[Forum Game] - World in Revolution: 1920 Mk. II

[Frymonmon]

Standing at a Crossroads: Germany and the 1931 Elections​

While the Wall Street Crash in 1929 did not have any immediate effects on Germany, in the middle of 1930, economic indicators began to show a massive slump in economic growth. Austrian banks in Vienna collapsed, while banks began to fail across Europe following it. The economic situation in Germany deteriorated rapidly in all industries that were not directly related to export to the Soviet Union. Businesses began to fail left and right, as thousands upon thousands became impoverished by what seemed to be merely overnight.

The right-wing Government, which had begun to respond to the crisis, was dissolved, and new elections called. The 1930 elections, held in December, was the source of major panic for supporters of the Republic. The two largest and anti-Republican parties, the newly reformed National Socialist German Worker's Party and the Communist Party of Germany, made massive gains with their own promises and assertions about the Republic. The NSDAP became the largest party in the Reichstag, topping 114 seats. The SPD took 108 seats, while the Communists captured 68 seats. The DNVP and the Economic Party of the Middle Class announced a merger, forming the Reichspartei, and were able to capture the third most seats, 99. Zentrum held on to 67, and the DVP managed to get 46 seats.

Ludwig Kaas was appointed Chancellor by President Lettow-Vorbeck, but, unable to form a government. Elections were again called, this time in February. The NSDAP once again extended the amount of seats they held, preying upon the fears of the Republic, but the fact still stood that they were disliked by a majority of the population. The Reichspartei began to take votes from the the German People's Party. Alfred Hugenberg, now from the Reichspartei, was appointed Chancellor, serving for a month before ultimately having his own Government collapse.

The instability of the Republic was now being very clearly showcased on both the world stage and inside Germany. The instability, unsurprisingly, was leveled directly at the National Socialists. As April came, the Reichspartei began to stress the importance of the Republic, how it had brought prosperity, and how it still can move forward. Hitler, on the other hand, made vast claims that it failed, and that cooperation with the Soviet Union was what has destroyed Germany. Unfortunately for Hitler, the economic lifeline that Germany held with the Soviet Union was the only thing that continued to help float demand.

The April elections were a step back for the National Socialists, and it saw a surge in Communist support. With the now all too obvious economic cooperation between the Soviet Union and Germany, the Communists were able to demonstrate that Germany, as a Communist State, would be able to prosper more than any other state. It was Capitalism, then, that had caused this economic collapse. The Reichspartei was able to claim the largest party with 126 seats, the NSDAP held on to 121, while the Communists had 118, a large surge in their support coming from SPD voters. Joseph Joos was given the nod to try and form a government, but he failed within a few weeks.

The May elections were again focused on the central issue of the Republic. The Communists still remained strong, but the SPD was beginning to gain more power back. Supporters were leaving the National Socialists, as their rhetoric became more and more anti-Republic, showing that the nation was committed to the idea of Democracy. No longer was there a party that advocated for the return of the Kaiser, and the majority of the German people, every single election, gave the resounding affirmation of German democracy. The National Socialists saw their worst performance since the previous full elections, with their vote total dropping by half.

Hitler, after the results of the election were published.​

After yet again attempting to appoint Joos after the election, both the National Socialists and the Communists forced the dissolution of the Reichstag, to get yet another vote in July of 1931.

The German People's Party announced it would be joining with the Reichspartei, framing itself as as the party for all of the Reich, for the right-wing that felt the need for a Republic above all. The National Socialists became the party of radicals, of anti-Republicans, and Monarchists. Their popularity tumbled, and their seat count had dropped from a high of 134 in February, to rest at 41 in July. The Communists also dropped to 59, while the SPD regained its historical strength at 134 seats. Zentrum held 76 seats, while the Reichspartei became the largest in the Reichstag, capturing 189 seats. The German State Party took 40 seats, and others took 38. Zentrum, the Reichspartei, and the German State Party agreed to a coalition, and Franz von Papen emerged as the new Chancellor of Germany, firmly committed to the coalition, and the Republic.

Chancellor Papen and Defence Minister Schleicher.​

Unfortunately for Germany, elections to the Reichstag were not the only problem they faced. Only eight months after Papen's government was formed, Presidential Elections were slated to begin.

President Lettow-Vorbeck was committed to running once again, and quickly was endorsed by every party across the board, with the exception of the National Socialists and the Communists. A splinter party, formed from NSDAP and former DNVP members, nominated Theodor Duesterberg under the party "Stahlmhelm." As the votes were cast, it became clear that the country supported President Lettow-Vorbeck.

With Hitler running under the National Socialists, and Thälmann running for the Communists, the two only reached a combined total of thirty per cent of the vote. President Lettow-Vorbeck was elected with sixty per cent of the vote, with Thälmann gaining eleven per cent, Duesterberg took nine per cent, and Hitler only took twenty per cent. Even in Germany's seemingly most trying hour, the people choose the Republic, not radicalism. It seemed unlikely then, unless it was forced upon them, that Germany should be anything but a Democratic Republic.

 

[MastahCheef117]

The Tsardom of Bulgaria
Царство България​

We would like to congratulate our German friends on their successful election cycle this year, further proving their commitment to a representative government and to the political strength for which Germany is so rightfully known. President Lettow-Vorbeck has taken a strong step towards the rectification of the injustices taken against his nation, and we applaud him for his strong sense of patriotism and a firm commitment to a continued peace in both Germany and throughout Europe.

Our job, however, is yet to be finished. Only in the last several years has the size of the Bulgarian economy reached pre-war levels; we must continue fostering economic growth, even in such times as these, if we are to continue building our nation towards a state of prosperity and strength.

As regards our northern neighbors, the Iron Guard's renunciation of the Dresden Declaration and its subsequent invasion of Transylvania is beyond disturbing. The cacophony of rhetoric coming from Bucharest talking of national rejuvenation in the midst of an invasion of another nation is unsettling to the Imperial administration. The unwillingness of the associated signatories of the Dresden Declaration to uphold that very declaration and assist Hungary in the defense of the Transylvanian state is, indeed, very upsetting; we therefore urge our fellow signatories to uphold the Dresden Declaration should the leaders of the Iron Guard not immediately withdraw their paramilitaries from Transylvanian soil. It is a great danger to the balance of power in the Balkan region, and a great danger to all free people in Europe if these tyrants are allowed to again regain control of Transylvania and do as they please with the Hungarian population therein.

His Imperial Majesty Boris III, by the Grace of God Tsar of Bulgaria
Негово императорско величество Борис III, с благодатта на Бога цар на България​

 

[Noco19]

Italo Balbo
Aviator Extraordinaire​

The rise in prominence of Italo Balbo within the National Fascist Party can best be destroyed as explosive. First joining in 1921, Balbo became involved in the leadership of the Ferrara Fascist organization, known for his organization of violent reprisals on communists and socialists, even raiding Castello Estense at one point. Soon after by 1922, Balbo entered into the upper echelons of the Fascist hierarchy as a Ras, adopted from an Ethiopian title somewhat equivalent to a duke. At the age of 26, Balbo was the youngest of the four "Quadrumvirs", the primary architects of the March on Rome that empowered the Fascists to lead the Italian Government, earning him a founding position upon the Grand Council of Fascism.

Balbo's first major step into the world of flight was his appointment as Secretary of State for Air despite his little experience in aviation. Nevertheless, Balbo was quick to rectify this and went through a crash course of flying instruction and set up to build the Italian Royal Air Force, the Regia Aeronautica Italiana. By 1929, Balbo was also General of the Air Force and Minister of the Air Force.

Interest in aviation was not restricted to Balbo. In 1925, Francesco de Pinedo flew a seaplane from Italy to Australia to Japan and back again to Italy. Mario De Bernardi successfully raced seaplanes internationally. In 1928, Arctic explorer Umberto Nobile piloted the Airship Italia on a polar expedition. This was of also great interest to Fascism, for aviation represented many desirable ideals espoused by Fascist thought and art - modernity, swiftness, and deadliness.

Thus lead to the two famed trans-Atlantic by Italo Balbo, cementing his skill and image as a daring Italian aviator around the world. The first flight started in 1930, consisting of twelve Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boats from Orbetello, Italy to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between December 17th, 1930 and January 15th 1931.

Italian Poster for Balbo's Flight​

The second, and grandest, lasted from July 1st to August 12th 1933, Balbo leading a flight of twenty-four flying boats on a round-trip flight from Rome to the Century of Progress in Chicago, Illinois. The flight had seven legs; Orbetello — Amsterdam — Derry — Reykjavík — Cartwright, Labrador — Shediac — Montreal ending on Lake Michigan near Burnham Park. The Italian and American people were united in their eagerness in such a feat, and the event quickly became a spectacle for both nations. Balbo successfully touched down to much jubilation and celebration.

Chief Flying Eagle​

In honor of this, Mussolini donated a Roman column from the Ostia Antica site to the City of Chicago that went towards an American monument to Balbo, seen along the Lakefront Trail. Chicago itself renamed Seventh Street to Balbo Drive, which hosted a parade in honor of the flight. Furthermore, the American President invited Balbo to lunch and presented him with the Distinguished Flying Cross. The Sioux even honorarily adopted Balbo as "Chief Flying Eagle". The Italian-American community gave a very warm welcome to Italo Balbo. To a cheering mass in Madison Square Garden he said: "Be proud you are Italians. Mussolini has ended the era of humiliations." On an international level, the term "Balbo" began to enter common usage to describe any large formation of aircraft.

The Ostia Column in Chicago​

Upon returning to his homeland, Balbo was greeted with equal reverence and respect, gaining the rank "Maresciallo dell'Aria", or Marshal of the Air Force. Already popular, Balbo had entered new heights of favor in Fascist Italy, though how this would be seen in Il Duce's eyes had yet to be seen beyond official congratulations and honors.

 

[Bonecracker(NL)]

The Free Republican Party​

Despite stunning successes, not all was well in Turkey, and in 1929 and 1930, the government of Kemal and Ismet came under attack once again. Economic hardship set in, and was coupled with bad harvests. Because of the heathen policy of secularism, the break with religion, God was not providing. In the Black Sea mountains banditry was so widespread the army was sent in. There were serious disturbances in Kurdistan again. Government officials were underpaid and corrupt. Money was poured lavishly into railways and an expensive military modernisation move was announced. All the while the further east one went in Turkey, the worse the situation became, with the peasants not having proper roads to bring their produce to the markets being a distressingly regular occurence. This, and the high prices brought forth by state monopolies brought resentment against Ismet's policy, and throughout the early months of 1930 the newspaper Yarin (Tomorrow) openly attacked it. If the first criticism in five years was not shocking enough, Kemal appeared to condone it and Ismet was forced into promising a new economic programme.

Kemal's intentions went further, however. The economic crisis brought unto him the disadvantages of one-party rule, and late in the summer he announced the formation of a new party in opposition to his government. It made him unpopular, for every fault of the government was blamed on him personally. It slowly created an explosive situation as it blocked the normal channels of discontent and subsequently left him in the dark on public opinion. He did not hear much from his censored press, single-party assembly and lackey ministers, and what he did hear were only the rosiest of pictures. As such, he was incapable of effectively guiding policy. Clearly, a parliamentary opposition as pulse-taker of public opinion was desirable.

In spite of how he ruled his country, Kemal still disapproved of dictatorship, and in talking to Ali Fethi, who was selected as head of the 'Free Republican Party' because of his well-known sympathies for the British parliamentary system, he likened himself to Caesar. He was endowed with absolute power by the senate and by the time of his death, the republic was forgotten and his successors crowned themselves emperors. "This must not happen in Turkey", he said. "I want to create a liberal republic." Fethi initially hesitated, but later accepted the position. This was important to Kemal, because of two reasons. Firstly, as has been mentioned before, Fethi was a convinced liberal. Secondly, and more importantly, he had since his youth made serious study of economics. In fact, when exiled to Malta, he translated a work of Maynard Keynes into Turkish. Largely on these grounds did he respond to pressure from Kemal and Ismet to accept the proposal. He believed in the free market, disapproved of the statism put forth by Ismet, and had very differing views than the prime minister on the origin of the crisis. At Yalova, discussions were completed on the formation of the party. Thus the Republic embarked on its second democratic experiment.

Ali Fethi Bey, head of the Free Republican Party​

It was to end in utter failure months later. Fethi decided to open a branch of the party in Izmir against the advice of his wiser councillors. They urged him to take it slowly and not yet seek electoral representation, but he listened to the Gazi who had the opposite view. Jubilant masses awaited him as a popular hero. The government was alarmed by so open an outpouring of public support for an opponent of Kemal, and requested the meeting be postponed. The People's Party meanwhile tried to organise a rally of their own, but failed to garner a crowd that couldn't be howled down by Fethi's supporters. Even though Fethi publically supported the Gazi as Turkey's "spiritual guide", and one man walked off as he heard the fez and Arabic script wouldn't be returned, the situation was alarming. Joseph Grew, the American Ambassador in Turkey, said that 'The new party had become a clinical thermometer for taking the political temperature of the country, and there could be no doubt of the fever which it registered.'

Despite that, Kemal approved of the party. He watched from the Presidential box in parliament as the parties debated on issues. No longer did the air of a rubber-stamp parliament hang, where the deputies slacked during sessions and only moved when voting on issues. Now the deputies debated freely and energetically, and Kemal proudly looked on. As a father watching his two sons in opposite debating teams, he would beam when a telling point was scored, frown when one was awkwardly handled. The enthusiastic debates made a true parliamentary spirit prevail. But sadly, this shimmer of hope was to fade soon. None of the parties possessed any true leadership, and debates turned more hostile. The climax of this was when Ali Fethi attacked the government and People´s Party for rigging the municipal election. The debate -little more than an organised shout-down- was as heated as the first GNA. And from the President's box, the Gazi looked on. Silent, depressed. Were the Turks after ten years of his tuition still as ignorant of democratic debate as before independence? The government, however, survived the debate unscathed: A vote of confidence was won 225 to 10.

Fethi thus decided to disband the party. In its official note of disbandment, his loyalty to Kemal was reiterated and would not oppose him in person. Failure had partly been due to mis-management. Fethi was not a born leader, not the ideal party boss, as much as he was a convinced democrat. He wasn't a forceful speaker or astute debate. He had too few supporters of standing, and couldn't pull enough weight in Ankara. Furthermore, he was out of touch with the country. He had been the ambassador in Paris for five years on end, and thus disengaged with the country's political currents. But the chief fault lay with Kemal. He had failed to think this movement through, he did not realise he did not let it grow organically, he did not relinquish any of his own power to make it work. This would not be a problem if this was done in a time of prosperity and victory, but this was a time of depression and poverty. But most of all, the Turkish people weren't ready for a meaningful democracy.

As much of a debacle as it was, it had one good result. It showed that Ankara knew not what was happening in the country. This, at least, could now be remedied. Immediately after the valedictory debate, Kemal was off for a three-month tour of the country, to find things out for himself. With him came a large personal staff, including officials from various ministries. They made a detailed study of social and economic conditions, while Kemal himself inspected all sorts of institutions, conferred with local officials, but most of all spoke directly to the poorest.

Not a far-away, mythical figure like a Sultan, but a tangible, listening, and caring president. Mustafa Kemal listens to the problems of a poor farmer in Tokat, November 1930.​

His objective was to translate the lettors of reform into spirit, to probe beneath such superficial symbols as changes in headgear and script at the fundamental mentality of his people. Always the teacher, he examined quantities of pupils in the schools. He would stride into a classroom, often petrifying the teacher into silence by his presence, and wander around the class, questioning the students and scrutinizing their textbooks. In one of them he detected some Arabic words. It turned out the author, Hassan Ali (Yücel), was on his staff. For this, he summoned him to dinner for a discussion on language reform. He fired at him a number of questions on mathematics:

"What is a Zero?", he asked. But Hassan had his wits about him.

"It may best be defined, Pasha'm hazretleri, as me in your presence."

"But zero is very important", Kemal insisted.

"So I must be, Pasha'm hazretleri, if I am here in your presence."

Kemal laughed, filled Hassan Ali's glass with Raki, and announced loudly to the table: "You have passed your exam!" Hassan Ali would later be rewarded by many years' service as Minister of Education.


The President made speeches in which he endeavoured to make clear to his people the meaning of that incomprehensible word, democracy, and the responsibilities attached to it. 'When a citizen says, "I want this, I want that,", it should mean that I must do this and that.' Everywhere he went he took action on the spot, changing government and party officials, dismissing the executive committee of the People's Party at Samsun, ordering seed for the farmers of Havza, calling for increased sugar production at Ushak, opening banks in various places, ordering roads and irrigation built. Furthermore, as stated before, he listened. Throughout the country, from Edirne to Tuz Khormato, he heard the plight of the workers and peasants and promised help. Whether or not it materialised it did not matter. They knew they had a president who cared for them, and who wanted to make their lives better. It brought him immense popularity, and lifted the spirits of the Turks up. With such a president, there was no fear to be had from this depression. In time, all would be well.

 

[MagnificentOne]

THE EMPEROR IS CROWNED

With the end of the two-and-a-half-thousand year old ceremony, the former Crown Prince now represents the Japanese people as our Emperor - granted unto Him by a divine bloodline, unbroken throughout the ages. Outside of Kyoto Imperial Palace, a great rejoicing can be heard with crowds welcoming the conclusion of the third and final rite. It can be proclaimed without the slightest exaggeration that no such delight has hailed an Emperor before.

It was only a few days ago that the Emperor received the Three Sacred Treasures, each representing one of the three most praised virtues in this earthly world. The sword, known as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, represents that of valour. The mirror, known as the Yata-no-Kagami, represents that of wisdom. The jewels, known as the Yasakani-no-Magatama, represents that benevolence. Each of these items hail from three different shrines located throughout the Empire, having been gifted to the Imperial Family from their most noble ancestor, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu.

An estimated five million people have lined the streets from Tokyo to Kyoto in the past few days, where they sought to catch a glimpse of the Imperial Procession as it made the long journey to and from the palaces in both cities. Although the Emperor currently resides within Tokyo Imperial Palace, His choice to allow the coronation ceremony to take place in Kyoto Imperial Palace harks back to tradition - for over eleven-hundred years have our Emperors been crowned in Kyoto, even after the esteemed Meiji Restoration.

In His speech given from the Takamikura Throne to nearly three-and-a-half-thousand guests, the Emperor emphasised the virtues of enlightened peace, citing that they are the key to a brighter future. His loyal Prime Minister Osachi Hamaguchi replied with a speech of his own. Embodying the role of the Japanese people at this ceremony, he promised absolute devotion and fidelity in paving the way to prosperity in the Emperor's realm.

Three shouts of 'Banzai' from each guest erupted; even from those foreigners who had travelled from abroad to witness this magnificent event. It can be said that this was the most spectacular part of the coronation, and for a very good reason. Its timing was synchronised to the last second. Japanese across not only the Empire, but all around the world, were able to join in the cheer at precisely the same moment it was being offered at the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

The enthronement of the Emperor is now complete and a new age dawns upon our glorious nation: the Era of Shōwa. Ushered in by the cheers of millions, it can be said that this is merely the beginning of celebrations in the name of the Emperor. Already, the tone has been set for a most illustrious reign over the Empire.

 

[Frymonmon]

GM Note: etranger01 joins us as North America's GM, taking overlordship of Canada and the United States.

 

[KeldoniaSkylar]

The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics

Comrade, come to our collective farm!​

The growth of collectivization in the Soviet Union has increased the productivity of the Soviet farmers and has better the lives of many farmers, who now have access to modern agricultural implements such as tractors and combines among other modern tools. Furthermore, through the advancements of Soviet Science, crop yields continue to grow as the result of better seeds and the introduction of scientific agricultural practices.
~ Iosif Stalin, General secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

 

[Noco19]

Balbo's Libya
The Fourth Shore​

Following the rising prominence of Italo Balbo, many wondered where his ambitions would lead next. It was obvious that the flamboyant Air Marshal would not be resigned to obscurity following his explosive rise, but few thought international speculators thought that Mussolini was entirely pleased about this possible competitor in Italy. This uncertainty was setlled on November 7th, 1933, when Balbo was appointed as Governor-General the Libya.

By this point, Libya had come to be synonymous with the Italian colonies along the northern shore of Africa, but in actuality they remained as three separate colonies - Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. Upon the appointment of Balbo, these three colonies would be officially merged into Libia Italiana, or Italian Libya. This interest into the region coincided with a general shift in policy towards Libya, with Fascist leadership beginning to see it less as a colonial holding, and more as a constituent part of Italy. Despite this sentiment, and growing numbers of Italian colonists along the coast, this was not rooted in truth. Libya still was populated with an overwhelming dominant number of natives, and it lacked the same development of any region within Italy proper. Still, this ideological change would prove the first steps into integration, and would become the norm in Fascist thought.

An amphitheater at Leptis Magna, a Roman site that received renewed archaeological interest under Balbo​

This viewpoint was not restricted to the leadership in Rome. Governor-General Balbo was not deterred from this perceived political exile from Italy. With a vigor and attitude people had begun to expect from him, Balbo took up the cross of modernization and development for the region as his own, publicly supporting initiatives to uplift Libya on par with the peninsula, from land-clearing projects, the supporting of archaeological efforts, the establishment of the Italian Libya Railways, the construction of hospitals, and the introduction of Italian colonists to found model settlements.

Balbo was not alone in this struggle, and efforts were undertaken by the Italian government to help promote Italian colonialism and an advanced interest in the Italian Empire as a whole. Though Libya did not receive all of what Balbo advocated for, it was a starting point for further investment and assimilation. Mussolini himself had even expressed some desire to one day integrate the Islamic peoples of Libya, whom he called "Muslim Italians", and carve a space for them in the Fascist future, but that had yet to be acted upon. Regardless, it was clear that Italy had grand plans for the future of its lands, steeped in Fascist ideology and cultural expansionism.

 

[m.equitum]

REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA
Dios, Patria, Libertad​

THE DOMINICAN AGRARIAN REFORM
Land Tenure and the Rural Peasantry

President Trujillo​

Dominican citizens sat attentively around their radios at home while others gathered in churches or public squares to hear the important broadcast. At the precise moment the clock struck five, a voice crackled over the airwaves:

"Citizens of the Dominican Republic, My people,

To cultivate the land is an obligation of every citizen who is a friend of Trujillo. And ever good citizen is a friend of Trujillo.

The prosperity of our nation depends more than anything on those who work with their hands and irrigate the fields with the sweat of their brow."
(Adapted from: “ El menaje presidencial” La Opinión, 2 Mar. 1933)​

Dominican Peasant Family listening to broadcast (portrait of Pres. Trujillo above radio)​

President Trujillo proceeded to explain the far-reaching agrarian reform he would implement across the Dominican Republic, granting permanent property rights to peasant farmers over the public lands which the rural population had, for generations, used for subsistence farming and herding.

"I give to you, honourable and hard-working men, the land upon which your forefathers toiled.

These plots of land, with your ardent labour, will yield abundant harvests, and a grateful nation will owe her thanks to you, trabajadores.

It is to you, honest campesinos, that I extend my patronage and my protección."​

The President also assured the wealthy oligarchs and foreign proprietors that their vast estates, for which they already held clear and definitive title, would not be in any way affected by the changes in the rural countryside.

"Our agrarian reform is not like those misguided socialist experiments you may have heard are taking place elsewhere in the world. It is not founded on the false and unstable principles of Marxism.

Our reform is founded on property rights and hard work. Our reform is founded on certainty. And, my people, there are only two things which are certain in this world:​

¡Dois y Trujillo!​

 

[KeldoniaSkylar]

Pravda

A World Record Setting Plane – the Tupolev ANT-25​

The Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т (ЦАГИ) or Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI, Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut) unveiled a new prototype aircraft designed to fly long range flights by Pavel Sukhoi under Andrei Tupolev. The new plane’s length of 13.4m (44ft) is coupled a truly impressive wingspan of 34m (111ft 7in) with a total wing area of 87.1m² (938 sq ft). The plane is fitted a geared Mikulin AM-34 (M-34) engine, the Soviet Union’s first indigenous, mass-produced, liquid cooled aircraft engine producing 800 hp with its 12-cylinders.

The Mikulin AM-34 Engine with its designers​

The planes first long range test flight flown by Mikal Gromov, Filin and Spirin lasted for over 75 hours in the air, flying for 12,411 km (7,712 mi) flying the route Moscow – Ryazan – Tula – Dnepropetrovsk – Kharkov. This would be a record for the longest flight, but that it did not complete a circuit to Moscow, and the direct distance between Moscow and Kharkov was too short fot the straight-line record. The flight however would earn Gromov the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Михаи́л Гро́мов (Mikail Gromov)​

Gromov and Yumashev thus decided for their next flight that they would attempt to break the straight-line record. At first they considered a variety of traditional long-range route across Africa and the Atlantic to South America. However, Sigizumund Levanevsky, one of their crewmen, after studying some map suggested a novel new approach, to fly North, across the pole. Given the popularity of Polar aviation at the time this was considered plausible.
Following some negotiations with the United States to allow this civilian flight, a route from Moscow to the United States via the North Pole was selected. The route would start from a 4 km (2.5 mi) long sloping concrete runway from the Schelkovo air-base near Moscow. There would be two flights one lead by Gromov, the by Valery Chkalov who would fly with Georgy Baydukov and Belyakov.

Павлович Чкалов (Valery Chkalov)​

Chkalov’s flight would be non-stop from Moscow to Portland, Oregon, in bad weather. After 60 hours of flight they passed Seattle, and after another 2 hours the Portland lighthouse on the Colombia River before heading deeper into the US interior. When over Eugene, Oregon they found that they were short of fuel and return to land at Pearson Airfield, at the Fort Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver. The trip was 9,130 kilometers (5,670 mi) over 63 hours and 25 minutes.
Gromov’s flight followed Chkalov’s flight three weeks later. This journey, again via the North Pole, was 11,500 km (7,100 mi) and landed outside of San Jacinto, California, after encountering fog conditions in the San Diego and Riverside. The flight lasted 62 hours and 17 minutes. Amazingly, the plane still had enough fuel to fly another 1,500 km (930 mi), or enough to reach Panama.
This pair of historic flights would make many Americans aware of just how close Moscow was to America, as well as the innovation of this new nation on the world’s stage. It would also result in the awarding of both crews with the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Валентина Степановна Гризодубова (Valentina Stepanova Grizodubova; Ukrainian: Валентина Степанівна Гризодубова, Valentina Stepanivna Grizodubova)​

The records broken using the the ANT-25 would not be restricted solely to men, for it would also serve to set the women’s record for long range flight under the Valentina Grizodubova, Marina Raskova, and Polina Osipenko in the Rodina (Motherland). The flew from Moscow to Komsomolsk (in the Far East) over a distance of 5,947 km over the course of 26 hours and 29 minutes, breaking the international women’s record for straight distance flight. All three women would receive the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The ANT-25 in flight​

 

[Groogy]

The Brunei Incursion​

Sarawak was part of the realm of Brunei until 1841 when James Brooke was granted a sizable area of land in the southwest area of Brunei from the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II, around the city of Sarawak (now Kuching, the capital of Sarawak) and the nearby mining region of Bau. With western knowledge of both military and administration James took the position as Rajah of the newly formed Kingdom of Sarawak and it quickly became the dominant power in the region. Over the years Sarawak continued to expand on the expense of the Brunei Sultanate. The subsequent Sultans would regret the decisions of Omar Ali Saifuddin II but there wasn't much they could do against the growing economy in Sarawak with several chieftains shifting allegiance or simply just the Sarawak military moving in on Brunei territory and put up forts to lay claim to the land. The finances of Brunei was also quite poor and they were several times forced to lease or even sell out land to the White Rajah.

Sultan Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin appealed to the British to stop further encroachment by the Sarawak Rajah. A treaty was negotiated together with Sir Hugh Low and signed into effect in the year of 1888. The treaty said that the sultan "could not cede or lease any territory to foreign powers without British consent"; This treaty effectively made Brunei a British protectorate. However the Kingdom of Sarawak annexed Brunei's Pandaruan region in 1890 splitting the sultanate in the middle. As the Sultan hoped for British intervention, His Majesty's government decided to do nothing. They stated to the Sultan that they did not regard either Brunei or the Kingdom of Sarawak as 'foreign'. This annexation was done by the current Rajah's predecessor, his father the late Rajah Charles Brooke. The Pandaruan area annexation was enforced by the Sarawak Rangers which had been formed by Rajah Charles Brooke.

With the discovery of oil in Brunei around the year 1929, Rajah Vyner of Sarawak decided to go in his fathers footsteps and finish where he left off but he would take it one step further. The Sarawak Rangers were ordered to escort Royal Servicemen to the Palace of Brunei and seize it from the Sultan. Bringing all the remnants of the declining Sultanates finally into the hands of the White Rajah's. Brunei would be made into a province, governed by the accompanying administrators and the Rajah's law would be enforced.

 

[Ranger900]

Jugostampa

Agricultural Reforms, One Year Later

The previous year has seen the implementation of long awaited government planned agricultural reforms, and well these reforms have seen many problems looking back at them with the benefit of hindsight we see that they have been quite successful. Farmers now produce surplus goods and low food supplies that have plagued many families since the Great War has been eradicated. Combined with our governments efforts in the international trade market we have seen that even as other countries economies begin to slip our own grows as it never has before. We can only hope the coming years our growth continues in such a manner during the following years and bring Yugoslavia to the worlds stage as a power in its own right.

 

[Stormbringer]

Chapter XVI: Railroads and Politics

In Europe and North America railroads are commonplace and have been so for more than half a century. There are few people who remember the transformation that railroads brought to northern England or to the American West when they first arrived. Not so in China. Even in the 1930s railroads are still new to the country and the transformational effects they have are still being felt. And just as railroads bring modernity to many parts of the country they also bring with them political upheaval and change.

The first railroad is built in China in 1864, but it is only a 600-meter strip designed for demonstration of the technology to the Qing. Major efforts to build railroads do not begin until after China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. After the defeat the Qing grant concessions to European powers to build railroads and extract minerals in many areas of China. The British, French, Germans, Americans, Russians, Belgians, and Japanese build railroads from Manchuria down to the border with French Vietnam. By 1911 there are more than 9,000 km of foreign-built railroads in China.

The rapid expansion of foreign railroads leads to calls for domestic development of railroads. Beginning in 1904 the Qing allow local governments to organize railroad companies and to raise funding by selling shares to the public. The Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway built by 1909 is the first railway to be designed and built indigenously. By 1911 domestic development of railroads stalls and many provincial railroad companies fall into bankruptcy. A plan to nationalize the companies and sell them to foreigners provokes an outcry that turns into the Railway Protection Movement and that leads, by the end of 1911, to the Xinhai Revolution and the toppling of the Qing dynasty.

The influence of the railroads only grows after the fall of the Qing. In the early days of the Republic of China politicians, bureaucrats, technocrats, businessmen, engineers, and labour unionists connected to the Ministry of Posts and Communications that oversees the railroads become a powerful interest group. The Ministry is responsible for railways, postal delivery, shipping, and telephones as well as the Bank of Communications, the first major national note-issuing bank in the Republic of China. The Ministry controls nearly 85% of all government revenue and as a result the “Communications clique” associated with it becomes a key political group in the Republic of China.

Initially the group is led by Tang Shaoyi, who is Yuan Shikai’s first Prime Minister, but leadership soon passes to Liang Shiyi. Although made up of businessmen and other educated men the group is hostile to the Nationalists and supports the authoritarian Yuan Shikai. It is the only major political group to support Yuan Shikai’s attempt to make himself Emperor, and for that they are temporarily exiled.

During the exile of Liang Shiyi the Communications Ministry is taken over by Cao Rulin, an ally of Duan Qirui. Liang Shiyi and Zhou Ziqi return to China and organize a political party that comes in second in the 1918 National Assembly elections. Duan Qirui is removed from power in 1920 and in 1921 Cao Rulin is found to have made concessions to Japan during the Paris Peace Conference and he is ousted from the Communications Ministry, returning control to Liang and his men.

Liang Shiyi briefly serves as Prime Minister in 1920-21 and his clique remains powerful throughout the 1920-1924 period of pro-Japanese governments in Beijing. In 1924 Cao Kun and Feng Yuxiang win a decisive victory against the other warlords and Cao Kun secures the Presidency for himself. As the Communications clique was instrumental in denying Cao Kun the Vice Presidency in 1918 he now takes his revenge. Most of the senior Communications clique men find themselves out of power and find shelter only in Manchuria under Zhang Zuolin.

By 1927 Cao Kun is out of power, and with the help of Zhang Zuolin Liang Shiyi once again recovers his post, but not for long. By 1929 it is Yan Xishan who is dominant in Beijing politics after his candidate, Lin Sen, is elected President. The Communications Ministry passes to a close associate of Yan Xishan named H. H. Kung, who has worked since 1911 to modernize Shanxi. Along with Kung come a whole slew of new men who take over control of China’s railroads as well as its industry and commerce.

H. H. Kung himself comes from a family of bankers, and in 1911 he helps Yan Xishan overthrow Qing power in Shanxi. Afterwards he oversees the establishment of industry in Shanxi as well as monetary reform there. During the 1922 famine he works with the American Red Cross to organize a relief effort that is praised by the Americans for its efficiency. He deserves at least as much credit as Yan Xishan for making Shanxi a “model province” during the warlord era.

H. H. Kung is married to to Soong Ai-ling, one of the Soong sisters (more on them later). Importantly this makes Kung the brother-in-law of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and T. V. Soong. Kung’s involvement in the 1911 revolution and his family connection to the founder of the Republic gives him credibility in the revolutionary circles and makes him not entirely reliant on Yan Xishan for his position and power.

After Kung gains his position at the Ministry T. V. Soong follows soon after. Having worked in numerous industrial enterprises T. V. Soong has a similar background to Kung. The two of them, together with Chang Kia-ngau, dominate the Communications Ministry, the Bank of China, and the Ministry of Industry. As money slowly becomes more important in Chinese politics than military might the three men grow in political importance. By this time, thanks largely to his government position, H. H. Kung becomes the richest man in the country.

Even more important may be Kung’s connection to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang has been, for a time, Commandant of the Beijing Academy and has risen rapidly in the military. As a result he carries significant influence with many younger officers who have graduated from the Academy and who are sometimes opposed to the older warlords. As a result of H. H. Kung’s diplomacy Yan Xishan and Chiang Kai-shek become closer, and with that Yan Xishan gains some support and credibility among the young officers corps.

Of course the 1930s promise to be anything but a peaceful decade for China. Whether Kung, Soong, and Chiang remain relevant remains to be seen. They may fall by the wayside of history the way Cao Rulin has. What is certain, though, is that the role railroads, commerce, industry all play in China will not diminish, regardless of who is temporarily in charge of them.

 

[Frymonmon]

Events of the World: 1930-1934​

Europe

With the collapse of the American stock market, it had only taken a year before its effects were felt in Europe. The United Kingdom, which had not experienced some of the massive growth of the previous decade, was able to feel the decline of the overall financial structure. The British Government, seeing this crisis as nothing more than an extension of the country’s languishing economy, take the unique approach of attempting to float both the City of London and south east England. Low lending rates by the Government were approved, while special kick backs were also approved for other industries, that produced luxury goods, to form. Very few did, as jobs became even more scarce in the country, with people unable to afford these new products. Outrage against the government was fierce, given that Westminster seemed to be ignoring the rest of the country. In 1932, in Edinburgh, the Scottish National Party was formed, dedicated to serving the interests of Scotland, framing the British government as one that only cared about England.

With an eye towards helping Northern Ireland, as well as other traditional industries across the British Isles, the British Government moves away from their previous policy, and announces that a large-scale upgrade and modernisation of the Royal Navy will take place. New ship designs, that have been floated previously in design rooms, were now brought into fruition. With the motion to scrap current ships en-masse in order to ensure that maximum employment was gained by the new programme, shipyards across the nation were busy to churn out the new Leander-class Cruisers, E and F-class destroyers, Grampus-class Submarines, a new Aircraft carrier, and the new pride of the British Navy, the King George V-class battleship. The design was approved in 1931, and the HMS King George V was laid down in early 1932, a year after the limitations from the Washington Naval Treaty had lapsed. Construction, while slow, was finished in the middle of 1934, and the HMS King George V was put to complete her sea trials, before being ratified for service, becoming the largest, and most powerful, battleship in both the British fleet, and the world.

The HMS King George V on sea trials.​

With the time and effort spent on the Royal Navy, further funding was released for the Royal Air Force, neglected since the time of the Great War. Money was shunted into new engines and weapons, while the entire old, and severely outdated, air fleet was scrapped. To replace the Royal Air Force’s bombers, two were slated to begin operation in 1936, the Vickers Wellington and the Handley-Page Hampden. The Supermarine Type 224 was chosen to replace the old fighters, with several hundred built after completing highly successful tests, a vast improvement over the previous planes.

Martial Law was declared in northern Ireland in early 1930, in response to the deepening economic crisis, which produced riots, as well as the antics of the Blueshirts, which had devolved Northern Ireland into anarchy in some places. Matters were complicated when The Squad, also known as the Twelve Apostles, began to carry out widespread assassinations against high-ranking military leaders. The British Army was dispatched to Northern Ireland, with an increasingly large deployment being enacted. As the Depression had hit Northern Ireland hard, dissatisfaction with the outcome of Irish independence was wide spread.

Constant strife between both sides in Northern Ireland, the Blueshirts and the British Government, marked much of the previous five years. Death tolls mounted, to the point where thousands across Northern Ireland stood against the violence of both sides, and formed independent commissions of their own, declaring both the British and Irish governments to be unwelcomed in their regions due to the strife. The Irish Defence Army (IDA) was the direct result of this movement, where local volunteers fought both the British and the Irish, gathering broad support across the region, with some even talking of an independent Northern Ireland, to remove themselves from both the British and the Irish.

The Dlí an Tuairisceán (Law of Return) was passed by the Irish government, allowing anyone who could prove Irish descent was allowed to move to Ireland, and claim Irish citizenship. Automatically, the law was applied to all residents of northern Ireland, which was was a tact claim placed on the region. A commision was set up to handle the new immigrants, which set highly lenient restrictions on gaining citizenship. Even claiming that an Irish last name was within your family afforded you citizenship, and a passport. A large influx of new citizens was logged, from the United Kingdom, and the United States, but more notably from Russian-speaking “O’Connell’s” from “Europe.” Few people believed that they were actual Irishmen, but they were welcomed as new citizens regardless.

Attempts to form a national agency to regulate air travel, and to give it funds in order to organise regulations and safety of flight in the the country, ultimately do not come to fruition as disagreements over funding and its specific job stall these attempts.

The Ford Tractor Factory that had once provided a wealth of jobs and equipment in Cork was once again occupied by the Ford Motor Company, due to a large, fifteen per cent tax break afforded the company. On top of that, production of the Fordson model of tractors was once again ramped up, through government contracts, to sell to the few farmers in the country that would be able to benefit from better agricultural practices. While the Depression had hit Ireland, the economy was seen by many as being in such a poor condition, that it was unable to be hurt as much, due to other areas of the economy that could benefit. While few companies had the desire to move to Ireland, Ford Motor Company remained the only big name to return or move to Ireland, but it’s existance provided jobs and and economic base in Cork that would otherwise not exist.

Workers at the new Ford plant with a shipment of new tractors.​

With strikes still plaguing France well into 1930, a new meeting was called between Employers Associations and Trade Unions, this time offering both an equal footing, to work out a series of deals to help end these strikes. The government took a much more moderate tone, seeking to push for a moderate minimum wage, and social insurance to cover involuntary unemployment and disability, as well as paid holiday. Despite a major pushback by employers, the government forced them to accept “involuntary unemployment” as a definition of economic fortunes of the country. With the strikes over, many economists already reflected on the fact that the strikes had thrown the country into a recession, and the worsening economic conditions globally forced and even greater downturn in the economy. It was clear that Les Années folles in France have come to an end.

The next year saw a continued deterioration of the economy, and major protests against the traité économique de la France et les pays bas, which caused for its unfortunate demise in a dramatic vote in Paris, which rejected the treaty. Belgium remained the only country to ratify it, with the Dutch rejecting it based on economic grounds, although many felt it was due to the fact it would break their sought after neutrality. With the treaty put on hold by its champions in Paris, funding for the military was increased across the board, with a focus on ordering new weapons to provide employment. With the recent Anglo-German treaty having been signed, an attempt to push forward with a massive armament campaign was gaining traction, before shattering news came over the wire from New York. With the downturn of the economy, and citing measure such as the “dangerously high” debt levels that were logged by the French treasury, that the French credit rating was downgraded a level, sending a rippling shockwave throughout the country’s economic structure, which had previously been structured around the excellent credit rating. Coupled with a massive decline in global trade, the French budget was faced with a complete and unprecedented disaster.

Unable to face to the rising budget constraints, the measures were ultimately dropped, while the French economy was faced with both a spiral of debt and sheer collapse. Revenues plummeted, and funding for services was financed on debt obligations only, leading some to believe that the system, as it was established so far, was doomed to failure. With the government paralysed over what to do, the economy saw its largest drop in late 1931 into 1932, continuing throughout the year, before leveling off, and beginning to improve once more by 1933, albeit a drop in the first quarter of 1934 erased much of the gains.

Economic issues aside, the French government announces a controversial new policy, that opened citizenship for those who lived in the Departments of Oran, Alger, and Constantine who had served in the military for three years, received a formal education, or had asserts over a specific amount. A major contention on the part of many politicians was that there existed fundamental differences between the French and the Algerians, and that even further, the current restrictions were far too loose. A compromise was finally agreed upon, eliminating any possibility of getting in on property rights, while allowing it for having served in the military for five years, and having to have achieved a higher education in France. Khalid ibn Hashim, while approving of the steps in this direction, wished for a greater acceptance of the Algerian people, but it was still fundamentally at odds with the idea of the French Nation.

The Jeunesses Patriotes and the Croix-de-Feu were combined under government orders to form the Volontaires Patriotiques (VP), which would be the state-sanctioned paramilitary group. All those that refused to join would be disbanded, by force. To the benefit of the French, something that had been in short supply in the past five years, there were none that objected to this new order, and they were brought, peacefully, under state control.

Much of the previous five years in Spain dealt with a wide series of reforms that sought to change the way in which Spain operated, to try and make it more efficient, and better managed. Agrarian Reforms were announced, setting maximum working hours per day, overtime pay, abilities to settle wage disputes, new rights for small tenant farmers, while the same protections were also afforded to other Spanish workers across the country. While those with a landed interest stood against these ideals, there was massive support from the majority of the population, helping to bolster Rivera’s actions.

Another portion of Rivera’s Reforms was the reorganisation of the Autonomous Communities of Spain, aimed at easing cultural tensions and to improve local planning methods per terms of production and investment. In order to keep the popularity of the objective up, he was able to present a major push to obtain fleeing capital from France to settle in Spain, improving the economy, in the midst of a worldwide economic downturn. With such a powerful backing behind him in the form of the lower classes and those who benefited from the economic growth, Rivera was able to force the Church to reduce the overall power it held in Spain, slashing special rights it held, and forcing it to pay taxes in some cases.

Autonomous Communities of Spain as enacted by Rivera.​

With the idea in tightening their belts and ensuring that the government would be able to pay all of their bills at the end of the year, taxes are raised to cover outstanding debts, while government wages and lowered along with unemployment benefits. The move was seen as a disaster by many, as jobs became more and more scarce. While there was only a small decrease in overall employment, the economy did seem to show an overall decline. The next year, along with the turbulent political scene, the economy truly began to collapse. With banks failing, industrial production suffering, and tariffs on the rise globally, it seemed unlikely that a recovery would be able to take place. With the unstable leadership, switching back and forth between hands, economic policy was impossible to implement, meaning for six months in 1931, the bureaucracy carried on with austerity plans, slashing budgets wherever they may be.

With Franz von Papen now firmly installed as Chancellor, he began to ensure that the state was buying up vital banking assets, lowering taxes, and ensuring that banks no longer failed. A Curator of the German Banking system was announced, and deficits mounted massively. Despite having been given the high credit rating during the austerity campaign, Germany’s credit rating was knocked down, but still resting above what it was prior to the crisis.

Chancellor Papen addressing the Nation over the Economic Crisis.​

A public works programme was unveiled in late 1932, the Autobahnen, which sought to construct motorways, canals, railways, ect, spending massive amounts of money on these big spending projects in order to ensure that workers could get jobs. Banks, by March of 1933, were starting to lend money on the smallest of scales. Heavy Industry, controlled by the state and the Ministry of Industry, was focused on producing many of the things that the state needed, creating demand and continuing to improve the economy. Privatisation was started on the most fiscally sound industries and banks. Construction spending still increased, and the private sector was starting to improve. The effects of the Depression, however, still remained heavy on Germany, as it still had yet to log any economic increase over two per cent. The state’s influence on the economy was very large, and in some cases where the reason why many industries stayed open. Production of consumer materials was the prime example of this, given the fact that unemployment subsidies, and government spending in infrastructure and other areas meant that Germans gained more money. By late 1934, the state had decreased its control over the economy by around forty per cent at its high point, but this still marked a significant control. With government deficits still massive, reparations payments were suspended in late 1932, but were restarted in 1934 after major protest from France.

In order to continue to ascend to the agreement with the United Kingdom, several new divisions were brought up to force in Germany, spending far more money than what was expected, due to the fact that the government wished to inject as much money into the economy. The further treaty signed with the United Kingdom also allowed for a greater fleet to be established. While not much was known of the plan, all of Germany’s older, outdated, ships were scrapped and new ones were laid down in their place. The construction stimulated the steel industry, and while on paper claimed to be within the Treaty of Versailles’ limits, they were much more in the limits of the Anglo-German Naval Treaty.

While the Verein für Raumschiffahrt had taken Germany by storm for several years, funding for it eventually disappeared as a consequence of the Depression. Many of the scientists that had worked on the project, however, were reported to have been picked up by the government in new positions, working to develop their craft even further. Accusations of favouritism were thrown when the son of the Agricultural Minister, Magnus von Braun was given a high-paying position within the Army. While it was unknown what they were doing, it was discovered that they were working on rockets after the announcement that the Army team had successfully tested Germany’s first liquid-fueled rocket, designed by former VfR members.

Scientists with their two successful rockets.​

In Rome, the Ministry of Colonies was tasked with an overhaul of the entire programme of Italian colonisation. With a majority of the problems, it was believed, stemmed from the lack of Italians in the colonies, which were nowhere near any bit profitable. Land-clearing programmes, surveying studies, and large investments into infrastructure and the physical movement of people to these colonies. The major target was Albania, with a close proximity and the ability to be quickly defended, as well as be economically viable moving forward. While the initial signs were positive, few believed that it would be successful in places such as Libya, which was largely undesirable.

While officially a three-year programme for the expansion of the Organisation for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism (OVRA) was to place it under the jurisdiction of the Polizia di Stato as a special division, the reality was far more clandestine. With established chapters across Italy, its presence was never seen, but it was most certainly felt. A network of informants, mostly average citizens who were avowed fascists, populated all the neighbourhoods and streets of Italian cities, always ready to send a tip should anyone express negative views about Mussolini, resulting in a large amount of “disappearances” as the programme received more and more funding.

Under the auspices of Italo Balbo, Secretary of State for Air, a major push was made in order to strengthen the air industry within Italy, both civilian and military. Aircraft were seen as the fascist response to earlier forms of warfare. They were sleek, efficient, modern, and above all, deadly. With this ideological attachment, companies were helped by the Italian government through subsidies, and the old Ansaldo Company, which had previously shut up its doors, was opened once after being acquired by the Bank of Italy. Under control of Balbo, engineers and planners were hired, and given the direction to begin an expansion of airfields across Italy and her colonies, to maintain the new aircraft that they would soon produce. Academies for pilots, for both types of aircraft, were opened by the government, showing a deep commitment into ensuring that these new plans were enacted efficiently.

Mussolini and Balbo reviewing new Aircraft for the Kingdom of Italy.​

With the economic downturn across the globe, the Czechoslovak government attacks the issue in a rather inventive way. Coal mining, long an activity in the Sudetenland, was subsidised, while at the same time offering the coal free transport to rural areas of Czechoslovakia in order to industrialise. In an already oversaturated market, with record low prices for coal, the government’s sensibility came into severe questioning.

There was a better approach in other projects during the half decade, however, with modernisation of the army and air force made an extreme priority due to the ease by which the Polish had “stolen” land from the Czechs. Three war colleges were established across the country, along with departments in each to help train amateur gliders and those interested into developing their skills into aircraft designing, or even becoming pilots.

In order to ensure that economic growth was kickstarted in Hungary, despite the trend worldwide to the opposite, the state began a large-scale support of the production of automobiles, which had the purpose of being used in agricultural production, or to take it further, the construction of tractors for agriculture. While funded by the government, along with a myriad of other projects, it was possible for the Hungarian government to mitigate a complete collapse of the economy.

To state the obvious, the establishment of the Legionary State in Romania was seen as a threat to the continued existence of Transylvania throughout the world. The Transylvanian chapter of the Iron Guard had for long been engaged in open rebellion against Transylvania, and with their brother legionaries now in power in Bucharest a surge in strength of the Iron Guard was expected.

No country in the world was as alarmed by these development as Hungary, who saw Transylvania’s existence as the sovereign right of the Transylvanian People and critical to their national security. Citing Hungary’s continued desire to see the Transylvanian peoples practicing their right to self-determination through an independent state, and the Romanians through a democratic state, Admiral Horthy made a plan to annihilate the ‘Iron Cult’ utilising the Hungarian army, the Transylvanian forces, and loyalists in Yugoslavia

The plan was to end in bitter failure from the get-go. As soon as Horthy reached out to the Royalist Romanians in Yugoslavia, Belgrade lashed out at Hungary for provoking internal dissent and aside from interning the loyalist Romanians, most of them in the Banat, moved the majority of their armed forces up to the Hungarian border. This left the Hungarian plan without a southern front to attack Timisoara from.

With the remnants of the old Romanian army interned, their weapons were seized and put in poorly guarded warehouses that were soon raided by Romanian peasants and Iron Guard infiltrators, quickly training thousands upon thousands of Banatian Romanians to fight for their kin on the other side of the border. The great benefactor of this was Codreanu, who now effectively had a logistical hub and manpower pool in the west. The biggest losers were not the Hungarians, but the Yugoslavs. Hungarians in Banat also got their hands on a number of weapons and there was a distressing rise in ethnic clashes that resulted in a heavy-handed response from the Yugoslav Army.

An ethnic Hungarian village in Banat burns.​

Moving through the snowed plains to the north, the Hungarians descended on the town over a wide area. As they moved in the morning under the cover of heavy rain, the Iron Guard defenders were shocked to see the “Devil’s Army” coming within a kilometre of the without being spotted. With the alarm raised, the Romanian forces opened up with everything they had from rifles to heavy artillery and halted the Hungarian advance. The Hungarians had a larger battery and responded by pounding the northern outskirts of the city, reducing it to rubble in which the two armies fought hand-to-hand. The Romanians responded by moving a few columns up through the mountains and attacking from the east, followed by a large counter-attack that pushed the Hungarians out of Brasov, who retreated to the marshes and hills to the north. As winter fell, the Romanians held the strategic initiative.

Codreanu greets the masses after announcing the victory.​

After the decisive battle of Brasov, the Romanians took the winter to spread their forces around the Carpathians and properly equip all of its soldiers and train those rushed into service in the previous years. Getting more heavy weapons from obvious destinations, the Hungarians found their match in more and more engagements and throughout the early years of the 1930s steadily lost ground. Military successes, more symbolic than practical, were had in Suceava and Neamt where the Transylvanian army held the mountains against a half-hearted attack, but the Iron Guard opened the spring of 1931 with dedicated campaigns in Brasov and Oradea. From Brasov the Romanian Army was haemorrhaging into central Transylvania, and from Oradea it was poised to March on Cluj. Whilst it was first feared that the Iron Guard would raid Hungary, Bucharest consistently messaged that its enmities lay with Transylvania, not Hungary, and if Hungary would agree to a ceasefire it had nothing to fear.

‘Nem! Nem! Soha!’, was the categorical reply from Budapest, and new courage filled Hungary once the Romanians stopped in the winter, which was credited to Hungarian armed superiority. In reality, it was all due to the pack-mule logistics of the Romanian army, paired with the weather, meant they could not mount a serious offensive from August to March. But in March and April 1932 the Romanian army fought and captured most of central Transylvania at such speed that the Hungarian men of the Transylvanian army, together with a part of the German commissioned and enlisted men, deserted and fled to Hungary. Seeing this, and the Romanians of the Transylvanian army either going home or fraternising with the Iron Guard, the Hungarian army staged a peaceful mutiny and marched home. The last Hungarian soldier left Transylvania on June 16th. Two days later, what Codreanu termed the “Nation of Graveyards” came to an end as the Romanian Army moved into Cluj.

With a mixture of tax cuts, increased welfare, reduced spending, austerity, direct investment, and nationalisation, the Yugoslav government sets forth a truly impressive campaign to mitigate the damage caused by the Depression that rampaged across the continent. While not hit as badly as the other countries in Europe due to its poor economic standing prior, it still saw a decrease in economic output year over year. Continued attempts to increase production in industry are met with failure, while agricultural production does increase, it is mostly worthless due to the very low prices for agricultural goods on the world stage, further dampening the Yugoslav economy.

With the economy poor, the Treaty of Zara, which allowed an indefinite number of Italians to settle in Dalmatia, sparked an immediate nationalist outrage. Riots engulfed the country, as the aging King Peter I was unable to respond to the sudden outrage. The King, while traveling with his presumed Heir, had his car blown up by Serbian nationalists, killing the monarch, and wounding the stricken Alexander. He was able to survive, becoming Alexander I of Romania. As events seemed to stabilise, the head of the Royal Yugoslav Army, Milan Nedić, announced that King Alexander I would be abdicating in favour of his son, who would become Peter II. Being too young to ascend to the throne, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was declared the Regent over the Kingdom, who in turn appointed Nedić as Supreme Commander of the Yugoslav Armed forces, as well as Prime Minister. Nedić immediately restricted the Italian immigration into the country, and announced a new partnership with Germany. Only a few months into the sudden, bloodless, coup, a treaty was signed between Germany and Yugoslavia, bringing new avenues for economic cooperation and future political and military cooperation.

It was then also revealed that Yugoslavia had directly aided in helping the Iron Guard in Romania under the previous government, showing that Yugoslavia itself had been compromised. No longer the strong nation that could defend itself, it had become a servant of Rome’s interests. The new Nedić government, however, proclaimed a free Yugoslavia, not quite denouncing the Treaty of Zara, but showing it was strongly disliked. The new government, despite having overthrown the democratic institutions of the country and was widely thought to have murdered King Peter I, was massively popular, and was responsible for the late 1933-1934 economic growth and strengthening of the military.

With all of Romania now firmly united behind the central government, the Legionary Council was formed to be made up of Government Ministers and loyal Party Members to help run the country. It was given complete control over electing the successor to the Romanian Crown, and was given the power to control the policies and statutes of the Iron Guard, effectively the nation’s parliament. With the nation dedicated to winning the war, the overall government structure had collapsed, along with the economy, resulting in a wide-scale depression far beyond the scope that many had imagined before.

With the government increasingly following an Italian model, taken to an extreme in most cases, a new and ambitious economic plan was needed to help the rapidly collapsing nation. While government estimates for the economy had only been shaky and relied upon earlier data, when the truth was revealed it was shocking to see the true devastation wrought by anarchy and war. Revisions for the true economic value were revised down by ten per cent in 1933, and industry was declared to be all but nonexistent. A new industrialisation programme was announced, as well as a major nationalisation of several key industries and services, due to the ongoing crisis. While the economy was able to improve in late 1934, the sheer damage wrought by the war had made Romania, by far, the poorest location in Europe.

With a full focus on continuing to improve Poland’s standing in Eastern Europe, the Dmowski regime begins a massive industrial campaign to ensure that the country was fully connected and that economic growth and industry was spread across the country. With an increasing number of industries coming under control of the Polish government, money was invested even further into them, floating demand and causing Poland to be one of the few countries to log economic growth year over year. In the most extreme cases, the port of Gdynia and its surrounding areas logged a massive twenty per cent growth over the five years, due to its prime location as an industrial centre.

The constantly expanding port of Gdynia.​

While helped by several experts from Renault in France, a fully Polish-designed and made armoured machine was able to roll out of a government design bureau. It sported the newest guns that were designed specifically for the chassis they were resting on. A new motor engine, taken from Renault, was one of the strongest in Europe, and was capable of moving the new tank very quickly. A vast improvement over the older trucks turned into armoured cars of the 1920s, this was a fully purpose-built tank. Several hundred were ordered, along with the general directive to increase military funding by a vast amount, seeking to use government spending to float economic growth.

The final two years of the Five Year Plan succeed in many of their goals, with industries to fuel resource extraction, which in turn would provide material for the industries, logged large amounts of growth. Machinery was still being imported from Germany, focused on building new machines that would then, in turn, be able to produce more industrial machinery and products. While the jargon was overwhelming in many cases, industrial production was on the rise, along with other facets of modern life known to people in the west. Electricity was common in more and more Soviet towns, as railways in the most congested of areas now ran fully electrically. “Better” record keeping was promoted, which said little more than what Stalin wanted it to, but other tangible gains were made in literacy rates. One area that had zero success at all was attempting to secure loans from Germany and Italy, where the Soviet Union had been determined to be too risky to invest into.

While literacy rates had been improving, to many in Moscow this was only the start. A directive stemming from the People's Commissariat for Education maintained that there would be a focus on higher educational programmes within the Soviet Union, to produce a cadre of scientists, engineers, technocrats, and others that could be used to efficiently run the nation and manage the important work of the Communist future that they were building towards. The push on this front was able to yield some results, as the merger of several scientific institutes created the Jet Propulsion Research Institute, which was given control over a project that was studying some of the same things that Robert Goddard in the United States was. The result was the GIRD-X rocket, the Soviet Union’s first liquid fueled rocket, which was launched on September 21st, 1933. When announced in the papers, it was claimed that Soviet science made possible the future of mankind, but the overall event passed without much fanfare outside the RNII.

The second five year plan was announced with great fanfare, shifting the focus from baseline industrialisation and extraction of resources towards heavy industry, and ramping up production of steel and capital goods. A major focus as well was placed on collectivisation, moving away from the voluntary programme, and more towards a massive, widespread state-run system. The Dvadtsatipyatitysyachniki were sent out from the major industrial cities to the countryside, to lead the drive on to the state-run farms. Where as before, it was estimated that only around twenty per cent of sown land in the Soviet Union was voluntarily collectivised, by late 1934, that number had grown to eighty four per cent of sown area. While Stalin had even published an article in Pravda saying that some of the peasants had become “Dizzy with Success” and had over fulfilled quotas and targets. While unknown to the world, it was very well known in Moscow that the collectivisation process had produced a massive famine in southern Russia and eastern Ukraine, but damage was limited elsewhere.

A popular Soviet poster during the early 1930s.​

The Treaty of Moscow was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, strengthening their current relations even further, and deepening the economic and technological ties that they held with each other. Advanced machinery would continue to find its way east, while raw materials and other needed goods would flow west, further helping the German economy. While surely an unrelated incident, the Soviet Union shortly thereafter announced a large increase in funding and production of military goods, announcing a wide-scale modernisation campaign. Coupled with this, the Soviet Air Force was brought to the front, with no effort left undone to try and ensure that the production of new planes and bombers was under way. There were also movements towards the production of tanks, the first of which was the T-28, with five hundred of them built overall, helping to form one of the Soviet Union’s first armoured divisions since the Civil War, this time much more powerful. More were already in the planning stages, with rumours of a heavy tank coming into fruition within the next year.

Middle East, the Mediterranean, & Central Asia

If one had to characterise what, exactly, the Bulgarian government did over the course of the early 1930s, and many would be hard pressed to tell the details. First, it was noted that welfare reform was discussed at length during 1931, but they did not do much about it. Instead, they kept their plans and decided that when the time was right, they would act upon them when they felt the need to be. Grandiose plans about hospitals receiving the newest equipment went nowhere. A whole year passed before a large public works project was announced, this time to tackle the economic depression, but with little money, nothing more than some road building and harbour expansion was completed. The effects were adversely minimal, until it was decided that these large plans would, in fact, be ignored and taken on a monthly basis. With this new plan, electrical grids were laid down, construction work was aplenty, building new and modern facilities for transportation of goods, and public sewer systems. There were also rumours that the Bulgarian government was investing money into the creation of a flight school in Sofia, but those turned out to be unfounded, when it was discovered that a German mangate from Berlin had instead opened the new school, and had only received a letter from the Bulgarian government applauding his move.

Turkey might have claimed it was a neutral and peaceful country, relations with all its neighbours were poor at best. The Syrians and Iraqi intended to take Mosul back, the Turks wanting Hatay; the Bulgarians fearing the Turkish plans to annex half Rumelia, the Greeks eager to reclaim the City, and the Soviets disapproving of Atatürk’s personal Communist party. With a growing economy, it was thus no surprize if the tUrks decided to rebuild their armed forces. New weapons were purchased abroad, older ships were repaired and rejoined the navy once more, and fighters were boughten from Britain. Many wondered why the Turks would use this army for, but it made Turkey a power that couldn’t be ignored in the region.

Turkish recruitment poster. The size of the Turkish army doubled in less than five years.​

Although it suffered from shrinking foreign markets and deflation, Turkish industry kept growing during the Depression. Substitution products were manufactured near Ankara and tariffs were raised to keep foreign competition at bay. Large state-owned consortiums were created and blue and white collars alike saw their purchasing power increase as the state kept salaries as high as earlier to fight the depression and stimulate internal consumption. While the whole world suffered from economic downturn, Turkey managed to continue its modernizing drive.

This was also true in the countryside, although Turkish peasantry didn’t nearly benefit as much from the good economic conditions as the urban classes. Land that hadn’t been cultivated since the war was put to good use once more, and if the price to pay was the expropriation the Armenian and Greek churches - that had legitimate ownership of it but which members had been forced to leave the country and stopped using it - Atatürk didn’t mind paying it. Good Turks were given this land and fertilizer, which enabled Turkey to export parts of its production, something wholly implausible years before.

The Turkish school system was deemed outdated and backwards and the Turks decided that to modernize it, they needed to look westwards once more. However, the teachers objected to these changes, saying they still needed to adapt to the new alphabet system and that changes every three years would never lead to a good system. At the end of the day, only the famous School of the Nation program saw changes, with hard sciences being taught along with the latin alphabet to the Turks. The curricula for the youth remained unchanged, as the teachers themselves needed to adapt and learn before they could teach new fields to the Turkish youth.

Damascus took foreign relations seriously. They were rather simple, but important; everybody but the French was to be considered an enemy. The neo-Ottomans, the Kuwaitis, the Kurds, the Saudi, they all opposed Shams. Syrian statesmen hus decided that the weakest link in this chain of anti-Syrians had to be broken. A meeting was held with the Emir of Jabal Shammar and other anti-Saudi leaders. The first objective, to make them loyal to Damascus, failed, but the coalition that aimed to destroy the Saudi was well established

Some French-Arabic schools were established in the main cities, funded by private citizens whose children were attending to schools in France and Switzerland. The idea was to offer some of the gifted children of the middle class the opportunity to pursue non-religious education. The religious authorities opposed it, but it was supported by the French so there was very little they could do against it, aside from complaining.

The Syrian Arab Army was enlarged to prepare to fight the Saudi, and weapons were purchased from France to turn the old Syrian militia into a real fighting force. An experiment to create a combined division - camels and armored cars - failed, as the armored cars weren’t fit for desert warfare. To levy such an army, Syria was forced to loan tremendous amounts of money from French banks, but with Paris backing them interests rates remained low.

Even in the financial predicament it was in, Syria kept growing. Port facilities were developed to favour trade with France and Europe, and the growth of the countryside led to the development of local markets, which gave incentive to create railways to transport goods to the various Syrian cities. But this rebirth of the Syrian economy was hindered by the inability of the government to invest as debt was already growing at a staggering rate. Measures could be taken, but as Faisal put it, Syria had no need for silly budgets.

The Saudi thus ended up facing opposition at home and abroad, as the Wahhabi family was coveting power to establish a theocracy, the Ikhwan refused to use some of the modern British weapons they had been given, and the Bedouin disliked the Wahhabi and the Ikhwan. They were thus in no shape to fight the Syrian-led troops that converged on Riyad in 1932. The Ikhwan were beaten when defending the city, ibn Saud fled the country and the Rashiduns took over, with the Idrisids being given important positions as well. The time of islamism appeared to be over, as arabism was the main ideology among Arabs.

However, Syria wasn’t home to Arabs only. The growing Jewish community saw the Western Wall in Jerusalem as their most treasured religious artifact. When the Waqf decided to open holes in it, the Zionists rose up. A thousand Zionists protested against it, flying the Zionist flag and the response of the Arab authorities infuriated the Arabs of the region. Damascus told the Zionists that the Wall would be protected but that demonstrating against Syria was unlawful. The Mufti of Jerusalem said at the Friday preach that the Jews had to be thrown to the sea, and said that the region could only be home to good Sunni Arabs. This led to fights between Jews and Arabs, that culminated in the Hebron massacre where dozens of Jewish settlers were lynched by the Arab mob. The pluralist Syrian model was showing its limits.

The Grand Mufti.​

A new civic code was promoted by the Shah. Looking back upon it, he decided that a civil code might have more lasting effect and made sure the Majles promulgated it instead. It was mediatized as the end of the capitulations in Persia and the people largely backed it. It also gave judiciary power to judges appointed by the state, making laws respected throughout the country. Foreign criminals would be tried in Persia, and that was a change many welcomed. Of course, it also meant that Tehran took the judiciary from the hands of religious leaders, but that wasn’t an aspect the government stressed.

A national bank was also established, with the rials finally printed in Iran itself. While this could lead to the creation of a real banking system later on, it had limited impact in the 1930s as the country was unable to acquire large foreign currency reserves and struggled to maintain the value of its currency.

A new 5 rial banknote.​

Persia couldn’t possibly lag behind Turkey, and if the Turks wanted to reform their educational system, so would the Persians. New schools were opened, women were given education all across the country and literacy steadily improved. The cursus the average Iranian would follow wouldn’t make him very well educated, but at least all could read, count and would learn their religion the proper way. Some would be able to receive secular education in the main cities, with teachers educated in Europe, and even receive money to study abroad if they were deemed worthy.

Real roads were developed in Persia. Trucks were key if the country was to sell its products effectively and roads were needed before trucks could be used. Between main cities, roads were paved and even if they were mainly used by horses and donkeys, oil products were often transported by trucks. The impact on the Persian economy was limited, but the groundwork for economic development had been laid out.

North & South America

The Canadian general election of 1930 is one dominated by a single issue: rising unemployment throughout Canada. Mackenzie King, seemingly oblivious of the 30% unemployment in his country, continues to tout the Liberals’ role in achieving the prosperity of the 1920s. Lacking awareness of the steadily increasing joblessness, King repeatedly rejects pleas from Conservative provincial governments to provide federal aid, deeming them to be nothing more than political grandstanding. The result is a crushing defeat for the Liberals and the rise of Conservative leader R.B. Bennett as Prime Minister.

Richard Bedford Bennett, 11th Prime Minister of Canada​

Unfortunately, Bennett is a major proponent of the Imperial Preference system and his implementation of even higher tariffs directed against US imports leads to a marked worsening of relations between the two countries following the implementation of Smoot-Hawley, though the pro-British trade policy is well-received in London.

Prime Minister Bennett immediately launches a series of “make-work” programs designed to improve national infrastructure and alleviate the Canadian joblessness epidemic. To facilitate these programs, labor camps are set up across Canada, where jobless workers can live and have the basics provided for them, as long as they’re willing to work for 20 cents a day on the infrastructure projects. The program comes together well and numerous bridges and dams go up across Canada, though there are some complaints about living and labor conditions. Other efforts to encourage Imperial investment in Canada (and vice versa) fall through due to lack of capital in Canada, Britain, and other Commonwealth countries.

Federally-employed workers repairing a Canadian highway​

While the make-work programs are met with general approval, Bennett’s more controversial measures attempt to grant the federal government the right to create and manage social welfare programs and labor reforms, which up until this point have been managed by provincial governments. The push-back from the provinces is substantial, arguing that the Canadian government has no right to impose itself on a provincial bailiwick, and Bennett’s legislation goes down in flames. However, while the provinces are united against an expansion of central power, they do seem individually interested in expanding social welfare among their constituents and, given the rise of the issue of “sweatshop capitalism,” provincial action is expected in the coming years.

To encourage national unity and boost morale during economic hardship, PM Bennett’s Conservative government forms the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, with the intention of making radio available to every Canadian citizen and providing them with programming intended to raise their spirits. Radio stations formerly owned by the Canadian National Railway are incorporated into a growing CRBC network and quickly grow to provide coverage for most of inhabited Canada.

At the request of a Royal Commission, PM Bennett orders the expansion of the Royal Canadian Army by nine divisions, risking the displeasure of his Conservative back-benchers if he does otherwise. While Canada faces no actual military threats, it is conceivable that it may be called upon to defend other parts of the Commonwealth, and this additional military power may prove useful, though it is also expensive.

Following the collapse of the fish market, the government of Newfoundland is declared insolvent in early 1933. It petitions the British government to assume control of Newfoundland in exchange for guarantees on its outstanding loans and a promise to resume responsible government once the financial crisis had passed. However, in response to Canadian pressure, the British government instead organizes a referendum on Newfoundland sovereignty, asking whether the people of Newfoundland want to be governed by a British-appointed commission or to be incorporated as a Canadian province. The vote is overwhelmingly pro-Canadian, and Newfoundland is incorporated as Canada’s tenth province. In the process, Canada also assumes responsibility for guaranteeing Newfoundlander debts and reorganizing the province to ensure its solvency, further straining the Canadian economy.

Senator Reed Smoot and Representative Willis C. Hawley.​

In June of 1930, President Herbert Hoover signs the Tariff Act of 1930, raising US tariffs on more than 20,000 imported goods to a level not seen since 1828. While it was originally intended to be a minor tariff hike to help stabilize the budget, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff (named after its two legislative sponsors) quickly becomes a rallying point for Republicans angry with Anglo-Canadian trade practices and looking to protect reeling American industry from foreign competition. While initial results are promising, worldwide trade quickly deflates and America’s economic downturn deepens as it loses a substantial percentage of its foreign commerce.

The 1930 American midterm election sees a landslide win for the Democrats in Congress, gaining eight Senate seats and 52 seats in the House. This overwhelming victory, which culminates in a razor-thin Democratic majority in the House and an equally slim Republican majority in the Senate, is largely attributed to the profound economic depression, rising joblessness, and a fall-off in foreign trade, all of which the American public blames on President Hoover and the Republican party.

This trend continues in 1932, when New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt decisively defeats Hoover by repeatedly citing the President’s poor handling of the economy and promising profound reform, including restoring trade with the world and reducing government spending. This Democratic victory in the presidential election is mirrored in the legislative elections, with the Democrats taking 12 Senate seats and 97 House seats, granting them substantial majorities in both houses and paving the way for Roosevelt’s promised reforms.

Franklin Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States.​

During President Roosevelt’s first hundred days in office, he introduces numerous sweeping changes, but not quite so profound as the bank holiday, in which all banks are closed across the United States until legislation can be enacted to address the structural problems inherent in the financial system. At this time, more than 40% of all banks have been sent into bankruptcy and money is being hoarded rather than deposited and loaned out. In March, the Emergency Banking Act and the Glass-Steagall Act are passed, reopening American banks under Treasury supervision and limiting banks from engaging in securities trading or speculation. With the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation under the Glass-Steagall Act, millions of hoarded dollars flow back into the banking system, with the deposits insured by the federal government itself. Over 4,000 smaller banks are folded into larger banks, with depositors receiving 80% of their deposits back, and while it doesn’t quite resolve the ongoing economic issues, it does result in an unprecedented level of bank stability.

In tandem with this banking reform comes a series of monetary reforms, suspending and then ultimately abolishing the gold standard in the United States. Through a combination of executive orders issued by President Roosevelt and acts of Congress, the export of gold is outlawed, all privately-owned gold over a certain amount is forcibly sold to the government for paper currency, and gold is no longer considered legal tender for debts. With the concentration of gold in government hands, gold prices increase and the dollar is allowed to float freely on international markets. The result is an increase in the flow of currency and a small but noticeable uptick in the economy, particularly in the wake of the global economic crisis.

[video=youtube;iipnhLTdh-0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iipnhLTdh-0[/video]
President Roosevelt addresses the nation on the banking crisis.​

The Tennessee Valley Authority is inaugurated in early 1933 to help revitalize the economically devastated Tennessee Valley region. The most dramatic change is the construction of numerous dams, which provide both employment for local workers and cheap electricity for residents, resulting in the propagation of electrical lighting and appliances throughout the region. Additionally, major reforms are introduced that improve crop yields, reduce disease, and improve the habitats of fish and game, improving the region’s overall prosperity. While some anti-TVA sentiment is generated by the displacement of 15,000 residents during dam construction, most residents feel overwhelmingly positive toward the program and its already promising results.

President Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.​

The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified at the end of 1933, officially ending Prohibition. While states still retain control over the import and production of alcohol within their borders, this ends federal enforcement of “dry” laws and permits the revival of the American alcohol industry -- which had already been allowed to reopen but could not yet sell its products in the United States -- by allowing sales in newly “wet” states once again. This also secures President Roosevelt’s popularity, by providing the people with a much-demanded luxury during trying times.

[video=youtube;TLfHMItnSu0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLfHMItnSu0[/video]
Newsreel on the End of Prohibition.​

Secretary of State Cordell Hull secures the passage of the Reciprocal Tariff Act in 1934, in which Congress grants the President the authority to negotiate bilateral reciprocal trade agreements with foreign countries. By giving the President the ability to negotiate tariff reductions and making those tariff reductions proof against all but a Congressional super-majority, this shifts American trade policy away from constantly fluctuating tariff levels toward a slow but steady decline in tariff levels and, perhaps, the first steps toward a liberal trade policy.

While the former President Machado was derided for his support of the Sugar industry, with the collapse of the American economy, it was desperately needed in order to keep up production and profitability. His successors, the many that there were, authorised the continued use of these subsidies, which many thought helped Cubans by a massive scale.

With the ever so subtle announcement by General Batista, who was not officially President, of the National Revitalisation Plan, it was becoming ever more clear who was running the country. However, the plan was designed to begin the construction, on a large scale, of public utilities and infrastructure that would help alleviate unemployment and provide pay and incentives for economic progress. When Cubans who did not have work found a job from the government, they knew that it was Batista who was working for them.

Another push by Batista was for the increase in power of the Cuban armed forces, looking for more funding to be diverted towards them. With the Treaty of Relations signed with the United States of America, and with most of the most onerous provisions of the Platt Amendment overturned, it was now time for Cuba to move forward, and seek towards asserting its independence. While they purchased mostly American guns and they were trained by American soldiers, the measure was highly popular with the Cuban people.

Batista reviewing new soldiers in the Cuban Army.​

With this great progress, President Mendieta was trumped out as the man who had overseen these policies, claiming some as his own, and backed heavily by Batista. The popularity of Batista had come off on Mendieta, who won a crushing victory over other opponents in the 1934 elections with his United Action Party, where they also cruised to a massive victory in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Few could doubt the popularity of this new government, much to the dismay of their political opponents.

While Haiti has always been proud of both it’s black and native ancestry, it has never held many indications towards the celebration of other indigenous peoples of the Americas. Haiti, given its prime location in the Caribbean, was very much unlike the Andes mountains, where the former Inca Empire had once occupied. Nevertheless, Haitian planners had begun to try and implement the ancient idea of “verticality” to eastern Haiti, seeking to terrace them and turn them into the same type of agriculture that the Incans once professed. While they had no knowledge of how this system worked, it ultimately collapsed a few months after it was first tried. Instead, there was far more success in allowing for government funds to be released towards the importation and proliferation of cattle, llamas, and pigs, which would help produce more food for the nation as a whole.

While a complete overhaul of the Haitian education system was planned during the first half of the 1930s, there was large resistance towards the language used inside the classrooms. There was some that supported the use of Creole, while others that supported the usage of French. A compromise, allowing the lower levels to use Creole and the upper levels to use French, was agreed upon. While this only took place with the relatively small amount of people in school, efforts to establish more schools were actually highly successful, with several villages acquiring a school house to teach their children. There were plans to emulate the entire French curriculum, but within the scope of what Haiti could afford, this was an impossibility. Funding for education was improved, and there were more students in schools.

The Haitian government’s foray into state industrialisation falls flat after a large amount of money was spent on the industrialisation process, but with a lack of markets, and lack of money for the government to throw at it, little gets done outside of a few factories built, and large piles of West Indian mahogany wood gone to waste, before they were taken by peasants to make shacks and homes out of.

In the wake of the massive Hurricane San Zenon, relief work is dispatched immediately following the passing of the storm. The National Army was deployed to enforce order through the affected areas, while charitable and religious organisations were on hand to provide all available assistance in the distribution of food, water and other necessary measure taken for immediate disaster relief. The Dominican Foreign Minister, directed by Trujillo, was able to secure foreign aid from other Latin American nations for emergency supplies, medical experts, and disaster relief peoples. With Trujillo seen at the helm of this relief project, the nation was able to rally around the new President, who was seen as the one who could guide the Dominican Republic through both the storm, both the ones that passed and the ones in the future.

The Aftermath of Hurricane San Zenon.​

Having come to power in the wake of the use of military force and a shaky alliance with Ureña, one of the first actions was to begin to solidify his own control over the country, and for him, this was through acceptance in the countryside. Starting in 1930, just shortly after his rise to power, a large-scale campaign was announced, much to the detriment of the Dominican Republic’s few land holders and holders of the peso titles. It had stated that lands that are occupied by the rural peasantry that they cultivate and have built improvements on, would henceforth become their own land. There were some caveats, however, as it was noticed that the best lands, and the largest parcels, were given to those with the fairest complexions.

While the Dominican countryside had always been wrought with strife and had rarely ever had effective government control, the push by the Trujillo regime was twofold. Not only would it help the Dominican’s glaringly stagnant economy, it would also serve to spread the government’s reach into the area, and furthermore, providing Trujillo a popular base with which he could rule the country. To all the farmers that were getting new land, it was no longer seen as a right, it was seen as a gift by “El Jefe” Presidente Trujillo.

With the Agrarian Reforms being carried out, there was one thing to offer a peasant the usage and title to the lands. There was another issue at hand in trying to get them to participate in the modern, capitalist economy. One way in which this was addressed was the issuance of a Party Membership Card for the Partido Dominicano, the party of President Trujillo, which, coincidentally, was the only legal party within the Dominican Republic. The card was issued for a small fee, and membership was voluntary, but not having it would result in sudden searches or arrests of up to half a year for security purposes. While such a wide-scale programme could not be successful across the country, it was widely adopted in newly settled areas, as rural peasants were able to display their party membership, so they they could vote for Trujillo, and pay their small fee.

The problem that this rose, however, was the fee itself. In order to get the money, the peasants needed to interact with the capitalist economy by selling goods, in this case, their agricultural products. With ample government support for those who wished to farm things such as sugar, coffee, and tobacco, these offers were mostly taken up by large companies, with the exception of rural tobacco and coffee farms. With the former Brazilian oligarchy alive and well in the Dominican Republic, a region in the eastern portion of the country was known as “El café Brasileño” for its large amount of coffee barons. The corporations that did take the government incentives were able to use the labour of the Dominicans, so long as they met a minimal standard of doing so. In order to ensure that the country was safe from the economic crisis abroad, and that their own economic growth was saved, a discreet anti-Haitian policy was enacted, that made it clear that offspring of any illegal Haitians within the Dominican Republic would not be considered Dominican, and that they could be subject to deportation, or worse, at any time. The legal protections of Dominican citizens no longer applied to them, and in many cases, Haitians who had lived in the Dominican for generations were suddenly considered foreigners within their own country.

Haitian labourers within the Dominican Republic.​

The well-known Depression that was spreading world wide had come to Brazil, and President Vargas had responded in a strong manner. Not interested in seeing the industrial production of the nation drop, he ordered taxes on all industry to zero per cent for a period of five years, and offered government subsidies to any factory that was still unable to make ends meet. VALE and Patrobras also were directed to increase production and to use more oil internally, and export it if need be. The drive towards self-sufficiency was strong, and it seemed that Vargas would be able to pull it through.

In southern Brazil, restoration and construction of railways lines were abundant, connecting Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with each other, as well as to other lines in Argentina, connecting the two countries closer together. At the same time, the jobs created by upgrading and forming new lines were at many times overpaid, simply to ensure that more money could be injected into the economy, so that they could continue to spend and improve where they needed to. While Brazil was still hit by the downturn, it was much less affected than its other South American neighbours.

A new railway line in southern Brazil.​

The Banco central de la República de Argentina comes into existence in 1931, to replace the Caja de Conversiones Currency Board, becoming the only official source of currency in Argentina. Gold outflows were halted, and deflation was a common problem. Bank runs were common, and economist Raúl Prebisch was placed in charge of attempting to halt some of the measures. A crash course investment into the economy, along with a new monetary policy, were suggested, and they were accepted by President Yrigoyen as one of the best ways to try and fight the crisis.

Industrial production was falling rapidly, motivated by the moves in Brazil and the world economy, and Argentina had no choice but to respond by plowing massive amounts of money into low-interest loans and grants that could be given those those that modernised and expanded their factories, despite one of the main problems being an abundance of goods produced, which would only extend the crisis. One of the hopes was that, if enough new businesses that provided luxury goods were created, then the industry would become more stable due to the influx of money from the government, which would stabilise the economy. Despite not making much sense to people outside the government, it was fully applied to uncertain effects.

Moving forward with this new plan to stimulate the creation of industry, despite there being absolutely no demand for it, the “State Sponsored Industrialisation Bill” was passed by the Argentine Congress at the pressing of the President, who demanded that more industry was the solution to a world economy plagued by problems of overproduction. Understandably, the entire venture collapsed when the government noticed that such a massive loss was being reared at the hands of these industrial compounds, that it only depressed wages and prices outside of those under the government’s control. Despite the decline in 1932 and 1933, the economy took a huge decline in 1934, dragging down the rest of Latin America’s economy, including Brazil. Despite this, the 1934 elections saw the UCR win a slim majority in the Congress, with Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear being elected President of Argentina from the UCR, narrowly defeating his right-wing opposition.

A conflict that had previously received little attention suddenly blew up as the Argentines intervened in the Chaco War on the side of Paraguay. They had supported Paraguay but after the Bolivian Army routed the Paraguayans at the Second Battle of Nanawa, Hans Kundt’s forces threatened to march on the Paraguay river. Buenos Aires would not let this happened and announced Operation Condor, an attack into Southern Bolivia.

A massive force, some hundred thousand effectives, marched into the mountains of Southern Bolivia. Stubborn resistance was given by the Bolivians, using the terrain to the most, creating rock avalanches and blowing up bridges, railroads, and blocking passes. In the end, more Argentine soldiers were lost due to the weather and terrain than to enemy fire, and Operation Condor was a success, occupying most of the area aimed for, but the Bolivian Army quickly mobilised a force the size of Operation Condor and waited in the mountains for a further attack, which would be incredibly difficult. As for Kundt’s force in Chaco, it remained intact but its supply situation quickly became more desperate as its supply lines became longer and more stretched, but would hold against the Paraguayans in a strong defensive position.

Africa & Asia

As new elections were organized in China, all sides of the political spectrum prepared for the awaited disappearance of the Progressive Party. The faction that had dominated China for nearly two decades was losing all influence and its vague programme was replaced by true parties with clear ideologies. In 1930, with the Rural Reconstruction Movement as popular as ever and a growing literate base in the countryside, the China Public Interest Party was expected to win a large victory. But the Young China Party could also count on large support, as the destruction of the KMT made it the sole ‘revolutionary’ right-wing party. When the results were in, the CPIP had won a sizeable victory, with 207 seats. It soon entered a coalition with the Democratic Constitutional Party that brought 20 seats, meaning the democratic faction had a majority. The YCP gained 153 seats, but its progression wasn’t as high as many had hoped, mainly because the fact that it had remained idle when in power made it less appealing. The left-wing was arguably the true winner in these elections, with Zhang Junmai’s National Socialist Party which had 33 seats and more surprisingly, the Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party managing to gather all the leftist independents under its banner to gain a stunning amount of seats, 90. A few independents were elected as well, but their numbers appeared to be dwindling.

The end of the lease of Weihaiwei was a public victory for the new CPIP-led government. China managed to get territory back, the British agreed not to press the issue of the Indian border, and British investment poured massively in Central China, opening the region to modernity. The Nanjing-Shanghai area notably began to develop, as British investors were seeking healthy investments outside Europe, and with trade barriers between Shanghai and the treaty ports and the rest of the treaty ports lessened.

However, social tensions heavily rose in this area, at the same time as factories were coming out of the ground. The government began to emphasize on the necessity to adopt modern values and to reject universally rejected values. Practically, it meant that a massive crackdown on opium and prostitution was conducted, the authorities claiming that all moral influences, be there Buddhist, Christian or Confucian, condemned them. This was seen as a mere way to weaken the - Taoist - Triads and along with the developments in Japan, meant that the relations between Tokyo and Beijing soured. The Triads were often very close to Japanese associations, and in the early 30s, Japanese influence on Shanghai quickly dwindled. At the same time, the RRM was teaching women to read and write, and to refuse foot binding, which might lead to a larger cultural impact than all the state actions in Shanghai.

Shanghai and its reputation of a massive opium den lost its splendour in the early 30s​

However, the fact that China was developing didn’t change the fact that the depression hit China and the rest of the world. There was no depression, as the internal market kept growing, but Chinese growth slowed down, and industrial output in Southern China diminished. Yan Xishan’s advisor, HH Kung, was given the task of creating a new currency for China, to make it less reliant on the silver market, and spearheaded the efforts of the state bank to develop industry. During the 1930-1933 period, China managed to avoid most of the crisis, thanks to a growing rural sector, fresh liquidities coming from Britain and state support for most enterprises. HH Kung’s work was lauded by most, and he was among the founding fathers of the Academia Sinica, China’s first scientific academy. For the first time, an association of scholars was dedicated not only to importing foreign science, but also to develop new models in China proper. Under the democratic government, a scientific civil society - backed by the state but autonomous - was organizing, and the rise of the Academia and the Chinese League for Civil Rights was indicating that slowly but steadily, China was modernizing.

The fact that ‘civilians’ - even if backed by men such as Yan Xishan or Chen Jiongming - were starting to take over the Chinese political scene wasn’t a development unanimously supported. Indeed, for nearly a decade, civilian administrations had focused on social and economic issues, leaving the army on the side. So when news of a conflict with Tibet came, few in Beijing gave it attention, for there were more pressing issues. After all, the forces in Xikang were more than able to repulse an assault and a major attack by the Chinese Army could make the British anxious, their support was expected but they could always change their minds. The army of the province - the governor’s private army - wasn’t nearly as strong as expected however, because its numbers had been inflated to receive more funding from the central government. When the province fell in 1932, the nearby Ma armies intervened massively, bringing the situation to a stalemate. The Tibetan populations of the province fought for the Dalai Lama’s men and the armies of the neighbouring provinces were unable to truly reconquer Xikang.

The 1933 election thus happened in a wholly different political climate, if 1930 had been hopeful, 1933 was chauvinistic. The Five Races were allowed to live in China, but the Tibetans couldn’t expect to get away with such an outcome, China needed to fight back. The members of the Military Academy openly advocated that they wanted to fight in Tibet but claimed they weren’t allowed by the central government. Bai Chongxi said he was eager to reclaim Lhasa for China, but that the weak civilian government kept him from doing so. The YCP capitalized on this, and its leaders denounced the short-sighted federalists who had let China fall so low as to suffer defeat at the hands of the Tibetans. The elections were a YCP landslide, with 303 seats - the countryside no longer unanimously backed the CPIP - for the nationalists. The left-leaning nationalists of the CPWDP managed to keep its position in the North and in the urban cities, with 86 seats. The CPIP took a mere 97 seats, the DCP 9 and the NSP 20. The army could finally take power. Bai Chongxi was made Prime Minister, and he wasn’t a warlord like Cao Kun could have been, he was a man of the central army.

Chiang Kai Shek was made head of the army, and tasked with the reorganization of the Chinese Army. The members of the Supreme Military Council agreed to let him sit with them, and he oversaw the creation of a truly modern army, with a force in Beijing that would answer to him and local armies getting more modern material as well. With over 100.000 men under his command, he commanded one of China’s largest forces, led by men he had trained at the Academy, using rifles manufactured near Beijing. By mid-1934, his forces were ready. He sent one of his associates, Chen Cheng, with 50.000 men to Xikang to take the province back. The Khampa were fierce soldiers, but after less than 5 weeks the entire region flew the 5-stripes flag again. The exploits of the 100th Division and its commander, Sun Li Gen, were on all newspapers and it appeared that the hold of the YCP-aligned commanders on the country was tightening.

The Tibetan army wasn’t able to compete with the modern Chinese weapons, and only logistics and political intrigue kept Outer Tibet independent​

Chiang’s and the YCP’s fast rise to power was manifested a few weeks after the new government took office. Chen Guofu, a close friend of Chiang, was made governor of Jiangsu by the central government. Sen Chuanfang, the sole leader who had been aligned with Cao Kun and who had kept his position, was no longer trusted with controlling the key Nanjing-Shanghai area and had to make way for a trustworthy underling of the YCP. He had no desire to do so, and assumed that if he didn’t comply Beijing would let the matter slide. But times had changed, and the government - or the army - intended to be obeyed. Chen Guofu went to his province at the head of six divisions that efficiently made short work of the local troops. Chen was accused of treason and sent to Beijing for a trial. Yan Xishan was furious and tried to get Feng Yuxiang on his side to break the power of the YCP. Feng chose to bide his time, and Yan was forced to back down.

The 1934 Presidential elections was a good sign of the recent changes, but it was also the first major concession the YCP had to make in order to remain in power. The provincial governors no longer had a tight block, with Chen Jiongming dead and Yan Xishan returning to isolationism. Army pressure was tremendous, and Feng Yuxiang officially joined the YCP, so as to ‘advance the cause of all of China’. This alliance meant that Feng had the backing of the YCP and the army to become President, if he’d support them to reform the country. Feng was the embodiment of corruption, but he was also reformist (within reason) and was the only man who could possibly oppose the rise of the army. He was thus elected president, and quickly made Li Zongren his Vice-President. After Chen’s death, Li had become the South’s strongman and he too backed the YCP. As 1935 dawned, the YCP controlled most civilian and military offices, and it appeared the Constitution would soon be amended to turn China into a military state. This isn’t to say the military was unilaterally supported, but the fledgling civilian society couldn’t oppose the militarist faction.

At last, the first graduates of the Sarawak Royal Servicemen entered the bureaucracy - or more accurately created it. The first months saw tensions between the European bureaucrats who used to serve for the Rajah and the locals, mainly because they had no common language. The Malaysian pidgin they had learned might have been widely used in the Straits Settlements, but in Sarawak its use was very marginal. Nevertheless, the transition to a native administration was undergone without too many issues, and the provincial system devised over a decade earlier was adapted. It meant that the Outstations served as regional capitals, with civilian offices established in each of them, manned by graduates of the Academy. The civil servants could communicate with the tribal leaders and the guards alike, making Sarawak more unified than it ever had been. Head-hunters remained a problem, but it could safely be said that Sarawak was slowly getting a character of its own, a specific identity.

This new administration also implemented a new tax, that was meant to weaken foreign companies such as Shell or the Borneo Limited Company. These companies dealt with oil and rubber exploitation and had barely been taxed before. With a low demand for oil and rubber worldwide and higher taxes, the Borneo Limited Company simply decided to focus its efforts on the Malaysian peninsula that was closer to the trade routes, and where business holders weren’t persecuted. Sarawak thus suffered from the Great Depression more than it could have, but also managed to establish a real taxation system, for what slowly turned into a real state.

The next move for the White Rajah was the destruction of Brunei. Sarawak was a mere province of Brunei at first, but it had slowly taken control of the whole country, save for a tiny piece of land, making Brunei a city-state of sorts. This came to an abrupt end when Sarawak rangers entered the city, supported by auxiliaries from the various Outstations. The Brunei army and palace guard defended the centre for nearly three days before surrendering, after the British consul claimed Britain wasn’t bound to defend Brunei from a fellow protectorate. The Sultan was in England when the attack took place, and protested in various newspapers, saying that Britain was bound to defend Brunei. In India, the Nizam of Hyderabad officially issued a protest and met with prominent members of the Muslim League. They received his backing, for he believed that Britain couldn’t be trusted with the protection of Muslims in India. Inter-confessional divisions deepened in India, and Britain lost the support of the one side that still backed it, the Muslims. They were siding with Britain because it had historically been supportive of their position, but if Brunei had been betrayed, the Indian Muslims could be next.

With the help of the Nizam, the All-India Muslim League could train and equip its paramilitary forces​

Nevertheless, Brunei had been forcefully integrated into Sarawak. The invasion costs had been tremendous, and the weak Sarawakian treasury couldn’t afford more investments afterwards. Plans to establish a coal plant and a modern hosîtal were scrapped, in favour of fiscal austerity. The Sultan of Brunei refused to sign the annexation of his country into Sarawak, and remained in England to gather support for his cause.

In Japan, the rural movement was all but placated. The 1926 reforms hadn’t been deep enough to mend the rift between rural and urban populations, and landlords’ continued hold on the countryside kept a sizeable part of the tenant farmers in poverty. The growth of cooperatives and unions had been large, but it had brought limited results. With the support of Saionji Kinmochi and the Emperor, Osachi Hamaguchi was able to come up with a law that would curb down their power. The state would forcefully break up some exploitations, take control of uncultivated land and give it to small farmers. It also called for the replacement of the land rent with a money rent, giving landowners more investment possibilities and peasants more means to keep their production. This was ground-breaking change, forced by the power of the socialist parties. The law was passed in June 1930 and would be applied starting in 1931.

Bolstered by his success, the Hamaguchi administration used the economic crisis as a way to weaken the militarists. The IJA and IJN were to be regrouped into a Defense Ministry, that would answer to the Prime Minister. The Meiji Constitution made the army answer to the Emperor only and with a passive Emperor it meant it didn’t answer to anybody. This was seen as a sacrilege by the far-right, and Hamaguchi was committing lese majesty in the eyes of the army. He also announced that cuts would be undertaken in the armed forces, and many generals expected a purge. The following events happened as one would expect.

Hamaguchi was shot in his home by a young corporal. The new administration under Wakatsuki Renjiro was forced to witness a massive demonstration of the army and the navy near Tokyo when taking office, officially they were simply conducting exercises unofficially he was told to pay attention to the desires of the armed forces. The reforms were dropped before they could be applied, and the power of left-leaning organisations was heavily reduced.

Propaganda posters such as this one, opposing the army, were banned and freedom of speech was restrained​

The Japanese economy, still fragile after the 1928 crash but less tied to foreign markets, didn’t suffer as much from the Great Depression as others. The zaibatsu had been empowered by the high tariffs and internal consumption remained sizeable. The silk manufactory industry suffered, as American tariffs and recession made the sector crash. But other sectors grew and the power of the industrial elite was strong. They often backed the IJN and the Southern Expansion doctrine, and often considered economics as a key factor to establish Japanese dominance in Asia. The Southern territories saw sizeable development in the early 30s, with Saipan becoming a large sugar production sector, followed by a wave of immigration. If profits and nationalism could be combined, it was great. But sometimes profits had to be ignored for long-term benefits. The zaibatsu developed their activities in Indonesia, Indochina, the Philippines and Malaysia, selling so low they were making intentional losses but they managed to weaken the hold of Western companies on these regions. In China, the Japanese didn’t manage to drive out the British or to weaken the Chinese manufactures, as the shrewd practices they used were met with tariffs.

The manufacturing sector thrived in Japan, as the IJN was yet again receiving funds. The oldest ships - that were less than 20 years old - were modernized and received new weapons. New seaplanes and naval fighters and bombers were manufactured, and it did much to dissipate the tensions between the government and the navy establishment. The government was doing as it was told, and the civilian elites were increasingly militaristic themselves, there was no reason for issues to arise. The same couldn’t be said of Japan and the West, as the aggressive stance of Tokyo was met with hostility in London, Paris and Washington.

The IJA remained a hotbed of radicalism, and the ‘insolent’ attitude of the Chinese towards Japan, as well as the growing power of the Chinese army, made Sino-Japanese worsen. It was when China got a militaristic government too that things began to turn sour, as a patrol of Japanese soldiers crossed the border to hunt down Korean partisans. The Japanese claimed they remained on their side of the border, the Manchurians objected and while the crisis was averted, it showed that relations between China and Japan had changed, the friendly tone of the Taisho era was gone.

In Korea, opposition to Japanese rule was limited, even if some groups of Koreans based in Manchuria launched attacks against Japanese garrisons from time to time. The use of Japanese names and language was encouraged, but not forced, and an assimilationist model was adopted. Korean children were taught that the divinity of the Emperor was unquestionable and that they were lucky to live under the same roof as the Yamato. Koreans were said to be of the same race as the Japanese - a race wholly different from the Chinese one, that was weaker - and propaganda insisted on the fact that Korea and Japan were one body, under one emperor. Korean schools received very little funding and were deemed backwards, which enraged the Korean nationalists. Slowly, assimilation was taking place among the upper and middle classes, but it was primarily the economic benefits due to the large investments conducted in Korea that made the people favorable to the Japanese.

The Great depression hit New Zealand, that had boomed during the 20s thanks to pro-exportation policies, fairly hard. In late 1931, unemployment reached 15% of the male population and the new factories that had been established in Christchurch massively laid off people, as the Imperial markets were recessing as well. The creation of the New Zealand Reserve Bank didn’t do much to alleviate the crisis, as having a strong currency only weakened exporting manufactures. The Bank faced difficulties to acquire foreign loans and the government was forced to cut army spending to reduce its deficit. Banks went under, and the reserve bank was unable to keep them all afloat, burdening the government with new debt.

The Reform Party had gained yet another victory in 1931, although it lost half a dozen seats to Labour. But the crisis only worsened during Coates’ new administration, and the relative failure of his banking program didn’t make him very popular. This is why he then launched the Urban Expansion Program that aimed at enlarging Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin, New Zealand’s main cities in order to increase urban population. But with rising unemployment, there were few job prospects for rural migrants. Nevertheless, sewer systems were renovated roads were widened and new neighbourhoods were created. It helped mitigate the effects of the crisis but as the new elections came, the situation remained very dire. Coates decided to postpone the elections until 1936, as he believed unemployment would improve over the next two years. Labourites called this a pretense of democracy, and claimed they would give jobs and social security to all New Zealanders once elected.

Other Notable World Events

1930

• The Mickey Mouse comic strip makes its first appearance.
• The first patent for a field-effect transistor is granted in the United States to Julius Edgar Lilienfeld.
• Pavel Molchanov launches a radiosonde from Pavlovsk in the Soviet Union.
• The 3M company markets Scotch Tape, invented by Richard Gurley Drew, in the United States.
• The Communist Party of Vietnam is established.
• While studying photographs taken in January 1930, Clyde Tombaugh confirms the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune, named Pluto.
• Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in a fixed-wing aircraft, and also the first cow to be milked in an aeroplane.
• The Communist Party of Panama is founded.
  Hostess Twinkies are invented.
• The first night game in organized baseball history takes place in Independence, Kansas.
• The dedication of George Washington's sculpted head is held at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.
• Yugoslavia beats Argentina 9–1 to win the first Association football FIFA World Cup final.
• A military junta takes over in Peru.
• Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1931

• Albert Einstein begins doing research at the California Institute of Technology, along with astronomer Edwin Hubble.
• Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
• California gets the go-ahead by the United States Congress to build the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
• The USS Arizona is placed back in full commission after a refit.
• Sir Oswald Mosley founds the New Party as a breakaway from the Labour Party in the United Kingdom.
• The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the United States National anthem.
• Indian revolutionary leaders Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for conspiracy to murder in the British Raj.
• The Castellemmarese War ends with the assassination of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, briefly leaving Salvatore Maranzano as capo di tutti i capi ("boss of all bosses") and undisputed ruler of the American Mafia. Maranzano is himself assassinated less than 6 months later, leading to the establishment of the Five Families.
• Construction of the Empire State Building is completed in New York City.
• The worst hurricane in British Honduras history kills an estimated 1,500.
• Geli Raubal commits suicide in her uncle Adolf Hitler's apartment.
• American gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in Chicago.

1932

• The United States Post Office Department issues a set of 12 stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth.
• In Great Britain the Archbishop of Canterbury forbids Anglican church remarriage of divorced persons.
• Hattie W. Caraway becomes the first woman elected to the United States Senate.
• The British submarine M2 sinks with all 60 hands.
• The 1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising begins, it is suppressed by the government of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.
• Brave New World, a novel by Aldous Huxley, is first published.
• Prohibition is lifted in Finland at 10 in the morning (local time), resulting in a new mnemonic "543210".
• Haile Selassie announces an anti-slavery law in Abyssinia.
• Massive riots between Hindus and Muslims in Bombay leave thousands dead and injured
• The first positron is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
• Babe Ruth makes his famous called shot in the fifth inning of game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
• The second wife of Joseph Stalin is found dead in her home.

1933

• Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
• The detection by Karl Jansky of radio waves from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy is reported in the New York Times. The discovery leads to the birth of radio astronomy.
• Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form The Nasjonal Samling (the National-Socialist Party) of Norway.
• In Kansas City, Missouri, Pretty Boy Floyd kills an FBI agent, 3 local police, and the person they intended to rescue, captured bank robber Frank Nash.
• Opening of the Stalin White Sea–Baltic Sea Canal, a 227 km navigable waterway constructed using forced labour in the Soviet Union connecting the White Sea with Lake Onega and the Baltic.
• Winston Churchill makes his first public speech warning of the dangers of French political radicals.
• German Jewish philosopher Theodor Lessing is assassinated in Mariánské Lázně, Czechoslovakia.
• The British Interplanetary Society is founded.
• A train crash in Lagny, France kills over 200.
• A coup attempt against Franklin Delano Roosevelt fails in the United States.
• The Mexican Indian Wars end after 414 years.

1934

• The Japanese company Fuji Photo Film is established.
• A gas explosion at Gresford Colliery in Wrexham, north-east Wales, kills 266 miners and rescuers.
• A dust storm originating in the western United States carries dust clouds all the way to Chicago, with smaller clouds reaching cities along the East Coast.
• A tornado in Osaka and Kyoto kills 1,660, injures 5,400, and destroys the rice harvest.
• The sonoluminescence effect is discovered at the University of Cologne.
• The Australian frontier wars end after 146 years.
• Abidjan becomes the capital of the French colony of Côte d'Ivoire.

 

[Frymonmon]

Countries of the World: 1935

​

Argentina
Overview: Argentina is a Presidential Republic located in southeastern South America. After a fight for independence from the Kingdom of Spain between 1810 and 1818, the country was embroiled in a Civil War until 1861. Argentina's capital is located in Buenos Aires, which is home to the Argentine Congress, which is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.
Economy & Population
Population: 15.519 m. $ 3,171 GDP per Capita, 3.64% Population Increase
Economy: $ 49,207 m. GDP, -4.10% GDP Decrease, Depression, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 38% Services, 15% Industry, 47% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -33,484 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -1,246 m. (-$ 980 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 6,752 m. ($7,298 m. in previous year.) 17.39% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 6,251 m. in taxes, $ 501 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 7,997 m. ($ 8,278 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (1/5) Average, 1.88% of GDP, 80% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 1.92% of GDP, 80% Funding
Education: (2/5) Good, 3.57% of GDP, Semi-Public, 80% Funding
Health & Welfare: (3/5) Poor, 1.07% of GDP, Private, 97% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.82% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 1.90% of GDP, Navy: 1.61% of GDP, Air Force: 0.80% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Good Quality, Good Technology, 80% Funding
16 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 915,598 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Good Quality, Poor Technology, 95% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 2 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 9 Cruisers, 14 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (2/5) Poor Quality, Poor Technology, 127% Funding
2 Fighter Wings, 1 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear
Played by: alexander23

Brazil
Overview: Brazil is a Presidential Dictatorship located in South America. Independence was declared from Portugal in 1822, and was recognised in 1925 as the Empire of Brazil. The current Republic was declared in 1889 after a military coup ousted the Emperor. Brazil's capital is located in Rio de Janeiro, which is home to the National Congress of Brazil, which is composed of the Federal Senate and a Chamber of Deputies.
Economy & Population
Population: 37.734 m. $ 0,790 GDP per Capita, 2.62% Population Increase
Economy: $ 29,805 m. GDP, -5.15% GDP Decrease, Depression, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 47% Services, 8% Industry, 45% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -24,097 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ 220 m. (-$ 1,420 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 4,209 m. ($4,428 m. in previous year.) 18.61% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 3,916 m. in taxes, $ 293 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 3,990 m. ($ 5,848 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Poor, 1.37% of GDP, 72% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Average, 1.62% of GDP, 77% Funding
Education: (1/5) Good, 3.77% of GDP, Mostly Public, 71% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Failing, 0.71% of GDP, Private, 76% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.06% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 1.43% of GDP, Navy: 0.19% of GDP, Air Force: 0.04% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (1/5) Poor Quality, Poor Technology, 88% Funding
8 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 2,734,398 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Poor Quality, Good Technology, 10% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 2 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 2 Cruisers, 10 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 53% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Getúlio Vargas
Played by: baboush

Bulgaria
Overview: Bulgaria is a Constitutional Monarchy located in southeastern Europe. After gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1908, Bulgaria has been involved in the Balkan Wars and the Great War, losing large amounts of territory in the Treaty of Neuilly. Bulgaria's capital is located in Sofia, which is home to both the Tsar and the National Assembly.
Economy & Population
Population: 6.300 m. $ 1,141 GDP per Capita, 1.42% Population Increase
Economy: $ 7,186 m. GDP, -0.72% GDP Decrease, Recession, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 41% Services, 7% Industry, 52% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -2,763 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -333 m. (-$ 284 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,087 m. ($1,131 m. in previous year.) 19.86% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,043 m. in taxes, $ 45 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 1,420 m. ($ 1,414 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Failing, 0.95% of GDP, 77% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 1.76% of GDP, 74% Funding
Education: (3/5) Good, 1.90% of GDP, Semi-Private, 83% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Failing, 0.72% of GDP, Private, 76% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.90% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 10.30% of GDP, Navy: 1.53% of GDP, Air Force: 0.17% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 129% Funding
6 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 446,607 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 48% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 1 Submarines
Air Force: (2/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 53% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Tsar: Boris III
Played by: MastahCheef117

Canada
Overview: Canada is a Parliamentary Democracy located in North America. A dominion of the United Kingdom, home rule was granted in 1867. Canada's capital is located in Ottawa, which is home to the Canadian Parliament, which consists of a Senate and a House of Commons.
Economy & Population
Population: 12.930 m. $ 3,924 GDP per Capita, 2.29% Population Increase
Economy: $ 50,730 m. GDP, 0.16% GDP Increase, Recession, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 62% Services, 6% Industry, 32% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -12,611 m. AA Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -1,631 m. (-$ 1,625 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 5,968 m. ($5,965 m. in previous year.) 14.23% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 5,450 m. in taxes, $ 518 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 7,599 m. ($ 7,589 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Good, 4.13% of GDP, 123% Funding
Administration: (3/5) Average, 2.86% of GDP, 112% Funding
Education: (1/5) Good, 2.46% of GDP, Semi-Private, 115% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Average, 1.28% of GDP, Private, 115% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.94% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 1.80% of GDP, Navy: 0.92% of GDP, Air Force: 0.05% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Good Quality, Excellent Technology, 110% Funding
12 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 961,330 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Average Quality, Good Technology, 110% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 2 Cruisers, 4 Destroyers, 4 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 110% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Prime Minister: R.B. Bennett
Played by: TJDS

China
Overview: China is arguably the world's largest backwater country, and has had a troubled history since the revolution in 1912 that toppled the Qing Empire. China's capital is located in Beijing, but its authority isn't fully respected throughout the country, warlords often dictate policies, the countryside is underdevelopped but it remains a formidable foe.
Economy & Population
Population: 504.627 m. $ 580 GDP per Capita, 0.51% Population Increase
Economy: $ 292,469 m. GDP, 0.94% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 11% Services, 4% Industry, 85% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -28,667 m. B Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ 0,939 m. ($ 1,312 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 15,825 m. ($16,290 m. in previous year.) 8.32% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 14,795 m. in taxes, $ 1,030 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 14,886 m. ($ 14,978 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Failing, 0.79% of GDP, 52% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Poor, 0.84% of GDP, 58% Funding
Education: (1/5) Poor, 0.51% of GDP, Mostly Private, 51% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Failing, 0.58% of GDP, Private, 53% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.99% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.94% of GDP, Navy: 0.09% of GDP, Air Force: 0.04% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.23% of GDP
Army: (1/5) Average Quality, Average Technology, 66% Funding
68 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 59,572,612 Manpower.
Navy: (4/5) Poor Quality, Poor Technology, 52% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 6 Cruisers, 9 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 46% Funding
1 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Lin Sen
Played by: Stormbringer

Cuba
Overview: Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, and only gained independence from Spain in 1899, when the United States landed and occupied the island. Cuba's capital is located in Havana, where the Cuban Congress is located, with a Senate and a House of Representatives.
Economy & Population
Population: 4.050 m. $ 1,302 GDP per Capita, 1.31% Population Increase
Economy: $ 5,273 m. GDP, -0.62% GDP Decrease, Recession, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 49% Services, 7% Industry, 44% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -2,681 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -215 m. (-$ 200 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 584 m. ($ 606 m. in previous year.) 13.65% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 526 m. in taxes, $ 58 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 799 m. ($ 807 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Poor, 1.58% of GDP, 83% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 2.06% of GDP, 88% Funding
Education: (1/5) Poor, 1.53% of GDP, Semi-Private, 86% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Failing, 1.19% of GDP, Mostly Private, 81% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.02% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 5.79% of GDP, Navy: 0.37% of GDP, Air Force: 0.31% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 96% Funding
1 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 037,715 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 85% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 78% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Gerardo Machado
Played by: Maxwell500

Czechoslovakia
Overview: Czechoslovakia is a Presidential Republic in central Europe that won its independence as a result of Austria-Hungary's defeat during the Great War in 1918. The famed Czechoslovak Legion had experience in the Russian Civil War, and had formed one of the most experienced armies of any of the newly independent states that arrived as a result of the Great War. Czechoslovakia's capital is located in Prague.
Economy & Population
Population: 16.488 m. $ 2,041 GDP per Capita, 1.23% Population Increase
Economy: $ 33,646 m. GDP, 0.82% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 53% Services, 18% Industry, 29% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -13,600 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -1,235 m. (-$ 1150 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 4,031 m. ($ 3,999 m. in previous year.) 11.91% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 3,713 m. in taxes, $ 318 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 5,266 m. ($ 5,149 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Average, 1.98% of GDP, 93% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Excellent, 4.23% of GDP, 103% Funding
Education: (1/5) Average, 1.61% of GDP, Semi-Private, 96% Funding
Health & Welfare: (3/5) Average, 0.99% of GDP, Private, 99% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.05% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 3.69% of GDP, Navy: 0.00% of GDP, Air Force: 1.07% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 121% Funding
18 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 1,122,616 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 100% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Good Quality, Poor Technology, 112% Funding
1 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Tomáš Masaryk
Played by: LatinKaiser

Dominican Republic
Overview: The Dominican Republic is a Presidential Republic in the Caribbean. Formed as Santo Domingo by the Spanish, the Dominican had a brief period of extreme growth based on sugar in the 15th Century. Since its independence from Haiti, the nation has been economically stagnant, and has been occupied by the United States over issues of its external debts several times.Dominican Republic's capital is located in Santo Domingo.
Economy & Population
Population: 1.816 m. $ 1046 GDP per Capita, 0.69% Population Increase
Economy: $ 1,898 m. GDP, 6.05% GDP Increase, Boom, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 35% Services, 3% Industry, 62% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -2,960 m. BBB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -234 m. (-$ 240 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 221 m. ($ 210 m. in previous year.) 14.54% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 202 m. in taxes, $ 19 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 455 m. ($ 450 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (1/5) Average, 1.77% of GDP, 68% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 1.88% of GDP, 71% Funding
Education: (3/5) Poor, 0.63% of GDP, Mostly Private, 58% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Failing, 0.74% of GDP, Mostly Private, 47% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.21% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 12.55% of GDP, Navy: 0.86% of GDP, Air Force: 0.55% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Failing Quality, Average Technology, 87% Funding
1 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 251,289 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 76% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 50% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Horacio Vasquez
Played by: Magister

France
Overview: France is a Presidential Republic in Europe. Formed after the Franco-Prussian War, the current Third Republic was the one that had been able to pull France through the Great War, and defeat the German Empire. While France was severly wounded because of this war, it still stood stronger than it had ever had before. France's capital is located in Paris, which also holds the French Parliament with the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.
Economy & Population
Population: 43.839 m. $ 3,585 GDP per Capita, 0.67% Population Increase
Economy: $ 157,178 m. GDP, 0.53% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Mixed Economy
Economic Sectors: 48% Services, 19% Industry, 33% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -295,914 m. AA Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -9,001 m. (-$ 9,077 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 28,837 m. ($ 28,714 m. in previous year.) 18.28% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 25,916 m. in taxes, $ 1,981 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 37,838 m. ($ 37,791 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Good, 3.26% of GDP, 103% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Excellent, 3.33% of GDP, 92% Funding
Education: (2/5) Good, 4.33% of GDP, Mostly Public, 98% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Average, 3.13% of GDP, Public & Private, 96% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.45% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 2.97% of GDP, Navy: 1.31% of GDP, Air Force: 0.73% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.58% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 101% Funding
62 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 1 Armoured divisions, 1,129,569 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 101% Funding
1 Aircraft Carriers, 6 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 26 Cruisers, 42 Destroyers, 16 Submarines
Air Force: (4/5) Average Quality, Average Technology, 101% Funding
50 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 1 Bomber Wings
President: Gaston Doumergue
Played by: Harpsichord

Germany
Overview: Germany is a Parliamentary Republic in central Europe. After Germany's defeat in the Great War, the German Revolution overthrew the Monarchy, and ended the German Empire, which had existed since 1871. The Weimar Republic, while unstable, was highly lauded by many elements of society. Germany's capital is located in Berlin, which houses the Reichstag.
Economy & Population
Population: 76.017 m. $ 4,419 GDP per Capita, 0.69% Population Increase
Economy: $ 335,914 m. GDP, 1.94% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Mixed Economy
Economic Sectors: 47% Services, 16% Industry, 37% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -256,179 m. AA Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -6,433 m. (-$ 23,035 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 52,988 m. ($ 51,982 m. in previous year.) 18.28% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 50,874 m. in taxes, $ 2,114 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 59,421 m. ($ 75,017 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Good, 4.33% of GDP, 143% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Good, 3.15% of GDP, 103% Funding
Education: (2/5) Good, 3.10% of GDP, Public & Private, 106% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Poor, 2.18% of GDP, Semi-Private, 100% Funding
Miscellaneous: 2.65% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.39% of GDP, Navy: 0.21% of GDP, Air Force: 0.01% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 83% Funding
34 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 5,690,300 Manpower.
Navy: (3/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 72% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 3 Battlecruisers, 9 Cruisers, 29 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 77% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck
Played by: Mathrim

Haiti
Overview: Haiti is a Presidential Dictatorship on the island of Hispanola in the Caribbean. The first self-proclaimed black nation, Haiti has struggled to repay debts owed to France for decades, setting the once wealthy country in to the deepest forms of poverty. Still shunned on the world stage, and occupied by the United States several times over instability, Haiti's future seems bleak at best. Haiti's capital is located in Port-au-Prince, which houses the Parliament with a Senate and Chamber of Deputies.
Economy & Population
Population: 2.534 m. $ 651 GDP per Capita, 0.90% Population Increase
Economy: $ 1,648 m. GDP, -5.10% GDP Decrease, Depression, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 39% Services, 4% Industry, 57% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -2,080 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -31 m. (-$ 28 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 141 m. ($ 148 m. in previous year.) 12.89% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 129 m. in taxes, $ 12 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 171 m. ($ 176 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Failing, 0.78% of GDP, 63% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Poor, 1.25% of GDP, 81% Funding
Education: (1/5) Poor, 0.73% of GDP, Mostly Private, 68% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Failing, 1.16% of GDP, Mostly Private, 73% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.63% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.72% of GDP, Navy: 0.15% of GDP, Air Force: 0.00% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 11% Funding
0 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 192,784 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 12% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 0% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Louis Borno
Played by: Firelordsky

Hungary
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 9.115 m. $ 2,130 GDP per Capita, 0.82% Population Increase
Economy: $ 19,417 m. GDP, -1.00% GDP Decrease, Recession, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 45% Services, 7% Industry, 48% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -12,898 m. B Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -209 m. (-$ 217 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 2,475 m. ($ 2,499 m. in previous year.) 17.61% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 2,246 m. in taxes, $ 229 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 2,685 m. ($ 2,716 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Poor, 1.96% of GDP, 88% Funding
Administration: (3/5) Poor, 1.54% of GDP, 86% Funding
Education: (2/5) Poor, 0.83% of GDP, Mostly Private, 83% Funding
Health & Welfare: (3/5) Failing, 0.58% of GDP, Private, 57% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.92% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 4.31% of GDP, Navy: 0.00% of GDP, Air Force: 0.11% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.13% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 98% Funding
12 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 312,724 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 0% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 98% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Mátyás III
Played by: tyriet

Ireland
Overview: Coming Soon, Republic
Economy & Population
Population: 3.104 m. $ 3,240 GDP per Capita, 0.71% Population Increase
Economy: $ 10,057 m. GDP, -1.55% GDP Decrease, Recession, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 42% Services, 5% Industry, 53% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -395 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ 37 m. (-$ 273 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,139 m. ($ 1,183 m. in previous year.) 16.03% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,099 m. in taxes, $ 40 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 1,102 m. ($ 1,456 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Average, 2.38% of GDP, 77% Funding
Administration: (4/5) Poor, 1.57% of GDP, 79% Funding
Education: (1/5) Poor, 1.18% of GDP, Semi-Private, 63% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Failing, 0.84% of GDP, Mostly Private, 54% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.89% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 3.87% of GDP, Navy: 0.11% of GDP, Air Force: 0.00% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 77% Funding
6 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 295,462 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Poor Quality, Failing Technology, 46% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 0% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: William T. Cosgrave
Played by: Dadarian

Italy
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 44.049 m. $ 3,381 GDP per Capita, 1.08% Population Increase
Economy: $ 148,948 m. GDP, 1.31% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 56% Services, 14% Industry, 30% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -112,007 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -4,240 m. (-$ 4,378 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 19,193 m. ($ 18,954 m. in previous year.) 16.31% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 17,151 m. in taxes, $ 1,622 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 23,433 m. ($ 23,332 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Good, 3.56% of GDP, 105% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Average, 2.42% of GDP, 115% Funding
Education: (2/5) Poor, 1.83% of GDP, Semi-Private, 100% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Poor, 1.59% of GDP, Mostly Private, 105% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.05% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 1.94% of GDP, Navy: 1.24% of GDP, Air Force: 0.31% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.12% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Excellent Quality, Poor Technology, 130% Funding
39 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 2,134,996 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Good Quality, Failing Technology, 120% Funding
2 Aircraft Carriers, 3 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 18 Cruisers, 42 Destroyers, 7 Submarines
Air Force: (4/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 120% Funding
2 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Victor Emmanuel III
Played by: Noco19

Japan
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 64.082 m. $ 2,124 GDP per Capita, 0.75% Population Increase
Economy: $ 136,135 m. GDP, -0.43% GDP Decrease, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Mixed Economy
Economic Sectors: 53% Services, 20% Industry, 27% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -211,465 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -9,462 m. (-$ 8,628 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 18,101 m. ($ 19,338 m. in previous year.) 15.31% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 17,268 m. in taxes, $ 0,833 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 27,563 m. ($ 27,966 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Good, 3.12% of GDP, 91% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Good, 2.67% of GDP, 88% Funding
Education: (3/5) Good, 2.96% of GDP, Public & Private, 100% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Average, 0.96% of GDP, Mostly Private, 63% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.23% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 1.74% of GDP, Navy: 3.76% of GDP, Air Force: 0.30% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.43% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Average Quality, Good Technology, 87% Funding
32 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 5,369,465 Manpower.
Navy: (4/5) Excellent Quality, Good Technology, 110% Funding
4 Aircraft Carriers, 9 Battleships, 6 Battlecruisers, 50 Cruisers, 144 Destroyers, 80 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Average Quality, Good Technology, 102% Funding
5 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Monarch: Emperor Showa
Played by: MagnificentOne

Lithuania
Overview: Coming Soon, Presidential Republic
Economy & Population
Population: 2.371 m. $ 1,094 GDP per Capita, 0.78% Population Increase
Economy: $ 2,595 m. GDP, 2.17% GDP Increase, Expansion, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 46% Services, 6% Industry, 48% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -2,283 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -225 m. (-$ 232 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 405 m. ($ 398 m. in previous year.) 18.92% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 371 m. in taxes, $ 34 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 630 m. ($ 630 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Average, 2.12% of GDP, 88% Funding
Administration: (3/5) Average, 1.84% of GDP, 74% Funding
Education: (4/5) Poor, 1.81% of GDP, Public & Private, 66% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Poor, 1.39% of GDP, Semi-Private, 62% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.56% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 11.27% of GDP, Navy: 0.40% of GDP, Air Force: 0.40% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Average Quality, Failing Technology, 63% Funding
6 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 223,862 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 50% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 50% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Antanas Smetona
Played by: Ab Ovo

New Zealand
Overview: Coming Soon, Parlimentary Democracy
Economy & Population
Population: 1.541 m. $ 5,010 GDP per Capita, 0.86% Population Increase
Economy: $ 7,722 m. GDP, -2.16% GDP Decrease, Depression, Newly Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 42% Services, 11% Industry, 47% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -6,161 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -247 m. (-$ 267 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,065 m. ($ 1,089 m. in previous year.) 16.13% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,032 m. in taxes, $ 33 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 1,312 m. ($ 1,356 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Average, 2.37% of GDP, 92% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Good, 3.42% of GDP, 105% Funding
Education: (4/5) Average, 3.79% of GDP, Semi-Public, 96% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Average, 2.19% of GDP, Semi-Private, 90% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.88% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 2.17% of GDP, Navy: 0.07% of GDP, Air Force: 0.07% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Poor Quality, Poor Technology, 50% Funding
2 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 143,809 Manpower.
Navy: (4/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 25% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 25% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Prime Minister: Gordon Coates
Played by: Julius Maximus

Persia
Overview: Coming Soon, Sublime State
Economy & Population
Population: 14.507 m. $ 0,949 GDP per Capita, 1.22% Population Increase
Economy: $ 13,772 m. GDP, -2.07% GDP Decrease, Depression, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 45% Services, 3% Industry, 52% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -12,392 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -246 m. (-$ 244 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,200 m. ($ 1,220 m. in previous year.) 9.78% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 819 m. in taxes, $ 96 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 1,445 m. ($ 1,464 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Poor, 1.42% of GDP, 57% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Poor, 0.86% of GDP, 55% Funding
Education: (2/5) Poor, 1.37% of GDP, Semi-Private, 63% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Failing, 0.49% of GDP, Private, 45% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.50% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 2.22% of GDP, Navy: 0.04% of GDP, Air Force: 0.04% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 63% Funding
9 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 1,160,669 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 26% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 28% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Regent: Reza Pahlavi
Played by: Pirate

Poland
Overview: Coming Soon, Presidential Dictatorship
Economy & Population
Population: 32.133 m. $ 2,516 GDP per Capita, 1.45% Population Increase
Economy: $ 80,855 m. GDP, 1.01% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Mixed Economy
Economic Sectors: 56% Services, 17% Industry, 27% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -6,149 m. BBB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ 1,325 m. ($ 620 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 14,065 m. ($ 15,341 m. in previous year.) 22.11% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 13,497 m. in taxes, $ 568 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 12,740 m. ($ 14,721 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Average, 2.13% of GDP, 87% Funding
Administration: (3/5) Average, 2.05% of GDP, 88% Funding
Education: (3/5) Average, 2.30% of GDP, Public & Private, 83% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Poor, 0.92% of GDP, Mostly Private, 67% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.45% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 7.22% of GDP, Navy: 0.04% of GDP, Air Force: 0.44% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 1.01% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Excellent Quality, Average Technology, 134% Funding
56 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 1 Armoured divisions, 1,234,555 Manpower.
Navy: (3/5) Average Quality, Failing Technology, 109% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (3/5) Average Quality, Failing Technology, 124% Funding
1 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Roman Dmowski
Played by: Shynka

Romania
Overview: Coming Soon, Fascist Dictatorship
Economy & Population
Population: 13.166 m. $ 700 GDP per Capita, 0.63% Population Increase
Economy: $ 9,218 m. GDP, -3.32% GDP Decrease, Depression, Agrarian Mixed Economy
Economic Sectors: 40% Services, 1% Industry, 58% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -26,164 m. B Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -2,611 m. (-$ 1,529 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,137 m. ($ 1,174 m. in previous year.) 15.31% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,031 m. in taxes, $ 69 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 3,749 m. ($ 2,704 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (1/5) Average, 1.19% of GDP, 53% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 1.31% of GDP, 57% Funding
Education: (2/5) Average, 3.02% of GDP, Mostly Public, 62% Funding
Health & Welfare: (3/5) Poor, 3.34% of GDP, Mostly Public, 43% Funding
Miscellaneous: 2.16% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 9.28% of GDP, Navy: 4.34% of GDP, Air Force: 0.27% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Good Quality, Failing Technology, 110% Funding
13 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 668,148 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Average Quality, Failing Technology, 110% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 2 Cruisers, 6 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (4/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 110% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
King: Michael I
Played by: PotatoMan

Sarawak
Overview: Coming Soon, Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 0.501 m. $ 0,999 GDP per Capita, 0.81% Population Increase
Economy: $ 500 m. GDP, -3.08% GDP Decrease, Depression, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 51% Services, 1% Industry, 48% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -69 m. B Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ 15 m. ($ 16 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 39 m. ($ 40 m. in previous year.) 13.81% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 37 m. in taxes, $ 2 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 24 m. ($ 24 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Failing, 0.36% of GDP, 27% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Failing, 0.33% of GDP, 31% Funding
Education: (1/5) Failing, 0.15% of GDP, Mostly Private, 15% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Failing, 0.17% of GDP, Private, 15% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.45% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 2.10% of GDP, Navy: 0.42% of GDP, Air Force: 0.00% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 10% Funding
0 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 164,671 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 10% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 0% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
Rajah: Charles Vyner Brooke
Played by: Groogy

Soviet Union
Overview: Formed in the chaotic aftermath of the Great War the Soviet Union is the world's first openly Communist state. Headed by the revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, the old Russian Empire was overthrown by leftists, who had long been brewing under the Tsar's regime. A backward nation for many years, the future of the new Soviet State is still yet unknown. The Communist government is located in Moscow, relocated from the old, Imperial, capital of Leningrad.
Economy & Population
Population: 152.524 m. $ 1,438 GDP per Capita, 0.71% Population Increase
Economy: $ 219,333 m. GDP, 7.53% GDP Increase, Boom, Agrarian Planned Economy Five-Year Plan (3/5)
Economic Sectors: 38% Services, 10% Industry, 52% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ 5,397 m., $ -33,793 m. in Tsarist Debt, Cannot Borrow
Total Balance: $ 13,023 m. ($ 11,550 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 85,656 m. ($ 74,247 m. in previous year.) 54.68% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 84,672 m. in taxes, $ 0,985 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 72,633 m. ($ 62,697 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (1/5) Good, 5.18% of GDP, 130% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Average, 5.40% of GDP, 130% Funding
Education: (4/5) Average, 8.51% of GDP, Mostly Public, 130% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Failing, 6.01% of GDP, Mostly Public, 71% Funding
Miscellaneous: 4.06% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 3.22% of GDP, Navy: 0.32% of GDP, Air Force: 0.54% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.12% of GDP
Army: (3/5) Average Quality, Average Technology, 118% Funding
151 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 1 Armoured divisions, 11,026,716 Manpower.
Navy: (3/5) Poor Quality, Failing Technology, 84% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 4 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 3 Cruisers, 25 Destroyers, 14 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 130% Funding
30 Fighter Wings, 5 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 5 Bomber Wings
Chairman: Joseph Stalin
Played by: KeldoniaSkylar

Spain
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 24.781 m. $ 3,050 GDP per Capita, 0.85% Population Increase
Economy: $ 75,574 m. GDP, 3.11% GDP Increase, Expansion, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 53% Services, 6% Industry, 41% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -27,994 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -0,031 m. (-$ 0,086 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 6,451 m. ($ 6,262 m. in previous year.) 10.32% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 6,271 m. in taxes, $ 180 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 6,482 m. ($ 6,349 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Poor, 1.35% of GDP, 79% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Good, 2.36% of GDP, 76% Funding
Education: (4/5) Poor, 1.45% of GDP, Public & Private, 51% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Failing, 0.60% of GDP, Mostly Private, 43% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.65% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.71% of GDP, Navy: 0.51% of GDP, Air Force: 0.01% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Average Quality, Poor Technology, 58% Funding
18 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 1,800,050 Manpower.
Navy: (2/5) Poor Quality, Failing Technology, 51% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 3 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 6 Cruisers, 14 Destroyers, 4 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 33% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
King: Alfonso XIII
Played by: Kaisersohaib

Syria
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 2.836 m. $ 1,384 GDP per Capita, 1.15% Population Increase
Economy: $ 3,924 m. GDP, 2.14% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 47% Services, 3% Industry, 50% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -1,463 m. B Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -306 m. (-$ 320 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 205 m. ($ 201 m. in previous year.) 7.93% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 189 m. in taxes, $ 15 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 510 m. ($ 521 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (3/5) Failing, 0.90% of GDP, 61% Funding
Administration: (1/5) Poor, 1.06% of GDP, 66% Funding
Education: (1/5) Failing, 0.03% of GDP, Private, 50% Funding
Health & Welfare: (1/5) Failing, 0.60% of GDP, Private, 54% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.34% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 7.79% of GDP, Navy: 0.13% of GDP, Air Force: 0.15% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.07% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Failing Quality, Poor Technology, 68% Funding
7 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 171,654 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 24% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 29% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
King: Faisal I
Played by: XVG

Turkey
Overview: Risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey is a Presidential Dictatorship straddling Europe and Asia, guarding the entrance to the Black Sea. Its capital is Ankara where the President resides and the unicameral Grand National Assembly is located.
Economy & Population
Population: 14.626 m. $ 0,925 GDP per Capita, 0.64% Population Increase
Economy: $ 13,534 m. GDP, 0.12% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 48% Services, 7% Industry, 45% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -16,118 m. BB Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -654 m. (-$ 652 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 2,046 m. ($ 2,051 m. in previous year.) 20.12% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,789 m. in taxes, $ 257 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 2,700 m. ($ 2,703 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Failing, 1.15% of GDP, 80% Funding
Administration: (3/5) Poor, 1.41% of GDP, 80% Funding
Education: (1/5) Poor, 1.93% of GDP, Public & Private, 70% Funding
Health & Welfare: (2/5) Failing, 1.02% of GDP, Mostly Private, 70% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.05% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 6.94% of GDP, Navy: 2.03% of GDP, Air Force: 0.96% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 1.25% of GDP
Army: (4/5) Poor Quality, Poor Technology, 83% Funding
16 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 1,212,389 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Poor Quality, Failing Technology, 75% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 1 Battlecruisers, 1 Cruisers, 5 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (2/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 48% Funding
0 Fighter Wings, 3 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
President: Kemal Atatürk
Played by: Dutchbag

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Overview: Coming Soon, Constitutional Monarchy
Economy & Population
Population: 46.315 m. $ 4,676 GDP per Capita, 0.40% Population Increase
Economy: $ 216,582 m. GDP, 0.19% GDP Increase, Stagnation, Semi-Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 61% Services, 14% Industry, 25% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -518,185 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -10,000 m. (-$ 5,422 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 36,889 m. ($ 39,117 m. in previous year.) 17.36% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 32,993 m. in taxes, $ 3,406 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 46,889 m. ($ 44,539 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Excellent, 3.11% of GDP, 81% Funding
Administration: (4/5) Good, 2.96% of GDP, 83% Funding
Education: (3/5) Good, 3.10% of GDP, Semi-Public, 80% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Average, 1.02% of GDP, Mostly Private, 65% Funding
Miscellaneous: 1.05% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.88% of GDP, Navy: 3.30% of GDP, Air Force: 0.25% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.11% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Excellent Quality, Good Technology, 75% Funding
34 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 2 Armoured divisions, 3,967,030 Manpower.
Navy: (1/5) Excellent Quality, Good Technology, 111% Funding
3 Aircraft Carriers, 21 Battleships, 11 Battlecruisers, 54 Cruisers, 183 Destroyers, 151 Submarines
Air Force: (1/5) Excellent Quality, Good Technology, 97% Funding
11 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
King: George V
Played by: Sneakyflaps

United States of America
Overview: Coming Soon, Presidential Republic
Economy & Population
Population: 136.575 m. $ 6,150 GDP per Capita, 1.50% Population Increase
Economy: $ 839,937 m. GDP, -0.32% GDP Decrease, Recession, Newly Industrial Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 61% Services, 20% Industry, 19% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -625,392 m. AAA Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -6,265 m. (-$ 21,105 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 138,865 m. ($ 142,361 m. in previous year.) 15.91% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 127,086 m. in taxes, $ 8,152 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 145,130 m. ($ 163,466 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (4/5) Excellent, 4.94% of GDP, 117%
Administration: (3/5) Excellent, 4.25% of GDP, 95% Funding
Education: (4/5) Good, 3.07% of GDP, Public & Private, 105% Funding
Health & Welfare: (3/5) Excellent, 2.52% of GDP, Semi-Private, 95% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.80% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 0.12% of GDP, Navy: 0.62% of GDP, Air Force: 0.11% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Excellent Quality, Average Technology, 104% Funding
13 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 1 Armoured divisions, 11,062,192 Manpower.
Navy: (3/5) Excellent Quality, Good Technology, 113% Funding
3 Aircraft Carriers, 21 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 37 Cruisers, 175 Destroyers, 57 Submarines
Air Force: (2/5) Good Quality, Average Technology, 101% Funding
35 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 2 Bomber Wings
President: Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Played by: jacobl-Lundgren

Yugoslavia
Overview: Coming Soon, Presidential Republic
Economy & Population
Population: 16.656 m. $ 1,060 GDP per Capita, 1.67% Population Increase
Economy: $ 17,662 m. GDP, 4.45% GDP Increase, Boom, Agrarian Market Economy
Economic Sectors: 46% Services, 7% Industry, 47% Agriculture & Resources
Income & Spending
Treasury & Credit Rating: $ -8,605 m. A Credit Rating
Total Balance: $ -416 m. (-$ 450 m. in previous year.)
Total Income: $ 1,803 m. ($ 1,723 m. in previous year.) 13.22% Average Tax Rate
Taxes & Tariffs: $ 1,706 m. in taxes, $ 098 m. in tariffs.
Total Expenses: $ 2,220 m. ($ 2,173 m. in previous year.)
Government Spending
Infrastructure: (2/5) Poor, 1.44% of GDP, 78% Funding
Administration: (2/5) Average, 1.55% of GDP, 62% Funding
Education: (2/5) Poor, 1.80% of GDP, Public & Private, 62% Funding
Health & Welfare: (4/5) Failing, 0.85% of GDP, Mostly Private, 54% Funding
Miscellaneous: 0.60% of GDP
National Defense: Army: 4.25% of GDP, Navy: 0.05% of GDP, Air Force: 0.79% of GDP | Total Military Deployments: 0.00% of GDP
Army: (2/5) Good Quality, Poor Technology, 78% Funding
18 Infantry divisions, 0 Special divisions, 0 Armoured divisions, 1,125,345 Manpower.
Navy: (3/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 40% Funding
0 Aircraft Carriers, 0 Battleships, 0 Battlecruisers, 0 Cruisers, 0 Destroyers, 0 Submarines
Air Force: (2/5) Failing Quality, Failing Technology, 60% Funding
1 Fighter Wings, 0 Fighter-Bomber Wings, 0 Bomber Wings
King: Paul II
Played by: Ekon

Colonial Holdings

Spoiler

French Africa
Population: 39.140 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 26,939 m.
French Levant
Population: 0.478 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 0,653 m.
French Indochina
Population: 25.841 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 21,120 m. [Rubber Investment 2]
French Caribbean
Population: 1.358 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 1,402 m.
Italian Africa
Population: 1.282 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 1,369 m.
Italian Albania
Population: 1.009 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 944 m.
Japanese Korea
Population: 17.155 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 22,097 m.
British India & Asia
Population: 348.241 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 237,225 m.
British Africa
Population: 8.138 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 9,467 m.
American Philippines
Population: 11.672 m.
Gross Domestic Product: $ 16,407 m.

 

[firelordsky]

Republic of Haiti
République d'Haïti
Repiblik Ayiti ​

My countrymen! My fellow Haitians!

This eve, Haiti stands with one foot upon a precipice and the other taking a step off of it. Two paths lie before us: one where we should fall into the looming darkness, unknowing of what is to be at the bottom of our fall. The other being here we boldly tear away our eyes from the darkness and retreat to higher ground. The path that we should and thus would choose is an easy answer. However, as with all choices, the path to success is paved with many difficulties. Anyone of us who wavers, shall be akin to the pebble thrown down the well. The rest of us will look upon those who have fallen and shall strive to honor in ensuring that their sacrifice lies not in vain! To proceed upon this road, all of Haiti needs to be strong. To be strong, all Haitians need to work as one! Lone threads shall be plucked away, but the union of many threads shall protect us from this tempest. Stand together Haitians! Our time to fall has not come, nor shall it come for another millennium! Akin to the Citadelle Laferrière, Haiti shall withstand the waves that threaten to drag us under Let not your country drown in the tides of despair! Our poverty today is only a trial to prove ourselves for the blessings that God shall grant us at the end of this gauntlet! Today, we may not have materials needed for victory against the tides of darkness that encroach upon our shores, yet we shall persevere and make do with what we do have in order to make it to the next day, and we shall gain the tools needed for success with the dawn of the next day! Despair not for your lot now, for we must look to the future of Haiti and ensure that in 50 years, our legacies will not serve as examples of poverty, but that they shall serve as portents of a prosperous future one wrought from our own blood and tears!

"L'union fait la force"

~Louis Borno, President of the Republic of Haiti​

 

[Dadarian]

A Loss of Balance; 1930-1935​

The Blueshirts were born out of a reaction of the Irish against the triple threat boogieman that was the English, the Communists and the Anglicans. This crystalised into the Ceann Eire [Tr: One Ireland] Movement, headed politically by Kevin O'Higgins and militarily by Eoin O'Duffy. This was both a blessing and a curse to Collins, as he had friendly relations with O'Duffy but was known to hate O'Higgins, though usually behind closed doors. This was further complicated by an unexpected entente by the Italian government in private channels with the Irish government and the willingness of the Blueshirts to enter Northern Ireland to fight on behalf of the Irish Republic.

This in turn was exacerbated by the long awaited retirement of Count Plunkett in 1931, a man who served Collins as a guide throughout his career as a revolutionary and a politician. Retiring at the age of 80, his final speech was met with an enthusiastic (if sad) applause by the Dail. Respected by every man elected, Plunkett's departure was marked by many as the end of a diplomatic era in Ireland (for more on his life, see here). He was replaced by James FitzGerald-Kenney, a witty barrister that had known sympathies to O'Duffy and the Blueshirts shortly after by personal appointment by Collins.

However this did not help Collins, as this left the Ceann Eire in control of the cabinet (though neither the positions of head of state or head of government). This collapse of a balance of power between the two factions led to increased "discussion" within cabinet meetings between the likes of Mulcahy and Moloney, which nearly came to blows more then once. However the advice of the members of the Ceann Eire eventually convinced Collins to continue the support of the Blueshirts secretly and mobilise the 12 Apostles to send north in 1931. The result was which he would come to regret, as dominated by his diaries during this time.

The Blueshirts, armed with Irish guns, clothed in Irish clothes and eating Irish foods, gleefully murdered their way through Ireland. Backfiring against his plans of using his political enemies to kill his ideological enemies, Collins' decision resulted in the collapse of both the North Irish government and the North Irish economy. This upset the balance that had been established within both the closed circles of the government and the open policies of the nation. Irish were dying at Irish hands, not by English hands.

The outrage within the countryside and even the cities was minimal, as a lack of spillover and a wave of propaganda silenced all but the most die hard critics. However in the shadowy rooms of government, the rage was alive and well. By 1933, Collins spent more time in meetings with various factions then doing his duty as head of government. When Austin Stack, the Minister of Home Affairs and quiet Ceann Eire supporter died of a heart attack in early 1934, Collins replaced him (to the shock of both the Ceann Eire and their rivals the Poblachtánaigh [Tr: Republicans]) with a backbencher by the name of John Flynn. A farmer by trade and of no real notice to anyone in government, this choice was seen as a message to both factions that the balance of power within government shall be maintained and dictated by Collins.

This was not enough, as one thing became clear. Something had to give. Collins received a message from a loyalist in Belfast in November of 1934 declaring that if the Irish Republic does not end its connections with the Blueshirts, then the local councils will have to seek a new state free from violent oppression, away from Ireland. This was not a shock to Collins, however it was the death knell of the current balance. Either he had to support the likes of O'Higgins and O'Duffy and slowly turn Ireland into a fascist state or reject the Blueshirts and run towards democracy as fast as his legs could carry him. This was not an easy choice, as O'Duffy was a close friend of Collins, who promoted interpersonal relations in government above all else.

Whatever his decision, he had to make it fast, for the winds of change and violence will act without his approval.

The 1935 Cabinet of the 2nd Dail​

President of Dáil Éireann: W. T. Cosgrave (Todhchaí na hÉireann - Poblachtánaigh)
Taoiseach: Michael Collins (Sinn Fein - Independent)
Minister for Finance: Sean MacEntee (Sinn Fein - Poblachtánaigh)
Minister for Home Affairs: John Flynn (Sinn Fein - Independent) [took seat in 1934]
Minister for Foreign Affairs: James FitzGerald-Kenney (Sinn Fein - Ceann Eire) [took seat in 1931]
Minister for Defense: Cathal Brugha (Sinn Fein - Ceann Eire)
Minister for Labour: Helena Moloney (Sinn Fein - Poblachtánaigh)
Minister for Industries: Ernest Blythe (Sinn Fein - Ceann Eire)
Minister for Local Government: Richard Mulcahy (Sinn Fein - Ceann Eire)
Minister for the Irish: Douglas Hyde (Independent - Poblachtánaigh)

 

[Bonecracker(NL)]

Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs​

In the dozen years since the establishment of our republic, we have been near-adjacent to a variety of conflicts. The old guarantors of peace in Europe seem to do nothing to keep it, the Balkans are a region as violent and unstable as ever, and Turkey is next to it. Carefully observing political developments on the continent, it has become increasingly clearer than if a Great War is to break out again, the safety of Istanbul can not be guaranteed. Accordingly, it is the opinion of the Turkish Government that the current regime of the straits will not do, and change is needed.

As a European and civilised nation we wish to rectify the flaws we see in a diplomatic fashion. We invite all parties concerned by our change of policy, most notably the Black Sea states, The United Kingdom, and Italy, and in extension all signatories of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, to discussions on the subject in Montreux, Switzerland, to reach a permanent solution.


-Dr. Tevik Rüshtü Aras, Foreign Minister of Turkey.

 

[Stormbringer]

Ranking the world powers a decade later

Parity grows among leading powers, while some others slip behind

Looking at wealth, industry, and military spending of leading nations.

Oct. 10th 1935

A decade ago the World was recovering from the Great War and we published a special report with a ranking of the World Powers. In the ten years since its publication there has been upheaval, most notably of the economic kind, across much of the World. Depression and collapse of trade across much of the World has ruined the lives of millions of people. Worryingly, military buildups in Europe and the Americas have brought the World closer to war at the very time when it can hardly afford it. This is our assessment of the relative power of the countries that now vie with each other for position across the globe.

As a decade ago we feel it is necessary to include this note. Any ranking is an ambitious project and we do not claim that ours is the only, or even the best, way to rank countries. It does, however, have the virtues of transparency and simplicity. We consider how rich the country is, the value of the industrial goods that it produces, and the military spending that it undertakes. While some may quibble about the details, it should be obvious that a country that is richer, has more industrial production, and one that spends more on its military is the more powerful one, at least in the usual sense.

Great Powers

The United States of America solidifies its spot at the top of the ranking. It remains the richest country in the World with average incomes of $6,150 and industrial production dwarfs every other country at $168 billion. Meanwhile American military spending has grown in the last decade in relative terms to $7.1 billion, making the country even more powerful than it was before. Score: 91.37.

The United Kingdom remains in the second position in the ranking. The British military spending of $9.3 billion remains the largest in the World, due primarily to the Royal Navy. Britons are also catching up to the Americans in terms of average incomes which are now at $4,676 and have kept pace in terms of industrial production, now at $30.3 billion. Score: 51.58.

France occupies the third place in the ranking, same as a decade ago. French average incomes have grown slightly in relative terms, up to $3,585, though they are still pretty far behind American and British incomes. Industrial output has grown very slightly in relative terms, now just behind that of the United Kingdom at $29.9 billion. Military spending has seen the largest increase in relative terms, a sign of the increased militarization in Europe, with the French now spending $6.9 billion. Score: 42.55.

Germany takes the fourth spot, having leapfrogged Japan in the course of a decade. The German people have prospered since the dark days of 1925, with both German average incomes and German industrial output growing rapidly in relative terms to $4,419 and $53.7 billion respectively. German military spending remains low at just $2 billion, but even this number represents a relative increase over the depressed military spending of the 1920s. Score: 36.86.

Japan’s fall to the fifth spot is a consequence of Germany’s rise rather than any problem with Japan. It has made moderate gains in relative average incomes and industrial output, the two increasing to $2,124 (still low by European standards) and $27.2 billion (almost on par with France). The largest gain, as with many other Great Powers, has come in the military buildup, with the spending now at $7.3, the third highest in the World. Score: 35.21.

The Soviet Union is the country that has made the most impressive gains during the last decade, now taking the sixth spot in the rankings. Average incomes have doubled in relative terms to $1,438 and industrial output has more than quadrupled in relative terms to $28.5 billion, making the USSR a leading industrial producer. Equally impressive is the Soviet military buildup with the Soviet Union now spending $8.7 billion on its military, second only to the United Kingdom. Score: 33.29.

Italy is in the seventh spot in the ranking, having made steady but not overwhelming progress in all areas. Italian incomes have grown in relative terms to $3,381, almost catching up to those in France. Industrial output has grown as well, though only modestly, to $20.9 billion. The largest area of increase, as with many European powers, is military spending, where the leading fascist state now spends $5 billion per year. Score: 33.18.

Poland is the last country that can be described as a great power. Despite setbacks since the re-creation of the Polish state after the Great War Poland has emerged as a powerful European state. Polish incomes have improved by a third in relative terms to $2,516 and industrial production has kept pace with incomes growing to $13.7 billion, impressive for such a small country. Poland may be the country that best represents the new militarization of Europe, now spending $5.4 billion on its military, ahead of fascist Italy and more than double that of Germany. Score: 26.85.

There are a number of trends in the numbers presented above. The most obvious is the growing militarization of the great powers. Military parity has certainly increased, with countries rapidly catching up to the United Kingdom and surpassing France. But this increased parity extends to other areas as well. All of the great powers now have average incomes and industrial production that are closer to those of the United States than a decade ago. Although the United States remains the most powerful country in the World the takeaway is that other great powers are catching up, with the gap in incomes, industry, and military spending shrinking over the last decade.

Links to decade-old articles:
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...920-Mk.-II&p=18191932&viewfull=1#post18191932
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...920-Mk.-II&p=18207016&viewfull=1#post18207016
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...920-Mk.-II&p=18216465&viewfull=1#post18216465

 

[Stormbringer]

Second and third tier countries

Steady growth some places, while others slip behind

Argentina tops the list, China and Brazil among those falling behind.

Oct. 17th 1935

LAST week we published our list of the great powers of the World. Those eight countries are grouped together as the most powerful in the World, having high standards of living, expansive industry, and powerful militaries. The second and third tier countries, which we cover this week, are significantly behind in at least one, if not more, categories. The second tier are countries that may be described as regional powers, and the third tier are powerful countries that have to share the spotlight with others in their region.

Second Tier

Argentina leads the second tier after Poland and the USSR move to the higher category. Argentinian incomes have slipped in relative terms, now only $3,171, slightly more than half of those in the United States. Industrial output has barely kept pace, now at $7.4 billion. The only reason Argentina has grown in its relative standing is its large increase in military spending that now stands at $2.1 billion. Score: 17.25.

Czechoslovakia takes the second spot in this tier and is in the same position as Argentina. Czech incomes and industrial production has remained constant in relative terms, now at $2,041 and $6 billion respectively. Military spending has increased, as many places in Europe, now at $1.6 billion. Score: 12.70.

Canada is the third country in this tier, also improving its standing thanks to a growing military. Canadian relative incomes and industrial output have actually declined during the decade, now at $3,924 and $3 billion. Military spending has nearly tripled in relative terms to $1.4 billion. Score: 12.02.

China is the first country in our list that has declined in power during the decade. Ten years ago we have compared China to the Soviet Union - a country with low incomes, but a high population and a large military. During the last decade Chinese incomes and industrial production have barely grown in relative terms (in contrast to the Soviet ones, which have soared) to $580 and $11.7 billion. Meanwhile relative military spending has fallen nearly in half to just $2.4 billion. Score: 11.97.

Spain is another country that has failed to keep up with the others. Its average incomes have grown moderately and are now at $3,050, a good improvement. Industrial output, however, has failed to keep pace with incomes and has barely increased in relative terms to $4.5 billion. Military spending has fallen to $0.93 billion, dragging down Spain’s position in the ranking. Score: 10.98.

Third Tier

Hungary leads this group, though it is far behind Spain, the last entry in the previous group. Hungarian military has tripled in the last ten years in relative terms to $0.83 billion. Meanwhile incomes and industrial output have improved modestly in relative terms to $2,130 and $1.4 billion. Score: 6.30.

Yugoslavia is another country that has seen improvement in the last decade in all relevant areas. Impressively, Yugoslav incomes have grown by 70% in relative terms, now at $1,060. Industrial production is now $1.2 billion and military spending has grown modestly in relative terms to $0.90 billion. Score: 4.96.

Turkey has improved its position despite stagnant incomes and industrial output as a result of a military buildup (as many other countries). Average incomes are now $925 and industrial output is $0.95 billion. Military spending is double what it was a decade ago in relative terms, now at $1.2 billion. Score: 4.74.

Brazil is a country that has seen relative declines across the board. Its relative average incomes have fallen to $790 and its industrial output has just failed to keep pace, now at $2.4 billion. On top of this military spending has fallen nearly in half in relative terms, now at only $0.49 billion. Score: 4.58.

New Zealand is another country that has seen declines in all categories. Although incomes in New Zealand remain very high at $5,010, this represents a relative decline. Industrial output is just $0.85 billion and relative military spending has declined to $0.18 billion due to the shrinking navy. Score: 4.28.

Ireland has slipped in relative importance, but only slightly. Irish incomes have grown significantly in relative terms to $3,240, but industrial output has barely kept pace, now at $0.50 billion. Military spending has slipped in relative terms, now at $0.40 billion. Score: 4.07.

Bulgaria is a country that has done relatively well in the turbulent Balkans. Both incomes and industrial production have grown slightly in relative terms to $1,141 and $0.50 billion. Meanwhile military spending has doubled in relative terms to $0.86 billion. Score: 3.71.