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I'll write up the next update now, but forgive me if i don't finish it until tomorrow. I know there are more of you readers out there, please show yourself and comment, don't be shy! :)

hoi2geek: That's because Russia under Alexander III is a backward country full of illiterate serfs whereas The Netherlands is an Enlightened Despotism full of literate freemen. Besides, have you seen what policies the Dutch Reactionary party have? There basically a carbon-copy of the conservatives.

FlyingDutchie (1): At least the Dutch didn't employ Sir James Brooke, nor did they send General WhatshisnamewhofoughtNapoleon. Personally I quite like his turnaround.

FlyingDutchie (2): Thank You! Fixed.

Alex: Their loss is primarily due to switch in tactics by the Liberales, allowing them to take Zwolle and Arnhem and the rising popularity of the Royalists who took many new seats this election. Secondarily, it's due to the perception of the Agricultural Party as a, well.. Agricultural party. The rise of the Proletariat in Dutch society coincides with the rise of the Factory Owning elite, who are more inclined to vote with the more Industry-friendly Royalists or Liberales. For the next election I might be a little more in-depth with my election updates, showing the results of crucial seats (ie. Dekker, Thorbecke, van Prinster, etc.)

Enewald: That's because of Frederik's intervention, not in spite of. :)
 
I doubt a party founded entirely on religion will do much better than a party founded entirely on feudal land-owning concerns... I expect the Royalists holding power for quite a while... God forbid the evil spread of fertilizer factories :rofl:
 
One day, Frederik had a disturbing dream...

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Quite a few pictures (17) in this next update, apologies to Alex and his contest rules.
Speaking of, I'd just like to remind any judges reading (please feel free to comment Your Honours...) that the Election updates are not chapters and thus should not be judged. Or if you prefer you could judge all election updates as one big chapter (if this isn't okay Alex let me know). That's why I kept them separate from the regular chapters in the Contents page.

aldriq: They are based on the real-life Anti-Revolutionary party who were somehwhat successful in real life (main opposition party of the 1880's until about the 20's) but nowhere near as successful in-game (because they're Anarcho-Liberal, bloody Anarchists...). Maybe they will achieve some success in a coalition like they did in real life...

Alex: a more accurate description would be "Industrial Production under the Thorbecke Government (or perhaps that's ALL governments?)" I know ours produces it's fair share of male cow fertiliser.
 
Conference and Conquest: The Dekker/Rochussen Years 1857-62

The Conference of Rotterdam
With peace with Russia concluded, Ottoman Integrity restored (for now) and Wales safely in British hands, British Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen turned his attention to Asia. Queen Victoria remained confident that King Frederik was a close and trusted friend of the United Kingdom although the Prime Minister and his fellow Peelites in the House of Commons were unsure. Nevertheless, both could agree that war with the Netherlands so soon after a war with Russia would be inadvisable.

To diffuse tension between the two nations, Earl Aberdeen proposed that the two nations should meet at a conference hosted in the port city of Rotterdam. King Frederik consented and sent Rochussen to represent The Netherlands while His Majesty took a well-deserved vacation in Southern Africa, having long relished the opportunity to go on safari.

The conference began on the 28th of February, only three weeks after the election and concluded only three days later. The British agreed to recognise the Oranje Map under the condition that the British Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca and Penang) remain under British Control. In exchange, The Netherlands agreed to recognise Greater British India and, under the condition that one day Dai Qing would fall under the rule of Great Britain, the recognition of British Rule in China, save Dutch Macau.

What seemed to be a fair and equal deal to The Earl of Aberdeen was seen as exploitation by the "Earl" of Java. Rochussen knew that the odds of Britain ever controlling the whole of China was unlikely, and while the Oranje map strictly forbade British Colonisation in the East Indies, the British negotiations didn't stop the Dutch from doing anything outside of invading India. It was clear to everyone except Earl Aberdeen and the British negotiators who had got the most out of the proceedings; They were rightly criticized by Lord Palmerston at home (who would win the 1857 election in a landslide shortly after the conference) and by Jan Rochussen abroad, who later said "(Earl Aberdeen) knew nothing of the Orient"

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The Earl of Aberdeen, Chief British signatory of the Treaty of Rotterdam. His handling of the Crimean War and his failure to seek African concessions during the Conference of Rotterdam led him to be labeled one of the worst Prime Ministers in British History, second only to Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain

The Adventures of King Frederik
With business at home concluded His Majesty grew restless. He now had a Prime Minister to handle issues in his stead and as the country was at peace there was no armies to lead heroically as in the past. King Frederik had been a soldier all his life, he was a Prussian as well as a Dutchman after all.

Officially, King Frederik was to go on vacation in South Africa where he would meet up with the British Colonial Government to discuss the treatment of Boers in the Cape before going on safari in Transvaal, where he would stay at the expense of the Boer Government. The King was also keen to travel to British Natal and the Orange Free State, but only if he had time.

Of course, the British were far too busy with the Conference to notice that the King was not present despite being the most powerful man in The Netherlands, nor did they question the King's decision to depart with 3000 armed attendants in uniform in the middle of February despite the fact they were due to meet the Governor-General of South Africa in July. Indeed Frederik himself questioned how Britain was able to control a quarter of the world when the only Briton he knew of whose IQ exceeded that of a Rhesus monkey was Queen Victoria.

Unofficially, King Frederik had head much of the American Freebooters in South America and figured he'd give Freebooting a try. Madagascar was a country which had long been hostile to Western influence; It's Queen was famous for being an anti-western, anti-Christian tyrant bordering on insanity and was compared to with the likes of Emperor Caligula of ancient Rome. Her son Prince Rotoko however, was educated by a Frenchman and was known to be civilised and quite the Europhile. It seemed that putting the Prince on the throne would be an ideal cause to take up in the name of Civilisation, not to mention a Dutch-friendly nation in the region would be adequate compensation for the loss of the Cape.

Before heading to Madagascar, King Frederik made an unexpected visit to the British Protectorate of Durban in Zululand, where he visited the local chieftain and presented him with a gift, a brand new Dutch manufactured Breech-loading Rifle. King Frederik and his 3000-strong entourage of Royal Dutch soldiers stayed in the company of the warlike Zulu for a few days, where he sent advanced word of his intentions to the Prince's French tutor, Jean Laborde, who was asked to gain support for the young Prince from the inside.

The Dutch expedition landed on the eastern province of Toamasina where they were met by Prince Rotoko and an army of around 2000 natives; augmented further by around 1000 fierce Zulu warriors King Frederik had borrowed from his stay in Zululand the total strength of King Frederik's forces was around 6000. The Loyalists under Queen Ranavalona mustered an army of twice that number, but whereas the local Malagasy troops were untrained irregulars armed with whatever they could find (some Loyalists and most of Prince Rotoko's men had locally or French manufactured Flintlock Muskets, others used spears or wooden staves) Frederik's army were well trained, well disciplined and armed with the Dutch manufactured Chasse Rifle, the most advanced rifle of the era (and inspiration for further rifles, like the British Martini-Henry). The Zulu warriors though many had never seen a Rifle before, were brave and battle-ready as opposed to the untrained locals, and made excellent skirmishers.

The two forces met at the Battle of Toamasina. King Frederik had his better armed and trained Dutch troops form a square protecting the Prince and his entourage while the Zulu and native troops encircled the attacking Loyalist troops. This was a basic variation of the classical hammer and anvil strategy, with the Zulu/Malagasy troops acting as hammer to the Dutch Anvil. Within three hours or so, the battle was won and the Dutch forces marched on the capital. Antananarivo was taken a few days later and the Queen captured and executed in a manner most befitting Malagasy Royals; she was strangled.

DutchvsZulu.png

Valiant Dutch Troops at the Dattle of Toamasina protecting the Prince's tutor, Jean Laborde and his staff (wearing black). Notice their brave and fallen Zulu allies.

After the capture of the Capital, Prince Rotoko was installed as King Radama II of Madagascar. The wise and progressive king did not forget his allies and the Dutch were given many economic privileges in the island, the right to send Calvinist missionaries and establish missionary schools which taught the Dutch Language. King Frederik praised the young King Radama for his foresight and suggested that he learn Dutch so that they could better correspond with each other (King Frederik spoke French of course, but as a Fourth Language). As a token of friendship, Frederik had some of his troops stay behind and train the Malagasy New Model Army; the first army outside of the Dutch Empire trained along Frederikan/Dutch lines.

RadamaII.png

The now-legendary photograph of King Radama II de Grote van Madagascar (1829-1917). Under his glorious sixty year reign Madagascar was transformed from a backwards African state to a modern nation. It remains the only African nation to have never been colonised by Europeans and the First to enter an alliance with a European power.

Dutch Action and British Reaction
Unlike his predecessor, Lord Palmerston was an expert in foreign affairs and he rightly criticised the way the Earl of Aberdeen ran the Foreign Office. Disaster after disaster made the public lose confidence in the Earl and in the March elections him and the Peelites were soundly defeated, managing less than two percent of the vote; the biggest defeat for an incumbent Prime Minister in British History.

Palmerstonwon1857.png

Lord Palmerston won the 1857 Election in a landslide; partly due to his stances on Russia and China, partly due to his predecessor's incompetence.

Lord Palmerston was not as kind to the Dutch as his predecessor. His first act as Prime Minister was to declare war on China; he figured that if the Dutch were required to recognise British India's territorial integrity he would expand that territory as much as he could; the Chinese ban on the Opium trade might also have had something to do with it.

His second act was to deal with Anglo-Dutch ambitions in Southern Africa. Although Madagascar wasn't a Dutch Colony, it was under Dutch Influence and any Dutch Influence in the region would be good news for the hostile Boers in Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Palmerston knew that Queen Victoria was against any conflict with the Dutch as long as King Frederik was alive, and that an amicable solution was a viable and likely option.

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What became known as the "Palmerston Proposal", The Dutch would hold influence in Madagascar and Transvaal while the British would in Zululand and the Oranje Free State. Although the plan made concessions for a future Dutch Colony in the Comoros Islands, it provided no Dutch Concessions on the African mainland, effectively leaving Southern Africa to the British. The proposal was accepted by King Frederik during his stay in Cape Town.

Keeping Promises: Policy at Home
While 1857 had been an eventful year for politics abroad, the rest of Dekker's second term was largely dominated by internal policies. The most important of these was Jan Rochussen's establishment of the State of Java and the Loyal Senate, which administered the whole of The Dutch East Indies from Batavia.

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The establishment of the State of Java was one of Jan Rochussen's most important policies as Vice Prime Minister. It greatly impeded the Indonesian Home Rule movement and improved administrative efficiency in the whole of the Dutch east indies, thus increasing Dutch profits.

During this time of relative peace and stability, the Dekker government raised tariffs and slashed taxes, encouraging people from all walks of life to invest their earnings in state-funded projects. The Netherlands had the richest average populace in the world, with even vagrants and beggars investing in the Stock Market. With increasing industrialisation came increasing demand for coal and iron and investors flocked to invest in these commodities.

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Such was the demand for the commodities trade that a special commodities exchange was set up in Eindhoven to deal with demand. Profits surged during the early 1860's.

Foreign policy returned to the fore in 1860, with the Dekker government finishing construction of the Suez canal. This decreased shipping time between The Dutch East Asian Empire and The Netherlands proper making investment and trade in Asia even more profitable than before. The Netherlands quickly became the second richest nation in the world during this period.

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The Suez canal: the lifeline which held the Dutch East Asian Empire together.

The construction of the Suez canal coincided with the formal induction of Egypt into the Dutch Sphere of Influence. The Dutch Empire reached it's greatest height yet in 1860.

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Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in South America

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Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Egypt

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Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Africa

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Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Southeast Asia

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The Dutch Protectorates of Japan and Korea

Incorporating Bali
Bali-Lombok was a state with a long history of defiance against Dutch rule. During King Willem's reign, acts of transgression by Balinese troops in Makassar were common, as were cases of piracy and raids by Balinese pirates. Although these actions had largely ceased after the annexation of Aceh, many Nederlanders and Malay citizend of the Dutch East Indies had not forgotten them, and the newly founded Loyal Senate put pressure on the Dekker Government to keep it's election promise.

makassar.jpg

An example of Balinese transgression in Makassar (1836).

Prime Minister Dekker himself was keen to even the score with Bali, and war was declared on the 28th of January 1861. The pitiful Balinese louts and pirates were no match to the mighty veterans of the Batavia Colonial Army; The Battle of Bali was an easy victory for the Dutch who bravely slaughtered the entire Balinese "army".

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With Bali's military slaughtered in only one battle and Lombok only able to mount a token defence, attention turned to the exploits of Dutch Naval Engineers who achieved further success in the fields of steam propulsion and ship construction. Shipyards in Rotterdam and Batavia were soon teeming with life as the first Dutch Ironclad warships were placed under construction.

V2_183.jpg


The Island of Lombok fell on the 21st of October 1861 marking an end to the 300 year reign of the Balinese monarchy. It was also the last foreign state to be incorporated into the Dutch East Indies with only the indigenous peoples of central Borneo and East Papua left unincorporated.

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The Dutch East Indies after the Annexation of Bali-Lombok

Coming up next: the 1862 Election, then I'm not quite sure what! any suggestions?
 
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You abandoned the Oranje! :eek:

Well, it seems your colonial Empire is just about complete (until you can start colonising Africa). I therefore encourage you to throw yourself wholeheartedly into continential affairs.
 
Impressive gains, and Japan and Egypt look like valuable allies in the long run (although I have no idea how the sphere of influence thingy works exactly in this game). Nice to see the Dutch being a bit nicer to the Indonesians too, such policies tend to build stable empires.

However, with Palmerston in office, and a clash of interests in South Africa and China a Fifth Anglo-Dutch War is looming on the horizon.
 
I've been a bit absent lately but (re-)read all of it and you are doing great! Maybe you'll even manage to outprestige the British someday?
 
Quite a few pictures (17) in this next update, apologies to Alex and his contest rules.
Speaking of, I'd just like to remind any judges reading (please feel free to comment Your Honours...) that the Election updates are not chapters and thus should not be judged. Or if you prefer you could judge all election updates as one big chapter (if this isn't okay Alex let me know). That's why I kept them separate from the regular chapters in the Contents page.

Pictures are okay for this one, its not the first 5 chapters so i am generally more relaxed with the rules after that. (to a point)
How the Judges judge those chapters is ultimatly their decision, but i gave them a guideline to count them to the general impression of the AAR.

Thank you for the update Tanzhang!
Another excellent one :)
 
Tommy (1): Eh, we never liked the Boers until they found Diamonds anyway. :)

Tommy (2): Maybe it's time we reconsidered our splendid isolation, but not right now (focus on the military abroad led to neglect of the military at home).

FlyingDutchie (1): I just add countries into my SoI for show and Canal building. Indonesia will stay Dutch for a long time, and unlike in real life, if we ever Quit Indonesia the solution will be amicable.

FlyingDutchie (2): War with Great Britain? Not bloody likely :)

Qorten: Good to have you back! That's quite likely, we get our first trade fair in 1862 and I'm sure plenty more will follow if any of my other games are anything to go by ;)

Alex: In my defence most of those pictures were just showing countries in my Sphere. You'll notice i refrained from using pictures in the first half of the chapter.
 
How soon until this goes so far off the rails that you have to code your own events? Cause that can take a while....
 
Alex: In my defence most of those pictures were just showing countries in my Sphere. You'll notice i refrained from using pictures in the first half of the chapter.

Indeed. But if you wanted to you could make one picture out of all 5 your sphered countries pictures, that would serve the same purpouse.
It could be a larger one with a text "click to enlarge" under it for example. Thats what i would have done :)
(no need to do that now, unless you really want to)
 
I just saw it.... Congratulations to making it to an article on the forum-frontpage! :)

When and how did that happen?
 
Porkman: If such a situation ever arises, I'd just use my good old friend dramatic licence ;)

Alex (1): That would still be a rather large picture, no?

Alex (2): Kallocain sent me a PM about a week ago. I have no idea how he found out about this AAR and I assume he hasn't read it himself.

Aldriq (1): Yes they are! They're far more concerned with the British and the Mexicans.

Aldriq (2): They'll end up in my sphere. Back when i started this AAR i had only played four or five games of V2 and didn't know what I know now (that N&I lets you use a Protectorate CB against Siam) otherwise they'd end up like Johor. Mark my words though, if they ever break out and our infamy is low enough, they still might end up like Johor. :)

Scholar: Welcome! We haven't claimed Antarctica... yet...
 
Alex (1): That would still be a rather large picture, no?

Alex (2): Kallocain sent me a PM about a week ago. I have no idea how he found out about this AAR and I assume he hasn't read it himself.

Tanzhang (1): Pictures can be resized and cropped and be put together again (besides other things), its called image editing and i do that all the time, thats why i mentioned it :) It could be made into a moderate sized picture.

Tanzhang (2): Ahhh... that clears everything up then. Kallocain is a very nice SHE, btw ;) I talked with her via PM about where to find good AAR´s, and told her she should look at the Weekly AAR Showcase, and that was the time when you won it. :)
 
The 1862 Election

Religious division in The Netherlands
Conflict between Protestants and Catholics has been present in Dutch society since the Reformation. These conflicts were the catalyst for the rebellion of 1830 and persisted long after the war of Unification. The Liberale Party was known for it's lenient stance towards the Catholics and indeed boasted many Catholic Members of Parliament.

Some in the party however felt that the Liberales had done too little to advance the cause of the Catholics, who still were cut off from the Church in Rome and faced discrimination in some areas of Dutch life. This led to some Catholic MPs to call on Thorbecke to campaign for the reintroduction of the Catholic Dioceses.

Thorbecke himself was for the idea, but knew that such a move would anger many conservative Dutch Protestants. He refused to campaign on the promise of reintroducing the Dioceses, a move which disenfranchised many Catholic Liberale MPs.

One such MP, Pierre de Decker for Ghent, threatened to secede from the Liberales and form his own party campaigning for greater rights for Catholics if Thorbecke refused to put the issue on the party's agenda for the next election. Thorbecke, underestimating the influence of the Liberale party's Catholics refused to put the issue on the election agenda, leading to the Liberale-Katholieke split. The issue on whether or not to reintroduce the Catholic Dioceses would dominate the 1862 election.

Royalist Party (Oranje Partij)
Unlike the last election, the Royalists entered the 1862 election without any strong policies. With The Dutch East Indies unified it seemed as if the Dutch had ran out of places to conquer and since internal policy was working, there was little need for the party to change from it's current polices. As a Protestant Party, they favoured the status quo in regards to religious policy. Dekker contested the Prime Ministership for his third term with the popular Jan Rochussen as Vice PM.

Liberale Party (Liberale Partij)
Thorbecke continued with the policies he trumpeted throughout his entire career; greater freedom of the press and increasing the power of the lower house. His decision to keep the status quo in regards to religious policy led to the exodus of many southern MPs, so Thorbecke focused on the Protestant north.

Rooms-Katholieke
The Liberale Party splinter faction, known simply as Rooms-Katholieke (Roman Catholic) were led by Flemish author and statesman Pierre de Decker. Pierre was a charismatic and effective leader; he kept the Party in the news headlines and in the public eye, and unlike Thorbecke, he campaigned across the entire country even in predominately Calvinist areas. Decker was famous for his attempt to spread Dutch and Dutch-language education and literature in the southern provinces and his attempts to appeal to Protestants rather than just Catholics were crucial to the eventual acceptance of Catholics by Dutch Protestants.

PierredeDecker.png

Pierre de Decker won the approval of many liberal Protestants with his pleas for religious unity, including King Frederik

Calvinistische Zuil Partij (CZP)
The Religious split was fuel to Guillaume's machine. The CZP leader fueled Protestant outrage at the Catholic proposal, and campaigned for the complete segregation of Protestant and Catholic society. His radical policy known as verzuiling (pillarisation) advocated separate institutions for Nederlanders based on their faith: Catholics would have their own Newspapers, Schools, Hospitals, Social Groups, Restaurants, etc. and Protestants likewise. Guillaume's proposal was radical yet popular, even among some Catholics and like Pierre de Decker Guilliame campaigned in both the north and the south, though he focused primarily on the north in regions like Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven.

Other Parties
The 1862 Election heralded the debut of the Social Democratic Party. In a country where capitalism was so integrated into culture that even the poorest members of society invested in the stock market, traditional Socialism had little appeal. The party received less than 1 percent of the popular vote.

The Ex-Radical Party members gave their support to the Roman Catholic Faction; following the election it's members either joined the Liberale Party or the newly-formed WNP.

Election Results

Election1862.png

The election results were a shock to both the Royalists and the Liberales, but especially to the Liberales. The latter only held two seats while the former held only seven; nearly half of what they won last election. The Roman Catholic faction won the most seats at eight, while the newly-formed CZP won six. No party had enough seats to form government

1862popularvote.png

Although they won less seats than last election, the Royalists still came first in the popular vote.

The Royalist/CZP Coalition Government

The 1862 election was a disaster for the Liberales and to say Thorbecke underestimated the influence of the Catholics is an understatement. Even if he entered into a coalition with the Catholics, his party wouldn't be able to form government and one with the CZP or Royalists was out of the question.

The Royalists on the other hand had no qualms about forming a coalition with the CZP, after all they did so with the old Agricultural Party in 1852. Unlike 1852, the CZP had the power, not the Royalists and Guillaume knew it. He demanded that if a Coalition was to be formed he would serve as Deputy PM and as Minister of Religion, which meant that Deputy PM Jan Rochussen would have to go.

Seizing the initiative to save his own skin, Rochussen issued a leadership challenge against Dekker, citing the party's poor election result as proof of Dekker's poor leadership. Dekker was powerless to resist, his party wanted to be in government and as Rochussen had led the negotiations with Guillaume, if anything happened to him the negotiations might break down, leaving a possible Liberale coalition in power.

Rochussen knew that it wasn't Dekker's fault and that he was still a capable and effective administrator; he offered Dekker the position of Foreign Secretary but on His Majesty's advice Dekker refused, and resigned from politics with honour. King Frederik honoured his friend by granting him a life peerage, and offering him the position of Governor of Formosa (Gouverneur van Formosa) which he accepted. King Frederik accepted the new government and Jan Jacob Rochussen was sworn in as the second Prime Minister of the Netherlands on the 22nd of December 1862 with Guillaume Groen van Prinster sworn in as Deputy PM the same day. Pierre de Decker had the last laugh though with King Frederik re-introducing the Catholic Diocese only one month after government had been formed; his faction subsequently rejoined the Liberale Party.

1862popularvote2.png

By compromising and forming a coalition, the Royalists/CZP had 13 seats out of 23 and a two-thirds majority in the popular vote
 
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