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People of Serbia and Albania! This year, we have made great progress in building up our nation from the recent war. Serbia is set to become a prosperous and industrially-strong nation with a military capable of protecting our homes if necessary. Truly this is a great day for all our peoples as we look towards a bright future without conflict or bloodshed.
MY fellow-citizens, no people on earth have more cause to be thankful than ours, and this is said reverently, in no spirit of boastfulness in our own strength, but with gratitude to the Giver of Good who has blessed us with the conditions which have enabled us to achieve so large a measure of well-being and of happiness. To us as a people it has been granted to lay the foundations of our national life in a new continent. We are the heirs of the ages, and yet we have had to pay few of the penalties which in old countries are exacted by the dead hand of a bygone civilization. We have not been obliged to fight for our existence against any alien race; and yet our life has called for the vigor and effort without which the manlier and hardier virtues wither away. Under such conditions it would be our own fault if we failed; and the success which we have had in the past, the success which we confidently believe the future will bring, should cause in us no feeling of vainglory, but rather a deep and abiding realization of all which life has offered us; a full acknowledgment of the responsibility which is ours; and a fixed determination to show that under a free government a mighty people can thrive best, alike as regards the things of the body and the things of the soul.
Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong. While ever careful to refrain from wrongdoing others, we must be no less insistent that we are not wronged ourselves. We wish peace, but we wish the peace of justice, the peace of righteousness. We wish it because we think it is right and not because we are afraid. No weak nation that acts manfully and justly should ever have cause to fear us, and no strong power should ever be able to single us out as a subject for insolent aggression.
Our relations with the other powers of the world are important; but still more important are our relations among ourselves. Such growth in wealth, in population, and in power as this nation has seen during the century and a quarter of its national life is inevitably accompanied by a like growth in the problems which are ever before every nation that rises to greatness. Power invariably means both responsibility and danger. Our forefathers faced certain perils which we have outgrown. We now face other perils, the very existence of which it was impossible that they should foresee. Modern life is both complex and intense, and the tremendous changes wrought by the extraordinary industrial development of the last half century are felt in every fiber of our social and political being. Never before have men tried so vast and formidable an experiment as that of administering the affairs of a continent under the forms of a Democratic republic. The conditions which have told for our marvelous material well-being, which have developed to a very high degree our energy, self-reliance, and individual initiative, have also brought the care and anxiety inseparable from the accumulation of great wealth in industrial centers. Upon the success of our experiment much depends, not only as regards our own welfare, but as regards the welfare of mankind. If we fail, the cause of free self-government throughout the world will rock to its foundations, and therefore our responsibility is heavy, to ourselves, to the world as it is to-day, and to the generations yet unborn. There is no good reason why we should fear the future, but there is every reason why we should face it seriously, neither hiding from ourselves the gravity of the problems before us nor fearing to approach these problems with the unbending, unflinching purpose to solve them aright.
Yet, after all, though the problems are new, though the tasks set before us differ from the tasks set before our fathers who founded and preserved this Republic, the spirit in which these tasks must be undertaken and these problems faced, if our duty is to be well done, remains essentially unchanged. We know that self-government is difficult. We know that no people needs such high traits of character as that people which seeks to govern its affairs aright through the freely expressed will of the freemen who compose it. But we have faith that we shall not prove false to the memories of the men of the mighty past. They did their work, they left us the splendid heritage we now enjoy. We in our turn have an assured confidence that we shall be able to leave this heritage unwasted and enlarged to our children and our children's children. To do so we must show, not merely in great crises, but in the everyday affairs of life, the qualities of practical intelligence, of courage, of hardihood, and endurance, and above all the power of devotion to a lofty ideal, which made great the men who founded this Republic in the days of Washington, which made great the men who preserved this Republic in the days of Abraham Lincoln.
On Domestic Issues:
The unfortunate outcome of the Army Bill of 1904 deserves revisiting and indicates that stronger measures be taken in the testing of such weapons to ensure their reliability and quality before their our issued to our men. Our men deserve the very best equipment available, for they fight the very forces of autocracy and militarism, ideas fundamentally opposed to our nation's very ideals of Democracy, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Following its triumph providing power for the World Columbian Exposition in 1893, Westinghouse won the contract to build the huge generators that would transform the energy of Niagara Falls into electricity. Completed in 1895, the Niagara Falls plant was the first large plant in the world to generate and transmit electrical current by means of Nikola Tesla 's polyphase alternating current system. Such systems sprung up around the country as cities and towns were electrified as part of the AC Electrification Program of 1904.
I am pleased with the passing the AC Electrification Program of 1904, may our nation be forever illuminated and separated from the darkness that so enshrouds our world. The progress that this feat will deliver do our nation will immense and will genuinely improve the lives of our citizens and the economy. This program will show the world our nations dedication to science and industry and the inevitable triumph of man. Many the United States of America be that shining beacon on the hill that lights the way of the nations of the world and invites the world upon its shores!
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act made trusts illegal. Roosevelt brought it back from the grave.
The prosecution of the Northern Securities Trust and the Supreme Court's ruling show that no man, no matter how powerful, influential, or wealthy is above the law. All people in this nation must abide by them for the common good of the nation and its citizenry.
This ruling hits "every" contract or combination of the prohibited sort, great or small, and "every" person who shall monopolize or attempt to monopolize, the sense of the act, "any part" of the trade or commerce among the several states. There is a natural inclination to assume that is was directed against certain great combinations and to read it in that light. It does not say so. On the contrary, it says "every," and "any part."
If the Sherman Anti-Trust Act before us is to be carried out according to what seems to me to be the logic of the argument for the Government, which I do not believe that it will be, I can see no part of the conduct of life with which on similar principles Congress might not interfere. Furthermore, there is hardly any transaction concerning commerce between the states that may not be made a crime by the finding of a jury or a court.
On Foreign Issues:
The United States of America is DEE-lighted to have entered the Treaty of San Francisco with the Japanese Empire of East. May this treaty see the bond between our nations strengthen and in aid the creation of a peaceful Pacific Ocean and prosperous trade between our nations.
The USS Olympia at dock, one of the ships participating in the Pacific Campaign
The swift seizure of the German colonies by Allied forces reveals the co-operation among our armed forces and the prowess of our Army, our Marines, and importantly our Navy, which completed this seizure with minimal casualties. Similarly, the blockade we have enacted against the Central Powers will certainly lead to quicker resolution to this war by denying them vital resources. Though our performance in mainland France was lackluster, it will only serve to renew our determination to defeat these Huns!
Starting now, I shall begin awarding out Industry for nations that post IC after an update and in between updates. I dislike the fact that so much time is put into making it by Muskeato, Congo, and myself, and we get two IC posts. For that, I award +20 Industry to both Serbia and the United States of America. I will award Industry for IC as I see fit.
Before getting to more vital and pressing issues we would like to take a moment to make an offer. Due to the blockade of Italy they likely have no special envoys able to negotiate with Ethiopia. We can either serve as a mediator or send a frigate to pick up some diplomats from Italy and take them to negotiate with Ethiopia.
Citizens of the Russian Empire! We all know that 1904 hasn't been our best year, but we know that sometimes to make two step forward we have to make first a step back. Along the Germans, the Danubians, Romanians, Bulgarians and Swedish have joined forces to destroy our great Motherland! We all wept the day my elder brother perished in the defence of St. Petesburg, the day our capital city fell. But don't forget the Russia always stands up when is pushed, and that 1905 will be a year ripe for victories! As we speak our Allies from the West are amassing armies to punch through the German lines and teach them a lesson they will never forget. As for our country, thus looses had to be made, our supply situation in improving, the quality of our army also, and new industries are being set up in the Urals, far away from the invaders hands.
That is why i ask you, my brothers and sisters, to work harder than before, for every work hour you invest into the war effort means less of our soldiers loosing their lives while more enemies loosing theirs. Don't forget how the Brusilov Offensive petrified the German High Command not so long ago. How we pushed them back from Byelorussia to Germany itself, if it was done, it can be done again! To all able men, join the army and defend what is yours! Because as we speak the regions of Ukraine, the Baltic and Byelorrusia are being completely exploited by the Germans to fuel their war industries, they want to convert Russia into their colony! That is what will happen to all of us if we don't fight. And that is why i'm asking all of you to do your best effort. To show the world we are a not a defeated nation.
Let the heroic images of our great ancestors – Alexander Nevsky, Mikhail Kutuzov – inspire you in this war!
Let the victorious banner of the great Czar Nicholas II fly over your heads!
Utter destruction to the German invaders!
Death to the German armies of occupation!
Long live our glorious Motherland, her freedom and independence!
Gouvernement belge | Belgische regering | Government of Belgium
European news
His Majesty Léopold II, The King of the Belgians, looks with sadness on the loss of life in the Western Front of the great war. He has urged his government to take no measures that would lead to Belgium's becoming a second Alsace-Lorraine.
Léopold calls for the declaration of ceasefire by all participants in the war, and their rededication to Christian virtues.
As such, the Belgian government reiterates its firm brotherhood with all nations and its desire to set an example for moral behaviour in Europe.
The government can confirm that Belgium has taken no aggressive or threatening measures against any country, or measures that would lead to the emergence of a state of war in this country which has been neutral for three generations.
African news
The government applaudes the personal initiative of His Majesty King Léopold II to enforce the rule of law in the Congo. We hope this reassures both Belgian deputies and the community of nations that humanity and philanthropy are the motives for his activity in that benighted place.
Under his leadership, the Force Publique will become a gendarmerie of the Congolese, for the Congolese. In time, we believe native Africans will take the roles of junior officers, as education in the colony improves.
We are pleased to report that no colonial abuses were found in the Lake Kivu region. This confirms the humanitarian policy and good nature of the King. We will continue to send the FP to the darkest corners of the Congo to improve matters for Europeans and Africans alike.
This civilian had merely tripped and fallen over. The Force Publique helped him get back up
Home news
Belgian commerce proceeds with great felicity.
The government has concluded an agreement on financial incentives to Belgian railroad companies. In exchange for continued support in the development of profitable activities in Europe, they will enter partnerships with the Belgian government and the Congo Free State to improve transport in Africa. This will allow more parts of the Congo to enter the wage economy and the civilised world, paving the way for its full membership of the community of nations.
The first priority is to improve transport in the most developed area of the Congo, western Léopoldville province.
Railroads will ultimately connect Matadi with Léopoldville and Stanley Pool, above the cataracts of the Congo River
The medical faculty of the University of Louvain is working on a cure for the dreadful epidemic of sleeping sickness. We are not yet sure what causes the disease, but rest assured that Belgian innovation and kindness will get the solution to sick people immediately upon its discovery. This will benefit the benighted African, and encourage the European to make his fortune in the civilisation of Central Africa.
Right then. Now that more IC has been flowing and I've had time to think about it, I will be removing the +20 Industry to the USA and Serbia, and replace it with +5 Industry. I am also adding a new system regarding IC. A new stat will be added called "Natural Growth". This will represent the natural growth rate of industry per year in your nation. I will award +1 industry if I deem fit for nations with a lot of IC after the updates and what not. While this change is subtle, and very little, it is a small reward for all those who do IC, but not a huge downside if you don't.
An excerpt from the King's speech on January 1st, 1905; New Year's Day:
People of Sweden and Norway, you have much to rejoice, for we have been granted victory in our righterous crusade of liberation. Within mere six months you have gathered yourselves to form one of the mightiest armies in the world. And within another, your have gone and already liberated more than 80,000 miles squared of land in your zeal! We have bravely marched foward, and the enemy cowardly flees before us - because they know, within the deepest depth of our hearts, our valour and strength! They fear us, and they cower at our presence because in their thoughts they already know that their doom is at hand. That their long-held domination over these lands are now at an end, that they shall no longer be the masters and oppressors of the numerous people under their yoke, and because they know, and understand what will happen as the consequences of their actinos.
The Russians are now all but dust! Their capital lies taken, their armies beaten far within their own lands. In their desperation they burn and destroy the livelihood of their own people, causing ther deaths of numerous innocents, and robbing their property. How far will they sink? How long will they continue these vile, satanic acts of absolute repulsion! Well, my dear proud subjects, I say no longer! We shall march and destroy their armies, and crush them! We shall march as people greet us with flowers, and the oppressed cheer and view as saviours!
Even now, as the great powers of the world conspire against us, even with the blockades, and attempts on our lands, we still stand proud and infalliable. Blockades may have come, yet look upon the streets as the workers continue within our factories! Enemy ships may try at our coasts, yet they fall back, humiliated and in defeat! They try to sow seeds of dissent, to tempt us - but that has only brought us closer together!
For we are righteous! What do you say, oh good people. Do the shadows looming upon us make you afraid? Shall you let the tragedy go on? If you are a true man of honour, one that holds justice and integrity dear within their hearts, stand with me and once again in this year just as the last I shall lead you to victory!
~ King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, Protector of the Scandinavian Peoples, Knight of the Garter
Diplomatic messages from the Swedish government:
The Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway are in deep sorrow and regret over what has happened in the port town of Murmansk in the weeks prior. There, our troops and the valiant soldiers of the British Empire clashed in a tragic battle that cost thousands of lives.
We would like to emphasize and state that the battle was a misunderstanding. Our troops in their zeal had not assumed that British troops would be present in the port and in their recklessness, they struck in the belief that their enemy were the Russians. Only when the dust of battle had cleared, had the soldiers recognized the men of whom they fought, for which they felt deep regret.
We issue a formal apology for the action of Swedish soldiers on that day, and would like to state that the Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway bear no intentions of harm or conflict between these two nations and ask His Majesty to forgive and forget this incident. The Swedish government offers the sum of 10,000 gold and the bodies of the dead in a show of our good will.
May our countries' cooperation continue and prosper together.
People of the German Empire, the foul Russians stand on the brink of defeat. Their oppression and subjugation of their minority peoples is almost at an end. One last push and Moscow is ours. All the sacrifice of all German soldiers shall not be for nought.
The Russians are at their breaking point having been repeatedly struck down by victorious German, Danubian, Romanian, Chinese, Swedish and Bulgarian armies. Our armies remain strong and cohesive as theirs wither and die before our onslaught. Moscow will soon be ours, and we will be free to march against the opportunists of the West with the Russian Bear kneeling before the might of the Reich.
Even in these harsh times of war, the Reich is building new links with nations newly freed from the chains of Russian oppression. They are slowly finding their feet as the feeling of newfound independence washes over them and they will become staunch German allies, in time for the final defeat of Russia.
The bravery of our soldiers is not to be understated, whether they are defending the Reich in the West, destroying the Russians in the East, protecting our Balkan friends or valiantly defending German colonies their contributions to the war effort are extremely vital, as are those of their families at home who support them.
Kingdom of Greece: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Athens:
Although we had signed a peace treaty with the Italian Government, a mistake was made by our officials, making the payment of the Reparation impossible. We apologize to the Kingdom of Italy for this delay, note however that this was not the intention of the Greek Government or its King and the Payment will be sent as soon as possible, but rather a mistake made by the local bureaucracy and we will attempt to find the hole as soon as possible.
The same must be said towards the Government of North-Epirus, where the same mistake seems to have been made and hope, that this does not happen again, as we still wish to put this treaty into effect.
To the Government of the Kingdoms of Sweden & Norway, we would like to know by what right they see themselves liberating Karelia and the Kola peninsula, land that has never been theirs. While we see why they use this term for Finland, something that was a Swedish colony and under Swedish control for a long time, Kola has been given up upon since the 14th Century.
Once the greatest city ever seen on the face of the earth. Centre of trade, technology and commerce. Home to two of the ancient wonders of the world. Never has another city surpassed the greatness of Babylon. Although centuries of war, invasion and occupation left the city to the sands, we stand before you today announcing our intention to rebuild Babylon, returning it to its former glory.
Everything shall be rebuilt and even improved upon. Homes for thousands, great mosques, palaces, centres of learning and even the hanging gardens, shall all be built over the coming years. This is a huge project and shall require a large investment, thousands of man hours and a large amount of planning. As a result, we seek investment from other nations in order to fund the project. Additionally, we require engineers, architects and planners. Lastly, we ask that nations from around the world donate plants for the hanging gardens.
The first stage will be the development of farmland in Mesopotamia. The land will be further irrigated and expanded in order to provide food for both Babylon and the rest of the empire.
