Rise of the Sun of May - Part 12: Commies (1895-1899)

As we come back to Argentina- the elections have begun!

Partido Liberal and Unión Cívica Radical both place their support behind Prime Minister Francisco Barroetaveña.

Since his previous election, the now 39 year old Barro has taken a more aggressive stance to the Communists both in Argentina and abroad. Though it disenfranchises half of Unión Cívica Radical by taking such a hardline stance, Barro sticks by it with promises of destroying Communist Bolivia and quelling any possibility of a government overthrowing revolt of Communists here in Argentina.

Autonomista Nacional once again backs now 73 year old Luis Sáenz Peña.

The party bashes against itself as many members think Peña is both too old and too far right for the position. Fracturing begins to occur, with many members pulling themselves further left. In a confusing twist, many members from both Partido Liberal and A.N. create Unión Cívica Nacional (if you've heard the name before just ignore that; this is the first time you've heard it)- the opposite of Unión Cívica Radical. UCN doesn't have enough foundation to put out a candidate yet, but you bet they will burst into Parliament led by their leader and former senator of the Confederation, Bernardo de Irigoyen.

Partido Socialista, noticing the reaction to running a female candidate in the last election, runs 27 year old Lisandro de la Torre.

Torre was a young lawyer, fresh from University in Buenos Aires. A proponent of atheism and youth in politics, Torre seemed the perfect fit for both the Socialists and even some of the further left.

Back to business.

Following the confirmation that Parliament would back the Prime Minister in a new invasion of Communist Bolivia to liberate the citizenry, Barro orders the troops to move for the border.

Following that, Barro easily wins the debate of war. The people wanted further intervention in Bolivia!

On January 2nd, Barro officially declares war on Communist Bolivia. He declares his intent to liberate the Northern Bolivian state of La Paz; the population center of the entire country.

Following the shaky situation with Autonomista Nacional fracturing, all parties of Parliament actually come together and decide to freeze the seats until next Parliamentary election. Members of Autonomista Nacional head the effort in a long term political play for next election. Though several protest the decisions of the party heads, backers argue that freezing the seats is the best thing to do in order to ease in the new party; especially in the face of a new war.

General Balcarce moves into Sucre, easily outnumbering the Bolivians there by 20,000.

E-Z.

As Bolivian reserves are raised and move into Santa Cruz, Sucre easily falls within a month to Balcarce. When the National Assembly in Sucre is found empty, word spreads that the government hides in the mountains northwards.

The fiery young Torre, fresh out of law school, manages to win a debate on economics.

Intent on ending the war as soon as possible, Balcarce moves north to assist the Paraguayans in capturing the mountain territory. After witnessing loads of attrition, the seasoned general wants to take the quickest way out.

Meanwhile some fresh troops are produced and moved to the capital.

More rallies are held for further extension of political rights. Barro, a proponent of democracy and the re-constitutionalising of the monarchy, allows the protests.

By April, Balcarce captures Cochabamba, the largest city in the country.

By the way, there is a war now in Europe over Elsaß-Lothringen. The French see it as theres and are willing to take on both the Germans and Italians at once to get it back.

Protesting the Prime Minister's invasion and hostility to them, thousands of Communist rise up.

The ones back home are easy to handle but, through some connections, the Communists have managed to convince 3,000 South Malagasy to rise up. Partido Comunista denies involvement in the affair but several politicians question the possibility of such organization if not led by an already well established group.

Some infantry are ordered to be trained in the colony.

By May, the Paraguayans, bless their hearts, capture La Paz. Several members of the Bolivian Assembly plead for peace in face of threatened execution.

The deal is signed, hundreds of thousands of Bolivians are once again liberated from the weak and constantly collapsing government of Bolivia. Beautiful.

With a newfound border with our allies in Peru, Barro meets with Peruvian President Nicolás de Piérola, further expanding our relations with the state. Now, our entire Triple Alliance of Peru-Colombia-Argentina has a land connection to each other!

The young Torre seems to continue to gain ground right before the election.

As the election results roll in, Barro clearly wins a second term. Autonomista Nacional is shocked by their performance, however, with thousands of loyal voters refusing to show up at the polls without motivation. Torre impresses with a solid second place finish for the Socialists.

Several electoral votes were added this election, as well as La Paz, which is given a staggering 30 votes. Though they didn't get to vote this election, citizens of the state will be represented with 30 seats in the next Parliament. Many politicians call on Barro to lower their seats and ease them into Argentine politics, but Barro, proud of his liberation of the state, stands by fair democracy for the people.

(Something I thought was cool about this map- some glasses wearers (like myself) may or may not get a weird optical illusion on the border of the red and blue that make either color pop out if you shake your head back and forth.)

Meanwhile, in Brazilian affairs, France allies the new Communist government. Though Argentine-French relations are fairly low, perhaps it is better that France captures the influence of Brazil and not the Americans.

The Austrians seem to have held up fairly well in their war against Russia, with little to no changes in the region. Oh- and Tunisia, yea that's German now.

As if the Bolivians couldn't prove our peacekeeping actions any more right.

As Balcarce moves to clean up those pesky Communists, ships prepare to carry the fresh troops to Madagascar so the situation there can be handled.

Speaking of Madagascar- let's have a little look at Africa.

Since we last looked, the Spanish have connected Egypt to their Western colonies and created a barrier splitting the continent.

Also, the Germans have extended their Western land to the ocean, and have further closed in on the frontier of the Horn in the East.

Finally, the Ottomans snake a fairly disgusting looking blob further through into the East.

Looking to the South, not much has happened other than the British and Germans meeting with a border between their colonies.

As the troops are shipped off to handle Communists of our own, Venezuela also seems to be having a problem with them. Barro calls this new wave of rebellion in South America a "vile plague that should be purged".

~Meanwhile in Europe~

Crisis! Rebels in Bohemia call for independence from Austria. The rebels are strongly backed by the Germans further North.

Within days, the Austrian government buckles to the pressure. Without any international backing, Austria couldn't fend for itself.

Barro, wanting to be more involved in international affairs, congratulates the new Kingdom of Bohemia-Moravia for their independence from the vile Austrian Communism.

In November, famed Admiral Bartolomé Pedernera dies of natural causes in the Paraná naval base.

Barro chooses Bartolomé's son, the young and stouthearted Gabriel Pedernera, to take his place.

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More expansion in the military.

Balcarce is joined by former Head General Santos in the defeat of Malagasy Communists.

As our boys move back home from the colonies, no one is surprised by news of even more revolts in Bolivia.

Intending on peace for awhile, Barro cuts the military stockpile budget so the money can be spent on new recruits.

While on the topic of economy, let's check out the current factories!

Though we have several open but consistently failing factories of other types of factories, alcohol, whether it be from brewery or winery, reigns king in Argentine production.

Other than that, we have 4 closed factories and 3 factories in construction.

After the autonomizing of Calabar, it's almost shocking to look at the culture charts and see just how dominant Platinean culture is.

News from Bolivia- 'Socialists' have risen and 'overthrown' the Communist government. While to some this may seem like a successful push for democracy in the country, several Argentine politicians with keen eyes can't help but notice the members of this new government are almost all the same as before. Barro declares it, in a butchering of the French language, a 'faux coup d'etat'.

The violent spread of Communism continues even further North in Honduras.

As the troops return home in Buenos Aires and more regiments are in training, Barro orders the construction of forts in La Paz to continue to border defense system against Brazil.

The Argentine Parliament of 1898 is assembled. Autonomista Nacional's play ended up working. By allowing UCN to cool off a bit before entering Parliament, A.N. leaders strike a deal with the now more reasonable new party and form a united National Front. Partido Reaccionario continues their quiet political isolationism fairly strongly as their size now rivals A.N. itself. Overall power balance is not overthrown by Northern Bolivia's addition.

Need tech got tech.

On April 3rd, thousands upon thousands of Communist devils rise up in the newly acquired land. Partido Comunista continues to claim they aren't behind it. In a fit of rage, Barro declares Partido Comunista banished from Parliament. Though Barro intended the ban to last forever, he is talked down and decides to hold a ban until 1902.

The troops move North as the stockpile is rationed out once again.

Anti-Red policies extend to even Socialists at this point.

On May 25th 1898, General Justo Balcarce is shot and killed by one of his own. A Communist sympathizer intending to stop the army from taking out the rebellion in the North, the unnamed soldier is immediately killed by the general's other loyal men.

Balcarce's body is placed on an ornamental train that tours the country of mourners before making it back to Buenos Aires. At the massive funeral in the capital, Queen Manuela shockingly declares her opposition to the Communist ban, saying she believes that all voices should be heard regardless of extremism. Though the word "Commie" rolls around in his head, Barro respects the Queen's advice but everyone knows he doesn't intend to carry it out.

As the rebels capture more and more land, General Faustino de la Plaza is put in place as the Head General and continues his march Northward undeterred.

Plaza absolutely destroys the main Communist force, wiping out over 20,000 and sustaining casualties himself of only 1,400.

As Plaza goes ham on the rebels, French are discovered crossing the border of our Malagasy colony. Barro writes off the event, noting there are more important affairs to handle.

Plaza, assisted by Paraguayan forces, eliminates all of the Communist forces within months and moves to recapture the cities.

Back in Africa, an 'Anti-Colonial League' forms. Clearly backed by the French, Barro doubts the legitimacy of the organization, denouncing it as simply French propaganda.

Some mal-reinforced units are disbanded as some more are ordered.

By April, the Paraguayans manage to clean up the rest of the rebel controlled land. The defeat of the rebellion is declared as "yet another victory for democracy, both in Argentina and the Bolivian region".

Barro, soothed by the defeat of the Commies, receives a letter on his desk on April 17th. Argentine sympathizers in the 'Stolen Land' beg for support from Barro's administration to incite a possible new rebellion intent on returning the land to Argentina. Barro accepts, giving the rebels $50,000 and his prayers.

Though Chileans build forts to 'protect the area', Barro stands strong behind a policy of leaving the area unfortified. After all, building forts at the 'border' would be accepting that there was a 'border' in the first place.

Ooooo paintings and art and what not.

A province in the state of Córdoba is struggling with their wheat crops. Barro allows them to grow subsidized cotton in an attempt to cash in on cash crops.

A huge step for democracy is taken on November 24th with the turn of the century right around the corner.

Thousands across the country celebrate after Partido Socialista heads efforts to pass a bill allowing public meetings once again. Though Barro may be lacking in it, trust is shown to the citizenry from Parliament as Argentina takes one step closer to her former political freedoms.