WI the South American fascists had joined the Axis in WWII?

fero

Banned
not 1943 but maybe graphic help

poblacion historica Argentina UK.PNG
 
i do not know much about the state of the Argentine military during the second war but what if at some point between 1940 and 1942 when Britain is at is absolute weakest and is greatly overstretched that the Argentinians realise this may be their best chance to take control of the islands?
As others have already observed, it is highly unlikely they'd try and if they did the British were fairly well prepeared. And even if the island falls, the poms should be able to send a couple of old R class rustbuckets and one of their older Carriers down south to put an end to the Argentine fleet.

That said, if anything the loss of the Falklands to Argentina would be the least of the poms worries should war have happened. The more major issues are that Argentina was one of Britain's main trading partners and one of it's main sources of food imports during the war. Drop the former and the poms may not have the currency reserves to keep themselves going until Lend-Lease starts. Drop the latter and keeping the UK fed becomes a major issue...
 
Virtually the first thing that happened in WW2 was the Battle of River Platte. In that little incident the HMS Cumberland was at the Falklands during the battle and the damaged HMS Exeter made for the Falkland after the battle. Having 4 RN cruisers in the area at the very start of the war would calm Argentina's passions for some time. As other have metioned there was a sizeable garrison, and I assume there would have been semi-regular naval traffic in the area. I think in the event of a threat the British could divert whatever ships were close by to the Falklands and make the task too big for the Argies.
 
Axis powers in the Western Hemisphere

Were there any states in the Western Hemisphere which could conceivably have supported the Fascists and joing WW2 on the evil side?
 

Japhy

Banned
Well, The Anglosphere States would require to have Pro-Axis governments, PODs that would dramatically change the entire world to pull off and throw WWII into doubt.

In contrast Latin American states are easy (Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina being the most often mentioned) enough to have the right kind of governments in place to line up with Berlin or Rome ideologically but there arn't any strongman dictators in the world who would be so foolish as to Join the Axis unless they can be guaranteed a nuclear umbrella against US intervention. Lacking that and lacking the ability to get any support from Europe or Japan such a move would be painfully and obviously suicide to any dictator from Havana to Santiago.
 
Wasn't Juan Peron in power in Argentina and wasn't his regime basically a fascist one, in its own right? I know the Argentinians bought quite a bit of military equipment from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and while not outright allies with them they were considered Pro-Axis in their leanings.
 
I would like to clarify somethings here.

One is that the German flirting with Argentina was because the Germans saw us as the most Aryan people in South America.

Nevertheless, Argentina joining the Axis is really difficult. For two reasons. One is that majority of the common people(except some descendants of Italians who were pro fascist) was against the Axis, and would have caused more problems in a time they were already causing many.
The other and far more important, is that taking a side is not good for our economy in the short run. Being neutral you can trade everybody. If you can with the USA and UK excellent. If Germany for some reason manages to take the UK or to finish their naval supremacy, then we will trade with Germany.

Argentina joined the Allies after pressure that the trade will be restricted. This pressures didn't came earlier because the British needed our beef.

Argentina joining the Axis depends in a almost complete victory of Germany and Japan, which is really implausible.

It's certainly more probable to have Argentina join the Allies earlier as Brazil did and gain some economic aid as Brazil did. It would require the pro-Axis militars not being in power(there were many pro-Allies militars) and then joining the allies.
 
Knew this would come up, as soon as I read this thread. By your descriptions I'm a fascist because I'm right-leaning in my politics and believe in a strong federal government. Don't think I'm jumping down your throat, I'm just pointing out where calling something what it is might be better than calling it by what it's percieved to be.

As it happens, they're the only South American country to sent troops and aircraft (both bombers and fighters) anywhere outside of their region during WWII. Brazil's president was already leaning towards the US before America entered the war, in fact the US already had a significant presence in Brazil by the time they jumped in. If the fascists in SA had joined, there would have been a war in South America. Brazil is and always hase been the strongest nation in South America and with the US giving them material aid and the designs for its best equipment you can bet South America would simply be known as Brazil today in any such scenario.

Bravo! The Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) fought well in Italy, their pilots were gallant, and huge numbers of Germans surrendered to Brazilian troops in the final weeks of the war. Contemporary Brazilians are tremendously, and rightfully, proud of their role in World War Two and especially in the gruelling Battle of Monte Castello (Nov. 1944-Feb. 1945).
 

Pkmatrix

Monthly Donor
Interesting thread, but I can't shake the feeling that this subject is...familiar...somehow...

*Checks OP*

Holy frickin' CRAP! This was the FIRST POST I ever made on AH.com! I could have sworn this topic died in 2006! :eek: How did...when...why... X_x

Wow, seriously, I'm stunned that people are still discussing this. How did I have no clue? When I get a chance, I'm going to read through all of this and see where the discussion went over the last 5 years! :cool:
 

maverick

Banned
I merged all the threads discussing this notion of South American in the Axis because I think stupid ideas are less harmful if they're all contained in one thread rather than spread over several through the years.
 

Pkmatrix

Monthly Donor
I merged all the threads discussing this notion of South American in the Axis because I think stupid ideas are less harmful if they're all contained in one thread rather than spread over several through the years.

Ah! Everything now makes sense. ^_^()
 

Japhy

Banned
I'm surprised nobody has brought up DValdron's Axis of the Andes yet. It's a good, realistic timline.

That would be kinda debateable. The POD certainly didn't seem to be such. Why would the Nazis just decide "Haha they're so funny. Lets send them arms from our limited stockpiles for the laughs."?
 
That would be kinda debateable. The POD certainly didn't seem to be such. Why would the Nazis just decide "Haha they're so funny. Lets send them arms from our limited stockpiles for the laughs."?
You can't overestimate the power of a good laugh.:D

But really, the Nazis did act un-reasonably from time to time,
and they did embark in some absurdly risky gambles.
 
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