WesWorld

January 11th, 1941, Rio de Janerio

Hernando Orties pushed his janitorial cart down the halls that housed the majority of the Brazilian government's offices. It was a Saturday, so the vast majority of the workers were away, ether at home or getting away from the city for the weekend with family. The ones that were there included the Prime Minister, Artur de Salazar, and many other top officials. Unknown to Hernando, the Prince Regent was also present at the high level meting that was taking place on the floor above.

Hernando hated both men with a passion. After the South American war, he had joined up with the communist revolution that had swept the country. Its failing had cost Hernando his wife at the hands of government police, an act he had been looking to avenge for four years. He had finally been able to get a position that would allow him to complete his work.

Unlocking the door to the 3rd floor's janitorial closet, Hernando took a quick glance around to make sure that none of the security officers were paying attention to him. Once safely inside, he locked the door and removed the top from the waste bin on the cart to relieve a 105mm shell wired into a detonator. One of his communist comrades had arranged for it to be intercepted in transit to a storage facility. Hernando heard the footsteps above him as well as the muted voices of the meeting as he completed his preparations with wiring the 105mm shell to the detonator. Finally completing the final wiring, Hernando put his finger over the trigger and whispered "Now let my wife be avenged." His eyes were overwhelmed by a blast of light fractions of a second before they were vaporized by the explosion of the 105mm shell.

Newspaper headlines:

Rio de Janerio Times: Prime Minister Assasanated! Marxists Blamed! National Manhunt for Bomber!

San Paulo Registrar: Prince Regent Severally Injured in Fatal Parliament Bombing!


Official release from the Brazilian Government:

Yesterday, a individual or group launched an attack on the Parliamentary Assembly building in Rio de Janerio. During this attack, the Prime Minister and several members of his cabinet who were in attendance at a high level meeting were killed. The Prince Regent was also present at this meeting, but survived the explosion. Rio de Janerio Police, the Army, and Governmental Security are cooperating in an investigation into the attack. Anyone with any information on the attacker or attackers is asked to contact Governmental Security.


Excerpt from an internally distributed letter to select members of the Brazilian Government:

In addition to the information that has been publicly released, we know several other key facts. First, this was a one-man attack. Second, this man was a confirmed Communist. As of the time of this writing, suspected affiliation of this man are being questioned for any knowledge of the motivation for the attack.

January 13th: Notification of family of all victims is completed. Newspapers release stories with wild speculation about the bomber's identity and motivation. Brazilian Army completes security reinforcement on all government and military facilities. Notification of ABC partners completed.

January 14th: Identity of bomber obtained by Rio de Janerio police. Emergency session of Parliament in an undisclosed location begins. Army concludes that explosion was caused by a 105mm artillery shell.

January 15th: Newspapers obtain identity of bomber. Rio Police discover information pertinent to motivation for attacks. Army concludes that shell was set off by a faulty timer and killed the bomber prematurely, and a suicide bombing was not the intent.

January 16th: Parliament enacts a security bill designed to improve the security of government and military facilities as well as the general public. Vigilante mobs announce plans to attack suspected communists, but are put down by police forces before any fatalities occur.

January 17th: Period of national mourning declared. Emergency session of Parliament ends.

January 18th: Official statement issued by the Brazilian government confirming the identity of the bomber and other facts discovered and conferment by Rio Police and the Army.

January 19th: First civilians allowed back into the Parliament building

More importantly, he's now a dead Communist - which means he's a Good Communist. Hopefully more Brazilian Communists become Good Communists soon.



President Vizcarra offers Chile's condolences to Brazil, and condemns the incident as a "shocking, blatant, malicious and criminal attack." He will attend the funeral of the Prime Minister, and gives his best wishes to the Prince Regent.

The French ditto all of the above - except for the French Communist Party, which declares that they think it's a frame up job of their Comrades in Brazil.

"The German people mourn the loss of a great statesman," said Chancellor Adenauer upon receipt of the news. "To the people of Brazil we offer our deepest condolences."

****

Prime Minister Karasec of Yugoslavia expressed shock upon receipt of the news and expressed great sadness for the loss, yet thankful that the loss of life was not greater.

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
More importantly, he's now a dead Communist - which means he's a Good Communist. Hopefully more Brazilian Communists become Good Communists soon.

*moderators hat on*

Is this an IC comment or should I take this as your personal point of view regarding realword politics and politicians?

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
More importantly, he's now a dead Communist - which means he's a Good Communist. Hopefully more Brazilian Communists become Good Communists soon.

*moderators hat on*

Is this an IC comment or should I take this as your personal point of view regarding realword politics and politicians?

The last sentence is an in-character comment, of course, and the first sentence is a common American saying. [1] We have a gentleman's agreement against bringing real-world personal politics and religion into this sim, remember?

If you're so concerned about it that you find it necessary to put on your moderator hat, PM me and I'll explain my real-world politics in greater detail. But I don't think it's beneficial to the sim to demand or give that explanation in public. There might be a member or two on the forum who might be offended.

[SIZE=1][1] "The only good ___ is a dead ___", fill in the blank with your choice of disliked group.[/SIZE]

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine
More importantly, he's now a dead Communist - which means he's a Good Communist. Hopefully more Brazilian Communists become Good Communists soon.

*moderators hat on*

Is this an IC comment or should I take this as your personal point of view regarding realword politics and politicians?

It's an in-character comment, of course. We have a gentleman's agreement against bringing real-world personal politics into this sim, remember?

I do, that is why I asked because your statement above is not marked as IC, as part of personal opinion of a character you use.

Quoted

If you're so concerned about it that you find it necessary to put on your moderator hat, PM me and I'll explain my real-world politics in greater detail. But I don't think it's beneficial to the sim to demand or give that explanation in public. There might be a member or two on the forum who might be offended.

I am generally concered about statements that ask for murder. I am also aware statements like these are well known from the McCarthy era and thus have a strong reference to real world politics.

Note that I have not demanded explanation of your personal politics nor am I interested to discuss it with you by PM, I merely asked how to take your statement. You answered this question by saying it was meant to be IC and you are aware of the Gentlemen's Agreement. That suffice for me.

To avoid further irritations, I propose you mark delicate statements like the above as clearly IC in future and all will be fine (whether one likes this kind of "black humor" or not).

[EDIT] While I was replying, you modified your post - which does not make it any better.

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn
To avoid further irritations, I propose you mark delicate statements like the above as clearly IC in future and all will be fine (whether one likes this kind of "black humor" or not).

Very well. May I in turn ask that if you have any concerns about a statement I make, that you speak to me first by PM about your concerns before bringing it up in public? I'd have been more than willing to address them with you privately and, if necessary, modify my statements to further clarify things, or remove them altogether.

President Juan Ramon Mugnolo of Argentina offers personal, and national, condolences to Brazil and President Artur de Salazar's family. In a public statement he condemned the assaination as a "serious attack on the political freedoms of Brazilians and a planned and calculated attempt to topple free goverment so that the mob can rule." He will attend the funeral of the Prime Minister, and gives his best wishes to the Prince Regent.


Somewhere in the Ministry of Security
"I've just heard the news. Ring Enrique and tell him to pick up those Marxists we've had our eye on at the Cordoba University and lock them up. Do it now. Before you do anything else. It's not much but its a start. I'll strip the entire marxist network in this country bare! And you can pass that on to the Minister."

There is no official statement from the SAE government yet but border guards to Brazil are quietly set on alert in case this assassination turns out to be the start of something bigger.

On the streets people think this incident is a good indicator of how insecure and unstable Brazil is.

Excerpts from A Brief History of Brazil, 1941-1950

The Aftermath of the Parimentary Bombing of January 1941

Over the remainder of January, the security measures initiated after the destruction of the Parliament building by Hernando Orties continued to remain in effect. Most of the country remained on edge, warry of another attack, but the government and military had determined by this time that the attack was most likely a single event, and not the start of a renewed Communist revolt. By the end of February, most of the population had calmed down to the point where the military and police were able to reduce their visibility, but they would remain alert out of the main public eye for much longer.

On January 31st, a special election was announced to replace the members of Parliament killed in the blast. The date for the election was set as February 20th, as the members elected would only hold office for a shot time prior to the general election planed for later in the year. As most did not want to trod on the memory of the few men killed in the explosion, the date came and went without much fanfare. Parliament resumed its normal scheduled of meeting at the end of the month.

New Beginnings of Industry

As is the case most of the time, the private sector continued to press forward during the first quarter of 1941 despite the political upheaval that occurred. Feburary saw the groundbreaking on two new industrial complexes, a Gnome-et-Rhone motorcycle plant and a large steel mill. This period also saw continued interest in beging automobile production.

March 2nd: The Prince Regent is discharged from the hospital where he had been recovering from his injuries sustained in the January 11th attacks.

March 3rd: In a rousing political speech, the Prince Regent[1] praises the late President Artur de Salazar and his work in service to Brazil. In the speech, new elections are promised for September to bring in a new government. While expected, the details provided some information on what exactly the Prince's place in the new government would be.

March 9th: The man who supplied Hernando Orties with the 105mm shell and detonator was captured in the countryside around Rio de Janiro. Unfortunately for the members of the government who wanted to put the man on public trial, he was shot by a Brazilian Army soldier "during an attempt to escape".

March 16th: The Brazilian Navy unvales the new Bloch Milan carrier-based fighter to the public for the first time. The fighter, which will carry the designation Bl-01 Tufão (Typhoon) in Brazilian service, is expected to equip all of the Marinha Imperial's aircraft carrier fighter wings and potentially some shore based squadrons. The fighter has been in land based squadron service since February [2] and at this time boasts some of the highest preformence of any aircraft in the Brazilian Military.

March 31th: The destroyer Dourado takes on the final supplies and crew members prior to commencing trials.

[1] Really need to come up with a name for this guy...
[2] Hmmmm...wonder what I will be sending to Talons this year...

"shot during attempt to escape..." Now it's starting to sounds like a cover up...

interesting, had not thought of it that way. I figured that some grunt got left to guard him who had some sort of connection to someone killed in the attack and desided to take a bit of revenge.

I'm going to have to agree with Fox. Anytime someone gets shot "during an attempt to escape" it sounds fishy.

That it does, and I already know what I could do with it...GAH! Stop tempting me to stage a Monarchist Coup!

Sorry for the lack of updates here, school has been doing its best to keep me down. May flesh out some of these events as time goes on.

April 13th: Today EMBER announced that the joint fighter project that they have been developing with Republican Aviation has finally reached production in there factory in Rio de Janero. Known as the P-47C Thunderbolt in USAAC service, the new fighter will be known as the EMB-41 Tornado in service with the Brazilian Air Force. The first 80 of the fighters were ordered from Republic and further examples will be acquired directly from EMBER. These first 80 fighters will directly replace some of the old fighter-bombers in service, with newer examples working to supplement the EMB-39 in service.

April 24th: The crew for the new Battlecruiser Sao Paulo began assembling to depart of German where the battlecruiser is nearing completion. Part of a class of four, with two ships going to Argentina and two to Brazil, the Sao Paulo and her sister the Rio de Janero represent some the fastest capital ships in the wold. Equipped with nine 350mm guns and a assortment of 120mm and other light weapons, she and her sister will be the two most powerful warships in the Brazilian Navy. Once these two ships have finished trials, the battleship Imperial will most likely be sent into the yards at Rio de Janero for a reconstruction.

May 7th: The Current King of Brazil passes away of natural causes. The Prince Regent announces a national period of morning.

May 18th: The Price Regent is crowned King of Brazil.

May 26th: The King announces that the elections originaly planed for September will be moved up to August. He also holds the first of a group of high level meetings with the current leaders of the elected assembly with purpose unknown.

June 14th: The King, along with the interim Prime Minister, announce that as a result of the recent international situation, Brazil will begin looking into whether joining into one of the current defensive alliances would be possible. The following statement was issued along with the announcement. “While we value the current arrangement between ourselves, Argentina and Chile, the government has reached the desition at this point that it would be in the best interests of Brazil to seek out a supplemental arrangement for mutual defense. We will be presuing the available options and will wait until after the elections have taken place to put a final desition to vote in parliament.”

The Kingdom of Greece offers condolences for the people of Brazil on the passing of their King and offers hope and best wishes for the Prince Regent upon his elevation to King of Brazil.

The Chilean president will attend Emperor Whatsisface's funeral.

The French ambassador will do the same.