Long Rule Britannia- A Union of Britain Kaiserreich AAR

[Happy Briton]

Table of Contents: ​

Chapter One- The Trade Union Congress Begins
Chapter Two- 1936 and all that
Chapter Three- A madman or the Devil
Chapter Four- The Post-Restoration Years
Chapter Five- The 1960 New Zealand Independence Referendum
Chapter Six- Early Sixties
Chapter Seven- The Greek Civil War

 

[stnylan]

Welcome to the forums

 

[Happy Briton]

Chairman Philip Snowden sat and read his report for the new year. He had every intention to resign this year and had already informed General Secretary Arthur Horner of this in a phone call at Christmas. Horner was obviously looking for his job yet had an overwhelming sense of loyalty to Chairman and Country. Horner would obviously win, at least that’s what every thought as Snowden continued to drop more hints on the possibility of his resignation.​

On January 7th 1936 President Alexander Kerensky was shot dead by a peasant on his way to the Russian Senate. Pyotr Wrangel was named as the successor earlier the following day. In his inauguration address he praised Kerensky for his work in establishing a Russian Republic and keeping Democracy in Russia.


On the 9th Oswald Mosley announced a shift in British Politics. This was a lie but the ensuing Birmingham Conference was held on 11th January 1936 and was attended by Georges Valois from France, Benito Mussolini of the SRI, and Lavrenti Beria of the Socialist Republic of Georgia.


Philip Snowden announced the formation of the Union Guard from a balcony in Brighton on January 21st 1936. The Union Guard was officially known as The Home and Defence Union Guard for the Protection of the Union of Britain. The new Guard was to be headed by Field Marshal Ronald Forbes Adam. After the speech and retreat into the room behind the Balcony, Snowden was informed of the death of King George V. All he could comment was “Interesting”.


After another doomed war on the Delhi Government by Afghanistan the new Edward VIII could not begin to rally the support that his father did. Edward has been described as uninterested in anything other than married women and reclaiming Britain.


Foreign Commissary Nicolas Y Glais was alerted of the Election of the Jacobins in France. This was not Snowden or Y Glais’ first choice but it did show Mosley’s far left agenda had pulled through in France. Speaking of Mosley, he was now being seen as the saviour of the British Economy helping Britain from being affected from Black Monday as Commissary of the Exchequer.


The resolution of the Afghan War and Austria Pulling out of Italy were overshadowed by the beginning of the Trade Unions Congress. The Economic Policy Debate was expected to be won by Oswald Mosley, however Nye Bevan put forward damaging blows to downsize Mosley’s influence on the debate. With Mosley having undoubtedly lost his ground in the debate, his chances of becoming Chairman essentially died.


With the Internal Policy arriving a week later the Autonomists put there Home Commissary, Helen Crawford, on the front lines. Eric Blair took over from a disgraced Mosley for his pet subject and performed surprisingly well against Crawford and James Maxton. Blair shockingly won the debate and talks of a leadership challenge in the Maximist Wing of the TUC against Mosley were denied by Blair but the doubt remained.


The Military debate arrived and Y Glais prepared for the worst. Having lost the other debates, his policy was incredibly unpopular. The idea of different armies in England, Scotland and Wales were shot down by Horner, Maxton and Bevan (who were from the respected countries). Denis Healey, who was only 29 represented the Totalists but despite his popular policy, failed to confidently perform in the debate. Despite Blair’s best attempt to save the debate, the federationalists easily won.


Snowden’s resignation occurred a week after and Arthur Horner prepared to become chairman. Annie Kennie took his spot as General Secretary, James Maxton was rewarded for his debate performances with the Foreign Office and Nye Bevan was rewarded with the Exchequer. Lewis Valentine was brought into replace Helen Crawford with Eric Blair being kept as Propaganda Commissary. With this a new chapter in British history had began.

 

[stnylan]

Whither now for the Commonwealth?

 

[Nikolai]

Welcome to the forums and the art of AARing! Good luck.

 

[Happy Briton]

Arthur Horner had been chairman for a month and had only just left London for the first time. Yes, his trip would be short, but he genuinely loved his hikes up the Yorkshire Moors. They hadn’t been as often since the TUC Congress began but this one felt special. His wife, Ethel had often accompanied him since he took it up after the revolution but she was feeling especially happy, and so was he. As he gazed into the fogged distance and sighed. He knew sooner rather than later he’d be recalled to London by some crisis or another. Snowden’s ill health had plummeted after a stroke despite the pressure being removed of his job. Ethel had begged him to take more time off for her and maybe he would. For now however all that mattered was the incredible view and an amazing first impression in his job to the country.


The crisis that would draw him back to London was the Icelandic Privatisation of there oil fields. Horner would act swiftly and decisively against Iceland by declaring war on them. With the threat of losing the valuable resources of Iceland, Germany swiftly invaded Denmark whilst Iceland was incorporated into the Union. Denmark had requested that Canada occupy Greenland and the Shetlands, on this the Canadians jumped on. In the end Iceland joined Britain whilst the Canadians got what they want and the rest of Denmark kept it’s King and Cabinet in exchange for joining the German Sphere.


Argentina’s coup by Admiral Ramirez sought to restore Democracy by Christmas and Horner had hopes to slightly influence the December election by endorsing left wing candidates.


Later on in May, Annie Kennie and James Maxton would resign there positions for not being briefed on Horner’s intent to invade Iceland. Clement Attlee would be elected to the position of General Secretary whilst popular Federalationist, Herbert Morrison was appointed Foreign Commissary. Nye Bevan was shuffled out and replaced by Hugh Gaitskell to be appointed as Governor of Iceland.


The SRI election would signal a great shift in the Third Internationale. The Socialist Party of Italy would be elected leaving a radical socialist government to Allie which the French Totalists and British Syndicalists.


While on a factory visit in Liverpool, Horner was informed of a coup d’etat occurring in Siam. His initial reaction was, “Where?”, before realising what had happened. This caused mild panic amongst the British People as to whether or not Horner was capable of running a government due to possible ill health. Herbert Morrison was informed of a military coup in Siam only a month later instead of Horner.


The following Month the Polish Regency would find there grip on Poland quite gone. Instead the military would seize control of Poland. The military government was reportedly quite popular in Poland, as for the first time in her history, she actually had a proper government.


Belgium would declare independence from Germany over the Summer and overthrew King Adalbert, despite negotiations to keep him on an independent throne. King Albert was invited back from Canada and Paul Van Zeeland was easily elected Prime Minister. Albert sent a letter of thanks to King Edward afterwards to show gratitude towards him for allowing refuge.


By the end of September Raymond Briggs would find himself in control of the Union Guard after Ronald Forbes Adam unexpectedly died. Briggs was known to be one of the Generals to combat the strikes, however didn’t flee to Canada.


October 1936 was only really notable for the Avante Grande forming between France and England. However despite this Vargas was elected in Brazil.


America just kept going from bad to worse as although John Nance Garner has the most electoral votes, he didn’t reach 270 with Reed and Long influencing the election. Alf Landon received the least but the Senate made sure he would be elected as the 32nd President of the United States.


With the Republic of Italy making way to the Italian Federation, Herbert Morrison was set to resign. Having had more reports in one year than Nicolas Y Glais had ever had, he was only just talked out of it at the last moment by Clement Attlee. And that concluded the year 1936.

 

[stnylan]

The Union is surely an island if stability in a world of chaos.

 

[DensleyBlair]

Always fun to see a Commonwealth AAR.

Arthur Horner is a solid choice for chairman.. or so one would think. Disturbing to see hints that his health is failing him. Shame to see Kennie and Maxton quit the cabinet.

Good luck to you!

 

[Happy Briton]

Britain changed so much in the 40s it would not be believed by some. By 1956 Italy was in two pieces, Sardinia in the south and the Federation on the North. In America, Landon proved a fool and was couped by Douglas MacArthur in April 1937. MacArthur proved more a fool as, Huey Long, Jack Reed and Supporters of Democracy all split. MacArthur was then couped by Eisenhower who held an emergency election by the end of the week. The Democrats nominated Garner (seeing as how knowing which states were still in the union was quite difficult, this election was done by the popular vote, which Garner won last time and was assumed to win it again). The Republicans nominated Quentin Roosevelt over Alf Landon for obvious reasons and tried to align themselves more with Theodore Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln than Hoover. The Progressive Party proved a popular alternative with Socialists and Longists who hadn’t been in territory which split. Due to a recount forced by Iowa’s splitting, Roosevelt ended up beating Garner as opposed to what was originally thought. Garner was sworn in as Vice President whilst Quentin was sworn in as President.

The PSA re-joining the USA was a triumph for Roosevelt and in 1941, the Civilwar concluded in Federal Victory. However the new political system of 5 major parties meant it nearly impossible to get to 270 Electoral Votes. Whilst Quentin’s coalition had easily won the 1940 election, the newly reclaimed States would clearly carry on voting for a Longist or Socialist Party. Quentin realised this and established a popular vote system to keep a radical from power.

Quentin Roosevelt is often compared to Lincoln

Gamelinite France proved difficult to work with both short and long term and so when Gamelin restored democracy in France in a shock move, Britain found herself alone. Petain had reclaimed his prize, couldn’t Albert I? T. E. Lawrence had been executed for Royalist sympathies in 1943 and then a paranoid looking Horner found himself as popular as Lord Curzon. With the public feeling both frightened and discontent, Horner had finally lost his majority in the TUC. With many in his own party feeling him unfit to lead he was pushed and a TUC was called without consent. It was at this point Nye Bevan would infamously stab Horner in the back and be nominated by both the Feds and Cons. Eric Blair was unsurprisingly nominated by the Maximists and Y Glais was nominated yet agian. Needless to say Bevan won and made Blair General Secretary.

Maurice Gamelin was a Social Democrat who restored French Democracy

A Canadian Homecoming fleet was building and every nation knew it. Bevan called the British Prime Minister in exile on February 11 1944 and negotiated re unification. In what was probably the most protected event in the world, Eric Blair and the Lord Mountbatten met in Iceland and got on well making unification more and more likely.

On March 1 1944, Liberty day was declared as Albert I was crowned in Westminster Abbey in the first televised coronation. Every revolutionary had to be pardoned for treason as soon as the coronation had finished. The first General Election took place in July and saw Robert Cecil's Tories beat the Liberals of John Simon and former Home Commissary Hugh Gaitskell's Labour.

Roosevelt’s coalition fell apart in his third term but the President was personally popular and got on well with Robert Cecil. A special relationship was formed between the two nations and talks if an alliance went underway. The entente was replaced by the World Treaty Organisation to include America and France.

Canada was rewarded for Services to the crown by being allowed independence in being allowed to elect their own Governor General at the start of each decade and were allowed to change there flag to one of a red maple leaf, though Robert Manion declined and kept the old flag.

King Albert I was popular in Britain and the empire; however, his daughter Elizabeth was looked after as a great match. The next Queen-Empress was 18 in 1944 and had never had a romantic relationship with anyone so when she was revealed to be engaged to William, heir to the dukedom of Devonshire the British public was united in celebration as a nation for the first time; a great deal of Socialists felt upset about the Coronation.

Prince William would become Duke of Devonshire in 1950. Here he is pictured on liberty day 1944

In 1946, they were married and in 1948, Prince George Albert Frederick William Robert Cavendish-Windsor was born. Prince Andrew Charles Arthur Cavendish-Windsor was born the next year.

Roosevelt entered his fourth term with Reconstruction and the Civilwar behind him and showed no signs of slowing down. His nephew of the same name has also entered politics as a Senator for New York and then later Governor of Minnesota.

In February 1949 after a visit to Australasia, King Albert would become wheelchair bound for the last three years of his life after being involved in a car crash, caused by syndicalist, that would kill the driver and confine the Australasian ambassador to his bed.

Queen Elizabeth would be seen pushing her husband around frequently until his death in 1952, with his injuries catching up to him. King Edward VIII would be kicked out of Britain by the Queen Mother, and would live with Princess Katherine of Greece in an Austrian palace for the rest of their lives.

The King would age rapidly in his last years

The New Queen Elizabeth II would have to attend the funeral of the sitting President of France, Petain and invite Eric Blair's Labour Party to form Government after finally toppling Robert Cecil in the election, before her own coronation.

In America Quentin Roosevelt would narrowly beat Joseph Kennedy to secure his fifth, and he decided soon after, his last election victory. The 1952 election was notable for Earl Long, brother of Huey, running as the AFP candidate. It would prove to be the last election for the AFP as many voters felt uncomfortable voting for another Long. The old and almost retired Socialist Party went defunked showing America had moved on from 1936.​

 

[DensleyBlair]

A five term Roosevelt presidency? Man, plenty of action in politics across the globe. Interesting to see Blair/Orwell cropping up among the Maximalists. In my vision of the Commonwealth I always count on him as a pretty firm opponent of Mosley. Nevertheless, sad to see Horner’s term end in dire straits. Hopefully Bevan proves a steadier hand for now.

 

[Happy Briton]

Prince Wilhelm was crowned Kaiser Wilhelm IV in 1953 but many within his court felt his abilities to lead the nation with a wife such as Queen Dorothea but none the less the German people adored him and his daughter Princess Felicitas.

The New Kaiser, pictures here in 1920, would heavily democratise Germany

Back in Britain, Elizabeth’s husband, Prince William suffered a major heart attack but miraculously survived. The Cavendish Foundation was then found in his honour.


The Lord Mountbatten’s legacy is a great one. Having been the mastermind to dethrone the late King Edward he made sure that Albert ascend to the throne after talks of either one of his younger brothers taking it instead and placed himself prominently in Albert’s court. He had been the one pit in charge of holding the election to decide Chamberlain’s successor in Canada and had made sure Henry Page Croft didn’t win. When Nye Bevan sent Eric Blair to negotiate in Iceland, Mountbatten was sent on behalf of the exiles. He had also found the King Albert Foundation to allow better opportunities for people disabled, both mentally and physically. When news of a syndicalist coup in Guatemala reached Blair he sent the chief of the Navy to negotiate the continuation of trade at the embassy. Tragically he and 33 other diplomats and ambassadors where held hostage, and believing they where bluffing, Eric Blair forbid the Treasury to pay the ransom.

Lord Louis Mountbatten

The funeral of Mountbatten at St. Paul’s Cathedral was the third biggest funeral in Post-Restorationalist Britain however, it was disrupted by tens of thousands of Syndicalist protesters would hadn’t moved on from his actions in Iceland, 12 years. Mountbatten was born to England and died for England but his and Cecil’s reconstruction work was legendary. Under his watch as MI5 director from 1949 to his death in 1956, large scale Syndicalist and Totalist protests had been incredibly rare, so the irony of the first occurring at his funeral would not go unnoticed.

The funeral of Mountbatten was a somber occasion for many

The English Liberation Front would prove to be responsible for organising the protests, however as time went on there methods became more radical and violent. For example the 1958 Scottish Soldiers’ killings in which they shot dead twenty unarmed British Army soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers. Four of the twenty soldiers were teenage brothers; all four were from Scotland.


Eric Blair would resign the Prime Ministership in November 1956, a month after Mountbatten’s murder. Jim Callaghan would succeed him to become the Prime Minister and his economic reforms would prove popular on the most part. Sunny Jim however could not escape his predecessor’s big mistake and was voted out in 1958 for the Conservative’s of Randolph Churchill who would lead Britain into a golden age of prosperity.


The newly appointed Foreign Secretary, Rab Butler would help to topple the Guatemalan Government by supplying military aid to militant far right groups. His major achievement in the foreign office, however would be to negotiate the status of Ireland in the United Kingdom, not something done properly in the eyes of many Britons. The agreement would see Northern Ireland join the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, whilst the citizens of Ulster would keep citizenship of both Ireland and Britain.

The former Union Jack from 1707-1803 and 1944-1958

The Irish Republican Army would form from this and would merge with the ELF and former radical Autonomists to form the Anti Restorationalist Brigade.


Churchill and the Queen’s state visit to America in 1959 would re enforce the special relationship between President Joseph Kennedy Jr. and Randolph Churchill. They would afterwards meet with Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau and the Governor General of Australasia, Prince Henry. Upon arriving back in Britain, Churchill felt incredibly sick, leaving Butler to deputise for him. Churchill would recover within a week and would leave on holiday for South Africa the next month.


By the 60s many of the main problems that plagued British society where gone, however despite this, the youth had seen a resurgence in Syndicalist popularity and disobedience. As Queen Elizabeth gave birth to her third and final child on Christmas Day 1959, Princess Elizabeth Grace Anne Cavendish-Windsor, the royal family was as strong as ever.

Family Tree of the Royal Family at the dawn of the new decade​

 

[DensleyBlair]

It seems as if the monarchists have well and truly taken back control of global affairs.

 

[Nikolai]

As Queen Elizabeth gave birth to her third and final child on Christmas Day 1959, Princess Elizabeth Grace Anne Cavendish-Windsor, the royal family was as strong as ever.

...but will it last?

 

[Happy Briton]

Because of Prince Henry’s huge popularity his term had seen Australasia draw closer to Britain and saved the Australasian economy and her Democracy. However he intended to resign in February 1960 and it was incredibly uncertain who would take his place. The British wanted wanted a member of the British nobility to take over, and they did propose Viscount Slim as a possible successor but was disregarded. Others proposed another royal to possibly take over such as Prince George of Kent or his son Edward. In the end Prince George was nominated by the royalists and put forward to Prince Henry and the Australasian Government as a possible candidate. Some National Australasians on the other hand wanted someone born and raised in Australasia seeing as how both Henry and Birdwood were British. Richard Casey was put forward and cases were made for both sides, however Casey was the clear favourite of the Australasian people and so was requested for by Queen Elizabeth.

Prince Henry resigned as Governor General in 1960 and was replaced by Richard Casey

Keith Hollyoake had been elected the Premier of New Zealand in 1958, a position made by Albert I to help mirror New Zealand to Quebec and end talks of independence. However the reality was that this had just planted the seeds for New Zealand Nationalism. Hollyoake was incredibly popular in New Zealand, and after Casey’s investiture would point out how no New Zealander had been Governor-General, Prime Minister, King or in Cabinet despite being in Australasia for 35 years. He then openly called for independence to New Zealand and established the New Zealand Independence Party, or NZIP, to which all but two of all New Zealander’s in Parliament joined the party.

Keith Hollyoake was made Premier of New Zealand in 1960

The National Party took power in Australasia during the 1960 election in March and refused to promote any New Zealanders to cabinet. Talks of an independence referendum started but Prime Minister John McEwen shut them down quickly.

Prime Minister John McEwen came to power at a ruff time for Australasia

When the Sydney Opera House burnt down in an act of liberation, and became the photo of the decade, pressure continued to mount on McEwen to hold the referendum. Everyone in New Zealand would obviously sympathise with the Leave Campaign. Even if McEwen promoted New Zealanders to cabinet, which he couldn’t anyway as every New Zealander in Parliament of his Party had defected to the NZIP.

The Sydney Opera House in flames. It would be rebuilt in the year 2000

Hollyoake declaring independence in August and then being arrested lost McEwen any New Zealander sympathy so when he announced the referendum for October the writing was on the wall.


He was however careful to not just allow New Zealanders to vote but Australians as well. However many Australians want New Zealand gone for what they had done to there beautiful Opera House, even if culprit had been electric chaired.


McEwen campaigned much better than expected, whilst Hollyoake naturally assumed New Zealand would leave Australasia. The Leave Campaign had a lot of support in New Zealand and a bit in Australia, where as Remain had a lot of support in Australia. Despite the polls, Remain won with 0.2% of the vote.

NZIP heavily contested the results

The outrage caused by these actions were uncontrollable and McEwen was assassinated in February 1962. Australasia would become a lot more difficult to control than usual for the next six Prime Ministers jobs a lot harder. For the next two decades New Zealand would get a lot more special treatment.​

 

[DensleyBlair]

Man, that’s a brutal referendum with a margin of only 0.2%. For all intents and purposes, that’s a dead tie. Hard for either side to claim the greater legitimacy.

 

[Happy Briton]

Neo-Syndicalist youths, representing the ARB , battled at the seaside town of Lytham St. Annes, on the 14th of March 1961 with 100s of police. Images with the Queen’s face were burnt and 67 ARB members were killed by policemen. 12 policemen were put in critical condition and in the end the army was sent into put down the protests. Churchill would go on television to denounce the protests but refused to endorse police action.

Violent Scenes erupted in Lytham St. Annes

Churchill was popular and had become the face of Post-Restoration Britain, however when his father, Winston, fell seriously ill in April and the Earldom of Oxham was thought to fall on Churchill. He was forced to put his personal feelings to one side and changed the law to allow the renouncement of noble titles. His sister Diana would become Lady Oxham in 1963.

Winston Churchill (1875-1963)

Prince George would be invested Prince of Wales in the Summer of 1961 aged 13. The ceremony was grand and was watched by millions on television, and attracted large and excited crowds in Caernarfon, but it also aroused considerable hostility among a minority of ARB protestors.

The Prince of Wales in 1966

The Dominion of India had petitioned for independence since the restoration and the government had finally sent a request to become a free state. Whilst Churchill reluctantly agreed, all that realistically happened was that the Indian flag lost the Union Jack and it’s name changed to the Commonwealth of India. The Governor-General was replaced immediately with Prince William’s brother, Andrew.

Flag of the Commonwealth of India

In February 1962, 7 ARB terrorists shot there way to the top of Big Ben, and through the windows just bellow the clock, lowered a massive version of the flag of the Union of Britain. 3 of the terrorists were Irish and 4 were English. An old Arthur Horner was forced to denounce these actions, though he was likely threatened by the government to do so.

Big Ben after being vandalised

On the 8th of April 1962 the test pilot, John Cunningham, became the first man to enter space, aboard the rocket "Atlantic Union". The flight lasted for an hour and fifty three minutes. He went up as a joint effort between the US and UK. The British pilot was awarded with applause from the United States and the Commonwealth. In response the Imperial Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt, declared a Space Race on behalf of the German Empire.

Soon after Cunningham arrived back Churchill announced his intentions to hold a General Election for the 21st of that month. The young and inexperienced Cyril Taylor stood no chance against Randolph Churchill and over 530 seats were won by the Torys. The ARB heavily contested the results and were sent into a period of denial. Despite this, Churchill agreed to adapt Taylor’s health policies and was met with little resistance.

George “Roland” Roger beat Alan Fitch to become the Opposition Leader following the incredibly bad results of his party. Roland was quite old but was viewed as a safe pair of hands as he had been the Labour foreign secretary since the restoration. Some in his party however blamed him for Mountbatten’s death.

On the 4th of June 1962, the film Casino Royale, based on Ian Fleming’s book series. The the long running film series follows James Bond, who sabotaged the syndicalists during the revolution and helped the royal family escape to Canada. He would kill Union leaders and garner support for a restoration from within Britain in later films

Sean Connery played the royalist spy for the series‘ first six films, despite ARB boycotts

​

 

[DensleyBlair]

The idea of Lytham St Annes as a hotspot of violent revolutionary upheaval made me smile. Certainly livelier than the last time I was there!

Looks like Britain is going down a decidedly Conservative path. Feels a little bit like the Crown Atomic, what with the resurgent monarchism and an abundance of royalist feeling even in pop culture. Always fun to play around with the Bond films when thinking about this period, and they work well as anti-Leftist propaganda.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Nikolai]

Seems to me that the 68-er upheaval in this timeline could be quite the violent affair.

 

[Happy Briton]

King George II of Greece died in January of 1963 and the Greek Populace entered a state of mourning. He had successfully won the Greek Monarchy Referendum in the late thirties and secured the throne from his late younger brother Alexander, who had proved himself more than peccable. Since then Greek democracy had been more than strengthened and he had worked hard to keep an isolationist foreign policy whilst keeping a close relationship with the reigning monarchs of Europe.

The late king had ruled since 1938 until his death in early 1963

The Nation had entered a state of mourning and the childless monarch had no nephews and his younger brother Paul had died in exile in 1923. This means that the late king’s father only had male descendants in the claimant to the kingdom of Romania and a Prince of Sardinia. Neither had ever been to Greece and neither seemed interested in claiming the throne of Greece. The population of Greece made it known that they would not accept either as king. The cousin of the late King George was announced as the next King of Greece. Prince Philip, like his British counterpart, had not expected to be made sovereign however was much liked by the Greek people.

Queen Elizabeth meeting King Philip in 1966

King Philip worked well with the Conservative Government and proved popular with the Greek people. He was a clean break from the old order and seemed ready to lead Greece into the swinging 60s. However, despite this he suffered from the same problem as his predecessor in the fact that he didn’t have any children, and on top of that he wasn’t even married. Usually this wouldn’t be an issue but the King was quite possibly the last male Greek royal, and didn’t seem to bothered by this. Eventually the reluctant king proposed to Princess Alexandria of Britain, the only daughter of the Duke of Kent, after much nagging from the Greek nobility. Despite being 15 years younger than the charismatic and militarily aware King she accepted his proposal and the two wed in June.

Queen Alexandria at her wedding

Prince George was born in April 1964 and the Greek throne was secure of lineage, however in 1965 Georgios Zoitakis attempted to overthrow the Greek Monarchy and declare a military dictatorship. In the February of that year he declared the State of Greece and that the monarchy was dead. A Greek Civil War was declared and King Philip looked uncertain to keep his throne.

In early March, President Zoitakis, began the invasion of Crete. The invasion was obviously designed to draw attention away from the mainland as he had correctly predicted that the island would be largely undefended. After a violent, little incident between Royalist and Junta forces on Crete, Junta forces landed on Crete on March 2. The small garrison of Royal Marines resisted, however were no match for the overwhelming Republican forces and by March 4 the Junta had captured the capital.

King Philip ordered the assembly of a naval task force to retake the islands. Commanded by some of the last loyal Admirals, the naval task force consisted of several groups, the largest of which was centred on the aircraft carriers HMS George II and HMS King Otto. This group contained the Sea Harrier fighters that would provide much needed air cover for the fleet. By mid-March, Philip began moving south, with a large fleet of tankers and cargo ships to supply the fleet while it operated. All told, 127 ships served in the task force including 43 warships, 22 Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, and 62 merchant vessels.

After consolidating his position, Philip began the recapture on Crete. Royalist troops launched simultaneous assaults on the high ground surrounding the town on the night of March 21. After heavy fighting, they succeeded in capturing their objectives. The attacks continued two nights later, and Royalist units took the island's last natural lines of defence. By now encircled on land and blockaded at sea, the junta, realised there situation was hopeless and surrendered to King Philip and the royalists. Many of Greece’s greatest military minds were exiled to Germany in the aftermath.

King Philip meeting veterans of the war in 2013 for the 50th anniversary of the end of the civil war​

 

[DensleyBlair]

In Kaiserreich, as in life, it seems it’s very very difficult to get rid of Philip.