"Peaceably if we may, Forcibly if we must:" Britain, 1836-1936

[Johnny Canuck]

Ack, what barbarians! Desecrating Chatsworth?!? If England falls, who will carry the torch of liberty?

[Jingles]

It may be just me, but the first example of a flag that was posted look looked very similar to Hungary's.

Great update, have they called in the troops to enforce order or are they still relying on "constables"?

[Jape]

Ah this is excellent stuff! With the revolution done, more or less, what will happen. Your 'sources' seem to suggest propaganda, hence dictatorship but considering its all from the early 20th century (the kids history book was my favourite ) thats not nessecarily so, simply indoctrinated patriotism like in America and France perhaps?

Will Ireland gain freedom? What of the colonies, particularly India's unqiue position, what with being ruled directly by Steam Lords directly for business!

Keep it up, really exciting stuff!

PS: I vote for this flag, its seems orginal enough while retaining the basic imagery of Chartism/English 'Jacobinism'

Model 2

[th3freakie]

Just noticed that flag has a small mistake at the top, probably my error at copying it. If you chose it, let me know so I'll remake it.

[Nikolai]

Amazing read so far, but that's no surprise from you Sarmatia.

[Fulcrumvale]

A government-in-exile could be successful in launching a counter-revolution, or it could be a dud. It might just wind up depending on the status of the loyalist military—if the Royal Navy and elements of the army stays loyal to the old regime it might succeed, but if they join the rebellion then an invasion would be off the table.

[Hardstuff]

Will Ireland gain freedom? What of the colonies, particularly India's unqiue position, what with being ruled directly by Steam Lords directly for business!

After seeing the revolts in Ireland, then I would assume their agenda to be nationalist (not necessarily Republican in nature), rather than charterist.


Of course, commenting on the flag, how can the Irish flock to a flag similar to one which didn't even exist at that time?


Interesting AAR, Sarmatia.

[Cinéad IV]

Wow! Interesting turn of events Sarmatia.

Now it remains it be seen what form the new government will take...

[Sarmatia1871]

Many thanks everyone - the new "structure" will be explained in the next few updates, and I think most people's questions will be answered. These are all basically written and played through, so daily updates should be able to continue for the next three or four days or so (which should take us up to the completion of "Series One: 1830-1848").

As for the Flag, I have been informed that the Assembled Industrious Delegates are most pleased with this design:




However, the People of the Commonwealth do humbly request that they be permitted to exercise their Ancient Rights to be a Fussy Pain in the Neck, and ask whether it would be possible for the design in the shield be flipped 90 degrees anticlockwise, so it shows the right way up when hanging?

[th3freakie]

*grumbles*

Annoying proles. I'll have to re-do it from scratch, otherwise you''d just have a white stripe with the wheel. This is why you shouldn't get the vote!

There ye go

[Sarmatia1871]

Hurrah!

The Industrious Folk of the Isles shall remain eternally grateful to their Esteemed Flag Engineer.

[Nikolai]

Why do the revolutionaries want a flag with two dicks with corresponding balls?

[Sarmatia1871]

A NEW COMMONWEALTH
Charter Day, 18 September 1838
__________________________________________________ ________________________________

***

Extract from the Promulgation Speech of Feargus O'Connor
Charter Square, London

The half-finished construction of the monuments at this Square do provide a fine symbol for the state of our country now. These statues shall be completed by the People of this land to glorify them and their newly won liberty! Further afield, the Palace of Westminster over yonder, lost in conflagration some years ago and still unrestored, shall be rebuilt in our own image. Our great thirst for freedom shall at last be quenched.

It is with great joy that I accept the offer of the Speakership of Our New House of Commons. Both I and our interim Ministry, drawn from members of the National Parliament of the Industrious, will begin the hard work of rebuilding and restoring our nation, and fulfilling the hopes of the people. We, like the People of this Land, are of but one voice and one will, have now put aside the antagonisms of class and party, and shall set to work tirelessly until all that we desire has been achieved.

And this day – to be forever known as Charter Day - shall be enshrined as the completion and capstone of the Building of Our Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ireland.

***

Seamus Adlington, The Crises of Britain, 1830-1848 (St. John's, 1963)

In spite of the confident tone of many of the publications of the era, and particularly the triumphant statements of Feargus O’Connor, the seeds of later tensions within British political life were readily apparent even in 1838. The vagueness of the Six Points and the wide agreement across Britain for a further extension of the franchise in the face of the crises of the mid-1830s ensured that the early movement for the Charter could mobilise a wide range of support from across the political spectrum, and from all the different regions of the former United Kingdom.

However, this very broadness fed into its difficulties. The new Parliament was by no means united. As well as a whole bevy of artisan and middle-class radicals drawing inspiration from a plethora of ideologies, including Jacobins, Godwinites, Painites, Foxites, Benthamites and Owenites, the ranks of the newly elected parliament included philosophic liberals and utilitarians, evangelical non-conformists and Free thinkers, Irish nationalists and Repealers, free-traders, agrarian reformers, trade unionists, paternalist manufacturers, and even some on the extreme fringes of the old aristocratic Whig Party, all of whom had been caught up in the struggle for the Charter. They remained at loggerheads over economic and social affairs, defence, constitutional issues, foreign relations and religious policy.

More problematic were the events of the “Great Rising” itself. The initial resilience of the Government and elites, followed by their near total collapse in the face of protracted resistance, had meant that events had moved far quicker and taken on a more extreme character than many of the movement’s early supporters had expected. “Disenclosure” and the restoration (or, more accurately, reinvention) of the institution of Common Land, had been enacted by newly elected mayoralties and sheriffs across rural areas, often simply formalizing what landless labourers had seized themselves. Central government control was weak: the uprising had exposed the piecemeal structure of the old British state, and the network of local elites it had relied upon had now been totally uprooted. Further afield, the large-scale revolts in Canada and Ireland and the vicious eruption of new wars between settlers and the indigenous population in several colonies, particularly Southern Africa, Guyana and New Zealand, showed that Britain’s position in the world was changing rapidly.

The vagueness of the new political structure compounded these issues. While O’Connor was careful to stress continuity with his talk of the Ancient Constitution, in practice, the complete reconfiguration of Parliament and the law courts, the effective dissolution of both the House of Lords and the Monarchy, and the marginalization or exile of many of the former political and economic elite, meant that the new system was quite different. A House of Commons, to be elected on a universal male franchise, was the sole legislative body. A Speaker, elected on an annual basis by the House, was to combine the powers of both the former Monarch and the Prime Minister, appointing a Ministry drawn from the Commons Representatives to govern the country. A newly appointed Committee of Public Security was officially to take over the powers of the King’s Bench and the Upper Judiciary, and exercise some control over military affairs. Meanwhile, the enforcement of legislation, collection of taxation and oversight over local government remained in the hands of the county and borough mayoralties, sheriffs and corporations, who jealously held onto the powers they had gained during the Uprising.

Success in politics depended upon the ability to play and balance the different entangled layers of this ad hoc and confused set of arrangements. Despite his high standing within the movement, this is something which O’Connor, with his abrasive and impulsive personality, found difficult, particularly once the euphoria of victory had dissipated and the work of government began.

***


A Circular Dispatch, Marked “Most Secret & Confidential,” to All Members of the Committee of Public Security
and to The Elect Brotherhood of the Friends of the People
12 December 1838

Brothers!

I may congratulate you for the progress which we have made in our work! It is a good thing that the parasites and leeches who caused untold suffering over the centuries have finally gained their well-deserved comeuppance. But we are merciful – while we would have only expected the hangman’s noose and the jeering crowds from them, they are merely set to nobly toil for the good of the nation just like the rest of us, while the hulks await to transport the worst offenders to the hellish lands of Australia. They may whine and weep now, but this is the same whining and weeping which we have had to bear for countless generations.

But more pressingly:

** We have heard tell that some in the counties of the English South-West and the Midlands still resist the disenclosure that their mayoralties have deemed necessary. Stronger means against them may be considered advisable.

** It is likewise reported that the agents of foreign governments, even of the hated Metternick and the Emperor of Russia, seek to make misdemeanours in our country. A watchful eye must be kept open for such meddlings.

** More closer to home, it is well known that the Lion towers over the Commons, but that it is we that holds up his stilts. Never let him – or them - forget it!

In Equal Fraternal Unity,
G.H.

Great Paperstore of the Commonwealth, Series CW/CoPS3/07/003481.

***

[Morsky]

Psh. That's what happens when you leave governance to a bunch of men in Smurf hats. It looks like the Great Revolution of the Industrious Folk of Britain is about to turn into an ugly, oligarchic dictatorship, as revolutions usually do. How soon until we see a Chartist version of Cheka?

[Enewald]

Is it not written Metternich?

And is Scotland going to declare independence?
King tries not to unite resistance in some colonies?
British india, canada?

[Eams]

Since I haven't actually played Victoria, I must admit that the combination of universal male suffrage and a one party system does seem a bit odd.
Tolstoy should immigrate, sweep into office, and set up his system of Christian anarchism.

[phargle]

Daaaang. This AAR is living a dream I've had for a long time - not to overthrow the monarchy, but to play a game where I am a great democratic power like the USA or the UK and the rebels overthrow the monarchy. That's so sweet! It also happens so organically in your beautiful black-and-white shots that it's very believable. The portrayals of the government reacting in terror and flight is cool too - almost like a World War Z zombie account.

[Jingles]

I wonder how the other peoples of the Empire will be treated, such especially Indians. Will they be included in this new equality?

[Johnny Canuck]

Psh. That's what happens when you leave governance to a bunch of men in Smurf hats. It looks like the Great Revolution of the Industrious Folk of Britain is about to turn into an ugly, oligarchic dictatorship, as revolutions usually do. How soon until we see a Chartist version of Cheka?

Of course the revolution will dissolve into chaos. As if these hooligans could actually govern a country. How long 'til the guillotine? Every revolution devours its leaders, and that is what they deserve.

The last letter suggests that some of the anti-revolutionaries are being shipped to Australia. To paraphrase Churchill:

'As this Island is subjugated and starving, our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.'

[Sarmatia1871]

The Age of O’Connor
Notable Acts, September 1838 to January 1842
__________________________________________________ ________________________________

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The Militia Act
24th November 1838



That each County and Borough be required to supply an adequate number of able-bodied, capable and armed men of sound judgement and opinion to compose a militia for the purposes of the maintenance of social peace, the prevention and investigation of criminal acts, and the provision of the Defence of the Commonwealth.

The National Militia as a collected body is to be regulated and overseen by the Commission of Public Security.


***


The Irish Parliament Act
9th May 1839




That the Irish People, having declared themselves in favour of the restoration of their Constitutional rights, should be recognized as rejoicing within their own Commonwealth of Ireland, governed through its own historic and national Parliamentary Legislature, to stand in fraternal Union with the Commonwealth of Great Britain.


***


The Repeal of Duties
26th October 1839



With the Commons deeming it unjust for Government to profit from basic human needs, all import tariffs and excise dues upon the staples of life and social intercourse – comprising but not limited to tea, sugar, grain, paper, tobacco, beer, coal and salt - are hereby repealed and are to remain repealed in perpetuity.

The duties upon silks, glass, intoxicating spirits, objects of precious metals, and sundry other luxuries, debilitating in their effects upon the mind and the body, are to be correspondingly increased.


***


The Liberation of Canada Act
5th March 1840

That the rights of the People of the former colonies of British North America, having made their decision to throw off the shackles of Royal Oppression at the equal time as their British and Irish Brothers, are to be respected.

The Republics of Newfoundland, Upper Canada and Quebec are hereby to be recognized as Free and Independent Nations.

***


The Mental Health Act
25th July 1840



In order that the prevalence of mental enfeeblement in our Commonwealth be provided against, the Commons has deemed it necessary to establish that a Certification of Lunacy is to be presented to individuals upon the judgment of a jury of his or her Peers, upon receiving the recommendation of an Elected Official and an accredited Medical Officer. Those holding a Certification of Lunacy are to be forthwith barred from voting and the holding of any public office.

Further recommendations as may be necessary for the maintenance of the public welfare may be enacted against such poor souls.


***


The Industrial Reform Act
8th April 1841



A Charter Bestowed and Accepted by the People of Britain

Through their Elected Representatives Seated in the House of Commons

Upon the Eighth of April, the Year of Our Lord 1841

For the Establishment of

A National Board of Works

To be funded through the Augmented National Income Tax and to work in conjunction with the Private, Cooperative, Borough and County Bodies of the Commonwealth upon projects of National Works and Improvements

For the purposes of

The Facilitation of the Rational Organization and Development of the National Wealth, the Guarantee of the General Public Welfare, the Provision of Gainful Employment to the Needy, and the Reformation of the Criminal and the Indolent through the Elevating Effects of Productive Labour.


To be overseen by A Chairman and a Board of Six Directors and Four Subdirectors from the Following Sections:

Section 1: Agriculture.
Section 2: Extraction - Mining & Smelting.
Section 3: Manufactures - Factory production.
Section 4: Communications - Roads, railroads, canals, telegraphs, &c.
Section 5: Public Health - Sewerage, hospitals, asylums, water supplies &c.
Section 6: Extraordinary Activities - As may be deemed necessary by the Chairman of the National Board of Works or the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Subsection 6A: Maritime – Trade, the fleet, the protection of commercial routes, and the suppression of the slave-trade.
Subsection 6B: Islands and Stations – To maintain the island and coastal outposts of the British Commonwealth, viz. those of the Caribbean, South Atlantic, Africa & the Southern Oceans.
Subsection 6C: Indian Affairs – To continue the functions of the Board of Control of the Honourable East India Company, to curb corruption in that body and to prevent any abuses of the native populations of the Asiatic territories under its Dominion.
Subsection 6D: Australia – To manage the settlement, development and exploration of the Continent of Australia according to Rational and Scientific Principles.

Those under Employment with the National Board of Works shall be classed according to skill, position, health and moral inclination into one of the following Categories:

Category A: Experts, technical, medical, economic and social specialists under regular contract with the Board.
Category B: Men, destitute through no personal fault, and of sound body and mind.
Category C: Women, children and the aged, destitute through no personal fault, and of sound body and mind.
Category D: The reformable criminals and the workshy.
Category E: The mentally or physically incapable.
Category F: The unreformable criminals and other parasites upon the Body Politic.

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