Arakhor: Hey, she's got to do something with herself...right?
But yes, she has indeed scored more than a few points over the years.
Momento Mori: Hmm, the Civil War is a good example of a time when she deliberately engineered events to cause violence.
Loki: Thanks! Yes, it is a very personal feud between them, and also it shows some interesting things about her Ladyship's relation with John too.
Chapter 39a – The Unfortunate Queen Elizabeth II
Summarised from Chapter 10of ’Britannia Triumphant’ by Lady Mendenhall.
Queen Elizabeth II was only eight years old when her father died. Parliament was naturally quite willing to step in and rule in her place. Even once she became fully grown she would find increasingly that Parliament and the Chief Minister would handle policy decisions for her.
Unfortunately this was not much to Elizabeth’s liking. The Queen, even when a child, was out of her time. She was a monarch for a different age, and would have fitted in well with the Greys or the early de Veres. The problem was that it was far too late for the clock to be turned back to before the Civil War. The Queen would have to follow the restrictions and codes imposed on her, and there was no way around that.
The Queen herself never fully accepted this reality. And for her entire reign chose to be obstinate and prickly. She had no love for the Wheats who she accused of being republicans and potentially disloyal.
However, Chief Minister Amherst survived two attempts by the Queen to remove him from power, and she was forced into sulky acceptance.
Amherst meanwhile had won his battle, but it took several years to repair the damage.
As soon as he was confident that he could implement his program of reform, Amherst set about a major military reorganisation. The modern Regimental System dates from this time, as did the official adoption of the famous redcoats and a great period of military expansion.
Also of note was the formalisation of the commission purchasing system, by which an officer could buy his way up the ranks to that of Colonel. However, for artillery, engineers or naval officers the policy remained through seniority. The sale of the commissions in the world’s largest army was a major boon for the British Government and provided a great deal of income.
With all this income coming in a war was needed. Though generally against Wheat policy, Amherst chose Utrecht as his first target. The resulting conflict was swift and led to the integration of that bishopric into the British crown. It also saw the emergence of Benjamin Baffin, one of Britain’s greatest military leaders ever.
For centuries western contact with China had been limited. However, in the late 17th century the British occupied and colonised Taiwan, and established trading stations on the mainland. The Chinese were annoyed by these upstarts, but did not impede British or other European trade. However in 1730 the dynasty fell and the Cao family took possession of the crown. China had many debts and costs due to the instability and moved in to seize the valuable trading areas.
When Parliament heard of this outrage they were determined on war, and a large army under Baffin was sent to China and there he utterly defeated repeated forces sent by the Emperor to trap him. This battle marked the first time that specialist British rifle regiments had been included. The rifle itself had been perfected just a few years before by Jeremiah Hopkins, and these units proved lethal to the outmatched Chinese troops.
Despite the victory though Amherst had become unpopular among his own party for his extravagant lifestyle. In a party coup he was ousted by Geoffrey Wolfe, who became Chief Minister on the back of good economic news. British dominance of trade in the Americas had led to new theories of economics, put forward by Allen Smith. Under these new ideas the colonial organisation became all the greater.
In 1735 though, the same year as the Chinese had been defeated, a new crisis arose. The Spanish crown had been suffering from considerable internal problems as the de Vere monarch fought to maintain control over the Catalan and Andalusian portions of the realm. This, combined with significant colonial possessions in Central America made war certain.
However, Geoffrey Wolfe was little better than Amherst, and the Wheats very nearly lost the election. Only his removal and a deal with several independent MPs allowed the Wheats to hang on. Their new leader, William Strathfield immediately demanded and got war with Spain with a view towards seizing those American territories.
The war that followed was rather one sided. Wracked by rebellion, the Spanish fleets and armies crumbled away. The Spanish King himself charged to his death near Pamplona, and straight into an emplaced British army which killed or scattered the whole Spanish force for the loss of 132 men.
Spain’s defeat was quick, and in less than a year Spain lost all their American lands except for Alaska. Humiliated, the Spanish nation soon broke, and their monarch was overthrown.
In 1737 the Queen, marginalised, unpopular with government and people, became ill. Her brother Thomas and only heir also became ill, the two of them possibly suffering from pneumonia. When he died the Queen felt she had lost the only one who she cared for, and she died not long after.
Queen Elizabeth had perhaps the most unhappy reign of any English or British monarch. Out of sync with the times, she was hemmed in on all sides by men who neither respected nor listened to her. When at last she died Queen Elizabeth left no viable heir, and it was up to Parliament to sort out the mess left behind.
Just who it was that would inherit the throne and the government was yet to be seen!