France will be happy. Hmm, I see almost too strong bonds between Napoleon III's government and Ireland now... Britain will enrage quickly!
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@Phargle- 
I will take your wisely worded Guinness vs. Frogs argument and consider dropping the alliance. And, well it should be an event! It sounds cool, and I might have to use it.
@robou- We hope not. They have over 1 million men in uniform, we have 12,000. Then again, we have God on our side... :rofl:
I will take your wisely worded Guinness vs. Frogs argument and consider dropping the alliance. And, well it should be an event! It sounds cool, and I might have to use it.@robou- We hope not. They have over 1 million men in uniform, we have 12,000. Then again, we have God on our side... :rofl:
How invincible is Britain's navy, at the moment? Is anyone even close? If so: Hello new allies!
Saint-Germain said:
Totally Invincible, nearly 25 more ships than the nearest competitor (France, and America who is one ship behind the French.) And,...
France, eh? Brilliant!demokratickid said:Totally Invincible, nearly 25 more ships than the nearest competitor (France, and America who is one ship behind the French.) And,...
And America like the Irish, right? Yeah, they're big fans! Maybe?
Saint-Germain said:
Well, they didn't like us being allied to France in the Mexican War, but otherwise we are neutral.
Chilperic said:It's great to see an AAR focusing on political events. Good work.
Thank you!
@Everyone- I'll update tomorrow!
Chapter Ten
Mitchel's Regency, 1863-1864
Mitchel's Regency, 1863-1864
The time between May 13, 1863- December 31, 1864 has gone down in History as Mitchel's Regency. Though a short time, in terms of years, it was politically significant for Ireland. The even shorter period between April 1, 1863 and May 13 was known as the Chaotic Time. It marked the so far greatist national tragedy of the state, surpassing the assassination of John Blake Dillion on New Year's Day, 1846. Also, it marked first time that Ireland had no head of government in nearly three decades. Finally, it marked the point where the liberal political landscape was transformed into two factions, as mentioned before, the Duffists and Mitchelites.
The Mitchelites were mostly the upperclass liberals, and a step to the ideological right of the Duffists, hailing from metropolitan centers like Dublin, Sligo, Londonderry, and Belfast. Though the Mitchelites were never uniformly united before 1863, there had been a friendly relationship amongst the more moderate liberals of Parliament. Lead by John Mitchel, the soothing speaker of Sligo, as he was popularly known, was a powerful figure, though he preferred to operate from behind closed doors. Being PM would be a challenge for Mitchel, because the bright lights of Premiership were so different and foreign to this man, so used to operating under cloak of darkness. The Mitchelites made up a majority of the Whigs, with roughly 49/80 controlled seats in their hands.
John Mitchel, leader of the moderate liberal Mitchelites, and 4th Prime Minister of Ireland.
The Duffists, on the other hand, were the factory workers who had recently been given the right to vote by Doheny in 1858. Little did PM Doheny realize that his attempts at reorm would sow the seeds of discord within his own party. The Duffists, lead by the radical Liberal Charles Gavan Duffy, charged into parliament on a cloud of reform in 1859. They being relatively new to the political scene, failed to capture the PM-ship from the Mitchelites when their oppurtunity arose at Doheny's death. They controlled 31/80 seats in Parliament.
Charles Gavan Duffy, leader of the radical liberal Duffists. The image was done 17 years before Doheny's death.
During the month-long battle for PM, the slurs went back and forth, amounting to a virtual civil war amongst society. The clerks in the factories quabbling with the workers and vice-versa caused many disturbances throughout the land. So much so, that on May 2, 1863, the French withdrew from the alliance so as to avoid being wrapped up in an Irish civil war.
However, by the time the voting occured, many had calmed down enough to accept the results. In his first act as PM, Mitchel started a private corporation with major government oversight called the Foreign Irish Fortification Effort-Program, or FIFEP. Though FIFEP sounds like a speech impediment, it actually became one of the most powerful organizations in the world, even rivalling the British East India Company at times. At any point a nation bulit a fortified area or trenches, FIFEP was the one building it. Their first project was completed in a few short months, by mid-1864, with the opening of the Beyla Earthworks, which was sort of a test run for the forts that the French ordered to be built in the Rhine Valley in 1866.
The last step in Mitchel's regency was to essentially survive until the win on election day. It came with unexpected results. Charles Gavan Duffy ran off and formed his own party, called the Liberal Party. Only a few of his closest supporters actually joined him, or his allied party (The Independent Opposition Party, or IOP). Thus, the Whigs won with a confusing situation at hand, with supporters of one man spread across three parties, including their own.
The Whigs won 86%, or 70 seats. The Liberals won 8%, or 7 seats, and the IOPs won 5%, or 4 seats. Thus, it initially looks like an easy 70 vs. 11 control of parliament for the Whigs, but for the Duffists still in the Whig party, the actual score was much closer. The Mitchelists controlled 43 seats, the Duffists 38.
Chilperic said:Wait till you get the Communist revolution
Thank you!
Chapter Eleven
Mitchel's First Term, 1864-1868
Mitchel's First Term, 1864-1868
Mitchel bagan his first term in office as his two predecessors had, by visiting England and Queen Victoria. He showed a new trading direction between the two nations, and he got it. Instead of techs for cash, he was willing, now that Ireland had a more stable footing, to take more techs and less cash. The British were split on wether to accept this policy, but in the end decided to go along with it.
In May 1864, the Irish treasury had enough money to construct another factory, this time a winery in Munster.
Before the year could age more, a tragic event struck Ireland. Former PM William Smith O'Brien passed away at age 61 on June 18, 1864. Even though his death brought about the final curtain on the historical conservative party, O'Brien had lived long enough to see his two terms vindicated. The state funeral was held in Dublin, and his body was put to rest next to Daniel O'Connell's. The Irish PM had a greatly lavish building plan for their remains, with each PM buried in order of rule, right next to each other, along with the proper inscriptions on the massive face of the tombs themselves. Even as O'Brien was being laid to rest, there was scaffolding next to Doheny's tomb that was preparing to erect Mitchel's.
On a lighter note, the factory was finished in Munster in May 1865.
In 1866, a great assembly was held in Ireland made up of the various social leaders from all the provinces, with several colonial representatives as well. The group met in Dublin, and demanded the censorship of the press to be removed. PM Mitchel, ever responded to the fact that elections were to be held in a few short months, and readily accepted their proposal. Parliament was initially hostile, but after some hefty bribes totaling over 6000 Irish pounds, the law was passed and came into effect on December 1, 1866. It has since been known as the Press Act of 1866.
On January 1, 1867, the British created a new nation to the equivalent of Ireland, this time in far off North America, called Canada. Within the Anglo-Canadian-Irish alliance was also born a new economic union, which made the exchange of goods and other such things easier within what was now being called the British Commonwealth Economic Union, or BCEU. The first conference was held at Leeds that spring. It saw the PM of Britain, Lord Stanley, the PM of Ireland, John Mitchel, and the new Canadian PM, John Macdonald come together and sign the treaty officially founding the BCEU. The founding clauses of BCEU stated that the honor and privilege of rank shall be extended to those who had first entered the union. Since the Canadians and Irish enetred at the same time, they were to recieve equal treatment, and any future dominions would recieve slightly less consideration. However, since Ireland was 31 years older than Canada, Ireland was viewed as the first-among-equals.
In early 1867, the election campaigns were started. This time, there was more political shifting. The IOP was absorbed into the Whig party once more, however the Duffists were still strong under leadership of Charles Gavan Duffy, who was still the head of the miniscule Liberal Party. With no real enimies, the Whig Party won the race handily.
However, the balance of Mitchelites to Duffists took a step further to the left, albeit a small one, with the Mitchelites controlling 42 seats to 39 seats.
Alright, now it's my turn to ask something of you. I want to expand the role of the BCEU in Irish politics, but I not sure how to do that smoothly. Any suggestion? I've got some ideas, but I'd be interested in hearing others too...
Make an imperial preference... Canada and Ireland have to pay less duty than other nations on British goods.
Chilperic said:Make an imperial preference... Canada and Ireland have to pay less duty than other nations on British goods.
That's a good start. Anything else?
demokratickid said:
Discussions on Newfoundland? With the two dominions the British don't really need to keep a hold of it anymore.
Perhaps a split with Canada getting mainland Labrador with Ireland taking the island of Newfoundland itself.
Good place for immigrants!
RossN said:
That's an excellent idea! I'll look into it! However, in the next update, I cover major events that draw us away from the BCEU. I hint: They happen in 1870-1871. That probably gives it away!!!
Chapter Twelve
Mitchel's Second Term, Part One, 1868-1870
Mitchel's Second Term, Part One, 1868-1870
Mitchel started his second term with one goal in mind, to build military strength to acceptable levels. He started with the navy, building several transports...
... to accomodate for an army expansion of 4 divisions.
The army was finished before the navy, and marshalled in Dublin in August, 1868.
Before long, the old trading of techs began again, this time for Military tech.
According to the BCEU treaty and the Coucil of Leeds, Ireland could have demanded more, but the worsening relations with the British due to Irish commitments to France required sacrafice to save the relationship from going below +150.
The transports were done early the next year. A new newspaper, called the Wrexham Weekly Walkthrough, was a hot seller in Ireland, mainly due to it's pro-military issues. This reflected a growing enthusiasm for jingoism in Ireland.
The alliance with France came up for renewal, and was signed without thought.
A few short weeks later, the very first offensive naval ships were finished being built, with two Ironclads being put in at Dublin.
In mid 1870, a great event occured which brought Ireland into conflict with Prussia.
Although rather happy about the war, once PM Mitchel realized the extenet of it, he grew rather worried. It would be France, Spain and Ireland, against Russia, Prussia, and Greece. Men were mobilised from the Vendee to Vladivostok.
Mitchel was right, this was going to be a big one.
If anyone was wondering, I've updated fully the chapter guide, and added the list of PMs and list of Wars. It's post Number Two, or right here, for your enjoyment!