A Shift in Priorities

[vasp]

Since GDNP is led by Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck it is safe to say that they will not work together with Streicher racist party because of the experiences he had in africa. Otl he told Hitler to go fuck himself when offerd a ambassador job in 1935 but he did not put it that politly.

[nerdknight01]

¡ Hi ! ¡ SWEET !.

Ruth Fisher, what real, complex, interesting character. For one part she is a faithful beliver ( but something blind ) in the ideals of socialism, the power of the left and the people, but at same time she lives in a nice house, with a secretary, and likes one magnificent morning breakfast, ¡ oh ! the contradictions of the human soul and mind. In anyway, she it be having the virtues of it been to damm smart, she study and know the ideas and weak points of her enemies, and finnally she is cappable, competent for see how is the reality. In short: for she becomeng one excellent leader, she need to live more, or suffer more defeats, or at least to learning important leassons given by part of The Wanderer.

[nerdknight01]

Yep, finnallly the Middleafrica´s crysis or colonial independence will it be to blow, and the game of blames and responsabilites for the middleafrican´s fiasco will start, i can´t wait for see the fights inside Germany political system for this situation.


And for last, about america´s economic collapse, as for myself, i think and feel that because the MacAdoo´s administration, the american´s economic reserves, the faith of the common american people in their goverment, the resources of the elites, the armamentist programs, etc.. for the moment don´t ocurr the economic disaster, but because the great great dust bowl/enviromental disaster, the great numbers of weapons at the hands of common people, the the mafia, the gangs, the drugs, the angry veterans, the mistrust between city people against the poor farmers, the tense race relations, etc... when the crysis blows, ocurrs well, let´s say that this going to be VIOLENT, AWESOME AND EPIC.

Is late, i going to sleep.

Peace, good night and good luck.

[Jotun]

Originally Posted by nerdknight01

¡ Hi ! ¡ SWEET !.

Ruth Fisher, what real, complex, interesting character. For one part she is a faithful beliver ( but something blind ) in the ideals of socialism, the power of the left and the people, but at same time she lives in a nice house, with a secretary, and likes one magnificent morning breakfast, ¡ oh ! the contradictions of the human soul and mind. In anyway, she it be having the virtues of it been to damm smart, she study and know the ideas and weak points of her enemies, and finnally she is cappable, competent for see how is the reality. In short: for she becomeng one excellent leader, she need to live more, or suffer more defeats, or at least to learning important leassons given by part of The Wanderer.

Oh yeah, she should meet the Wanderer. Good idea!

Ms. Fischer's is the typical kind of hypocrisy of Socialist (or Communist) nomenklatura (for lack of a better word) everywhere. They all too easily fall into the trap of thinking -even believing- that their elevated status somehow gives them the right to better conditions than the unwashed masses whom they unconsciously or not so unconsciously look down upon. That this flies in the face of universal equality of the people they keep preaching about is blithely ignored.
There are nice German words stemming from the late 19th century for this kind of "socialist": "Salonsozialist" or "Stehkragensozialist" (stiff collar socialist). Just look at today's socialists/communists of Germany's "Linke/SED" - yes I deliberately misstated the party name . Book contracts, high payments for their jobs as representatives or ministers (way more than what the average German earns, of course), big cars (German-made, of course), lobster bashes...you name it, they are probably doing it. Oskar Lafontaine is a millionaire many times over, for f***'s sake
Preaching water and sipping good wine. How I hate it!

The rant being over, I think that Ms. Fischer is missing quite a few things, especially when she refers to the Mittelafrikans as "comrades". Other things, too. I sincerely hope she goes expat to England to help build "true" socialism, stepping on a few toes too many (we Germans DO have a way of doing that, you know , all the preachiness, know-it-all attitude towards others...) and then getting purged herself, having a revelation about how wrong her beliefs are.

[Monty Burns]

That Ms. Fischer is influential in Germany is not good. Her ideas can easily spoil the good situation Germany is in ITTL.

On the other side, I sure hope that she's representative for British socialists. If they follow her line of thinking, socialism will soon fail (again, as previous to the civil war they didn't very well did they?). An early example of socialist failure i practice can only be beneficial for the world as a whole. England suffering from that experiment in turn should be beneficial in developping a European Union.

[rast]

International politics is just like participating in a dinner: either you are sitting at the table and enjoying your share – or you are being served on a platter.
(Japanese Prime Minister Nakajima Chikuhei)

The population of Nippon was growing fast: in the 1930 census, 64.5 million had been counted; and the experts thought that the census next year, in 1935, would show more than 69 million living on the 6,852 islands. But contrary to the number of people, the surface area of Japan wasn’t expanding. From 382,073 square kilometres total acreage, slightly less than 60,000 were cultivatable and cultivated; thus, calculational each square kilometre of arable land had to feed 1,150 people. Therefore, fishing and whaling were of paramount importance for sustaining the populace because the farmers were barely capable of supplying everybody’s daily rice portion.

Korea was of little help here, the country was just able to sustain its 22 million inhabitants. More than seventy percent of the country were covered by mountains. The initial hope that Korea might produce excess rice for Japanese consumption had not come true, the ever growing indigene population was eating up all surplus. Nor did Korea absorb any significant numbers of Japanese settlers. – But that was a general problem: Japanese didn’t emigrate. Even Manshū-koku had only attracted officials and migrant workers – but hardly any settlers.

There were only very few Japanese settler colonies abroad. The largest clusters existed in Brazil, where more than 200,000 Japanese lived near São Paulo and in the state of Pará. The next largest settlement area was Hawaii with about 150,000 Japanese – under US rule, just like 120,000 Japanese in the USA proper. But the US had banned all further Asian immigration already in the early 1920ies. – 40,000 Japanese were living on the Philippines, 21,000 in Canada, and 17,000 in Vietnam. That was about all. – From the approximately 2 million, who had been sojourning in Manshū-koku and the Chinese Empire, almost all had returned to Nippon during the troubles accompanying the changeover of power and the successively rising Chinese hostility to foreigners.

If all this was so – and there was no prospect of a thorough change – what were the consequences for Nippon? Territorial expansion obviously was no answer as Japanese were no colonists – and rather wanted to live in overcrowded Japan than somewhere else. More than fifty percent of the population were working in agriculture and fishing; and Japanese agriculture couldn’t be mechanised the way farming in the USA, Germany and Russia had been in recent years. Yet, there was potential in fishery: one could modernize and enlarge the fishing fleet.

The other part of the answer was selling industrial products abroad – and using the profit for buying foodstuffs. Therefore, it was essential to keep China as customer – even if it meant making unpalatable compromises. As long as taxes and tariffs prevented Japanese merchandise from being sold en masse in the USA and the COMECON, China remained the most important market for Nippon.

At the same time, cheap British products represented a deadly threat to Nippon’s industry. In this context, growing Chinese xenophobia could be considered heaven sent. The closure of the foreign concessions had been sincerely welcomed in Japan. As long as the Chinese didn’t consider Nippon as ‘foreign’ but as tributary to the Great Qing Empire, Japan’s economy had a safe outlet – even if Japanese nationalists frothed at the mouth…

Japanese Prime Minister Nakajima was determined to preserve the current status – as long as possible… Compared to the USA or Europe, the Chinese market was mediocre at best, but it was all Nippon had. What remained was helping Vietnam, Siam and the Philippines develop – so that they could become potent customers. In the long run, one had to see how China fared under the rule of the isolationists. Hopefully, the collapse didn’t come too soon…

Until then, one was wise to keep the Chinese happy – well, at least peaceful and co-operative… This might become difficult, as many Japanese thought that Qing Emperor ought to be tributary to the Tenno – and that Chinese supremacy was unbearable. Unfortunately, many scions of the ancient Samurai didn’t consider doings and dealings as equal to the art of war. Nakajima knew that his life was at stake in this process, but even if he only was the son of a common farmer, his honour required him to persevere and try to achieve the best for Nippon.

[Kooluk Swordsman]

No! Japan must not face hardship in any way! She must rise up and become the world hegemon! Down with the USA and COMECON! Argh!

-Takes deep breath-

I mean... could not Japan send her exports to Africa or South America, or have the USA and ME taken over those markets?

[Russian Sailor]

Maybe the prime minister can pay Japanese families to move into Korea hopefully.

[nerdknight01]

¡ Hi ! ¡ NICE !.

To Jotun: That class of " bliness ", is one characteristic quality of human species, it happen in right, center, left, or any class of group, religion, or organization created by peoples, in short: there exist people that don´t want to see the reality, and uses their ideology and power for living very well, and when some big crysis ocurr, is time for run and escape with the gained wealth...

For Ruth, she need " for open their eyes ", to suffer some defeats, or it be salved in some situation for the right, or some talks with The Wanderer about the hard realities of life, goverment, his defeats, and what are the important lessons discovered in their adventures around the world.

And for last about Japan, for the moment will it be playing the card of friendship and good relations with China, but because they need land for food and living, ¡ wait ! i wonder what oportunity exist for some class, kind of succesfully Japanese´s Sealion operation against Australia or Hawai, will see...

Peace.

[Monty Burns]

Seems to me the Japanese government is very rational in their plans. Sitting between two behemots on the shores of the Pacific which are definitely not may become problematic, though. Hopefully, their plan of promoting South-East Asia succeeds, and hopefully they'll be willing to share pwoer and influence with these people.

In any case, it seems to me that China gets itself into more and more problems. And all its neighbours will be glad to see it partitioned...

[Expat]

Although the economic miracle of Japan is not inevitable, its mega-cities are a bit more likely. Considering their population and the various natural disasters they have to contend with, a Japan that's even moderately powerful will invest a lot in strong buildings.

I also have to think that if the Japanese were to pry Hawaii loose from the US (which is far far far far far from certain) that a large number of Japanese wouldn't have a problem moving there. Korea and southern Siberia are one thing, a tropical paradise is another.

Also, given the nature of Japanese society, they could easily (relative to other nations) just tell their people they have to move if a location were to open up.

I know it's a pipe dream at this point, but I'm still holding out hope for sunny Kamchatka. But that's more my dislike for the size of Russia talking.

[zeppelin247]

getting a bit a head of yourself talking about a Japanese attack on Hawaii we do not even know there will be a war between the USA and Japan

[Life In Black]

For a radical idea, any chance of an alliance or understanding between Middle Africa and Japan?

[Jotun]

Originally Posted by zeppelin247

getting a bit a head of yourself talking about a Japanese attack on Hawaii we do not even know there will be a war between the USA and Japan

"Pry loose" doesn't necessarily mean war. TTL's US is skirting along the edge of bankruptcy. The islands could simply be bought by Japan if the situation of the US treasury becomes desperate...

[zeppelin247]

Originally Posted by Jotun

"Pry loose" doesn't necessarily mean war. TTL's US is skirting along the edge of bankruptcy. The islands could simply be bought by Japan if the situation of the US treasury becomes desperate...

but would the USA sell some of there most valuable pieces of real estate in the Pacific?

[Expat]

A "loose" Hawaii also doesn't have to mean Japanese property. Remember, there's a local independence movement as well. But an independent Hawaii would certainly be in Japan's economic orbit.

And as I parenthetically said, I agree; this is all total speculation on events that haven't been justified in the TL (yet.)

[Whumbly]

I'm beginning to like this Japan's mindset.

"Why invade a place and claim it as your own, when you can liberate it and simply buy the economy?"

[Monty Burns]

Originally Posted by zeppelin247

but would the USA sell some of there most valuable pieces of real estate in the Pacific?

Not if they have the choice. But following the general trends rast has brought up for the US, there's a decent probability that the US may not be able to hold Hawaii. With a majority non-white population and an economic situation which looks more and more grim, they might want to secede. And if the US send their battleships to hold Hawaii, the Japanese/Asians might prevent that.

[Bmao]

I think Hawaii is mostly a pipe dream and that the Japanese don't really have a realistic chance of taking it from the US. For one, its too large a naval base for them to abandon, and plus that abandons Australia and New Zealand, both of which are staunchly pro-US.

Japan might try for some of the smaller islands in the Western Pacific that the US still owns.

I also think that the notion of Japanese/Hawaiian sabotage is a pretty far-fetched one as well, at least not enough to jeopardize US rule over Hawaii.


Furthermore, as for potential markets, I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't explored possibilities in the Indian Market. If I recall, they already had set up a few companies there as the British were on their way out, and they also have a large buyer pool. Its also a way for the Japanese to bypass any Chinese tariffs and make a good profit. Also, the Japanese had oil rights in Persia via Haishensai, or whatever their conglomerate was called.

[rast]

Russia needs a strong state power and must have it. But I am not calling for totalitarianism.
(Russian Prime Minister Boris V. Savinkov)

Marshal Mikhail N. Tukhachevsky was scanning the horizon with his powerful binoculars. Nothing spectacular could be seen; the major training area ended in dense woods – and the flat terrain didn’t allow him to see what might be hiding behind those trees. Tukhachevsky looked on his wrist watch: it was still to early; he had to be patient. His aide-de-camp was offering him a cup of tea, which he gladly accepted. The two men were alone on the uppermost platform of the watch tower; Tukhachevsky intended to observe the manoeuvre without ruffle or excitement – and especially without constantly being pestered by career-obsessed generals.

The sweet cold tea was a welcome refreshment in the heat of the summer. Tukhachevsky was glad he had applied bug repellant galore; the air was thick with gnats – even up here. He looked on his watch again. About time…
Raising the binoculars, Tukhachevsky pried the sky in the east. Some tiny dots became visible in the flickering air. Yes, it had begun.

The dots were closing in rapidly. Tukhachevsky knew what they were: transporters, large beasts, nicely reverse engineered from German Junkers planes, the work of Andrei N. Tupolev. Well, he had flown in one of them already; but only today would he be able to see whether they really could deliver what they had been designed for.

The transport aircraft were now above the edge of the woods – and starting to emit paratroopers. That was phase one of the manoeuvre plan: the airborne descent of a parachute division. Tukhachevsky had insisted that a whole division had to be dropped. He wanted a realistic scenario to be enacted.

Approvingly, he watched the ‘red’ paratroopers rally and advance. They were supposed to capture two bridges, which had been simulated with wooden constructions. Then they had to dig in – and repel a counter-attack – before being relieved by armoured spearheads. That was the plan…

The defenders of the ‘bridges’ were weak guarding ‘blue’ platoons without heavy weapons, yet they would be able to report via radio what was happening to them before being overwhelmed. – Then, the decisive phase would come: the counter-attack. Much depended on the leaders of the ‘blue’ forces. Speed was essential. They didn’t know what would hit them; for them it was – hopefully – a real surprise.

They had to react quickly, issue orders and bring their ad-hoc formations forward. This was the big test: could the paratroopers withstand such an attack by superior forces and hold their bridge-heads until the armour arrived, which – what the ‘red’ leaders didn’t know yet – would be delayed by several hours…

Humming, Tukhachevsky plugged his pipe and asked his aide-de-camp for a match. This was going to be interesting. The leaders of both sides had been hand-picked, battle hardened veterans and highly appraised staff officers. They were the best the Russian Army could muster. And they would help to decide whether Tukhachevsky’s concept of extensive operations was viable…