The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
- Start date
Glad you liked the update. I will cover Peru/Bolivia either in the next update or in a seperate country profile. As far as the Bolivian Navy is concerned i will try to work something in
.Very nice timeline, would you mind if I wrote something about TTL Battleships? Since they appear to be the Queen of the Sea still
That would be awesome! Just send me your writtings in a personal message and I will post them. Cheers!
I realize this way back but I just stumbled on this now. It confirms what I thought when the war starts with the invasion of Napoleon's OWN ALLIES. The man is obviously STARK, RAVING MAD. Massing troops on their border with a "reminder" about the alliance is one thing. That you can get away with, but actually invading a supposed ally before they switch sides or even declare neutrality is CERTAIN to show everyone that you can't be trusted at all and allying themselves to you doesn't even protect them from you. Following that up with invading a neutral country just pisses more people off.
Mac
here is the link to the wikipedia page of the Bolivian Naval Force.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Naval_Force
In Chile we tend to make jokes about it, but I think that you have something different in mind
waiting for it
here is the link to the wikipedia page of the Bolivian Naval Force.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Naval_Force
In Chile we tend to make jokes about it, but I think that you have something different in mind
waiting for it
Just what I said, someone who acts like he does and plots to take over as much as the world as he does is crazy. That's OK, there certainly have been more than a few crazy dictators. I like the TL actually.
Glad you like the TL, but your original post doesn't really make sense to me becuase Italy was not a French ally at the start of the war.
Hey Ya'll,
I just wanted to say I appreciate your support in this year's Turtledove Awards. If you haven't voted yet please do. It looks like we could win the best continuing 19th century category if we keep this up. I am truly flattered by all of the support, comments, and recommendations this TL has received.
As a token of my gratitude here is the flag of the Sultanate of Arabia. The two stars on the right represent the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Cheers!
I just wanted to say I appreciate your support in this year's Turtledove Awards. If you haven't voted yet please do. It looks like we could win the best continuing 19th century category if we keep this up. I am truly flattered by all of the support, comments, and recommendations this TL has received.
As a token of my gratitude here is the flag of the Sultanate of Arabia. The two stars on the right represent the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Cheers!
I was refering to this.
. Massing troops is one thing, invading is another. They could mass troops on the border and "remind" the South Germans about their alliance but invading them before you do so shows everyone you can't be trusted.
Second Atacama War
The Second Atacama War
Settling Old ScoresOn the evening of November 3, 1948 the authoritarian republics of Peru and Bolivia launched a surprised and unprovoked attack into northern Chile. The fact that the invasion took place only a day after the United States presidential election was no accident as Peruvian and Bolivian dictators Armenta and Serrano wished to take full advantage of the post election uncertainty in any potential American response.
The Combatants
Flag of the Republic of Bolivia
The Republic of Bolivia has historically ranked as one of South America’s poorest countries. From 1881 to 1884, Bolivia fought alongside Peru in the ill-fated Atacama War against Chile which resulted in Bolivia losing its access to the Pacific Ocean. Following this defeat, Bolivia would suffer over the next four decades from a cascade of ineffective and corrupt governments. Bolivian fortunes began to improve somewhat in 1930 when the conservative government of Celso Serrano successfully asserted its claims over the disputed Chaco region with neighboring Paraguay. Buoyed by this achievement Serrano was able to cement near absolute control over the unruly country. Hailing from a wealthy Bolivian family and educated in Europe, Serrano wished to modernize backwards Bolivia. With the nation under the strict supervision of his secret police, Serrano was able to import advisers and engineers from a variety of countries to construct new roads, bridges, and railways. Serrano was also adamant about Bolivian industrialization, establishing dozens of new factories in the country’s interior. With military support being the primary pillar of his regime, Serrano spent lavishly on updating and modernizing Bolivia’s armed forces. By the invasion of Chile, the once destitute nation of Bolivia could boast one of the most modern militaries in Latin America. At a time when most armies in the world were still using magazine fed repeaters, Bolivia’s army was armed with the semiautomatic PQ-45 rifle acquired from the Japanese. From Spain, Bolivia was able to procure a large amount of rapid fire artillery. Bolivia could even boast of a small air force of attack aircraft, mostly purchased from Germany, which were used to devastating effect on Chilean forces. Most impressive however, were the indigenously designed and produced armored tracked vehicles known in most countries as cataphracts or cats for short. Although Bolivia lacked the industrial base to produce them in large numbers, the cataphracts gave Bolivia a decisive advantage over Chile.
Flag of the Republic of Peru under the Sol Rojo Party
Like her ally Bolivia, the Republic of Peru suffered through a series of political and economic crises for much of its post independence history. In 1933, General Elbio Paz Armenta, and his rightwing Sol Rojo party, came to power in a violent coup. Emulating many of Serrano’s reforms in Bolivia, Armenta sought to modernize Peru while cracking down on any form of domestic decent. The Peruvian Army was similarly recast into an effective fighting force and armed with the latest European and Japanese weaponry. To pay for these programs, Armenta nationalized the nation’s gold and silver mines netting him a considerable fortune. To a greater extent than Serrano in Bolivia, Armenta cultivated a cult of personality around his role as leader and vigorously persecuted the Peruvian Amerindian community.
Before the war the Republic of Chile was one of Latin America’s biggest successes. Having spent decades under uninterrupted democratic governments Chile was one of the continent’s most stable and prosperous nations. An unforeseen consequence however of this prosperity and liberalization was that Chile’s once significant army and navy had fallen behind that of its rivals to the north. The civilian Chilean government’s fear of a strong army was due to Chile’s 19th Century history of military coups. By the time the Second Atacama War broke out Chile was unprepared to face the modernized forces of Peru and Bolivia. Chile’s armed forces were equipped with mostly outdated American and British armaments, some dating back to the Great War. The one area where Chile did maintain an edge of superiority was in her navy which was slightly larger and in better shape than that of Peru.
In the weeks following the invasion, Chile suffered a string of stunning defeats at the hands of the Peruvians and Bolivians or the brutos as they were commonly derided. By the end of 1948, the Chileans had lost the important coastal city of Arica, where Peruvian forces triumphantly raised their flag for the first time since the 1880s. At the Battle of Calama, Chilean loses exceeded 25,000 men when Bolivian armored forces cut of the city and forced it to surrender, an impressive feat in this rugged high desert region. The most important battle during the early months of the war occurred at the city of Antofagasta where the bulk of the Chilean army was forced to withdraw to the south despite the presence of the navy after Bolivian aircraft armed with Japanese made torpedoes sunk half a dozen ships. Despite these reversals and the calls of some members of the Chilean government for a negotiated peace, Chilean President Arturo Diaz remained steadfast and refused to discuss anything except regaining all of Chile’s lost territory.
Foreign Reaction
Foreign reaction to the Second Atacama War was near universally in favor of Chile. Japan was the only major power to publically back Peru and Bolivia which came as no suprise in light of the massive arms sales Japan had made to those countries. Practically all the democratic governments of Latin America condemned Bolivia and Peru’s actions with the noticeable exception of Argentina who due to their own territorial disputes with Chile maintained an eerie silence. In the United States, the lame duck administration of outgoing President Vernon Kirkman provided only lukewarm support for America’s Chilean allies which amounted to a small loan of money and a trade embargo against Peru and Bolivia.
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Yay, South American revanchist violence, ho!
MacGregor, this was an outstanding update; I can't wait to read more! So is the war is apparently over...for now. Any bets on either the US or a number of their Latin allies coming for Bolivia and/or Peru sometime in the future? The most worrying aspect to this seems to be how the militant/dictatorial Japanese cabal now evidently has some allies (or at least, proxies).
A couple of tech notes;
-PQ45? I'm guessing a 1945-production rifle, unless they're sticking with a Meiji type designation system for their infantry kit. Anyways, how/where did the Japanese get the know-how to make self-loading rifles, when they didn't really know how to do that even IOTL (the Type 5 prototype notwithstanding)?
-That Bolivian cat bears a striking resemblance to OTL's Panzer II....hmmm In all seriousness, it's interesting that they were able to create and produce such relatively advanced armored vehicles, even given Serrano's military-industrial upgrades.
MacGregor, this was an outstanding update; I can't wait to read more! So is the war is apparently over...for now. Any bets on either the US or a number of their Latin allies coming for Bolivia and/or Peru sometime in the future? The most worrying aspect to this seems to be how the militant/dictatorial Japanese cabal now evidently has some allies (or at least, proxies).
A couple of tech notes;
-PQ45? I'm guessing a 1945-production rifle, unless they're sticking with a Meiji type designation system for their infantry kit. Anyways, how/where did the Japanese get the know-how to make self-loading rifles, when they didn't really know how to do that even IOTL (the Type 5 prototype notwithstanding)?
-That Bolivian cat bears a striking resemblance to OTL's Panzer II....hmmm
In all seriousness, it's interesting that they were able to create and produce such relatively advanced armored vehicles, even given Serrano's military-industrial upgrades.
Well I hope that Japanese comment isn't an allusion to a bigger conflict. I would assume not with the name of the war, but it's your TL. Can't wait to see how this ends.
Yay, South American revanchist violence, ho!
MacGregor, this was an outstanding update; I can't wait to read more! So is the war is apparently over...for now. Any bets on either the US or a number of their Latin allies coming for Bolivia and/or Peru sometime in the future? The most worrying aspect to this seems to be how the militant/dictatorial Japanese cabal now evidently has some allies (or at least, proxies).
A couple of tech notes;
-PQ45? I'm guessing a 1945-production rifle, unless they're sticking with a Meiji type designation system for their infantry kit. Anyways, how/where did the Japanese get the know-how to make self-loading rifles, when they didn't really know how to do that even IOTL (the Type 5 prototype notwithstanding)?
-That Bolivian cat bears a striking resemblance to OTL's Panzer II....hmmm
Glad you enjoyed the update.
As far as the Second Atacama War is concerned it is far from over, and any resemblance of Bolivian tanks to OTL Panzer II is pure coincidence.
The Japanese are a little more tech savvy ITTL than OTL so therefore have already produced semi-automatic rifles. Also how does the Meji type designation system? Cheers!
The Meiji designation is actually pretty simple, it simply correlates the model number to whatever year of the Meiji emperor's reign in which that weapon design was formally adopted. For example, the Type 38 Arisaka was officially introduced into military service in the 38th. year of the Emperor Meiji's reign over the Japanese Empire (to us, that would be 1905), the Type 99 in the 99th. year, etc.
Interesting, I didn't know that. I think I might retcon my last post then.