Context Pre-1936
Prior to the start of the Great Depression, Argentina followed a trend of strong economic growth, enough to rival countries such as Canada or Australia in per capita income. This strong era of development for the country was also matched by social and economic reforms brought about by the government - which currently seated the Radical Civic Union party. However, it was during the second administration of president Hipólito Yrigoyen that things took a turn for the worst. The Great Depression arrived in Argentina, bringing with it a crippling economic crisis. In 1930, the military took things into their own hands, ousting Yrigoyen in the first military coup in modern Argentine history. It is this event that marked the beginning of what would later be called the Infamous Decade in Argentina; a period of fraudulent elections, government corruption and further military coup d’etats. After Yrigoyen was removed from office, there was another election, this time putting Agustín Pedro Justo in power, supported by the newly created conservative party known as the Concordancia. This party was a union of various dissident sectors of other political parties that opposed the late Yrigoyen. It was Justo that orchestrated the practice of electoral fraud that became prevalent during the 1930s in Argentina; a case that would be attached to the legacy of the Concordancia. The Great Depression hit Argentina relatively hard, and in the wake of such a global economic crisis, Great Britain, the principal economic partner of Argentina in the 1920s and 1930s, took measures to protect the meat supply market in the Commonwealth. One of these measures was to create a bilateral treaty with the Argentine Senate known as the Roca-Runciman treaty; named after the two men who signed it. This treaty ensured and strengthened the commercial tires between Argentina and Britain. Moving back to the time before the first world war, Argentina engaged in a significant naval arms race with its neighbors Brazil and Chile. After years of conflict between Argentina and Chile, a pact was formed in 1902 that limited the naval armaments of both countries. However, alarmed by the sudden influx of Brazilian warships a few years later, Argentina quickly moved to nullify the remaining months of their pact with Chile to join in the naval arms race and match the naval capabilities of their northern neighbor Brazil. However when the first world war ended, so did the arms race. Suffering from the financial cost of trying to expand their naval capabilities, all three countries suddenly found themselves unable to acquire additional warships. After the conflict, the race never resumed, but many plans for post-war naval expansions were postulated by the Argentine, Brazilian, and Chilean governments. In game, we represent these issues with a number of national spirits that must be overcome if the nation is to prosper or expand. (Icons may change before release)
Historical Branch
When the game begins, no matter which ideology you wish to go down, Argentina will always start Non-Aligned with Agustín Pedro Justo in power. However, he likely will not remain there for long, as each branch will require the Argentinian player to make some drastic changes to their government and president. Whilst we won’t dwell on Señor Justo for long, please enjoy this updated art we have for his portrait!
With that out of the way, let’s take a wee look at the historical branch of the focus tree.
It should be noted that the foreign policy branch is shared with the democratic branch. As such, the path that begins with ‘Pan-American Cooperation’ and ends with ‘The Second Argentine Republic’ is available only to those who have taken Argentina into an independent democratic future.
The first part of the branch is all about putting Roberto Ortiz in power, a man who dedicated himself to ousting the corruption in the Concordancia, despite being chosen through the most fraudulent election in Argentine History. As such, you will try to minimize the ‘Political Corruption’ national spirit, by taking these focuses, as well as reinforcing the already existing relationship with Great Britain.
In the next part of the tree, things start to heat up for the Concordanica. Whilst you have the option to improve on Argentina’s damaged economy in the left hand branch, the historical player must then choose to elect Ramón Castillo. However, this creates tensions within the military factions in government, setting off a timed mission that spells an impending military coup. If the player does not take the appropriate actions, either by embracing the military factions or resisting them, then they will face a bloody civil war across Argentina.
In order to avoid a civil war, you have two choices. Either go the historical route and allow the march to create a quiet turnover in government via ‘March to La Casa Rosada’ or take things a-historically and enact federal intervention in states taken over by the military, before finally subduing the dissension within its ranks. However, if you fancy fighting a civil war, feel free to do absolutely nothing! The fun thing about Hearts of Iron IV is that you can play it however you want.
With your government secure, you can finally start to look towards engaging with the world and the war that is ravaging it. If fighting does not interest you what-so-ever, then feel free to reject the Allies and take your own path, remaining neutral. However, if you want to help the Allies in their fight against fascism, then you can join their faction, and begin Argentina’s foreign policy branch. Keep that branch in mind for now, for I will go into more detail with it when we talk about the democratic path!
Democratic Branch
Speaking of which, let’s talk about what happens if you have a clean election instead of one that is corrupt beyond belief. It’s time to see how Argentina fares as a true democracy.
At the beginning of the path, the ‘Infamous Decade’ national spirit becomes less of a hindrance as you are taking the actions necessary to avoid the rampant corruption that was rife within the Concordancia. With this in mind, you will then elect Marcelo T. De Alvear as the new leader of Argentina, placing the Radical Civic Union as the primary party in government. From here on out, you will be able to enact further social change to the country, building it up as a safe and comfortable home for all who live in Argentina.
With the country stable, it is time for the democratic player to turn their attention towards expanding their military by either reinforcing their connection with the United States or with Great Britain. Alternatively, there is a third branch in which Argentina focuses internally, and instead looks to becoming the new bastion of democracy in the Americas.
It is time for democratic Argentina to get itself involved in foreign policy. This branch is shared with the Historical tree, but really comes alive with the context of playing Democratic. Aligning yourself with the Monroe Doctrine will grant a national spirit to help set yourself up militarily, and allow you to develop your alliance with Britain and America. Bolstering your connection with the U.S.A will allow you to start engaging in counterintelligence, eventually ending the infamous Operation Bolivar in South America. This path then ends with the opportunity to work towards removing communism from the continent. Alternatively, send an envoy to London and have the potential to secure the Falkland and South Georgia islands from them, setting them up as strong naval fortresses to aid in the war. As time goes on, you will eventually gain the chance to have wargoals on any fascist nations in South America.
Industrial Branch
Let’s take a break from politics for a second and have a look at Argentina’s industrial branch, which is accessible for all ideologies.
Starting out by developing the Banco Central de la República Argentina, the path opens up to multiple branches that will on large provide multiple bonuses to restore the economic prowess Argentina had prior to the Great Depression.
One of the first things the Argentinian player can do is reach out to various major nations and take out loans from them. This is done through a decision system that will provide numerous bonuses at the expense of daily political power. Of course, if you then wish to repay, you will be able to swap those bonuses to regain the daily PP that you have lost.
This branch deals primarily with the development of your industry and research. Many of the focuses here will provide you with factories both civilian and military, as well as a number of research boosts to various categories. You will also have the option to capitalize on Argentina’s beef industry, and make changes to the ‘Roca-Runciman Treaty’ national treaty you have at game start. Either revisit it and redevelop it as the ‘Eden-Malbrán Treaty’ or revise it entirely, cutting Britain out of the equation and re-signing the treaty with any of your new allies.
This side of the tree is instead focused on developing Argentina’s infrastructure and raw resources. The latter in particular will create more steel and aluminum for extraction in certain regions of the country, eventually culminating in unlocking the Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales as an industrial concern, granting boosts to Industrial and Resource research speed.
On the right, the focus is on building up the Argentine Metropole. Encourage immigration from Wales, Germany and Italy and develop the civilian economy, overall promoting a move from the more traditional rural lifestyle of old towards the larger cities in Argentina.
Fascist Branch
As we move back to the political branches, we will be taking a look at Argentina’s fascist tree. This explores the ‘what-if’ scenario in which Roberto Ortiz worked with the Argentine nationalists instead of focusing on trying to improve the Concordancia.
In the 1910s - 1930s, a group known as the Ligas Patrióticas were operating in Argentina as a nationalistic paramilitary group. Eventually, they would be reformed into the Argentine Civic Legion and then the Unión Nacional Fascista. This tied with certain members of the Argentina government supporting the Axis in Europe, meant that there was plenty to draw on for an alternative history in which Argentina pursued fascism.
The idea of this path is for the player to bolster nationalist spirit throughout the country. including sending aid to Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Doing so will allow you to demand Equatorial Guinea from Spain, giving Argentina a foothold in the African front. The player can also re-establish the Ligas Patrióticas which will provide a number of divisions to use in the upcoming wars that you will no doubt be waging. Speaking of which, why not poke at Uruguay a little bit? If you can do so without escalating a conflict with Brazil, it would provide a nice foothold for your new regime to take on the rest of the continent.
Now the time has come to choose whether you will be a nationalistic Argentina or one that models itself after the German Reich. These branching paths will allow you to take fascist Argentina in two different directions. Taking ‘Guardia Nacional’ will take you down a more hyper-militaristic path and set you up in a good position to join the Axis and act as an extension of Germany on the South American continent. Alternatively, if you take ‘Unión Nacional Fascista’ then you will focus on bolstering the nationalistic spirit of Argentina, resulting in a pretty cool national spirit ‘Spirit of the Conquistadors’ which grants war support, division attack and makes it faster to justify war on your neighbors.
Eventually, regardless of what flavor of fascism you install in Argentina, the time will come where you must decide to join the Axis and the war in Europe, or create your own faction, and begin the conquest of South America.
At long last, it is time to dominate the south. This foreign policy branch will take you through a number of steps where you will have the option to either bully your neighbors into submitting to you, or straight up marching on their borders in an all out war. Eventually, it will be time to turn to Argentina’s oldest rival to the north: Brazil. By taking out the largest nation on the continent, the Argentinian player will be in a good position to secure the rest of South America, eventually creating the South American Confederation and opening up the opportunity to integrate conquered territories into your nation.
Of course, it wouldn’t be an Argentinian focus tree without the opportunity to set off the Falkland War early now would it? Be careful though. Putting your sights on the United Kingdom will mean that you might fall into the Allies’ ire if you aren’t already.
Communist Branch
But what if you want a more radical change to Argentina’s government? Well, I have prepared a Communist branch just for that reason. Instead of a fraudulent or a clean election, it’s time for a call to reform as we dive into the Communist tree.
As with any communist movement, the first port of call is to begin garnering revolutionary support. This is started by inviting Rodolfo Ghioldi back to Argentina. Ghioldi was a political leader who supported the Argentine Communist Party. After a threat against his life, Ghioldi was exiled to Brazil, where he participated in a failed communist insurrection against Getúlio Vargas. However, in this timeline, you will bring him back to Argentina to lead your revolution.
Eventually, after legitimizing the Argentina Communist Party and reaching out to the Soviets for support and rallying the workers, you will be able to launch a revolution against the government of Argentina. If you are able to survive the civil war, then you will play as Argentina Populares!
After the revolution, you will then have a choice in the kind of communism you want to build in Argentina.
Firstly, on the left, you can align yourself with the Soviets. This will keep Rodolfo Ghioldi in power and will make Argentina join the Comintern. From here on out, Argentina will gain access to Soviet companies (or MIOs if you have Arms Against Tyranny!) and focus on establishing a strong intelligence program in the name of state security. This branch culminates in Ghioldi centralizing power and becoming a true communist dictator!
On the right, however, you can put Fanny Edelman in power, creating a more independent socialist power in South America. Edelman’s path looks to supporting the common worker and providing rights for women, as well as sending socialist volunteers across seas to aid in revolutions across the world. Eventually, it will be time to open up the Buenos Aires Conference, where you will decide whether to keep Fanny in power, or instead allow Anarcho-Syndicalist Antonio Soto a chance to rule (More on this guy later!)
The middle branch is accessible to both paths, and follows the standard economic upgrades that communist Argentina can install. Eventually, you will have to choose between enacting state atheism, or establishing Liberation Theology much earlier than it did historically. Liberation Theology, for those unaware, was a form of Catholicism created in South America that aligned itself ideologically with socialist theory.
The Foreign Policy branch of the Communist tree is fairly short and sweet. You will be able to choose between gaining war goals on all non-communist states in South America, or, if you’re feeling peaceful, invite any communist country on the continent to join your faction! Eventually, you will have the choice to integrate conquered territories into your nation or enact Operation Ocaso Escarlata, bringing forth a Scarlet Sunset to anyone who opposes you.
But wait… what’s this? Antonio Soto got into power at the Buenos Aires Conference? Soto was an Anarcho-Syndicalist who was one of the principal leaders during the well-known rural strikes in the Patagonia region of Argentina during 1921. He returns to the Communist branch as a potential leader!
When selected as the new leader during the Buenos Aires Conference, instead of going down the usual foreign policy path, you instead unlock an Anarcho-Syndicalist branch where you will improve Patagonia, making up for the strikes all those years go, Establish your Free Association and finally take the fight to liberate any occupied or colonized territories in South America!
Military Branch
Those with a keen eye would have spotted that we have a shared military branch that is accessed by all the nations that we are expanding upon in Trial of Allegiance. This is due to the fact that many of them start with similar military capabilities and issues at the start of the game. To save me repeating myself, feel free to check out our first developer diary made by AveeBee on Brazil for more information on the Military Branch.
Don’t fret however! The tree may be shared, but there are a number of focuses available that are flavored to each country. And whilst it may be large, it will allow you to create a truly bespoke military without causing any major balancing issues. Sure, it’s not intended that you take every focus here, but nothing is stopping you from turning Argentina into a superpower. It just takes time, you see!
