Bolivia

Flag of Bolivia

**Bolivia** Officially the **Republic of Bolivia** is a landlocked country in South America. While Bolivia is officially a Unitary Presidential Republic like most of Latin America, it is currently underneath the control of a military dictatorship witch is National Populist. Bolivia fought against Paraguay in the Chaco War witch is sometimes merged with the Patagonian War. Bolivia was one of the last Latin American countries to form being granted independence in 1825. Bolivia did not participate in the Second Weltkrieg as like the Balkans the South American continent was far away from the conflict, however this was not to say things did not radically change in South America. Bolivia due to being "allies" with Argentina aligns with the Reichspakt however the two occasionally but heads over the fate of Paraguay.

## History

Bolivia in 1936 was in the aftermath of a military coup, common in the region given the economic stagnation that had occurred. But almost immediately into the year began the Black Monday Crisis witch shook South America but not as hard as some other regions of the globe. However instability did run the day but the dictator was able to keep control over the nation. He would desperately try and to get the military to allow funds to head towards the recovery of the nation, but the military was greedy and wanted even more power over the state. Then the Nationalist wing of the government would give the army a deal. If they put the Nationalists in power the Nationalists would find a use for the Army and would also make the nation stable but still get the military their money. The military accepted and in the middle of April 1937 Bolivia would experience a coup by General Gualberto Villarroel. The Nationalists would seize complete control over the state and they would immediately begin using copious amounts of propaganda to keep the people loyal. But against protests brutal repression could be expected as Bolivia was soon to become a police state with a collapsing economy and a disloyal populace. It was clear that should the government not find something soon to rally the people Bolivia was headed towards a Syndicalist revolution or potentially a Civil War. However luckily for them Argentina had been attacked by Paraguay as the Patagonian war began. Bolivia would immediately declare war on Paraguay to take back the Chaco region. This would succeed in rallying the people and the resulting mobilization as able to kickstart the economy as well as trade with Argentina and the Reichspakt. Bolivia would quickly encircle Paraguay but would have some difficulties forcing the Paraguayans back into their nation. However with Argentine support after the fall of Chile the Argentines were able to quickly overran the small state. Bolivia was given back its territory and would also be granted resource rights over the western portion of the nation while the Argentines were granted rights over the Eastern bit. They also agreed to jointly administer Paraguay as a puppet state between the two. However tensions immediately arose as Argentina looked as if it wished to annex portions of the country. However Bolivia wished to keep a mostly intact Paraguay as a buffer between Argentina and Brazil. However in the meantime the new resource rights and the alliances with Peru and Argentina have given Bolivia access to the wider global market allowing its economy to recover using great use of the Lithium trade and other resources common in the Andes Mountain range. This has allowed Bolivia to surpass the economic collapse of 1936, and has made the once deeply unpopular nationalist government very popular in the eyes of the people. However the rise of tensions on the South American continent has Bolivia concerned as the weakest member of the so called "Andean Pact". And as trade once again begins to slow down it may only be another few years before Bolivia and other unstable Latin American nations become flashpoints for the wider Kalterkrieg, or even a continent spanning war from Peru all the way to Uruguay. And thus the future of Bolivia and South America as a whole hangs in the balance.

## Military

Bolivia's military is about the size you would expect, however it is a bit overfunded with most of the extra funds not going towards new equipment but into generals pockets. The Army is the strongest faction, however it is fairly ineffective given its poor performance during the Chaco War. It is also deeply divided among partisan politics and could be the future spark for more issues. Bolivia is landlocked and thus does not have a navy. Bolivia has a small air force it bought from Argentina and it is working on making its own factories for the designs.