Libertad o Muerte! - AARgentina

Viden: Thanks for the little spanish lesson, I really could use some. On behalf of the worldmap. Could you wait till 1860? Then I will release the next map package.

madgeneral: The war may be over but tensions are still high between Peru and Platinea. More about that after the Election update.

asd21953: You're damn right on that. Hopefully Platine can prosper peacefully in the future. Oh it's the victorian age, so probably not.

HerbertWest: Hey long time no see. To go for some extra techs was deemed necessary as the AI is trading techs like crazy (and as we all know they don't have to pay RPs to counterengineer traded techs). I do everything to max out my RP generation but I am behind in techs compared to my completely underdeveloped south american neighbours.

ColossusCrusher: I do know that but my relations with the UK are around +190 while my relations with Prussia are around +-0. So it was quite obvious to seek british advice. Furthermore OTL Prussia was pretty much occupied with itself and domestic german affairs and as this seems to be true in TTL too they probably wouldn't (or couldn't) afford help to a former colony on the otherside of the world in which they had no political nor mercantile interest.
I hope my explanation helps you more than it might confuse you.

Genusaus: ... go fishing? Probably high sea fishing or wale hunting .

demokratickid: A projection of power? Meh I don't think so. I now have thanks to the brits and brazilians six naval techs which enables my navy to compete with Piratini and Brazil, but thats it. Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela have more advanced naval forces than I do. Not to mention europe.


Edit: Yay it's my 100th post in this thread never thought to maintain it for so long. For statistical reasons: 423rd post, 34,736 views.

Libertad o Muerte! Pt. XXXVII - 1858



Unlike the earlier general elections both great parties had chosen their candidates and stances on certain topics quite early and were well prepared for the upcoming national campaign. The choice for the liberals was quite an easy one as they had gathered behind Alberdi and his ideas of modernization and industrialization for the last for years. So his nomination on the liberal convention was jus a formal act. The Partido Federalista was eager to present themselves as a strong and united party already chose their in September 1857. Santiago Derqui Rodríguez, Senator from Cordoba, was elected by a huge majority of the federal convention to run for the office of Prime Minister. Senator Derqui was at that time probably the most prominent member of the parliamentarian opposition as he made his opinions about liberal reforms very clear and public. As a matter of fact since his membership in the Senate he was the senator who used his right to address congress most oftenly and was always trying to gather enough senators around him to veto liberal reforms which had been passed by the congress. Though he was not overwhelmingly successfull with this it made him very popular among his own party and among those platineans who felt aggrived by the liberal government.

Believing that the military victory over Peru would benefit the ruling party, as it always had been, the liberals were looking for an easy victory in the upcoming elections. Thus they were emphasizing the victory in the 'Atacama War' to gather support for the Union Liberal. But when the main points of the 'Silvana Report' became known to the public they incinerated a major debate about military "defense" issues which turned out more and more favourable for the federalists cause.
Especially among military personnel and the denizens of the peruvian border area the Partido Federalisto could gather many supporters.

In April the federalists started a debate over the future realtion between the platinean state and the catholic church, stating that the catholic church had to be granted bigger responsibilities in the sectors of education and science in order to establish a society shaped and steeped by catholicism. While this met great popularity in the rural areas it alienated most city dwellers and immigrants. Two groups which were steadily increasing in numbers and became more important every day. This quickly became a 'home game' for the liberals which had to make little effort to convince the urban populace and the immigrants on which ticket they should vote.

As it (once again) became obvious that the Partido Federalista would gain almost no support at all from immigrants they questioned their right to vote. On a more extreme stance they even doubted that ethnic minorities, like the Aimaras, Guaranis or Patagonians, should have the same rights like 'proper Platineans'. Senator Derqui stated that it would be insane to let everyone, who just comes to platinea, participate in the political decision-making process. His main point was that men without platinean roots could not meassure the consequences of their vote for the nations wellfare and therefore only immigrants of the second generation should be allowed to vote. Due to this approch many rural voters which originally supported the Partido Federalista for their agricultural support and traditional values switched to the Union Liberal as they feared to be oppressed in case of a federalist government.



As election night came close it was everything but certain which said would prevail and the first results were eagerly awaited. The electoral projections saw the federalists around 47% and the liberals around 50% in popular vote but due to the majority voting sytem any of the two factions could come out victorious.

The Union Liberal came away with 52,9% of the popular vote while the Partido Federalista gained 46,7%. While it was the worst electoral result for the liberals since 1850 it was the best for the federalists. Therefore it was yet the slightest margin by which a party came to power.
In the 3rd Congress, which had been extended by 17 seats due to population growth, the liberals took 103 seats (+4) while the federalists took 85 seats (+13). So the majority voting system proved to be in favor of the liberals this time their lead over the federalists in congress melted further.
Examining the electoral map of 1858 it became clear, that the liberal party could gather support mainly in the already developed (aka industrialized) areas, eg Buenos Aires, Uruguay and Parana. A close second were the immigrants and ethnic minorities which supported the liberals to maintain their rights, eg Patagonia Occidental, Chaco, Paraguay. The federalists on the other hand could unindustrialzed and rural regions (eg Salte) as well as among assimilated immigrants (eg Patagonia Oriental) and border area denizens (eg. La Paz).


On July 1st of 1858 King Juan I. inaugurated Juan Bautista Alberdi for his second term as Prime Minister of Platinea.

Viden: Are you saying you demand more bloodshed? You are a real bloodthirster. Blood for the bloodgod!

demokratickid: Indeed this is how it looks at the moment. But I bet the reelected administration has some tricks in store to avoid an even closer election in 1862.

asd21593: That's just because of the high temperatures in 'El Mensajero's ' head office . Honestly I was just lacking creativity and couldn't come up with something better.

Genusaus: Neither Arica nor Puerto Maldonado are or ever will be self-contained states. In the summer of 1858 they just were platinean provinces for less than a year and they would be governed by a General Governor who wouldn't be elected by the local population but who was appointed by the federal government in Buenos Aires.
After a transitional period of 4 years both states would be incorporated in already existing governmental bodies. Arica would be incorporated into the state of Potosí and Puerto Maldonado will become a part of the Esperanza territory. So the newly acquired territories will be granted voting-rights (and by this self-determination and representation) just prior to the 1862 general election.

wilhelm cochise: Well I had pretty nice start but after that my game was moving ever up the modding latter and could only hardly be compared with the 'normal' Argentine game. So don't be worried about the differences.
Thanks for the compliment, there is quite some work in them. Send me a PM to discuss this matter.

Libertad o Muerte! Pt. XXXVIII - 1858



Just two weeks in his second term as prime minister Alberdi was confronted with foreign turmoil as Peru began sabre rattling again.
After the lost Atacama War the peruvian leadership was forced to back down and General Eusebio Dionisio was empowered as new president of Peru. The soldiers who were loyal to the core to their surpreme commander blamed former president Castilla for the loss of the war. Who's meddling in the military affairs was seen as fatal for the peruvian war effort. The soldier spreaded this 'myth' among the civilians. And soon the peruvians behaved not as a recent beaten people but as victors. In the summer of 1858 they demanded the secession of ecuadorian territory in the amazonas area from Santander to Yuncos which they claimed ever since their independence.
Daunted by the peruvian threads and their military strength ecuadorian president Rables send an envoy to seek platinean assistance in the case of peruvian aggression. Thus on the 20th of June a secret defensive alliance was formed in which Ecuador and Platinea assured their mutual assistance in the case of peruvian aggresion against one of the signatories.

Peruvian president General Eusebio Dionisio threatened Ecuador with war if they won't secede Santander and Yuncos Province. Thereupon Ecuador seeked platinean assistance.​

In July the engineers from the Humbolt Institute for applied sciences at Valparaíso discovered several new methods to produce iron and steel more easily and much cheaper. While the engineers and scientists at the Humboldt Institute continued with their work to smooth out the last teething problems some scientists at Montevideo University published a first paper about functionalism and how this approach would benefit education.



The election of '58 had revealed that Platinea was not yet an industrialzed nation but still on the verge of being an agricultural nation. Alberdi who had hoped to cement the position of the liberals as the major and thus ruling party by industrialization realized that it was still a long way to go and that something had to be done imediately to improve the chances of the liberal party in the next election.
The ministry for economy and development came up with the plan to set up a whole bunch of factories which would be initially financed by the government but then would be sold piece for piece to investors and entrepreneurs. Alberdi approved this plan but knew he would never get it through senate if it was brought forward just to industrialize. He needed something to win over the federalist senators or at least something to deceive them. He found what he needed in the renewed peruvian threats. As the "Strategic Industries Support" bill was brought to Congress and Senate Alberdi linked it with the reform of the platinean armed forces argueing that it was of utmost importance to the reform and the safety of the nation to haqve a strong industry to provide the military with the necessary goods in war and in peace. The federalist senators who were among the most stark proponents of the military reform now couldn't vote it down. But they feared that only the already industrialized urban coastal areas would benefit from the bill and demanded that the new factories should be set up in regions were until then no factories had sprung up. Alberdi agreed agreed to the astonishment of the senators upon these demands, indeed it was in his very best interest to set these factories up in rural states to break up the federalists dominance there. Senate and Congress agreed to set up five factories which were as follows:

• Canned Food Factory at Santa Rosa, La Pampa.
• Cement Factory at Trelew, Patagonia Oriental.
• Lumber Mill at Puerto Hearth, Chuncos.
• Textile Factory at La Rioja, La Rioja.
• Steel Factory at Valdivia, Patagonia Occidental.

Despite governmental investment in the industrial sector entrepreneurs continued to set up their own factories without governmental support to fulffill customer needs. Since Alberdis second inauguration four more factories were set eup by private initiatives:

• Furniture Factory at Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires.
• Lumber Mill at Santiago del Estero, Santiago del Estero.
• Canned Food Factory at Corrientes, Corrientes.
• Machine Parts Factory at Copiapo, Valparaíso.

On the 20th of August the first batch of volunteers had completed their basic military training for their duties as national guards and a second of four divisions now began training. Their training would endure until February and would give the platinean military a reserve of eight divisions to call upon in times of need.
Also on the 20th of August the "1ra División de Infantería Marinera" (Royal Marines) [1] finally finished their special and unique training. Command of the division was given to Maj. Gen. Mora who had distinguished himself during the last war. His second in command and commander of his guard brigade became famed Brig. Gen. Luigi Colina [2] who spearheaded a group the endeavor to capture the bolivian frigate 'Santa Cruz' in the harbour of Calama with a single squad of riflemen.
In September the four steampowered transportships were completed and made their maiden voyage to Calama. Furthermore the extensions of Valparaíso harbour an La Plata harbour were finished in October.


[1] Viden I guess you will come up with a better and cooler translation.
[2] see Chapter VII for Colinas deed

Author's note:
Selfmade event: Ecuador asks for support (which could have be done by a normal diplomatic action but wouldn't show a picture )

Click to expand...

Viden: I will call them Marines Reales as service branch but the unit designation will be 1ª División de Infantería de Marina. I hope that is admittable.

demokratickid: Well I just had to come up with an explanation for the "Support of Strategic Industries" events which fired due to my increase of military prowress.

asd21593: No problem at all. At the moment I don't have the time to follow all the interesting AARs around here, too. Your guy just became president of Peru. That's not all too bad he?

Belated season greetings to all of you who skim, read and post around here. And I wish you all a happy new year and a good time in and out of AARland.