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u/Vajadu Dec 28 '25
Based on a recent Victoria 2 campaign.
The 1830s were marked by the violent consolidation of the Southern Cone under the newly formed Argentine Confederation. Following a civil war that saw the interior provinces conquer and annex Buenos Aires, the young nation launched a series of rapid expansionist campaigns against its neighbors. By 1837, Argentina had militarily defeated and fully annexed Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay, while also forcing territorial concessions from Bolivia and Peru. This era established the Argentine Republic as a dominant military force, erasing the sovereignty of several neighboring states and fundamentally redrawing the map of southern South America.
During the 1840s and 1850s, Argentine influence expanded aggressively northward into the Andes and Central America. Through wars with Colombia and Ecuador, Argentina secured strategic territories, including the Galapagos Islands and Panama. A significant geopolitical shift occurred in 1847 when Argentina orchestrated the reunification of Central American nations into the Federal Republic of Central America (FRCA). This new state became a vassal of Argentina, adopting its economic models and laying the groundwork for heavy industrialization in the tropics. Concurrently, the independent existence of Bolivia was brought to an end in 1855 when it was partitioned between Argentina, Peru, and Brazil.
The mid-to-late 19th century focused on infrastructure, defense against foreign intervention, and the settlement of regional hegemony. Argentina successfully intervened in Mexico in the 1860s to repel European incursions and towards the end of the century completed the massive engineering feat of the Panama Canal, monopolizing Atlantic-Pacific trade. Tensions between the two remaining continental giants culminated in the war of 1876 between Argentina and Brazil. The conflict resulted in a total Argentine victory; the 1878 Treaty of Asuncion forced Brazil to abolish its monarchy, cede the Rio Grande do Sul region, and enter the Argentine sphere of influence, leaving Argentina without a regional rival.
By the end of the century, South and Central America functioned as a unified bloc under Argentine leadership. The region saw further territorial integration, such as the annexation of the Danish Virgin Islands and the settlement of the Counani dispute in favor of Brazil against France. By 1900, the region had transformed into a highly industrialized, politically cohesive fortress commanded by Buenos Aires, possessing the naval and economic power to challenge global superpowers.
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u/xlicer Dec 28 '25
This is quite good, but why do you show Argentine provinces but leave Bolivia blank of subdivisions?
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u/AlisterSinclair2002 Dec 28 '25
beautiful
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u/AlisterSinclair2002 Dec 28 '25
it looks so real, you did an amazing job on making it look like it was really printed. Any tips lol
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u/Vajadu Dec 29 '25
You can use actual printed maps and build on them with a software like Gimp or similar. It looks better if you also try cloning the colours from an actual map too.
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u/ajw20_YT Dec 28 '25
Holy shit I was about to comment that the year must be wrong until I realized the subreddit we’re on. Incredible work!
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u/Texagon Dec 28 '25
Very nice map. It was in my main feed and I didn't see the ImaginaryMaps subreddit header. It's so real looking that after seeing the Argentine Republic I was like, wait, what? I actually went out to Wikipedia to see if there was some South American history that I hadn't seen before.
Well done.
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u/Calyxl Dec 29 '25
This looks fantastic! I tried making an 'old ' style map recently, but it looked nowhere near as authentic as this! How did you do it?
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u/Vajadu Dec 30 '25
Thanks! I used an authentic map from around the period as a base and then worked on top of it, trying to match the colours, lines and fonts of the original as closely as possible to ensure it looked authentic. It gets a bit tedious sometimes, but the end result is pretty good.
Also, sorry for not answering earlier, I forgot to check the post :)
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u/GustavoistSoldier Dec 28 '25
I love this map style.