Name: The Republic of Argentina
Leader: President Juan Domingo Perón.
Argentina stayed largely in its own corner during the Great War. Her ties with Germany led her to shelter those who chose to fled the allies and their victorious armies but the presence of pro-allied Brazil just to the north kept her from getting heavily involved in any serious way. From time to time Argentine ports allowed access to Central Powers ships and submarines, even sheltering them from allied pursuit from time to time.
Following the end of the Great War Argentina found itself without any real allies and a strongly suspicious neighbour to the north. This was a time of unrest in the country as various groups began to struggle for power, both those who supported a more pro-allied approach and those who refused to leave their old allies in a lurch. Without a strong central government the country was wracked by numerous outbreaks of violence as successive governments struggled to try and bring order with little success.
The great depression damaged Argentina less than most given that the majority of its economy was focused inward, and more likely since it did not have much to lose to begin with. Numerous military juntas would seize power over the next 30 years, each simply replacing the other as the upper echelons of military officers fought for control, the fighting rarely managing to make it's way down to your average citizen, most of whom only wanted to be left alone.
The fear of Communism finally pushed a proper government into power, a military junta that actually enjoyed plenty of popular support. There would be a period of calm when the country saw little movement in government but arrests and kidnappings began to climb at an alarming rate. It did not take long for this to drive unrest within the average Argentine to question the wisdom of allowing an unchecked military junta.
1950 dawns and the unrest and anger that has been simmering beneath the surface finally comes to a boil and the country explodes into open revolt as peasants, led by rogue General Juan Domingo Perón, rise up all across the country. In an orgy of blood letting nearly half the Argentine ruling military elite is dragged into the streets and massacred while troops look on, rarely lifting a finger to prevent the slaughter. It is a strange revolt for this outside the country looking in as peasants rampage willing while soldiers look on. In the end over 3,000 officers are killed with only a handful of soldiers and peasants lost in the process.
General Juan Domingo Perón is elected president in a landslide vote not long afterwards and he immediately sets to work building the Argentine economy into one of the most powerful in the Americas. His agreement to join the SAC is not widely popular since most see it as a Brazilian power grab but it does allow Argentina to access new markets that have, until this time been closed off to her.
As 1980 dawns President Juan Domingo Perón. continues to increase the Argentine economic situation though rumours increasingly suggest that he has been padding his own pockets and those of his cabinet.