Ruler: Prince Louis II
Capital: Monaco-Ville Population: 22,000
Language(s): French, English, Italian, Mon- egasque
Currency: French franc Resources: Tourism
Religion(s): Christianity Military: N/A
Located on the Mediterranean coast, the Prin- cipality of Monaco is surrounded by the French department of Alpes Maritimes. At 0.58 square miles in size, it’s the second-smallest nation in the world (aft er only Vatican City) and one of the most densely populated. A constitutional monarchy, it’s ruled by Prince Louis II of the House of Grimaldi and a National Council. Under the terms of a 1918 treaty, its economic, political, and military policies mirror those of France.
Monaco’s chief source of revenue is the casino at Monte Carlo. One and a half million tourists come to Monte Carlo each year to gamble at the casino, visit Monte Carlo’s elegant clubs, sample its wines, and see and be seen. Th e casino is not open to the Monegasque people; only foreigners may gamble.
Th e other major tourist attraction is the Grand Prix of Monaco, an automobile race begun in 1929 and held annually through 1937 during the Pulp era. It takes place over the streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine, shutting down the cities for the day. Th e Monte Carlo Rally, begun in 1911, also brings racing enthusiasts to Monaco.
Other than wanting to visit the casino (and the many opportunities for socializing, espionage, and other adventures that it provides), Pulp Hero char- acters might go to Monaco for the Oceanographic Museum and laboratory established by Prince Albert, Louis II’s father. If they’ve come across an unusual sea-beast in their travels or need to esti- mate the currents around some mysterious island, the Oceanographic Museum may be the best place for them to fi nd the information they need.
THE NETHERLANDS
Government: Constitutional monarchyRuler: Queen Wilhelmina; Premier
Hendrik Colijn
Capital: The Hague (seat of the royal court); Amsterdam (legislative) Population: 8,100,000
Language(s): Dutch Currency: Guilder
Resources: Agriculture, manufacturing, shipping
Religion(s): Christianity Military: 29,500
Th e Netherlands, also known as Holland, is a constitutional monarchy with a king (or, through- out the Pulp era, a queen) as the executive, and a bicameral legislature called the States-General. Th e queen’s authority runs through a Council of Minis- ters, whose president serves as premier. Queen Wil- helmina maintains her court at the Hague, but the States-General meets in Amsterdam, a city famed for its museums, universities, and red-light district. Amsterdam hosted the 1928 Olympics.
Th e Netherlands was a major commercial power for centuries, and even in the Pulp era Rotterdam was one of the largest ports in the world. Holland had the third largest colonial empire in Europe; its holdings included the Dutch East Indies, Dutch Guiana, and Curacao.
Holland is a low-lying land where the extensive canals are oft en as important for travel and commu- nication as the roads. Much land has been reclaimed from the sea by the use of dikes. From 1918 to 1932 the Afsluitdijk was built across the mouth of the shal- low Zuider Zee (“Southern Sea”), transforming it into the freshwater Ijsel Meer (“Lake Issel”) and allowing the reclamation of even more land.
ROMANIA
Government: Constitutional monarchy Ruler: Carol II; Premier George Tafar-asco Capital: Bucharest Population: 18,000,000 Language(s): Romanian Currency: Leu
Resources: Agriculture, livestock, oil, timber, manufacturing Religion(s): Orthodox Christianity Military: 296,000
Romania (also spelled Roumania and Rumania) is a small Balkan country between Bulgaria, Hun- gary, Poland, and the USSR. It’s a mostly agricultural nation (approximately 80% of populace is involved in agriculture or raising livestock), but also produces the fourth largest amount of oil in the world.
In recent years Romanian politics have been a little turbulent. In the early Twenties some Com- munist uprisings occurred; Soviet Russia even described the Romanian province of Bessarabia
as being in a “state of war.” In 1925 Crown Prince Carol renounced his right to the throne and removed himself to Paris; in July 1927 his son Michael became king. Carol protested this by naming himself king in Paris, and later plotted to regain the throne. In early June, 1930, he was wel- comed back into the country and crowned Carol II; Michael became “Grand Voyvoda of Alba Julia.” In 1938 Carol II dissolved the constitutional govern- ment and re-established an absolute monarchy, but on March 7, 1939 a new government was formed by Armand Calinescu; in 1940 Carol II abdicated. THE IRON GUARD
During the Th irties, fascism became increas- ingly popular in Romania. In 1927, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu founded a fascist and anti-Semitic political party called the Legion of the Archangel Michael, but the group as a whole soon became known as the Iron Guard aft er its paramilitary branch. Charismatic and clever, Codreanu used propaganda and promotion techniques similar to those of Goebbels to advance his cause. By 1933 the Iron Guard had become popular enough for Premier Ion Duca to ban it; in response the Guard assassinated him on December 29 of that year. In 1936, the Iron Guard came in third in national elec- tions, but Carol II used his power and infl uence to keep the group out of the government.
In April 1938, the Romanian government arrested Codreanu. He and several other Legion- naires were killed on November 29-30 of that year in an alleged escape attempt (later proven to be false; they were executed in revenge for a Guard killing of a relative of Calinescu’s). Calinescu him- self was assassinated by the Guard on September 21, 1939. During World War II, the Legion became a part of the government.
Characters adventuring in Romania during the Th irties, particularly those known to be Jewish or to have expressed anti-fascist sentiments, should beware of the Iron Guard. As the record above shows, it has no qualms about using violence against its enemies.
TRANSYLVANIA
Pulp heroes are most likely to fi nd Romania of interest because the northwestern part of the kingdom is the province of Transylvania. Legend and fi ction make it the home of Count Dracula — a vampire- and werewolf-haunted land, a place of ancient curses and ghosts that can challenge even the toughest adventurer. Th e fi ft eenth century ruler Vlad III Dracula (also known as Vlad Tepes [“Vlad the Impaler”], and the inspiration for Count Dracula) is popularly associated with Transylvania, where he was born, though he actually ruled Wal- lachia, a region in southern Romania.
GYPSIES
Also associated with Romania (as well as Hungary, and Eastern Europe in general) are the Gypsies (or Gipsies), a nomadic people thought to come from Egypt (hence the name) but whose origins probably lie in northern India around the
year 1000. Th ey call themselves Roma or Romany, though the name has no connection to Romania or Rome; they speak their own language, Romany. Th ey’re said to be generous among themselves but suspicious of strangers, hot-tempered, quick-witted, boastful, passionate, and prone to thievery; many people don’t trust them at all. Th ey favor brightly- colored clothing.
Gypsies typically work as traveling smiths and tinkers, horse-traders, and the like. Th ey’re also renowned as musicians whose wild songs can set even the soberest feet to dancing. Pulp heroes are mostly likely to seek them out because of their repu- tation as fortunetellers, psychics, and mystics. Sup- posedly Gypsy women have the ability to foresee the future using crystal balls or cards, and perhaps pos- sess even stranger psychic powers. Who knows what witchcraft an old Gypsy crone may command?
SPAIN
Government: Democratic republic
Ruler: President Niceto Alcala Zamora Capital: Madrid
Population: 29,000,000 Language(s): Spanish Currency: Peseta
Resources: Agriculture, manufacturing Religion(s): Christianity
Military: 203,000
Spain of the Pulp era is alternately a peaceful, and in some ways backward, nation and a land wracked by a bloody civil war used as a military testing ground by more powerful countries. From 1923, when he came to power in a bloodless coup, Miguel Primo de Rivera ruled Spain even though it was nominally still a kingdom. His regime accom- plished little but causing infl ation, and he resigned in 1930 when he lost the support of the military. In 1931 King Alfonso XIII left the country, and Spain was proclaimed a republic with Niceto Alcala Zamora as its president.
Th e Zamora regime did not enjoy any peace. Various Communist and anarchist revolts sprang up throughout the country, disputes with the Catholic Church over new laws banning the Jesuit Order and confi scating Church property festered, and the grant of self-rule to the fractious province of Catalonia only led to further diffi culties. In April 1934 the government declared martial law.
In July 1936, a revolt broke out among the Span- ish army in Morocco, and soon spread to Spain. Th e leader of the revolt, Francisco Franco, returned to Spain. By month’s end the civil war was in full bloom, with Franco’s Nationalists pitted against the Spanish loyalists (also called Republicans). Franco soon declared himself Generalissimo.
Th e war lasted for nearly three years. It was marked by a slow but steady series of victories by Franco’s forces beginning in the north and gradu- ally spreading south. Th e Germans and Italians sent men and vehicles to aid him, less because they wanted to support his fascist movement than because they wanted to test new equipment and
methods under actual battlefi eld conditions. Many atrocities, in particular the savage bombing of the Basque capital of Guernica, were committed.
On March 28, 1939, Franco’s forces captured Madrid, ending the war. He had previously pro- claimed his party, the Falange, as the only legal party, and within two days his new regime arrested over 100,000 political opponents.
THE CONDOR LEGION
Th e most important assistance Germany pro- vided Franco was the Condor Legion, a Luft waff e detachment of 150 planes and 5,600 men com- manded by Gen. Hugo Sperrle. Although they wore Spanish insignia, the men of Condor were there to test new German planes, such as the Junker 52, the Messerschmitt BF 109 fi ghter, and the Stuka bomber. It was with these that they obliterated Guernica.
THE INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES
Seeking to stem the tide of fascism in Spain, the Soviet Union and the Comintern (page 184) orga- nized the International Brigades, groups of volunteers who went to Spain to fi ght on behalf of the Repub- licans. Nearly 60,000 volunteers from 55 countries responded to the call to arms. Th ese included 3,000 Americans, mostly Communists and Socialists defy- ing President Roosevelt’s orders that Americans were not to fi ght in Spain. Th ey were organized into the Lincoln Battalion and Washington Battalion, and suf- fered heavy casualties. France and Poland also sent large contingents, and there were even some anti-fas- cist Italian and German volunteers. One of the volun- teers from Britain was author George Orwell; perhaps Pulp Hero characters who join the Brigades or some- how get sucked into the war will meet him.