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Eöl: Heh, just to defend the buffer state idea a bit...

naaa ! ! :)

Poland is too valuable to let go ! ! not only is it rich but the manpower available is just awesome ! ! :cool:
 
1841: The First Steps

On the first day of July it was decided by the House of Lords, who had already been picked an assembled, that the best way to quell the Liberal murmurs about the actual use of the constitution was to hold a free election between the two parties in the Landtag; the Liberals and the Conservatives. They were announced to the public; of course only to those who could afford to vote, and were set to end on March 13th, 1842. It was a risky decision. The Liberals had supporters and the King new it. He just hoped that most of these supporters were too low class and poor to support the Liberal election campaign.

However, the Liberals were even more popular than the King had feared. They appealed to the rich and poor alike. To the poorer sections it was obvious as to why the liberals were appealing. They promised reform in the way of lower taxes tat would make the poorer peoples lives much easier. This also was a double edged blade, as the fact that the poorer would be able to become wealthier would bring out more voters, due to the wealth voting laws, for the liberals, as long as those who became the middle-class continued to support the liberals. They were also appealing to the current middle class and those in the higher classes who lacked nobility. The office workers, clerks and entrepreneurs had a lot to gain by backing the Liberals. And back them they did, and some of the wealthier even gave funds towards the liberal campaign, even if they were not in the Landtag, of which many were.

So what did the middle classes have to gain from the Liberals? It wasn't as if their tax situation was terrible or they needed the money from lower taxing. What they did need, however, was the ability of international trading, through imports and exports, without having to pay tariffs that made the exercise totally un-profitable. Under the conservative regime of the 1820's and 30's, huge tariffs, accumulating to almost and extra 100% on the price of most goods for import, had been put in place to discourage international trade. What was being encouraged was trade within Germany, and the tariff-free zone of the Zollverin. True, business was not bad within Germany, but some things were not good. For one, the protectionist policies of Claus von Metternich had excluded Austria from the Zollverin, meaning that trade with Austria could not be done without paying the tariffs. The situation was even worse now, as most Austrians refused outright to buy from 'treacherous' Prussian traders. So what was wrong with selling within Germany? Well the problem at that time was the economic recession. With thousands of Germans trailing off to America, and the effects of the American 1837 Panic shuddering their way, very slowly, across Europe, no one in the German states; states which did not have the ability to take land from one-another when things got bad as Prussia had done, had the money to purchase Prussian goods. Therefore, Prussian traders were caught between recession or high-tariffs.

So what could the Liberals do about that? They certainly would not dissolve the Zollverin; it meant too much to German cohesion and Prussian dominance over the smaller states, but they could hold it back. Certainly, tariffs against the cheap goods that the bankrupt Germany needed to stop them flooding into Prussia and out-competing Prussian traders would be wise. This would likely only be temporary, until Germany could regain financial stability. But the thing that would really help Germany trade would be to lower the international tariffs. Certain goods would need to be contained, especially goods that were important to the Prussian economy. American and British coal was now being produced in amount equal or more than Prussian coal, and endangered the market inside Germany. If the Americans could out-produce and hence out-price the Prussians, the economy could collapse and coal could become worthless. Several other things, such as life-stock, which was now being produced in the tariff-free zone of the Piratini Republic, would have to be watched. But on the whole, the importation of goods not produced in Prussia could be left to itself and not tarrifed to the extreme. This would highly favour the middle-classes which would be happy to see the tariffs gone and their trade possible again. This is what the Liberals promised to do.

Also, the higher-class businessmen could rejoice in the guarantees that a Liberal Landtag would not intervene in their business. For the smaller businesses this was unfortunate, as government interventionalist policies had been funding them to build new factories all over Prussia, which now constituted the base of Prussia's industrial capacity. For the larger businesses, though, this would mean that they would not have to worry about the Government levelling out the market to create more competition and that they could control the market. For the railroads, too, it meant that the Government could not control where they laid their lines, which gave them a greater freedom and initiative to start up new branches. The conservatives could offer nothing of this sort of freedom.

But why did the liberals centre on economics? The people certainly did not know, but every minister of the Landtag knew too well that their power hardly extended past it. Any other law they wished to pass, including the dissolving of the Zollverin (hence why they only wished to temporarily tariff it), would have to go past the eyes of the high ranking Junkers and, of course, the King. Anything the Liberals could ever want to pass would, nine times out of ten, not be able to pass through the House of Lords. The conservatives in the Landtag, of course, could mostly count on shared views between them and the Junkers.

The conservatives, therefore, saw no need to change anything they had ever done, so kept to the status quo. To the landed peoples, the farmers and the nobles, the status quo had worked fine for several centuries, and they saw no need to change. After all, the idea of releasing the tariffs, to them, could have terrible consequences. They were firmly in the belief that the releasing of the tariffs would be total, and that Life-stock and Grain would flood in from the American mid-west, slowly being opened, settled and farmed by the settlers. That would jeopardise they work and make Prussian goods worthless and drive them into poverty.

The conservatives were aided in the endeavour of spreading these lies by control of the state press. That was one area in the 'June Laws' that the King had refused to budge from. The press would be owned by the state and not by anyone else. It was crucial for many things, ranging from these elections to war propaganda. Even though the Liberals pleaded that they would keep the tariffs on the goods that were flooding Europe from abroad, the state press continued to bleat out messages of the Liberals trying to help only the poorest people by getting cheap goods into the country; just as had happened with the rest of Germany. Unfortunately for the Liberals, most people were more than happy to believe the lies, and the liberal support among any of the landed peoples wavered and then died.

Therefore, when the votes were finally counted, the result was just as many had expected; a conservative victory. With Prussia still a majorly agrarian society, the tariffs were, on the whole, unpopular. However, considering this, the result that did come out was still quite an amazing feat for the Liberals, and perhaps they would do better the next time.

Reichstag Seats:
Liberal - 246
Conservative - 254

It was the most marginal of victories for the conservatives, but they still had the most votes, and hence, won the chancellorship. Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg became the first elected Chancellor, and the nation of Prussia was on the slow path to democracy. Even with this victory, though, and the fact that for five years the conservatives were safely in control of the country, few could sleep easily with such a show of force by the Liberals. The shouts of the Liberals would still be loud, but at least they would be loud and legally allowed to be ignored, instead of the revolts that would later shake the rest of Europe...

180px-AHArnimB.jpg

Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg, First Chancellor of Germany


 
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wow I had no idea the policital depth of victoria, either that or your imagination :eek:

The revolts are a bit troubling. Hopefully things will stabilize soon after them.
 
Bloody liberals.. No, give me a good, honest empire anytime, where all men are equal before God and nowhere else. :D

Where Psychopats become great generals, megalomaniacs make excellent ministers and dillusions of grandieur are an everyday diet..

Ahh, the good old times.. :)

Excellent Update.. :)
 
comagoosie said:
wow I had no idea the policital depth of victoria, either that or your imagination :eek:

The revolts are a bit troubling. Hopefully things will stabilize soon after them.

Mmm...this is the big strength of Victoria...where elections are serious business! None of these are scripted events, no....the people do actually have a say!

So, conservative victory...no change in the plan then. Looking forward to seeing what the King and the Junkers have in store for Europe!
TheExecuter
 
So things are changing in Prussia, let's hope they're for the best.
 
With the liberals growing in power they will hopefully provide many benefit for Prussia; democracy, liberty, freedom and the main reason - war with Russia.
Not only will Prussia create a new vast Empire but also the whole world will be cheering you on!
Good show old boy!
 
robou: ...Reichstag Seats: Liberal - 246 Conservative - 254

holy cow, that is close ! ! :rolleyes:

robou:
...the result that did come out was still quite an amazing feat for the Liberals

yes, truly amazing ! ! :)

robou:
...instead of the revolts that would later shake the rest of Europe...

now that was slick ! ! :D

awesome update ! !
:cool:
 
To All: Apologies for the lack of an update for over a week :eek:. Unfortunately, school is heaping up the coursework a bit, so expect a little more time between updates than usual. But, now, here it is.

Enewald: I know, how selfish of them :p

ComradeOm: Indeed he is, don't compare this to the 1848 constituation, it isn't nearly the same. In fact, the only thing I stole from the 1848 was the Landtag and House of Lords arrangement. But the King (at least for a few more years to come) will retain the final say on almost everything, and yes almost total control over the army.

comagoosie: That is the depth of Victoria with a little imanginative writing added. I think it makes for a nice mix ;) Luckily, nothing serious in the way of revolts has proped up, but the population could be happier... :(

Doge Robert: Who would want for anything else? Especially in a great power! :D

TheExecuter: Pretty much, they intend to continue as they always have done, but they will have to be a lot more careful now they have Liberals to appease.

Capibara: Well avoiding revolts in good in my books ;)

Eöl: I doubt I will go to war with Russia simply because I am liberal and they are not, and I have not yet got a significant technological advantage over them, so we will wait a bit longer to strike at my big neighbour, the bear.

GhostWriter: It was so close that the game believed that the Liberals had won, but I saw that the conservatives had a small lead so I could only put them in power. Can't have the game mucking up my peoples voting :mad:. But yes, even if the computer got it wrong, what they did achieve even worried me. Be nice if they could get me out of more revolts, but we shall just let the conservatives do that instead.
 
1842: Bumbling Along

There was a strange silence in Europe after the verbal and, almost, military action towards Prussia's intervention in Mexico. The powers seemed to have exhausted their warhorns, and the world was at peace. In this peace, it was Prussia, above all others, who took the time to bathe in it. With a steadily growing economy, an increasingly vibrant infrastructural development and the knowlegde of being freinds with the most powerful nation on earth, what was there not to bathe in?

Of course, the economic growth was not limmited to Prussia alone. The whole world was slowly recovering as the nation that had brought the world economy, itself, recovered. The effects of the 1837 Panic in the United States of America could not be stated to compare to much larger drops in the market, but for its time was a catastrophe. Germany, excluding the wise economic executives of Prussia, had gone into a recession that had sent hundreds of thousands into poverty, but this was, thankfully, coming to an end. As Germany recovered, policies that had been put in place to prevent Prussia being sucked into the recession were laxed and the Zollverin began its normal business again.

Prussia was not slow to pick up on its economic strength, and by June was strong enough to make its first major move of the year, although it would end up being the only major move of the year. A envoy was sent to Madrid, the Capital of Spain, to try and purchase the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. As an offer, Prussia promised one-time monetary and technological support. Relations with Spain were quite good; a result of Prussia's public denounciation of intervention of the side of Carlists during the Carlist Wars. It was percieved that the Spanish would likely sell the island and get rid of a colony that was becoming more troublesome to command.

PuetoRico.jpg

The Prussians offer to purchase Puerto Rico

But why would Prussia want to take Puerto Rico? She already produced more than enough Sugar, the main produce of the island, and another island would simply mean another garrison division to be sent there. It would seem, at face value, that Puerto Rico would give anything that Prussia didn't already have. However, the politics of the situation were much more complex. It was America that was forcing Prussia to take such action. The decision was not a direct result of America asking Prussia if she wanted the island, rather the constant annoyance that the southern states caused to the Spanish authorities.

It had all started with the acceptance of Michigan as a free state into the Union. This meant that there were now more free states than there were slave states. The slave states now felt that they would be outnumbered in congress and anti-slave laws would pass easily through. Calls for western expansion had generally been accepted as the way forward, but this way checked in 1841 by the Prussia conquest of Mexico. The areas that the USA still had territories in, Oregon, Washington, Montana ect. were all predominantly free soil, so Westward expansion was out of the question. Hati had also been the site for several filibustering operations, all of which had failed, had been taken by Prussia a few years earlier, and was therefore also out of the equation. So what did that leave for the south? The British, French and Dutch presence could not be challenged. The USA was strong, but it wasn't strong enough to take on a European power offensively. So that left the one nation that was falling apart at the seams: Spain. The Iberian nation was in termoil at home, with the Carlist threat still not eliminated, and was facing near on open revolt in it's colonies; or what was left of them. With the institution of slavery still active in Spain, the aqusition of Spain's Carribbean colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico, would be the perfect addition to balance out congress. However, with the terrible relations between Madrid and Washington, the thought of Spain selling Cuba was a long shot. However, Berlin and Madrid were on much closer terms and Prussia was determined to stop US expansion at whatever cost, especially to the slave states. So long as the 'fire-eaters' had power, Prussian control over Mexico was put into doubt. Therefore, Prussia decided to purchase, at quite a cost, Puerto Rico, to be followed by Cuba a matter of months or years later. That way, the South would have no option of expansion except war with Prussia, and then the blow could be struck so that Prussia rule over Mexico and the Carribbean was secure. Luckily, for Prussian intrests at least, the Spanish accepted, but also gave no sure word on a deal to purchase Cuba. If it could, Spain wished to keep its colonies, but that chance was seeming more loose daily.

Other than that, the year progressed without a complaint, though some angry words were spoken in the south, though the actual implications of the purchase had yet to be fully felt; Cuba would be the thing to rock the boat, if it came.

The only thing on the lips of Europe was the situation in the Levant. The fact of the matter was that the London Conference, meant to broker a peace between the Ottomans and the Egyptians, had utterly failed to achieve its goal. Mehmet Ali had rejected the British reaction and the British, stunned that he would stand up too them, backed down. They decided to let the bloodshed continue as they knew that, eventually, the great amount of resources at the Ottoman's disposal would push Ibrahim Pasha, Egypt's finest General, out of Syria and back into Egypt. The Ottomans were adament not to stop until they reached Cairo. So far they had made good work of it, but the narrow gap they had to pass through at the Sinai Peninsular would hold them up for a while. One thing was almost certain, though, and that was that Egypt would once again be a governate of the Ottoman, much to Russia's dismay.

egypt.jpg

The Ottoman Army advances through Palastine




---------------

stealtherella: Thanks for catching up, most appreciated :)
 
Oj, I have actually never understood why mamluks rule whole syria in the beginning of vicky. :D

Just to make ottos have a war very early. :eek:

Ah, an american civil war might come it seems? :D
 
so you can buy provinces! I wish you could do that in EU3!

Anyways, it seems you want the downfall of the southern states. If Puerto Rico cost you a lot I can only imagine what cuba will cost you!

Those Ottomans are pretty aggressive unlike in WW1 :D
 
Are you planning on making an event for an early Spanish-American war? :eek:
 
Sadly, if I recall correctly, you cannot sell provinces.. only buy them..

I like your rhetorics for buying Puerto Rico very much Robou.. :) it shows a dedication to the story itself and not just to the game-mechanics, something which I always admire and whole-heartedly support..

Still, things seem to be going very well for Prussia and its expanding colonial empire. So the question now, can only be one: Where too next? ;)

Excellent update.. As always. :)
 
Excellent stuff - how does buying territory affect your BB?