WesWorld

Heh, and people wonder why the US and Mexico look at Iberia askance...,. 18 divisions in the Caribbean and Central America? Another 6 divisions in Peru?

Just waiting for South American war part deux....
Why are the Iberians in Peru?

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Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
Heh, and people wonder why the US and Mexico look at Iberia askance...,. 18 divisions in the Caribbean and Central America? Another 6 divisions in Peru?

Actually, it should be Ecuador, not Peru. I think that's a typo.

I gave a long hard look at the US and Mexican deployments when I was advising Mac on building his army; the Iberians are still outnumbered two to one easily, and their firepower is mostly defensive-oriented. The fifteen Mexican divisions are 50% larger, the American divisions 100% larger, and considering the extensive population of these regions and the Mexican saber-rattling, I suggested fifteen divisions at a minimum. Since an Ibero-American war could probably see these areas cut off by American fleet units, the troops need to be in theatre before a war starts.



The Iberian Commonwealth, if constituted today, would have the sixth-largest population in the world, trailing only India, China, the US, Indonesia, and Brazil. Not to mention that Iberia is sitting on the Panama Canal, only the most strategically-valuable bit of real-estate in the Western Hemisphere.

So I actually think eighteen divisions is a bit low, all things considered.

Sixth largest? What about a modern day SAE or Atlantean confederation? Russia is also likely high on the list.

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Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
Sixth largest? What about a modern day SAE or Atlantean confederation? Russia is also likely high on the list.

That's true, I didn't really count those; I'm basically talking about the territories Iberia controls today matching up against OTL nations. I didn't calculate the SAE or Atlantis.

Russia in OTL doesn't currently have as large a population as the Soviet Union did, or the WW Russian Federation.

From what Stuart says thats not true, they left the great war slightly earlier than historical and didn't experience the pre communism revolution woes, thus they have a larger population.

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Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
From what Stuart says thats not true, they left the great war slightly earlier than historical and didn't experience the pre communism revolution woes, thus they have a larger population.

No, that's not what I meant... what I meant to say was that OTL Russia in 2009 has a population of 142,000,000 people; but in 1940, the USSR had a population of... I think it was 170,000,000. A lot of the population loss happens from WWII and the breakup of the Soviet Union, but also because Russia's reproduction rate has tanked IRL.

WW Russia, as I was attempting to say, will have a higher population than OTL Russia, for many various reasons. For instance, there'd be more Ukrainians in WW Russia than OTL USSR...

The airborne division and the marine division in the Caribbean aren't exactly defensive units, at least not as one normally thinks of defence. Counter-attack, perhaps, but not defensive.

Of course, right now the US has no real capability of landing those troops that it has in the continental US on islands in the Caribbean, other than by ship's boats a la Vera Cruz.

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Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
The airborne division and the marine division in the Caribbean aren't exactly defensive units, at least not as one normally thinks of defence. Counter-attack, perhaps, but not defensive.

No biggie, Atlantis would have a few "Corsair" divisions handy in Venezuela to keep the Iberians honest.

That's true as well. The way I'm looking at this, the Iberians hold territory they can't quickly or easily reinforce and all three of their neighbors can bring MANY more troops to bear on this theater MUCH faster. It's the Iberians who are the Davids, in this case. Their main defense is geography, not numbers of troops - because if they resorted to numbers of troops, they've already lost.

This is also an example of where the Peruvian army could be called upon to honor our treaty agreements.

Same can be said about Colombia and Chile, that cancels out Peru.

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WW Russia, as I was attempting to say, will have a higher population than OTL Russia, for many various reasons. For instance, there'd be more Ukrainians in WW Russia than OTL USSR...

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From what Stuart says thats not true, they left the great war slightly earlier than historical and didn't experience the pre communism revolution woes, thus they have a larger population.

The USSR's 1940 population was ~180 million. WW Russian Federation hit that by ~1935. The ~8 million Russians that didn't die in the Russian Civil War that didn't happen have had kids in the interval.

Oh, and due to it's mostly rural population, the RF birth rate is around 38/1000 population. Female fertility (expected births in a lifetime) is about 5, with an infant mortality rate around 50/1000 live births. While high birth rate is advantageous for now, RF government are seeking to lower both birth rate and infant mortality rate by increasing educational and other opportunities for girls and improving pre-natal health care and nutrition.

Better fewer, but better..

Chile would offer to set up an advantageous immigration program... I've already got an Irish, English, German, and Croatian minority well-integrated into Chile!

Just don't send me any criminals, please. Chile doesn't want to become Siberia.

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Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
Same can be said about Colombia and Chile, that cancels out Peru.

Brazil, depending on who attacks who would also give whatever support possible to its Chilean ally.

...and it seems Brazil is high on the list of populous country's.

Well, Brazil would still likely be the second largest nation population wise in the Americas, with I figure around 38 to 40 million people.

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Originally posted by thesmilingassassin
...and it seems Brazil is high on the list of populous country's.

I think Brazil is fifth in OTL, with something like 180 million? In WW they have a little less land, but I'd expect around 60 million.

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Chile would offer to set up an advantageous immigration program... I've already got an Irish, English, German, and Croatian minority well-integrated into Chile!

... but even with the present high birth rate, Russia's population density is low, even in European Russia. Authorities would like to see female fertility around 3 by 1970 or so, but with labor productivity tripled.

Education is the key to both. And oil exports are financing it nicely.

Iberia is a Federation rather than an Empire ruled from Madrid. It makes sense to spread forces throughout the territories. The population and riches in Iberia itself is pretty small compared to the rest overseas.