Yes. it is nasty.
Mostly drank by students and alcoholics who only care about the fact it has alcohol in it.
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The German Century
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Mostly drank by students and alcoholics who only care about the fact it has alcohol in it.
Texas Lone Star Beer would like a word with you!Worst beer in the world.
Before the Storm: The Americas
Before the Storm: The Americas
In 1939, there were only two of the best places for any businessman to make his trade in the Stock market: Frankfurt and New York City. Indeed, with the chaos unfolding across the Old World, the New World was seen as an attractive and safe place for people fleeing for a better life. People from all walks of life from deposed royals, wealthy elitists to even regular people hopped on to boats for a new life.
Canada
As Mackenzie King leads his country into a new decade, many were becoming convinced that the leading country of the Commonwealth would not be the old mother country if it were ever liberated, but the young country of Canada. As the biggest recipient of all the British exiles, their knowledge and skills were useful for growing Canadian industries growing out of its agriculture-based economy.
On the other hand, King and the Liberals had to stave off attempts by the exiles to take control of the government. He had to remind them numerous times that while they were welcome to stay in Canada, they should abide by the laws of the Canadian government, duly elected by the Canadian people. Soon enough, the exiles relented. This didn’t stop them from putting their support behind the Conservative Party.
While the Canadian government went about its day governing the country, the British government in exile had been busy coordinating with the other various Commonwealth countries in the preparation for a future war they were sure was going to come.
Based in the old traditional clubs of the elite such as the Empire Club in Toronto, the Orange Order, and the Chateau Clique in Montreal, the men of pre-revolution Britain work from behind the scenes to coordinate with the King in preparation for the day they would return home to the British Isles. Though most would support the Conservatives, a few would place their money on King as their only hope is one day getting home.
The fall of the empire had a considerable effect on the White Dominions. The Mother Country was lost and so were all the colonies. The end of the Raj led to a huge surge of racism against non-whites as the white population saw them as the source for the death of their boys in India. It got to the point where some in the Canadian Parliament advocated instituting a ‘White Canada’ policy that would severely restrict Asian immigration, taking a page from Australia and their policies.
In 1940, Neville Chamberlain resigned from his post as PM due to his worsening health. After a few weeks of debate, the cabinet presented a list of suitable candidates to the King. Out of all the candidates, one stood out to Edward. There were some things about the man that interested him: he smoked cigars, had served in the government during the Great War, had seen combat himself as a cavalryman, and was the kind of man that would tell the truth straight rather than beat around the bush. In looking at the man’s name, the King knew he found his new PM.
“Get me Churchill”.
United States of America
Hoover’s 2nd term was rather uneventful, to say the least. He ended the Banana Wars by instituting the Good Neighbor Policy, which brought an end to American interventions in Latin America. Overall, he continued building his Fair Deal coalition and enacting more of his reforms. In 1940, Hoover campaigns for Quentin Roosevelt as the Democrats campaign for John Nance Garner. A close race is expected between both candidates in November.
Mexico
After the Communist takeover of Mexico in 1930, Plutarco Calles became the new President and set about transforming the country into a socialist state. Being a fervent anti-clerical socialist, he promulgated a series of laws called the ‘Calles Laws’ or ‘Ley de Tolerancia del Cultus’. It severely restricted Catholic worshipping in Mexico as well as limiting the Church’s influence. It reduced the number of priests to 1 for every 6000 people, added the need for a state license to serve as a priest, and the need to register into a local office where the preaching will take place.
When the Vatican voiced its criticism about the anti-clerical policies in 1936, this only inflamed Calles even more. Out of spite, he revoked the civil liberties of the clergy, including the right of trial by jury, expelled foreign priests, seized church property, and closed monasteries, convents, and religious schools. This soon became too much for the devout Catholics, who soon rebelled in what is now known as the Cristero War. For a while, the Cristeros were hammering the Mexican army but over time became increasingly crushed under the might of the socialist state. Fearing the repression, several of the Cristeros trekked to the US border by foot or sailed to Baja California by boat in an attempt at fleeing the persecution.
The bodies of Cristeros hanging from telephone wires
Calles also began transitioning Mexico’s economy by instituting the Nueva Política Económica or New Economic Policy. This involved abolishing private property, instituting land reform, and setting up agrarian communes, known as Ejidos. Also, Calles nationalized the mines and factories and created a centrally planned economy. In 1939, El Jefe Maximo enforced Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution which nationalized all foreign-owned businesses.
Not satisfied with changing Mexico’s society and economy, Calles also solidified his political power as President. He appointed himself as head of the National Revolutionary Party (PRN) and slowly gained control of the Mexican Congress. To make sure no threats would arise in the future, Calles created his own Security service, the Federal Security Directorate or DFS. Any military officers whose loyalties were considered suspect were either demoted or retired.
By 1940, Plutarco Calles had complete control of Mexico. He would become known as El Jefe Maximo and his presidency would be called the Maximato. To others, it would be called La Dictadura Perfecta
Nicaragua
In 1928, a revolution broke out across the small country which spiraled into a guerrilla war. A few years later, the rebels were now at the streets of Managua, celebrating their overthrow of the government. The man that made this possible was Augusto Cesar Sandino. With the country now under the control, Sandino implemented many socialist policies that were inspired by those in Mexico.
While the US could have stopped the revolution if they wanted to, the Great Depression crippled their means of enforcing their interests. Later on, Hoover’s Good Neighbor policy effectively ended any hopes of overthrowing the revolutionary government. In 1939, Nicaragua received expertise from their fellow allies in Mexico and Chile as the 3 nations together formed the main Marxist countries in Latin America.
Nicaragua’s position as a socialist state threatened the military regimes that dominated the other Central American states as the country could now be a haven for opposition groups.
West Indies Federation
A collection of small Caribbean islands that happened to be ruled by Britain before 1925, the federation acts as a team when it came to helping each other out in trying times. In the early years, it was rocked by various unrests across the islands that had to be snuffed out by Canadian intervention. Despite all that, it somehow survived and things were starting to look good for West Indies. The French colonies in the region are guarded by what is left of the Royal Navy after its evacuation.
Brazil
Ever since 1930, Brazil has been under the rule of Getulio Vargas. Taking inspiration from the emerging ideology of Fascism from Europe, he embarks on remodeling the country into an image similar to Italy, with himself calling himself the Brazilian Duce. While transforming the State, Vargas also hopes to turn Brazil into an industrial powerhouse, rivaling even the Argentinians and Americans. To maintain his support, he capitalized on fears of a communist takeover like in Mexico to maintain his hold on power.
The Americas, 1940
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Worst beer in the world.
All this talk about which beer is the best reminds me of the time I drank a can of Budweiser on my 18th birthday 😏
All this talk about how bad US beer is? C'mon, guys you have never visited Ukraine! The only good kind of beer is Czech or German imported, anything made in Ukraine is a pure cowshit.
What are the differences between Hoover's Fair Deal ITTL and FDR's New Deal OTL?
Hmmm, I wonder if Mexico will end up leading its own Latin American socialist bloc? Sort of a Socialist non-aligned group similar to Communist Yugoslavia, as I can't see the Latin American socialist states having much common cause with their European counter-parts, especially with the risk of poking the American giant...
Mexico might still want Baja California back.
And not sure if USA wants to be in good terms with American socialist states after Second Great War. There is not much of reason for that.
I have no doubt Mexico would very much like Baja California back, but what can they do about it? A US with its industry and manpower mobilized for war would steamroll Mexico and its allies in Latin America. Even if the Internationale supported them, it wouldn't change much as they would be focused more on the war with the Reichspakt to really help much. Pretty sure the US Navy is capable of wrecking any CoF or UoB (sorry, BWR) reinforcements they could spare to send Mexico's way (good chance we could count on the RN/RCN joining in the fun of sinking Syndie ships as well).
Well true I guess, I'm presuming that with Britain and France joining Russia in falling to Socialist revolution the Red Scare in America would be even worse than OTL. Then again what would be the Cassus Belli for a Third US-Mexican War? Can't see Calles being completely boneheaded and provoking war with America.
Before the Storm - Africa
Before the Storm: Africa
In the vast lands of the Dark Continent, Africa continues the way it was ever since the British Empire’s collapse 15 years ago. While the various tribes that populate the land now have new rulers, things still went the way as it was before.
Nationalist Spain
Stuck in its African territories, the Nationalist government was entirely dependent on French, Italian, and now German aid to keep itself from falling apart. To sustain its army, the Spanish legion relied heavily on volunteers from Latin America while the Army of Africa recruited more Arabs and Berbers into its ranks. As a result, its forces looked a bit less Spanish and more Latino, Arab and African.
The Spanish Legion & Army of Africa made up most of the regular forces during the Nationalists exile
French Republic
By 1939, the French army was playing a game of Saharan whack-a-mole with tribal guerrillas in the desert. It had already crushed a rebellion by the Tuaregs and were in the midst of crushing another one somewhere else. A growing fear in Algiers was the fact that if they don’t retake the mainland soon enough, they would get swamped by the local population that they live around. Thus, the French were waiting for a situation to arise that could make them get back to France as soon as possible.
In Algiers, President Petain was searching for a new Prime Minister after the resignation of Maurice Janin for health reasons. The list was long as a lot of notable figures threw their hat into the ring in the hopes of becoming the Marshal of Verdun’s apprentice. The few among them were men such as Henri Mordacq, Charles De Gaulle, Francois Darlan, and Henri Giraud. The reason for this was that the French camp was more of a big tent coalition, with groups ranging from republicans to monarchists, liberals and conservatives, democrats and fascists. Thus, Petain was intent on making sure that this fragile coalition wouldn’t break.
Italy
In Libya, more and more Italian settlers began settling along the coastline. Towns began springing up across the desert under the watch of Governor Italo Balbo. So far, things were going well as there was no resistance from the local population. They didn’t conduct another rebellion due to the efforts of Balbo in integrating the Libyans into normal society. He closed down the concentration camps and improved the situation of the locals, this made them become loyal to Balbo.
In Italian East Africa, things were very different. While Somaliland and Eritrea were safe and normal, there was chaos in what was formerly Abyssinia. Despite the surrender of the Ethiopian government in 1936, there were still guerrillas hiding out in the hills and mountains. It took until 1940 for the Italians to fully crush the last guerrillas in the mountains near the Egyptian border.
Egypt
1925 was a watershed moment in Egyptian history. The country had broken off the chains of British domination and was now one of the newest independent countries in Africa. In the midst of the global collapse of the British Empire, the Germans captured the Suez Canal Zone. Despite the calls of many within the government for armed confrontation, King Fuad knew all too well that his country would’ve been stomped flat if they picked a fight with the Germans. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Ottomans had taken control of the Sinai Peninsula. Despite having an ax to grind, the Egyptians simply bided their time until they were strong enough to challenge them in the future.
For the time being, the pillars of an independent state would have to be established. In a major concession to appease the people, a constitution was created. The Egyptian Constitution of 1925 was modeled on Germany’s before the democratic reforms which changed it. It had the intended effect of making the Egyptian people see the King as their leader.
Another aspect of the 1925 revolution was the creation of several parties. The most dominant one was the Wafd Party led by Saad Zaghloul. Another thing was the changing of the royal title, as ‘Pasha’ was seen as un-Egyptian and connected to the Ottomans and therefore it was abolished, though it meant that the statuses of the upper elite weren’t changed.
During its years in government, Egypt underwent rapid industrialization as it tried to catch up with Europe. The country was still backward and the Brits and Turks hadn’t done anything good for her. To solve this, a modernization program was needed to strengthen the country. The Modernization Program combined both secularism and social reforms. It even gave birth to Egyptian feminism as several activists became noticeable and politicized their movements.
As Egypt’s Golden Age strolled on, uneasiness became commonplace when Italy invaded Ethiopia. Flanked from the west and the south-east by the Italians, the Egyptians wondered if they were next on Mussolini’s list of conquests to be completed. This helped fuel a war scare across the country, which inevitably lead to Egypt reforming its military in case the Italians tried to invade.
Portugal
Being driven into exile by the communists, what was left of the Portuguese government gathered itself and prepared planning ways of getting back the mainland. Coalescing around the King was a broad coalition of Integralists, reactionaries, Fascists, and Monarchists. Picking a man to lead this new government was a fraught task as each side wouldn’t accept the leader from any other party.
For King Duarte II, the right man for the job was none other than the former finance minister, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. He sorted out Portugal’s economy and finances after the effects of the Great Depression. With the job of Prime Minister, Salazar would sort out the governmental administration in the colonies and the military’s readiness with the approval of the King.
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, Prime Minister of Portugal-in-exile
South Africa
At the end of the Great War, South Africa was forced to give back South West Africa to the Germans despite administering for nearly 4 years. At Britain’s orders, the South Africans withdrew back into its borders with a sense of bitterness that their effort in the war was all in vain. This feeling was slightly eased when Southern Rhodesia voted to join the Union. But this anger soon began rising again South African troops were sent to fight in India during their War of Independence.
During the following months, South Africa secured the colonies of Bechuanaland, Swaziland, and Basutoland. This greatly expanded South Africa’s borders but it brought some downsides. The power of the Afrikaner bloc became much less influential as the number of Africans and Europeans increased.
Mittelafrika
Ruling a vast chunk of the continent is never easy, especially for someone like Hermann Goering. To ease the pressure, a system of regions was set up which were then divided into smaller colonies which are then divided into districts and autonomous native territories.
With war on the horizon, a program was created on training a corps of elite Askaris that would be sent overseas to fight. Only when war came would they prove their usefulness to the Germans.
Nope, not a chance. Africans are only recruited into the Army of Africa and not the Legion. Besides, it's only restricted to recruits from Hispanic countries.
It's a business-friendly version of the New Deal that does the same thing but is less interventionist than the OTL New Deal.
I can imagine there's less government control (like less price fixing), but a lot more public works projects: public-private partnerships designed to get people working
Before the Storm - Asia
Before the Storm – Asia
The Indian Subcontinent
Throughout the 1930s, there was a growing rift within the Indian government. Two factions were vying to shape India into their own image of what it should look like. On one side was the INC led by Jawaharlal Nehru, which wanted to maintain the existing Federal system and keep India united. The other faction was the Muslim League, which wanted either special rights for Muslims or a separate state of their own. For the next few years, a series of communal clashes would occasionally spring up in a certain city or province which would always be crushed by the army.
While things were peaceful as of now, tensions would only boil into the future.
Nehru and Jinnah smiling for the cameras, 1939.
Behind the smiling faces, the two men would be bitterly opposed to each other.
***
The Middle East
As the Ottoman Empire grew rich from its vast oilfields hidden under the sand, things seemed fine on the surface. There was stability, harmony, and sickness being cured for the old empire. But under that surface, there were underlying tensions that had their origins in WW1; Arab nationalism.
Having tasted a bit of freedom, the Arab nationalists were focused on undermining the Ottoman state to create new countries of their own. So far, very little success was made as the Ottomans used their security service to snuff out any groups agitating against them. This became pronounced in Syria and Mesopotamia where intellectual discussions like these were closely monitored.
***
Burma
During the collapse of the Raj, Burmese nationalists seized the opportunity to expel the British out of Burma. This was possible due to the help of Indian volunteers from the Azad Hind as they provided valuable experience in defeating British forces across Burma until Rangoon fell. When all hope was lost, the British signed a treaty and withdraw from the entire province in 1925.
After the revolt, the revolutionaries issued a Declaration of Independence with Burma as a republic. The celebrations were short-lived, however, as the various ethnic minorities who were under British protection revolted against the new government, particularly the Karen people. As the revolt wore on into 1928, a border incident with Siam resulted in civilians killed. Soon enough, the war was declared by the Siamese government against Burma, sparking off a conflict for the 36th time.
After a year of the war, the Burmese sued for peace. In the following peace treaty, Siam would have control over all of Lower Burma, the Unified Former Thai Territories, as well as the districts of Möngmaü and Mehsakun in Mawkmai, of the southern Shan states as well as part of Kantarawadi in the Karenni states which were soon integrated into the Federated Shan Territories. Thus, the Salween River became the new natural border between Burma and Siam.
Siam
Feeling no longer bounded by the French or the British, the Siamese look towards the territory they had lost over the past century. With the Burmese dealt with, the Thais focus their attention on the Germans. In their eyes, they were holding rightful Siamese territory in Malaya, Laos, and Cambodia.
Fearing that a German-aligned Burma would surround the country, Siam looked towards the Japanese for a potential ally against the Germans. With Phibun as its PM, the
Thais are waiting for any opportunity to take back old territories. All of that depends on if and when Japan strikes.
***
Japan
Entering its 4th year of war with China, Japan was getting stuck in a stalemate. Despite controlling vast swathes of enemy territory, it hadn’t brought the Chinese to their knees. Rather, it only emboldened them to fight harder than ever. With no clear end in sight and the population becoming war-weary, the Japanese government tried to exploit any situation they could find.
In China, a puppet government was set up. Ironically, the old Qing dynasty was back in power with Puyi on the throne. Based in Manchuria, Puyi claims all of what was once the ‘Middle Kingdom’ as his rightful domain. This put at odds with Wang Jingwei, who decided not to collaborate with the Japanese and stuck with the KMT.
Puyi, Puppet Emperor of China
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