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Seems we all know who is the clear winner, and I am sad to say that it isn't either the DKRP or the LVD. God damn it. (See what I did there?)
Final Results
Total Vote: 44 (-5)
DZP: 23
LVD: 11
DKRP: 8
SPD: 2 (1)
The Centre has won a stunning victory, being the first party to secure an absolute majority since the creation of the North German Federation.
Total Vote: 44 (-5)
DZP: 23
LVD: 11
DKRP: 8
SPD: 2 (1)
The Centre has won a stunning victory, being the first party to secure an absolute majority since the creation of the North German Federation.
Not even a DKRP LVD coalition there will be enough power to topple the pro-socialist sentiment, Those sneaky socialists.
The Election of 1883
The aftermath of the Austrian War and the continued controversy over the Anti-Socialist Laws were the dominant questions of January 1883. As the Centre Party spearheaded the opposition to the government on both the question of unification and the Anti-Socialist Laws the party hoped to once again overturn a Bismarckian government.
Although the Centre’s assumption of the Pan-Germanist banner with his unconditional support for unification with Austria (as opposed to the more qualified support of the Liberals and Socialists, not to mention Conservative outright opposition) had left many expecting the party to make gains, few had thought the scale of the Centre’s triumph would be so great. The Centre’s gains were so great that the number of additional seats won in 1883 solidly outnumbered the newly elected DKRP Reichstag faction. Building on impressive results in the 1870s, when the Centre had established itself as a political heavyweight, the party once more made tremendous gains in the North. The dominant party of the working class, of Catholics, of ethnic minorities, of regionalists, of dissatisfied democratic reformists and now of Pan-Germanists seeking unity with the South the Centre had won a majority through the support of a wide collection of often disparate elements in German society. But together, this coalition of interests had managed to usurp the power of the Prussian based parties once again.
Of the other parties only the Liberals were spared from total disaster – their vote holding firm as just a single Reichstag deputy was lost. For the Conservatives 1883 was a total disaster, many had been disappointed by the performance of the Conservatives back in government and many more abandoned them from their strident opposition to unification with Austria. However few had been so despairing to expect the halving of their vote. The Socialists, similarly faced major losses as for a second successive election their vote declined by half. Yet for them, there was a glimmer of hope as the Centre Party had long upheld the policy of repeal of the Anti-Socialist Laws.
With an absolute Centre majority, for once, there were no coalition calculations to be made nor were there any democratic alternatives to the Centre Party assuming sole responsibility for government. Yet, that was not to say that not to say that following electoral victory the Centre was free to simply form their government. There was still a risk that the Kaiser would refuse to appoint Windthorst as Chancellor and allow him to form a new government, many around the monarch pushing for him to block the Centre as he had failed to do ten years before.
But in many ways this was the perfect moment for the Centre to rise to power. The Kaiser, Wilhelm I, had long maintained his distance from intervening in German government, now rapidly approaching his 86th birthday and in declining health he was unwilling to risk conflict in his Empire. Moreover, the rising influence of the Crown Prince, Friedrich, at court in light of his father’s health effectively ensured that there would be no challenge to the electorate from the monarchy. Friedrich himself identified with the British system of constitutional monarchy and with democratic liberal tendency in German politics that toed the line between the Centre and the Liberals.
Although other parties had been hit harder at the polls, 1883 was a disappointment for the Liberals above all others. For the second time under the Liberal Union, German Liberals had suffered a truly disappointing result and anger at the forced marriage between the twin wings of German Liberalism, not to mention the Union’s long term leader Max von Forchenbeck, had reached its limit. With many identifying 1883 as a new dawn in German politics, the beginning of an age of reform, the marriage between National and Progressive Liberalism was officially annulled. With Forchenbeck’s political career now over the National Liberal Party and the German Progress Party reconstituted themselves on relatively amicable terms. Although no longer united in a single party, the two Liberal parties remained in close alliance in the Reichstag.
Interesting, not entirely unexpected however. Seems I may have to vote other than DKRP this election. God I love this AAR.
And with Austria, we shall be cast aside from the world, and be put into isolation. God save us all.
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Deus vult! This is the strongest electoral result by any party since the foundation of the NGF! At their own expense the Prussian parties have pursued a narrow and exclusionary ideology.
Finally caught up with this again. Glad the Centre won,and I love the Reichstag map. It looks so beautiful...
Unfortunately, we're gonna see a lot more red within it after the next election.Finally caught up with this again. Glad the Centre won,and I love the Reichstag map. It looks so beautiful...
As glad as I am to see the DFP reconstituted, after ten years of submitting to the jingoist and frankly quasi-undemocratic NLP, as a Centre supporter for the past few years I am happy that they have had a chance to form a government. The progressive cause has won a major victory, and unification with our Austrian brothers is welcome. The future has bright things for us all.
The red menace looms...barricade the doors and shutter the windows! Germans must unite. Under one banner!
I remember the French AAR over on the Darkest Hour board, and look how strong the Reds became there! Yes, my friends, the Red looms...I think I am going going to like it here...
[video=youtube;fRamB30E9mU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU[/video]
[video=youtube;fRamB30E9mU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRamB30E9mU[/video]