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I think is a very good and interesting suggestion, if we accept that offer can bring beneficts for our two glorious nation and will increase even more our good relations. But we cant just accept the offer without knowing how much money we need to invest. When we have tht information we can value the offer.

Empress Zewditu

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Your concerns are understandable; I propose that the Abyssinian government fund 40% of the construction costs of the Assab-Addis Ababa road and its adjacent railroad, and 40% of the Assab-Mogadishu railroad; the remaining costs will be funded by the Italian government. I further propose that Italian companies be given preference for the tender of the construction, and that local inhabitants near the construction be the principal workers, to provide direct economic benefit to the region and provide gainful employment to your people.

Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy and Duce of Fascism
 
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Your concerns are understandable; I propose that the Abyssinian government fund 40% of the construction costs of the Assab-Addis Ababa road and its adjacent railroad, and 40% of the Assab-Mogadishu railroad; the remaining costs will be funded by the Italian government. I further propose that Italian companies be given preference for the tender of the construction, and that local inhabitants near the construction be the principal workers, to provide direct economic benefit to the region and provide gainful employment to your people.

Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy and Duce of Fascism

Whit this terms we accept.

Empress Zewditu
 

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Hundred of years ago the Jews were expelled from his home during the so-called second Diaspora. After that, the jews population were moving around the world without finding a new home. In every country they try to settle the suffer persecution, massacres and collective expulsions. But today this will change.
If the world zionist organization accepts i will give them the rights to create a city in the north of lake Tana, the city will have their own ecconomic, goverment and legal sistem, but in still be de facto part of the Abyssinian empire, so they will pay taxes, but less than others. I hope the WZO accept because it will en with years of suffering of the jewish people

[ ] World Zionist Organization
[X] Abbysinian empire
 
To the representative of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Zewditu of Abyssinia,

While we are of course humbled by the generous proposition of Her Majesty to allow the Jewish people to settle in her domains under such generous terms, we must respectfully and gratefully decline the offer Her Majesty has made. Not only are the practicalities dubious, but we would like to tell Her Majesty of our hope and determination to settle the Jews in the land of Judea, our ancestral homeland of which we have been bereaved for two thousand years. Furthermore, it is our conviction that the only way in which we can secure the existence of the Jewish people is through an independent, sovereign Jewish state - not autonomy within another state.

If Her Majesty remains favourably disposed towards our cause, then we would welcome any contributions from Abyssinia to further the establishment of our state to be.

With the highest of regards,

Chaim Weizmann,
President of the Zionist Organisation.


-------


To the Court of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Zewditu of Abyssinia, Elect of God,

It has come to my attention that you are open to a strengthened Jewish presence in your realm. If it would suit Your Majesty, the Beitar organisation would be open to purchasing lands around Lake Tana to further our understanding of the Jews of the Beta Yisrael tribes in your realm, and to assist in their development.

Yours sincerely,

Ze'ev Jabotinsky.
 
To the representative of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Zewditu of Abyssinia,


-------


To the Court of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Zewditu of Abyssinia, Elect of God,

It has come to my attention that you are open to a strengthened Jewish presence in your realm. If it would suit Your Majesty, the Beitar organisation would be open to purchasing lands around Lake Tana to further our understanding of the Jews of the Beta Yisrael tribes in your realm, and to assist in their development.

Yours sincerely,

Ze'ev Jabotinsky.
I am open for let your organization to purchase the lands around the lake Tana to assis the development of the jews of the Beta Israel. In case your organization want to made a city for the jews it can have the same rights i offered to the WZO.

Empress Zewditu of Abbyssinia, Elect of God
 
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Political Strife in Portugal, Freitas Administration Resigns
July 8, 1929
Following months of internal conflict between the political factions of the Portuguese government, today, July 8, Jose Vicente de Freitas has announced his resignation from his office of the Portuguese Head of Ministry, a move followed by nearly the entirety of his government. Following the proclamation of Freitas's resignation, Portuguese President, and Dictator, Oscar Carmona announced the appointment of his replacement, Artur Ivens Ferraz. The only government member retaining his position is Minister of Finance, António de Oliveira Salazar, signaling the instability within the dictatorship. It remains to be seen whether...

(Article Continues on Page B5)
 
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Czechoslovak Republic

A New Era Policy

The Czechoslovak Republic is a multi-national democratic state compromising of Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Ruthenians, Ukrainians and Hungarians. Since the states' creation in the aftermath of the Great War, the issue of minorities (mainly the Slovaks and Germans) has been an ongoing and brewing issue for the highly centralized and Czech-dominated government in terms of policy throughout the 1920s. Czechoslovakia's first President and it's founder, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (also known as the "President Liberator") held almost absolute political and legislative power through influence within the country even though the position of President officially held little in government. President Masaryk held the increasingly obvious position that the current situation was untenable for the future stability of the Czechoslovak state and had to enact wide-sweeping measures over a period of time to secure the long-term security for the nation economically, socially and politically.

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President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, 1st President of Czechoslovakia


With a massive budget surplus expected for the government in 1929 and into the future, President Masaryk worked with legislators to enact what he coined the "New Era Policy". This was aimed towards the mostly neglected areas of the country being Slovakia and the Carpathian Rus which were for a better term "utterly rejected and detestable places of human occupation". These regions were backward in economic, educational and social standing compared to the northern regions of Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia which were highly industrialized, full of good quality schools and also Czech-dominated at government positions (which was the case throughout Czechoslovakia). This vast difference of standards within Czechoslovakia needed to be resolved and President Masaryk was willing to pour funding into the development and rise of the entire state so that no Czechoslovak was left behind.

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The Four "Lands" of Czechoslovakia


How this grand experiment was going to unfold was unknown, regardless the President wished to bring true unity to the country and it's people through economic and educational development to these neglected regions which will help in both the short and long term to the overall health of Czechoslovakia.
 
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Greater Japanese Empire

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His Majesty The Emperor
(r. 25 December 1926 - Present)
The Cabinet

Prime Minister: Tanaka Giichi (Rikken Seiyūkai)

-

Domestic Affairs

Foreign Affairs

Miscellaneous
 
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In 1929 the supreme council was the main ruling organ of the Rattanakosin Kingdom. Though the king was absolute, his own reforms were, ironically, playing against his projects of liberalization. As the ruling Supreme Council -and foreign advisors- had rejected his intentions to give the country a Constitution, Prajadhipok is now in a difficult position. His countriy's policy had been to educate key personnel and officials in Europe. And this had a price, for these highly prepared people were due to see the unbounded power of the king as a shame for the country and a handycap for the nation's progress. What Prajadhipok didn't understood quite well at the moment, was the fact that the rejection of the constitution made him look as a puppet of his own ruling council. Making the absolut power of the monarch an effective tool of the princes in that chamber, rather than the king's.
Nothing of this might had been a real deal if, at least, economy was going all right. But despite the fact that the world's economy was solid and nothing, nothing but NOTHING AT ALL made ANYONE believe that something might go wrong... the fact was that Prajadhipok's reign had been one of austherity. The former king having turned the palace's and nation's economy into an accountant nightmare, much must yet change in the country before it can raise and take it's place among the civilized kingdoms of the world.

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Thailand (Land of the Free, being the name's meaning) is yet the Rattanakosin Kingdom, but is known already as the country who colonises itself. Lacking the sheer size of China or the industrial muscle of Japan, it has managed to keep itself independent through the storm of the european invasion of resource-rich lands. But at a price. What is called today "French Indochina" was before part of the Kingdom. And it's very clear for the king that only a consistent de-colonization phenomenon might give that land back to his fold. In other words: such objective is not even in sight. Too much work to do. Too much worries. Too much to loose if impulsive or foolish moves are done.

RiceField,BaliIndonesia.jpg

In these days, if economy is to be re-bumped, rice is the key to it. In 1929, the Rattanakosin Kingdom was the greatest rice producer and exporter in the world. Which means being the main supplier to some of the most numerous populations in the world. The king, being in his own words "a simple soldier" has heard many times from appointed experts that the door to modern and productive agriculture lies in infrastructure and mechanization, but... how can rice production be mechanized? Its harvest requires careful hand work and flooded lands, which means no conventional harvester can be used with any degree of effect. There's no choice but to keep trusting in good harvests while new measures are carefully studied. But given the high variety of vermin and plagues that affect rice, such trust is a true act of faith on the goverment's part.

Firstworldwar.jpg

The military is something to be considered apart: being the only independent non european or american country in sending troops to France during the Great War, it is easy to assume the country has a strong or modern standing force. It hasn't. In fact, they are not a priority for the goverment. And they have been an easy target for budget cuts, just behind palace's expending. Given the fact that most of the young officers are part of the aforementioned group of western-educated specialists, this has led to some resentment. Something that is regarded positively by the king, as it denotes interest in their duties, rather than apathy. Howewer there's just so much that can be done -or guaranteed- in an army whose most modern weaponry and equipment cames from 1918 France's war depots. The "Crown's jewel" in the Armed Forces is the navy. A traditionally favoured branch of the military, but yet a fairly outclassed and outnumbered force, fit for coastal surveillance and little more. But with it's capital so exposed in the coast, the navy cannot, by any means, be ignored. An inner political war might start, plainly over the remnant of the military budget. At any point.

Lastly, there's the princes. the Kingdom has a great number of nobles with the rank of prince, whose maintenance pass a heavy toll to the kingdom's coffers. Though they have often resources of their own, it has only being with the new king that the mass of these high class has been mobilized in order to take actual responsabilities in the country's administration. Being them the corpus of public servants that has executed the radical expenditure cuts needed to stabilize the national budget. Even after this little known or appreciated service, it must be seen if these aristocracy and his newly found sense of responsability will be an aid or an obstacle for the modernization, or for the majority of the new western-educated elites.
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Like Leopold II from Belgium, King Rama VII might wish for a better country to rule. But in many aspects he cannot wish for better subjects. His true Quest shall lie in keeping himself as common ground between them, till the day in which he can declare himself to be a source of prosperity for his people. The path ahead is treacherous, dark and full of dangers.

But heavy is the crown over the ruler's head.​
 
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CHILE IN 1929
The state of the nation by the end of the third decade in this new century was convoluted.
Between the signing of the Treaty of Lima and the significant damaged caused to several cities by the Talca earthquake, the economy was reeling due to these and several other factors.

The Tacna–Arica compromise or Treaty of Lima was a series of documents that settled the territorial dispute of both Tacna and Arica provinces of Peru and Chile respectively. According to the Treaty, the Tacna-Arica Territory was divided between both countries; Tacna being awarded to Peru and with Chile retaining sovereignty over Arica. Chile also agreed to pay up to 6 million dollars in compensation to Peru.

The Treaty was signed on June 3, 1929, in the city of Lima by then Peruvian Representative José Rada y Gamio and Chilean Representative Emiliano Figueroa Larrain.

The controversy was a direct aftermath of the War of the Pacific, a confrontation that involved Chile against Peru and Bolivia. Chile won the war and conquered the Peruvian territories of Tarapacá, Tacna and Arica. The defeated Peruvian government was forced to sign the Treaty of Ancón in 1883.

In this Treaty, Tarapacá was annexed to Chile. However, the fate of both Tacna and Arica was to be decided by a plebiscite to be held in 1893. Due to different points of view, both countries were not able to agree on the conditions of this plebiscite. So, it was not held. Then Chile began to colonize the two territories in 1909. Peru followed in 1911 with a break of diplomatic relations. In 1922, Chile and Peru agreed to arbitrate the dispute with the President of the United States. President Coolidge appointed, in 1925, the first US arbitrator, General John J. Pershing; General William Lassiter followed in 1926. Neither negotiator was able to break the deadlock. US Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggested direct negotiations in Washington, D.C. in 1928. It was these negotiations that led to the Treaty of Lima on early January.


Carlos Ibañez del Campo, current president of the Republic

Worse still, president Carlos Ibañez del Campo had won just two years ago, mostly thanks to the resignation of the late president Figueroa due to several political scandals and other notable cases of corruption. Many of these problems, deeply ingrained into the ancient ruling classes force president Ibañez del Campo to take drastic measures in order to clean the board and avoid public unrest. With the military coups of 1924 and 1925 still fresh on everybody's mind, Ibáñez began to exercise dictatorial powers, using rule by decree (decretos con fuerza de ley), suspending parliamentary elections, instead naming politicians to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies himself, etc. Political opponents were arrested and exiled, including his former ally Marmaduke Grove.
 
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DIPLOMATIC NOTE
From the Republic of China to the Powers (Britain, France, the United States, et al.)

Concerning Chinese Tariff Autonomy

The National Government of the Republic of China informs the Powers of its desire to re-negotiate China's tariff duties, as first established with the 1842 Treaty of Nanking, and reformed by the 1922 Washington Naval Conference, with the aim of the total restoration of Chinese sovereignty and autonomy in its tariff policy. The National Government requests negotiations be undertaken to achieve this objective and bring greater equality and equanimity in relations between China and the Powers.

王正廷
WANG ZHENGTING
Foreign Minister of the Republic of China
 
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Argentine Republic


Argentine Republic
Politics & Economy

Government: Federal constitutional republic
Leader(s): President Hipólito Yrigoyen
Ideology: Social democracy
Alignment: None
Capital: Buenos Aires
Political stability: 76%
Population: 11.592 m. (2.75% growth last year)
GDP: $ 50,623 m. (4.56% growth last year)
Economic status: Semi-industrial, boom, market economy, $ 4,367 per capita
Government Spending & Services
Receipts: $ 6,025 m., 14.00% tax rate
Expenditures: $ 6,168 m.
Balance: $ - 143 m.
Treasury: $ - 12,300 m.
Infrastructure: (2/5) Average
Administration: (1/5) Average
Education: (4/5) Poor
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Poor
National Defense
Manpower: 168,361
Army: (5/5) Poor, 1920 technology
6 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 0 marine divisions, 0 mountain divisions, 0 armored brigades
Navy: (1/5) Average, 1922 technology
0 fleet carriers, 0 light carriers, 2 battleships, 0 battlecruisers, 0 pre-dreadnoughts, 0 heavy cruisers, 6 armored cruisers, 2 light cruisers, 6 destroyers, 0 submaries [+2 heavy cruisers in 3 turns (Italy), +3 destroyers in 1 turn (UK), +3 submarines in 2 turns (Italy)]
Air Force: (2/5) Poor, 1922 technology
2 fighter wings, 0 attack wings, 0 bomber wings
Player: jacob-Lundgren
1929

Game treaties:


 

The Northern Territory and Central Australia

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The position of the Northern Territory within the greater context of Australia and the best way to manage the territory has always been one of contention in Australia. After the advent of the british colonisation of the Australian continent there were no less than five attempts to colonise the region. The first was in 1824 when the British Captain James Gordon Bremer founded Fort Dundas on Melville Island. However this first colony would be abandoned due to the harsh tropical climate and cyclones as well as a poor relation with the natives. The second attempt was in 1827 but failed to last as long as the first being abandoned in 1829. In 1838, ten years after the failure of his first settlement Bremer was tasked with establishing a colony for a second time, creating Fort Victoria at Port Essington. While the colony initially had some success after the departure of Bremer it began a slow decline, with failed attempts to encourage migration to the region leading to the colony being disbanded in 1849.


In 1863 control of the territory was transferred from the Colony of New South Wales to the Colony of South Australia through Letters Patent. As a result South Australia launched the fourth effort to colonise the region in 1864, though this too was disbanded in 1867 and while the Government launched initiatives to find other potential colonial sites this was unsuccessful. As a result in was not until 1869 that a colony was officially and successfully established in the Northern Territory when a small settlement of 135 men and women was established in modern day Darwin. The attempt might have also met with failure if not for the construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph in 1870 which used Darwin as a connection point to the rest of the world and the discovery of gold at Pine Creek in the 1880s. It was these events that managed to encourage a large enough number of migrants to ensure the continued survival of the colony.


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When Australia federated in 1901 the Territory remained under the administration of the South Australian Government. Later in 1911, a decade after federation the decision was made to shift authority over the territory to the Federal Government. However this issue led to significant tensions in Darwin and other parts of the Northern Territory. Prior to 1911, members of the Northern Territory had been able to vote in both South Australian and Federal elections, following the annexation of the territory they found themselves able to vote in neither. This lack of representation was seen more as a benefit to the national government than a suppression of the right to vote as few desired that a territory comprised of only 1,700 White Australians and 1,300 Chinamen as well as a unknown number of Aboriginal natives would be able to hold the balance of a power in a hypothetically even Parliament.


Despite this the government initially did not ignore the Northern Territory. In 1912 then Prime Minister Andrew Fischer sent Dr John A. Gilruth to the Northern Territory as its administrator to evaluate the feasibility and possible economic development of the region. The Doctors report believed that there was economic potential in the region and that any development should focus on the areas of “mining, crop-growing and pastoralism.” However initial efforts to encourage development such as through the establishment of a meatworks run by the English firm Vesteys were hampered by the Great War after which the government lost interest in developing the firm and the bulk of public resentment turned to the Administrator, many of whom despised his strong armed style of leadership that constantly clashed with trade unionists and alienated the chinese and the aboriginals.


In 1915 the Palmerston Council one of the last vestiges of democratic government in the Northern Territory was dissolved by the Parliament and replaced with a weaker more advisory body that in effect gave more power to the already unpopular Administrator of the Territory. As a result support for the already powerful Australian Workers Union increased and the region increasingly came under the sway of its leadership. The final spark to the fire that lit the fire in Darwin was the Nationalisation of Hotels, aimed at curbing alcohol consumption and also raising new revenue for the Federal Budget. Several notable businessmen and pastoralists left the Northern Territory over the affair and when the administrator denied the women working at the hotels time off to celebrate the end of the war, (Despite the fact that Hotel Patrons had already agreed to go elsewhere) and then locked them out of the Hotels for taking the time off the boiling tensions in the region where set off. In the resulting ‘Darwin Rebellion’ around 1,000 men marched on the seat of Government in Darwin burning an effigy of the administrator and demanding ‘no taxation without representation.’ A mishandled reaction to the affair by the Administrator in which he claimed the populace held no power over him forced him to seek shelter in his residence for weeks before the Australian cruiser HMAS Endeavour evacuated him from Darwin, with the administrator vowing to continue to manage the Northern Territory from Melbourne.


The Aftermath of the Darwin Rebellion was that it led to a royal commision into the affair which resulted in the 1922 Representation Act which provided for one Northern Territory member to sit in the House of Representatives, though this member could not vote, become speaker of the house or chairman of committees and was not counted for purposes of determining quorum or majority. The seat was first held and is still held by Harold Nelson, the leader of the Australian Workers Union who had played a significant part in inciting the rebellion.


In 1927 the Federal Government decided that the Northern Territory was too large to be effectively administered as one continuous block of land. As a result the Northern Territory was split up into the territory of North Australia centred around the traditional Northern Territory capital of Darwin and the Territory of Central Australia centred around the town of Stuart Town (modern day Alice Springs).


Throughout the history of the Northern Territory its relationship with the aboriginal natives has always been a strenuous one. Many of the initial colonial attempts were failures in part if not completely due to hostility between the native aboriginal people and the white settlers. In 1928 a white Australian was murdered by an Aboriginal for sleeping with his wife. The locals hid the body and when it was later found and reported to the police they established a punitive expedition to against the local tribes. The expedition was conducted brutal acts on the natives not just massacring them but also tying several to trees or forcing them to walk in chains behind the police group. At the time official records state that 31 people were killed (Though the actual death toll is believed to be two or three times larger.) Though a public hearing cleared the police of any wrongdoing and denied the influence of a significant drought in leading to the increasing tensions between settlers and natives, the general public came to a perception that the events of the massacre had been both disproportionate in scale and brutality. Time would tell if the events of the Coniston Massacre would signify an end to the so-called frontier wars or if it would only be an opening blow in a fresh series of confrontations between settlers and native.
 
Ethiopian Economy in 1929.
n the beginning of the 20th century the Abyssinian economy was extremely underdeveloped and poor. The country had little industrialization compared to the European and American powers and the infrastructure of the nation was very outdated. The two principal cities of Gondar (the former capital city) and Addis Ababa (the current capital) were the principal areas of economic activity, being home to what little industry existed in the nation. Further, the cities were mainly populated by the class of artisans, who were still one of the key economic classes in Ethiopia, contrasting with the advance of manufacturing in the West.

Agriculture is the principal sector of the economy. Various crops are grown in Ethiopia, the most important being Arabic coffee, which is the key Ethiopian export to the rest of the world. Two varieties are grown in Ethiopia, Harar being the most common as it is grown throughout the country, while Genika coffee is cultivated in the Bench Maji zone. Other important crops in Ethiopia are grains, though the cultivation of these crops are almost entirely used to feed the domestic food market, so very little is actually exported. Subsistence farming is the primary economic activity in Ethiopia, therefore the Somali desert regions are the poorest, due to the paucity of arable land.
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Cofee in Ethiopia was the mos important part of the agricultural sector

Primitive mining industry exists in Ethiopia, however it is not efficient due to the lack of industrialized mining methods from Europe. The industry still turns a profit and is one of the key wealth producing activities within Ethiopia. The main minerals extracted from Ethiopian mines are gold, marble, and iron.
 
A Railroad for a War

Zhang Xueliang was the unofficial warlord of all of Manchuria in the wake of his father's unforeseen death in June 1928. The late Marshal Zhang Zuolin, warlord of Manchuria, was, at the time of his death, one of the wealthiest and most powerful of all Chinese warlords, and commanded a modern army and airforce, supported by a fledgling modern industry fueled by the coal and iron deposits in the region. Zhang had in fact secretly been in the employ of the Japanese — though it was unknown until much later — and his death had severely hampered Japanese efforts to influence the region politically and economically. Xueliang, lacking the martial abilities of his father, though just as determined to get what he wanted, was just twenty-eight years old in July 1929.

Zhang_Xueliang.jpg

"The Young Marshal".
Since 1919 there had been disputes regarding the ownership of the Chinese Eastern Railway, whose construction began in the last years of the nineteenth century and which was mostly completed by 1902. It had been owned by the Russians — and, during the Civil War, the Whites — and was transferred to Soviet authority after the war came to an end. In 1924 the Treaty of Beijing was signed, ostensibly splitting control of the railway between the Chinese and Soviets; but in reality, control remained with the Soviets through both force of arms and the domestic political scene in China (the Northern Expedition had not yet begun, and the Warlord Era was, at this time, at its peak in intensity). While the Soviets had negotiated this treaty with the Chinese government, they had simultaneously sent overtures to Zhang, offering him total control over choosing who represented Chinese interests on the CER board, effectively giving him control of the Chinese half of the railway. The same year as the Treaty of Beijing, Zhang agreed to the so-called "Secret Agreement". The Chinese government, Zhang included, were not pleased with how the treaty eventually played out. The Soviets maintained effective control over the entire railroad. Nearly all new laborers hired to maintain and expand the railroad were Soviet; under the provisions of the treaty, they were also able to refuse any expansion of Chinese control, due to the conflicting interests of the Nanking government and Zhang, which would "interrupt or injure" the railroad and its day-to-day operations. By spring 1929, Zhang, whose hatred of the Soviet Union ran deep (he blamed them for his father's death), realized that he had been played against the central government by Moscow. On 22 July, he took action.

Three divisions of his Manchurians occupied Harbin and Suifenhe, two key locations on the route of the CER, arresting railroad officials (several of them Soviet) and replacing them with direct appointees. Deeming the restoration of Chinese control a success, he cabled Nanking and offered the CER as a "gift" to Generalissimo Chiang. Upon hearing the news, Chiang was infuriated, blaspheming Zhang for "trading a railroad for a war" — a war the Chinese were not likely to win. Chiang mobilized five divisions under General Han Fuju, governor of Shandong, and ordered them to be ready to march at a moment's notice. However, before he could formulate a proper plan, or even reply to Zhang, the Soviets moved first.

General Vasily Blyukher, a veteran of the Civil War and committed communist, led two divisions of his Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, the premier Soviet ground army in the Far East, down the Trans-Siberian Railway from Khabarovsk toward Suifenhe. A small skirmish was fought there on 30 July, and though the Soviets suffered heavy casualties, Zhang ordered his troops to withdraw west. Zhang committed more troops to the region in the first two weeks of August. On 19 August Zhang counterattacked toward Suifenhe from Mudanjiang, but was startled to find fully 60,000 Soviet troops, replete with heavy artillery, one-hundred aircraft, and two-dozen T-18 tanks, several of which were armed with 37mm cannons. Zhang's commander, Chen Cheng, withdrew in the face of such strength, being forced to leave hundreds of dead on the field, and allowing the capture of an entire battalion of well-trained troops.

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Soviet troops proudly brandishing the banners of captured KMT troops after the Second Battle of Suifenhe.
Blyukher pushed West along the CER, harassing Chinese troops as they withdrew toward Mudanjiang. Several hundred fled even further West toward Harbin; Zhang greeted these soldiers himself and rewarded them with an arrest and, in some cases, an execution. Zhang deployed more brigades into the region to stem the onslaught of the Soviets. Blyukher's troops reached Mudanjiang on 25 August, and though the Chinese had had several days to prepare defenses, there was little in the way of proper fortifications or preparations, and the area was rather quickly overrun, despite a stout defense from the 78th Regiment along the Mudanjiang River. Several Chinese aircraft on a makeshift runway were seized and destroyed before they could be recovered and brought West. By this point, Harbin lay wide open for Soviet troops to attack. Zhang began to panic, and Chiang sent him orders to cease fighting at once. He did not respond, nor did he heed the advice.

The Soviet tanks had proved especially useful in the fighting to this point. Though their armor was thin, allowing a Chinese anti-tank rifle team to knock out a tank at Mudanjiang, their size and (in the case of those armed with proper cannon) power were enough to terrify many of the Chinese; however, in most cases, Zhang's troops were too poorly-prepared to properly deal with the tanks. A lack of anti-aircraft weaponry up to this point had prevented proper counters to Soviet strafing and bombing runs, effectively ceding air superiority to Blyukher. Zhang knew that Harbin had to be defended if the CER was to remain Chinese, and so ordered large shipments of weaponry brought to the city.

Zhang ordered a network of defensive positions established on the eastern and western banks of the Songhua River, including machine gun nests, artillery batteries (some of which were concealed), and several small minefields. Arrayed against Blyukher's Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army, which had swelled to some 75,000 men by this point, were over 120,000 Chinese soldiers. Among the defenses were six Renault FT-17s, a "grand battery" of one-dozen license-built French 75mm light field guns, and a pair of Gatling guns from the personal collection of the former warlord of Shandong, Zhang Zongchang. Soviet troops were ready for an offensive by 2 September, and at 5am on 3 September Blyukher ordered the attack to commence.

The Soviet aerial presence was at first very strong, but was soon challenged by several strategically-deployed machine gun teams tasked with the sole objective of shooting enemy aircraft out of the sky (included among these batteries were a grand total of seven 20mm cannon). Blyukher ordered his tanks forward to support a general infantry advance on the Chinese center, while three regiments of Soviet cavalry moved West, with the intent of crossing the Songhua West of the city and then moving North to cut through the Chinese rear. The Soviets were surprised to find some 3,000 Chinese cavalrymen lying in wait, and a general cavalry melee ensued for the following forty-five minutes, resulting in a Chinese withdrawal to the northern bank of the river. The Soviet cavalry was unable to advance further, however, as Zhang brought up reinforcements, including several machinegun teams and several battalions of reserve infantry. In the center, Chinese positions held, despite the ferocity of Soviet assaults and the general superiority of their equipment and training. Zhang had railroaded in elements of the crack 11th Infantry Division, trained by German veterans of the Great War and which had played a critical role in the conclusion of the Northern Expedition the year previous, and they proved their worth by stemming the tide of the Soviet onslaught. At around noon Blyukher called off his assault; though the Chinese anti-aircraft teams had proven mostly ineffective, poor weather was grounding his aircraft for up to three to six days, and his casualties were mounting. Additionally, two tanks had been lost near the banks of the Songhua, primarily due to the soft dirt and marshy ground, another had been destroyed, and a fourth had been so damaged as to be deemed irreparable. The Chinese manpower advantage was, to this point, too much to overcome. Blyukher withdrew several miles East and established his headquarters at Mudanjiang. His calls for reinforcements had been answered, and on 14 September three fresh divisions, two infantry and one cavalry, arrived at Suifenhe. In Nanking, however, Chiang was worried. His generals were divided on their ability to force the Soviets out of Manchuria; any further escalation of the undeclared war could explode it and inaugurate a general conflict, which many, Chiang included, did not think China could win. Furthermore, the CCP was still a massive thorn in Nanking's side; overcommitment toward the Manchurian front could endanger KMT efforts in securing the rest of the country. For now, however, Harbin remained under Chinese (effectively Zhang's) control, and Governor Han's five divisions remained ready to march North at a moment's notice.

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Chinese soldiers examine a captured T-18 after the Battle of Harbin.
In Moscow, Stalin was enraged both at the Chinese seizure of the CER and at Blyukher's failure to take Harbin. The general remained popular, however, and pledged to the General Secretary and the Politburo that he could secure the city if given the chance, owing to the great number of reinforcements he had received. With the Five Year Plan already well underway, and with Soviet resources and attention given to economic affairs to a great degree, Stalin, too, was unsure whether or not he could press his luck and reinstate the status-quo of the CER. What remained certain, however, was that Soviet citizens had been illegally arrested with no official cause, Soviet property had been seized by the Chinese, and an entire Soviet army was now deep in Chinese territory, with no war having been declared.
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Manchuria, 10 September 1929.

Skirmish at Suifenhe (Soviet victory)
Soviet losses: 162 soldiers
Chinese losses: 83 soldiers

Second Battle of Suifenhe (Soviet victory)
Soviet losses: 461 soldiers, 1 aircraft
Chinese losses: 2,683 (837 captured, 430 deserted)

Battle of Mudanjiang (Soviet victory)
Soviet losses: 510 soldiers, 1 aircraft, 1 tank
Chinese losses: 705 soldiers, 4 aircraft

Battle of Harbin (Chinese victory)
Soviet losses: 1,629 soldiers (186 captured), 7 aircraft, 4 tanks
Chinese losses: 1,344 soldiers

TOTAL CASUALTIES
Soviet losses: 2,762 soldiers, 8 aircraft, 5 tanks
Chinese losses: 4,815, 4 aircraft

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GM NOTE: This mini covers military events in Manchuria from July through mid-September. If no agreement is reached, fighting will continue.
 
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The Birth of Pan-Easternism
The Communist Party of China was in it's formational period as the vanguard of the proletariat in which to overthrow the Westocentric imperialists in Nanjing and Beiping. Although the Sixth National Congress had just past, internal disharmony due to the philosophical place of the peasant working classes within or without of the lumpenproletariat had taken precedent within the Party's lead members. Important individuals such as Mao Zedong and his loyal general Zhu De forewent the Congress in order to further ferment the radicalisation and social intelligence of the working classes of China.

Wherein the primary individuals of the Sino-Soviet cadre sought to utilise the lessons of the Russian Revolution upon the glorious struggle against the imperialists within the right of the Guomindang which sought to exploit the lowest classes for the sole purpose of the accumulation of capital, those such as Comrades Zedong and De disputed the importance of the Soviet Lessons. Alas, this left a split within the Party as the Sino-Soviet cadre, abandoning the peasants as a useless portion of socially consciousless class, disagreed with elements of the vanguard who saw these individuals as ripe for social enlightenment and revolution.

This coalesced into the birth of Pan-Easternism, which was propagated by Mao Zedong and his correspondences with Kim Chwa-chin who was in exile in Soviet occupied Manchuria. The idea was that the peasant classes were in fact the primary element of the Revolution within the East, and through positive cooperation with the Soviet (fellow Easterners headed by the wise and protective Marshal Stalin) a Glorious Revolution would occur and the imperialist exploiters of China could and would be entirely liquidated within the East, and a vanguard of peasant masses would produce a unique, Eastern utopia for the proletariat to enjoy and thrive.
 
GM NOTE: We have some roster changes inbound.

Greater Japanese Empire: @Maxwell500
United States of America: @naxhi24
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: @Shynka
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes: @baboushreturns
 
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History at a glance: First Brazilian Republic/República Velha circa 1929
In the 19th century, most of South America had won its independence by 1825. This revolutionary era had a ripple effect as the old common market that existed under the Spanish Empire was destroyed. The old common market had created an increased dependence on financial investment which was provided by nations that had already begun industrialization, as a result Western European powers such as Great Britain and France as well as the United States played a much larger role for a region that became economically dependent soon after achieving their sovereign freedom.

The export of natural resources provided the basis of most Latin American economies which led to the establishment of a homegrown wealthy elite. With the restructuring of colonial and economic realities the sizable gap between the rich and poor widened even further as the landed elite controlled vast swaths of land and resources. In Brazil, for example, by 1910 85% of the land belonged to approximately 1% of the population. This would lead to a society of peasants whose connection to a larger political voice was enthralled by farming and mining magnates.

This endemic political instability throughout Latin America would also lead to the emergence of caudillos, essentially military chiefs that wielded political power based on their skill and their ability to hand out patronage. While the various political regimes were democratic in theory (Brazil’s 1891 constitution was modeled after the Americans via granting considerable autonomy to the provinces) taking the forms of either presidential or parliamentary governments, both systems were prone to being taken over by either a caudillo or in the case of the First Brazilian Republic an oligarchy. Popular insurrections were often influential and therefore brutally repressed. Uruguay, Argentina to a much lesser degree, Chile and Colombia were be some of the very few who had actual democracy.

Brazil was formally recognized by their former Portuguese overlords on August 29, 1825, from there on out it was an independent empire in its own right. However, on November 15, 1889 the monarchy would find itself overthrown via a military coup. What would come to be known as La República Velha was anything but democratic. Critics of the early republican government stated that it was nothing more than a military dictatorship with the army dominating all affairs. This would change following a political and military crisis that gave rise to republican civilian control. The Encilhamento was an economic bubble that boomed in the late 1880s and early 1890s in Brazil that came to an abrupt end during the provisional government of Deodoro de Fonseca. This economic bubble was fueled by a policy of unrestricted credit for industrial investments backed by the abundant issuance of money leading to out of control inflation, rampant speculation and fraud. The military crisis was known as Revoltas da Armada, or Brazilian Naval Revolts. These were armed mutinies advocated mainly by two Admirals, Custódio José de Melo and Saldanha Da Gama against the unconstitutional staying in power of the central government in Rio de Janeiro.

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Proclamation of the Republic

Despite semi-democratic rule (elections were always rife with fraud with reports of intimidation) the First Republic would lurch from one economic crisis to another, in the face of such underlining difficulties the nation would seek to alleviate its problems by overseeing the extension of its territory through a series of treaties with Britain, France, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Uruguay, which saw the country's territory grow by over 250.000 square miles. Despite the territorial expansionism, Brazil’s financial situation would not improve until World War 1. During the war Brazil had motioned to stay neutral, at least at first. Brazil initially adopted a neutral position, in accordance with the Hague Convention, on an attempt to maintain the markets for its export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured items.

Brazil faced a complicated social and economic situation with the outbreak of hostilities. Its economy was largely based on exports of agricultural products such as coffee, latex, and very limited industrial manufacturing. Because of this, these products were not considered essential by foreign consumers, worse yet customs duties and export fees (the main source of government income) decreased as the conflict continued. This was accentuated further by the German blockade of Allied ports, and then by a British ban on the importation of coffee into England, in 1917.

However, following repeated sinking of Brazilian merchant ships by German submarines, the Brazilian President Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers, and was the only country of Latin America to be directly involved in the war. The major contribution by the nation was the Navy's patrol of areas of the Atlantic Ocean. With such a high demand for raw materials to fuel the various war efforts Brazilian fortunes would make a dramatic turnaround with its flourishing export trades to the European continent during the post-war era. These good fortunes drastically reduced any chance of a major economic crisis at least in the short term. Growing industries and a high influx of immigrants led to a strong industrial workforce that while it was still considered mediocre by European standards was highly noticed in South America, with these demographic changes Brazilian society too would undergo a transformation. Despite these advancements the politics of Brazil, however, are still based on the dominance of the federal government by the landed oligarchies of São Paulo and Minas Gerais leading to a steady rise of domestic tension. The presidency of Arthur Bernardes and his vice-president Estácio Coimbra (1922-1926) saw the consolidation of the labour movement around the Brazilian Workers' Confederation (Confederação Brasileira dos Trabalhadores), which sponsored heavy strikes in the southern states, further increasing general dissatisfaction against the federal government by the landed elite and the agricultural populace.

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President Venceslau Brás fatefully declares war on the Central Powers due to Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare

However, the Republic has fallen on hard times dealing with a crisis that has eroded the government and its institutions throughout the 1920s. Due to the mobilization of the workers on behalf of both the fascists and communists, political leaders have watched helplessly as their influence waned due to their own schisms weakening both their very own parties and the major oligarchies that controlled them. If this weren't enough the threat to the Republic also comes from the economic front due to overproduction of coffee and its fluctuating prices. It remains to be seen whether the Republic will survive the coming years, especially as several actors and interested parties prepare to take center stage.
 
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Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

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His Majesty Aleksandar I Karađorđević
King of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(r. 16 August 1921 - Present)
His Majesty's Government

Prime Minister: Anton Korošec (SLS)

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