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Well, this election will be interesting... and it could doom the Polish Empire.

Also, when the HRE seems to be threatening, the last thing you should do is invade Serbia - one of the few independent nations (that is, outside of Poland or the HRE-Papal axis). You don't need more enemies! And the Tatars shouldn't be pissed off. You can't fight off the HRE, the Papal States, a Serbia that wants revenge, and the Tatars at the same time! And that's just the people who currently have reason to hate you.
 
I think we ought to solidify our armies and tech up more before we go toe-to-toe with the HRE-Papal Axis.
 
Congratulations about the trans siberian railway and the successful heavy industries. It'll be useful during a great war.

I'm curious to see how the new elections will result. When there's finally a government leftist enough to scrap the Brusilov line, the old right will probably never be able to rebound, and constitutionalists will probably be the new right.

I'm glad you are still enjoying the Tatar side of the story! Your enthusiasm for that aspect has pushed me to put greater focus on it since the EU4 days :).
I'm enjoying it, and I assumed that aspect was already planned in the story of the AAR; now I feel really special that my enthusiasm was focused on specifically :)
 
Everything feels like it's building towards something momentous. These elections could well provide the real shift we might have expected after the manhood suffrage reform. It feels like the establishment is running out of reasons to maintain its convenient pact to maintain the status quo without something pretty big giving way.
 
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1892-1893 – The Brusilov Crisis

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The momentous elections of 1892 produced a particularly complicated picture. There had been a clear shift from the Right and Centre towards the Left. Both the Constitutionalists and National Alliance saw their vote share drop, with the results of the Right plunging so far as to allow the liberals to win a slightly higher vote share. Despite losing votes, the Constitutionalists were able to modestly increase their tally of seats while the National Alliance 48. This allowed them to remain the largest parliamentary block but left them clearly humbled. The votes lost by the major parties flowed towards the Left, who also gained further support from the minority parties. The Democrats were left largely disappointed by their result, failing to achieve the major split in liberalism they had sought and seeing five of the eight deputies who had defected from the Constitutionalists in 1887 lose their seats. They had nonetheless won nearly 400,000 votes and ensured their continued survival as a parliamentary force. The most successful party of the election were the Trudoviks, who further cemented themselves as a national power with a surge in support and flurry of gains that trebled their Duma block. Away from the national parties, there was drama in Tatar and Mongol communities as the Grand Turanian Congress ran a full slate of candidates against the unionist deputies of the Hindu-Muslim Block – winning almost a quarter of Muslim and Hindu votes and securing a sizeable phalanx of separatist deputies.

Despite winning just 180 seats, and the Tsar’s preference for continued cooperation between centre-left and centre-right, Petr Orlov presented himself as the leader of a radical alliance of Duma parties; forming a Constitutionalist minority government with support from the Trudoviks, Democrats, elements of the Christian Block and including Belegunutist ministers from the Hindu-Muslim Block. In order to hold this coalition of support together, he promised a spectacular programme of reform involving universal manhood suffrage, social reform, the institution of an income tax and an end to the Brusilov Line.

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The government quickly went to work on its grand programme of reform. Remarkably for a country that had possessed an electoral franchise limited to the very wealthiest tiers of society just over half a decade previously, the easiest part of the reformist programme to pass through the Duma was universal manhood suffrage. Not only was there little dissent from the government and its allies, elements of the opposition – particularly in the Agudah Yisrael – were happy to back the drive to give all adult males the vote. With this support, the 1892 Reform Act nearly doubled the size of the electorate to around 22,000,000 – giving all men over the age of 21 the right to vote.

The task of introducing the progressive income tax, a tax with a wider scope and great redistributive features than any previously instituted in Polish history, alongside a series of social reforms was much more difficult. Indeed, a budget proposing higher taxes and higher social spending appeared decidedly unliberal and grated with a large part of Orlov’s own party. Despite an emerging rebellion on the Constitutionalist benches benches within dozens of deputies either voting against or abstaining, the Prime Minister was able to pass what was dubbed the ‘People’s Budget’ in 1892 with the backing of his Duma allies out with his own party. The budget brought in the much discussed income tax – addressing the new fiscal needs of the modern state, introduced a modest pension for those over the age of 70 without family to support them and a small measure of poor relief for the unemployment and impoverished. Within mere months, Petr Orlov, a moderate by inclination, had, with striking energy, reshaped Polish society. However, it was the final flagship policy of the new government, the abolition of the Brusilov Line, that would be the most controversial and most challenging to bring into practise.

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The Right had been concerned by many aspects of the second Orlov ministry, but none elicited the same degree of horror, anger and political energy as the prospect of the end of the Brusilov Line. Conservatives feared that abolishing the Line would fundamentally change the nature of the Polish state – forever breaking Jewish control over the empire that served as the greatest protector of the Jewish people across the world. Jews would be relegated to a permanent minority within their own Duma, and a terrifying alliance of the godless and Muslims were liable to rule in perpetuity. In this world, what future would there be for Jewish and Slavic civilisation, what guarantee would there be of their right and security? The prospect was terrifying, and likely irreversible. Moderates like the recently deposed Prime Minister Vasiliy Vlasov, could hold little sway in this context. The deputies of the National Alliance quickly lined up behind former premier Yildilz Kazimzade, who forthrightly promised to fight to the end to preserve the Line and Jewish civilisation.

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The ensuing Brusilov Crisis marked the moment when the performance of politics in Poland caught up with the new age of mass participation. It extended beyond the bourgeois world of parliamentary intrigue, the broadsheet press and regular, orderly, elections to encompass the streets. In the East, Tatars and Mongols both west and east of the Brusilov Line organised mass demonstrations in support of the government – a part of a strategy to put Kiev’s feet to the fire and ensure that it maintained its promise to enfranchise all of the empire’s peoples. To the West, Jewish groups, many with religious links and connections to Agudah Yisrael, had their own marches and counter demonstrations – leading to clashes in ethnically mixed areas like Muscovy and the Donbass. Elsewhere, newspapers with mass readerships spread increasingly shrill and highly partisan rhetoric that further inflamed passions.

Few 19th century politicians were comfortable in this new world, Petr Orlov for one was horrified and seemed completely disorientated by it. There was one clear exception, Yildilz Kazimzade. The great man of the Right engaged with the popular press and mass organisations with ease – making use of mass politics to bring maximum pressure onto the Duma. Most famously, following a huge pro-Brusilov demonstration in Kiev that had drawn over a hundred thousand into the capital from the provinces, Kazimzade rose to speak to the crowds and promised “Brusilov today, Brusilov tomorrow, Brusilov forever!”

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Internationally, 1892 saw the birth of a new first-rate global power – the United States of America. The powerful new state was born out of the Americas’ most developed nation – New Andalucia, which over the previous decades had expanded its borders through wars with indigenous tribes and the purchase of lightly populated Skottish territory in Appalachia. The new Union was created in the aftermath of a series of revolts in Danish colonial territories in the North East and Florida that had been driven by Muslim migrants that had pushed into these territories from New Andalucia in search of new lands to settle. After the Danish withdrawal from these territories in the 1880s, new mixed Muslim-Christian statelets were formed, under heavy New Andalucian influence. Seeking to incorporate these valuable and strategic new lands, New Andalucia had adopted a new secular constitution that promised substantial local autonomy and even distanced the new nation from its Iberian heritage. Thus, the United States was formed.

The success of the New Andalucians, or rather the Americans, had a major impact on the Islamic world more widely. Since opening up to mass immigration from the oppressed Muslim populations of the Old World, millions of Arabs, Tatars and others had settled within its borders – diluting its historically Iberian population and strengthening the connections between the Eurasian and North American Muslim communities. The impressive achievements of the United States, now a world power whose people enjoyed some of the highest standards of living in the world, illustrated how successfully a Muslim society could govern itself, while its secular constitution inspired reformers under Christian rule in the Near East and Jewish control in the Polish empire. Most pointedly for Poland, it added tremendous energy to Tatar activists and their drive to abolish the Brusilov Line.

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In the Duma, the legislation to abolish the Line was proving difficult to pass. Many Constitutionalist and Christian Block deputies, and even a small number of Trudoviks, shared the fears of the Right or were at the very least worried for the consequences to the social order. Indeed, it should not be forgotten that the abolition of Brusilov would significantly reduce the influence on the Christian community within the Duma. The great majority of Christians living in the western parts of the empire and already enjoying voting rights, and those that did not were predominantly Ugrians – looked down upon as less civilised by Balts and Krakowians. For them, end of the Line would not be a liberation for minorities, but merely a root to Muslim rather than Jewish power.

Despite this discontent among his own ranks, Orlov brought forward the legislation to the Duma in February 1893. Dissent had been expected, but the Prime Minister had hoped that his personal authority and the hefty majority held by the progressive parties would see the Bill pass through. The atmosphere in the lead up to the vote was incredibly tense. The day prior the Kohen Gadol, the head of Orthodox Judaism, had taken the unusual step of making an official announcement with relation to the vote – urging deputies to “carefully consider” their decision, offering as close was as practically possible to official church sanction for the pro-Brusilov faction. Instead, the government faced one of the largest parliamentary rebellions in Polish history. More than a third of Constitutionalist deputies voted against the Bill, as did around half of the Christian Block and a tenth of the Trudoviks. The Bill was defeated by 273 votes to 228.

In the aftermath of this defeat the government was left in disarray. The Hindu-Muslim deputies were enraged and threatened to abandon the government while in the province Turanian led demonstrations turned to riots in Tatar communities. The Constitutionalist Party itself was sent hurtling into internecine strife, while the Christian Block began to distance itself from the government entirely. Orlov was in a perilous position but chose to forge forwards. As the fallout from the first vote settled, the government announced that it would bring its Brusilov legislation forward for a second time. This time the Constitutionalist deputies would be whipped heavily, with dissenters threatened with expulsion from the party.

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Kazimzade and the members of the National Alliance had spent over a year assiduously working behind the scenes to cultivate the liberal division that had led to the defeat of the Bill’s first reading, and these connection proved vital in the lead up to the second vote. With just a week to go until the second reading, 42 Constitutionalist deputies announced their defection from the party to form the National Liberal Party. They would sit among the opposition deputies of the National Alliance as its third constituent party, the Right having offered to bring them under their electoral wing and in doing so presenting a route to continue their political careers beyond the next election.

The second vote came in early April 1893, and this time the result was far closer. Similar numbers of Christian Block and Trudovik deputies joined the, now enlarged, National Alliance in the pro-Brusilov camp, but Orlov’s threats and cajoling had significantly brought a number of the remaining Constitutionalist rebels back into line. While a small number abstained, no further liberals voted against the Bill. It therefore received the narrowest of endorsements in the Duma – passing by 247 votes to 245.

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This was the point at which the Tsar intervened. Outside of government formations, Tsar Nikolai had largely remained neutral in political affairs over the course of his 44-year reign – allowing the parties of the Duma to govern the empire as they saw fit. However, the drama of the Brusilov Crisis had stirred him from this inaction. He expressed his concerns to the Prime Minister that such a divisive policy was due to be enacted without even achieving majority support in the Duma and urged him to either seek a broader mandate or revise the legislation itself. Unwilling to question his sovereign, and possessing some misgivings about forging on based on a minority parliamentary vote, Orlov looked to dissolve the Duma and push for a new election that would be fought squarely on the Brusilov issue. The Brusilov Crisis was hurtling towards a conclusion
 
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The absolute boy Petr Orlov!

Also, alternate universe Iberian Muslim America is as much fun as RedTemplar's Actually Indigenous America.
 
We're getting back to the old Polish tradition of bitter internal conflict! Albeit without our usual level of violence :p.

Forgot to include the list of PMs requested by @DensleyBlair in the last round of comments!


1831-1845Mikhail BrusilovSlavophile
1845-1850Sergei GaidarSlavophile
1850-1856Mikhail BrusilovSlavophile
1856-1858Illiya EgorovSlavophile
1858-1863Roman PutatiaSlavophile
1863-1872Boris ZahkovConstitutional Party
1872-1875David IsraelNational Conservative Party
1875-1881Yildilz KazimzadeAgudat Yisrael
1881-1882Boris ZahkovConstitutional Party
1882-1887Petr OrlovConstitutional Party
1887-1892Vasiliy VlasovNational Conservative Party
1892-?Petr OrlovConstitutional Party


Excellent, a good old fashioned arms race is exactly what we like to see in a Vicky AAR!

It certainly serves to up the stakes as tensions in Europe!

International tensions are getting really scary. Feels like the Great War could happen at any moment.

Also, I want to say how much I enjoy the really granular details of coalition management and opinions shifting. This AAR is making me want to actually try Vic2 someday.

You can feel the drums of war getting louder and louder as we go forward.

And glad you are enjoying, you certainly got more of that side of things in this update! Vicky2 is a great game, albeit a little aged - its probably the only Paradox games were wars are the boring bit of the game and peacetime the exciting part (atleast for me!)

I am really looking forward to the 1892 election. It should be an absolute delight.

And perhaps - in my fond dreams - it will produce another result that will make the Brusilov line fall.

It was certainly a hugely important one, and brought us to the brink of abolishing the line. But it will take a clear victory in 1893 to finally get the job done.

Well, this election will be interesting... and it could doom the Polish Empire.

Also, when the HRE seems to be threatening, the last thing you should do is invade Serbia - one of the few independent nations (that is, outside of Poland or the HRE-Papal axis). You don't need more enemies! And the Tatars shouldn't be pissed off. You can't fight off the HRE, the Papal States, a Serbia that wants revenge, and the Tatars at the same time! And that's just the people who currently have reason to hate you.

Its brought us to our most unstable and polarised point since the 18th century. We will see how we come through the other side of this.

Poland has spent the past half century or so seeing itself as strong enough to stand up on its own without foreign alliances. The last major GP alliance we had was with the Abbaddids way back in the 1820s and 1830s. It might be time to move on from that mindset, both internationally and internally with regards to the Tatars.

I think we ought to solidify our armies and tech up more before we go toe-to-toe with the HRE-Papal Axis.

We will certainly need to prepare ourselves more if we are going to take on that HRE monster, and also engage better with the powers of Europe!

Congratulations about the trans siberian railway and the successful heavy industries. It'll be useful during a great war.

I'm curious to see how the new elections will result. When there's finally a government leftist enough to scrap the Brusilov line, the old right will probably never be able to rebound, and constitutionalists will probably be the new right.

I'm enjoying it, and I assumed that aspect was already planned in the story of the AAR; now I feel really special that my enthusiasm was focused on specifically :)

The Polish economy continues to steam ahead!

We finally got that left-leaning government committed to abolishing the Line, but the progressive alliance couldn't hold together strongly. However, with the defection of the National Liberals, the Constitutionalists are no longer really divided over the issue - and are now firmly in the Anti-Brusilov camp going into the future.

I usually make up a loose plan of things after going through the gameplay, but often change the shape and detail of how things develop based on the readers' ideas and thoughts :).

Everything feels like it's building towards something momentous. These elections could well provide the real shift we might have expected after the manhood suffrage reform. It feels like the establishment is running out of reasons to maintain its convenient pact to maintain the status quo without something pretty big giving way.

This is probably one of the most momentous times in Polish history. We've gone from a franchise of a twentieth of adult males to universal manhood suffrage in less than ten years and are now in the heat of the battle over a reform that could well define the soul of the empire for decades to come.
 
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Down with the Brusilov line!

Ok, my colours being now firmly tied to the mast this was always going to be a hard hard fight. I hope that this effort does not expire at the finishing line, because if it does I fear a revolution. Not now, not soon - but the clamour for equality will not be denied.
 
The Democrats were left largely disappointed by their result, failing to achieve the major split in liberalism they had sought and seeing five of the eight deputies who had defected from the Constitutionalists in 1887 lose their seats.

We love to see the splitters getting what’s theirs. Now all the defeated schemers can go off to become consultants, or whatever it is they do with themselves in their spare time. :p

Within mere months, Petr Orlov, a moderate by inclination, had, with striking energy, reshaped Polish society.

A true Bennite, in the sense of somehow getting more radical once in power.

All very stirring stuff, Tommy. Has a very credible air as a long-fought crisis finally bursting out into open warfare. The Tsar’s intervention at the last moment seems justified, as obviously disappointing as it may be. Now here’s hoping the anti-Brusilovians can galvanise the country (or the voting segment of it, anyway) – else those denied their rights may soon consider taking them by force.
 
Well, "universal" male suffrage is good.

Again, keeping the Brusilov Line could destroy Polish hegemony over Siberia - the Tsar may yet regret his decision.
 
Again, keeping the Brusilov Line could destroy Polish hegemony over Siberia - the Tsar may yet regret his decision.
To be fair to the Tsar he just demanded a more certain vote. In and of itself that is perhaps not unreasonable. But a lot will depend on the result of the vote.
 
Conservatives feared that abolishing the Line would fundamentally change the nature of the Polish state – forever breaking Jewish control over the empire that served as the greatest protector of the Jewish people across the world. Jews would be relegated to a permanent minority within their own Duma, and a terrifying alliance of the godless and Muslims were liable to rule in perpetuity.
Of course, as this is alternate history, a dynamic such as this would have no chance of happening in any real life jewish states
 
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I also really don't think the Tsar did anything wrong. Pushing through such a transformative bill on such a slim majority would clearly backfire, and with universal male suffrage it's clear that the Conservatives won't exactly do better in this election. The momentum is with the reformers.
 
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As with a few others, I've noted that the rise of a predominantly Muslim United States of America in this universe has a certain ironic tinge to it ;)

The Brusilov Line is beginning to come down, but it looks like the struggle might well bring the Polish state down with it -- or, at least, the present form of government. Either way, given how tense the situation is, I can see the losing side being perfectly willing to resort to extreme measures once the votes are all cast...
 
So, it seems Orlov can do it when he really wants to :)

Now, after his latest meddling, I'm not only advocating abolishing the Brusilov line but maybe the Tsardom altogether! Next stop: Republic!

They had nonetheless won nearly 400,000 votes and ensured their continued survival as a parliamentary force.
d'Hondt heavily disfavors spread out votes, if the left and minority parties made an election alliance to circumvent that, they'd have earned a lot more seats

giving all men over the age of 21 the right to vote.
the only step left is the women!
 
Now, after his latest meddling, I'm not only advocating abolishing the Brusilov line but maybe the Tsardom altogether! Next stop: Republic!

Oh, yes, same! Let's abolish the Tsar and rule ourselves as free people in a free land!
 
I wonder if we'll have to start fighting wars against the US to keep our Alaskan colony.