Everyone Likes Walloons: Chapter 6
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Chapter Five: All Good Things
Chapter 6: The Great Adventure
"Guillaume Joos Clerix
We do hereby summon you to the Palace of Brussels, as the man I judge most able
to sway your fellows in the Chamber of Representatives following the recent election
of members to that esteemed Chamber it behooves and pleases us to offer you the
position of Prime Minister and invite you to form a government.
Signed,
Léopold, King of the Belgians"
- Guillaume Joos Clerix, Belgian Prime Minister
(OOC Note: Guillaume Joos Clerix is entirely fictional, the subject of this picture is not.
Guillaume Joos Clerix is not intended to represent this man in any way at all)
I have to say, that letter caught me much by surprise. The esteemed position of leading His Majesty's government was not one I had even thought to pursue. After fighting for our Independence back in '30 I had been content to sit among the back benches in the Chamber. However the election of 1840 was both as expected and yet surprising. As expected in that the Catholic party romped home with a grand majority. Surprising in that it was the Patriot faction(Or Nationalist as the rest of them say) of which I am proud to consider myself among, that came back with more than half of the Catholic Party seats;
At the first His Majesty was simply about to have Barthélemy officially continue, but his political advisors put in that the situation that a party had returned "without a majority in it's own ranks" so to speak was quite unprecedented and he should take a day to consult and reflect. He agreed and it was done, but the next day His Majesty had not made up his mind and he took another. And then another. As the fourth day closed Barthélemy offered his resignation as Prime Minister and joined the debate for his successor. I understand it lasted until the small hours but the eventual consensus was myself. I was simply a well known face in the faction at the time rather than a leading one which is why I was chosen, both sides of the party could find some common ground with me and the only the very fringes might decide to oppose me for the sake of it. Thus on July 5th 1840, I took the job.
My first action is to raise the pay for our armed men;
We ask that they be prepared for the ultimate sacrifice in our name, so it is only fair we make sure that their lives be comfortable in case they have to make it. I also want to make sure that as much possible their equipment would be coming from the people they are defending;
To that end I order the reopening of our munitions and arms factories and offer government help in acquiring resources and workers. I also add the Steel works to the priority list, we don't want it to loose all of it's workers. By producing our own equipment here in Belgium we have much better control of it's quality and when we buy, it is our citizens who profit, not foreigners. Also when they are taxed that money will return to us to use rather than a foreign government. Such as the Netherlands.
Further I end the practice of sponsoring the schools in Flanders, I do not think that is a bad practice of course, a good Catholic education is a very worthy thing, but I do think that is not strictly speaking nessecary. Let those who are inclined find their way. Instead we shall be sponsoring the training of more skilled craftsmen in Walloon to fill out our factories and make sure that our armies are swimming in top quality equipment and our industries in fine Belgian steel.
My next stop is Bruges;
(OOC Note: I forgot to take a screen shot straight away, thats why the clipper is nearly complete)
Where I order a doubling of the size of the fleet. My predecessor knew well enough that a strong navy is a very important for the security and prosperity of the realm and he made good progress toward that goal. But where that is concerned there is always room for improvement, especially when one sits upon a healthy stack of cash as we do.
It is not long after I have enacted my initial policies however that I am required by the King to accompany him to London for a historic event.
After the Second War of 1837 and the especially after the ascension of Queen Victoria, the niece of my King, to the British throne that nation has poured immense influence into the Netherlands and put pressure to cease their claims on our sovereignty. King William of the Netherlands, seeing the British influence flow through nook and cranny of his court and finally realising he would never see the restoration of his own United Kingdom, shockingly abdicated the throne. His son King William II took the throne on July 4th and sent word that he would deign to see us as our own nation. A treaty making that official was signed as I said in London. While there I took the advice of Barthélemy Théodore and experienced the British railways, I must admit that they put the tiny line in Brussels to shame. At some point we must begin our own experiments in true rail roads.
Before we leave London for home however we observe the signing of another treaty;
As a reward for the Treaty of London and putting themselves further within the British camp at the table of power the two countries sign a military alliance. If there was even the tiniest possibility of another invasion before it is surely destroyed now, for in a way this allies them to us as well. Although it will still be a very long time, if ever, that I consider the Netherlands a friend.
At home in Brussels now, and as July turns to August I find myself ill at ease with our balance of trade;
God himself has surely blessed the land of Belgium for the earth here abounds with mineral wealth in coal, iron and sulphur, which is great for powering our commercial and strategic industries. So much steel is produced and sold here it is said that much like the sun never sets on British soil, it is always shining on Belgian steel. That said however our land is inescapably small, and our people are many and always growing which leads to the cause for my ill concern: we import vast quantities of the most basic goods such as grains, cereals, vegetables, fruits and teas as much of our own farmland being suitable more for grazing sheep than growing crops.
We simply cannot rely on foreign imports for such nessecities, as it is unhealthy for a grown body to be dependent on another it is unhealthy too for our country. The situation also sees the fruits of Belgian labour flow out of Bruges and into other lands and this too must be cut off. We also cannot expand though, we are surrounded almost on all sides by other nations, great nations even. This leaves me with but one conclusion, and after much discussion with the King I persuade him to my view;
To ensure the well-being, prosperity and greatness of our nation, Belgium must become a colonial power.
There is a fervent excitement in the government and Parliament when this is announced, there is resistance from some quarters, particularly the Liberals and a minority of the Catholic party, but with the King behind me everyone else happily falls in line, discussion and planning begin.
The nearest land significantly unoccupied is in North Africa;
However even this relatively short trip is currently beyond our capability, were we to plant a colony here we would not be able to properly support and it would be a useless drain. That of course forgets that even could we, the land there is an inhospitable desert entirely unsuitable for our people and needs. Its a blow, but we are determined and move on to alternatives.
South America is not too far from Africa and the lands there more developed, we would not need to support a completely new society, "merely" aquire one of the many already present. There is a small calling for the annexation of Venezuela, but it is not an idea I find appealing and explain that establishing ourselves there would draw the attention of the United States which jealously guards it's influence in that region. I also present stronger arguments, these South American societies are not only fledgling examples of true civilised countries like our selves(one need only look at Brazil) but they are populated by good Christian peoples, Catholics to boot. If we tried to absorb them into our nation, they would surely fight just as we fought the Dutch not so long ago and to make war on good Christian peoples without just cause or provocation is unthinkable. A couple of the "war hawks" sulk but most I am pleased to say are swayed to my way of thinking. I am also pleased to find myself commended by Barthélemy Théodore on the matter. While not actively opposing our colonial ambitions he has not favoured them either, so I am sure his commendation will win me some points.
If North Africa is not for us, Central Africa offers less. Plenty of room, but much farther away and all the suitable land that could be expanded out from is held by European powers. This leaves Southern Africa for our next consideration.
Here jammed right up against British, Portuguese and Boer interests is one small nation somewhat populated by savager tribesmen. It is called Zulu. The climate is somewhat warm but suitable, the pleasant scraggy coastal plains are more suitable for raising sheep instead of what we are after but the rich fertile valleys in the area known as Ladysmith are very attractive indeed. Zulu is also a good location to serve as a springboard, it wouldn't be too difficult to establish ourselves there and thus project into more profitable locations. A possible drawback is that reports have the Zulu to be an especially militant and brutal people however, they would be unlikely to simply accept becoming a protectorate of Belgium, especially as their "Kings" have established themselves after a rounds of bloody civil war and infighting. Sending a large army, technologically advanced, would surely win their respect and admiration and if it does not, said army will be able to handily put down resistance to the protectorate and then with time they'd see the benefits of civilisation and true faith. It is decided, I even get the reluctant vote of Barthélemy who says it would likely happen at some point any way, so better we do it now than say the Portuguese later.
A force of eighteen-thousand men are picked, nine thousand infantry, six thousand cavalry and three thousand artillerymen, they will be lead by Camille Dethier, our finest general. Transporting that army and all that distance will be tricky, so it's a good job I ordered the expansion of the fleet and we can count the British as such good friends. As soon as our transports are complete their journey will begin.
Speaking of Heathens/Barbarians and suchlike, we receive rumours from the far east;
Normally I would not bother to report such incidents from such places, but Burma is figuratively speaking with the United Kingdoms back yard. So no doubt they will have some strong feelings about these events.
As we reach September the fortifications around Brussels are completed. These projects have been ongoing for about three years now, it'll be a tad strange to see them not swarming with workers. The Fortification of Bruges is due to be complete around this time next year.
Later, in October, we see the end of another massive undertaking.
The "Brothers" war between Austria and Prussia began last year by the former is won by the latter. Though it is not Austria that pays the price so I bet the Bavarians will be asking who their friends are.
Another month later and another war comes to an end;
France finishes it's business with Morocco by taking a huge swathe of their land, stopping short from taking the country itself. On the same day we hear this news, my earlier prediction about Burma comes true and the British come into conflict with China over the land there.
We are in the depths of winter now though we experience little snow so the post-Christmas reshuffle of the Senate is completed unhindered though it would not have mattered much. The Senate for 1841 shows the same pattern as previous years, the conservative side of the Catholic party remains slightly larger than my own there, and the Party overall suffers a tiny gain to the liberals. Somewhat interesting news comes from Spain however;
They have carved themselves a small area of asia minor, why they should want to I have no idea, but they seem quite pleased with themselves.
By February though excitement reaches fever pitch across Belgium
Our clipper fleet is finally completed and Dethier's army begins boarding as soon as possible. The Fleet under Admiral de Leuze sets sail fully loaded on the 18th and receives a fantastic and well attended send off, Everyone from the King on down seems to be there and much of Bruges seems to have shut up shop for the day, though enterprising purveyors of foods and memorabilia are of course never hard to find. All of the world seems to pause to see how our first adventure outside the low countries turns out as it is not until October we receive any international news and our only internal news is from the fleet in July;
Where they had passed beyond the furthest operating range of our mail ships and merchantmen. From that point they were on their own until they would reach the British colonies in South Africa and it would likely be quite a while before we'd hear from them.
The news in October came from America, the USA and its leaders had been making many fine speeches about destiny, divine will, spreading liberty and bringing freedom latey. Though it all amounted to fancy way to lay claim to all the land south of Canada down to California, Arizona and New Mexico. Pretty much all the Northern territories of Mexico and included the parts of the Texas region still part of Mexico proper. To boot they did not include the British Washington territory with Canada and so have claimed that a swell.
October in fact saw a comparatively great deal of news, having said before it seemed as if the world had paused to watch our grand adventure it now seemed as if it was moving(I wonder what it knows that I do not), maybe the potential for trouble in the New World broke it's attention. Anyway after the USA and it's manifest destiny we saw the completion of our fortifications in Bruges, meaning our two most important regions now had some true protection. A week later a message for the King arrived, it was from his niece in Britain;
She told him that in spite of Spain's recent achievements in the Middle-East their stature in the world was slipping, smaller nations ceased paying them special attention, their ambassadors to the Great Powers less often saw the leaders there in person. The "Royal Grapevine" had it that recent cultural achievements in the Scandinavian Kingdom of Sweden made them a strong favourite to replace Spain at the table of power. Maybe one day, one day soon, that will be us. Towards the end of October news reached us from St. Petersburg;
There was no danger of the Tsar losing his place at the Great Table, his Russian Empire was cutting a swathe into asia, they'd almost reached the Indian ocean. If it were not the threat of being seen by Britain as a potential menace to their interests in that region they likely would have gone further.
The winter of 1841 proves to be a particularly wet and windy affair, the darker days see very little snow or frost, but rain is almost ever present. Storms cross the oceans and messages move slowly as roads are turned into muddy streams. A British mail ship engaged to bring us news makes it through, it bears word from de Leuze and Dethier, they atleast reached South Africa and made their way on to Zulu. I wonder how they are getting on down there, as temperatures in North plummet in winter in the South they rise as if it were summer. What an interesting world God has made for us. Speaking of plummeting temperatures and bad weather, more than usual for these times people spend much of their non working hours at home with family. At least as many find the situation a blessing as detest it. I am one of the lucky ones I feel, however I do make the mistake of accepting the invitation to a new years celebration at the Université de Liège at which my son is in attendance.
It is not that I do not enjoy the time with him, or that I dislike the relatively new institution, it's just that well... If one were absolutely forced to damn my predecessor, it would be that his love of learning caused him to allow far too much leeway with intellectuals;
Some of the philosophies and ideologies I find debated and expressed in the gathering are grandiose or formal expressions of concepts already present and healthy to a country. Some however are downright dangerous, egalitarianism, collectivism,
atheism, why if these ideas were given serious attention or actually held they could destroy the entire fabric of good civilised society. It is too late to do anything about it however, one can just hope that these dangerous ideas remain nothing more than slighly-pretentions after dinner chatter.
Come January of 1842 the Senate is the same as ever and we see the Netherlands begin to expand itself in the East Indies once more, if we ever manage to get ourselves in a position to do the same it looks like there won't be anywhere let. Perhaps that is the idea. This month also sees a conclusion to the British conflict with China.
From what we understand the enormous number of Chinese troops stationed in former northern Burma, themselves having recently won it, managed to contain any British advance. That did not last however, the British's superiority constantly wore at the vast oriental armies and once reinforcements finally arrived from Britain they were broken. As Englishmen, Scotsmen, Loyal Indians etc began to step foot in China, the Emperor acquiesced to the British demands stemming a potential tide of red coats smashing against Beijing before it began perhaps.
After January, 1842 sees very little development, once again we must wait all the way until summer, July to be more precise, before news reaches us and this news indicates that trouble has started in the New World.
At first I had expected the USA to be enacting that "Manifest Destiny" but I was surprised to learn that it was Mexico, perhaps operating under similar sentiments to those expressed to their north, that launched the war. They state they wish to retake their old lands in Texas. Their armies must be strong indeed to give them the confidence to take on the United States, that nation has already defeated the greatest Empire the world has ever known(Though it did get a lot of support from Spain, France and the Netherlands, everyone wishes to kick the big child while he is down, another chance may never arrive after all) and despite the unsuccessful invasion of Canada 30 years the did manage to hold themselves to a draw in the eventual counter attack(Though Britain was busy with Napoleon and his rampage through Europe at the time).
August passes and it has been over a year since our colonial adventurers set out and everyone is impatient to learn the conclusion. They do not have to wait much longer though, as in late September news of the campaign's end reaches home.
Next Episode:
Chapter Seven: Zulu