The Beginning of an Empire, A Belgium AAR

Chapter One - A Helpful Ally​

The Kingdom of Belgium was only four years old at the start of 1836 after the installation of Leopold I as King of the Belgians.


The start of 1836 saw reorganization in the tax system and the budget with the middle classes being able to pay fewer taxes and money being pumped into education and administration.

The 1836 budget influenced a lot of the poorer classes to become richer (but not too rich)​

As the budget leaned towards better education, the military, not to be concerned over the fact they did not receive any more funding, looked to improve the Belgian Army. The army also strengthened itself with a new Infantry brigade being created which will be attached to the 1e Infantrie Divisie


Parliament met two days later to try and strengthen their bonds with the French in the south and the Brits over the sea to try and ward off the neighbouring countries from launching an invasion. Diplomats also began talks with the Spanish.


The French were in no mood to form an alliance with those who were also looking to form an alliance with the pesky Britons. Unfortunately for Belgium, Britain felt the same way about the ‘idiot frogs’.

‘Fools!’ as said by a member of His Majesty’s Government.​

The French quite hurt by the remark by the British Foreign Minister decided to show Britain who the real ruler of the world was by declaring war on Algeria.

Some saw this as a colonial takeover, many saw it as a way to show Britain what-for.​

Others however saw the two Great Power’s refusals as a good sign and thought that the Belgians would be a great ally to have. Belgium graciously accepted.


A few months later, the Belgian government had a cunning plan; they looked for an alliance only with Britain – much to the annoyance of France. A day later Britain decided to announce their (probably a previously secret!) alliance with the Netherlands. Belgium kept quite about their annoyance on the subject not wishing to harm the newly founded relationship with Britain.


The British celebrated this with the traditional colonization of another nation, this week it was Burma. The Belgians celebrated by the strengthening of the 1e Infantrie Divisie and mass drinking in the streets. Alas all this partying led to the death of a young lady who saw a tub of coal and thought it was a good idea to carry it for a drunken bet.


As 1936 ended, France ended the war with Algeria claiming Setif as part of the French Empire. Algeria were relieved that they were not fully conquered.

I didn't notice I put one of the screenshots upside down - doesn't seem to want to revert back to normal... Nevermind it still makes sense

Fish Hunter Thanks, I hope i don't disappoint

Yoshino Thanks, I think I need all the luck I can get.

Update coming up...

The start of 1937 saw a lot of reshuffling in The Upper House with the Conservative and Liberal representatives losing nearly a quarter of their seats to the extreme reactionaries. As a result the Liberale Partij were now the third and smallest party in the House, with the Nationalist Partij being a huge risk to the Katholieke Party who were currently in power.


January also saw the start of many invasions; Persia declared war on Afghanistan, Portugal wanted a part of Oman Africa, China wanted a piece of Burma with Burma already being carved up by Britain. France, deciding that a part of Algeria was not enough, declared war on Tunisia and Ethiopia declared war on Egypt.


Government Ambassadors to Spain successfully increased relationships again in February; they hope that an alliance could be formed in the future. What confused the diplomats was that Spain seemed to be obsessed with invading Morocco, the ambassadors gave them a map and some advice and went on their way.


The end of March saw the Texan War end with Mexico gaining all of the Texan land, America never joined the war, thus improving relations with Mexico.


The start April saw Brazil declaring war on Bolivia and Britain ending the war with Burma –gaining the Burmese Rangoon region. May saw a few changes to the budget with more money being pumped into the military, something which they missed out on a year ago, everything else stayed the same as it did.

The Chinese-Burma war ended in August with China gaining a huge swath of land and Afghanistan not happy with Persian aggression demanded Birjand from Persia. This was the last important piece of new in 1837.

Mico94 They're allied with Britain so I don't actually know if they can which is good news for me

soulking Glory to the currently non-existent Belgium Empire!

Nikolai Not if I get them first! :rofl:

Update coming up!

The start of the year once again saw a reshuffle of the Upper House but it was not seen as radical as last year. The Conservatives managed only to gain a few seats back with both the Reactionaries and Liberals losing seats.


The start of the year also saw Spain ending the war on Morocco, earning a huge strip of land called Taza. However the biggest news of January 1838 was the coronation of Queen Victoria, Leopold I graciously accepted the invitation to London to celebrate.


March saw the Belgium navy gaining an extra transport ship which will hopefully be added to the navy in a few months. It was called the ‘Antwerpen’ in honour of the glorious city.

The Belgian navy shall be pleased, although in hindsight Belgium would have like to have built more fighting ships during this period.​

Around the world, the Otttoman Empire added Tripoli to its African colonies and Brazil gained the Bolivian Amazonas. In June France gained annexed the entirety of Tunisia. August saw Portugal gaining parts of Omani Africa, while declaring war on the nation of Zulu a month later. Egypt ended the war with Ethiopia with a standoff while Afghanistan took Birjand from Persia.


Hendrik Conscience published ‘De Vlaamse Leeuw’ was seen as a masterpiece especially amongst the Flemish population, but probably did not improve relations with the French.