Secrecy and Deception (Countryhumans Cold War)

Tensions

Czechoslovakia POV
Event: Communist Takeover of Czechoslovakia
Location: Prague, Czechoslovak Republic
Date: February 25, 1948

I should have seen this coming. I had been trying to stop it. But I guess...maybe I thought that I could avoid it, that now that things were healing, that the war had been over for three years, Soviet would leave the rest of us alone.

I was wrong.

My only bit of relief now was that the Red Army hadn't invaded. But that didn't mean that they couldn't. They might. I wouldn't put it past that power hungry child.

I sighed, head in hands. Hindsight allowed me to see all the warnings, the red flags I ignored. It made me feel like such an idiot. I survived the most devastating war in my history, and I couldn't even notice that my people were turning against me and planning on overthrowing my government.

All the demonstrations, all the anti-communist purges in the police, how didn't I notice?

Or maybe I just didn't want to. Maybe I just left myself be blind so I could have a delusion of peace.

I wasn't sure which idea I liked better. Which one made me feel less like a failure. I knew that government changes and political party changes were a part of life as a country, but I had seen what happened to Poland, what would happen to the others. Communist countries ended up under Soviet's influence.

I guess I was lucky at the end of the day, that President Beneš signed away his power. Without the Red Army overthrowing my government, hopefully that means I can stay out of his control, for the most part that is.

Hopefully.

I stared out my window, displaying a partial view of my capital city. It didn't look different, the same flag still flew, the same buildings still stood, and there was no foreign army occupying it.

Nothing about my city from a physical sense had changed. It didn't look different.

It just felt different.

That was more terrifying. Physical changes can be seen, can be fixed, their effects are known.

Political changes aren't like that.

Who knew what was about to change, aside from a brief idea of everything?

I stood up, and walked out of the room. I needed to walk off my stress.

Things were changing. For better or for worse, who knew.

Once again, I was just along for the ride.

Who knew when I would be in control again?

Belgium's POV
Event: Brussels Pact
Location: Brussels, Province of Brabant, Kingdom of Belgium
Date: March 17, 1948

Treaty signings. A symbol of unity, of peace, or strength, and in some ways, a psychological contest between names. And with the signing of this treaty, an expansion of Britain and France's Dunkirk Treaty, Western Europe would have a new organization to help protect and serve its nations. After one of the main goals of the Western Union being to help protect us from communism.

None of us wanted to end up like Czechoslovakia. It had been 21 days since she got her new communist government, and no one had seen or heard her since that day. There were some rumors that Russia had been seen in her nation, but nothing had been confirmed. All we've heard from her government is that she was safe, and Soviet had been backing those claims.

It made many people nervous. Why was Soviet apparently allowed to see Czechoslovakia, but no Western Nation was?

Soviet wasn't fooling anyone, and honestly, he was either an idiot, or not trying to hide it. But frankly, by noise attitude, I genuinely think he was subtle, even though his true subtlety was about as subtle as the French Revolution.