Home Trending Latest threads New posts Developer diaries

Edge of Europe - A Belgian Interactive AAR

Jump to latest Follow Reply
  • We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Accountability Act: No
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act:Abstain
African Union Act: Abstain

[LDP]

~ Vice-Admiral John Dieric
 
Her Grace makes good points, which, in the confusion surrounding the passage of the Suffrage Amendment, I had not been able to properly appreciate. I therefore amend my ballot accordingly:

Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: Nay ((from Aye.))

The Hon. J. B. H. Van der Wyngaert
Acting-Chairman of the LDP​
 
Gen. Marshall said:
((I have no OOC problem with pretending the women's suffrage passed... but unless I'm very much mistaken, it hasn't. To pass amendments, a strict 2/3rds majority is needed, which amounts to 133 votes in total. We didn't make that.))
Click to expand...

((You are very much mistaken, I'm afraid. I have always treated abstains as the same as persons not voting - doing otherwise would be encouraging abstaining individuals to not vote. The required 2/3rds majority, specified in Chapter 9, Article 10 of the Constitution as "A proposal requires two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies if it would change the Constitution," is taken to mean a two-thirds majority of ayes over nays. I have treated all previous amendments this way. I will continue to use this definition because I don't want to encourage players to not vote.

The Women's Suffrage amendment passed with 127 ayes to 43 nays, a 74% majority and quite sufficient to pass it as an amendment.))

DensleyBlair said:
[LDP]
Click to expand...

((Nice save.

In light of the recent vote switching, I have to say that I suspect one or two people may have edited their ballots - possibly adding a previously forgotten party to make the ballot count. I'd just like to remind everyone that this is grounds for me ignoring your vote change or ballot entirely.))
 
ThunderHawk3 said:
((Nice save.))
Click to expand...

((I had wondered of your eagle eyes would pick that up, though, if I'm correct in assuming you're referring to the edit, that was in fact to get rid of some suffrage chatter which may or may not have been factually correct (as it would happen, it was.) I'm glad to say I added my party first time around this time! :)))
 
Accountability Act: Aye
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: Aye
African Union Act: Aye

[MLP]

I do not believe that a referendum should become a permanent fixture of the legislative landscape. Such a procedure would essentially bypass the qualified majority otherwise required, damaging the integrity of the Constitution. It would sideline this chamber and the executive. Populism would take precedence over negotiation and consensus. I make only an exception in the case of the republican question, because this intractable issue shall never be put to bed until the say of the people have been heard on it. As such, I outlined my proposal in such a way that this would be an extraordinary, unique authorisation for a referendum, never to be repeated for more mundane matters.

I also wrote the proposal in such a way that this issue could be addressed quickly, and so finally settled; and that the implementation would be as easy and painless to the political order as I could manage. The bundled bill require a two-thirds majority to achieve law, incorporating as it does two constitutional amendments, so a single vote would be able to both approve and then remove the referendum procedure at a single stroke without the need for further activity down the line. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Convention would enable the new Constitution to be adopted in a single sitting, without infinitely dragging out the legislative process and bogging down Belgium in intricate questions of torturous constitutional contrivances - when, lest we forget, the very independence of this nation is in imminent jeopardy.

But if Her Grace believes that the swift addressing of this issue is best served by a constitutional amendment, followed by a separate bill authoring the referendum, followed by another bill recognising its results, followed by a plethora of amendments to bring the constitution into line, capped off by a last amendment to remove the referendum procedure, all occurring across multiple ministries and the space of years, then she is welcome to do so.

Supreme-General
Xavier-Pierre Florian Thaddée
GKLS DSO POM FPS
Chief of the Defence Staff​
 
((Er, wait a minute, isn't the Accountability Act an amendment? It sorta changes chapter 5, especially the relation between the Government and the Parliament. In chapter 5 as it stands, the Cabinet Ministers serve at the pleasure of the PM, and no one else (article 8). The Government is treated as one entity in the person of the PM in its interactions with the Parliament. The proposal also limits the PM's ability to appoint whoever he wants to (more than what chapter 5 does), see specifically article 6 and article 8 again.))
 
Dyranum said:
((Er, wait a minute, isn't the Accountability Act an amendment? It sorta changes chapter 5, especially the relation between the Government and the Parliament. In chapter 5 as it stands, the Cabinet Ministers serve at the pleasure of the PM, and no one else (article 8). The Government is treated as one entity in the person of the PM in its interactions with the Parliament. The proposal also limits the PM's ability to appoint whoever he wants to (more than what chapter 5 does), see specifically article 6 and article 8 again.))
Click to expand...

((I would consider it to be an amendment.))
 
Accountability Act: Abstain
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: Yes
African Union Act: Abstain

[BSU]
- Carl Coppens, Socialist Deputy
 
Last edited:
Accountability Act: No
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: Yes
African Union Act: Abstain

[BSU]
 
((Voting is now closed. A tally will follow shortly.))

((
Edit: Final tally -

RU: [43]

Accountability Act: 1/1/0 [21, 21, 1]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 1/1/0 [21, 21, 1]
African Union Act: 1/0/1 [21, 0, 22]

BSU: [55]

Accountability Act: 0/5/2 [0, 39, 16]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 7/0/0 [55, 0, 0]
African Union Act: 5/0/2 [39, 0, 16]

NDP: [40]

Accountability Act: 0/2/0 [0, 40, 0]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 2/0/0 [40, 0, 0]
African Union Act: 0/2/0 [0, 40, 0]

GLP: [32]

Accountability Act: 1/2/1 [8, 16, 8]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 1/3/0 [8, 24, 0]
African Union Act: 3/1/0 [24, 8, 0]

LDP: [18]

Accountability Act: 0/2/1 [0, 12, 6]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 0/2/1 [0, 12, 6]
African Union Act: 2/0/1 [12, 0, 6]

BCU: [6]

Accountability Act: 0/0/1 [0, 0, 6]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 0/0/1 [0, 0, 6]
African Union Act: 0/0/1 [0, 0, 6]

SDP: [6]

Accountability Act: 0/1/0 [0, 6, 0]
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 0/1/0 [0, 6, 0]
African Union Act: 0/1/0 [0, 6, 0]

Totals:
Accountability Act: 2/12/5 [29, 134, 37] 17.8% - FAILED
Referendum Amendment and Execution Act: 11/6/2 [124, 63, 13] 66.3% - FAILED ((...))
African Union Act: 11/3/5 [96, 54, 50] 64.0% - PASSED

))
 
Savarin 1898: The Stab in the Back​
​
​
​


In early 1898, Alexandre de Lannoy, the Duke of Anjou and leader of the opposition, fell ill. He disappeared from the public eye. Pytor Aerts assumed the leadership of the Regalist Union as a temporary measure but was unable to unite the party in the same way Lannoy had and discipline among the Regalists quickly broke. This proved to be a double-edged sword for Savarin - on the one hand, a disunited opposition made his bills more likely to pass, on the other, without Lannoy he could not easily negotiate a settlement to the issue of Republic versus Monarchy.

The disadvantages of the Duke of Anjou's inopportune absence became starkly apparent in two separate, critical votes with the power to alter the fate of Belgium. In the spring of 1898 Savarin would finally propose a women's suffrage amendment to the Belgian constitution. Despite lockstep RU opposition and some resistance from the GLP, the amendment passed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and Belgium became one of only a very small handful of nations to grant women the franchise in the 19th century.

Second and more critical, Xavier-Pierre Florian Thaddée - the Supreme Commander of Belgium's Armed Forces (and the last officer to hold the legacy rank of Field Marshall) drafted a proposal that he hoped would settle the political turmoil surrounding republicanism. He proposed an amendment to the constitution permitting referendums coupled with a call for a referendum on the issue of republicanism and a new convention.

The ensuing vote was one of Belgium's most dramatic. Thaddée's proposal was initially expected to enjoy some GLP and LDP support; however, after the Duchess of Benin publicly criticized the bill for its coupling the referendum amendment and the specific referendum, virtually all monarchist liberal support deserted the plan. The Duchess and her faction, consisting of large numbers of GLP and LDP deputies, as well as the breakaway socialist Social Democratic Party, called for a series of incremental measures leading to a referendum and voted against the bill.

portland_1755734c.jpg

1. Adélaïde d'Assche, 3rd Duchess of Benin, rapidly rose as an influential figure in Belgian politics​

Though most expected the bill to fail miserably without this broad base of leftist support, as had the previous Savarin-administration attempts at a referendum on the monarchy had done, a second unexpected reversal of fate gave the Thaddée Proposal new life. Without their leader, RU party discipline began to break. Maximiliaan Willem de Haan, a junior RU legislator, convinced twenty-one RU deputies to vote in favor of the referendum proposal. He argued that a proposal coming from a distinguished general such as Thaddée could not be biased in favor of the socialists and that defeating republicanism in an open vote would strengthen the monarchy, while denying a referendum might be viewed as an act of cowardice and could only weaken the crown.

With this renewed support from an unexpected corner, the vote now sat on a knife edge. The entire NDP and BSU, half the RU, and a quarter of the GLP were in favor, while the remainder of the Parliament stood abstaining or against the measure. Ultimately, the vote was decided by a margin of just one Deputy - with 124 deputies in favor and 63 against, just one nay-sayer switching his vote - even abstaining instead of voting against - would allow the Referendum Amendment to pass. Georges Poirot and his SDP moderate socialist party were voting against. In the final minutes of the vote, BSU representatives rushed over to Poirot to plead with him to switch his ballot or change his party's position. He did not, and the motion failed by a one vote margin.

350px-Red_rose_02.svg.png

2. Red roses, an international symbol of social democracy, would be hurled with boos at SDP members by republicans the day after the vote​

The next day, the Red Star would declare it "the Stab in the Back." The editorial column wrote, "if Georges Poirot had personally abstained instead voting against the Referendum Amendment, Belgium might have a republic in nine months time. Instead, owing to the traitorous recalcitrance of one man, we continue to have a monarchy. Msr. Poirot has spent the last few months urging socialist deputies to defect to his party. From this point forward he will find no converts. He is no socialist, moderate or otherwise, and socialism will not forgive him for what he has done. He has destroyed our best hope for equality."

Elsewhere, in Africa, Lucien van Buskirk wired Belgium for additional supplies in his ongoing fight against African rebels. While some supplies would ultimately reach the Benin and Congo Guards, many of the shipments were diverted by rebel sympathizers at various critical junctions along the African supply line. Consequently, Van Buskirk faced a much better armed and equipped rebel force. He called this, "the Stab in the Back" for very much separate reasons.

Belgian_dogs_trained_to_draw_quick-firing_guns.JPG

3. A dog-towed machine gun. Critical dog-machine gun technology fell into rebel hands during the 1898 revolt.​

While otherwise quiet for Belgium, 1898 was a year of heavy fighting in the African Theater. While Van Buskirk had faced and defeated taller odds, the estimated two hundred thousand rebels were sparsely equipped with modern breach-loading rifles and machine guns due to logistical treachery, leading to one of the bloodiest conflicts in African history. Van Buskirk put the rebellion down by June, but the bloodiest battle of the year - the Battle of Akure - claimed over 73,000 lives, including nearly 16,000 Belgian troops - and the three-month Ilorin Campaign nearly saw Van Buskirk routed by the enemy, and left his army battered. The 1898 Revolt would cost Van Buskirk fifty thousand troops - dead, badly injured, or simply missing. Rebel dead were suspected to be in excess of a hundred thousand as traitors were summarily executed following their capture.

This, and other reports from Africa motivated Parliament to pass a revised African Union Act, placing much greater power over the colonies in the hands of the King. However, the King had his own concerns.

Queen Wilhelmina formally ascended to the throne on September 6th, 1898. The regency ended on the same day. King Prosper-August married Queen Wilhelmina on the 7th and formally abdicated as King of the Belgians on the 8th, fulfilling his diplomatic obligations and the promises made during his ascension ceremony all in the same week. Though Republicans begged him to postpone his abdication at least for a year, possibly two, while the issue of republicanism was handled, Prosper-August refused to break his word. In his last address to the Belgian people, shortly before his abdication, he expressed deep regret that a republic had not been achieved during his reign and reiterated his wish that Belgium become a republic - but nevertheless stood aside.

The Citizen - a republican liberal publication - would later write "too much time was spent arguing over details and legalism and forest neglected for the trees... and the opportunity for a republic may have been permanently lost." The Constitution specified that in the case of the abdication of a monarch, the next in line to the throne be considered by Parliament. As Prosper-August had no sons, his uncle and former regent Pierre d'Arenberg stepped up to fill the role - Pierre, a known stalwart conservative, was occasionally accused of reactionaryism by his critics and very unlikely to entertain the idea of a republic.

1898SeatChart_zpsd79dc6eb.png

4. The current composition of the Belgian parliament.​


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


Player Actions Needed:
Pictures later.

Vote on crowning Pierre d'Arenberg as King of Belgium (to replace Prosper-August, who has abdicated).

Sample Ballot:

Crown Pierre d'Arenberg King: Yes/No/Abstain

[BSU/NDP/GLP/LDP/RU/BCU/SDP] ((Don't forget this!))

This vote will end in two days, at 8 PM PDT on 3/25 (3 AM 3/26 GMT, assuming that 3 AM does not abdicate in favor of a republic).

 
Last edited:
Belgium cannot, and so help me, will not become another god-forsaken Republic; now that we've finally rid ourselves of that fool of a radical who fancied himself some martyr for the Republic, we can at last have strong, competent governance over Belgium once more.

I vote wholeheartedly in favour of crowning Pierre d'Arenburg the new King of Belgium.

[RU]

~ Brigadier-General Pierre Maurice Pilon
 
Long live the Monarchy, long live Belgium. Long live King Pierre I!

((Crown Pierre d'Arenburg: Aye))

[MLP]

~Lord Minister, Sir Andrei Popa Vanderhoof, KL, Deputy of Ghent, Minister of Labour and Minister of Flanders
 
Though I am deeply saddened to hear the referendum did not pass, we must continue onwards. If we must have a monarchy, then so be it.
Crown Pierre d'Arenberg King: Yes

[RU]

- Deputy Maximiliaan Willem de Haan
 
ThunderHawk3 said:
In the spring of 1898 Savarin would finally propose a women's suffrage amendment to the Belgian constitution.
Click to expand...

((Actually, that was me. :)))

Long live the king!

J. B. H. Van der Wyngaert​

((Crown Prince Pierre: Aye

[LDP]))
 
A reactionary monarch in government, This shall not stand. Vive la Revolution, Vive Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité.

Crown Prince Pierre: Nay

[BSU]

Jean di Picardie, Deputy pour Artois.
 
I am disappointed that the referendum proposal did not receive the necessary support. I fear we shall continue to be dogged by this question, even now that it's raison d'être has relinquished the throne. Such continual constitutional squabbles are detrimental to good order and sound government, as the complete neglect of the African insurrection testifies to.

Fortunately, due to the deft handling of the crisis by Colonel-General Lucien van Buskirk, even in the face of the most fortified rebellion we have yet to witness, the new Union was preserved. I therefore nominate him for the African Cross, First Class - a fitting award for the man whose daily duty safeguards Belgian Africa.

I would ask the Minister of the Colonies, if he has not already done so, to focus on the recruitment of servicemen in the African Theatre to replenish our losses there. I would also ask the Minister of War to attend to the Africa Corps to make sure that they are fully reconstituted and supplied following the events of the rebellion.

In the metropolitan sphere, I still desire to hear from the Minister of Foreign Affairs how he intends to respond to the report by the Defence Staff on our standing alliances and from the Prime Minister what course he intends to take. In the midst of such continental animosity, the last thing Belgium needs is to feel rudderless.

As for the succession, I believe that Belgium should honour the line of succession, as prescribed in royal and national law, and allow the accession of Prince Pierre of Arenberg. His Royal Highness was a capable regent and viceroy during the minority of Prosper-August, and I see no reason why he should be denied his rightful charge.

Finally, it has been suggested that following the passage of the Suffrage Amendment, this sitting parliament - having been elected under the previous franchise - could be accused of lacking democratic legitimacy. The solution prescribed was immediate elections, so as to reflect the will of the extended franchise. Once the succession has been settled, I would suggest the Prime Minister gain the approval of His Royal Highness to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies for new elections.

Crown Prince Pierre: Aye

[MLP]

Supreme-General
Xavier-Pierre Florian Thaddée
GKLS DSO POM FPS
Chief of the Defence Staff​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back