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Congratulation Presidente Zepeda! (I am back once again, hopefully permanently).

I have no recollection of the past election as unfortunately I was off climbing the illustrious Andes of our Sublime Republic, and finding myself again in the loving embrace of Democratic Chile. Hopefully everything will be made clear to me upon reflection of the official documents. I notice I am Minister of Treasury(?), I will be honored to do my most to Liberalize the economics for the future of Sublime Republican Democratic Illustrious Fabulous Beauteous Loving (etc. etc.) Chile.
 
Zepeda 1871-1873: Not Radical Enough​

The Zepeda Administration of 1871 began its life with a crisis. After numerous power-sharing deals between Zepeda and the Republicanos, the Liberal-Conservative-Radical coalition government finally took its place in Santiago, with the Ministry of the Interior reserved for Cortez himself and the War Ministry to be staffed by a qualified individual of Cortez's choosing. After some debate, Cortez picked the former security minister Weissmuller for the job, leaving Zepeda to nominate Subercaseaux to the State Department, Aragon to the Treasury, and former President De Santa Rosa to a newly formed Ministry of Economic Development. This bargain unto and of itself had been hard enough; however, Zepeda soon learned that his troubles were not over.

Under the Army Chief of Staff Act of 1867, the Congreso had the power to appoint an Army Chief of Staff. The appointment of any General officer required the consent of both the President and the Army Chief of Staff - Zepeda had himself supported this act when it had first come before the congress in 1866. However, the Congress's Chief of Staff - José Antonio Vargas - was a known Socialist. Fortunately or unfortunately, Vargas fell extremely ill in early 1871, forcing him to resign his office before he could negotiate the general appointments with Zepeda. The resultant chaos in the Congreso (who had endured a grueling electoral process to appointment Vargas in the first place) gave Zepeda the latitude to appoint generals of his choosing throughout the country, mostly candidates drawn from his own party and the jingoistic wings of the Republicanos.

After this bumpy start, Zepeda's actual administration term of office proceeded smoothly, continuing in the vein of economic growth under De Santa Rosa's leadership. With De Santa Rosa still in the economic offices, a series of factories continued to pop up all over Chile - though the small arms factory that the Economic Minister continued to elude the government. In October 1872, De Santa Rosa succeeded in securing a contract with the American armorers Colt for the purchase of blueprints for their factories and the import of necessary goods to build a standardized small arms factory - despite this success, Chile's capitalists continued to refuse to construct any such factory. De Santa Rosa's second success came in early 1873, when he clinched negotiations regarding the import of locomotives and railroad plans from abroad (discussions ongoing since the Badajoz administration), finally beginning the construction of the Chilean railroad network.

Alvarez, still Fleet Admiral of the Chilean Navy and one of Chile's longest serving military officers, continued to pursue his five-point plan with renewed support from the highly jingoistic Zepeda administration. He quickly succeeded in the first point - modernization - by the establishment of a new corps of naval engineers and a new officer school in Valaparaiso designed to retrain the navy for service on modern Iron Steamers. Over the next two years, Chile would obtain blueprints from the UK and the US for state-of-the-art ironclads and monitors. Alvarez then turned his attention to the second point in his plan: facilities, where he encountered his first stumbling block. "Under current free market policies," he wrote to Zepeda in the fall of 1871, "the construction of a navy would primarily fall to private contractors, but we note that Chile has no naval industry and Minister De Santa Rosa has noted to me in confidence that free marketeers are unlikely to build any, with construction of the railroads currently saturating industrial infrastructure along our coasts. However, I have learned from the files of the state department that there has been some talk of the construction of the purchase of a strip of land in Colombian Balboa for the construction of a canal - if these reports are accurate, I would further note that Colombian Balboa possesses several existing modern naval facilities that would be suitable for naval construction."

Indeed, the foreign office under Subercaseaux had heavily discussed construction of a panama canal with Colombia, but present technological limitations (notably the lack of necessary heavy equipment) had been a stumbling point in the discussions. Most of Subercaseaux's Ministry's efforts were devoted to the so-called "faux-war" in Brazil, a fierce struggle for diplomatic dominance between Chile and France in Brazil. After years of effort, in May 1873, Subercaseaux finally convinced Brazil to break its treaty of common market with France, ending an institution that had existed for three decades. However, by the end of 1873, Chile had yet to entice Brazil into a new common market treaty.

However, the administration was not all successes. A battery of new factory construction across Chile also came with a measure of factory closure, and the spikes in unemployment across the country from factories closed on an owner's whim or market fluctuations caused significant dissent from the opposition socialist faction, given voice by the FNT. This first became apparent from an act of sabotage in July 13, 1872, which the government denounced as an act of violence by radical socialists and the socialists as the result of corporate irresponsibility. A second blow came in March 11, 1873, as a socialist demonstration was attacked by a radical militia (initially blamed on the Citizen Guard but later attributed to possible corporate thugs). The socialists secured a victory in the courts in August 1873, when the Chilean High Court ruled many union-busting measures taken by Chilean corporations were illegal under present law.

With tensions hot between the socialists and the coalition government, no one predicted what happened next. In September 10, 1873, two brigades of artillery (one in Bolivia and one in Patagonia) defected to join the citizen guard - they were subsequently surrounded and captured by the larger armies under Roseno and Araya, respectively. However, German - who had remained fairly quiet under Zepeda - cried foul and on September 24, 1873, called for an uprising, mobilizing more than 24,000 militiamen of the Citizen guard across the country in general rebellion.

-------------------------

As a reminder, rebellions are treated as coups triggered by the game. All ministers and generals need to declare their support one way or another, either For the Government or For the Revolution.

Additionally, it's time to suggest a new political reform. Vote for either Proportional Voting, All Trade Unions Allowed, or Secret Ballots. ((I sort of accidentally implemented non-secret ballots last time; sorry.)) You also have to vote on the Military Supply Bill, the original version of which can be found [post=13219943]here[/post].

Sample:
Reform: Proportional Voting/All Unions Allowed/Secret Ballots
Military Supply Bill: Yes/No

And if you're a Minister or General:

I'm backing the government! or I'm backing the Revolution!

Voting ends at 10:00 AM on the 29th.
 
Just in time for a new revolution?

Is this an Anarcho-Liberale revolution?
 
"Violence is not the answer to any problems! German, I urge you and your anarchists to put down arms before you are massacered by the guns of the Governments military...life needn't be lost here!"

Reform: All Trade Unions.
Military Supply Bill: Yes.


-Senator Carlos Carnal


((Its an anarcho Liberal revolution, led by German.))
 
(Yeah, I had to go through a few posts but found it. Interesting.)

(Riccardo, clean out your inbox.)
 
Reform: Secret Ballots
Military Supply Bill: Yes


Senators, as Quartermaster I urge you to support this Military Supply Bill, and Capitalists, I urge you to put in tenders for the supply of this equipment for our armed forces. Our nation cannot truly be great until we have some self sufficiency in being able to defend ourselves and our allies. Let Chilean soldiers fight with Chilean guns!

- General Martin Schmidt, Quartermaster
 
Reform: None
Military Supply Bill: Yes
I am for the government

This is where weak government lead us. We should have been able foresee German's treachery, and had him detained before he could gather his lunatics in revolt. We need a better Military Intelligence Bureau.
 
Reform: Secret Ballots
Military Supply Bill: Yes

Backing the Revolution!
We can solve this dispute. German and I are personal friends, and the unions issue can be solved. We can legislate to limit the power of these vile institutions who are just but a wing of the FNT and do nothing more than attack corporations and claim it is for the workers' plight. What we needed was someone with the courage to stand up to the FNT!
 
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Reform: All Trade Unions
Military Supply Bill: Yes


The parties must unite to bring this situation to a peaceful conclusion.
 
Reform: Cautious support of Secret Ballots.
Military Supply Bill: Support. Self-sufficiency and planning ahead are important to maintain a well funded military that is not a burden to the nation (although I would like to know how much this might affect our naval constructions)

The Chilean Navy still supports the government.
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((Heh, I didn't think I'd have another occasion to use that image))
 
In my opinion the president just committed treason. I am resigning from a government not willing to fight for democracy and freedom. I will return to the Army of Bolivia. Out in the field where people still want to fight bullies like German.
This is my letter of resignation

Colonel Augusto Weissmüller
 
How can the president use this revolt by corporate thugs and their lackeys to attack the victims? I call for a vote of no confidence in the president, and the rest of the army to crush these forces who threaten the freedom of Chilean citizens.

- General Martin Schmidt, Quartermaster
 
Reform: Secret Ballots
Military Supply Bill: Yes

As much as I am struck by the plight of the most anti-statist elements in Chile, I do place utmost importance on principles. Gentlemen, these principles are what make us stand up in face of savagery! To strive for democracy is to protect our own future! If we are to curb the despicable Socialist/Unionist plot against our stability, it must be done through success in administration, expansion of our ideology in the name of progress and an unwelcome but necessary intelligence bureau! We don't need more bloodshed in Chile; this is not the country our forefathers would have wanted when they defeated the malicious forces of Spain and the Empire! Such threats must not prevail. I stand with the government!

- Minister Lorenzo Subercaseaux
 
(although I would like to know how much this might affect our naval constructions)

Admiral, the Military Supply Bill includes support for the navy. In this case, since we do not currently have our desired number of ships, the amount of supplies requisitioned can be based of the current fleet usage for 2 years, the construction materials needed for the new ships, and the maintenance of the to be built ships for 1 year. Hopefully we will find capitalists willing to tender for these contracts as they see that we are serious about the construction, and as the material flows in, the shipyards will be able to commence construction.

- General Martin Schmidt, Quartermaster
 
I urge the Congreso to declare in the defence of the government against this illicit insurrection. The central tenet of the Third Republic is that progress must come through democracy. Regardless of whether you subscribe to the rebels' ideology, you must condemn their methods. As the Imperialist civil war has taught us, violence cannot be allowed to triumph over the will of democracy. The success of this uprising will fracture the Republic, subvert the elected government and ultimately validate the Imperialist propaganda that democracy breeds instability. Only by uniting against it can we preserve the Republic and reject the assertions of its detractors.

- V. Severino