Curious to see how the new imperial MPs breakdown by colonial nation. And which colonies exactly are included?
Canada, Aus, NZ and South Africa? Are there Afrikaner MPs?
Canada, Aus, NZ and South Africa? Are there Afrikaner MPs?
Curious to see how the new imperial MPs breakdown by colonial nation. And which colonies exactly are included?
Canada, Aus, NZ and South Africa? Are there Afrikaner MPs?
but I can't help but wonder if some of the more pragmatic sorts in Washington won't see something dangerous to America's own standing and ambitions in their northern neighbor being regarded as an integral part of Greater Britain -- maybe not enough to endanger the Anglo-American Alliance as it currently stands, but at least enough to flex their own muscles closer to home and assert their own autonomy elsewhere.
A couple of grand designers with foresight and a grand plan. Dangerous, but such things make or break the fates of empires.
The winds of history and fate were in the room. They all seem to recognise it.
What an excellent series this is. An excellent useable of Vicky II.
My word, that's a lot going on in Westminster. Nice to see Asquith actually getting stuff done, although I'm not sure I like the sound of where all this "England, my England" talk is headed... Resurgent imperial spirit is a troubling thing at the best of times, but one senses it could have a big impact only a few years off a Great War.
The idea whenever great wars pop up is to avoid the first one then win the second, having lost little and gaining the knowledge of what to do. So if this means they don't go all out into France, this is probably a good thing.
Staying away would be ideal, presuming the war is over some trivial dispute between imperial families. I'm more concerned that exceptionalism will skyrocket and Westminster will be drawn into a pissing contest with the Germans, but who knows what Sir Robert has in store for us. Smug empire-focused isolationism would be a reasonable enough outcome.
I don't really want a return to isolation seeming like a good or achievable thing, but if they do manage to federalise and unify the empire a state it stood in 1901, that's a ridiculous amount of land and power stably under their control already. European affairs at that point become laughable (what are the 'enemy' whoever they are going to do, invade the British isles somehow and fend off the empire reinforcements?) and the big draw becomes sorting out a plan for Africa and Asia (because those borders are huge, difficulty to defend and valuable to everyone) both on land and at sea. That will require doing something deals with some people, but who? Ideally, the colonial powers a,ready there of course, but oh no! They are all based in Europe, and much weaker there than Germany, who really wants to add to their small colonial empire AND dominate Europe.
Thus the choice is either siding with the current colonial masters like the Netherlands and France, knowing that you would have to bail them out of a upcoming war with Germany, or gambling that Germany is a better bet and siding with them, throwing colonial Africa and Asia into chaos, and deliberately planning a huge aggressive war in Europe.
Both seem terrible choices, which is why the British here seemed to have gone with strengthen the empire, bring in the Americans as a potentially huge and untouchable ally, whilst biging France up as the big power in Europe with lots of powerful friends. That also won't work because the Germans were ran by a military headed by an idiot with delusions of grandeur but it should be enough to keep the war reasonably short (if the Germans don't break France within the first few months they're better off negioting a peace before they get steamrolled by the entente or stabbed in the back by Russia or Austria.
Curious to see how the new imperial MPs breakdown by colonial nation. And which colonies exactly are included?
Canada, Aus, NZ and South Africa? Are there Afrikaner MPs?
Almost certainly just those. 'White' club only. Possibly there are beor mps but considering the whole affair is being stage managed to ensure a smooth transition I imagine there won't be any for some time, or maybe just one as a consolation (unless the british are clever and say they can have their afrikan mp if the blacks get one too).
All the dominions have difficulties though, not just SA. What's happening with quebec? The large native pop in Australia and especially New Zealand? I doubt the latter two will come up for a while but french quebec would demand a ruling now, probably afrikaans too, and, the source of the trouble in the first place, ireland.
Two things immediately stand out to my mind here.
The first is the fact that the Federation Act seems to have passed by a truly razor-thin margin in both sides of Parliament, which seems to be hardly indicative of a true consensus. I can picture the Conservatives making that fact a talking point in the next round of elections for Commons seats, with the possibility of walking it back should they attain a majority themselves. (Of course, the chances of this actually happening lessen the longer the Federation itself remains in place -- the status quo takes real effort to overturn once it's had time to settle, for better or for worse -- but the idea, at least, will probably be a campaign issue at least until something else comes along to take people's attention. That being said, we are getting awfully close to the Great War...)
The second is how the whole idea of Federationism is going to play across the Pond, and I don't just mean with the Canadians. The Anglo-Saxon exceptionalist crowd will undoubtedly be announcing it as a new triumph of progress over barbarism, but I can't help but wonder if some of the more pragmatic sorts in Washington won't see something dangerous to America's own standing and ambitions in their northern neighbor being regarded as an integral part of Greater Britain -- maybe not enough to endanger the Anglo-American Alliance as it currently stands, but at least enough to flex their own muscles closer to home and assert their own autonomy elsewhere.
Means they'll probably be a bit more pro-statehood for any of the territories that ask for a while, and probably push for a bit more of an amercian controlled carribean perhaps? Otherwise not much they can really do, or should care really, since canada has only been a dominion for twenty years and very, very firmly on the empire's side against the amercians in most things.
Or...they get ideas about extending the Monroe doctrine to basically annexing as much of the amercias as they possibly can, build their empire further that way without getting in the brits way.
Sounds like a properly momentous Parliamentary debate. And its repercussions will ripple for a very long time.
Brilliant stuff!
I am very excited about this new Federation but I worry that its approval by such a minuscule majority might lead to realistic calls for a repeal which in turn might beckon revolution.
So how would this be organized? 50 seats for all the colonies put together or how granular will the division be? Very excited to hear about India!
A pattern here can be detected in the role Irish MPs played in cementing the National Insurance system. In fact, there has been speculation that Sinclair intentionally placed former INP members into important positions so that NI could be seen as a benefit of the Union.
Do you mean Northern Ireland or the Irish nationals?
Universal Male Suffrage was enacted in the United Kingdom, along with the secret ballot, by the Representation of the People Act 1849. It assured that no man over the age of 21 could be denied the right to vote based on income, personal wealth, or the ownership of property.
it's mass rebellions in the Atlantic Archipelago.
Woah, stand back lads. We got a historian from the late 90s over here.
Surprising to see such early suffrage (a common sentiment, I see ). What was it that caused such a shift? A scare from the revolutions of '48?
That is a seriously beefy uprising for the Trouble. I'm surprised that there was no larger reform right after that.
With the Federation being a present idea, it seems only logical that the First Colony reap the benefits as well. I look forward with fear and anticipation to the next steps.
Do you mean Northern Ireland or the Irish nationals?
Otherwise, very well done.
Did the scramble for Africa differ in any way? Any change there would make potential colonial defence/war plans/alliances far different.
One can rely on the deep currents of Irish politics to surface in moments of great trial.
Universal manhood suffrage in 1849? That must have dramatically changed the shape of 19th century British politics. Was this in response to Chartist activity?
Interesting that the Irish Nationalists was the air blow out of their movement so rapidly in the late 19th century - quite surprising that the Nationalist genie was forced back into bottle. If only temporarily.
And on a nitpick note - wasn’t Carson a Dublin Protestant rather than an Ulstermen?
Ah, I know only too well have how this play though will have gone. If there's one thing Vicky loves above all else, it's mass rebellions in the Atlantic Archipelago.
Certainly a road with many bumps, twists and turns from the Green Bar to Home Rule. I have no doubt there will be more surprises to come before (if ever) things are finally resolved.
Woah, stand back lads. We got a historian from the late 90s over here.
What can I say, sometimes I like to spice things up a bit.
I've been meaning to comment on this for a while. Excellent writing and attention to detail - as someone without a strong backing in British history, it's hard for me to tell what is real and what is inspired by the game, leading to quite a few Wikipedia trips so far. Keep up the good work!
I too would like to know how and why universal male suffrage got rolled out so completely and swiftly into the right to vote movement. Presumably it would have led to greater liberalisation of parliment much earlier than otl? Which I suppose explains federation and home rule debates.
Surprising to see such early suffrage (a common sentiment, I see ). What was it that caused such a shift? A scare from the revolutions of '48?
That is a seriously beefy uprising for the Trouble. I'm surprised that there was no larger reform right after that.
With the Federation being a present idea, it seems only logical that the First Colony reap the benefits as well. I look forward with fear and anticipation to the next steps.
Well I suppose the debate in both Ireland and Westminster will be
A) is ireland a dominion or intrinsic part of the union of kingdoms?
B) which is better for it to be, both for Westminster and Ireland? (Thinking in terms of vote share, economics, prestige, culture...).
Vote share is going to be a big thing. Is it going to take a sizeable chunk of the 50 seats allocated, or keep its own separate amount which will naturally increase in time.