The events of Chapter 7 were short enough that the chapter combines two datelines, but they bring up a host of topics for further exploration.
If you missed prior chapters, here’s the Fixing history series index link.
1. If you work for a corporation, are you its slave? That’s what Nik asserts – and so do some professors in real life. First of all, comparing the two does an injustice to the horrific conditions experienced by slaves down through the ages. Second, willingly trading work for a paycheck is a modern equivalent of working all day in the fields to grow enough food to survive. In fact, the free market is so much more efficient that most of the poorest in today’s America still have TVs and cell phones – considered luxuries in other parts of the world. Here are two points of view on the subject. This first one discusses several points of view. The second one is a more specific rebuttal to the 1619 project.
2. 2. This is often glossed-over in American history class with a single phrase of paragraph, but it’s worth another look: Britain viewed its colonies as a way to rid itself of petty criminals. But criminality then looked nothing like the modern view. You could get the death penalty for stealing as much as 12 pence worth of bread. The American Revolution deprived Britain of that outlet for its prisoners, leading directly to the development of Australia. In our story line, since the American Revolution was not successful, Britain would have had no financial reason to develop Australia for that purpose.
3. Mackenzie employed a brief self-defense tactic in this chapter. It was narrated to me by a real person who has a black belt in TaeKwonDo. More experienced practitioners could probably find fault with the technique, but it seemed believable to me. As for the cowardice displayed by Sean and Nik – my apologies to my dear male readers. It probably is a stereotype of urban collegiates. If I were in such a situation with a confident martial artist, however, I would probably hide behind her, too.
4. The Peter and Paul Fortress is amazing, and the cathedral is beautiful. (These links lead to pictures.) They were built by Peter the Great, and both still stand in St. Petersburg, Russia. Church services stopped after the Bolshevik Revolution, and only restarted in the 21st century. In our story’s timeline, they would have continued throughout.
5. St. Petersburg underwent several name changes in the 20th century. In 1914, the Tsar changed its name to Petrograd, only a couple years before the revolution. When Lenin (the linchpin of the Russian Revolution) died in 1924, it was renamed Leningrad in his honor. In 1991, after the fall of the USSR, the residents voted to restore its original name. In our alternate storyline, history diverges in 1917, after the first name change to Petrograd.
6. The Russian Revolution happened in stages. There was unrest against Tsar Nicholas II for some time before WWI broke out, but food rationing and the war brought together hungry women, disillusioned soldiers, and unhappy industrial workers. The Tsar abdicated in March of 1917 for both himself and his son, and a provisional government was set up. It wasn’t until the fall of that year that the Bolshevik party staged its socialist takeover.
If the freedom espoused by the American victory never spread to Europe, a long cascade of events would not have led to Karl Marx espousing “scientific socialism.” Because that was the foundation of Lenin’s Bolshevik movement, it’s reasonable to assume that the second half of the Russian Revolution would not have happened and that the Tsar’s family would not have been executed by the Bolsheviks.
Since the Tsar and his son had abdicated, we figure the Provisional Government may have chosen the Tsar’s oldest daughter, the Grand Duchess Olga, as a figurehead Tsarina. After that, anything could have happened, so we project that her little sister Anastasia might have become Tsarina next. (Because who doesn’t like an animated flick, right?)
Recent Comments