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Old 04-20-2014, 08:06 AM   #70
Curmudgeon
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

More as an amusing afterthought than because it has any real chance of flying, even in game:

Someone at External Affairs presents the argument that the Navajo and Apache are Dene and all the other Dene peoples live in Canada, therefore the Apache and Navajo are really two lost tribes of Canadian Indians who wandered really far south. As Canadian Indians, their reserves really belong to Canada and should be administered by Indian Affairs.

It won't fly but if it did it would cut off U.S. access to uranium in both Arizona and New Mexico.

On a more serious note, the Navajo will probably face worse working conditions in the mines than they did in real life.

Alaska is still a territory prior to 1959. Lying smack between the Soviet Union and Canada, the U.S. sees it as a liability that attracts covetous attention from both powers. The U.S. sells it to Canada for $10 million dollars, figuring it has done well out of the deal, having gotten all the significant gold out during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 and made an $8,000,000 profit over what Seward originally paid for it.

During the war, the St. Lawrence River was closed to U.S. shipping and foreign shipping aimed at the U.S (game event only). Initially, this didn't have much effect since shipping could only travel upriver as far as Montreal. During the war, Canada built an extensive canal and locks system along the St. Lawrence which deepened the river and built the New Welland Canal to replace the old, the new again being significantly wider and deeper. Canada's stated attention with the new system was "to allow ships the size of the Queen Mary to sail directly as far as Lake of the Woods while leaving room for expansion when newer, larger ships are available."

The U.S. insisted that Canada abide by the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1818 throughout WWII (essentially what happened IRL until the US entered the war), so Canadian warships built on the Great Lakes sailed with their firing pins removed until they reached the St. Laurence. The U.S. regards the Canadian expansion as provocative and worries that Canada means to arm the Great Lakes after the war ends. Given current Canadian military shipbuilding in the area, the U.S. finds itself in a quandary. If it were to pre-emptively start building military ships in the Great Lakes area, Canada might see that as a provocation, especially given U.S. insistence that Canada abide by Rush-Bagot. Canada is certainly in a position to arm its ships and destroy any American shipbuilding facility with relative impunity. OTOH, not doing military shipbuilding at this time leaves Canada with a free hand to rearm the Great Lakes.

In a North Korea moment, Dear Leader has Yousuf Karsh kidnapped from his home in Ottawa on 3 Dec, 1959 to take Dear Leader's portrait. A tense week follows with the Royal Canadian Navy advancing towards Washington, D.C. to retrieve Karsh against Dear Leader's 'ring of steel' thrown up by the U.S. Navy. Karsh is returned by the State Department but no official apology is ever made. (Yes, Karsh did take the portrait. He considered the picture among his very best for revealing 'the inner man.' Dear Leader tore it up sand had the negative destroyed.)
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