A Death at a Pool Party - And other historical deviations
- Thread starter Tzaero
- Start date
Not quite the sixties, a bit before.
Might as well attempt a cracker of an Australian timeline as no one else seems to want to do em.
Coincidentally the poster I based this one on was created in the same year as the PoD.
That PoD happens not to be down under.
1. Letting Hubris Get To Your Head
It was an attempt at humiliation that backfired horribly, life had started to leave its fleshy vessel as soon as it made contact with the ground.
Everyone smiles for the cameras every once in a while.
Relations between the USSR and the People’s Republic of China was only getting worse by the end of the fifties, Mao made sure of that with his antics.
Things were clearly amiss when he encountered a cold reception at the airport. No red carpet, just some chinamen and the concrete runway.
The Soviet Premier would then be shuttled to an accommodation that was selected for it’s lack of air conditioning which would have been good in that humid weather.
Elsewhere someone was getting too amused for his own good.
The following day when the two leaders met little would be achieved, joint defense initiatives against the west were flat out refused by Mao.
Talks were to continue the day after that but a watery diversion was planned.
Mao had invited him to take a swim in his private pool, swimming was something he was proud of and a skill Khrushchev lacked.
A pair of water wings was supplied to get around this and they then got into the pool where the Chinese leader would show off.
The two of them would eventually get to the deep end of the pool where Mao would get out of the pool to go for a dive.
His heavy frame heaved as he pulled himself out, and then proceeded at a quick pace to position himself for the dive.
The slick surface beneath him would cause the Chinese leader to go in a direction he didn’t expect.
Blood would get in the water and proceed to go in all directions.
Mao’s skull would suffer an impact that would prove to be fatal but the aides scrambling to his side tried to do the best they could.
Nikita Khrushchev stared on stunned at what occurred right in front of him.
He would get on a bit better with the dead man’s successor, Liu Shaoqi.
Before that though he'd have to get rid of those water wings.
One of two PODs in 1958.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...miliation-and-the-sino-soviet-split-80852370/
Opening Title-card inspired by Vertigo (1958)
It was an attempt at humiliation that backfired horribly, life had started to leave its fleshy vessel as soon as it made contact with the ground.
Everyone smiles for the cameras every once in a while.
Khrushchev’s opinion of the Chinese had only gotten worse since his second visit in 1954. The Chinese leader seemed want to impose on Khrushchev much like Stalin did when he was alive.
In the summer of ‘58 after a series successes in the initial days of the space race the Russian Premier came to China to see if Mao would want the two communist nations to cooperate.
He hoped Mao would have been reasonable.
Fat chance of that.
In the summer of ‘58 after a series successes in the initial days of the space race the Russian Premier came to China to see if Mao would want the two communist nations to cooperate.
He hoped Mao would have been reasonable.
Fat chance of that.
Things were clearly amiss when he encountered a cold reception at the airport. No red carpet, just some chinamen and the concrete runway.
The Soviet Premier would then be shuttled to an accommodation that was selected for it’s lack of air conditioning which would have been good in that humid weather.
Elsewhere someone was getting too amused for his own good.
The following day when the two leaders met little would be achieved, joint defense initiatives against the west were flat out refused by Mao.
Talks were to continue the day after that but a watery diversion was planned.
Mao had invited him to take a swim in his private pool, swimming was something he was proud of and a skill Khrushchev lacked.
A pair of water wings was supplied to get around this and they then got into the pool where the Chinese leader would show off.
The two of them would eventually get to the deep end of the pool where Mao would get out of the pool to go for a dive.
His heavy frame heaved as he pulled himself out, and then proceeded at a quick pace to position himself for the dive.
The slick surface beneath him would cause the Chinese leader to go in a direction he didn’t expect.
Blood would get in the water and proceed to go in all directions.
Mao’s skull would suffer an impact that would prove to be fatal but the aides scrambling to his side tried to do the best they could.
Nikita Khrushchev stared on stunned at what occurred right in front of him.
He would get on a bit better with the dead man’s successor, Liu Shaoqi.
Before that though he'd have to get rid of those water wings.
~Coming Soon~
2. The Continued Trauma of Labor
---2. The Continued Trauma of Labor
One of two PODs in 1958.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...miliation-and-the-sino-soviet-split-80852370/
Opening Title-card inspired by Vertigo (1958)
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I figured this would be a decent opportunity to let fate off a historical figure. It seems little known too.
With Mao out of the way the Great Leap Forward will get derailed and a brighter future for China may ensue.
The prose is bit crap, but yeah if I get more down I suppose i'll get better.
Very original POD, certainly. There's nothing wrong with a better China - Liu should, being a more moderate communist of the Soviet school, avoid Mao's deranged policies and reform the Party enough to keep China relatively healthy in the long term. Sino-Soviet reconciliation could also be on the cards, so that's exciting.
I'm equally enthralled by the next chapter - here's hoping for a Calwell-less Labor when it comes to 1960 and a much-improved result for the party in 1961/1963.
I'm still for a Sino-Soviet break up so China can do it's own thing.
What would the US do with a Sino-Soviet reconciliation?
Yup thats what I'm going for. One of the I ideas was throwing around was wrangling Whitlam into the leadership for the '61 election but its more handwavy than I what i'm doing now.
Still reading up on the period so I won't be coming up with details.
The sixties will be a tricky period for Labor to navigate but we'll see.