United We Shall Remain: A New Netherlands AAR for Victoria II Heart of Darkness 3.02

[Stuyvesant]

This has been quite a successful year (and-a-half) for Frederik: successful land war in Asia, quietly ousting his own father, technological progress and acclaim... Just a shame about Victoria's poor etiquette. But then, as Lord Durham points out, there might be a reason for bringing Leopold to the table. Hopefully, nothing too overt, but maybe this is a reminder that the powerful British have many friends and interests that do not coincide with the Dutch, and that the latter better keep that information firmly in mind?

 

[LordTempest]

Lord Durham: History cares little for what reasons King Willem senior thought about abdicating in favour of King Willem junior in our timeline, so I think it's fair to state that history wouldn't care much for the opinion of a sickly, possibly senile king in this one. As for Vicky inviting her favourite uncle, I didn't intend for there to have been any malice or ulterior motive in her decision: remember, she's still a very young, naive and inexperienced queen at this point in time, and likely she simply wanted to return the favour for the exiled ex-king's role in arranging her marriage to Albert. Her advisors - mostly Whigs like Melbourne and Palmerston I might add - likely would have known better and surely would have dissuaded her if they were interested in maintaining good relations with their Dutch cousins.

Densley: Nah, if I wanted to do that all I would likely have to do would be to throw in some Flanders pidgeon murderer Blackkadder references at random frasmotic intervals.

Stuyvesant: I don't think that was Victoria's own intention, but I certainly expect that some of her ministers and advisors would definitely want Frederik to keep that in mind, especially in light of recent Dutch encroachments in East Asia.

 

[Lord Durham]

As for Vicky inviting her favourite uncle, I didn't intend for there to have been any malice or ulterior motive in her decision: remember, she's still a very young, naive and inexperienced queen at this point in time, and likely she simply wanted to return the favour for the exiled ex-king's role in arranging her marriage to Albert. Her advisors - mostly Whigs like Melbourne and Palmerston I might add - likely would have known better and surely would have dissuaded her if they were interested in maintaining good relations with their Dutch cousins.

So they used her...

 

[Stuyvesant]

Lord Durham: As for Vicky inviting her favourite uncle, I didn't intend for there to have been any malice or ulterior motive in her decision: remember, she's still a very young, naive and inexperienced queen at this point in time...

Oh yeah, that's right - Victoria was young once. It's hard to remember, when the first thing that comes to mind is always that picture of the stodgy matron that she would become in later life.

Anyway, I liked the subtle dig (okay, not very subtle - but more subtle than the 'Empty some canister shot into the rows of advancing Siamese' approach that the Dutch employed). Looking forward to see how future Anglo-Dutch relations unfold.

 

[LordTempest]

Lord Durham: That's not entirely fair... Victoria innocently thought that her favourite uncle might like to accompany her to a coronation (one wonders why Leopold would have wanted to go in the first place, perhaps he used Victoria's innocence to make a statement or to damage Anglo-Dutch relations?) and her wise and loyal ministers in their aforementioned wisdom saw the benefit in not informing their monarch of the potential ramifications of her actions.

Stuyvesant: I like to think that it is partially because of little faux pas committed in her youth such as this one, that she eventually grew into the wise and astute matron figure we all remember her as.

 

[Estonianzulu]

colonization tip: build better naval ships, commerce raiders and other advanced ships yield more colonial points than frigates and men of war. And to support your commerce raiders, you need naval bases.

I'm learning things every time I read this AAR, and now I can thank your other readers for it as well. Vicky has changed a lot since I played it the first time.

 

[LordTempest]

I'm learning things every time I read this AAR, and now I can thank your other readers for it as well. Vicky has changed a lot since I played it the first time.

That only applies for Heart of Darkness colonisation.

 

[RikD]

Just finished the prologue

I like the style and especially the keen eye to historical detail.

 

[LordTempest]

Just finished the prologue

I like the style and especially the keen eye to historical detail.

Thank you very much, and be sure to inform me once you've read through the whole thing!

 

[Seelmeister]

This is fantastic, beautifully written with a wealth of historical detail. I'm also enjoying the mix of in-game and period images. Great stuff Tanzhang!

 

[LordTempest]

Seelmeister: Thank you and welcome aboard! I actually have to disagree with you on the pictures though: I've found it rather difficult to find appropriate period images for this AAR and if I could level any piece of criticism at it it would be that I simply haven't used enough of them. Thanks for the kind words all the same though.

---

Dear readers if I may have your attention for a moment: the ACA's are on again after a very long delay. There has been quite a lot of talk in the past about the declining number of participants voting in these awards, and therefore in the merit of going through the bother of holding them at all. I think I speak for all authors right across AARland when I say that along with your comments these awards mean a lot to us, and are an important part of what makes AARland the wonderful community it is. By voting in this quarter/third's round you can send a powerful message to the powers that be that holding these awards are a worthwhile endeavour, and that you personally, care a great deal about AARland. Voting for my AAR would be very nice indeed; but is optional. In all honesty the important thing is that you exercise your democratic right and vote for somebody, thereby helping to keep a valued little piece of the AARland tradition alive.

So please, do all of us AAR authors a big favour and go out and vote in this round of the ACA's; I did.

 

[LordTempest]

First Term:

After what had been billed by the pundits and newspapermen as a close encounter with Thorbecke tipped as the likeliest to prevail, Gerrit Schimmelpenninck and his GLP comrades emerged from the metaphorical rubble with a sense of triumphalism. They had won and done so handsomely when practically nobody outside of the editorials in the Algemeen Handelsblad had given them a chance. Gerrit therefore felt he had something to prove, not only to the Dutch people but to the naysayers in the press who had doubted him and his party for so long. Gerrit himself saw this as something of an uphill battle, since in his public view much of the Dutch liberal media had up to that point been “eating out of Thorbecke's hands like the rabid dogs that they are.”

In his quest for what he called fairer media representation for the GLP, he was aided by the failing fortunes of his right-wing rivals; the ARP. Media backers of the moderate right, namely the editors of De Standaard based in the Southern Netherlands, were disappointed by the ARP's failure to break through at the last election, and by the party being seemingly obsessed with itself. The raging factionalism ever-present within the party at the time, mostly between supporters of new leader Justinius van der Brugghen and his friend, the academic Dr. Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer on one side and the “old guard” of ex-Bonapartists, land-owning conservatives and agriculturalists on the other, made for a good anti-ARP news story but also made the job of writing positive editorials incredibly unattractive. Media men like to back a winning horse, and with more than a little persuading and glad-handling on Schimmelpenninck's part De Standaard soon became a most effective media mouthpiece for the GLP south of Tilburg.

When Schimmelpenninck wasn't preoccupied with wining and dining with press barons he was busy running the country, or trying to anyway. Gerrit had been entrusted by the electorate at large with a strong mandate for electoral reform: of the three major parties, the two biggest favoured extending the franchise (though they differed as to the extent) and together won well over three-quarters of the popular vote at the last election. For both the Liberales and the GLP extending the franchise was something of a raison d'etre and naturally therefore both Schimmelpenninck and the interim Liberale leader van Bosse looked at extending it as soon as was humanly possible.

Life, however, was not meant to be easy for politicians. The Dutch House of Lords, or Ridderkamer was filled to the brim with conservatives and ARP men hostile to electoral reform to a man. As far as they were concerned, giving the vote to commoners was like handing a loaded pistol to a child, and they had the constitutional power to block any legislation proposed by the lower house. Unfortunately for Gerrit, the Lords were well prepared to use this power.

Gerrit and most in his party knew this, and therefore were hesitant – perhaps a little too hesitant – to propose extending the vote to the middle classes right off the bat. If he acted too hastily he risked antagonising the Lords, who if provoked could then threaten to block supply to all his bills and policies regardless of intent, and that would bring the whole edifice of the GLP government crashing down. Instead Gerrit had to take his opportunities as they came, probing patiently in midfield to loosen up his opposition while opportunities slowly opened up in the final third.

Of all the GLP policies, the one most popular by far among the conservative old guard in the Lords were their defence proposals, in particular those proposals directed at expanding the navy and naval bases. Several retired admirals served among the ARP and conservative factions in the House, and they were all very keen indeed that the GLP should pass such measures without hindrance, and, more often than not, held great away among their fellow peers. Gerrit therefore announced shortly after his election that the government would proceed forthwith with the first stage of his party's three-point naval plan: the construction of several new naval bases across the empire would begin immediately and were to be funded entirely by the government, with most located at home and in the East Indies. Private firms looking to invest in or start up shipbuilding operations were given incentives by the government to do so and were promised that said industries would receive government subsidies even after they were up and running. Able-bodied men were encouraged to join the navy, or serve in these new shipbuilding factories, and several new frigates and capital ships were commissioned in order to boost the Dutch naval presence both at home and in the colonies. In naval parlance, Gerrit was always termed a “blue-water” man, that is someone who favoured an offensive navy capable of conducting missions on the high seas away from port as opposed to the more defensive, coastal “brown-water” philosophies of Thorbecke and other contemporaries. Needless to say that it was Gerrit's proposals which were the more ambitious and more prestigious, and hence the one preferred by most members of the public, including the monarch.

A partial list of new bases and ships commissioned by the Schimmelpenninck three-point naval plan.

One notable side effect of the GLP naval plans was that they required money – plans which require the government to subsidise things tend to do – and the GLP promised tax cuts would, obviously, reduce the amount of money the government could spend. The day after stage one of Gerrit's naval and tax plans were put into action, the budget sank from a daily surplus of roughly 334 thousand guilders a day to a deficit of 320 thousand guilders a day. This economic imbecility, the childlike notion on the part of the GLP that it could have its metaphorical cake and eat it too, did nothing but enrage Thorbecke (who was busy working on his own economic treatise at the time) and severely damage any trust the business and finance communities may have placed in the party and its leader prior to the election. The charge of economic incompetence levelled at them by the Liberale opposition (the equally economically-illiterate ARP could hardly level that sort of claim at anyone without being denounced as hypocrites) was a damaging one, and would stick for some time.

Gerrit had to make a choice: either he abandoned his ambitious naval policy or his planned tax cuts; he chose to do the latter, in what would become to be known as the first “u-turn” of his time in government. Despite the financial hiccups the naval plan was popular amongst the people, the aristocracy and the naval brass, and was therefore the obvious choice to stick with from a political point of view. The plan proceeded with little opposition, the only notable cries of dissent coming from the shadow defence minister van Mulken, who only criticised the proposal for not investing in steam technology and instead wasting money on sail and wooden ships, which may in years to come be rendered obsolete. This outcry was met with howls of laughter at the time (prototype steamships had been around since the days of Napoleon I, and he had met such new-fangled things with a similar degree of scepticism) but as we now all know, history would prove van Mulken right.

van Mulken's protests did have one impact on GLP policy though. By raising the question of investing in the navy's future, the GLP did announce that they would fund research into ways of improving all Dutch shipyards and naval bases along the lines that had been developed for the admiralty's hub in Rotterdam.[1]

To his credit, outside of the economic sphere Schimmelpenninck was a competent PM, who achieved a good deal in foreign affairs in spite of playing second fiddle to King Frederik. Whether it was more because of Gerrit's efforts or more because of Frederik's efforts is impossible to judge, but nevertheless it was during Schimmelpenninck's tenure that The Netherlands began to cement its place as one of the world's foremost great powers. With Frederik's tacit approval, Schimmelpenninck used the nation's new-found status to boost relations with Holland's old friends which had hitherto gone mostly ignored by the diplomats and civil servants at the Dutch foreign office.

Expanding the Franchise: A Farce in Two Acts

The popularity of their naval proposals coupled with successes in foreign policy and in the war with Siam really did put the wind back into the GLP's sails after hitting the economic doldrums earlier in the year, and at long last Schimmelpenninck felt confident enough to propose long-awaited plans to expand the voting franchise. Even with his new founded sense of confidence, Schimmelpenninck was still not prepared to abandon his natural cautiousness. Instead of moving straight towards equal suffrage for all men who paid a certain minimum amount of tax per year or had attained a university degree or other applicable level of education, Gerrit took the totally unnecessary step of introducing an unfair system whereby those already on the electoral roll would be allowed to vote twice; thereby making the proposal more acceptable to those entrenched elites in the Ridderkamer. The Liberale members of the house were furious, and so were quite a few GLP members who collectively jeered and denounced their leader as a traitor. Unfortunately, some suffrage for the bourgeoisie was still better than none and the Liberales and GLP dissenters were in no position to abstain on principle; Realpolitik prevailed.

The Liberales were however able to get one over the GLP pragmatists when acting Liberale leader van Bosse made a brilliant parliamentary move: he threw down the gauntlet to Schimmelpenninck, demanding that there be an immediate test of the new suffrage laws. Gerrit, thinking that van Bosse wanted him to call an early election, declined, a gutless decision met with jeers and howls from Liberales in the Tweede Kamer and from the editorials in the liberal newspapers and tabloids outside it. Under pressure, Gerrit reached what he thought would be a fair compromise: he would consider removing the right for some electors to vote twice after the next election. This obviously wasn't good enough for van Bosse, who demanded that such a scheme be put in place within two years, (so in time for the next election) in effect rendering the change to a weighted franchise worthless. ARP members almost in unison decried the farcical debate which was playing out in front of them before their eyes, and Schimmelpenninck was made to look like a right wally.

Desperate to try and salvage some shreds of credibility from the situation, Gerrit agreed to push forward his party's full agenda for electoral reform including the introduction of university seats, increasing the number of seats in parliament by 152 and a full review of all current electoral boundaries, and the abolition of the recent “weighted” franchise laws before the next election, just as the Liberales wanted, provided – and only provided – he received royal support for such a move from King Frederik himself (which he duly sought and received; Frederik likely was just as keen to put an end to this farce as everyone in the GLP.) Dirk Donker Curtis, clearly trying to help his leader save some face, proposed that there should be a test of the new (soon to be old) electoral laws before moving towards full middle class suffrage, for no flimsier a reason than to prove that Gerrit's initial plan wouldn't be wasted after all. It was suggested that a by-election for one of the new university seats would prove a suitable test of the laws, and if the by-election went off without a hitch, then (paradoxically) it would prove that the nation was ready for full middle class suffrage. It was a flimsy excuse and the whole nation knew it.

I know any good historian is meant to be impartial, and I apologise for this statement in advance, but to this very day my mind boggles at the sheer stupidity displayed by the GLP government throughout the whole farcical affair. It was by far the single most imbecilic moment in Dutch political history, and words simply cannot fully explain what must have motivated such intelligent men as Gerrit Schimmelpenninck and Dirk Donker Curtis to make such a moronic volte-face.

Little did the GLP in its state of crisis know, but they were playing right into van Bosse's hands. This is actually what he had wanted all along, and soon suggested kindly that as the foremost university in the land, the soon to be established constituency of Leiden University be the candidate for the site of the first face-saving by-election. The GLP was so red-faced and exasperated by the whole affair that they would have accepted just about anything which looked like a way out, and readily agreed to van Bosse's proposal. Then, with a flash of characteristic brilliance and all the glee of a game hunter who has just seen his prey walk straight into his snare, van Bosse announced to the House that tomorrow he would go to Leiden and personally recommend to his predecessor, Johan Thorbecke that he should contest the upcoming by-election. The entire opposition benches – Liberale and ARP members alike – erupted and Gerrit's heart sank into his stomach; he had just gifted his great rival Thorbecke with a route back to parliament. It was by all accounts a spectacular own-goal, unparalleled in Dutch political history.

The Leiden University By-Election:

Leiden University was in some ways an ideal seat for Thorbecke to fight: he was not only an alumnus – and in those days that counted for more among the electors of the university than one's political views – but also a well-respected and well-liked professor; perhaps the most popular in the university's long history. Before the establishment of the university seats, Leiden University made up a core part of Thorbecke's old constituency, and was very much the area in Leiden in which his support was strongest; even among the aristocrats and wealthy. Now that both university students and alumni had the vote, his victory there was all but assured.

Thorbecke ran a good campaign, but he was handicapped in a sense by the “weighted” voting laws. Were it not for the fact that many ARP supporters could vote twice his large majority would likely have been even larger. Justinius van der Brugghen, himself of course MP for the neighbouring constituency of Leiden West, campaigned well and their candidate Mr. van Marwijk finished a strong second all things considering. Lightenvent, who had contested Leiden West for the GLP at the Last election, found himself a candidate almost by default. To his credit, he managed to save his deposit, which was a lot more than could be said for the salvage skills of his party over these past few weeks.

Following the predictable Leiden University result, van Bosse dutifully stepped down as Liberale leader in favour of Thorbecke. He had performed his duties as leader admirably and was duly rewarded with both the deputy leadership and the prestigious shadow finance portfolio. Together, he and Thorbecke continued to run rings around the GLP for the remainder of the parliament, much to their chagrin and Schimmelpenninck's infinite embarrassment. That being said however, and puttingthe farce of mid-1841 aside for one moment, the GLP did govern competently for the remainder of the parliament as well. Gerrit even managed to push forward his electoral franchise plan one year ahead of schedule! It was clear to all that once the country had settled down for three years or so, the next election would be fought on issues and not personalities.

Notes:

[1] Rotterdam starts out as a level 2 naval base IIRC.

[2] It took us a while to get the prestige needed to become a GP because I haven't been focusing on prestige techs, but in the end it was a combination of Thorbecke's treatise and Russia's insatiable thirst for Ottoman land which out us over the line.

​

 

[MondoPotato]

Schimmelpenninck was made to look like a right wally.

To say the least! All this nonsense about voters rights... dictatorships are much more efficient! Another great update, Tanzhang.

 

[LordTempest]

To say the least! All this nonsense about voters rights... dictatorships are much more efficient! Another great update, Tanzhang.

Efficient, yes... But could you imagine how boring and predictable my political updates would be if The Netherlands was governed by some kind of Carrerra-esque single-party dictatorship? You managed to make it work, yes, but in my case it would be completely different!

 

[Seelmeister]

Seelmeister: Thank you and welcome aboard! I actually have to disagree with you on the pictures though: I've found it rather difficult to find appropriate period images for this AAR and if I could level any piece of criticism at it it would be that I simply haven't used enough of them. Thanks for the kind words all the same though.

Ah, in that case I must check out some of your other AARs!

 

[DensleyBlair]

They had won and done so handsomely when practically nobody outside of the editorials in the Algemeen Handelsblad had given them a chance.

It seems I now write for a Dutch newspaper

I had to smile at van Bosse's brilliance. I think I'd rather see him PM than Thorbecke – though I couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Old Gerrit. Do Dutch PMs get US President-style nicknames in this AAR? I'd like to know what Schimmelpenninck's would be.

Very well written - as ever. Immensely enjoyable.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Excellent update. The Gematigde Liberalen won't be around in power for long, if they keep up this level of political incompetence. It's all well that Schimmelpenninck can play with the big boys on the world stage, but his internal performance has been less than inspired. Still, it makes for great reading to see a party win a gigantic electoral victory and then proceed to fall flat on its face almost immediately. And then do it again. I wonder how much Thorbecke can restore his own prestige and be an effective leader in parliament, be it as leader of the opposition or perhaps as prime minister.

Do Dutch PMs get US President-style nicknames in this AAR? I'd like to know what Schimmelpenninck's would be.

Well, 'Schimmelpenninck'... 'schimmel' is the Dutch word for mold (the stuff on food when it goes bad, not the thing you use to cast a statue) and 'penninck' is an archaic spelling of 'penning', which can mean a medal or a coin. So, 'moldy coin' or 'moldy medal' - the nickname basically writes itself, in this case.

 

[DensleyBlair]

Well, 'Schimmelpenninck'... 'schimmel' is the Dutch word for mold (the stuff on food when it goes bad, not the thing you use to cast a statue) and 'penninck' is an archaic spelling of 'penning', which can mean a medal or a coin. So, 'moldy coin' or 'moldy medal' - the nickname basically writes itself, in this case.

Old Mouldy Coin? Considering his economic acumen, that's somewhat brilliant

Seeing 'Liberalen' everywhere throws me off as well - usually it means someone's addressing me.

 

[LordTempest]

Seelmeister: Well I won't force you to, but sure, go ahead and engage in some forum archaeology if you wish! (might I suggest you start with The Birth and Rise of the Ishida Shogunate and The Alexandriad)

Densley: van Bosse becoming Liberale PM is a long way off, to say the least. Thorbecke towered over Dutch politics in a manner which would be almost unbelievable to people observing politics today, accustomed as they are to Nick Cleggs, Tony Blairs and various shades of Milliband as opposed to William Gladstones or Winston Churchills; titans of the industrial and early modern age. Parties were also far more loyal to their leaders, and less likely to throw the captain over the side when waters turned rough. Thorbecke is here to stay, and I can only foresee him leaving the post due to either old age (which to once more invoke the example of Gladstone, might not be for some time) or if he finds himself in the unsavoury position of leading a government which is thoroughly discredited. That might be the more likely occurrence, if the first term of the present incumbent is anything to go by...

Of course it is worth mentioning that van Bosse did rise to the rank of PM in our timeline, and held the office for a period of about three years from 1868 to 17 when he was succeeded... by no less a man than Johan Rudolf Thorbecke.

Stuyvesant: Now I don't know about you, but winning only 41% of the popular vote and a majority of only five seats does not strike me as being a particularly gigantic electoral victory! Thorbecke's newly-found economic acumen should surely mean that he'd be well-equipped to beat and bludgeon Gerrit around the house. Furthermore, van Bosse is now the new shadow Finance minister - and we already know what he can do.

That being said, elections aren't won on Tweede Kamer debates and performances alone.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Stuyvesant: Now I don't know about you, but winning only 41% of the popular vote and a majority of only five seats does not strike me as being a particularly gigantic electoral victory!

I could be truthful and blame my short attention span. Alternatively, I could point to me being so accustomed to coalition governments where obtaining 40/50 seats for a single party is a major, major victory, that the simple fact that the GL won an overall majority left me awestruck. Oh, and I was conditioned by all the opinion polls to expect a rather mediocre performance by the GL, so that added to the sheen of their victory.

Yes, I was awestruck in many ways, it had nothing to do whatsoever with a short attention span.