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I believe via thread tools, but as I am on a mobile currently I can't see how the forum regularly appears.

The monarchy restored. God Save the King!
 
Did you try thread tools next to the sort by button on the top right. See if you can change the title as the thread creator.

God Save the King! Britannia shall rule again. The King reigns from Buckingham Palace once more but who will chosen by the people to lead the post-syndicalist United Kingdom. A lot of work will be needed to heal the divides of the land. Will the trade unions be banned or not?

Meanwhile in a French communard school across the English Channel, "Have you children heard about the dreadful situation in Britain yet? And that is why you must always ruthlessly purge the counterrevolutionaries from society whenever we spread the revolution even if they were once your friends. Show no pity to traitors. Death to the Bourgeoisie!"
 
Long live the King!
 
Well, that's quite the revolution I'd say. Oh you Brits crack me up. Unlawful overthrow of governments re-spun as victories for the common man. A successful invasion of foreign armies, re-spun as a victory for English Common Law. Come to think of it, the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree! :p
 
Ah, you started a new AAR, and I somehow missed it! Rectified now. A good story so far.:)
 
Huzzah, Britannia arises from out the azure main once more!

Now, about those Syndies across the channel...
 
Huzzah, Britannia arises from out the azure main once more!

Now, about those Syndies across the channel...
Oh, don't worry about them. Trust me, by the end of this AAR Britain will have dealt with just about everybody she could possibly have trouble with, and more. If we ever get to the end, this is going on till 1947 at least as it is.
 
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8 - Regis Suprema Voluntas Lex

On the 19th of August the Kingdom of Burma was swept away in the tide of syndicalism as yet another country fell to its iron grasp.
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On the 28th of August, those members of the House of Lords who had made it back to Britain or had survived the syndicalist era reconvened for the first time since 1925; the damage done to the Lords' chamber during the syndicalists' time meant that debates were held in Westminster Hall. Many key statesmen, businessmen and officers were elevated to the peerage, including David Lloyd George, created the Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, and Winston Churchill, a key Liberal politician (in this timeline Churchill never defected to the Tories), who was created the Earl Churchill of Oldham.
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Lloyd George and Churchill on their way to their investitures at Westminster Hall
On the 1st of September 1937 preparations began for the first General Election to the Commons since the revolution. Writs were issued for members to be elected for each of Britain's 632 Westminster constituencies, as prominent statesmen set about campaigning or returning from Canada as fast they could.
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The election campaign was fought between the two main forces in pre-revolution British politics, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, led by Lord Beaverbook and Sir Herbert Samuel respectively. The Labour Party, following the period of syndicalism in Britain, was markedly reduced in popularity, and lost out the third-party spot to the Progressive Party, a new modern liberal party headed up by Richard Acland. A fourth party entered the contest, the right-wing traditionalist National Party under H.P. Croft.

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The Liberals ran on a policy of negotiated agreements with the workforces; trade unionism was a key issue of the election

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Stanley Baldwin, the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, stood for election in Bewdley

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On the campaign trail; Sir Herbert Samuel and the Earl Churchill plant trees in Derbyshire as part of the festivities

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The Conservatives ran on a campaign of heavy anti-syndicalist rhetoric

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The nation went to the polls on Thursday the 4th of November; here NHS nurses arrive to cast their vote in Hull East

The election was held on the 4th of November; Herbert Samuel's Liberal Party beat out the other parties, winning a comfortable Commons majority. The next day, Sir Samuel drove to the Palace, where His Majesty the King invited him to form a government. Lloyd George declined any cabinet places, although Churchill accepted Secretary of State for Air. Walter Runciman took the role of Foreign Secretary, Isaac Foot, MP for St. Ives, accepted Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the new Home Secretary was Ivor Brown. (I have no idea who Ivor Brown is, the closest match is a guy who spent two days as a civil servant before quitting in 1913).
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The full results of the elections were:
  • Liberal Party: 329 seats
  • Conservative Party: 231 seats
  • Labour Party: 39 seats
  • Progressive Party: 22 seats
  • National Party: 7 seats
  • Independents: 4 seats

The world was somewhat quiet over the winter period, until the 2nd of January, when Haiti announced the formal annexation of the Dominican Republic at the Treaty of San Domingo.

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One of the new government's first policies was regarding trade unions. It was decided that trade unionism must be allowed. To ban trade unions would simply be to drive radical leftists underground and criminalise the feelings of the working man. It would be better to allow them and to keep a close eye on their activities. Besides, any of those who would be expected to start trouble were in custody by now.
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On the 4th of February 1937, the hunt for Mosley and Blair came to an end. Following an anonymous tip off from a local farmer, units of the Police, Army and Special Branch converged on the Welsh valleys. It was thought the pair were holed up in an abandoned coal mine, and were expected to be accompanied by at least some radical soldiers. After a two hour firefight, in which Mosley himself was spotted blazing away with a revolver, both Mosley and Blair were captured alive, Mosley with a head wound caused by a stray bullet. Forty two of his accomplices were shot dead, and fifteen taken prisoner.
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The blasted landscape of the Welsh hillside where the two escaped politicians were found

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Oswald Mosley in police custody, looking somewhat the worse for wear
Over the next few weeks, more and more of the syndicalists' leading lights were collared around the UK. Nye Bevan, Clement Attlee and several other ex-Labour politicians were captured hiding in the back of a publishers' office in Norwich. Niclas y Glais was found posing as a fisherman on a small fishing smack in Wales. Arthur Horner was found sleeping rough in Grimsby, and Helen Crawfurd had been working in a hospital for two months. All we imprisoned at the Tower of London, pending trial.

The trials were held over a period of two months, between February and June 1938. The trials began with minors players in the revolution and subsequent syndicalist administrations, and moved on to leading figures near the end. The first to be tried were James Maxton, John Wheatley and David Kirkwood. These three Labour MPs had openly supported the revolution in the House of Commons, and had urged the people to take up arms. All were charged with High Treason; all were found guilty. Kirkwood and Maxton were sentenced to death, while Wheatley was given life imprisonment on account of his ill health.

Several other Labour MPs and ministers were also tried. Notable among them were Clement Attlee, Aneurin Bevan, Ernest Bevin, and Hugh Gaitskell, all charged with Treason or Misprision of Treason. Attlee, who had a lukewarm attitude to the revolution at best, was acquitted, but found guilty of Misprision of Treason and given fifteen years imprisonment. Bevan was found guilty, but sentenced to only twenty years in prison, on the strength that he had played no active part in the revolution, and had only served in the syndicalist government as Minister of Health. Bevin too was found guilty of Misprision of Treason, and sentenced to twenty years. Gaitskell received a life sentence for his active role in the revolution.

Also given life sentences included most government ministers, including Herbert Morrison, Sidney Webb, and Fenner Brockway.

On the 2nd of May 1938, the trials were held for the most prominent and latest of the syndicalist government's ministers. The first to be tried was Helen Crawfurd, of late the Minister of Security. Charged with High Treason and Incitement to Disaffection, her reign of terror as head of the police led to her being found guilty and sentenced to death. Arthur Horner was also found guilty of High Treason, Incitement to Disaffection, and also of "moving or stirring any foreigner or stranger with force to invade this realm", referring to his encouragement of Irish revolutionaries, and sentenced to death. His role in the revolution, and support for Irish rebellions in the 1920s were considered substantial aggravating factors. Niclas y Glais was found guilty of High Treason, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Annie Kenney was found guilty of Treason and sentenced to forty years imprisonment.

From the 4th of May, the military Courts Martial were held, with traitorous officers and men being tried by officers of the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. Alan Brooke, a commander of the syndicalist militias and member of the Union's Defence Staff, was found guilty of High Treason, as well as Mutiny and Desertion. He was stripped of his rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment. William Wedgwood Benn was also tried and found guilty of High Treason, Mutiny and Desertion, and sentenced to life imprisonment. A.V. Alexander, a prominent naval officer, was found guilty of High Treason, Mutiny, Desertion, Misconduct on Operations and Incitement to Disaffection, for his role in the mutiny of the Royal Navy. He was sentenced to death.

The final two trials were held over several days, between the 10th and the 15th of May 1938. The first to be tried was Eric Blair, former Minister of Truth in Art. Charged with High Treason, Contempt of the Sovereign, Incitement to Disaffection, and Treason Felony. Following ten hours of deliberation by the jury, he was unanimously found guilty, and was subsequently sentenced to death.

The last person to be tried was Mosley himself. The last Chairman of the Union of Britain was charged with High Treason, Treason Felony, Incitement to Disaffection, Contempt of the Sovereign, as well as "offences of directing quasi-military organisations and wearing uniforms for political purposes", referring to his raising of a workers' militia in Birmingham during the revolution. After just an hour of deliberation, the jury unanimously found Mosley guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to death.

During the trials at the Old Bailey, forty seven members of the syndicalist government were sentenced to death, two hundred and twelve were sentenced to life imprisonment, and a further one thousand one hundred and fourteen were given prison sentences between ten and fifty years. At the military courts, seventy two officers were found guilty of Mutiny and sentenced to death, and some seven hundred and nine other ranks were also sentenced to death for Mutiny or Desertion.

All those sentenced to death were executed by hanging at the Tower of London between the 5th of May and the 19th of December 1938.



They paid the price to reach their goal
Across a world in flame;
But their own hate slew their own soul
Before that victory came.
 
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That is actually a pretty moderate hanging toll, all things considered. Hopefully the new government has managed to tread the line between satifsying the quest for justice and not seeding the next revolution.
 
The National Health Service is still around in the restored UK I see. It was founded under the Union of Britain by Aneurin Bevan in the Kaiserreich timeline. It would seem that his Majesty's government is content to steal and desyndicalize some of the better ideas of the syndicalist experiment in Britain. I am pleased that the government seeks to reform the United Kingdom to prevent a second syndicalist revolution. There is no need to crush a people that welcomed the King back. Looks like the Liberal party has a new lease on life.
As for the treason trials, no body has been charged with contempt of the sovereign since 1840! It is a very old charge to use. The punishments seem a little harsh by my American sensibilities but they seems well inline with British history.
Onto solving the problems of the legacy of syndicalism. Britannia shall rule again!
 
A big win for the counter revolution that the ring leaders were captured alive!
 
9 - The Phoney War

On the 27th of March HM Government began drafting Orders-in-Council for the establishment of the Royal Academy of Arts, in anticipation of the return of Britain's writers, poets, painters and sculptors.
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On the last day of the month, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg proclaimed the rise of the new "Mongol Empire", and announced he was now "Genghis Khan II". This attracted at best a few exasperated shakes of the head at the Foreign Office. HM Government had never had any proper relations with Mongolia, and nobody could see why these rumblings from the irrelevant steppes, deserts and mountains of Central Asia should have any bearing on Britain's position.
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Russia launched its bid for the reclamation of its territories in Kazakhstan on the 1st of May 1938. Again, this was dismissed as an irrelevancy.
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On the 2nd of June, the Royal Marines were reformed for the first time in Britain since the revolution. The first unit to be stood up was the Royal Marine Light Infantry, which, it was hoped, would form the nucleus for an expansion of the corps into a much larger force within the next ten years. For now, though, the RMLI numbered just four thousand men, recruited variously from the Royal Navy, and from the Guards regiments.
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Men of the Royal Marine Light Infantry march past on their deployment, June 1938
Six days later two new wars broke out, with the Kurds revolting against Ottoman rule and making a bid for independence, and Japan intervening in Transamur in an attempt to reign in their Russian puppet government.
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And just two days after that, ill news came from America; the United States had collapsed under the pressure of syndicalist advances. The Second American Civil War was now a showdown between the syndicalists and the laughable authoritarians in the South.
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On the 17th of June 1938, the United Kingdom met with its first victory in reconstruction, as the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was launched at the Clyde. The ceremony was attended by His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister, and several other important dignitaries. Ark Royal was Britain's first new ship built since the restoration, and His Majesty promised further and ever greater advances in technology at sea, on the land, and in the air. Preparations were made to get Ark Royal commissioned, outfitted and in service as quickly as possible, by which point she was the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world.
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HMS Ark Royal in port several days after her launch
The reason for this flurry of activity surrounding Ark Royal became obvious on the 18th of June, as Britain announced it would now be assisting Canada in its activities against Denmark. HM Government reasoned that the best way to rekindle national spirit was a minor war. After all, Denmark should be an easy victory.
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In order to further boost the outpouring of national pride, on the 23rd of June 1938, the occasion of His Majesty the King's 44th birthday, the first Trooping the Colour since 1914 was held. This, the official parade marking the sovereign's birthday, had been cancelled during the Weltkrieg and the ensuing chaos and subsequent revolution and interregnum. Trooping the Colour had not been held in 1937, partially because the restoration had only occurred six days previously and partially because the King had not yet returned from Canada. Trooping the Colour in 1938 took on a somewhat austere appearance; the distinctive bearskins and red tunics had been done away with by the syndicalists and almost all regiments were not yet provided with proper parade dress, and as a result the troops paraded in the noticeably more drab No.2 dress. 1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards were given the honour of trooping their colour, as the most senior of the Guards regiments.
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1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards march past in slow time, giving the salute
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1st Battalion, the Grenadier Guards march past in quick time; behind them are 2nd Battalion, the Coldstream Guards
This happy mood was carried on two days later, with the news that men of the Royal Marine Light Infantry had seized the Faroe Islands without a fight.
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A Lewis gunner of 3rd Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry takes up position in Tórshavn; the whole operation took on an air of ridiculousness, as the troops knew these measures were unnecessary, and the local populace stood around and watched with a bemused excitement
On the 5th of July 1938, Whitley bombers of 16 Squadron commenced strategic night raids against Danish targets, although their mission was usually confined to leaflet-dropping and the odd low level raid against specific targets. Denmark's lack of an air force or any anti-aircraft armaments meant that 15 Squadron's losses were confined to one aircraft lost to mechanical failure.
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The single Whitley lost over Denmark, pictured here after its emergency landing on the flat plains of Jutland
On the 6th of July the first actual fighting of the war took place, as units of the Danish Navy clashed with British ships in the North Sea; the winner of this action was clear, with a Danish destroyer, both of Denmark's cruisers and all eight of its submarines being sunk by the Royal Navy, to the loss of just one Nimrod fighter of 5 RNAS. The remaining seven Danish ships would be hunted down and sunk by the Royal Navy between the 6th and 15th of July, to the loss of two more aircraft.
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On the 11th of July the first ship conveying exiled artists returned to Britain, bringing with it such well-known artists as H.G. Wells, John Buchan (I assume the need for a Governor-General of Canada doesn't exist in this timeline), and the Weltkrieg poet Siegfried Sassoon.
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The 4th of August saw scenes similar to those on the Faroes being repeated in Reykjavik, again taken by Royal Marines against no opposition.
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The next day, yet another insurrection broke out as Brazilian syndicalists made their bid for dominance.
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More of the exiled greats of Britain returned on the 29th of September, with many key industrialists returning to boost Britain's factories once more, including Frederick Leathers, a prominent government industry minister, and Lord Beaverbrook, the infamous media-baron-turned-aircraft-enthusiast.
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More syndicalist rumblings came from South America on the 13th of October, as Centroamérica attacked the UPA.
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Centroamérican troops fire a mortar towards UPA positions at the border
 
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I wonder how many British exiles are stirring those Syndicalists elsewhere.
 
Well, the Communards get a wave of refuges from the fallen Union. Afterwards, in lore if not ingame, I imagine the number of former syndicalists fleeing the restored UK would be depend on if the UK pushes a loyalist culture and attempts to repress them with MI5 spying or promotes an new avant garde culture and attempts to reconcile the syndicalist class struggle with the aristocratic exiles with truth and reconciliation commissions.
 
Poor Denmark, you have no chance.
 
10 - The First of Many

On the 29th of September the government of Denmark had stated that it "fully intended to carry on the state of war with the Entente, in defiance of its aggression". Everyone knew what this meant; that Denmark itself had to be knocked out of the war in order to end it. On the 18th of October 1938 Operation Lancer was carried out, with units of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, and the 4th and 5th Infantry Divisions being landed on the western coast of the Jutland peninsula. With no harbour along this barren stretch of coastline, the Royal Marines carried out the "light infantry" part of their name and advanced on the port near the northern town of Aalborg on foot, reaching the harbour unopposed in just two days marching.
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On the 24th of October, relieving news reached London that the CNT-FAI had been crushed by the Spanish royalists. Hopefully this would deprive the French communards of another ally.
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By the 16th of November the British troops had occupied most of the Jutland peninsula, including the key town of Aarhus, and now awaited the arrival of reinforcements. At this point they encountered "volunteer" troops from the French Commune fighting on the Danish side.
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Men of the Black Watch advance north-west of Aarhus, early November 1938
The capture of Aarhus had also allowed the British forces the use of the town's aerodrome. Quickly, the RAF arranged an expeditionary unit to be sent to Denmark to support the infantry's advance, which included 9 Squadron and its Hurricanes, the Hampdens of 18 Squadron and 26 Squadron's Battles.
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In early December, with Christmas approaching and the forces of the King going from victory to victory, the confidence of the British public was stronger than ever.
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As if to offset the death of syndicalism in Spain, the United Communes in Brazil came out on top in the country's civil war. Hopefully the issues of South America wouldn't spill over into British concerns.
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On the 22nd of December, as if it were a Christmas gift to the nation, the General Staff announced the reformation of the Household Division. Until now the Guards had just been standalone regiments, but now they were once again unified under a divisional command for the defence of the London, and, of course, for the displays of drill and ceremonial they were known for. The government promised the return of the bearskins and red tunics as soon as possible.
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On the 17th January 1939, aboard the battlecruiser HMS Striker, the exiled admirals of the Royal Navy arrived back in Britain, and were welcomed eagerly; the new Royal Navy needed commanders. Notable among them was John Cunningham, who would surely go on to great things with the modern and capable ships the government had planned for the Royal Navy.
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By February the state of the American Civil War was not good for Long's southerners. On the 4th Atlanta fell to the CSA, and victory for the syndicalists in America looked imminent.
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On the 24th of the month, another war broke out in the Balkans, as Austria, or the Danubian Federation as the now-reborn Austrian Empire called itself, declared war on Italy, perhaps in a bid to further crush its rival and obtain concessions in the Trentino, or perhaps just to claim yet another throne for Otto.
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As March 1939 began, the first day was marked with another country wiped off the map, as Centroamérica was victorious in its conquest of the UPA.
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On the 12th the Royal Navy's second new carrier was commissioned, HMS Illustrious; she promptly joined the North Sea Fleet and commenced action against the enemy.
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The next stepping stone to Copenhagen, Odense, fell to an assault by Royal Marines and the 5th Infantry Division on the 27th of March.
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Officers and men of 2nd Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry advance into a bomb-damaged quarter of Odense
The worst fears of Canada were realised on the 5th of April 1939, as the Second American Civil War finally came to an end, with a victory for the CSA. For now, at least, they set about rebuilding a shattered nation. The whereabouts of Long were not known, at least outside of the CSA, and many shuddered to think of what might have befallen him.
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Four days later, on the 9th, Japan announced her ambitions for South East Asian dominance, making Germany and the Netherlands nervous as to the safety of their colonies. It seemed the Peace with Honour was not enough for Japan.
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On the first day of May in 1939, Cuba, worried by the new syndicalist power to the north, negotiated an alliance with the Entente, and quickly offered its help in fighting Denmark, eager to prove its worth.
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On the 5th, General Sir Claude Auchinleck, recently returned from Canada, was appointed to the Imperial General Staff. A proponent of artillery support, he was quickly able to renegotiate the Ministry of War's contracts and obtain guns at a better price.
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Another unlikely entrant to the Entente was received on the 1st of June 1939, with the newly-resurgent Poland confirming its alliance. Poland had steered the path between syndicalism and military rule carefully and finally formed for herself a liberal democracy; she was welcomed with open arms.
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Copenhagen, Denmark's capital, finally fell to British forces on the 12th of June 1939, forcing the Danish to capitulate. At the subsequent Treaty of Odense, Denmark ceded Iceland and the Faroe Islands to the United Kingdom, and Greenland to the Commonwealth of Canada.
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The Canadian delegation at the Treaty of Odense, with Mackenzie King in attendance
In order to demonstrate His Majesty's Government's commitment to the latest citizens of the United Kingdom in Iceland and the Faroes, both territories were afforded constituencies in the Westminster Parliament. Iceland elected three Members of Parliament, the Faroes two, at by-elections held between June and August 1939.
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Iceland West, Iceland East and South Faroe all returned Conservative Party members, while North Faroe returned a Liberal member and Reykjavik returned a Labour MP; these maps of the constituencies were published in "A Guide to Parliament: 1940 edition" along with biographies of their members
 
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