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Vann the Red - Never let it be said I don't listen to my readers, appropriate steps have been taken to accelerate the appearance of a tech update.

Sir Humphrey - I never said state firms couldn't be a success (though being backed by giant piles of petro-dollars probably helps. ;) ), just that state owned passenger railways in the developed world lose money. The only railways that don't make a loss are either private (like Japan) or state owned ones that use freight to subside passenger.

As to QR, I had a quick look at the accounts and it proves my point, it's mainly a freight railway (revenues for freight are several times that of passengers). Couldn't find a detailed breakdown but I'd wager if it was pure passenger it would lose money.

Duritz - Another fan for tech, a pattern is emerging. Not sure what it could be though....

Nathan Madien - Twas but a joke, attempting a Comet in 1936 would only lead to an utter disaster. Though I do have plans for armoured development, people have been paying attention in North Africa and have brought back interesting ideas.


Onto a confession; given the general apathy, and the benefit of hindsight, I do have to admit the round the world updates were something of a mistake. We live and learn is all I can say.

In accordance with this plan Latin America will be hurriedly wrapped up, I am going to actually post it though because A. There are plots that need starting and B. I've already started writing it. For a bonus point see if you can spot the point I switched into 'Get this over and done with' mode. :D
 
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Chapter LX: Fallout and Aftershocks Part XI - Latin America.
Chapter LX: Fallout and Aftershocks Part XI - Latin America.

Leaving North America behind us we head south into Mexico, a nation that held the rare distinction of having improved it's economic position during the early 1930s, though admittedly it was from a war ravaged base. The end of the Catholic Cristero War had neatly coincided with the onset of the Great Depression, barely had Mexicans finished celebrating the peace deal than the battered economy collapsed. This however would be the low point, the establishment of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (National Revolutionary Party, PNR) would, ironically, mark the final end of the Mexican revolution that had been ongoing in various forms since 1910. The immediate post-war President, revolutionary war general Plutarco Calles was originally a pragmatic social democrat who, though bombastically radical in speech, preferred slow and steady reform to dramatic change. Unfortunately his time in the Presidency gave him a taste for the power and money of high political office, his reforming zeal petering out by the early 1930s being replaced by corruption and nepotism. After his first term Calles declared himself "Jefe Maximato" the Political Chieftain of Mexico, and became the de facto ruler of Mexico through a string of puppet Presidents.

Calles' reign came to an end when he was forced to appoint one of his old colleagues, Lázaro Cárdenas, as President. Playing on the growing dissatisfaction with both the lack of reforming zeal, and the growing corruption, Cárdenas soon outmanoeuvred Calles, culminating in the deportation and exile of Calles and his entire inner circle. This would mark the start of radical change in Mexico as Cárdenas accelerated the pace of change, increasing labour rights and union power while pushing through wide ranging land reform, seizing the haciendas of land owners and turning them into 'Ejido' areas, state owned land that was parcelled out for communities to use for free. At the industrial end of the economy he continued Calles policy of nationalise the weakened private railways at bargain prices, extending it to other small scale 'strategic' industries that could be seized with minimal compensation. Ordinarily this would have caused problems for the Mexican economy, giving foreign investors the entirely accurate impression that property rights and the rule of law were less important than the ill-defined 'social revolutionary justice'. However due to the Depression Calles judged such concerns were unimportant, overseas investment had been reduced to minimal levels already, while Mexico's exports had never been a vital part of the economy, even before the Depression decimated trade, so could easily be sacrificed. The one exception was the vital oil industry, such a key area of the economy that successive Mexican Presidents had trod lightly around it. However as the new generation of Mexican engineers proved capable of running the nationalised industries unaided, and the US oil majors pulled out of the Middle East to consolidate at home, Calles thoughts naturally turned to the fate of the oil industry, his decision would prove fateful for all parties involved.

WOP2pg0.jpg

Lázaro Cárdenas, the reforming President of Mexico. His brand of state intervention, nationalisation and land reform would gain him many admirers across the region, not least for the impressive results it yielded for the Mexican people and economy. Significantly this included many people north of the border, for whom the policies of Cárdenas offered a genuinely new alternative.

Leaving Mexico we pass over the remainder of Central America, not because these nations lack interesting and diverse histories of their own, but because their affairs were of a more regional nature, impacting and being impacted on only by their neighbours and, of course, the ever present US commercial and military interests. As such matters are outside the scope of this work we pass over them, though it is perhaps worth noting that relations between the United States and it's Caribbean and Central American neighbours remained tense during the period. The somewhat idealistic non-intervention doctrine that had been floated after the Les Cayes incident in Haiti, short handed to 'The Good Neighbour Policy' by some, had failed to find favour with President Smith and thus the Roosevelt Corollary remained the guiding principle of US regional policy. Though public pressure had forced a scaling back of many US interventions, particularly the occupation of Haiti, this was more to do with a desire to see Federal funds spent at home on domestic problems or tax rebates rather than on foreign adventures. Thus it was that many a government in the region still had to keep half an eye on the potential US reaction to any policy decision, for fear of economic, political or military intervention should they go too far for American tastes, a state of affairs naturally resented by many in the region.

We end our tour of the world in South America, where the entire range of reactions can be found; from the interest of Venezuela and Argentina, through to the regional focus of Ecuador and finally the quiet indifference of Uruguay. For all the events across the world South America had concerns of it's own, a ceasefire in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia had only been arranged the in June of the previous year and negotiations on a final peace treaty were still ongoing. Moreover a second territorial dispute, between Ecuador and Peru over border territory and the start of the Amazon basin, was growing increasingly bad tempered despite, or may because of, an agreement over the status quo border line arranged over the summer. Quite naturally for many governments these events, being closer, were of far more importance than any affair in Europe. There were however exceptions, countries for whom overseas affairs could have large domestic impacts and thus naturally paid greater attention to world affairs. As one might expect Venezuela was one of these nations, as the second largest oil producer on earth and with oil comprising over 90% of exports anything that might affect the price was naturally watched carefully. After prices fell dramatically at the start of the Great Depression, sinking to less the £1 a barrel in the early 1930s, the Abyssinian War had seen prices spike to well over £10 a barrel over fears the Iraqi and Persian fields may be cut off, the resultant injection of funds naturally welcomed in the Venezuelan Finance Ministry. The other notably observant party was Argentina, possibly unique as the only nation outside the protagonists to express any interest in the Anglo-Irish trade war, for higher tariffs on Irish trade could only mean greater imports of Argentinian beef. There were also the strong ties between the two nations, after the Roca-Runciman Treaty of 1933 the Vice-President of Argentina summed up the new agreement; "It can be said that Argentina is an integral economic part of the British Empire." As trade between the two nations expanded there was an appetite on both sides for a revised and expanded deal, further strengthening ties and increasing the already considerable British influence in the continent.
 
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Despite everything going on today, oil prices rise back then mainly due to a war and the threats of another major source becoming the main oil supplier.

And it's great to see Mexico undergoing economic and industrial reform in this time-frame.

I've finally caught up with this AAR, another fantastic update El Pip!
 
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Latin America looks pretty quiet (as usual). Now, let's get back to Spain :D
 
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El Pip said:
For a bonus point see if you can spot the point I switched into 'Get this over and done with' mode. :D

El Pip said:
Leaving Mexico we pass over the remainder of Central America, not because these nations lack interesting and diverse histories of their own, but because their affairs were of a more regional nature, impacting and being impacted on only by their neighbours and, of course, the ever present US commercial and military interests. As such matters are outside the scope of this work we pass over them, though it is perhaps worth noting that relations between the United States and it's Caribbean and Central American neighbours remained tense during the period.

Do I get the bonus point, El Pip? :D
 
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I never said state firms couldn't be a success (though being backed by giant piles of petro-dollars probably helps. ),
Early North Sea oil?
 
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El Pip said:
There were also the strong ties between the two nations, after the Roca-Runciman Treaty of 1933 the Vice-President of Argentina summed up the new agreement; "It can be said that Argentina is an integral economic part of the British Empire." As trade between the two nations expanded there was an appetite on both sides for a revised and expanded deal, further strengthening ties and increasing the already considerable British influence in the continent.

So, no Falklands war?
 
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Sir Humphrey said:
Early North Sea oil?
Think pippy was refering to arab states getting it right not the UK? ;)
 
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TheVenetian - The oil markets haven't changed much have they. Oil may not have been quite so important back then but trouble in the Middle East has always meant a price rise. ;)

GeneralHannibal - Quite but with troubles bubbling under is how I'd put it, certainly we will be returning to South America. But don't worry, not for a while and not until something more exciting happens!

Nathan Madien - Well done sir! You have earned yourself a bonus point. :D

Sir Humphrey - While Britain holds sway over the Iraqi and Persian oil fields (in practice if not officially) I don't think anybody is going to be poking around the North Sea, that is (relatively) expensive and hard to get to oil.

C&D - Not necessarily, those deals were historical and the quote was real. Anglo-Argentinian relations were fairly strong until the military coup of in 1943, with the Junta being decidedly pro-Axis (till they realised Germany was going to lose, then they joined the Allies at almost the last minute). That was the beginning of the end really, though things lingered on for quite some time.

A relevant tit-bit that I wanted to squeeze into that update but couldn't; the only overseas branch Harrods ever opened was in Buenos Aries, which I think is a good comment on the links between the two nations.
 
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El Pip said:
Nathan Madien - Twas but a joke, attempting a Comet in 1936 would only lead to an utter disaster. Though I do have plans for armoured development, people have been paying attention in North Africa and have brought back interesting ideas.

Well hopefully the lessons of maneuver will place the infantry tank designs in stasis - so no more Matilda's or Valentine's

I wonder if a certain Mr Christie will be employed by the British Army to accelerate the cruiser tank designs - so that Crusaders / A15 are available at the start of 1939 and Cromwell / Challengers are available as soon as the German tank designs (Pz-III/IV) are coming on stream.
 
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Very interesting, as usual. Well done, Pippy. Now, about that tech update...

Vann
 
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Derek Pullem - Mr Christie is certainly bloody minded enough to do it, though he'd probably encounter the same problems he had with the US Army - he had no concept of spec or limits. You either you brought his tank exactly as was or not at all, which was fine on the areas were he was correct (like the suspension and sloped armour) but caused problems when he was wrong (like having bugger all armour, sloped though it may be).

As to more general theory of how the British think about tanks (infantry tanks vs cruisers and soon) I've had an idea on that one which I think is quite nifty and certainly seems plausible to me. All will be revealed in a couple of updates.

Vann the Red - Just one more update to wait through, the US candidates, then I guarantee a string of tech and tactics updates as the RN, RAF and Army (try to) learn lessons from the War and buy some new kit.
 
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El Pip said:
Onto a confession; given the general apathy, and the benefit of hindsight, I do have to admit the round the world updates were something of a mistake. We live and learn is all I can say.

Its not that I didn't like these updates, I did enjoy them. However when you have an updating schedule that isn't exactly the fastest :rolleyes: I would prefer for the story to move forward rather than go into such detail.
 
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El Pip said:
Nathan Madien - Well done sir! You have earned yourself a bonus point. :D

Thank you very much. :D

El Pip said:
Vann the Red - Just one more update to wait through, the US candidates, then I guarantee a string of tech and tactics updates as the RN, RAF and Army (try to) learn lessons from the War and buy some new kit.

The tech and tactics updates sound interesting.

Hmm...the US candidates. To be honest, I am more interested in whom the Republicans nominate than the Democrats.
 
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El Pip said:
Onto a confession; given the general apathy, and the benefit of hindsight, I do have to admit the round the world updates were something of a mistake. We live and learn is all I can say.

I'd say the lesson would be that although we love the depth of your updates, if you leave the main story for so long we start to pester you... more... a lot more... :D

That said, short of speeding the whole updating thing process up (God forbid! :D ) we'll wear it as long as the quality of post remains as high as it's been. Hell, throw in a dedicated update on the state of the World's railroads for all I care, just keep it all coming!

Dury.
 
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Latin America appears to be heading down another boring road as usual.

But it is nice to see some reformist efforts in Mexico, and Venuzuela being a big oil bully! Some things just never change do they?

-Fully and finally caught up El Pip! Hours upon hours of reading I might add.
 
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Jalex - Less of that you, I've been on one update a week recently, assuming the next one drops out neatly it'll be four updates in a month. What more do you want, the moon on a stick?

Nathan Madien - I'm trying to work out how 'different' things would be for the Republicans at the moment (the other two parties are done).

It's a toss up, on the one hand it's unlikely the same group would be potential candidates with such large changes. On the other hand picking complete new unknowns seems somehow less 'realistic'. This applies not just to the US but politics everywhere.

I normally go option A, but I'm open to arguments the other way.

Duritz - I take your point, I did somewhat lose focus on what the point of this whole AAR was. :eek:o It's a mistake I'll try and avoid making in future.

On which note I'm having a stab at this new approach in the next update; a bit less detail and I've tried to generally cut down on the less important bits around the edges. I'd be interested to see if anyone notices a difference, better or worse.

TheEnlighted1 - Definitely not same old boring route, there's plenty of problems and rivalries down there that will end up boiling over in time, yet not yet. :D

I hoped someone would notice Mexico, might shut up Jape and his 'Your not very nice about the Lefties' whining. :p ;)
 
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El Pip said:
...I've been on one update a week recently, assuming the next one drops out neatly it'll be four updates in a month. What more do you want, the moon on a stick?
Only if it can be introduced into TTL via a deranged Nazi nuclear scientist. Hitler did so love his nutty schemes :p ;)
 
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phargle - You've got to keep your eye on lefty Mexicans. Very shift.
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scubadoobie2 - He will have a rival in this timeline, Churchill at the Air Ministry! :eek: :D

Next update is done, but you remember that promise of a shorter less detailed update? Well I tried, and certainly I've excluded a lot of things I was going to put in, but it's certainly not short. Still at least it's just one update not several so perhaps progress of a sort.
 
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