It's 1937. In the world of Crimson Skies®: High Road to Revenge™, pirates rule the skies. The stock market crash of a decade earlier destroyed the economic infrastructure and initiated a downward cycle of lawlessness that resulted in the crumbling of the United States. America broke apart into territories, each with its own laws or lack thereof. Criminal activity became more than profitable; it became necessary for survival. In this alternate universe, nice guys really do finish last.
In the real world—our world—things weren't necessarily better back in 1937. Hitler was planning invasions. The Nazi Gestapo was already above the law in Germany. Mussolini crushed Ethiopia. Spain was caught in a civil war, and Stalin had undertaken the systematic execution of thousands of Red Army "traitors." Hitler revealed his plan to acquire more Lebensraum ("living area") for the German people.
Every day, the world seemed less stable. Chaos spread as the world gradually fell into World War II. While Americans cheered through the first NFL game in Washington, D.C. (Redskins versus Giants) and listened to the debut of the soap opera "Guiding Light" on the radio, other areas of the world were succumbing to war and oppression.
Warmongering The year 1937 was a year of dictators and warmongers. Even as the fascist government officials in Italy were attempting to rule Ethiopia—which they had invaded in 1936—and were withdrawing from the League of Nations, their allies in Germany were advancing their policy of genocide by opening the Buchenwald Concentration Camp near Weimar, a city in central Germany. Fascists in Spain, led by General Franco, began an active campaign to overthrow the Spanish government with the support of the German Luftwaffe. Meanwhile, in the East, the Soviet Politburo ordered the execution of 193,000 Russians, while Japan was enveloping China in a war; Beijing fell to Japanese forces, and terrible atrocities—among them the "Rape of Nanjing"—were inflicted on the Chinese people. In Brazil, Getulio Vargas declared himself dictator.
America Over in the United States, however, things seemed rather idyllic … at least on the surface. NYC college students held their fourth-annual peace strike, and in that spirit, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act of 1937, proclaiming that the U.S. would aid no country engaged in an act of war. Even when Japanese forces sank an American gunboat on the Yangtze River, the American government accepted an apology and $2.2 million in reparations. For those Americans who needed to be distracted from their fears, Walt Disney created Daffy Duck, while politicians feeling hot under the collar enjoyed the first U.S. congressional session held in air-conditioned chambers.
Taking to the Skies But, what about the fly-boys? In aeronautic news that year, the first commercial flight crossed the Pacific, and the first airmail letter to go around the entire globe was delivered in New York. Howard Hughes set the transcontinental air record (7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds), while the Tupelov ANT-25 set long-distance records, flying non-stop from Moscow, Russia to San Jacinto, California (11,500 km) in 62 hours and 17 minutes. And, planes weren't just flying farther, they were also going faster. The Messerschmidt ME-109V13 set a new world speed record of 610.4 kph. Meanwhile, Waldo Dean Waterman had more mundane ambitions for air travel: he invented the Arrowbile, the first automobile-airplane combination. He drove it to the airport, put on the wings, and flew from San Diego, California to Cleveland, Ohio.
With triumph came tragedy, however. The German Zeppelin "Hindenburg"—proud symbol of Nazi engineering efficiency—blew up in Lakehurst, N.J. That same year, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.
Births and Deaths Many interesting people came into our world that year as well. Among those born in America were Billy Carter (creator of Billy Beer and brother of President Jimmy Carter), General Colin Powell (Secretary of State to President George W. Bush—Junior and Senior), and Billy Dee Williams (who starred as the pirate Lando in "The Empire Strikes Back"). Elsewhere in the world, Mrs. Hussein was giving birth to little Saddam (the former President of Iraq).
At least 16 composers died in 1937, including George Gershwin. Also in the obituaries were Clem Sohn, an air show performer who died when his parachute failed; Walter Mittelholzer, the Swiss aviation pioneer who went out with his boots on—in a plane crash; Jean Harlow, a famous actress and pin-up girl who most unglamorously died of a gallbladder infection at age 26; and Sir James M. Barrie, the Scottish author of Peter Pan, who failed to remain forever young and died at age 77.
All in all, the real world doesn't seem far removed from the alternate reality of Crimson Skies. Plenty of pirates and criminals abounded in our world as well. If we managed to hold it all together a little better, it was only by the tips of our wings.
