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Not that I'm complaining, but the Whigs are also part of the coalition.

The only thing the Whigs got out of this coalition was not having the reds in it, and I'm complaining.
And I say it as Whig supporter since '36
 
The only thing the Whigs got out of this coalition was not having the reds in it, and I'm complaining.
And I say it as Whig supporter since '36

They got nice comfy chairs in the government benches! What more do you want?
 
They got nice comfy chairs in the government benches! What more do you want?

Since you're asking; having a say in what the government does would be really nice.
 
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Glad to know you're better now, Attack. An update is the best way to bring everyone into the right path ;)
 
The Fourth Parliament – 1851-1858 (Part 2)

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As Britain and her allies readied themselves for war Lord Raglan, working closely with allied Generals, developed an overall strategy for the war. Raglan was a veteran of both the Napoleonic and British Civil Wars, having served closely with the Duke of Wellington in both conflicts, and in 1854 was Britain’s leading General.

Raglan feared that with the ongoing war in Vietnam Britain was at serious risk of becoming overstretched. There was an especially great fear that either of Britain’s two principle enemies in Europe, France or the Netherlands (the two countries who benefitted most from the collapse of the British Empire), might use the opportunity to further their own ambitions over Belgium. It was therefore concluded that the Belgium army should remain at home (the admittedly pitiful Belgian fleet was sent to the Mediterranean to take part in the war) whilst Britain was to keep 36,000 men on home soil – leaving just 24,000 to send to face the Turks. However, the vast majority of the Republican Navy was too sail to the Mediterranean.

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Against the Turks the three armies of the Swedes, Danes and Brits developed a comparatively simple plan. From Swedish Tunisia the Swedes and Danes would face the Turkish invaders before advancing into Tripolitania. A small force of Swedes – supported by an even smaller force of British troops – would invade the island of Cyprus. But the crucial hammer blow against the Ottoman Empire was to be wielded by Lord Raglan’s 24,000 troops. They were to, with the support of massive naval power, seize control of the Bosporus and with it the Queen of Cities herself. It was hoped that without her capital the Ottoman Empire would be forced to surrender.

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The start of the war went very well for the allies. It took just a couple of months for the Swedes and Danes to turn the fear of total defeat in Tunisia (as the Turks bettered the much smaller Swedish garrison and advanced on Tunis) into a great victory. Landing troops both in Tunis and to the South of the Turkish army the Scandinavians were able to encircle and utterly annihilate the Ottoman invasion force. They were soon readying themselves for an advance into Turkish territory. At the same time the invasion of Cyprus began whilst those few Turkish warships that were willing to go out to sea were sunk by the much larger and more modern Republican Navy.

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With successes elsewhere the importance of victory in the Bosporus was amplified and some started to hope that a quick victory could indeed be won. To the delight of Lord Raglan he found the Turkish defence of this vital region to be sorely lacking. Without the numbers to destroy the British landing the Turks withdrew into Constantinople and prepared for what would be a long siege. It was September 23rd 1854.

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In the Far East, the outbreak of war in Europe had radically changed the aims of the expedition. Now the British were no longer hoping to annex the entirety of Annam, the focus was now on merely securing the rich Southern part of the country and as soon as possible. Landing troops to the South of Saigon and in Cambodia the British advanced to a site near Saigon where they faced the combined armies of Cambodia and Annam. The British were triumphantly victorious. As 2/3s of the army settled down to securing Cambodia and Cochinchina 12,000 men marched North towards the Annamese capital of Hanoi. In early 1855 they defeated a new Annamese army before advancing on the capital and bringing it under siege. With that the Emperor accepted the British demands and 36,000 men were readied to sail for the Balkans.

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The news that reinforcements were on their way proved to be a great boost for morale. In recent months the British around Constantinople had been forced to deal with a concerted effort by the Turks to relieve their city. These offensives had caused huge casualties and even allowed for the Sultan to escape from the city – however by the winter they had clearly failed in their aim and the Turks withdrew into the Balkans to quell a small Bulgarian uprising and reorganise.

The new troops would be landed near Salonika in Greece, in Epirus and in Albania.

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On August 17th 1855, after nearly a year, the Siege of Constantinople came to an end as the city surrendered to Lord Raglan’s army. Better still the important industrial city of Izmit had recently fallen as well. It was a triumphal moment for Britain and is widely regarded as the high point of the Disraeli administration. Prior to the victory the war in the Ottoman Empire had not descended into a full scale bloodbath. After it the newly reorganised Turkish army would launch a massive assault on all British positions – in both the Balkans and Asia Minor.

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Just as the British had always feared in September the war spread to Europe. However the catastrophe of a French invasion of Belgium did not occur – instead it was the Dutch who crossed to border. The Dutch had made more than one large scale attempts to restore their rule in Belgium since the Belgian Revolution, but each time they had failed. Now feeling emboldened by the news that the British were now even more committed to focussing on the Balkans and a recent modernisation of their own military the Dutch felt confident that they could at the very least reclaimed some parts of Flanders.

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They were proven to be badly mistaken. After a brief success in capturing the city of Antwerp an Anglo-Belgian Army utterly crushed the Dutch near Rotterdam. Worse still, British steam powered vessels crushed the Dutch Navy off the coast of Amsterdam and proceeded to blockade the entire country from the sea. In March British troops were landed in Holland in order to bring the city of Amsterdam under siege from the land as well as the sea. Within a week of being cut off from the rest of the country the King of the Netherlands accepted a white peace. He had been utterly humiliated as his great ambitions of conquest had led to nothing but the devastation of much of his country and the loss of even more of his armed forces.

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Back in the Ottoman Empire the grinding slaughter began after the concerted Turkish offensives of late 1855 led to the development of many advances in war hospitals by one Florence Nightingale who set up a military hospital in Constantinople.

Back on the front there was intense frustration for both sides. The British, Swedes and Danes were suffering heavy casualties and making slow progress – but the Turks were failing to push the invading armies back into the sea. In the end the Turkish offensives acted only the wear both sides out and pave the way for peace.

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The Allies occupied several coastal regions in the Balkans and Bosporus, the islands of Cyprus and Lesbos as well as a reasonably large section of Tripolitania.

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In June 1856 the Anglo-Swedish-Turkish War came to a close with a rather unsatisfying peace for all parties.

The Swedes gained Western Tripolitania and the British the island of Cyprus. Of all the parties Britain had gained the most. Cyprus was an extremely strategic island and an ideal naval base, for the first time since the losses of Malta and Gibraltar Britain could now effectively project its power into the Mediterranean without the need to rely upon the ports of its allies. The war also reasserted Britain’s position on the European stage as it had soundly defeated two significant European powers.

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However, victory in the War proved to be the last great achievement of the Disraeli government. After enjoying an incredible boom in popularity in the aftermath of the capture of Constantinople and the defeat of the Dutch the government’s popularity started to wane due to general dissatisfaction with the high casualties and lack of progress once the Turks began their offensive. The peace treaty was greeted by general public indifference – whilst glad to see an end to the war many felt that Cyprus did not make up for the sacrifices of two years of war.

On the international stage Britain’s newfound reputation as Europe’s aggressive ‘badboy’ ended hopes of friendship with the North German Federation, Spain and Portugal. At the same time the Americans started to back away from Britain slightly – unwilling to improve ties any further and mostly concerned with fighting a bloody war in Mexico.

The War had been exceedingly expensive and by its end the British government had accrued a mind boggling £180,000 in debt. Inherently financially prudent the Tories pushed hard for tax rises to help address the deficit. Although these moves were very successful (by the end of the Parliament the debt had plummeted to just £120,000) they did not endear Disraeli’s government to the public and caused friction between the more fiscally dovish Liberals and to a lesser extent the Whigs as well. These new found tensions within the government actually made the tax rises even harsher as Disraeli made sure not the raise high tariffs (knowing how the issue of tariffs was more potent than any other in uniting Liberals and Whigs against Tories).

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In late 1856 and early 1857 several political movements would further weaken once unwavering grip of the Tories over the coalition. In October former Prime Minister Earl Russell stepped down from the leadership of the Liberal Party in favour of Lord Palmerston – most well known for his development of the BADF Doctrine and his high ranking positions in both Disraeli’s and Russell’s cabinets over the past decade. Palmerston was regarded as much more appealing to the free trade Tories (the old diehard supporters of Robert Peel, 30-40 Tory MPs could be considered ‘Peelites’). In January 1857 Palmerston successfully agreed to a deal with the Whig Party leadership for the reunification of the party. With the stronger Liberal Party already so close to the Whigs in its political positions and public support for both parties waning it was hoped that by reunited the two could present both a stronger front in the coalition and stand a chance of renewed electoral success. During 1857 Palmerston, whilst never becoming outright hostile to Disraeli and the Tories, became increasingly demanding within the coalition as he sought equality in status for both partners and most importantly of all a greater say in the budget.

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The British Empire at the beginning of 1858

Over the course of 1857, that final year of the Disraeli administration, events would occur far away from Britain that would change the world forever ....
 
No.

Its just that the special overseas event tht will get its own update is going to hae big conciquences back in the UK which I'll also write about in said update. But the governmet stays as one. ;)

Oh, ok. I misunderstood the way the update was going.

Is it going to be up soon!

:D

Also, how did you learn to mod, I need this knowlegde! :d
 
Oh, ok. I misunderstood the way the update was going.

Is it going to be up soon!

:D

Also, how did you learn to mod, I need this knowlegde! :d

The update should come out some time this week.

I basically learnt to mod usng trial and error :p

Its suprisinly easy with the way vicki2's files are set out. Just go play around with them and you'd be suprised at how much you can change. If I ever got stuck I could also rely on reading threads in the modding section on this forum - this was pretty useful at times.
 
Ouch, the war has costed too much and won too few...

Far away from Britain? What could it be?
 
I basically learnt to mod usng trial and error :p

Its suprisinly easy with the way vicki2's files are set out. Just go play around with them and you'd be suprised at how much you can change. If I ever got stuck I could also rely on reading threads in the modding section on this forum - this was pretty useful at times.

Thx a doddle chum, rousing AAR btw!
 
Interesting...and quite plausible. A Tory government married to the Liberals would be loathe to raise tariffs, thus leading to the tax increases that would be so difficult.

There should be a slowly rising liberal tide coming through as the administration moves onward. Palmerston is right to ask for more power...

As to outside events, has Nippon decided to westernize? What of China?
 
Great update. However, this "great event" troubles me. I fear Civil War in the States. (A war which, when it happens, I hope we will support the Union in).
 
great update, very nice. Hm, I wonder what the event could be. An outbreak of war among the other nations of Europe? War across the Atlantic? Or developments in the Far East? Hm. This should be very interesting.
 
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So what has those wars give us? Piles of bodies, that's what! We're conquering countries far from Britain and we fought the Ottomans over an island full of Greek and Turkish sheep herders. What good will that give us? End this insanity now and vote Labour in the next election.
 
So what has those wars give us? Piles of bodies, that's what! We're conquering countries far from Britain and we fought the Ottomans over an island full of Greek and Turkish sheep herders. What good will that give us? End this insanity now and vote Labour in the next election.

So we can bring back the insanity of the British revolution? Nah...not for me.

Vote moderate in the next election. Don't listen to the extremist parties. Long live the Republic!
 
Great update, indeed.

Looking at the bright side of things, a naval base in Cyprus would be of great strategic importance if we carved our way through Suez, methinks
 
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