Insane_Panda
Deity
Azale, you should do your NES on this timeline. I can make the stats, das can make the map 
.
Don't you like how I just assigned work for you das?
.Don't you like how I just assigned work for you das?
Alternate History Thread II...
- Thread starter Xen
- Start date
- Status
das
Regeneration In Process
Actually, that was the one I asked YOU to make the map for, a while ago. 
Insane_Panda
Deity
Psh, oh fine. I will.
Insane_Panda
Deity
Does America become facist? I so want to play a facist america.
das
Regeneration In Process
Probably not, although in the long-term, who can tell?
das
Regeneration In Process
OOC: Rushed abit at the end... now do the bloody map, Panda!
IC:
1927-1936.
Since the end of World War One, two initially separate, and considered to be uncombineable, trends were on the rise in Europe. One was the rise of socialism - though their triumph was never complete, the socialists forced through radical social reform and weakened the big capital. Another, somewhat damaged by WWI but in the long-term only strenghthened, in Central Europe anyway, was nationalism, in many countries combined with revanchism. It was considered impossible by many on both the Left and the Right that these would ever be united, but in the early 1920s, the ideas begun spreading and gradually, the National-Socialist (back then not yet called so) ideology emerged, taking from the Left their domestic policies (radical egalitarian social reforms, an economy that is either planned, either close to planned), and from the Right - their agressive foreign policies, fusing them, making the required adjustments. Slowly, but surely, these ideas spread among the masses that disliked the rich at home and the enemy abroad almost as much in these days.
What helped these ideas, ofcourse, was the crash of the US Stock Market in August 1927. After a period of rapid expansion, stock market begun to stagnate and decline, but wild speculation continued. Prices soon begun falling, and with it, the stock market itself fell as well, amidst panicked sales of stocks. The American economy was dealt a harsh blow; soon enough, damage spread elsewhere. The worst-hurt countries were those in the Americas, as their economy was increasingly tied together with that of USA; this crisis particularil weakened the existing South American governments, causing eventual chaos there. China was hurt badly too; as this came in the same year as the death of Sun Yat-sen, the Middle Kingdom has suffered a double blow. Russia suffered as well, as did the UK and France. The rest of Europe was not quite as bad, though Germany was noticeably hurt.
Anyway, the world economy was shaken, and amongst the somewhat disillusioned masses National-Socialism begun gaining an ever bigger following, as were other radical movements that until now were merely marginal. To deal with the economic problems, many governments adopted some socialist policies out of sheer neccessity. Numerous political crises commenced as well.
The Republicans in the USA were finally overthrown in 1928, when Alfred Emanuel Smith won in a bitterly-contested (not the least because he was a Catholic) election. His program of moderately socialistic policies to fix the economy was widely criticized, but there did not seem to be much of an alternative as the American economy was in a bad state and the banks still were closing. He continued this during his second term. In foreign affairs, he was something of an isolationist, as were many American politicians at that time who believed in an "America First" policy. Nonetheless, some development took place. Though the grip on Mexican government was decreased, the USA retained close contact with all the Carribean countries, and countries with Carribean coast (plus Ecuador), as these were the countries that retained the customs union with America. American influence was badly weakened to the south from there, due to the breakdown of trade caused by the frantic efforts of local governments to isolate their economies from that of America, and to the political instability that ensued, and to the isolationist policies. As America begun to recover, American capitalists begun looking more at the Northern Hemisphere - trade with Western Europe and East Asia, particularily the UK, France, Russia, and China (as it, too, begun to stabilize in the end), increased. Thus as of 1936, America was at a crossroad not just because of the elections at home, where Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Al Smith's political successor, competed with the ever-more-popular Herbert Clark Hoover AND the rising-star National-Socialist Huey Pierce Long. It was also at diplomatic crossroads, with routes of strict neutrality, renewal of alliance with Russia and China or re-approachment with the Entente becoming ever-more appealing for one informal political faction or another.
The Great Depression, as it was called in the USA, was not much better in South America as I had already mentoned. However, the long-term effects could be claimed to be positive. After WWI, the French cultural influence in Latin America was broken. Now, so was American economical influence. As no power was in place to trully replace either, this resulted in the growth of South America's autonomy, both cultural and economic. Admittedly, it was accompanied by somewhat less pleasant events - numerous governments fell, others entered civil war, and the new governments begun propping up nationalism and, to improve their standding at home, also practiced "standing up" to whatever threatened or seemed to threaten their countries. And that, quite obviously, resulted in several wars.
In Peru, president-dictator Augusto Bernardino Leguia y Salcedo was overthrown in 1927, as his capitalist backers were crippled and his nationalist supporters were outraged by his appeasement of Peru's many neighbours that seeked territorial revision. Victor Rael Haya de la Torre, the founder of the pro-Amerind National-Socialist Aprista movement, immediately returned to the country from his Venezuelan exile (in OTL, it was a Mexican exile, but de la Torre hated gringos and their puppets...) and was elected president, having then foiled a military coup. Soon, he begun nationalizing industries, playing a succesful game of bluff with the American government, and in 1929, as the Tacna-Arica territorial dispute with Chile was blown out of proportion, de la Torre's first war begun. Simply put, it was a revanche for the Pacific War in the 19th century, as both Tacna and Arica were taken from Peru during that war with promises of a plebiscite that never came. However, at first anyway it was a Chilean-Peruvian affair - despite de la Torre's best efforts, Bolivia was too unstable for its government to take part in a risk military adventure. Anyway, although neither side was stronger militarily, Peru was more economically-independent to begin with and had more manpower. It also got lucky - the Peruvian troops quickly took hold of the Carretara Panamericana highway, breaking through Chilean resistance, and arrived at the city of Tacna to face half-prepared Chilean troops. In a heated battle there, the Peruvians came out victorious, but with heavy casualties, and the rest of 1929 was wasted on maintaining control over Tacna and bringing logistics back into shape. The Chileans, meanwhile, fell back and dug in. The war would probably have continued with a stalemate on the border of Tacna and Arica, if not for an ambitious Peruvian decision, in late 1930, to try and test out a certain new kind of troops. In 1931, Peruvian paratroopers were dropped off just beyond the Chilean positions. Surprised, the Chileans missed their chance to slaughter the Peruvian paratroopers; by the time they did, the Peruvians launched a new offensive, and broke through to besiege the city of Arica. Impressed, the Bolivians joined in as well, seeking to retake Tarapaca and Atacama, also gained by Chile from the Pacific War. The Bolivian army, well-trained and well-armed, forced the Chileans to call off their counter-offensive, and attempt a retreat to more defensible positions; but the advancing Peruvians and Bolivians caught up with the retreating Chileans, and turned this retreat into a rout. Meanwhile, Carlos Ibanez del Campo's military junta in Chile had collapsed into inter-fighting and a popular rebellion soon restored democracy in Chile. Naturally, that made things even worse as the remnants of the army fell apart. The Chilean government soon had to restore the borders of 1874 and promise reparations. Soon enough, ofcourse, it also collapsed and was replaced by the world's first lasting communist government.
Said government hardly could have lasted for long next to a nationalist, "fascist" Argentina, had the Argentineans not been otherwise preoccupied. Jose Felix Uriburu, the dictator of Argentina since 1928, has in 1932, having consolidated his regime and enacted vaguely National-Socialist (but NOT Aprista, and not as socialist as corporatist) reforms, decided to invade Uruguay. Uruguay was one of the worst-hurt by the collapse of the Stock Market, having a trade-driven economy, and this has intensified the political tensions between the Argentinophile Blancos and the Brazilophile Colorados. The Colorado president, Gabriel Terra, ruled as a de facto dictator since his election in 1930, having abolished the constitution and rooted out his political opponents. The remaining Blanco leaders approached the Argentineans for support, which they eagerly provided, soon besieging Montevideo. Naturally, this prompted Gabriel Terra's alliance with Brazil, and the Brazilian forces swiftly occupied the Argentinean province of Misiones.
Brazil itself was a reformist authoritarian state of National-Socialist leanings, but also more corporatist. It was led, since 1930, by Getulio Vargas, who, though more concerned with domestic reforms, was not about to tolerate a pro-Argentinean government in Uruguay. Still, perhaps it would have been better had he not acted, as his control over Brazil was not yet strong enough. Conservative revolts soon broke out in the north, distracting his attention and troops. Still, Brazil had superior manpower, and managed to occupy, in 1932-3, the eastern half of Corrientes and most of Uruguay. However, the Argentinean defenses grinded away at the Brazilians, as did the Blanco guerrila war in Uruguay. In mid-1933, Uriburu has decided to end the war with a decisive offensive; for that purpose, he had previously raised, with the help of German military advisors, special "choquetropas", also equipped with the latest German weaponry. These units were used to break the Brazilian lines in Corrientes and outflank the Brazilian-Colorado forces in Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay itself; then, the main Argentinean forces entered the faray as well, exploiting the victory and routing the Brazilians at Artigas and Plato Alto. Montevideo was also taken; Gabriel Terra was gunned down while trying to escape. Meanwhile, the powerful (on the Latin American scale, ofcourse...) Argentinean navy struck out, raiding the portal cities of south Brazil and destroying the Brazilian fleet; eventually, it even shelled Rio de Janeiro, though only briefly and with the only real goal being intimidation. It worked - combined with the military defeats and an economic crisis. Even more rebellions begun in Brazil, Vargas was assassinated by the wife of a dock worker who died from wounds suffered in the Argentinean bombardment, and the provisional military junta pledged for peace (only to be overthrown a year later by a weak coalition government that lasted until 1936). Argentineans were generous, only demanding the recognition of the new Uruguayan government, and war reparations to both Argentina and Uruguay, plus the demilitarization of the Rio Grande do Sul. Okay, maybe they weren't all that generous, especially if one considers the secret protocol that recognized Uruguay to be firmly and indisputably within Argentinean sphere of influence, which paved way for Uruguay's eventual annexation into Argentina after a probably-faked referendum, in 1935.
Meanwhile, the UK and France were in an increasingly desperate situation. Despite the general improvement at home after the economical near-collapse and the political crises of late 1920s, in both cases resulting in the adoptation of some socialist policies (OOC: on the level of the OTL New Deal, not beyond that, naturally), the foreign affairs were going badly. The last 1920s saw much political strife to the east of the Vosges and the south of the Pyrenees, and much of it has left the Entente increasingly isolated politically, with the only reliable allies being Spain (after the downfall of Primo de Rivera in 1928, and his replacement with a liberal parliamentary monarchy, if not a particularily stable one as of 1936) and Greece. The new rise of trans-Atlantic trade with the USA in the 30s has put the Entente at the crossroads as well - it had to choose between Japan and USA, aware that in the latter case it risked having to fight an alliance of convenience of both Russia and Japan at the same time.
In Iberia, as already mentioned, Spain was a parliamentary monarchy of liberal leanings, troubled by conservative patriotic (pro-German) dissent on one side, socialist - on the other and, on the third, the rising tide of separatism in Galicia, Basconia and Catalonia. As for Portugal, it was controlled by a vastly-unstable military junta which was running the country into hell as economy crumbled further.
Scandinavia saw a rise in strife between Denmark and Norway (over the Danish territories of Iceland and Greenland), and Russia and Sweden (more on the latter later).
As if the economical situation of Germany was not bad enough as it is, the Stock Market's fall in USA made things even worse, especially as Gustav Stresemann, who had dominated German politics after Erzberger, has died from bad health soon after (but not before getting the French to hold a plebiscite in the Saar, that resulted in the French evacuation of the region as it voted for Germany). The SPD kanzler of a 1928 moderate coalition government, Hermann Muller, has badly mismanaged the economy, trying to continue his expensive social programs, and the coalition soon fell apart; Germany underwent a period of political instability, coupled with riots and a NSDAP (National-Socialist German Worker's Party, although, as many historians had pointed out, it was not National-Socialist at all) coup attempt, and this as social programs had to be curtailed and the economy was as bad as ever. Finally, the army had had enough. Hans von Seeckt, the genius behind the small, yet very efficient Republican Wehrmacht, had launched a military coup d'etat in 1931, establishing a conservative, yet pragmatically-progressive military-based regime in Germany (although in recent years, there was talk of restoring monarchy - either under Wilhelm II, either under von Seeckt himself though the latter option seems unlikely; officially, von Seeckt is a president operating under martial law, but it cannot go on like this forever). Soon enough, he begun restoring Germany's status as a great power, if a weakened one - he had managed to force a reduction in war reparations, and established working relations with Sweden, Italy, Hungary and Poland, not to mention Argentina which he has greatly assisted against Brazil, while getting an opportunity to test out those weapons that have been forbidden for Germany in this South American "polygon".
The Great Depression has affected Italy, though not as much as Western Europe. Technically, the Italian economy was not hurt badly; what WAS hurt was the political stability. By then Vittorio Orlando has already retired from politics, followed up by nonentities under whom social strife accumulated. Thus, dissent rose. The events of 1927 only added to this. Strikes became more and more widespread. At some point it seemed as if a civil war between the Italian socialists, led by Giacomo Matteotti, and everybody else, was unavoidable. Or maybe there would not even be a civil war - just a revolution. In the end, what has happened was a revolution of a different kind - a National-Socialist democratic revolution, as Benito Mussolini, the leader of the National Italian Party since 1925, won the 1929 elections and in due time, with quiet royal sanction, took much of the power from the Italian parliament. His reforms were definitely of a mildly National-Socialist nature - all the heavy industries were nationalized, and social reforms were carried out. And, ofcourse, as a nationalistic foreign agenda required, there was some territorial self-aggrandizement. In 1931, when the female regent of Ethiopia, Zauditu, died and Ras Tafari took power as Haile Selassie I, the Italian government did not recognize Haile's ascension and instead begun courting the Ethiopian Muslims whose patron Iyasu was overthrown by Zauditu and the Christian nobility back in 1916. After some border incidents and Mussolini securing a grudging British consent, the Italians have invaded Ethiopia. It has proven a tougher nut to crush than was thought, but in the end, the Italian army, strenghthened during Orlando's and Mussolini's respective tenures as prime ministers, came out victorious, and in 1933 Ethiopia was united with Italian Eritrea and Somaliland into the united colony of Italian East Africa. Back in Europe, Italy was diplomatically-undetermined, having to choose between the Entente, the re-emerging German power and the new Russian alliance system (see below).
In Central/Eastern Europe, there were three small (though not at all tiny or impoverished, for that matter) states that, much like the USA and the Entente, were at the crossroads. Poland, since the political downfall of Dmowski and the death of Pilsudski, was a weak parliamentary democracy, with general Wladyslaw Sikorski a possible military dictator. Poland was, on one hand, bound by the Treaty of Minsk which made it a Russian ally; on the other hand, it was also an ally of the Entente, and had no grudges with it, exactly because France and the UK were far away. And finally, Hans von Seeckt's reconciliation with Poland created a real opportunity for a German-Polish alliance versus Russia, Czechoslovakia and the Entente alike. As for Czechoslovakia, it was, until the 1930s, a stable, prospering democratic state, but ethnic strife was clearly undermining it now that Tomas Masaryk was dead. Greedy eyes were being cast at it by both Hungary and Germany, but whom to turn to for protection: Russia or the Entente? Likewise to the south of Czechoslovakia, Austria was in trouble. Though it evolved into a moderate-conservative democracy with strict neutrality and comparative stability, as of 1936 it too was threatened from within (where the Anschlussists, the Viennese socialists and Slovenian separatists threatened) and from without, as Germany seeked anschluss, Italy intended to grab Slovenia for more tenable borders and the Hungarian Habsburgs seeked to revive their old empire in its full glory, although that would be risking the hostility of Germany and Italy alike. Austria needs to maneuver between these threats, but it too will need other allies. In recent times there were also some voices for a "Central Entente" of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria, possibly sponsored by the Western Entente as well...
In the Balkans, grudges were simmering and everyone was preparing for a new war. In Serbia, a hardline nationalist royal-backed dictatorship arose under Punisa Racic; though its ruthless ethnic cleansing policies in Muslim parts of Bosnia alienated the Entente somewhat, still, an alliance of convenience remained. Romania still was under its puppet government, and only Russian intervention kept it under control. The people are angry, very angry with the puppet government. Bulgaria had continued its Agrarian policies as the aging Stamboliyski became more and more authoritarian, crushing all resistance; by the end of his life, he was also increasingly insane, and according to some he even intended to destroy all cities and make everybody go to villages. In foreign politics, his Bulgaria was pretty much isolated but for its alliance in Russia. Finally, Aleksandur Stamboliyski was poisoned and died in 1930, some say as per the orders of Boris Savinkov, the new Russian leader. Hristo Bontchev, an apparent nonentity, took over, formally abolished democracy in the country and started National-Socialist reforms miming those in Russia. He also begun building up a new, modern Bulgarian army to augment the militias, to the concern of the new Greek fascist government, as well as the Serbian one. Indeed, Greece saw some tumultous times, with political intrigue, bitter elections and arguments between the king and the parliament. Finally, prime minister since 1928 and war hero since 1918, Nikolaos Plastiras, "O Mavros Kavalaris", has had enough of it, and abolished monarchy. The new Greek republic was not much more stable, especially with a failed monarchist coup coming in 1930, and soon, Plastiras had to forget about his republican views for a while and rule as a dictator to get something done at least. And that he has done, establishing a firm corporativist dictatorship, launching radical reforms, modernizing the Greek army and, finally, in a bid to increase domestic support, forced, with the Anglo-French support (the Entente wanted Greece to be a strong buffer against Russia and its allies, including Turkey if the worst comes to be), a plebiscite in the Zone of the Straits that culminated in the Greek annexation of the said Zone amidst Russian and Italian outrage, although he has refused to move the Greek capital to Constantinople as some had proposed, citing it to be too close to a potential war zone.
In 1929, Aleksandr Kerensky was suddenly gunned down by one of the surviving left-wing eSeRs. In the elections that were held soon after, a left-wing coalition united by Lev Trotsky rose to power, but it almost immediately fell apart after Trotsky proposed even more and even more radical social and economical reforms that would have made Russia a socialist state. Two separate coups were launched, one in the Duma itself where Boris Viktorovich Savinkov and his National-Socialist Revolutionaries (NeSeRs) picked up the pieces from Trotsky's coalition and took over the city, and another was just outside of it, as the recently-returned Admiral Kolchak led a monarchist rebellion in Kronstadt, which was soon supported by some other generals. Trotsky himself fled for Moscow where he had some support and started a rebellion there. The NeSeRs defeated Kolchak himself, having destroyed a large portion of Russia's Baltic fleet in the process with a bombardment of Kronstadt after attempts to break out from there had failed, but other monarchist rebellions continued. Trotsky's Social-Democrats (re-united after the collapse of the Bolsheviks for the lack of strong leadership) were rebelling in central Russia and the Far East. Meanwhile, the autonomous republic of Finland declared independence, wishing to separate itself from Russia's troubles. The Russian Civil War was on.
The result was, for once, always in doubt. At one point it seemed as if Grand Prince Kirill, who set up a government in monarchist-held Kiev, would win this time; but then, the charging monarchist soldiers were turned into a bloody mess by the revolutionary artillery under Moscow. Slightly later, the insane prospect of an anarchist victory appeared after bat'ka Nestor Makhno had ambushed and annihilated a NeSeR army in the Pripet Marshes - yet, ofcourse, Makhno remained a nuisance apart from this, although a very persistant one, being only betrayed and turned in by his followers in 1933, already after the civil war's end. Then the monarchists again seemed likely to win - they took over southern Russia, and were moving to surround Moscow... but wait, Trotsky signed a local truce with the NeSeRs, and routed them at Vladimir. And then Antonov was flown back from Bulgaria and took command over the Russian forces in Bessarabia and West Ukraine, moving to take Kiev and to force Kirill to flee for Crimea. By 1932's beginning, though, it was increasingly obvious that despite Trotsky's victories, he was doomed, having antagonized the people in the territories he had held and not having enough troops to prevent the peasant rebellions incited by the NeSeRs. Meanwhile, Savinkov had negotiated the capitulation and reintegration of the short-lived Trotskyte Far Eastern Soviet Republic, in exchange for amnesty and assistance against the Japanese who already occupied North Sakhalin and were only forced to give it up in 1934, under American pressure.
Finally, one of Trotsky's associates had killed the Lion of the Revolution with an ice-picker during the Second Siege of Moscow (the second having taken place during the Rising of the Generals), and Kirill's escape plane fell into the Black Sea. Finland was re-invaded and forced back into the fold brutally, before it could organize any defenses, although the fighting around Turku was quite nasty, as Swedish volunteers and weapons were sent to help the Finns; naturally, this didn't contribute to good relations between Russia and Sweden. The NeSeR regime had prevailed, and begun putting the classical National-Socialist policies into place. The Duma was dismissed and replaced with the Central Committee of the NeSeR party, as dominated by Boris Savinkov, the "vozhd" ("chief", "fuhrer", "duce") of the Russian National-Socialist Republic (RNSR). The heavy industries were largely nationalized, though some private industrialists were allowed to run them for Russia, and the American assets were untouched. A strong secret police, based on the old "battle organization" of the right-wing eSeRs from whom the National-Socialist Revolutionary Party descended, was created, to ensure that no such rebellions would happen ever again. Industrialization was sped up, as were the education programmes and the creation of a new, "revolutionary" army. Alliances with Bulgaria were strenghthened, and the hand of friendship was extended towards Mussolini's Italy as well.
Turkey was slowly rebuilding, and ties with Russia increased as the new Sultan, Abdul Mejid II, was perfectly prepared to ally with the Shaitan if he allowed him to regain at least some of the lost lands, especially those lost to the hated Hellenes.
Arab revolts started and ended in the Middle East, eventually culminating in the increase of local autonomy for the new British and French colonies there; also, separately, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased, especially as anti-semitism rose back in Europe.
In Persia, British puppets reigned supreme, after the defeat of a nationalist coup led by Reza Khan.
In India, disappointed with Gandhi's methods, the local nationalists rallied around Subhash Chandra Bose, who begun organizing an armed revolt to take palce in the late 30s, as the world situation detiriorated...
After the death of Sun Yat-sen, all hell broke loose in China, especially as the economy plummeted once more and as Russia soon was distracted back at home. Warlords emerged just as soon as opportunity for them had, Uighurs and Mongols claimed independence, and Qing loyalists, with clandestine Japanese backing, took over Manchuria despite the initial Russian efforts to crush them (that only succeeded in 1934). For a while, it seemed as if the Japanese were going to attack as well, and clearly as the Japanese established ties with the Qing government they were up to no good. Only a stern Russo-American warning prevented their intervention, it seems.
The most heated struggle took place within China Proper and Sun Yat-sen's KMT itself, as Sun Yat-sen's most promising lieutenants, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei, tore the KMT apart and struggled over the remains. It was a bitter struggle that seemed never-ending, as Chiang Kai-shek dominatd the north and Wang Jingwei - the south. In the end, the more flexible and cunning Jingwei secured the backing of the American capitalists and the Russian government, and with their help defeated Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to India. Yet Wang Jingwei's position was still insecure; Yunnan and Sinkiang were still outside of government control, although Mongolia has settled down as an autonomous republic again. If China were to be attacked now, it, much like Russia in 1917, would have simply fallen apart again...
And Japan, frustrated by the American opposition to its would-be intervention in the Russian Civil War, was now more determined that a war should take place soon than ever before. A powerful new fleet was being built up, and the economy was already being refitted towards the coming showdown with those who seek to deny to Japan its destiny.
Far from all was yet decided as year 1936 came to an end, but what was clear that, no matter in what configuration and with what results, war would be coming, a war that will be, if the lesser ones are any indication, even worse than that war that was meant to end them all...
IC:
1927-1936.
Since the end of World War One, two initially separate, and considered to be uncombineable, trends were on the rise in Europe. One was the rise of socialism - though their triumph was never complete, the socialists forced through radical social reform and weakened the big capital. Another, somewhat damaged by WWI but in the long-term only strenghthened, in Central Europe anyway, was nationalism, in many countries combined with revanchism. It was considered impossible by many on both the Left and the Right that these would ever be united, but in the early 1920s, the ideas begun spreading and gradually, the National-Socialist (back then not yet called so) ideology emerged, taking from the Left their domestic policies (radical egalitarian social reforms, an economy that is either planned, either close to planned), and from the Right - their agressive foreign policies, fusing them, making the required adjustments. Slowly, but surely, these ideas spread among the masses that disliked the rich at home and the enemy abroad almost as much in these days.
What helped these ideas, ofcourse, was the crash of the US Stock Market in August 1927. After a period of rapid expansion, stock market begun to stagnate and decline, but wild speculation continued. Prices soon begun falling, and with it, the stock market itself fell as well, amidst panicked sales of stocks. The American economy was dealt a harsh blow; soon enough, damage spread elsewhere. The worst-hurt countries were those in the Americas, as their economy was increasingly tied together with that of USA; this crisis particularil weakened the existing South American governments, causing eventual chaos there. China was hurt badly too; as this came in the same year as the death of Sun Yat-sen, the Middle Kingdom has suffered a double blow. Russia suffered as well, as did the UK and France. The rest of Europe was not quite as bad, though Germany was noticeably hurt.
Anyway, the world economy was shaken, and amongst the somewhat disillusioned masses National-Socialism begun gaining an ever bigger following, as were other radical movements that until now were merely marginal. To deal with the economic problems, many governments adopted some socialist policies out of sheer neccessity. Numerous political crises commenced as well.
The Republicans in the USA were finally overthrown in 1928, when Alfred Emanuel Smith won in a bitterly-contested (not the least because he was a Catholic) election. His program of moderately socialistic policies to fix the economy was widely criticized, but there did not seem to be much of an alternative as the American economy was in a bad state and the banks still were closing. He continued this during his second term. In foreign affairs, he was something of an isolationist, as were many American politicians at that time who believed in an "America First" policy. Nonetheless, some development took place. Though the grip on Mexican government was decreased, the USA retained close contact with all the Carribean countries, and countries with Carribean coast (plus Ecuador), as these were the countries that retained the customs union with America. American influence was badly weakened to the south from there, due to the breakdown of trade caused by the frantic efforts of local governments to isolate their economies from that of America, and to the political instability that ensued, and to the isolationist policies. As America begun to recover, American capitalists begun looking more at the Northern Hemisphere - trade with Western Europe and East Asia, particularily the UK, France, Russia, and China (as it, too, begun to stabilize in the end), increased. Thus as of 1936, America was at a crossroad not just because of the elections at home, where Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Al Smith's political successor, competed with the ever-more-popular Herbert Clark Hoover AND the rising-star National-Socialist Huey Pierce Long. It was also at diplomatic crossroads, with routes of strict neutrality, renewal of alliance with Russia and China or re-approachment with the Entente becoming ever-more appealing for one informal political faction or another.
The Great Depression, as it was called in the USA, was not much better in South America as I had already mentoned. However, the long-term effects could be claimed to be positive. After WWI, the French cultural influence in Latin America was broken. Now, so was American economical influence. As no power was in place to trully replace either, this resulted in the growth of South America's autonomy, both cultural and economic. Admittedly, it was accompanied by somewhat less pleasant events - numerous governments fell, others entered civil war, and the new governments begun propping up nationalism and, to improve their standding at home, also practiced "standing up" to whatever threatened or seemed to threaten their countries. And that, quite obviously, resulted in several wars.
In Peru, president-dictator Augusto Bernardino Leguia y Salcedo was overthrown in 1927, as his capitalist backers were crippled and his nationalist supporters were outraged by his appeasement of Peru's many neighbours that seeked territorial revision. Victor Rael Haya de la Torre, the founder of the pro-Amerind National-Socialist Aprista movement, immediately returned to the country from his Venezuelan exile (in OTL, it was a Mexican exile, but de la Torre hated gringos and their puppets...) and was elected president, having then foiled a military coup. Soon, he begun nationalizing industries, playing a succesful game of bluff with the American government, and in 1929, as the Tacna-Arica territorial dispute with Chile was blown out of proportion, de la Torre's first war begun. Simply put, it was a revanche for the Pacific War in the 19th century, as both Tacna and Arica were taken from Peru during that war with promises of a plebiscite that never came. However, at first anyway it was a Chilean-Peruvian affair - despite de la Torre's best efforts, Bolivia was too unstable for its government to take part in a risk military adventure. Anyway, although neither side was stronger militarily, Peru was more economically-independent to begin with and had more manpower. It also got lucky - the Peruvian troops quickly took hold of the Carretara Panamericana highway, breaking through Chilean resistance, and arrived at the city of Tacna to face half-prepared Chilean troops. In a heated battle there, the Peruvians came out victorious, but with heavy casualties, and the rest of 1929 was wasted on maintaining control over Tacna and bringing logistics back into shape. The Chileans, meanwhile, fell back and dug in. The war would probably have continued with a stalemate on the border of Tacna and Arica, if not for an ambitious Peruvian decision, in late 1930, to try and test out a certain new kind of troops. In 1931, Peruvian paratroopers were dropped off just beyond the Chilean positions. Surprised, the Chileans missed their chance to slaughter the Peruvian paratroopers; by the time they did, the Peruvians launched a new offensive, and broke through to besiege the city of Arica. Impressed, the Bolivians joined in as well, seeking to retake Tarapaca and Atacama, also gained by Chile from the Pacific War. The Bolivian army, well-trained and well-armed, forced the Chileans to call off their counter-offensive, and attempt a retreat to more defensible positions; but the advancing Peruvians and Bolivians caught up with the retreating Chileans, and turned this retreat into a rout. Meanwhile, Carlos Ibanez del Campo's military junta in Chile had collapsed into inter-fighting and a popular rebellion soon restored democracy in Chile. Naturally, that made things even worse as the remnants of the army fell apart. The Chilean government soon had to restore the borders of 1874 and promise reparations. Soon enough, ofcourse, it also collapsed and was replaced by the world's first lasting communist government.
Said government hardly could have lasted for long next to a nationalist, "fascist" Argentina, had the Argentineans not been otherwise preoccupied. Jose Felix Uriburu, the dictator of Argentina since 1928, has in 1932, having consolidated his regime and enacted vaguely National-Socialist (but NOT Aprista, and not as socialist as corporatist) reforms, decided to invade Uruguay. Uruguay was one of the worst-hurt by the collapse of the Stock Market, having a trade-driven economy, and this has intensified the political tensions between the Argentinophile Blancos and the Brazilophile Colorados. The Colorado president, Gabriel Terra, ruled as a de facto dictator since his election in 1930, having abolished the constitution and rooted out his political opponents. The remaining Blanco leaders approached the Argentineans for support, which they eagerly provided, soon besieging Montevideo. Naturally, this prompted Gabriel Terra's alliance with Brazil, and the Brazilian forces swiftly occupied the Argentinean province of Misiones.
Brazil itself was a reformist authoritarian state of National-Socialist leanings, but also more corporatist. It was led, since 1930, by Getulio Vargas, who, though more concerned with domestic reforms, was not about to tolerate a pro-Argentinean government in Uruguay. Still, perhaps it would have been better had he not acted, as his control over Brazil was not yet strong enough. Conservative revolts soon broke out in the north, distracting his attention and troops. Still, Brazil had superior manpower, and managed to occupy, in 1932-3, the eastern half of Corrientes and most of Uruguay. However, the Argentinean defenses grinded away at the Brazilians, as did the Blanco guerrila war in Uruguay. In mid-1933, Uriburu has decided to end the war with a decisive offensive; for that purpose, he had previously raised, with the help of German military advisors, special "choquetropas", also equipped with the latest German weaponry. These units were used to break the Brazilian lines in Corrientes and outflank the Brazilian-Colorado forces in Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay itself; then, the main Argentinean forces entered the faray as well, exploiting the victory and routing the Brazilians at Artigas and Plato Alto. Montevideo was also taken; Gabriel Terra was gunned down while trying to escape. Meanwhile, the powerful (on the Latin American scale, ofcourse...) Argentinean navy struck out, raiding the portal cities of south Brazil and destroying the Brazilian fleet; eventually, it even shelled Rio de Janeiro, though only briefly and with the only real goal being intimidation. It worked - combined with the military defeats and an economic crisis. Even more rebellions begun in Brazil, Vargas was assassinated by the wife of a dock worker who died from wounds suffered in the Argentinean bombardment, and the provisional military junta pledged for peace (only to be overthrown a year later by a weak coalition government that lasted until 1936). Argentineans were generous, only demanding the recognition of the new Uruguayan government, and war reparations to both Argentina and Uruguay, plus the demilitarization of the Rio Grande do Sul. Okay, maybe they weren't all that generous, especially if one considers the secret protocol that recognized Uruguay to be firmly and indisputably within Argentinean sphere of influence, which paved way for Uruguay's eventual annexation into Argentina after a probably-faked referendum, in 1935.
Meanwhile, the UK and France were in an increasingly desperate situation. Despite the general improvement at home after the economical near-collapse and the political crises of late 1920s, in both cases resulting in the adoptation of some socialist policies (OOC: on the level of the OTL New Deal, not beyond that, naturally), the foreign affairs were going badly. The last 1920s saw much political strife to the east of the Vosges and the south of the Pyrenees, and much of it has left the Entente increasingly isolated politically, with the only reliable allies being Spain (after the downfall of Primo de Rivera in 1928, and his replacement with a liberal parliamentary monarchy, if not a particularily stable one as of 1936) and Greece. The new rise of trans-Atlantic trade with the USA in the 30s has put the Entente at the crossroads as well - it had to choose between Japan and USA, aware that in the latter case it risked having to fight an alliance of convenience of both Russia and Japan at the same time.
In Iberia, as already mentioned, Spain was a parliamentary monarchy of liberal leanings, troubled by conservative patriotic (pro-German) dissent on one side, socialist - on the other and, on the third, the rising tide of separatism in Galicia, Basconia and Catalonia. As for Portugal, it was controlled by a vastly-unstable military junta which was running the country into hell as economy crumbled further.
Scandinavia saw a rise in strife between Denmark and Norway (over the Danish territories of Iceland and Greenland), and Russia and Sweden (more on the latter later).
As if the economical situation of Germany was not bad enough as it is, the Stock Market's fall in USA made things even worse, especially as Gustav Stresemann, who had dominated German politics after Erzberger, has died from bad health soon after (but not before getting the French to hold a plebiscite in the Saar, that resulted in the French evacuation of the region as it voted for Germany). The SPD kanzler of a 1928 moderate coalition government, Hermann Muller, has badly mismanaged the economy, trying to continue his expensive social programs, and the coalition soon fell apart; Germany underwent a period of political instability, coupled with riots and a NSDAP (National-Socialist German Worker's Party, although, as many historians had pointed out, it was not National-Socialist at all) coup attempt, and this as social programs had to be curtailed and the economy was as bad as ever. Finally, the army had had enough. Hans von Seeckt, the genius behind the small, yet very efficient Republican Wehrmacht, had launched a military coup d'etat in 1931, establishing a conservative, yet pragmatically-progressive military-based regime in Germany (although in recent years, there was talk of restoring monarchy - either under Wilhelm II, either under von Seeckt himself though the latter option seems unlikely; officially, von Seeckt is a president operating under martial law, but it cannot go on like this forever). Soon enough, he begun restoring Germany's status as a great power, if a weakened one - he had managed to force a reduction in war reparations, and established working relations with Sweden, Italy, Hungary and Poland, not to mention Argentina which he has greatly assisted against Brazil, while getting an opportunity to test out those weapons that have been forbidden for Germany in this South American "polygon".
The Great Depression has affected Italy, though not as much as Western Europe. Technically, the Italian economy was not hurt badly; what WAS hurt was the political stability. By then Vittorio Orlando has already retired from politics, followed up by nonentities under whom social strife accumulated. Thus, dissent rose. The events of 1927 only added to this. Strikes became more and more widespread. At some point it seemed as if a civil war between the Italian socialists, led by Giacomo Matteotti, and everybody else, was unavoidable. Or maybe there would not even be a civil war - just a revolution. In the end, what has happened was a revolution of a different kind - a National-Socialist democratic revolution, as Benito Mussolini, the leader of the National Italian Party since 1925, won the 1929 elections and in due time, with quiet royal sanction, took much of the power from the Italian parliament. His reforms were definitely of a mildly National-Socialist nature - all the heavy industries were nationalized, and social reforms were carried out. And, ofcourse, as a nationalistic foreign agenda required, there was some territorial self-aggrandizement. In 1931, when the female regent of Ethiopia, Zauditu, died and Ras Tafari took power as Haile Selassie I, the Italian government did not recognize Haile's ascension and instead begun courting the Ethiopian Muslims whose patron Iyasu was overthrown by Zauditu and the Christian nobility back in 1916. After some border incidents and Mussolini securing a grudging British consent, the Italians have invaded Ethiopia. It has proven a tougher nut to crush than was thought, but in the end, the Italian army, strenghthened during Orlando's and Mussolini's respective tenures as prime ministers, came out victorious, and in 1933 Ethiopia was united with Italian Eritrea and Somaliland into the united colony of Italian East Africa. Back in Europe, Italy was diplomatically-undetermined, having to choose between the Entente, the re-emerging German power and the new Russian alliance system (see below).
In Central/Eastern Europe, there were three small (though not at all tiny or impoverished, for that matter) states that, much like the USA and the Entente, were at the crossroads. Poland, since the political downfall of Dmowski and the death of Pilsudski, was a weak parliamentary democracy, with general Wladyslaw Sikorski a possible military dictator. Poland was, on one hand, bound by the Treaty of Minsk which made it a Russian ally; on the other hand, it was also an ally of the Entente, and had no grudges with it, exactly because France and the UK were far away. And finally, Hans von Seeckt's reconciliation with Poland created a real opportunity for a German-Polish alliance versus Russia, Czechoslovakia and the Entente alike. As for Czechoslovakia, it was, until the 1930s, a stable, prospering democratic state, but ethnic strife was clearly undermining it now that Tomas Masaryk was dead. Greedy eyes were being cast at it by both Hungary and Germany, but whom to turn to for protection: Russia or the Entente? Likewise to the south of Czechoslovakia, Austria was in trouble. Though it evolved into a moderate-conservative democracy with strict neutrality and comparative stability, as of 1936 it too was threatened from within (where the Anschlussists, the Viennese socialists and Slovenian separatists threatened) and from without, as Germany seeked anschluss, Italy intended to grab Slovenia for more tenable borders and the Hungarian Habsburgs seeked to revive their old empire in its full glory, although that would be risking the hostility of Germany and Italy alike. Austria needs to maneuver between these threats, but it too will need other allies. In recent times there were also some voices for a "Central Entente" of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Austria, possibly sponsored by the Western Entente as well...
In the Balkans, grudges were simmering and everyone was preparing for a new war. In Serbia, a hardline nationalist royal-backed dictatorship arose under Punisa Racic; though its ruthless ethnic cleansing policies in Muslim parts of Bosnia alienated the Entente somewhat, still, an alliance of convenience remained. Romania still was under its puppet government, and only Russian intervention kept it under control. The people are angry, very angry with the puppet government. Bulgaria had continued its Agrarian policies as the aging Stamboliyski became more and more authoritarian, crushing all resistance; by the end of his life, he was also increasingly insane, and according to some he even intended to destroy all cities and make everybody go to villages. In foreign politics, his Bulgaria was pretty much isolated but for its alliance in Russia. Finally, Aleksandur Stamboliyski was poisoned and died in 1930, some say as per the orders of Boris Savinkov, the new Russian leader. Hristo Bontchev, an apparent nonentity, took over, formally abolished democracy in the country and started National-Socialist reforms miming those in Russia. He also begun building up a new, modern Bulgarian army to augment the militias, to the concern of the new Greek fascist government, as well as the Serbian one. Indeed, Greece saw some tumultous times, with political intrigue, bitter elections and arguments between the king and the parliament. Finally, prime minister since 1928 and war hero since 1918, Nikolaos Plastiras, "O Mavros Kavalaris", has had enough of it, and abolished monarchy. The new Greek republic was not much more stable, especially with a failed monarchist coup coming in 1930, and soon, Plastiras had to forget about his republican views for a while and rule as a dictator to get something done at least. And that he has done, establishing a firm corporativist dictatorship, launching radical reforms, modernizing the Greek army and, finally, in a bid to increase domestic support, forced, with the Anglo-French support (the Entente wanted Greece to be a strong buffer against Russia and its allies, including Turkey if the worst comes to be), a plebiscite in the Zone of the Straits that culminated in the Greek annexation of the said Zone amidst Russian and Italian outrage, although he has refused to move the Greek capital to Constantinople as some had proposed, citing it to be too close to a potential war zone.
In 1929, Aleksandr Kerensky was suddenly gunned down by one of the surviving left-wing eSeRs. In the elections that were held soon after, a left-wing coalition united by Lev Trotsky rose to power, but it almost immediately fell apart after Trotsky proposed even more and even more radical social and economical reforms that would have made Russia a socialist state. Two separate coups were launched, one in the Duma itself where Boris Viktorovich Savinkov and his National-Socialist Revolutionaries (NeSeRs) picked up the pieces from Trotsky's coalition and took over the city, and another was just outside of it, as the recently-returned Admiral Kolchak led a monarchist rebellion in Kronstadt, which was soon supported by some other generals. Trotsky himself fled for Moscow where he had some support and started a rebellion there. The NeSeRs defeated Kolchak himself, having destroyed a large portion of Russia's Baltic fleet in the process with a bombardment of Kronstadt after attempts to break out from there had failed, but other monarchist rebellions continued. Trotsky's Social-Democrats (re-united after the collapse of the Bolsheviks for the lack of strong leadership) were rebelling in central Russia and the Far East. Meanwhile, the autonomous republic of Finland declared independence, wishing to separate itself from Russia's troubles. The Russian Civil War was on.
The result was, for once, always in doubt. At one point it seemed as if Grand Prince Kirill, who set up a government in monarchist-held Kiev, would win this time; but then, the charging monarchist soldiers were turned into a bloody mess by the revolutionary artillery under Moscow. Slightly later, the insane prospect of an anarchist victory appeared after bat'ka Nestor Makhno had ambushed and annihilated a NeSeR army in the Pripet Marshes - yet, ofcourse, Makhno remained a nuisance apart from this, although a very persistant one, being only betrayed and turned in by his followers in 1933, already after the civil war's end. Then the monarchists again seemed likely to win - they took over southern Russia, and were moving to surround Moscow... but wait, Trotsky signed a local truce with the NeSeRs, and routed them at Vladimir. And then Antonov was flown back from Bulgaria and took command over the Russian forces in Bessarabia and West Ukraine, moving to take Kiev and to force Kirill to flee for Crimea. By 1932's beginning, though, it was increasingly obvious that despite Trotsky's victories, he was doomed, having antagonized the people in the territories he had held and not having enough troops to prevent the peasant rebellions incited by the NeSeRs. Meanwhile, Savinkov had negotiated the capitulation and reintegration of the short-lived Trotskyte Far Eastern Soviet Republic, in exchange for amnesty and assistance against the Japanese who already occupied North Sakhalin and were only forced to give it up in 1934, under American pressure.
Finally, one of Trotsky's associates had killed the Lion of the Revolution with an ice-picker during the Second Siege of Moscow (the second having taken place during the Rising of the Generals), and Kirill's escape plane fell into the Black Sea. Finland was re-invaded and forced back into the fold brutally, before it could organize any defenses, although the fighting around Turku was quite nasty, as Swedish volunteers and weapons were sent to help the Finns; naturally, this didn't contribute to good relations between Russia and Sweden. The NeSeR regime had prevailed, and begun putting the classical National-Socialist policies into place. The Duma was dismissed and replaced with the Central Committee of the NeSeR party, as dominated by Boris Savinkov, the "vozhd" ("chief", "fuhrer", "duce") of the Russian National-Socialist Republic (RNSR). The heavy industries were largely nationalized, though some private industrialists were allowed to run them for Russia, and the American assets were untouched. A strong secret police, based on the old "battle organization" of the right-wing eSeRs from whom the National-Socialist Revolutionary Party descended, was created, to ensure that no such rebellions would happen ever again. Industrialization was sped up, as were the education programmes and the creation of a new, "revolutionary" army. Alliances with Bulgaria were strenghthened, and the hand of friendship was extended towards Mussolini's Italy as well.
Turkey was slowly rebuilding, and ties with Russia increased as the new Sultan, Abdul Mejid II, was perfectly prepared to ally with the Shaitan if he allowed him to regain at least some of the lost lands, especially those lost to the hated Hellenes.
Arab revolts started and ended in the Middle East, eventually culminating in the increase of local autonomy for the new British and French colonies there; also, separately, Jewish immigration to Palestine increased, especially as anti-semitism rose back in Europe.
In Persia, British puppets reigned supreme, after the defeat of a nationalist coup led by Reza Khan.
In India, disappointed with Gandhi's methods, the local nationalists rallied around Subhash Chandra Bose, who begun organizing an armed revolt to take palce in the late 30s, as the world situation detiriorated...
After the death of Sun Yat-sen, all hell broke loose in China, especially as the economy plummeted once more and as Russia soon was distracted back at home. Warlords emerged just as soon as opportunity for them had, Uighurs and Mongols claimed independence, and Qing loyalists, with clandestine Japanese backing, took over Manchuria despite the initial Russian efforts to crush them (that only succeeded in 1934). For a while, it seemed as if the Japanese were going to attack as well, and clearly as the Japanese established ties with the Qing government they were up to no good. Only a stern Russo-American warning prevented their intervention, it seems.
The most heated struggle took place within China Proper and Sun Yat-sen's KMT itself, as Sun Yat-sen's most promising lieutenants, Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei, tore the KMT apart and struggled over the remains. It was a bitter struggle that seemed never-ending, as Chiang Kai-shek dominatd the north and Wang Jingwei - the south. In the end, the more flexible and cunning Jingwei secured the backing of the American capitalists and the Russian government, and with their help defeated Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to India. Yet Wang Jingwei's position was still insecure; Yunnan and Sinkiang were still outside of government control, although Mongolia has settled down as an autonomous republic again. If China were to be attacked now, it, much like Russia in 1917, would have simply fallen apart again...
And Japan, frustrated by the American opposition to its would-be intervention in the Russian Civil War, was now more determined that a war should take place soon than ever before. A powerful new fleet was being built up, and the economy was already being refitted towards the coming showdown with those who seek to deny to Japan its destiny.
Far from all was yet decided as year 1936 came to an end, but what was clear that, no matter in what configuration and with what results, war would be coming, a war that will be, if the lesser ones are any indication, even worse than that war that was meant to end them all...
das
Regeneration In Process
I came up with that idea (eSeRs into NeSeRs) long ago, and just HAD to use it, especially as it actually fit in.
Swissempire
Poet Jester
Jolly Good old chap
Stormbringer
The Brick and The Rose
Well, if I chose to mod it I will start in 5 weeks, after the finals, so if you can start it earlier, then go for it.
Stormbringer
The Brick and The Rose
So, let's wait for stats and map and then decide.
das
Regeneration In Process
Thanks all! I like it too. At first it was supposed to be a little project of not much significance in between my Unenlightened althist and my very ambitious Age of Exploration althist on which I'll probably begin working after this NES2 VI update. But after some research and thinking, I got inspired and wrote this. Anyway, thanks!
Anyway, we're waiting for Panda now.
Anyway, we're waiting for Panda now.
das
Regeneration In Process
Thanks all! I like it too. At first it was supposed to be a little project of not much significance in between my Unenlightened althist and my very ambitious Age of Exploration althist on which I'll probably begin working after this NES2 VI update. But after some research and thinking, I got inspired and wrote this. Anyway, thanks!
Anyway, we're waiting for Panda now.
Anyway, we're waiting for Panda now.
Disenfrancised
Beep Beep
das said:Thanks all! I like it too. At first it was supposed to be a little project of not much significance in between my Unenlightened althist and my very ambitious Age of Exploration althist on which I'll probably begin working after this NES2 VI update. But after some research and thinking, I got inspired and wrote this. Anyway, thanks!
From all the foreshadowing going on in the thread I imagine the NES2VI update will take quite some time
. But whats ambitous about the this Age of exploration timeline, any hints on the PoD? 
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