The Anglo-German War
1 December 1838, Nürnberg
Konrad von Hohenzollern’s presence at a meeting of the Assembly was unusual enough, but his request for a quorum of Stadtholders was extremely puzzling to everyone there. Accompanying him was the newly-promoted Staff Captain Albrecht von Hohenzollern, his grandson.
“Gentlemen, I understand your confusion – I assure you, all will be made clear in a matter of moments. I believe you all know my grandson?” Nods greeted that statement. “Then I will allow him to explain. Captain?”
Albrecht von Hohenzollern was, at this moment, aware of precisely how junior he was for the task appointed to him. He cleared his throat and set up a small easel. “Assemblymen, Stadtholders, I am here at the request of the Chief of Staff, Marshal von Mannerheim. I am here to brief you about the progress of what has been termed ‘Operation Sea Lion.’ As you all know, our declaration of war was somewhat delayed due to the death of the proposed commander of 1st Army.”
“General von Franken’s replacement, Albrecht von Württemburg, sent orders to have the armies march north to join 1st Army at Bruges. In the meantime, I received an interesting letter from my cousin Michael in Canada, that the USA and Sonora had declared independence from the British Empire.” [1]
“With this news sure to have the British concerned about other colonies declaring independence, Marshal von Mannerheim gave the formal word to declare war on the British Empire, announcing as our goal to acquire Southwest England.”
“Our forces were already off the western coast of England, and upon the declaration, proceeded according to our plans, which I now divulge to you.”
“To nobody’s surprise, the British began mobilizing their population to resist our occupation, but our armies tore through England almost without resistance. A single significant battle was fought on 27 July."
“After that, isolated pockets of resistance were quickly and easily crushed. Only a communications breakdown has prevented us from capturing London. Here are our present positions.” [2]
An audible gasp resounded throughout the Assembly chamber. Nobody in their wildest dreams had expected such progress so quickly. The Staff Captain waited for a moment, then continued.
“The one troublesome area has been the surprise attack by the Papal States, who honored the British alliance. The commander there was inexperienced, especially in the art of assault, and was engaged in a brutal battle.”
“A subsequent pursuit destroyed the Papal Armies. It remains only to retake the captured provinces and then advance upon Rome.”
“That is the present state of our war with England.” Albrecht sat down, and Konrad replaced him at the podium.
“My friends, one more important piece of foreign news: Norway, seeking to gain part of the British Empire abroad, has declared war on them.”
“Now, finally, we reach the reasoning for my being here: I have been approached, strictly unofficially, by a British agent here in our capital. The British Empire is seeking terms.”
“We can end the war, today, with a telegram to London. However, I know there are those in the audience who might wish to debate this. In particular, there are some German claims on British North Africa, around Tunisia, that we might press. A vocal minority in places like Milan and Florence would have us annex the Papal States, although at present it is purely a minority. They suggest we could make a separate agreement with Rome after their lands are conquered, while stalling the British for the present. That is why I am here, gentlemen.” [3] Konrad sat down.
Utter bedlam erupted a few moments later.
[1] Idhrendur did yeoman’s work last night getting the colony situation straightened out, but for some reason the British AI insists on releasing nations. They haven’t done any since Sonora and the USA, which I think we can live with. Idhrendur, in order to get the Brits to stop releasing England, had to delete all the English cores. If we wish to revisit this in the future, we can always add them back later, perhaps.
[2] I was moving an army next to London and caught the London army in the box. :embarrassed:
[3] We have enough jingoism to add a new goal against the British, but not against the Papal States – I suspect if we occupy their territory, that will help. We’re about .5% shy of adding a war goal against them. I genuinely don’t know where the African cores came from.
Before the war, France got a small chunk of Spain back; other than that, Alencon pushed Ak Konlyu out of the GPs (due to prestige, I’m thinking). Nothing else of global importance happened. We did finish Positivism (and start Ideological thought). In addition, this event fired.
You can see my choice above.
So, we have a decision to make. I originally said (and it’s even part of the rules) that I’d simply end the war and we’d move on. I did not expect us to ROFLstomp the British so quickly, however. Therefore, I am going to give you folks the opportunity to decide if we pursue additional war goals. My thoughts above are merely suggestions – if we’d rather do something like cut the Brits down to size, add a state, etc., all of that is fine, provided we stay within the infamy limit.
This is a one-time thing: in the future, once the other guy surrenders, that's it. (My own personal preference is to annex the Papal States too, just for pretty borders, if you want it.
)
The Foreign Minister is entitled to present a proposal (even if it’s just “We annex the state and call it a war”), but we’ll open the floor to anybody (Assembly or Conclave) who might wish to add war goals (or, even, recommend a white peace). Then, we’ll do a vote to pursue a different peace, if there are any other proposals. If the vote fails (it must get a majority of
both houses), we accept the British surrender as is. If another proposal succeeds, we’ll go from there.
Now, since 1838 is almost done (we’re on 1 December), no matter which decision is taken, we’ll immediately go to additional proposals, if any, and then I’ll play through 1839 as well as finishing off 1838. That means, Sirk, if that event is ready, please send it along ASAP.
The window for submitting peace proposals is 48 hours, so you have until
4 PM on Tuesday (+4 GMT).