WesWorld

The Government and the people of Chosen are outraged and nauseated by the fact that Italy is misemploying women for military service. This is higly disreputable even for Italian standards.
In 1927 scientific studies in Chosen proved that it is Gods will and the irrevocable destiny of every female, to cook, to give birth and to be the devoted servant of her husband -- at home.
Every differing occupation is against the womens nature and must be condemned.

Sincerely yours

Baik Yong-Chui

President of the Bureau for urban sewage management, public libraries and women (BUSMPLW)

France also laughs at Chosen's foolishness.

OOC: ROFLMFAO!

Both Germany and Yugoslavia are puzzled as to the rationale behind the Italian decision, but for different reasons forego public comment.

The Philippines is unconcerned, but hopes that the idea does not catch on; there are enough screaming Chinese to worry about as it is.

OOC: Well, this has gone a *ahem* different direction then I intended.

IC: The Italian Department of Circular Filing would like to thank Chosen for its submission. We would expect nothing less then such for a nation that decides to pick fights way out of its weight class. Perhaps further submissions will be forthcoming, as Baik Yong-Chui is a sad, lonely little man who must have many troubles with women. We look forward to starting a special file for Chosen.

Italy hands France a basket of alcoholic beverages, as France is obviously having a very good time and should enjoy itself.

Meanwhile, the Dominion of Canada continues to enroll distractingly gorgeous women into it's armed forces in staggering numbers.

Wouldnt that be counterproductive as the Canadian soldiers will be distracted themselves?

Not if all of them are distractingly gorgeous women.

The first line of defence the US has against the Canadian armed forces is.......

Shopping Malls. Its a reason why its the longest unfortified border in the world after all.

Any invading force would not be met by gunfire but rather big signs proclaiming "sale at Macy's."

There is a difference between women in the armed forces and women combatants. In Britain I have the historical WAAF, WREN and ATS but they are much smaller and purely non-combatant. Italy has not officially said women will be performing combatant roles.

I share Brock's scepticism. Not that gender equality etc. is a bad thing, but its just seems too much like 21st century morals creeping in. This is why I asked about the vote, it would seem odd to give women equal status if they can't vote (I'm willing to accept the OTL vote date given the lack of contrary info from RA's days). If Italy has such serious manpower concerns that it cannot fill its armed forces by conscription then its time to cut the armed forces! Although we generally leave religion out of WW it would also probably raise objections from the Catholic church too. A whole heap of factors that need to be taken into account.

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The first line of defence the US has against the Canadian armed forces is.......

Shopping Malls. Its a reason why its the longest unfortified border in the world after all.

I guess you should know that, with one of the biggest shopping malls in the world in your Province (West Edmonton Mall).

Quoted

it would also probably raise objections from the Catholic church too.

Good thing that Catholicism did not take over Japan. :-)



Manpower concerns does not have to be an issue here. If you know a woman is just as good at that particular job as a man, you're going to select the woman for the simple fact that she will be paid less (after all, she is a woman and the world is not that equal yet in the first half of the 20th century) and you'll be saving money. The more skilled women you can find, the more money you'll be saving and can spend on other things. Considering the unequality of that era, I would not be all too surprised if someone told me that a woman vollunteer would get around the same pay as a male conscript or even less.

Belated response, out-of-town family members visiting creates some measure of chaos.

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There is a difference between women in the armed forces and women combatants. In Britain I have the historical WAAF, WREN and ATS but they are much smaller and purely non-combatant. Italy has not officially said women will be performing combatant roles.

While it is not officially stated that women will be in combat rolls, they will be in very very limited numbers. Im thinking maybe six to twelve pilots, not much if any more. The majority would be in non-combat rolls, and some services would still be men only in all sections (Submarines and Paratroopers jump to mind). This is mostly for storyline reasons.

Quoted

his is why I asked about the vote, it would seem odd to give women equal status if they can't vote (I'm willing to accept the OTL vote date given the lack of contrary info from RA's days).

As far as the vote goes, I can see limited adoption on a province-by-province basis starting in 1925 as historical with it being signed into state law in 1934 when the transition to a republic occurred.

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If Italy has such serious manpower concerns that it cannot fill its armed forces by conscription then its time to cut the armed forces!

Its not about numbers of combat troops, its about jobs and money. If women can handle things like typing, the men are free to ether be in more combat oriented rolls, duties more applicable to there personal skillset, or applying there skills in the private sector. This also allows for some pruning of deadweight from administrative parts of the military, saving some money. The fact that the Italian Military can get away with paying women less is icing on the proverbial cake.

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Although we generally leave religion out of WW it would also probably raise objections from the Catholic church too.

The Italian government respects the good that the church does in the world, but would also point out that nowhere does it require women to serve in the same manor that it requires men to serve. All the government is doing is making it legal for those who wish to serve there country to do so.

For the mood
Friday, March 17th Guidonia outside of Rome

Tho the service personel at the airfield had grown use to seeing propellors aircraft over the last few years, the swarm of engineers over the latest arrival gave most of them the feeling that something was different about this plane. Phrases like "It worked on the test stand", "This will be historic" and "The poor bastard is going to die in a fireball" were heard. Yes, something big indeed was happening. As the chase aircraft, old CR.35 fighters, were taxied into position, the new test plane was towed onto the runway. All eyes watched as the engine inside the aircraft was kicked to life. The sound was unlike any piston engine had ever made. Chase aircraft in company, the test plane speed down the runway and eventually wobbled its way into the sky. The crowd of engineers erupted into celebration, the service personel watched indifferently. A short time later, the aircraft returned to the ground where on de-planeing the pilot was mobed. One engineer said to another "So that was a turbojet..."

Monday March 20th, Rome

Duca d'Aosta[1] looked across the desk at Mario Petruzzo. "I wonder where is document will lead us?" he asked, pen twitching in his hand.

"You agreed with our reasons for doing so" Mario responded. "The Bharati have made many social strides, and the EAS has grown stronger. SATSUMA has shown its weakness in recent years. With the Dutch withdrawal, we do not have the commitments to defense that we did. We both read the same reports on how likely some Iberian possessions are likely to hold against concentrated onslaught."

d'Aosta sighed "Indeed I did, indeed I did. Sometimes you have to second guess yourself, just to make sure your decision is right." Pen scratched on paper, the document was handed to a currier, and two glasses of liquor were poured. "To a brave new chapter"

"To a brave new chapter." Mario echoed. There glasses clinked.

The currier looked down at the document in hand. d'Aosta has not folded it right, and the words Of the Italian and EAS intent to withdraw from the AEGIS Treaty stared back at him.

[1] Leader of the Italian Senate.

Interesting.

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Originally posted by TheCanadian
Interesting.

What he said!

Interesting, but it confirms my prediction I made to Hoo in a PM a fortnight ago. That Italy would join the Grand Alliance in the near-term.

That would also make any Italian-Yugoslav war impossible and prevent any change of the status-quo there. Britain is very happy these days, both the major opposing alliances have collapsed and its Far Eastern potential enemies are slugging it out against each other and for a moment it looked as though Italy would be involved in a war with Yugoslavia.

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Originally posted by Hood
Interesting, but it confirms my prediction I made to Hoo in a PM a fortnight ago. That Italy would join the Grand Alliance in the near-term.

Mmm. Unlikely. While Italy's departure from AEGIS might allow for some warming of cold relations (depending on the way snip takes things, of course), there is not the level of cooperation necessary to link Italy with the GA. What cooperation there will be is going to come via PETA.

There would have to be some serious warming of relations between Atlantis and Italy for that to happen. If I didn't know better I'd assume the speculation that Italy would join the GA sounds abit sarcastic...

I'm not being sarcastic, that's the logical assessment I made. Italy isn't likely to join the Warsaw Pact given tensions with Yugoslavia and perhaps Greece. Likewise joining NATO would be problematic. GA is the only realistic European alternative left. Italy is perhaps unlikely to remain the only European power not in an alliance bloc of some sort, just because the WW geopolitical dynamics don't seem to favour that option, but I think it could happen. (Also we need to see what Kirk does, perhaps both nations will remain independent of any power bloc?)

There seems to have been warm Anglo-Iberian and Italian relations in the early days which seem to have been abruptly severed by RLBH around 1934 for reasons I'm not too sure about. Italy has a stake in the Suez for example too. So, I'm not sure if Anglo-French relations with Italy should be as chilly as they have been, despite the Iberian alliance with its implications for the creation of NATO. I think Italy could prosper quite nicely without being in a bloc, of course Italy might be freer now to act more boldly. Snip has certainly forced everyone to reconsider their strategies and policies.

Keeping all on there toes...