Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: crow
Chapter 198
Chapter Title: Goldwater (2)
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As the era of an ultra-hardline U.S. president approached, tensions between the communist bloc and the free world intensified beyond previous levels.
“We need to tidy up the board in our favor before Goldwater takes office if we want to negotiate with those American imperialists.”
“Who says we get to decide how the board gets tidied?”
Not only in Italy, where a ceasefire had been reached, but also in Vietnam, where the war was raging, the intensity of combat on both sides doubled.
This pushed anxiety in Europe—the forefront of the Cold War—to its peak.
“If war breaks out like this, we’re all dead!”
Faced with the full might of the Warsaw Pact forces, West Germany felt a powerful temptation toward nuclear armament.
“If we just had one nuke of our own, those commies wouldn’t dare mess with us.”
“France is staggering under the cost of developing nukes—why not poke Paris and see?”
“Will de Gaulle even listen to us?”
The Adenauer government swiftly approached de Gaulle with a proposal for joint nuclear development.
“What? Have those Nazi bastards lost their minds? Ex-enemy nation my ass—what nukes?”
De Gaulle was furious at Germany’s audacity in proposing shared nukes, but he fell into deep thought upon hitting a practical wall.
“Your Excellency, the Germans say they’ll throw in the technology on top of 2 billion marks if we just share the nukes.”
“2... 2 billion?”
It was too massive a sum to reject as a filthy offer from the former Axis scum.
“Let’s at least hear them out.”
France already had mountains to climb just to acquire hydrogen bombs and missiles.
The two sides quietly advanced discussions on nuclear cooperation under the table.
Of course, not all these movements stayed secret.
Schrödinger’s commies—who were everywhere and nowhere—learned of it first.
“The Nazis want nukes?”
The Soviet Union jumped up in outrage at the news.
The Soviets declared that if this was allowed, they would invoke the enemy state clause guaranteed by the UN Charter (note: the clause allowing war without declaration of war if former Axis powers act as enemy states) and crush West Germany immediately.
“If Germany so much as tries anything like nuclear armament, we’ll smash them with 5 million troops. Tell them to try it if they want to be half-killed by the Red Army.”
“You think we’ll just stand by and watch you smash Germany?”
The West pointed fingers back at the Soviets.
But the West shared the same goal as the Soviets.
“What the hell kind of nukes do those German bastards think they deserve?”
Washington and London didn’t forget to pressure West Germany to abandon nukes.
“Who gave war criminals permission to touch nukes?”
“W-We’re sorry.”
Unable to withstand Western pressure, the West German government had to give up on nuclear armament.
The problem was that the entire process had been exposed publicly.
German citizens watched West Germany abandon nukes and felt extreme rage and self-loathing.
“A nation without nukes is no longer sovereign. Today proved this country is just a puppet of the great powers.”
The German Restoration Society quickly grasped the Germans’ disappointment.
“How can guys who hand over even nukes under pressure from the great powers protect the nation? The CDU, who only know how to kowtow swiftly, must take responsibility for this incident and resign!”
This caused the CDU’s approval ratings to start plummeting.
Conversely, the Restoration Society’s approval ratings soared as their hardline stance scratched the itch of the German public’s unease.
The Restoration Society’s surge was so dramatic that they could form a government alone without a coalition.
“Is the German Empire really about to revive?”
The world trembled in fear at these ominous signs.
But all this was mere ripples compared to what Goldwater’s rise brought.
By fall 1956, the final act of the U.S. presidential election arrived.
The Republicans nominated Goldwater, who had shaken the world.
Facing him, the Democrats put forward Senator Estes Kefauver instead of incumbent President Stevenson.
“Kefauver can do it.”
Estes Kefauver was a high-profile senator with a track record of crushing numerous Mafia criminals as head of the Kefauver Committee on organized crime.
Fortunately for the Democrats, Kefauver knew how to win elections.
He even had the feat of beating incumbent President Truman in the primaries.
Considering all these factors, Senator Kefauver was the Democrats’ last card in their corner.
But the racial issue Stevenson had ignited was too fatal.
Despite Kefauver’s own stellar abilities and campaign leadership, polls showed him trailing Goldwater throughout.
“The gap still hasn’t narrowed?”
“Unfortunately, that’s correct, Senator.”
Not only blacks but progressive whites had all turned away in this election.
Even if the election wizard Franklin Roosevelt returned, it was questionable if he could turn it around.
On November 6, 1956, the U.S. presidential election ended in Goldwater’s victory.
In his acceptance speech, Goldwater clearly outlined the policy his America would pursue.
“The free world cannot retreat one inch. Because for every step we give, freedom shrinks. Some say we must retreat out of fear of war. But if that concession mortgages someone’s freedom, it is not right. Why must we close our eyes to sacrificing freedom?”
No retreat.
No compromise.
No fear of fighting.
“We will answer those false whispers with a firm No.”
Even the Soviet military, who prided themselves on being hardliners, grew fearful at Goldwater’s speech, thick with the smell of gunpowder.
“That guy’s a total madman, isn’t he?”
The Soviet military felt the need to rush mutual assured destruction after hearing Goldwater’s speech.
With such an uncompromising dangerous man as U.S. president, they had to show they had the power for mutual destruction too.
Of course, the Soviets hadn’t been idle since the Italian War.
They had their own asymmetric weapons prepared to counter America’s strategic bomber forces.
Missiles were it.
The military pinned hopes on them too.
But the Soviet missile forces under preparation couldn’t threaten America across the Atlantic, even if they could hit Europe.
Even their new ICBMs were iffy for reaching the U.S. mainland.
You couldn’t scare Washington with something that couldn’t reach the mainland.
Threatening Bonn, Paris, and London wouldn’t drag Goldwater to the negotiating table.
To force talks, they needed to make America feel the threat of mutual destruction if war came.
Why would Goldwater negotiate from an unequal position?
To do that, they needed bases near America, or missiles on submarines approaching, to demonstrate mutual assured destruction.
Even if not, they needed to show the possibility of Soviet retaliation against American attack.
Otherwise, there was no guarantee that madman wouldn’t drop nukes on Moscow tomorrow.
Preparations weren’t limited to missiles.
“We need to expand underground bunkers and facilities in case the American imperialists launch nuclear war.”
Command posts, missile bases, communication facilities, and more began moving underground.
This cost astronomical sums.
As always, the Soviet military begged the Politburo.
“So we need more budget, comrades.”
“Think about the budget the Red Army already takes. Isn’t it 30% of the national budget already?”
Khrushchev saw such excessive military spending as the main reason eating away at the federation’s economic growth.
Competing like this, they’d be crushed by the cost of their own weapons before American nukes hit.
But the military thought differently.
“First Secretary, comrade—how did we win the Great Patriotic War?”
The military’s logic on budgets was always the Great Patriotic War.
Without the massive wartime spending back then, would the federation have survived Germany?
The Soviet military justified their huge expenditures with this security argument.
Even Khrushchev couldn’t counter this invincible security logic.
“But there’s a limit to military spending. If we keep spending like this, we won’t be able to hold our seats.”
Khrushchev wasn’t exaggerating.
While the Soviet Union’s growth slowed under massive military outlays, rival Korea was surging ahead frighteningly.
Korea’s economy was already nearing 80% of the Soviet size.
Projections said Korea would overtake the Soviets in about five years.
“Don’t we have more urgent problems than worrying about years from now?”
Korea’s rise was still distant future, but Goldwater’s presidency was happening now.
Without preparing for Goldwater, the federation could collapse.
The military’s logic was airtight.
Khrushchev didn’t underestimate Goldwater’s danger either.
“I’ll give you half the budget you requested this year—make do with that.”
“Secretary comrade!”
“We’ll watch how Goldwater acts and decide step by step. You don’t think he’ll just randomly launch nukes, do you?”
Khrushchev barely soothed the military and succeeded in capping military spending.
But Soviet military expenditures were already murderous.
If issues arose next year, the amount would rise again.
Khrushchev felt bleak about surviving the era of his radical foe, Goldwater.