Election of 1845
As had become the tradition in the Republic of Germany, the outgoing Chancellor gave the convocation for the new Assembly. Florentin Willem, Graf von Wächtersbach smiled, seeing so many new faces aligned with the New Society. His administration was largely considered a boon for Germany, both economically and politically. While Pomerania, Ethiopia, and Ak Konulyu fought over Kars and the right for Pskov to determine its own fate, and the British Empire and France fought to settle the question of Grenada, Germany had been steadily building up relations with Poland and drawing even closer to Castille.
However, that did not mean that German foreign policy was free from turbulence. Both Croatia and Krakow underwent revolutions as Jacobins overthrew monarchies.
This put the Imperialists, in particular, in a very awkward position. If they spoke out against the coup in Krakow, they would be undermining the German Republic, but if they said nothing, they would lose credibility with their base. Foreign Minister Bern, as usually, chose the path of non-intervention, salvaging quite a bit of prestige and influence for Germany and boosting his party’s chances at success.
The shift in global politics pushed Canada out of Great Power status, while Egypt took her place.
Industrially, Germany continued to lead the world, with expansion in rolling stock and factories proving more profitable than ever.
However, while the UAI lost ground, they made gains in other ways. Assemblyman Richtofen’s plan to strengthen the defense of the nation, combined with Stadtholder’s Spinoza insistence on keeping tax rates low, resulted in the treasury losing money.
Worse, the Corps of the Gendarmeries was sent into two separate incidents – one a drunken brawl that spilled into a riot in Venice, another a demonstration by some of the wealthiest men in Elsass-Löthringen – that, while maintaining order, did little to ease the growing discontent by liberals and radicals in Germany.
The result was a spike in German Jacobins, who were clamoring for more freedom in the voting process, as a way to throw the tyrants out of office.
Some political analysts even suggested that, if given equal footing, the lower classes would have voted the UAI into power. Others dismissed that as “the exact sort of nonsense one would expect from commoners”. In any case, only about 39% of the Conclave would openly support any revision of the franchise law.
The only question that remained for Germany, at least in the short term, was who would be Chancellor? While the Imperialists continued to make gains in the Conclave, the Assembly was very close.
It would seem that the UAI and New Society would both have to court the Imperialists if they wanted to gain control of the Assembly; who would have the better offer?
((I'm not quite sure why the election started so late, but it just means this update was 18 months instead of 12.
Idhrendur – I never did get to build the Luxury Clothes Factory, Machine Parts still being very hard to come by, let alone the Cement Factory in West Switzerland.
Warlord Skorr – all the new units were built and added to the Eastern Armies, with the exception of one fewer brigade of artillery (one of the armies already had one, so we only needed seven) and one extra brigade of Hussars in the 18th Army (I’m not sure where we had five existing).))
So, it’s up to you guys to make your coalition deals. You can include the Alliance if you want, but unless the UAI and New Society somehow make an agreement, the Imperialists will be “kingmakers”, as it were (no pun intended).
I’ve updated my voting sheet with the new numbers. The Alliance and Imperialists keep the same numbers in the Assembly; the UAI is now 92.5 votes per member, while the New Society is 48.75 votes per members.
The Conclave is 1/6.5/8.6/9 (Alliance/UAI/New Society/Imperialists).
Proposals are now open; no new decisions we're eligible for, and I don't have anything to add myself. 48 hours to present any amendments or major proposals and, ideally, work out the coalition arrangements. Good luck!