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BEA: Yes
Alliance: Prussia Many will be surprised that I consider Prussia to be the best ally. However Prussia is on the rise and it has always been the master of war. Does no one remember Frederick the Great. I believe Prussia may someday be the greatest military power on the continent and siding with France will potentially bring us into a war with Prussia.
I have appointed Vanderhoof because I have faith in him. He is a businessman who understands a business’s needs and as a Flem he understands the Flemish economy. I believe those are key requirements for our Minister of Finance in this situation. He was overeager seeking to gain money for the government at the expense of business, but I have rectified that issue and it is time to move on.
Despite his eccentric nature Monsieur Vanderhoof has not failed us during his time in the Ministry of Finance. There are several reasons why I believe that we must maintain Free Trade policies, and I have given them before, so I will not waste my time reiterating them. But we cannot deny that he has done well for the treasury even if his methods were not ideal. The furniture industry was well on the path to failure even before this government took office; they were importing rare tropical wood that was bankrupting them even before the tariffs. When the paper factory opened I told him to end the tariffs and he did, simple as that. Now we are looking at a successful industry, with the potential for more to spring up in Flanders.
His tax policies have been nearly identical to mine and I did not hear complaining then, so I am wondering why it is an issue now. I stand by Monsieur Vanderhoof as my Minister of Finance, but assure those of you who are worried that if he begins doing something that is harmful to the economy I will remove him. Until that time let’s move on.
BEA: Aye
Alliance?: Prussia
The prussian general staff is the best in the world. Britian's land forces in the british islands wouldn't even be enough to best the dutch. It would take months for them to ship over enough for an invasion. French inclusion would just make us a puppet to their whims, bringing back the bitter taste of the French Empire.
The Prussians were certainly not yhe best in the world when I fought them at Jena, and the First Revolution showed the French still had the edge over them. My concern is that the Prussians have more in common with the Dutch than with Belgium and so have no reason to come to our aid against their natural ally.
The Prussians were certainly not the best in the world when I fought them at Jena, and the First Revolution showed the French still had the edge over them. My concern is that the Prussians have more in common with the Dutch than with Belgium and so have no reason to come to our aid against their natural ally.
The french have fallen far from their days of the Empire, how long ago was that, twenty years? The world has changed. The french do not have their tyrant Napoleon to hide behind anymore. The french army is disorganized and may have the most numbers, but from what we have learned is numbers don't win battles. With the prussians at our side why would they side with the aggressor? The prussians have more cause to keep us separated then to let the Dutch rise in power.
The french have fallen far from their days of the Empire, how long ago was that, twenty years? The world has changed. The french do not have their tyrant Napoleon to hide behind anymore. The french army is disorganized and may have the most numbers, but from what we have learned is numbers don't win battles. With the prussians at our side why would they side with the aggressor? The prussians have more cause to keep us separated then to let Dutch rise in power.
Is that why they fought for the Dutch in the revolution. The Prussians have shown their intent to keep us subservient to the dutch in the past, we can hardly expect them to completely change their foreign policy. I did put them on the list, and I won't remove them for the sake of their few supporters, but they honestly cannot be trusted as allies.
I have heard that the illegitimate government of Belgium has been negotiating with you about my legitimate government. Whatever you take from those negotiations its important you remember that the government is obviously doing whatever it can to make over half the population no economically viable, infact Leopold Percival Willems-Hopegood says it very well, I have notes of what he said attached to this.
This is now, not only a matter of removing the Jacobin dictators but, to remove the corruption and hate towards over half of the population. Whatever your reservations are an intervention would most certainly be beneficial for Belgium otherwise a populace revolt may very well happen which will cause more harm then an intervention.
- HB-in-Exile Fabian van de Velde, Count of Ypres
The actions of the Wallonian businessmen in Flanders has been atrocious. First they close the textile mills because the raw materials are unaffordable thanks to a combination of world economic factors, French diplomatic entanglements with our British friends, and the government's policies of leaving industry to fend for itself. Then they use the money they made cashing out of fabrics and foods and move into luxury furniture, a product with more limited demand and tighter input supplies. That one collapsed as we all predicted and now they've moved into paper production. That industry is reliant on Wallonian wood. Effectively the entire Flemish industry has gone from being diverse and relying on Belgian traders having good access to the world economy to being entirely reliant the whims of Wallonian timber producers. The more agitant within the Conservative coalition might see this as a direct assault on the independence of Flanders and the Flemish people.
Compounding this are the actions of the Minister for Finance. He broke with the government's declared principles of Free Trade and enacted as massive a tariff as he thought he could get away with. Additionally, he attempted to tax the population higher than his party's Laissez Faire charter would allow. His actions contributed to the break-down of Flemish Industry, collapsing a factory that wasn't "antique" as he said it was but was recently established by his fellow businessmen in the wake of the failure of Flanders' traditional industries. That statement alone proves that the Minister is either incompetent or lying to Parliament. Taken together with his actions that ran massively contrary to the ideologies that the Liberals were elected for, I must call for Mister Vanderhoof to resign his position as Minister for Finance so that either a more reliable and more trustworthy man may do the job, or for Prime Minister Daret to sack him.
- Leopold Percival Willems-Hopegood, CCP Deputy
I find it concerning that my fellow Flemings are being so obviously discrimated against, what lengths have the liberals gone to ensure that their are no Flemish capitalists, or to force the skilled Flemish craftsmen to go back to being farmers? This is obviously part of their scheme to put Flandes under there boot and slowly drive out all things unique about it. This makes me very sad since the second liberation may come to late to save the Flemish culture, from these evil tyrants.
- Statement of Fabian van de Velde, after the collapse of another Flemish industry
BEA-Aye
Alliance-Great Britain
Although I am happy to see the French having aided our government against the Dutch invasion, I do not agree with allying with the Orleanist government. My reason being cited simply as the actions during the June Rebellion of 1832, the death of 92 young Parisians hoping for a more free nation. Thus I simply cannot support the French. As well I worry that allying with the French, or the Prussians, will most obviously bring us into direct confrontation with either of the opposite party. We sit in the middle of a heated national rivalry and I would prefer not to take sides in that and see our lands occupied by Frenchmen, or Prussian Regulars.
Prime Minister, the Revolution was more than ten years ago. Alliances change in that time. In all honesty the best thing for the Prussians and the French would be an independent Belgium. The winds are changing and Prussia will soon rise above France. The enemies of the past will be the allies of the future.
After consultation with the Minister for War and the Prime Minister, the proposed Defence Plan is:
1. The existing brigades are to be concentrated into a single Corps in Brussels in defence of the capital.
2. To the extent that we have capacity to raise more brigades, we are to raise another Cavalry and Artillery brigade. In the event of war the mobilised citizens will have to fill out the rest of the infantry ranks atthis time, although it is proposed to a raise regular infantry brigades as our capacity grows pursuant to step 3.
3. I would seek to change the national focus in 1 of our 2 provinces to encourage the recruitment of Soldiers. As requested earlier, I need information as to the current focii - it is proposed to use whichever focus is not being used for encouraging clerics. This is to be a short term diversion of focus until we can boost our brigade numbers. It should also help with absorbing unemployed workers.
After consultation with the Minister for War and the Prime Minister, the proposed Defence Plan is:
1. The existing brigades are to be concentrated into a single Corps in Brussels in defence of the capital.
2. To the extent that we have capacity to raise more brigades, we are to raise another Cavalry and Artillery brigade. In the event of war the mobilised citizens will have to fill out the rest of the infantry ranks atthis time, although it is proposed to a raise regular infantry brigades as our capacity grows pursuant to step 3.
3. I would seek to change the national focus in 1 of our 2 provinces to encourage the recruitment of Soldiers. As requested earlier, I need information as to the current focii - it is proposed to use whichever focus is not being used for encouraging clerics. This is to be a short term diversion of focus until we can boost our brigade numbers. It should also help with absorbing unemployed workers.
Mr. Burke, the Ministry of Interior shall, after due consideration, start a recruiting campaign for the army in Wallonia. In Flanders, we will stick with helping our industry to recover.
As for the alliances, I'm much opposed to allying with Prussia and its absolutist ruler. Belgium should focus on the west, on Great Britain and especially France to aid us in our struggle with the Dutch. BEA: Yes
Alliance: France
3. I would seek to change the national focus in 1 of our 2 provinces to encourage the recruitment of Soldiers. As requested earlier, I need information as to the current focii - it is proposed to use whichever focus is not being used for encouraging clerics. This is to be a short term diversion of focus until we can boost our brigade numbers. It should also help with absorbing unemployed workers.
For what it is worth, Marechal Burke, while promoting investment and recruiting capitalists in Flanders will be vital to our economic recovery, Wallonia seems to currently have enough investment going to allow for increased recruitment campaigns to take priority instead for the time being. You will have to converse with Minister de Graaf, but a recruitment campaign in Wallonia should not run counter to our efforts, and I would recommend that is where we begin.
((EDIT: great minds think alike, I guess. Make sure you bold that, G.K.))
... the Minister is either incompetent or lying to Parliament. Taken together with his actions that ran massively contrary to the ideologies that the Liberals were elected for, I must call for Mister Vanderhoof to resign his position as Minister for Finance so that either a more reliable and more trustworthy man may do the job, or for Prime Minister Daret to sack him. - Leopold Percival Willems-Hopegood, CCP Deputy
The words of the "independent" Hopegood is nothing but slander and lies. This raving attackdog seeks to defame my good name in the name of malicious intentions.
If one looks at my plan, it does not infact show me trying to overly tax anyone. And my tariffs allowed us to increase our useable governmental income. If you would never address me again I will think of not suing you for the previously stated slander.
There is no reason for my resignation or firing.
Gentlement of the Chamber, we have our proof. Mister Vanderhoof is incompetent to such a degree that he cannot follow current politics. I renounced my independence when the sheer scale of the failure of Laissez Faire policies became clear.
I have appointed Vanderhoof because I have faith in him. He is a businessman who understands a business’s needs and as a Flem he understands the Flemish economy. I believe those are key requirements for our Minister of Finance in this situation. He was overeager seeking to gain money for the government at the expense of business, but I have rectified that issue and it is time to move on.
...
His tax policies have been nearly identical to mine and I did not hear complaining then, so I am wondering why it is an issue now. I stand by Monsieur Vanderhoof as my Minister of Finance, but assure those of you who are worried that if he begins doing something that is harmful to the economy I will remove him. Until that time let’s move on.
- Michel Daret, Prime Minister of Belgium
Prime Minister, I will not move on. Every time a crisis happens we are told to 'move on'.
Mister Van der Hoef, sorry, Vanderhoof, has as much understanding of the Flemish economy as he does of Parliamentary matters, or that of conditions in real life. He lives in a fantasy land of ermine capes and undeserved titles. As for his tax policies, I have a little-distributed early draft of his taxation legislation that had him taxing the poor 50% higher than your party's ideological mandate should allow. I don't know how he was reined in but the fact that he had such intentions published shows the extent of either his incompetence or his greed.
- Leopold Percival Willems-Hopegood, Member of the Catholic Crown Party and the Chamber of Deputies
I have never told anyone to move on in a crisis, but that is hardly what we face here, and I was saying it in regards to the call for Monsieur Vanderhoof's removal, which simply will not happen. Taxes for the poor have been set at 50% for the entire existence of Belgian government. I myself had a policy of 50/50/25 for taxes, and it worked just fine for our budget. At this early point in our governments life cycle our administration is small and still growing, taxes at these rates typically bring in a mere 20% of what they are supposed to. Now, that is not a failing of either government, it is simply a matter of fact based on the times we live in and the still growing system of administration. Realistically the poor are being taxed at a rate of roughly a meager 12%, certainly a livable rate of taxation.
Prime Minister, Mister Vanderhoof sought to tax the poor at 75% of the administration's capacity. Someone, either you or someone else in your party, obviously pulled rank so that he lowered the rate down to levels acceptable to your party's ideology. He also sought a 100% tariff but that was also caught by whoever your defender of your faith was and that was lowered to 25% despite tariffs in general being anathema to your ideology of Free Trade. Then the tariff he was able to enact was responsible for the collapse of the Luxury Furniture industry so you intervened, reportedly dramatically, and ordered the tariff to be stopped.
There have been two interventions into the Ministry of Finance since Mister Vanderhoof was appointed. How many more will there need to be before he is considered to be wrong for the job?
Prime Minister, Mister Vanderhoof sought to tax the poor at 75% of the administration's capacity. Someone, either you or someone else in your party, obviously pulled rank so that he lowered the rate down to levels acceptable to your party's ideology. He also sought a 100% tariff but that was also caught by whoever your defender of your faith was and that was lowered to 25% despite tariffs in general being anathema to your ideology of Free Trade. Then the tariff he was able to enact was responsible for the collapse of the Luxury Furniture industry so you intervened, reportedly dramatically, and ordered the tariff to be stopped.
There have been two interventions into the Ministry of Finance since Mister Vanderhoof was appointed. How many more will there need to be before he is considered to be wrong for the job?
Ah, I had misheard you, I thought you said he planned for taxes to beat 50% of the administrations capacity, which was what he ended up doing of course. I understand your concern, but I know from my time as Minister of Finance that there is a steep learning curve and I believe that Monsieur Vanderhoof was initially just overzealous in trying to ensure the government was able to run a surplus. Anyone that I appoint now would benefit from my leadership as a former MoF, just as Vanderhoof has over these past two years. But you are right, I did have to intervene to help him understand what I was looking for from the position. I believe that our discussions have resulted in him understanding what is expected of him as MoF and you shall see a marked improvement in his policy making over these next few years.
I will tell you what, since this is what makes sense the most sense, should Monsieur Vanderhoof submit a budget that requires my intervention again, I shall replace him. I am willing to give people second chances, and in M. Vanderhoof's case I am even willing to shoulder the blame because I did not make it clear what I wanted from him. I hope that we can resolve this matter now, I appreciate your input, it is good to know that the CCP has men like you keeping them honest.
Name: Comte Charles de Mons, Delegate from Mons
Born: 1795
Party: Catholic Crown
Background: Born into a devout Roman Catholic aristocratic family, Charles and his family always despised the Dutch and were loyal servants of the Hapsburg crown. When the Belgians rose against the oppressive Dutch, Charles and his family joined them in the rebellion and have since then have become proud patriots of there new nation.
