German Red Prince

Page 71

South America, Argentina.

Argentina, as the most industrialized country in South America, has a large number of workers and the largest proletarian group in South America.

The first anarchist groups emerged in Argentina as early as 1870, but they did not play a significant role until the 1880s and 1890s.

During this period, prominent socialists such as Italians Erico Malatesta and Pietro Gori, or Spaniard Antoni Pelise, began to operate in Buenos Aires.

However, the movement is divided into anarcho-communists, anarcho-syndicalists, and classical anarchists, so tensions and competition are quite common.

In 1901, Argentina's first national labor federation, the Argentine Workers' Federation, was established. In 1902, the first general strike in Argentine history occurred.

The oligarchic government suppressed the strikes from the outset, and many anarchists fled to Uruguay. But over time, the movement grew stronger.

Later that year, most of the moderate socialists left the Argentine Workers' Union and formed the General Confederation of Labor, which put the union under the control of anarchists who renamed the organization the Argentine Regional Workers' Union.

During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of European immigrants arrived in Argentina, most of whom had left-wing backgrounds.

Because Argentina was under construction at the time, a large number of people flocked to the country, attracted by the high wages and better working conditions than in their home countries.

However, this leads to a paradox: 50 to 70 percent of the working class of men are deprived of their citizenship because they are not native Argentinians.

Therefore, Argentina's legal and political framework was not an effective constraint for them, and anarchism began to develop rapidly.

In 1904, 90 of Buenos Aires' 7 residents took to the streets demanding better conditions for immigrants and workers.

The government has again resorted to violence against protesters. The strikes have become increasingly violent over the years, and the anarchist movement has become radicalized. Bombing and gun battles in the streets have become commonplace.

Ultimately, martial law was declared, the offices of the anarchist newspaper were raided, its machinery was destroyed, and the workers' center was also destroyed.

Thousands were arrested, and non-Argentine activists were generally deported.

The "Social Defense Law" allows the government to refuse entry to any foreigner who has committed a crime punishable under Argentine law, bans anarchists from entering the country, prohibits groups that spread anarchist propaganda, and authorizes local authorities to ban any public assembly that may express subversive ideas.

However, these violent demonstrations also led to another split within the left-wing groups of the 20th century.

During this period, Argentine workers' groups with syndicalist tendencies became increasingly influential because they differed greatly from the federations and were willing to negotiate with superiors and employers rather than create chaos on the streets.

Many members of the Federation decided to join the Syndicalists, leaving only a small minority influenced by the Bolsheviks.

However, the strike workers' movement in the streets of Buenos Aires weakened as the global war began in 1914, with reduced immigration from Europe and a blow to the domestic workforce during this period.

When Britain began to realize that the Allied Powers might lose the war, it ordered its companies in Argentina to use as much as possible to support the war effort, squeezing workers and resources to maximize profits.

After the railway workers' strike broke out in October 1917, anarchists called for a general strike, but this did not receive the support of new unions.

The strike by meatpacking workers in Berizzo and Avellaneda, led by anarchists, was defeated, but the conflict subsequently escalated, with violent clashes erupting between police and workers.

Army and police forces subsequently attacked 200,000 workers in the funeral procession, killing at least 40 people and injuring thousands.

In response, tens of thousands of protesters went on strike again, while police, the military, and right-wing groups carried out massacres in working-class communities.

At this time, the far-right, led by Manuel Carles, carried out a large-scale massacre of workers in Buenos Aires.

These events, later known as the "Argentine Bloodbath," resulted in nearly 10,000 casualties.

Furthermore, the "Argentine Blood" movement further weakened anarchism and left-wing forces in Buenos Aires, with large numbers of workers being arrested or killed.

But just a year later, the proletarian resistance movement reached another climax, but this time it did not begin in the capital or the industrialized north, but in a remote region that most people never thought would play a role in Argentine political history: Patagonia.

Patagonia is a rural region with underdeveloped industry. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the population of Argentine Patagonia flourished as the wool industry expanded into areas that previously lacked agriculture.

The region's cool grasslands are perfect for grazing sheep, and farmers from Europe or northern Argentina flocked south to this undeveloped land.

Workers and immigrants brought socialist ideas, exposing the locals to these advanced ideologies, and the workers' movement quickly took root in southern Argentina.

Months after the war ended, strikes broke out in southern Patagonia, wool prices plummeted, and an economic crisis ensued in the provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz.

Later that year, Patagonia, under the leadership of syndicalists, announced a general strike, and government troops began their southward advance in early 1921.

As unrest spread, several southern provinces declared a state of emergency.

However, to avoid further escalation of the conflict, the government reached an agreement with the strikers in May that their demands regarding working conditions and wages could be met if they laid down their weapons; these issues could be resolved through negotiation.

During this period, two people stood out: Antonio Soto and Facon Grande Soto, immigrants from Spain who had been active in syndicalist and Bolshevik circles since arriving in South America in the early 1910s.

Facon Grande's real name was José Fonte. He was a native Patagonian with extensive experience and life in Patagonia. Although Soto incited the masses during the strike, Fonte played a significant role in coordinating the action in the area between the port of Dessado and Colonia Las Heras on the Patagonian railway line.

The strikers agreed to negotiate with the government, but the strike broke out again just months later when ranchers broke their promises of fairer working conditions.

At the same time, Argentina’s long-time rival Chile began supporting a strike movement in Patagonia, attempting to weaken Argentina’s position and seize territory for itself in the future.

With Chile's support, the strikers' actions escalated the Patagonian rebellion into a full-blown left-wing uprising.

Such an uprising was intolerable, and President Ipolito Irigoyen decided to send cavalry south again, this time to suppress the uprising without mercy.

Initially, the strikers believed the army would negotiate with them again, as the approaching cavalry was led by Colonel Hector Benigno Varela.

He is the same person who reached an agreement with the strikers in May.

However, they were eventually informed by those in the know that this would be a full-blown crackdown, which only strengthened the strikers' fighting spirit.

South of Lake Argentino, near the Chilean border, Soto's forces encountered Varela's forces.

Although the army possessed superior weaponry and training, the insurgents had an overwhelming numerical advantage, and ultimately the revolutionaries achieved a decisive victory.

This already proved that this was not a simple action; the strike had escalated into a full-blown rebellion, and the Patagonian Workers' Front was soon declared established.

The strikers contacted the unions in Buenos Aires by telegram, and the general strike began.

Anarchists in the capital also contacted the French Commune, requesting weapons supplies for their comrades in Patagonia.

France shipped surplus weapons produced during the war to South America, and government forces, having gained no advantage, eventually chose to withdraw from the south.

The revolution succeeded, and the revolutionaries severed ties with the north. After the massacre in the capital, a large number of leftists fled to the south, and the Patagonian Workers' Front also blew up all the bridges connecting to the north, leaving only one to receive the arriving revolutionary masses.

After the victory of the French Revolution, Antonio Soto was elected president based on his prestige. However, he was not blinded by joy, because the nascent regime was still in a state of crisis.

President Antonio Soto was hunched over his desk, reviewing documents. The Patagonian Workers' Front had been established for six years and was the only safe haven for leftists in South America. They were the first left-wing group in the entire America to rise up in resistance.

Every country has its own national conditions, and every continent has its own national conditions. For example, the biggest enemy of North America is the capitalists who control the state apparatus, the biggest enemy of Asia is the feudal and imperialist forces, and the biggest enemy of South America is the reactionary dictators.

South America is now almost entirely dominated by warlords, large landowners, and archbishops, who are even more shameless in their exploitation.

The shepherd boy was abandoned with a sheep and tied to a post to be whipped to death. The men were either forced into military service or exploited in factories until they were squeezed dry of their last remaining value. Not to mention the women, the sky over South America was always shrouded in dark clouds.

Looking at the documents on the table, Soto felt a headache coming on. He had to admit that although they had won the brutal struggle six years ago and established a government belonging to the people, maintaining this government was still too difficult.

The backwardness in industry and the gap in agriculture have led many people to believe that their current life is not as good as it was when they lived in Argentina.

That's true. Everything comes at a price. People here can enjoy medical and living subsidies, as well as the right to education. At first, they might be grateful, but over time they take it for granted. Every night when they look up at the lights in the north, some people start to envy the lives of the people there.

But you must understand that the lights in the North are not lit for them. Even if they go back, they will never be able to enjoy that prosperity again. The prosperity of the North is built on mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Patagonia could also prosper and develop into a city comparable to Buenos Aires, but Argentina's powerful navy has imposed a blockade on them, making development extremely difficult.

They are red demons, bandits, and unreasonable robbers, but are those "civilized people" truly civilized? Beneath their top hats and exquisite suits lies a filthy and rotten lump of flesh.

Soto sighed as he looked at the various documents in his hands. He glanced at his watch; he had a meeting coming up soon and needed to attend. He left his seat and looked out the window at the oxcarts, horse-drawn carriages, and the dirty, narrow streets. When would they ever change?

Almost everyone had arrived in the conference room. This meeting was quite important, as several high-ranking government officials were present: Supreme President Antonio Soto, Prime Minister Emilio López Arango, Foreign Minister José Fernando Penerón, Economy Minister Diego Abad de Santilla, and Interior Minister Gregorio Berman.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was rather somber, because everyone knew that development in recent years had indeed been poor, but they had to persevere, and the Americas had to be liberated, completely liberated.

"Santilan, you go first," Soto said slowly. After all, the economy is the most important thing right now. If the economy doesn't perform well, the country could collapse in an instant.

“Our economy has been doing quite well lately,” Santilla adjusted his glasses. “It’s still up compared to last year, and there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Hearing this, Soto roughly understood the situation: the economy was still not doing well, Argentina's blockade was too severe, and Patagonia had little navy and was powerless to deal with such a blockade.

"In terms of diplomacy, the French Commune recently provided us with another batch of supplies and weapons, which allows us to sustain ourselves on the front lines for a while. We are also making efforts to gain international recognition as soon as possible."

Listening to Penelong's words, Soto nodded. At least the diplomatic situation was relatively good. They hadn't been isolated yet, and there were still major powers willing to help them. At least there was still hope, and he wouldn't give up as long as there was even a glimmer of hope.

During the several-hour meeting, they thoroughly summarized and discussed the previous situation. Although this was not an industrial area, it still had a large population, and they could still train a powerful army.

Regarding international relations, Soto firmly believes that Argentina and they are bound to have a war. Manuel Carles' far-right forces are gaining increasing influence in Argentina, and he himself has been awarded a medal for suppressing the workers' movement. If he is elected president soon, a conflict between the two sides is inevitable.

Now, due to the blockade of the strait and the fact that the French Commune is too far away, they can only rely on Chile and be protected by Chile.

Although Chile has just experienced a socialist coup and the new Chilean government is slightly more friendly towards them, they still intend to annex Patagonia in the end, and they now claim Patagonia as their "internal province".

There are also major problems within the party. Soto was already wavering between syndicalism and Bolshevism, and with the influx of a large number of anarchists, he can now unite the parties based on his prestige. But what about later? If the party splits internally, it will be finished before the enemy even takes action.

Just then, a person walked in and whispered something to Soto. Soto was overjoyed and quickly got up, calling everyone to go with him to greet the guest. He had written a letter to Paris a long time ago, and this time someone had finally come.

The moment Joseph set foot on South American soil, he felt so at ease. He had finally returned to his beloved post. Joseph was not a theorist; he loved to practice and to personally experience the power of revolution.

On his way here, he read the book Thorne had brought him, "Ten Days That Shook the World," which recounted the victory of the Soviet regime. Joseph was deeply impressed by the book, finding it so well-written that he couldn't help but start imagining the time when the Soviet Union was successfully established.

However, Thorne later gave him many other books, which he called "alternate history novels," fictional novels based on certain logical deductions.

This explanation left Joseph completely bewildered. He didn't understand what it meant until Thorne gave him a simple translation: "This world is so messed up, I'll just rewrite it."

Thorne gave him several of these so-called "historical alternate history novels," including one about himself. Joseph was completely bewildered when he flipped through the "Selected Works of Stalin."

Who wrote this? How does this person know so much about themselves? Some of these articles were actually published by them. This author is incredibly good at creating fictional worlds.

Joseph was a little apprehensive as he read this, but the theories on it were truly valuable, and many of them resonated with his own views. He couldn't help but sigh that this author was a kindred spirit to him, and he really wanted to meet him.

Thorne gave him more than just this one book. According to later generations, although the Stalinist model was very proactive, it eventually became stagnant. In this timeline, Thorne decided to help him, since Joseph had actually lost to Bukharin in this timeline.

To prevent him from having his hard-earned success in South America crumble at the hands of others, Thorne gave him many alternate history novels about the Soviet Union, hoping he could find inspiration and a suitable solution.

Joseph's favorite book was the novel "History of the Soviet Union," which he found incredibly immersive. He imagined himself leading the Soviet people to rapid industrialization after the revolution's success, as if he were the protagonist of the novel, achieving one Five-Year Plan after another and leading the Soviet people to fight the Nazis and ultimately win.

What puzzled him was that in the book, Joseph's greatest enemy, the Nazi leader, was Adolf. Wasn't Adolf supposed to be Thorne's friend? How could he be portrayed as such a heinous scoundrel, and what was with the "Aryan" thing?

It's said that this Adolf only manages a few restaurants in Thorne. What grudge does this author hold against him? Why is he being so harshly criticized?

Joseph always sighed when he saw the statement, "Stalin was the greatest dictator in the world. When he took over Russia, Russia only had wooden plows, but when he passed away, Russia had nuclear weapons."

Can he really achieve such success? Or is this just fiction, existing only in imagination?

Of course, this novel is not limited to this. The book did not end when he passed away, but he continued to write it.

Upon seeing that after his death, a man named Khrushchev came up and criticized him at the 20th Congress of the CPSU, Joseph frowned. How come this guy is different before and after his death?

Joseph also learned in the book that after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States began a form of conflict called the Cold War, in which the two sides fought each other in various fields.

After seeing that the first person to go into space was a communist, Joseph smiled again. He simply didn't believe that the United States, the corrupt capitalist country depicted in the book, could defeat such an advanced socialist regime as the Soviet Union.

But he quickly stopped smiling. Reading the later parts of the book was giving him high blood pressure. Who was this Brezhnev? What kind of nonsense was this? Joseph picked up a reference book and started reading again. The more he read, the higher his blood pressure rose. Had the Soviet Union really become so rigid and corrupt in its later years?

The privileged class had already occupied the upper echelons, and their corrupt lifestyle had completely eroded their revolutionary spirit. They cursed and swore as they went down, causing their blood pressure to rise even higher. As a result, the Soviet Union actually collapsed in 1991!

The Cold War was won by the United States! What a piece of trash Gorbachev is! He wants to go back to Russia right now and shoot this guy at the address provided.

And what kind of scoundrel is Yeltsin? The ideal kingdom that Lenin painstakingly created, the country he so painstakingly saved from the Nazis, was ruined by this bunch of good-for-nothings?

"Thankfully, it's just a novel."

Joseph could only sigh. Thankfully, that didn't happen, or he would have been furious. He also gained a lot of insights from the book. The Soviet Union collapsed due to its rigid political system, and subsequent leaders seemed to be trying to change its "Stalinist model." It seems that over-development of heavy industry will still cause problems.

He deeply reflected on many of the factors that contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the novel. In this world, he absolutely could not accept the destruction of the country that his predecessors had built with their blood and sweat.

In particular, the “ideological invasion” and “color revolution” described in the book are terrifying, even more powerful than guns and cannons, and they directly led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. He must hold this line.

He took out the red flag that Thorne had given him. Since the Soviet Union in the novel had failed, he would rebuild a Soviet Union in America. Looking at the hammer and sickle on the red flag, Joseph believed that the ideal of communism would surely be realized, even if it took ten thousand years of struggle.

Soto and his group arrived at the port and happened to meet Joseph, who had just disembarked.

"Hello, Comrade Joseph, I am Antonio Soto, General Secretary of the Patagonian Workers' Front. Welcome to South America."

Before the translator could speak, Joseph shook hands with him and replied in fluent Spanish.

"Hello, Comrade Soto, the revolution will surely triumph."

Soto looked at Joseph's face with some surprise, not expecting him to speak Spanish.

"Yes."

Soto smiled and patted Joseph's arm.

"Comrade, the revolution will surely triumph."

Chapter 111 The Reassuring Bald Head

It was another sunny morning, the sunlight looked just right, and it was still early. The streets were relatively quiet, with only a few shops setting up their stalls to wait for customers.

It's only seven in the morning, so people aren't in a hurry. They can still have a cup of morning tea and enjoy the morning sunshine.

After all, there's still a full hour until 8 o'clock, so there's nothing to panic about.

The man sat at the table enjoying the morning tea his wife had prepared. As usual, he picked up today's newspaper and began to chatter like an old woman. After all, no man can resist the temptation of politics.

"The Germans have suffered a lot of losses recently."