Europe Post 1918

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Te British and Australian governments were holding talks about the replacement of the former Battle cruiser HMAS Australia. The older battlecruiser had suffered some damage during the war and was now regarded as too slow and two lightly armed to be of use. The British government was offering the Battlecruiser HMS Tiger as a replacement.
The British government would sell it to Australia for the sum of Fifty thousand pounds sterling. It would Under take to modernize the vessel with Australia picking up 90% of the cost. The secondaries would be removed and replaced with modern dual purpose guns and AA armament.
Below is the vessel after the start of some modifications.

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In view of the government of Argentina purchasing the ex-German Battleships both Chile and Brazil expressed interest in buying the former HMS Erin.

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The government of Australia and Great Britain reached a deal for the Battle cruiser Tiger, which would be renamed HMAS Australia. The ship would receive an overhaul making it appear somewhat like the battle cruiser HMS Lion.

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Ireland sold the Erin to Chile. The Battleship Canada had been sold to the Canadians rather than given back to Chile. The British government was considering selling the old battleship HMS King George V to Chile to make up for not giving them the Canada.

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Economic problems were having an increasing impact on Military spending by governments throughout the world. The only countries not seeming to suffer were the Soviet Union and the Republic of China. China was not attempting to spend large sums of money on building a larg Navy or even a large air force. China lacked an industrial capacity to build massive weapons.
Australia had thus decided to lengthen the amount of time that it would take to add on additional ships to the Royal Australian Navy. Plans were to eventually add 3 light cruisers, 9 new destroyers and 5 submarines plus some additional ships over the next 10 years.

New Zealand rejected the offer to buy a new battle cruiser and instead elected to go for a new light cruiser, 4 destroyers and 4 frigates to be added over the next 8 years.

[chris N]

As 1929 started the world's economy was starting to sputter. It appeared that the problem caused by the last war's spending as well as speculation was causing massive problems. The US was now seeing the begin of a problem of the loss of millions of dollars on the stock market. Companies were failing and people who had invested their entire life savings suddenly found that the good old days were over. There was a run on banks and the problem just got out of Hand. President Alfred E Smith ordered the banks closed for a week as he moved to take action to shore up the economic system. The Stock Market was also closed and thus all trading suspended. The President asked the Congress for a series of emergency bills to be passed. He also ordered the Treasury department and the FBI to begin investigations into the causes of failures.
The US was not the only country to suffer from this problem. It was spreading to Great Britain and more of Europe as well as Latin America.

[chris N]

Upon reading reports of the economic trouble in the West Stalin sat at his desk and began to come up with a plan that might allow the Soviet Union to make gains in the West. Or failing that to weaken the west so much that by the time the Soviets were ready to strike they would be unable to do anything.
It was his plan to use the parties of the left to weaken the enemies of the Soviet Union and thus allow the Communist to eventually weaken them to the point of victory.
Demonstrations were already taking place in France and there were even some in Great Britain. So far the Germans and the Austro-Czech_Croatian Union with Sweden and Finland seem to be weathering the latest economic storm. In truth all four countries were suffering some problems but by not throwing up tariff barriers against one another they seem to have done better. Estonia had just joined the Group with Denmark and the Netherlands.
There was a massive demonstration in Latvia against the government and when the Army responded that it lacked the ability to insure that there was no revolution the government turned to the Germans for Help. The German Kaiser was willing to help to prevent a Red Revolution but he demanded that there be changes in the government and real reforms so as to assure the public that Germany was not intervening to establish a dictatorship.

[chris N]

Paris France The Capital was facing violent protest at the worsening
economic situation. Workers were finding it hard to find a job with the collapse of companies. Clashes between the metropolitan Police and demonstrators was turning increasingly violent. The elite police units Gendarmes de elite had been called in to reinforce the police and the Prime Minister was considering asking the President 's permission to call in the Army.
There had also been demonstrations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Spain and Portugal. In Spain the General in Charge of the government had used blunt force to maintain order.

[chris N]

1929 was proving to be a rocky year for a lot of the world. Even though the Central Europe Common Market founded by Germany and the ACCU had been able so fat to weather the economic storm things were starting to get a little rough. The Central Europe Common Market had grown prior to the start of the Recession with the addition of Sweden, Finland and Estonia. Just as the storm started to Hit Denmark and the Netherlands were allowed to join. All nations were experiencing rising unemployment. Germany was finding that trade barriers was causing the lose of jobs. Thus unemployment had risen to 2.25% but it looked like it would continue to rise despite the increase spending on the Germany military. Some experts were calling for cuts in government spending but at least one fiscal expert said that if the government cut its military spending that would result in the layoff of possibly as many as 30000 people. the CECU was having some effect on the ability of the countries that were members of it to keep the problem from growing. Within it there were low tariff barriers.

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Below a Headline in one of the local papers in New York City.

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In the Latvian Capital German and leftist forces were battling for control of the city. The Latvian people were supporting the Germans as they had pushed their government for reforms. At the same time they feared the Red Giant to the east.

[chris N]

Despite struggles between the Police and or the Army and the Public Stalin was not getting all of the chaos that he had hoped for. Never the less it appeared that King Alexander of Serbia was to be a causality of the chaos when an assassin's bullet struck him down while on a visit to France.

In Latvia the German and Latvian Army restored order and crushed the left-wing uprising. Trotsky refused to allow the Red Army to be drawn into the struggle. All in all a victory for the Germans in stabilizing the country and preventing the Reds from expanding.
Below German forces tracking down Leftist forces in a Rural area of Latvia.

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Germany fairly quickly reduced its forces in Latvia from nearly 40,000 troop to under 9,000 in less than a year. German ability to project its military power was quite good. The Germans acquired the co-operation of the Polish-Lithuanian Union's government to move troops from East Prussia to Latvia without too much difficulty. The Polish Prime Minister was worried about the threat from the East. He had little doubt that the Soviet Union was behind the uprising. Below Poland's new Prime Minister.

[chris N]

As 1930 continued there were demonstrations in a lot of countries over the continued loss of jobs and the rise of inflation. In Italy Duce Balbo took action to make sure that conditions did not worsen. There were jobs in the enpire and he had managed to prevent the situtaion for worsening.

In France the demonstrations had gotten Nasty and it Serbia the Regent had called upon the Army to restore order.
Germany saw a slight increase in unemployment but it was not as bad as that in some of the other European countries. So Far the Central European Common Market appeared to be doing a lot better than the other countries. The loss of jobs was still there but it was much lower. Germany's military spending was pumping the German economy but if the economy worsen there would have to be a reduction in spending. Inflation was under control.

[chris N]

As 1930 was drawing to a close the Central Europe Common Market Members were meeting in Frankfurt Germany. Representatives from Germany, ACCU, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Netherlands and Latvia were discussing the Economy problems and the instability that it was causing in Europe. The situation across the Atlantic was not looking any better with unemployment in the US hitting 8%. There was instability in Slovakia and Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine also showed some problems.

[chris N]

In Spain the Spanish dictator reign was brought to an end when the King dismissed him. The General had ruled the country for now nearly 8 years but his bringing politics into the selection of military officers had been the final straw. The General had during the nearly 8 years of his rule managed to improve the transportation system of Spain and the living standards of the Spanish people. He had by force of his personality gotten the Spanish Parliament to pass a new constitution.
The King appointed a new General to rule in his steed but the days of a dictatorship were drawing to a close. New elections would bring a change.
Unfortunately it did not appear that the economy would improve enough to allow a transition into true constitutional bound government.

[chris N]

While a new leader was appointed by the King it appeared that with the dismissal of the last military ruler the floodgates were open. Any progress that had been made in putting the Spanish economy back on a sound footing disappeared. Unemployment began to rapidly rise. With new legislative election coming it appeared that the parties of the left were about to take power in Spain and it might be a good idea if the King took and extend trip out of Spain

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United States- The Democrats had despite an unemployment rate of 19% managed to do quite well in the election. President Smith had continued to try to do what he could to improve the economy. Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt had left the New York to become Secretary of the Navy in the Smith Administration. By the time President Smith gave his State of the Union Address he was able to report that the unemployment rate was beginning to drop off. It had dropped 2% and while it would take a long time to get truly back to normal the country had turned a corner.
Reports of a Japanese -Chinese clash in Manchuria was a signal that the Administration needed to strengthen its position in the Pacific. State Department reports also signaled that the Nationalist had achieved a knock out blow on the Communist. The Nationalist forces had manage to catch up to and eliminate all of the communist forces that had broken out. Amoung the dead was the entire Communist leadership. The Communist opposition was now a broken force. The Nationalist Military Leader had also managed to subjugate a lot of the Warlords and had consolidated power. Chang Kai Shek was now the man in the drivers seat. It was lucky had he had listen to his German advisers and put capable men in charge.
President Smith was going to propose a rebuilding of the US Navy and a strengthening of US defenses in the Pacific. This would mean more jobs and a further stimulation of the economy. It would begin with a five year plan designed to slowly rebuild the fleet.

[chris N]

Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt present the President with plans that called for the completion of several Battle cruisers that work had been suspended on and for the construction of a new class of light Cruiser the Brooklyn Class. In all this would mean the adding on of 3 Battle cruisers and 7 light cruisers over the next 5 years as well as 27 destroyers, 19 submarines, 3 Battleships and 3 aircraft carriers plus auxiliaries. Below the Improved USS Ranger

[chris N]

In the Far East there had been clashes between the troops of the Young Marshal and the Japanese Imperial Army. The Japanese had gotten the better end of the fighting but the Chinese warlord was determined to resist a Japanese move to move into Manchuria. In the South Chang was consolidating power and emerging as a strongman within the Nationalist Party. Having Crushed the Communist he had been eliminating the competition from the Warlord and assuring the control of the Central government over China. Captured treasure was being used to better equip and train the Nationalist Army. Corruption was being weeded out and the execution of officers , who stole their troops pay had all but eliminated that.