Alright, here's the first update of actual gameplay - I'm trying out a narrative/diary style out this time, inspired by the Croatian AAR by Anjwalker, and if it works well, following posts will have the same style.
This first post's content is mostly bureaucratic stuff, nothing really exciting happened, but just wait until the one after this!
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1836
Extracted from the Diary of Karl Friedrich Tscharner, President of the Tagsatzung
January 1st, 1836
Today was the first day of government since Bern acquired the presidency this year. I hope to do my people proud, but there is much work to be done. My ministers were all very inactive today on the first day working, and I think it was either due to the cold weather, or because they had spent all night last night celebrating the Bernese presidency at the Cross of Laeken tavern - perhaps I could have done better than make all my drinking buddies ministers.
Nevertheless, we forged ahead! Due to the administrative inefficiency in the eastern cantons, we decided to take in some emigrant French aristocrats to manage the land, and encourage further investment from foreign nobility - the hope is that the distribution of land will allow for easier communication of bureaucratic measures. The alternative proposed to the board of ministers by the Tagsatzung was to set up an expensive, Zurich-based educational program to train clerks, but we haven't the money to spare.
I've decided as well we should sent some gifts and the like to the French King, he might be miffed about us taking in some politically dissident nobles. I'll remind my secretary tomorrow, Clarence has the diplomatic touch.
Of course, we balanced the budget too - the Finance Minister, Charles-Godefroy de Grosse-Table is from Geneva, and in typical Genevan fashion, would not shut up about his tariffs. I hope he's not going to be this difficult all year. We allocated a certain portion of the budget to a promising researcher, living in Zurich, from Britain. He's working on something he calls a "rail road", and I understand it will be an iron contraption of some kind that can replace horse-drawn carriages. It had something to do with water, so I imagine paddles will be involved at some point? Ah well, I never had a head for science.
Extracted from the Diary of Karl Friedrich Tscharner, President of the Tagsatzung
April 6th, 1836
[...] and that damn Grosse-Table still won't leave me be with his damn tariffs.
Karla, Georg and I went out for a walk this afternoon. I had hoped to catch the
Chinoiserie exhibition at the park, and I was planning there to discuss with Georg his desired marriage with Antonetta G., that charming Italian girl with the father who works in agriculture. I never got around to doing that though.
As we were walking down the street, Karla observed a crowd gathering by a newspaper kiosk. I had not seen that day's paper, so I sent Georg and Karla on ahead to the park, while I went to have a look. Karla does so detest crowds, so I thought I'd spare her the indignity of the rabble. As it turns out, it was not the paper, but a man putting up large posters. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and ask what was going on, but the man was incredibly vulgar and shrugged at me. I think, had he known my position, he would have been more respectful!
I read the message, which was addressed to the members of the Tagsatzung! It was a plea by a family concerning the incarceration of one of their relatives. It seemed that the man in question had robbed a series of banks, and so was sentenced to a life in the prisons of Bern. The plea for mercy seemed genuine enough to me, and I inquired the members of the crowd as to their views on the subject - after all, the common man often has much to say with reason, despite his unmistakable scent! It seems the bank robber had run afoul of a criminal gang in the lower city, and was forced into his position by circumstance. There was attached to the poster a petition, and I recognized the names of prominent clergymen and men of the law. I left without of course divulging my position - but I took care to send a missive to Clarence that he work on reviewing the case, there may be some way to accommodate the family's grief and also serve justice...
Extracted from the Personal Correspondence of Charles-Godefroy de Grosse-Table, Finance Minister
June 25th, 1836
And so, my dearest Maria, it is with pleasure that I have finally managed to convince the President to increase tariffs! You remember, I wrote to you of them last week. It is very important that we maintain a tight control over the products entering the country, I hear many substances might poison the moral fabric of our society! Tscharner seemed very agitated when he signed off on it. He broke a pen the first attempt, actually. I also thought I saw a nerve bulge on his forehead as he dug the pen into the paper (almost ripped right through it). I understand his son Georg is getting married to an Italian pig-farmer's daughter - it must be upsetting him greatly. I tell you though, if these tariffs go through, we won't have to worry about any Italian pigs coming over here to take our women! At 25%, they'd be damn rich pigs, I say!
Extracted from the Diary of Karl Friedrich Tscharner, President of the Tagsatzung
December 1st, 1836
We caught wind from one of our French informants today that the French are planning to challenge the Dutch over the security of their colonial holdings in South America. A war of great magnitude is preparing itself, and as the Dutch are allied with Portugal and Prussia - I do not foresee a minor shedding of blood. I gave word to increase the funding we give our troops for their ammunition stores and uniforms - No doubt a Swiss declaration of neutrality will prevent them from somehow dragging us into their conflict, but we shall have to wait and see.
Georg told me today Antonetta is pregnant, but the looming conflict is a terrible omen. I shall discuss it with Father Iago tomorrow after Mass.
1837
Transcript of a Speech by Josef Amrhein, President of the Tagsatzung and Leader of the Konservative Fraktion
January 1st, 1837
My friends, colleagues, and fellow compatriots! Let us begin our new year and inaugurate our new government by a celebration of our country's glorious progress over the last two decades since the fall of that tyrant Bonaparte! [cheers, applause] But let us neither dwell on our past victories, and forge onwards towards new ones! My government will, with your help, return to what is truly Swiss, what is truly ours, and wipe away the Act of Mediation once and for all. My fellow members of the Konservative Fraktion [applause from the right-wing of the floor, whistling from the left] will no doubt aid me in this task, but I ask also that my erstwhile opponents from the Freisinnige Fraktion join us in our holy duty!
Nor do I forget the Katolisch Konservative who have and still shall steward this nation on behalf of its people. We are in coalition, and together, we can lead this country on the road to glory!
Extracted from the Diary of Karl Friedrich Tscharner, Leader of the Katolisch Konservative Party
January 1st, 1837
Amrhein is fooling himself if he thinks the Konservative Fraktion will wield more power than the Katolisch Konservative party. We didn't accommodate him last year, we shan't this year. Naturally, we will seek out similar policies to him, since we are both trying to block the Liberals, but it is unlikely they will become the ruling party. Still the surge of their power might be a reflection of growing insecurity among the upper classes towards some reforms I carried out last year - we shall see how this government handles things. I'm pleased to note that Amrhein has taken Grosse-Table to be his Finance Minister. We'll see how he likes tariffs.
Extracted from the Memoirs of Josef Amrhein, President of the Tagsatzung
Chapter 9: President Me
It was in early 1837, on the 21st of January (I kept an accurate diary during my time in government), that we began looking into the possibility of installing railroads to travel the low areas of Northern Switzerland. The technology was still being experimented with, but the essence of it was there. I did feel that something important would be connected to these metallic machines though, even in those early years. Of course, this was also the time when I had begun reading the great Catholic
philosophes of the time, so no doubt there was more than a little to influence my thoughts! I remember reading Chateaubriand, De Maistre, even De Bonald. I spent copious amounts of time in the library at the Tagsatzung Hall, hoping one day to be able to apply my knowledge to better govern my people. I was, in essence, researching ideological thought, though I'd hate to admit it now.
Extracted from the Memoirs of Josef Amrhein, President of the Tagsatzung
Chapter 9: President Me
I mentioned earlier in this chapter, before the episode with the killer pigeon crisis of early February, that I had been reading into ideologies. Now, while this connection may not seem entirely relevant to the killer pigeons, I assure you it is, as I shall elaborate on in my next chapter [Editor's Note: Chapter 10, Pigeons of Death, and How I Turned to Drinking]. Nevertheless, an important part of that connection was this leaflet that circulated throughout Bern at the time:
Of course, at the time I had no idea it would lead to where it did - I don't think any of us, Liberals included, did. No doubt this was one of the many documents that influenced the course of events after the War of 1841... I had always blamed it personally on the reopening of that steel factory. Grosse-Table insisted. The man is so damn persistent. He also convinced me to sign on to fund the construction of the clothes factory in Geneva, not ten days afterwards. Unbelievable man, let me say that now! [Editors' Note: at this point Amrhein's writing becomes a bit sloppier - it seems he had hit the bottle while writing those last couple of lines, though it is only conjecture. Amrhein's alcoholism was not confirmed until the next year]
Extracted from the Diary of Karl Friedrich Tscharner, Leader of the Katolisch Konservative Party
March 20th, 1837
I was accompanying Georg and Antonetta (it is now quite obvious she is with child, I have no doubt it will be healthy boy to carry on the Tscharner line!) on a stroll down to the park, when we came across a large gathering of youths outside a cafe. I was surprised by this, as it was only just past lunch time, and usually the students are in classes at the moment. I stopped one who was coming outside for a puff on his pipe, and asked what was going on.
"We're having a meeting," he said "for the Bern Student Movement for Political Freedom."
"What is that?" I asked, since I had never heard of the thing before.
"We are campaigning and organizing for the introduction of greater reforms in the government. Amrhein is doing nothing to improve the conditions of the working classes!"
While I agreed with the young man on the President's relative ineptness (thanks Heavens he picked more competent ministers), I could not really approve of his notions or their actions. I thanked the young man, and went on my way to the pond. I can't say I enjoyed that afternoon much, consumed as I was by these new developments. Despite the reactionary push in the last shuffling of the Tagsatzung, it seemed the streets were growing more liberal every day.
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I had planned to go all the way until 1841 with this post, but the style draws it out quite extensively - If I continue with it shall have to make year-based posts, which would then take forever, but it is fun to do and creates good sense of character... Any suggestions? I'm also thinking of leaving out certain things.
So I'll cut it here for now, but this update still had a whiles left to go, so no extremely exciting update until a bit later.