thus guaranteeing their cities’ safety. In the end, with most of the country just desiring a return to stability and some semblance of normalcy back in their lives, while also feeling proud of their nation for defeating such an apparently stronger foe Park Chung-hee got more than enough public support to present his military coup as a fait accompli, without having to face consequences of any kind with his American backers or the rest of the population: for he had averted a worse fate.
Since the Americans had already been involved in plotting a regime change in Korea to a government with a more acceptable foreign policy, they quickly granted their recognition to the new regime in power at Seoul. They felt that it was a matter of time for Korea to slip into the Soviet Bloc, so they were eager to recognize Park as the new leader of the country and after he extended amnesty throughout the political stage to organize and legitimize his Supreme Council for National Reconciliation the Americans were more than happy since it gave the military coup some degree of popular support and legitimacy in the eyes of the so called free world. Park Chung-hee immediately started to follow the main “slogan” of his political vision, puguk kangbyong which basically meant “Rich nation, strong army”, something inspired by Meiji Japan’s fukoku kyohei. Park also tried to assure the Americans of his anti-communism and the anti-communist nature of his regime, once seizing power he publicly declared that anticommunism was Korea’s kuksi (national essence) thus assuaging American’s fears. These carefully calculated steps allowed Park Chung-hee to bring some degree of stability and acceptance of his regime both in a domestic and international manner, though it would be an overstatement to say that it had universal recognition within the populace or the international community.
Even within the country there were politicians that refused Park’s amnesty and thus were shoved away from the main political stages of the country, their campaigns suddenly receiving legal sanctions or politicians starting to feel being always watched. One of the most vocal groups of people organized against the new state of the country were the students, plenty of students had been satisfied with the way president Cho Bong-am had administered the country through the last years and seeing the military remove the legal, yet despised, president set a bitter precedent over Korean politics. Going even further than that, another considerable and wide sector of opposition against Park Chung-hee and his Supreme Council was the population within northern Korea, effectively disenfranchised and politically ignored: the population previously living under the DPRK were still viewed with suspicion and the Hanahoe reinforced that feeling on the southern parts of the country, attempting to make it the bulwark against opposition.
Disregarding what is usually said, even if Park Chung-hee held the status of war hero and was also appraised for being the one responsible for defeating the Chinese, the Korean society of the late fifties was even more complex and heterogenous than its usually told. And not just the Korean society, each actor involved in Park’s seizure of power had a wide array of motivations and interests which in fact point us towards the conclusion of this event not being inevitable or predetermined by the historical conditions of the country: they facilitate certain developments, but they didn’t guarantee them. So, the position of Park Chung-hee after his takeover of the Korean State is much more complex than just picturing a strongman annihilating democracy in mere days, in a parallel fashion his strength kept growing throughout the time just as his rivals and allies’.
One of the main characteristics of the new regime in Korea was the spike in militarization, president Cho Bong-am had been aware of thei mportance of keeping a strong military, though it is evident in hindsight how the Korean military was never entirely loyal to him or the democratic principles of the country to begin with. Park's era started with an increased militarization both of the country and the society as a whole. Though his efforts were also rivaled gradually by the other social movements directly opposed to the establishment of the Third Republic.
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Okay, first of all, hiii! And sorry for the huge uber-mega-colossal delay on updating the AAR, got some writer’s block, then started working and then life massively punched me throughout March without a break. But I am finally in much better conditions, I didn’t forget at all this wonderful AAR that has had me investigating and researching plenty of topics! I recently bought and downloaded a pair of books in order to enrich the narrations of this AAR as well as possibly it’s gameplay. I had planned a Cuban (in 1959) and Soviet (in 2018) update, though will all that happened recently in my life I was fully motivated to do so and to re-read all of the sources I had gotten once again. So instead of doing that I took back an update I never published regarding the situation of Indochina, and I also elaborated a bit further on how Korea is actually faring in regards of Park’s military regime. As you will be able to see, it isn’t yet full dictatorship, which is something that historically happened in Korea, Park’s regime kinda tilted to one side and then the other (in way numerous matters).
So, I hope you enjoy this update and I hope it isn’t too late and y’all think this AAR is dead. It will only be dead or on hiatus whenever I announce it, but it isn’t and most certainly won’t be. I hope to have a new update soon enough, actually there will be a vote relatively soon to check up some aspects of this AAR and timeline. I hope you all are doing excellent!
So, I hope you enjoy this update and I hope it isn’t too late and y’all think this AAR is dead. It will only be dead or on hiatus whenever I announce it, but it isn’t and most certainly won’t be. I hope to have a new update soon enough, actually there will be a vote relatively soon to check up some aspects of this AAR and timeline. I hope you all are doing excellent!
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Apologies for the uber-delayed response, it is New World Order 2 with some personalized events and countries. ^^ Planning to retrieve some of them and adapt those events to be used in the mod as usual.
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History is always more complex, more nuanced than people make it out to be. As you rightly pointed out, everyone has their own reasons for doing or not doing something, which in turn makes the bigger picture more fluid. Nothing is inevitable. A different decision here or a different action there, even if it seems minor at the time, can change what happens after.
Take the American Civil War for example. That the Union won the war was not inevitable. Despite the fact that the North had certain advantages over the South, there were plenty of times when a different decision by either side, made in the heat of the moment, could have set off a different course of events leading to the South winning the war.
Don't worry about it too much. Write and post when you can.
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Interlude: The Dalmatian Skirmish.
The Dalmatian Skirmish. - taken from The Korea Times.
July 19th, 2015.
The bulk of the peacekeeping efforts at Dalmatia was provided by the Republic of Korea followed by both the United Kingdom and Canada;
Korean soldiers are widely recognized as the core of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Dalmatia.
Background.
July 19th, 2015.
The bulk of the peacekeeping efforts at Dalmatia was provided by the Republic of Korea followed by both the United Kingdom and Canada;
Korean soldiers are widely recognized as the core of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Dalmatia.
Background.
The collapse of Yugoslavia is acknowledged and remembered as one of the worst tragedies to struck Europe following the Second World War, the amount of devastation, the rampant violence and chaos that bred from the outward and inner explosion of the country sent shockwaves throughout the continent. The Italian invasion of Yugoslavia and the subsequent unrest as well as the civil conflicts that arose within the weakened country allowed the ghosts of nationalism to rear once more upon what seemed to be a stable country back in the 70s. In the following decades the conflicts in the Balkan region were just viewed as mildly inconveniences by the neighboring countries and both superpowers, though it was until the 90s that the humanitarian situation at the Balkans turned to the worst possible turn.
After years of conflicts, violence and constant wars the United Nations as well as a joint mission by both the USSR and NATO participated in stopping once and for all the humanitarian catastrophe that had been engulfing the former Yugoslavia: a crisis that displaced millions of people as they fled their countries and the growing brutality of the war. Numerous cities and villages were forever changed after the bloody strife that consumed the region and one of the worst areas was Dalmatia following the numerous battles and unethical actions committed by the numerous parties of the conflict. The complexity of Dalmatia's position by the 90s caused the United Nations Security Council to deem the establishment of a transitional authority as entirely justified, something that every party on the ground chose to abide to: in an attempt to stop the other factions from getting a leverage at the region.
After years of conflicts, violence and constant wars the United Nations as well as a joint mission by both the USSR and NATO participated in stopping once and for all the humanitarian catastrophe that had been engulfing the former Yugoslavia: a crisis that displaced millions of people as they fled their countries and the growing brutality of the war. Numerous cities and villages were forever changed after the bloody strife that consumed the region and one of the worst areas was Dalmatia following the numerous battles and unethical actions committed by the numerous parties of the conflict. The complexity of Dalmatia's position by the 90s caused the United Nations Security Council to deem the establishment of a transitional authority as entirely justified, something that every party on the ground chose to abide to: in an attempt to stop the other factions from getting a leverage at the region.
Ante Gotovina seized power following the Constitutional Convention of 2002 with the support of the army due to the fears of extradition he had and numerous military officers.
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Dalmatia, commonly known as the UNTAD, was established by 1994 following the UN Security Council's resolution 745, it granted the administration and governance of Dalmatia to the United Nations to ensure the disarmament of all of the parties involved in the conflict whether they were Italian, Croatian or Serbian paramilitaries: each of them were instructed to comply and surrender their equipment. The UNTAD would also count with the support of the UN member states, though the most prominent supporters of the provisional authority ended up being the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea, due to the own political processes that the Korean Peninsula was going through participating in humanitarian operations was deemed as a noble goal by the new government at Seoul; thus ensuring a greater Korean engagement and support for the efforts of the UNTAD to reestablish peace at Dalmatia.
Despite originally being intended to only exist for a period of two years, the complications that arose in the former Yugoslavia as well as the constant supply of weapons by the numerous paramilitaries despite the UNTAD's best efforts could only be translated into an extended transition for Dalmatia. Thus, despite the Soviet Union and numerous countries abstaining on the vote to determine the future of the UNTAD their mandate was extended even further without a clear date of conclusion. The consolidation of the military junta in Zagreb by Ante Gotovina as well as the growing unrest within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the renewal of Serbian nationalism in Bosnia created fears of a new war brewing up, silently endorsing the decision to extend the timeframe of UN peacekeeping efforts at Dalmatia and the Balkans.
The Dalmatian Skirmish.
Having taken power through a military coup following the failed Constitutional Convention of 2002, Ante Gotovina had decided to embark on a program of revanchism and militarization, brazenly defying some of the agreements made by the previous governments in the aftermath of the crises of the 1990s. Interestingly enough, despite Gotovina's belligerent rhetoric he always emphasized the importance of cooperating with the UN peacekeepers at Dalmatia, experts assume that it could be related to the main focus of the UNTAD being placed on the Serb and Italian paramilitaries due to their extremely violent attacks against their outposts, troops or even infrastructure. Other political experts have also stated that probably the reason behind UNTAD's quiet consent to Gotovina's regime could be related to, in the end, Dalmatia being internationally recognized as Croatian.
The military coup of 2002 stopped the results of the convention from being publicly known, though political experts indicated that an equal divide among Socialist and Nationalist parties would have taken place had the results been allowed to be known.
In the next years, the relations between Croatia and the UNTAD strained considerably following Croatia's intervention on Dalmatia by supplying the Croat paramilitaries present at cities such as Knin, Dubrovnik and surprisingly enough: Split, the very own administrative center of the peacekeeping mission. Despite being recognized as Croatian territory, the UNTAD was determined about stopping all parties from re-engaging in hostilities and restarting the conflict at the Balkans. Nonetheless, despite the relations between Zagreb and Split cooling down, Ante Gotovina never demanded or suggested the removal of the UNTAD something that, basically at any point could have been done without any issues, demonstrating in some ways the junta's willingness to cooperate with the United Nations and falsely creating the image of a benevolent dictator.
After numerous decrees and rulings made by the UNTAD at the beginning of 2015, the focus started to being shifted towards the Croatian paramilitaries more and more due to the publicly known involvement of Zagreb in resupplying those soldiers and partisans. Due to the crackdown taking place against the Croatians, the Serb paramilitaries decided that it was their time to act and soon rumors flooded every possible network about an impending Serbian uprising and intervention against the weakening Croat forces. Gotovina's response was bolder than expected, by June 15th, 2015, numerous Croatian units crossed the border and engaged in hostilities against the Serbian irregular soldiers announcing a "special operation to demilitarize the rogue elements threatening UNTAD's efforts" while also flooding the region with grenades, rocket launchers and infantry equipment to bolster the withered Croatian forces.
The quickness of the intervention took everyone by surprise, though the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Chun Min-hyuk didn't take lightly the challenge made by the regime at Zagreb by this unlawful action that could endanger all of the years spent by the UNTAD as well as the resources invested in bringing back peace and stability to Dalmatia. Despite being a diplomat first and foremost, Chun Min-hyuk also had numerous military connections back at the Republic of Korea something to which he owed his diplomatic career as well and viewing this as a stain to his record he quickly determined that further Korean involvement could be beneficial in the long run. Through numerous backchannels and after calling in numerous favours, Seoul was able to send in two armored divisions allegedly within the framework of the United Nations despite being openly known by everyone that it wasn't as simple as that.
After numerous decrees and rulings made by the UNTAD at the beginning of 2015, the focus started to being shifted towards the Croatian paramilitaries more and more due to the publicly known involvement of Zagreb in resupplying those soldiers and partisans. Due to the crackdown taking place against the Croatians, the Serb paramilitaries decided that it was their time to act and soon rumors flooded every possible network about an impending Serbian uprising and intervention against the weakening Croat forces. Gotovina's response was bolder than expected, by June 15th, 2015, numerous Croatian units crossed the border and engaged in hostilities against the Serbian irregular soldiers announcing a "special operation to demilitarize the rogue elements threatening UNTAD's efforts" while also flooding the region with grenades, rocket launchers and infantry equipment to bolster the withered Croatian forces.
The quickness of the intervention took everyone by surprise, though the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Chun Min-hyuk didn't take lightly the challenge made by the regime at Zagreb by this unlawful action that could endanger all of the years spent by the UNTAD as well as the resources invested in bringing back peace and stability to Dalmatia. Despite being a diplomat first and foremost, Chun Min-hyuk also had numerous military connections back at the Republic of Korea something to which he owed his diplomatic career as well and viewing this as a stain to his record he quickly determined that further Korean involvement could be beneficial in the long run. Through numerous backchannels and after calling in numerous favours, Seoul was able to send in two armored divisions allegedly within the framework of the United Nations despite being openly known by everyone that it wasn't as simple as that.
Knowing that crossing the Krka river from the north would be the kind of movement expected by the UN peacekeepers, over two thousand Croat regular and irregular soldiers took the city of Sibenik in an attempt to provide an easy access for the bulk of the motorized Croatian army. Unknowingly for the insurgents, the peacekeepers had already taken into consideration every possible way to cross the Krka river and had prepared accordingly, despite a small number of Croatian soldiers being able to cross and join the fighting at Sibenik most of the soldiers were unable to reach the main body of the uprising at the city. By June 17th, merely two days after the conflict started the rebels at Sibenik were defeated with almost seven hundred casualties on their side, demonstrating the lack of preparation and coordination between paramilitaries and regulars. Though a bigger battle was raging at Knin, where a mix of Serb and Croat paramilitaries clashed in confrontation with Croatian motorized infantry quickly rushing to support their brethren against the Serbians and to defend them against any reprisal by UN peacekeepers.
With the vanguard of the invading forces on the outskirts of Knin, a weakened rear was left to hold Benkovac which was being used as the main staging base for the Croatian regular troops trespassing the UNTAD's mandate. The surrounding area had been lost during the first day of hostilities due to the quickness of the attacking forces and they had been able to push over the few defenders at Benkovac, thus, with the Croatians focused against Knin the blue helmets moved against the city to cut off the supply of the soldiers fighting over at Knin. By this point, both Canada and the United Kingdom instructed their troops to focus mainly on liberating the recognized territory of the UNTAD while refusing to send over any additional personnel, but Korea insisted on gaining the initiative and operating under the framework and recognized rules of the new generation of peacekeeping removing the threat to the local stability and peace.
Benkovac fell by June 23rd, proving to the world that despite being briefly surprised the peacekeeping forces were more than ready to meet any kind of challenge by those forces bent on restarting the bloody cycle of war and destruction at the region. Mounting casualties, negative international reactions and failure to achieve any sort of success also caused unrest to ferment within Croatia itself, young students had been the main opposition to the junta for years already and the prospect of dying fighting against UN peacekeepers deployed to protect their own ethnic brethren at Dalmatia only radicalized them even more which led to harsher oppression on the government's part which only fed the vicious cycle of radicalization. With their main forward base lost, the Croatians (both irregular and regular) retreated back to their side of the border leaving around two hundred Serbian paramilitaries which were already exhausted and depleted of ammunition ready to surrender at Knin.
A few hours after retaking Benkovac and Knin, the UN peacekeepers received the greenlight to give chase to the Croatian forces now internationally condemned for the actions taken against the transitional authority. An estimated amount of five divisions launched an offensive against Gracac in an attempt to dislodge the Croatian defenders and open up the road towards Zagreb. While the UN had not approved any kind of movement towards Zagreb, Chun Min-hyuk determined that only by challenging and successfully defeating the junta would the opposition be able to restore democratic governance and rule of law to Croatia which would certainly be worth a shot. The lack of armored support as well as being outnumbered three-to-one while also being heavily exhausted by the failed offensive made the stand at Gracac a doomed effort, though one that the Croatians would try to make as costly as possible for the Koreans leading the UN vanguard.
After eight days of fierce fighting at Gracac, the Croatian Armed Forces eventually retreated from their positions, having lost two brigades after they got separeted and encircled by the UN peacekeepers during the withdrawal. Despite that tactical failure, the Croatian morale improved a little bit after causing eight hundred and twenty casualties to the peacekeepers while enduring almost seven hundred of their own. Despite being bleak numbers, it improved the commanders' morale by showing them that it was possible to bite their enemies back. By July 3rd the Croats ceased their renewed attack aimed against Benkovac, expecting that the probably already exhausted peacekeeper force would be overextended, but they only earned a casualty toll of six hundred and twenty eight soldiers to the thirteen casualties suffered by the UNTAD.
By this point, throughout Western and Central Europe numerous demands for peace and negotiation were made towards Zagreb, each one of them being summarily ignored by Ante Gotovina who refused to even meet the ambassador of the countries closest to him like Romania or Albania. The heavy battering already suffered during the battle of Gracac left the Croatians unable to coordinate and mount any kind of offensive or defensive operations, opening up the roads to the rest of the country, the British and Canadian brigades seized the momentum and started a march along the coast towards Senj in order to disarm a surrendering brigade, while the Koreans sped through the main roads leading towards Karlovac and even Petrinja without any kind of resistance from the hostile Croatians. At the moment the peacekeepers thought the army had dissolved entirely following the fighting at Gracac, though in reality Ante Gotovina recalled the troops back to Zagreb after a silent protest evolved into a riot due to clashes between students and the police.
By July 6th, recognizing their position was untenable and that the country needed a whole new direction to continue forward the military itself intervened against the police and allowed the demonstrators to take power unopposed: officially requesting a ceasefire and ordering all Croatian units to stop resisting the UNTAD forces at Croatian territory. An agreement was quickly reached between the newly appointed commander of the Croatian military, the provisional president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and Chun Min-hyuk representing the UNTAD on July 8th, thus starting a new age in Croatian politics moving on from the years of revanchism and militarization. Having known no peace for quite an extended period of time, Croatians were not interested anymore in picking up a fight with their neighbors or pouring every resource into the military, they expected greater freedoms, a better economy and stability once and for all.
The Stockholm Accords spelled an end not just to Gotovina's regime, but also to official Croatian radicalism in politics, a wide reform package was announced by president Grabar-Kitarovic among some of those provisions were the temporal disbandment of the military forces with the exception of one brigade for security purposes. The United Nations Security Council agreed to expand the role of UNTAD not just in Dalmatia but also within Croatia, with the Croatian government's approval the UNTAD gain rights to access the country as well to assist in policing actions against radicalized troops and irregular soldiers. Both the United States and the Republic of Korea agreed to provide economic assistance to verify that the reforms enacted by Croatia ensured not just stability but also peace at a fractured region.
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Alright, hi to everyone!
I really apologize for the huge delay I have been taking with the latest updates, life has been a bit messy through these last months and I have struggled a bit to fully adapt to it. On the good news, well, I finally acquired a new laptop which to be honest allows me to play through the game quite faster than previously as well as experiment in a better way with certain mod I found on my system as well.
Since I started this AAR I have been quite vague about what happened to some parts of the world, especially about the former Yugoslavia due to the way it ended up collapsing in our own world and history. Due to some similarities that it may share with the story I have been crafting I always tried to fully detail it, though with how time has passed and the maturity I assume we all AAR-lurkers have I decided that I wanted to share a little bit more of light about what happened in my AAR's Yugoslavia. It isn't fully crafted yet since it has been so vague for years that some plot points may have already been lost or were changed during the writing of the latest update, though you can expect more to come.
I haven't written yet the last part of the most recent chapter as of yet since I am still reading some sources for the Korean and Cuban segments of the story, at least about Korea we are about to begin with the real fun part now that we are entering the 60s and the same goes for Indochina and Southeast Asia. Since I haven't been able to fully edit the mod I'm using for the modern days that's why I'm not using a narration for this timeline's 2018 regarding the Second Russo-Japanese War and the wider conflict with Korea either since I would REALLY love to narrate those parts with some gameplay as well. So, at least I can provide a narration for 2015 meanwhile a few years before the "official" modern section of the AAR begins.
I hope you all are doing great and believe me when I say this AAR isn't dead, I may not update it as much as I would love to, but this AAR is really special to me and I will try to reach the conclusion of it. Take care!
I really apologize for the huge delay I have been taking with the latest updates, life has been a bit messy through these last months and I have struggled a bit to fully adapt to it. On the good news, well, I finally acquired a new laptop which to be honest allows me to play through the game quite faster than previously as well as experiment in a better way with certain mod I found on my system as well.
Since I started this AAR I have been quite vague about what happened to some parts of the world, especially about the former Yugoslavia due to the way it ended up collapsing in our own world and history. Due to some similarities that it may share with the story I have been crafting I always tried to fully detail it, though with how time has passed and the maturity I assume we all AAR-lurkers have I decided that I wanted to share a little bit more of light about what happened in my AAR's Yugoslavia. It isn't fully crafted yet since it has been so vague for years that some plot points may have already been lost or were changed during the writing of the latest update, though you can expect more to come.
I haven't written yet the last part of the most recent chapter as of yet since I am still reading some sources for the Korean and Cuban segments of the story, at least about Korea we are about to begin with the real fun part now that we are entering the 60s and the same goes for Indochina and Southeast Asia. Since I haven't been able to fully edit the mod I'm using for the modern days that's why I'm not using a narration for this timeline's 2018 regarding the Second Russo-Japanese War and the wider conflict with Korea either since I would REALLY love to narrate those parts with some gameplay as well. So, at least I can provide a narration for 2015 meanwhile a few years before the "official" modern section of the AAR begins.
I hope you all are doing great and believe me when I say this AAR isn't dead, I may not update it as much as I would love to, but this AAR is really special to me and I will try to reach the conclusion of it. Take care!
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Interesting update. But in reality, Gotovina isn't exactly a political figure. For him, the war is long over in reality, and he's moved into business. Still, this situation with the Italians and Serbs will make any Dalmatian existence complicated.
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OMG, hi there! Though you lost along the pretty long journey of this AAR throughout the years.
I was just thinking about you while writing this update, well, in this TL there are numerous military figures who after the pretty messy and constant fights ever since the 70s (not forgetting the 90s which also are quite violent in this world) have gotten a different life path than the ones we know.
Along them perceiving the military coup as an easy solution to avoiding extradition to The Hague, though, if you could message me and assist me to get a different figure probably that could also work. Nothing is set in stone, I'm really glad to read you.
I was just thinking about you while writing this update, well, in this TL there are numerous military figures who after the pretty messy and constant fights ever since the 70s (not forgetting the 90s which also are quite violent in this world) have gotten a different life path than the ones we know.
Along them perceiving the military coup as an easy solution to avoiding extradition to The Hague, though, if you could message me and assist me to get a different figure probably that could also work.
Nothing is set in stone, I'm really glad to read you.
That is good news to hear.
Along them perceiving the military coup as an easy solution to avoiding extradition to The Hague, though, if you could message me and assist me to get a different figure probably that could also work.
Personally I think your choice of Ante Gotovina is fine as is. This is alternate history, after all. Have fun with giving real-life people new jobs.
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It's New World Order 2 with numerous custom events made for this specific AAR.
EDIT: For the latest segment I used a custom version of the "Putin" mod made around 2015 if I'm not mistaken.