• 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.

theoracle

Second Lieutenant
33 Badges
Oct 2, 2009
112
0
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Darkest Hour
  • Arsenal of Democracy
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Hearts of Iron II: Armageddon
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mare Nostrum
  • Prison Architect
  • Europa Universalis IV: Rights of Man
  • Europa Universalis IV: Cossacks
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Europa Universalis IV: Mandate of Heaven
  • Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • 500k Club
  • Victoria 2
  • Semper Fi
  • Victoria: Revolutions
  • Magicka
  • Hearts of Iron III Collection
  • Hearts of Iron III: Their Finest Hour
  • For the Motherland
  • Europa Universalis IV: Call to arms event
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
Je Maintendrai, an a-historical Netherlands AAR '36

Hello, I’d like to introduce you all to my first AAR. Using a country as the Netherlands in an a-historical setting while keeping some kind of historical context. My idea is to give the Netherlands an active role in the second World War. No Fortress Holland strategy implanted in this. It will actually involve attacking something! Who knows, even annexing!

AAR.jpg

I will use Armageddon. I hope the random events, which the Netherlands in ARM gets a lot of, will help me steer in the right direction, but I might reload if I feel the random event effect the direction I want to take this *mainly negative slider moves* I'll use custom made events to further the story and to provide it authenticity, but never to give myself free stuff. Every action will cost me. At the moment I'm looking into how much I want to customise. I want to make sure that the general way I do things can be achieved by other people without too much customizing, but the more research I do, the more I like to add.

My next posts will feature the back story leading up till 1936 and hopefully will be an interesting read. I'd love to hear your opinion about this ongoing work.


Chapter 1. A Promise to move forward. 1918-1935


1.1. The Kaiser Fiasco
1.2. Mother of a nation.
1.3. The Orange Revolution.
1.4. Sonderkonto
1.5. Asian Power struggles
1.6. Do you hear the people sing? LAST UPDATE BEFORE GAME START.

Chapter 2. Sights set on a better future. 1936-1939
 
Last edited:
1918-1925: The Kaiser fiasco

kaiser.jpg

Former Kaiser Wilhelm II a few months before his capture

the Netherlands had managed to stay neutral during the Great War. When the war ended the Netherlands provided German Kaiser Wilhelm II asylum. The German Kaiser had family ties with the Dutch monarchs and party because of this he was allowed to live in an estate in Utrecht. The Versailles threaty of 1919 defined Wilhelm II as a war criminal and demanded an extradition request to be addressed to the Dutch Government. On the 7th of July the Dutch government answered that any extradition would be seen as a violation of Dutch Neutrality.

Also, an angered Belgium demanded parts of the Southern Netherlands in retaliation for the Dutch allowing German troops to enter parts of Limburg. The Treaty of Versailles did not get Belgium any of the Dutch territory they demanded, but Belgium-Dutch relationships were at an all-time low.
Both diplomatic dilemma’s escalated in 1925. Unknown to the Allied leaders, a small Belgium resistance group had infiltrated their Dutch neighbors in the night of the 4th of December reaching the castle on the 5th. This small group consisted of soldiers who had been fighting Germany for most of the war. These soldiers saw the emperor as the main culprit for the destruction that had befallen on their home country. Thanks to the element of surprise they were able to capture Wilhelm II and subdue him while he was sleeping. Dutch reaction to this was surprisingly slow. It was not till the morning that the central command was alerted. So far there had only been localized searches. By this time the Dutch government issued a nationwide search using the army. The mobilisation was unorganised and the search was conducted poorly. The Belgiums were already well into Brabant, the southern part of the Netherlands. By staying away from populated areas and keeping to the forests they managed to reach the Belgium border. Wilhelm II was severely mistreated during this escape and had to be hospitalized.

The Allied now had a tough dilemma to deal with. They couldn’t release the former Kaiser because it’s prosecution had always been an important part of the Versailles treaty. Giving him back to the Dutch would create an uproar in Allied countries and damage the status of the treaty as a whole. After an emergency meeting between Britain, France and the US they decided to prosecute both the Wilhelm II and the group responsible for his capture.
The Dutch were not impressed. The Belgium soldiers got off with a mild prison sentence and a dishonorable discharge. While the Belgiums diplomatically distanced themselves from the group of soldiers, the group members were considered heroes. Yet, the Dutch parliament and government was indecisive about the course of action. After not being able to reach an agreement, it decided to lodge a formal protest against the prosecution of a political leader offered asylum. This protest seemed to yield no results and no compensation was given to the Dutch.
 
Last edited:
Nice point of divergence. Will be following.

I wonder how you're going to be an active member in the war if you're not modifying anything (well it's at least going to be very hard). Personally from what I just read, I'd invision the Netherlands seeing the Belgians more and more as enemies than friends, leading to some more military and industrial build up.

Anyway, it's going to be awesome I'm sure. It looks 'verzorgd', which is one of my criteria for even following an AAR.

Keep up the good work.
 
In my opinion you should turn tech team takeover off. I like full IC takeover when playing as minor powers as it helps them become big powers much quicker. Also i would put claims on Belgium and Luxembourg (seeing as they were controlled by the Netherlands at some point or another).

Otherwise great Idea. Good Luck.
 
I wonder how you're going to be an active member in the war if you're not modifying anything (well it's at least going to be very hard).
Yeah, I might be forced to mod here and there to keep an believable war going on. I've played the Dutch numerous times and besides their unlucky geography have a lot going for them. My concerns are somehow reinforcing the Dutch India, because for an active role they are pretty much vital. Because I can't get troops there I might have to write an event that will let me reinforce the Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger in exchange for resources. As long as I don't feel like giving myself stuff for free I'm fine with modding. I forgot, but can you change the events for an ongoing game aswell? Or do I have to prepare in advance?

Also, the Belgiums did really try and get parts of Holland. This ment that their relationship was pretty cold. I just put a little more oil on the fire :)

I-15 said:
In my opinion you should turn tech team takeover off. I like full IC takeover when playing as minor powers as it helps them become big powers much quicker. Also i would put claims on Belgium and Luxembourg (seeing as they were controlled by the Netherlands at some point or another).
Yeah, in order to have any change later on I'll need my IC. And well, dutch tech teams are pretty okay for a minor, only the doctrine ones are dreadfull 4/10, but I might be able to compensate.

Historically, the Dutch send their army in to deal with the Belgium uprising, but was eventually pushed back by the French. Although the other European countries supported the Dutch cause, they didn't gave any actual support. Under political pressure the Dutch were forced to give up their claims on Belgium. If Brittain and France were somehow unable to pressure the Dutch anymore, it might result in a very interesting situation. :p

Next update we will found out what Dutch Queen Wilhelmina has to say about all this
 
Great idea, too few Dutch AARs around :D. Somehow I think Wilhelmina will not tolerate those dastardly Belgians breaking Dutch sovereignty. Will we see Prince Bernhard in your AAR ;).
 
How dare you oppose the The Glorious Greater Empire of the Glorious Constitutional Federal Union of Glorious Belgium? Dare cross the border, and you will meet nothing but doom at the hands of our hard sticks, and pointy stones. Fear our stones! ;)

Nice point of divergence. Go on!

-Vincent
 
A Dutch AAR, a little a-historical as well, I'm in! I remember one of my games as the Dutch, built a massive fleet and retired to East Indies to fight off the Japanese... I had something like two Lvl 4 BB's, four BC's and other ships. Well, I can't wait to see how you play this game, Dutch games can be extremely fun to play.

Good luck!
 
In my opinion you should turn tech team takeover off. I like full IC takeover when playing as minor powers as it helps them become big powers much quicker. Also i would put claims on Belgium and Luxembourg (seeing as they were controlled by the Netherlands at some point or another).

Otherwise great Idea. Good Luck.

But if you're successful, you will become too strong. Maybe adding cores will be better for historically claim lands.
 
@thundergate i do agree however i do not know how to add claims so full IC takeover and not using most of it was just the only way i could do it.
 
1.2 Mother of a Nation

1.2 Mother of a Nation

wilinspecting.jpg

Queen Wilhelmina inspecting troops during the Great War.

The Queen Wilhelmina was one of the better examples of the grandeur of the House of Orange. Her former father was to some a complete madman and deserved himself the nickname “King Gorilla” for his violent outbursts. Queen Wilhelmina on the other hand had the natural charisma befitting to a leader. She was very popular, especially considering the decline of the monarchy ever since the Napoleon wars. Already a Queen at the young age of 10, she got on the throne at the age of 18. She was internationally respected and had a tendency to meddle in international affairs. At just the age of 20 she sent a Dutch warship ’Gelderland’ to South Afrika to rescue the South African Boer resistance leader Paul Kruger, simply ignoring a British blockade.

She also had a keen business instinct and under her guidance the personal wealth of the Royal Family reached 1 billion dollar, making her the richest woman of that time. She was one of the major stock holders of the ‘Koninklijke Olie’, better known as SHELL. When oil was discovered on the Dutch Antilles in 1914 and SHELL started drilling for oil with her permission, it brought The Netherlands into a conflict with Venezuela. Venezuela claimed the Dutch Antilles, but at the time didn’t want to start an armed conflict.


---“I cannot rely on the achievements of my ancestors. I can only rely on my own performance now. I must earn their trust. I’m there for the fatherland, and the fatherland alone.” As said by the Queen in 1914---​


Her desire to play a prominent role in Dutch Affairs caused her to clash with the government and parliament on numerous occasions. She had never been impressed with the politicians she had to deal with. Especially when it came to the armed forces she resisted any attempt to cut in the budget and reduce the amount of active soldiers . Despite her resistance the government decided to greatly cut the budget of the armed forced in 1918, pretty much destroying all progress the Great War had brought the Royal Dutch Army and ending a carefully organized “Luchtvaartafdeeling”, the air force of the Netherlands.

In 1918 the end of the war sparked numerous republic revolutions. Many ancient dynasties were removed from power. On the 12th of November Troelstra, leader of the socialistic party, called for a socialistic revolution in the Netherlands. People around the Queen thought she was in danger and arranged an, in their eyes, inevitable exile of Wilhelmina. In the first days there was an unsettling atmosphere but after a day or two messages start to pour in declaring their support for the Queen. On the 18th she rode out to meet her supporters in the strees. The entire square Malieveld was filled with supporters. She and her daughter rode out in an open carriage, on the Malieveld the horses were switched out for 40 soldiers who pulled the carriage back to her palace. She promised the people present that their country would go forward. The next day she excused herself for the work she had been neglecting, because “She had been turning a revolution around.”

She distrusted the United Kingdom and its intentions. It didn’t help when the United Kingdom and the United States saw it necessary to put a Naval blockade on Dutch trading routes during the Great War. They even commandeered several Dutch merchant vessels in American harbors to “support the Allied war effort”. Wilhelmina was furious and contacted the British King George to tell him how she felt about the whole ordeal. Even though the government said it would be better to stop trading convoys, Wilhelmina saw it absolutely necessary to continue the convoys and in 1918 a convoy set out to reach Dutch India unopposed.

December 8th 1925 Paleis Noordeinde – Den Hague

noordeinde.jpg

It has been a few days since the Disaster of Doorn. Everyone responsible for the search had to explain the situation. The last few days you could see confident man walk in and desperate man walk out. The general military staff had to take the brunt of the Queen’s anger.
“Was it not your opinion the country did not need an active defense? That the army could do with less men without endangering our sovereignty? If I can’t expect you gentlemen to protect a single foreign refugee, who can I expect you will protect my people? And now you come here, hiding behind jurisdiction issues and hard working soldiers so you can avoid the blame? Well, the blame has been cast and it is you who will now have to carry it. I hope you will carry it with more dignity then your current position.”

The men looked at the Queen, her face red of anger. She obviously had been having trouble sleeping, as her eyes could testify, but it seemed to not have hindered her ability to fill up the entire room with her voice. One of the generals stepped forward preparing an answer and the Queen’s attention turned to the man. “If you just stepped forward in order to excuse yourself, you only have our fatherland to apologize to. For I am not willing to accept it. I believe this meeting is now over.” After that she turned towards her desk and sat down. The staff saluted, but the Queen had her eyes on the piece of paper on her desk, so the salute was in vain. Silently the group of five men left the room. Wilhelmina felt like she had more pressing matters to attend to. In front of her were the final drafts of the telegrams that had to be send to the kings of Belgium and the United Kingdom. Just because her ministers found themselves indecisive, doesn’t mean she had to feel the same way. The telegram to King George read:

“In light of recent breach of Dutch sovereignty requesting swift action of your government.
Your diplomat seemed to be of little help.
Urge better communication from now on.
Status given by my government to former Kaiser Wilhelm II cannot be ignored.
As Head of State there is a responsibility to respect and enforce international law.
Requesting meeting in Den Hague next week.”

The telegram to King Albert I read:

“Recent breach of several soldiers of Belgium descent was unauthorized.
Therefore any action taken must be seen as an extremely illegal behavior.
So far reaction of your government has been lacking.
Urge immediate action to be taken against individuals responsible.
International Law dictates return of leader granted political asylum.
Requesting meeting in Den Hague next week.”

Neither kings did agree to a meeting, only replying with a message of apology and promises to keep the Dutch perspective in consideration. A few days later the emergency Allied meeting decided that the Kaiser was to be imprisoned while awaiting a trial. King George send a long letter explaining the Allied point of view, but just got back a telegram with two sentences from Queen Wilhelmina. The exact message was also received by King Albert:

“If that is how it must be, then it will be. I see no more reason to maintain contact.”

From that day on, the Dutch Royal family refused any invitations by the Belgium and English royal families and it cut all ties with Belgium and The United Kingdom. Although her government refused to put all diplomatic contact on hold and tried convincing the Queen to rekindle the relationship with the royal families, she refused. To the surprise of the government though, the people of the Netherlands responded with enthusiasm to the Queen’s actions. It seemed the people were tired of the treatment the Dutch had been receiving and large Orange rallies were seen in the larger cities of the Netherlands. Their Queen promised to take them forward, and on the 15th of December 1925 she took the first step.
 
Last edited:
But if you're successful, you will become too strong. Maybe adding cores will be better for historically claim lands.

I'm glad you trust my skills that I will actually be succesfull enough to exploit it ;)

I'm gonna spend the following week testing my modded events and hopefully finish the story up till game start. If I think my IC will be sufficient to support it I will put full IC off, otherwise I simply have to police myself if I become too strong. My main reason for not choosing would be because the AI gets full IC aswell.

Thanks for all the comments so far. I tried looking for something that could really shift the way the Dutch thought and I just knew the Kaiser had to be involved. I also had a plan that would have the Kaiser introduce a more Prussian way of thinking, but I figured the Kaiser was not liked enough by the Dutch to have such an impact, especially on the Queen.
 
Last edited:
1.3. The Great Depression

1.3. The Orange revolution

riots.jpg

Republicans being chased down by the police in 1927. The police was accused of being Orangists, because of their harsh threatment of Republican sympathizers.

The Dutch government was quite worried about the growing popularity of the Queen. After the failed Troelstra revolution the Queen had decided that the direct meddling she had done before wasn’t a viable strategy, but the increase of Orange rally’s in the years after 1925 strengthened her belief that she had the people’s support. It also strengthened resistance against the monarchy itself, effectively cutting the country in half. On one side were the Orangists who supported Wilhelmina’s way of thinking and wanted more executive power, on the other hand were the Republicans. Who, after the direct confrontation with the elected leaders of the Netherlands saw the monarch as too dangerous to be kept. They held their own rallies accusing the Queen of wanting an autocratic government without parliament to keep her in check. Especially the communistic rallies turned more violent and it came to clashes with the police. In 1927 the Dutch Army had a cavalry brigade on permanent standby in Amsterdam. It was used during the big republican riots in 1928.

Wilhelmina found an ally in the conservative Christian parties, who in response to the increasing criticism of the socialistic parties on the Queen openly declared their support for the monarch. It was later debated that if the republican side would have adopted a more nuanced approach the increase of orangism inside the political parties would have kept to a minimum. Now most of the conservative parties saw Wilhelmina as the only alternative to a total revolution.

Time was on Wilhelmina’s side, because just as the tensions between the two camps were leading to a conflict, the Great Depression hit. After denouncing contact with the United Kingdom by the Queen. public support for co-operation with the former Allied nations had been dwindling. Now the public saw the Allied nations as the cause for the economic depression. The 30s also saw the rise of the fascist parties inside the Netherlands, especially one: The NSB. It drew most of its support from the liberal and socialistic parties, ending the powerbase of the republican camp. The Christian parties won the elections of 1930 with a landslide, effectively creating an Orangist government. Leader of this party was prime minister Colijn, who had always enjoyed the support of Queen Wilhelmina.

colijn.jpg

Colijn had the rank of major in the Royal Dutch Amy and had fought in Colonial Wars in Dutch India

The biggest opposition party was the fascist NSB, who strongly opposed the revolutionairy parties. In many of their rallies they referenced the Golden Age of Holland. Intentional or not, this also pointed towards times when the House of Orange was at the height of its power. Many saw this as evidence of Orangistic feelings inside the party. Yet the NSB never openly opposed or supported the Orangistic movements, instead remaining a neutral bystander. It was afraid that by getting drawn in the struggle they would lose votes.

Wilhelmina chose this time to show her commitment to her fatherland. She invested her own capital in the Dutch economy. This was supported by the Orangistic government. She convinced Colijn with her economic insight to lose the gold standard in 1930 to battle the Depression. She also pushed to limit the economical bonds the Netherlands had with the Entente and the US. Although this prevented the Netherlands from getting dragged down with any setback these economies suffered, it also severely limited Dutch options. The Colijn administration started several public projects to limit unemployment, but they knew it was only a matter of time before the Dutch economy would collapse into an even bigger Depression.

German-Dutch relations had intensified after the disaster of Doorn in 1925, but Wilhelmina always saw the democratic leaders of the Weimar republic as indecisive and incapable. Because of this she always held back more cooperation between the countries. During the Depression she and the Colijn administration saw Germany as one of the only countries capable of supporting the Dutch economy. Germany suggested the Sonderkonto, all import/export transactions would go through the two central banks. This system would encourage transactions between the two countries. It would not be used till 1933 though. And in 1933 the Netherlands had to deal with a different Germany: Nazy Germany.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, leader files HOLD NO SECRETS FOR ME ANYMOOOORE:

bernhard.jpg


I've also decided to give the Dutch Antilles it's oil, since I've checked and it doesn't seem to havy any. :mad: Dutch oil contributed to the Allied War Effort so I'm totally allowed to do this. Also, it might come up in the AAR later on :p

Events are a bit trickier, quite literally, since I have trouble getting them to trigger properly. But nothing I can't fix, I hope ;)

The guaranteed action will be delivered. If any of you have any comments/critisism, I'll be happy to hear it :)
 
Last edited:
Looking good Theoracle, you even included Bernhard :D.

If only the real Colijn abolished the Golden Standard...
 
I'm eagerly awaiting more from you! Amazing stuff right now! ;)
 
Thanks for all the nice comments. :D

Next update will be friday at it's latest. And will describe up till '35 hopefully. Modding is going well, I've put claims on the whole of Belgium and Luxembourg and I've implented a few pre-war stuff that is working as intented :)

FlyingDutchie said:
Looking good Theoracle, you even included Bernhard :D
If only the real Colijn abolished the Golden Standard...
Don't worry, you'll get your fill of Bernhard. :cool:
And yeah, Sweden abolished the Gold Standard back in 1929, I figured I could get away with doing in 1930. We don't need some stuffy Londen conference to tell us what to do! In this timeline, Colijn's position is even more dependent on the Queen's support, so he can't afford to be too stubborn about it.

quantum said:
Hitler and Wilhemina, a nice pair!

Good luck, and I think the British need to be politely removed(annexed!)

Wilhelmina just sees Hitler as a strange little man, I doubt she will have much contact with him besides when she has to. No worries though, there will be a German that the Netherlands will deal with it instead. He'll be revealed next update :D

And those stuck up British totally have it coming! :mad: I'm kind of scared for them. German AI hardly ever bothers fighting them directly so I guess it will up to me.