• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

unmerged(62170)

Colonel
Oct 29, 2006
854
19
union%20flag.gif


Stiff Upper Lip! A Terribly British History



Table of Contents





 
Last edited:
Britannia2.jpg

Prologue

Britain 1836. A new age is dawning. The Sceptred Isle has, thanks to the skill of men like Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, held against the machinations of Revolutionary France and the Beast, Napoleon. Europe is at peace. More or less. England, the great workshop of the world is too the cradle of a new revolution, one of technology, of science and industry, of which the repercussions are yet to be fully realised. She has weathered the post-war economic hardships of the 1820’s and though some find the memories of Peterloo and such too grim to let go, politically, Britain has moved forward as well. The Great Reform Act of 1832 saw the nascent working and middle-classes come together under the Whigs of Earl Grey to push for the democratisation of all-hallowed Westminster.

However, naturally not all is well. The Great Reform Act proved not so great for some, with the masses, the foot soldiers of the reforming movement remaining free of the right to vote (indeed the new, uniform franchise actually removed the vote from some workers in particular constituencies!). The Radicals, the some-time allies of the Whig ministry have attacked the “betrayal of the working class” and along with groups such as the Birmingham Political Union and London Working Men’s Association, are agitating for further reform. However the reforming (and octogenarian) Earl Grey has recently retired from public life, leaving the role of First Lord of the Treasury* to his more conservative successor, Viscount Melbourne.

Melbourne, an ally of more moderate Tories like Sir Robert Peel and an out and out arch nemesis of the Radicals, views the Great Reform Act, as just that- he sees it as the final step in British democracy (a step he privately didn’t even wish to take at the time). Home Secretary during the brutal suppression of the 1830 Luddite** ‘Swing Riots’ (the first example of negative reaction to the Industrial Revolution) and the implementation of the New Poor Law (an extremely harsh and Spartan predecessor to modern welfare states), Melbourne is no friend of working-class progressives. Alongside King William IV, a public supporter of the Tories and public enemy of the Reform Act, the Radicals and their allies see few options for further reform.

Meanwhile in Ireland, the charismatic Daniel O’Connell has successfully fought for Catholic emancipation, allowing Catholics to sit in Westminster, however he has now turned towards Irish independence, leading the increasingly popular Repeal Association to end Anglo-Irish union (only thirty-five years old at this point). Anti-English sentiment has recently reached its height during the so-called ‘Tithe War’ over compulsory payments by the predominately Catholic population to the Anglican Church of Ireland. Violent clashes between authorities and tithe abstainers such the Rathcormac Massacre, and at Dolly’s Brae, involving the newly founded Protestant Orange Order have seen the tension mostly dispelled but by no means ended.

dan.jpg

Daniel O'Connell- The Liberator

In international affairs things are better, at least from a British standpoint. France, the headache of Europe for over forty years has finally done away with the ancient Bourbon dynasty and is stable under its new liberal king, Louis-Philippe. In the Netherlands, the new nation of Belgium is struggling to be recognised while holding off Dutch armies, a cause the British government and public is slowly starting to support, and which the Amsterdam government is slowly starting to accept. Meanwhile Spain is entering the third year of the so-called Carlist War, between the government forces of Queen Isabella II and her uncle and pretender to the throne, Don Carlos over the line of succession. Central and Eastern Europe are mostly calm, the scars of the Napoleonic Wars still visible. In North America, certain radicals are calling for Canadian independence from the crown, while the rebellious child, the United States retains a strange, amicable relationship with the mother country, although the matter of “the West”, is one of contention.

In the Near East however, the Ottoman Empire and its erstwhile vassal the Khedivate of Egypt are gearing up for war over a divided Syria, and possibly the very future of the Sublime Porte itself. Russia is mostly still for now, with the Balkans stable and Central Asia still a great gulf between St. Petersburg and London’s respective territorial interests. In India the British East India Company continues its monopoly of the sub-continent, however it is not as profitable as it once was, forcing the need for illegal opium smuggling into China, a practice the Middle Kingdom, needless to say, frowns upon.

In this world Britain must struggle to maintain her position, which is by no means a certain one. However she has unimaginable potential and the events of the coming century can only be guessed at…

____________________

*The term Prime Minister was not used officially in the United Kingdom until the early 20th century. The leader of HM’s Government was known as the First Lord of the Treasury (still is in fact, as a secondary title)

**Term generally used for someone opposed or scared by new technology. In the original use of the word it meant mostly skilled artisans put out by the mass-production capabilities of the Spinning Jenny and other such fantastically named machines.
 
Hah!

Love the title. Now all you have to do is invade Afghanistan and invent the railroad.
 
RGB: Cheers. Well the railroad is already done and we'll see about the former, Western armies don't have the finest track record in that department...

Judas Maccabeus: Good for some I suppose... :p Thanks, I'm not quite sure what the style will be, history-book with in-game pics and maybe diary entries ect. for a bit of fluff, but I intend not to get bog-down in narrative etc.

Nabendu: Hope I can ablige.

---------​

Unfortunately I don't have revolutions, so this will be done with VIP .4b, the latest patch if I remember correctly. Anyway, the only tweaking I've done myself is to add new (mostly Irish) political parties to the rather barren British parties folder. I intend this to an all-round history book AAR, with looks at politics, culture and society as well as warfare and colonialism. I'm inspired by the stalwart classic by RossN's Imperial Canadian AAR, Patriot's Sword in this respect.

Hope you all enjoy

P.S- Any help with linknig post for the table of contents?
 
082604_fg5.jpg

i. Trivial Affairs & Miscellania AD 1836

king-william-iv-1-sized.jpg

His Majesty William IV, By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, King of Hannover,
Duke of Brunswick

2nd_V_Melbourne.jpg

The Rt. Honourable, The Viscount Melbourne, First Lord of the Treasury

Census36.jpg

Census of the United Kingdom and it's Colonies

Europe36.jpg

The United Kingdom, the Crown Colonies of Gibraltar and Malta,
and the Kingdom of Hanover (in personal union).

Canada36.jpg

British America

Caribbean36.jpg

Bermuda, the Caribbean Colonies, British Honduras and British Guiana

India36.jpg

Holdings of the British East India Company and the Crown Colony
of Ceylon

Southafrica36.jpg

Cape Colony

Australia36.jpg

Australia
 
Dr. Gonzo said:
P.S- Any help with linknig post for the table of contents?

Look in the top right corner of the post, there is a number. That number has a link to that post specifically.

If you're using IE (you should be :p ):

Right click on it, click "Copy Shortcut", and you now have the link copied. When you're editing the first post, just paste it and you have the link to use.
 
Looks good! I always enjoy a good British AAR. I personally don't like to play them, too much to manage, and rebuilding the navy when Ironclads replace Frigates is annoying.

What sort of goals do you have envisioned? Will you try to keep the empire together into the 20th century? And what of the Dominions--the AI is forced to release them, but the human isn't. Will you keep the Union Jack flying, from London to Sydney, or will they eventually be given freedom?
 
A good title indeed - we will see if it lives up to it! Understatement is the key. :)
 
Jape said:
Haven't seen a Brit Vicky AAr in quite some time, can't for it to get going.
Indeed. Having appreciated the good Doctor Gonzo's other AARs I have high hopes for this one. :)
 
Drake Rlugia: The Empire could possibly remain united, I intend to role-play this somewhat, depending on the Prime Minister, Parliament and General Situation. And of course, losing the few factories in S. Africa and Canada can be a pain for a small country like Britain, at least in terms of industrially-able population. And yes updating the Royal Navy is a pain :eek:o

stnylan: I aim to please!

Jape: Aye that's why I decided on it, HOI gets plenty of American AARs, I don't see why the big boy of Vicky doesn't get as much attention.

El Pip: Foolish fool ;)

ComradeOm: Good to hear! Hope I can keep you interested.

Ksim3000: Quality over quantity I hope :p
 
There maybe trouble ahead...

Queenadelaide.jpg

1.

1836 started with something of a minor scandal for Melbourne’s Whig government. The occupation of Queen Adelaide Province, east of the South African Cape Colony by British forces had come to a terrible end amidst rumours of murder, rape and corruption. During the 6th Frontier War of 1834, the latest in a series of brushfire wars with the native Xhosa tribes, the punitive expedition under the command of Cape Governor Sir Benjamin D’Urban sent to pacify the region failed in its mission, stalemated by the Xhosa’s superior numbers and local knowledge. However determined to secure the safety of British subjects further to the west, D’Urban retained a series of outposts in the region. From these redoubts, ‘magistrates’ retained a complicated hierarchy with the various native chieftains, playing them off against each other and raiding settlements unwilling to pay taxes. Having granted the magistrates total power, and with Queen Adelaide Province far from a de jure Crown Colony, soon enough supplies of British flintlocks were being sold off, massive bribes being accepted and massacres being carried out by Xhosa and British administrators alike.

Before long the Colonial Secretary, Lord Glenelg (as well as the press) had caught wind of events in Southern Africa and ordered D’Urban to take hold of the situation. D’Urban, popular with both the British and Boer settlers, defended his actions, seeing the chaotic ‘buffer province’ as a better alternative than yet another war. He also sighted his jurisdiction and refused to budge, much to the anger of Westminster. Glenelg nonetheless was also Secretary for War and soon pulled rank as it were, ordering all British troops out of Queen Adelaide Province, which quickly neutered the whole governing system. Glenelg was not finished. An immediate inquiry into the Governor and his practices began and would finally see him removed from office in May 1837, much to the distress of the colonial population, in particular the Boers who were already beginning their ‘Great Trek’ out of British territory.

Colonial and Foreign affairs in general dominated much of the coming year for the government, with mixed results. In Central Asia, a diplomatic mission led by Colonel Stoddart was sent to the Emirate of Bukhara, to discuss with their leader Emir Nasrullah Khan the possibility of ending slavery in his country, and of course to bring Bukhara into the British sphere of influence. Although Lord Melbourne was unwilling to provoke the Russians over the region overtly, he saw the envoy as a gentle enough approach. Similarly, far away in the South Pacific, French interests in the New Zealand islands were being warded off. Despite the areas limited value, its proximity to Australia (at this time still believed to possibly hold an inland sea and lush hinterland) led to the local British agent, James Busby signing a pact of friendship with the Maori tribes, effectively turning the islands into a British protectorate.

In early February further French interests were curbed far closer to home. The nascent state of Belgium, although on the verge of being recognised by a Dutch nation and government quite unwilling and unable to suppress it’s rebellious southern provinces, was becoming a target for malicious foreign powers. Prussia, still fearful of a resurgent France, was beginning to weigh up the possibility of intervening in the conflict on the side of the Netherlands with its awesome military might, in order to retain the powerful buffer state as a whole. The Austrians were similarly inclined, with Metternich even proposing a possible return to the pro-Napoleonic era, with Belgium a province of the Hapsburg Empire. King Louis-Philippe and his formidable, if ancient Foreign Minister Talleyrand finally entered the fray in early 1836, calling for peace. They proposed the partition of Belgium.

250px-Talleyrand_partition_plan.jpg

Talleyrand's Plan

The more loyal Flemish lands in the north would be retained by King William of Orange, the Duchy of Luxembourg with its large German-speaking population would be annexed to West-Prussia and a small free state around Antwerp would be set up, under British supervision. This would leave a large central region consisting of Wallonia and Brussels, naturally to be handed over to Paris and the Francophile minority within the Belgian revolutionary movement. Despite the concessions made towards Westminster, Melbourne was wary of French territorial expansion, particularly so soon after Napoleon and the fall of the Bourbons. As such, knowing the Prussians to be similarly suspicious of the plan, he and Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, somewhat recklessly jumped at a request for a defensive alliance with Brussels. France now found itself isolated from the only other nation truly supportive of Belgian secession. Prussia and Austria, and even Holland too were shocked by the move. Suddenly the affair was over, thanks to unilateral diplomacy. Although talk of Prussian forces preparing to back up a Dutch invasion were rumoured, the Dutch themselves had no stomach to carry on the war, let alone with Britain also involved, their East Indian colonies vulnerable to the Royal Navy in particular. Finally on February 15th, Amsterdam called a truce and would recognise Belgium officially two years later at the Treaty of London.

Although the Europeans grumbled, at home Whig popularity had never been higher since the Reform Act in 1832. Unfortunately for Melbourne events in Asia soon dampened British cheer. In March, the Shah Muhammad of Persia banished his British advisors from Tehran with little in the way of explanation. In the coming weeks it soon became clear however. In retaliation for the Bukhara mission, which the Russians viewed as an invasion of their dominion, they had launched a political counter-attack. As quickly as the British left Persia, Russians arrived to take their place, along with muskets, cannon, munitions and gold. The Tsar’s roubles had quite literally bought out Westminster’s influence in Tehran. The government soon came under attack, particularly by the reactionary Ultra Tories, led by the Duke of Wellington. They criticised Lord Palmerston’s foreign policy as slap-dash; not only had he managed to alienate most of the Continental Powers, but he had failed to protect vital British interests in the Middle East from their geopolitical nemesis. The attacks failed to let up as Colonel Stoddart returned to British India in late April empty handed, having been thoroughly rebuffed by the Emir of Bukhara, barely escaping with his head. Russian mischief was once more suspected and Palmerston once more blamed for the embarrassing defeats.

Wellpam.jpg

The Duke of Wellington and Lord Palmerston

Hoping to regain some prestige, in May Palmerston (quite independently of Melbourne) looked into the growing unrest in the Caucasus, the Russian Empire’s newest territory. Subjected constantly to Cossack raids and repressed for their Moslem faith and native tongues, the Turkic tribes of the region were on the verge of revolt. The Ottoman Sultan was keen to see the Russians pay dearly for their new lands and secretly began to send weapons over the border. Palmerston intended to do likewise and with a grandiose imagination he would become to be known by, he hoped to create an independent Caucasian state, to act as a buffer between the Russians and the Ottomans. However Melbourne and the rest of the Cabinet could hardly be kept in the dark for long, and fearful of antagonising the Tsar with such belligerent behaviour, a vote quickly sunk the idea. The unsupported Caucasian revolt was crushed over the course of June and July.
 
Mwah.

Those pesky Russians.