alternatehistory.com

(Because there are a bit too many “fascist Argentina” threads on this forum;))

It requires two Pods (the rest follows from those Pods)

- April 1940: María Luisa Iribarne, the wife of pro-allies president Roberto Ortiz (1938-1940), doesn’t die (Pod nº 1)

- 1940-1945: María Luisa Iribarne makes sure his husband respects his diet, something which keeps his diabethes reasonably controlled. He isn’t gonna be 100% healthy, but he’ll be much healthier than IOTL.

- April 1940: Britain accepts Ortiz’s proposal to join the war (Pod nº 2)*

- 31st April, 1940: Argentina declares war to the Axis.

June 1940: President Ortiz doesn’t have to resign due to his diabethes. He won’t die in 1942; he’ll live till 1950 instead.

What would the consequence of this be?

At first sight, one could assume there wouldn’t be significant consequences, as one could assume the entrance of Argentina to the war wouldn’t have altered the military situation in Europe in any significant way. But there would still be important consequences:

1) If Argentine merchant ships are attacked, there might be less food in Europe. One of the reasons why Great Britain preferred a neutral Argentina was that Argentina was much more valuable as a food exporter than as a military ally.

2) Surprisingly, the USA might not be too happy. After all, the US was officially neutral in 1940. If Argentina enters the war, it would fully confirm that the South Cone is an area under the British hegemony, not under the US one. They may not be vary please with this decission. (That’s just my view; I’d like to know what you think about this)

3) What would post-world scenario look like? IOTL, the US chose Brazil as it’s main ally, and somehow “punished” Argentina for having stayed neutral through practically all the war. Would this change in this scenario? Or would the fact that Argentina entered the war before the US authorisation prevent the US from considering Argentina a reliable ally?

4) What other consequences could this event have?

5) What would the internal political consequences of this declaration of war? This would probably butterfly away Peronism, for example...

6) Where would Argentine troops be employed?


* I’ve heard in a conference that Ortiz did propose Britain to join the war, but Britain kinly rejected the proposal. However, I could never found a source that could confirm this. In any case, this is AH, so it doesn’t matter:). Let’s assume for the purpuses of this scenario that he did make this proposal, and that Britain accepted.
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