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What if a timely Acquire State CB popped up, and was rationalized as, say, Russia executing a whole bunch of Polish socialist revolutionaries? Surely those would be suitable grounds for a war!
 
No! not the democrats!

the VSVR is boned :(
 
I am absolutely furious! The one thing I didn't like about the Democrats(foreign policy) and the Luxemburgists give us it! Not only that, we give in to the Luxemburgist's economic policy! Still, at least we get farmer suffrage and and end to the German Inquisition.

Can you explains how the Worker's vote was calculated, as it didn't fit in with my expectations at all. Also what difference would the farmer's vote have made?(just a rough picture, I don't expect you to do all that hard work over the Christmas holidays!)
 
I am absolutely furious! The one thing I didn't like about the Democrats(foreign policy) and the Luxemburgists give us it! Not only that, we give in to the Luxemburgist's economic policy! Still, at least we get farmer suffrage and and end to the German Inquisition.

Agreed, it's annoying that the worst part of the Democrat platform (isolationism) and the worst part of the Luxemburgist platform (the economic policy) both got through.

As for those calling the Democrats capitalists, I too don't like how willing they are to cooperate with the bourgeois nations, but to call them capitalists is absurd. Economically they are still basically Marxists if you would read their platform.

Also, just out of curiosity, has anyone here heard of liberation theology? I'm not a religious person myself, but I think those calling for the banning of all religion should read up on it and be aware that in some cases, socialist and religious thought can go hand-in-hand.
 
we will not start any wars

Those are English words, but I don't think they make a valid English sentence... ;)
 
Why do people take Marx's quote out of context?

“Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” [Marx, Introduction to Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right]

Marxists should not support the state-sponsored elimination of religion, religion is a sympathem of capitalism's effect on the morale of the people. Religion, like the state, will wither away in socialism.
 
Agreed, it's annoying that the worst part of the Democrat platform (isolationism) and the worst part of the Luxemburgist platform (the economic policy) both got through.

As for those calling the Democrats capitalists, I too don't like how willing they are to cooperate with the bourgeois nations, but to call them capitalists is absurd. Economically they are still basically Marxists if you would read their platform.

Also, just out of curiosity, has anyone here heard of liberation theology? I'm not a religious person myself, but I think those calling for the banning of all religion should read up on it and be aware that in some cases, socialist and religious thought can go hand-in-hand.

Well, since there are two of us, can we form a new faction? We'd probably outpoll the Moderates....
 
Happy to see the Luxemburgist economic model is being adopted.

A little sad to see us faltering on the religious front, but as long as we're atleast discouraging that useless behavior it's all good :).

Foreign policy is a tad bit worrisome, but I'm confident Rosa will make the right choices if we should ever need to go to war.

Yay for farmer suffrage :D.

All in all, as long as Rosa doesn't pull a Kropotkin (i.e. sell out your platform to the MINOR faction and refuse to take a stand) I'll be pleased.

EDIT: Also, there will be no update for awhile right? If so, I expect this thread will go into a deep hibernation so I'll say Happy Holidays and good luck to all of you before you start signing off :D.
 
Lenin and Bernstein may differ widely on ideological grounds, but they share at least one similarity: both were criticized before their terms in power even began.
 
Election of 1890

The election of 1890 was dominated, once again, by Vladimir Lenin. As the election encouraged record numbers of citizens to go to the polls most were driven by a desire to either support or defeat the man who had spent more time than any other as Chairman (10 years and 7 months over two separate terms).

Party Vote

Seats:

Marxist-Leninists: 13
Luxemburgists: 19
Democrats: 13
Moderates: 1
Militarists: 4

The Party voted firmly against Lenin as the rising starlet Rosa Luxemburg captured the imaginations of party members to secure the largest share of Party appointed seats. However the success of the Democrats was a great success as they secured a marginally higher share of the vote than the Marxist-Leninists despite talk of their bourgeoisie style beliefs being un-revolutionary. Meanwhile Kautsky’s Moderates suffered the worst humiliation in a long line of humiliations for the faction. Schlieffen too was disappointed to see such a small share of the vote go to his faction.

Workers’ Vote

Seats:

Marxist-Leninists: 15
Luxemburgists: 15
Democrats: 8
Moderates: 5
Militarists: 7

The Workers’ Vote was more predictable. The two main figures of the campaign, Rosa Luxemburg and Vladimir Lenin, successfully captured the imagination of the masses and together secured around 60% of all Worker votes cast. Of the small factions the Democrats were the most successful although the minor Marxist groups were the biggest winners – the Moderates gaining 5 seats from the Workers compared to 1 from the Party.

Electionof1890.jpg


The final result of the election left the Assembly in an interesting position. The Luxemburgists were the largest faction with 34 seats, followed by the Marxist-Leninists with 28 whilst the Democrats trailed with 21 to complete the compliment of the major factions. The minor Marxist factions secured 17 between them split 11-6 between the Militarists and Moderates respectively.

Lenin, fearing a part-Democrat government above all else, tried to lure Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht into a pro-Marxist coalition, sweetening the deal with the promise of Moderate support to create a huge coalition controlling 68 seats. Luxemburg would endear herself to the Marxists of the Republic, quench ideas that she was a Right-winger, secure peace between the Left and Right and leave herself with the most dominant government in the Republic’s history. Yet it was not to be. Rosa refused to align herself with a man she and many others associated with oppressive policies against the Right wing factions and instead she looked to Bernstein. The Democrats were only too happy to agree an alliance that secured them power on only their first election.

The terms of the alliance proved easy to bash out. The Luxemburgists mitigated their anti-religious policies, they promised to roll back the most severe anti-religious policies of Lenin (including those banning preaching and the crushing taxes on religious buildings) however all of the policies first brought in the early days of Weitling and Marx remained in place. Next the Luxemburgists agreed, reluctantly, to give the vote to the farmers. With the Marxist factions sure to face a hit by expanding the vote to the country folk the Luxemburgists hoped that the goodwill gained by being the ones to give them the vote would ensure they gained a larger share of the new voters than their rivals. As the final major compromise with the Democrats the Luxemburgists, doves at the best of times, agreed to institute a much more isolationist foreign policy than had ever been seen before by the Republic. The government swore not to start a single foreign war, to improve relations with the bourgeoisie Empires (Britain and Russia in particular for their economic importance) and to try to encourage Communist Parties abroad to use more democratic rather than violent methods of revolution.

However the Luxemburgists gained effective free reign over economic policy with the only cap being their promise not to raise tariffs above the current 8% level. The Democrats also agreed to allow for expansion into Africa. Another crucial, although secret, agreement made by the coalition was for the Democrats to green light VSVR support for the Chilean People’s Front – a pro-Council Communist revolutionary group that had only recently polled 42% in a Chilean election (kept out of power only by a coalition of bourgeois parties), the group also maintained a powerful paramilitary force called the ‘’People’s Guards’’ who were planning an armed takeover of the country. Rosa Luxemburg regarded support for the CPF as vital for the spread of revolution into Latin America, the recently industrialising region was described as ‘’the most fertile untouched plain for Socialism in all the world’’.

Finally the two factions agreed to a major electoral reform. From the 1895 election and onwards the new system would be in place. There was to be a two tier electoral system. The Chairman would be elected by the Party Vote alone. Each Party member would poll a first and second preference for Chairman. The first preferences would be counted first and if a single candidate polled 50% or more of the vote then they would become Chairman. If they failed to do so then second preferences would be counted and the candidate with the largest portion of the vote after this would become Chairman.

The Constituent Assembly would be entirely elected by the people, and now with the farmers enfranchised, that would mean all the people. This would become known as the Popular Vote. The largest faction in the Assembly shall appoint a Speaker of the Assembly, who shall stand on the Central Committee. For each 10 members a faction shall appoint one member of the Central Committee. The powers of the Central Committee as a body are to be expanded at the expense of the Chairman.

CentralCommittee1890.jpg


As Luxemburg rose to office as Chairman the Politburo was abolished and the Central Committee restructured. The once imprisoned Necazian was released and restored to his old role as Minorities Secretary, Bernstein, as coalition partner, was made General Secretary, Lenin became Chair of the Comintern, Schlieffen retained his position as Commissar for Military Affairs, Clara Zetkin kept her role as Commissar for Foreign Affairs and Kautsky became Commissar for Finance. But aside from these more familiar figures 4 less familiar names were brought into the Committee.

liebknecht_karl.jpg


Karl Liebknecht, son of the late Wilhelm Liebknecht, had been Rosa Luxemburg’s number 2 throughout her election campaign and was a clear choice to be made the first Speaker of the Assembly. This position made him, theoretically, the 2nd most powerful person in the Republic.

martov.jpg


Julian Martov is an interesting figure. He came to the VSVR around the same time as Lenin and the two were close friends and for awhile ideological allies. However when Lenin expelled the Moderates he withdrew from Lenin’s faction. Within the Moderates he was always a prominent figure yet ultimately failed to secure a Central Committee Office, in large part due to the lack of popular support the faction had. After the Democrats split from the Moderates in 1884 Martov remained with the Moderates as he continued to support Orthodox Marxism. It was only after the collapse of Engels’ second United Front that Martov abandoned the Moderates – furious at their refusal to work with other groups in the name of democracy. Faced with no faction to attach himself to Bernstein gave him an offer he could not refuse as he was invited to the Democratic faction. Martov lent genuine Marxist and revolutionary credentials to the Democrats who frequently received flak for their perceived lack of revolutionary ideals. Martov championed their move to more Marxist economics and gave the Democrats a much needed boost of support amongst the factory workers, who had previously been unsure of Bernstein. Now in the powerful, newly created, office of Commissar for Agriculture Martov is tasked with reaching out to the now enfranchised peasantry.

Ernst-Thalmann-1.jpg


Ernst Thalmann was a true grass roots Communist. He worked throughout his 20s in a factory in the Ruhr and through participation in local politics he rose through the ranks and into the upper echelons of the People’s Party. After electoral defeat in 1890 Lenin knew he needed to reach out once more to the working class and so supported the appointment of the wildly popular Thalmann to one of the most powerful positions in the Republic – the Secretariat for the Ruhr. That industrial colossus that lies upon the Rhine was now the responsibility of one of its most famous sons.

emma.jpg


Emma Goldman’s appointment was the most controversial but was a point upon which the Luxemburgists refused to compromise. Goldman represented a new generation of Anarchists who had started to emerge in the shadow of Lenin’s suppression of them. The spurning of Kropotkin angered a large portion of the surviving Anarchist old guard, yet they no longer had the power they once had. Goldman was a new Anarchist leader for a new period in the Republic’s history.
 
..... and with that this AAR enters its Christmas Break. Have a Happy Christmas everyone!
 
..... and with that this AAR enters its Christmas Break. Have a Happy Christmas everyone!

Nooooooooo! If the AAR is to take breaks, it should only be on revolutionary holidays!

Such as:

April 22 - Lenin's Birthday
May 1 - May Day
May 5 - Marx's Birthday
Nov 28 - Engels' Birthday
Dec 20 - Volksrepublik Day

You're merely belatedly celebrating Volksrepublik Day.
 
Nooooooooo! If the AAR is to take breaks, it should only be on revolutionary holidays!

Such as:

April 22 - Lenin's Birthday
May 1 - May Day
May 5 - Marx's Birthday
Nov 28 - Engels' Birthday
Dec 20 - Volksrepublik Day

You're merely belatedly celebrating Volksrepublik Day.

He meant Volksrepublik holidays, no doubt. Also, I object to having the birthday of someone who is still alive. Someone's legacy will be decided after their death, not before.

Merry Christmas, hope you do create the faction I proposed! Won't view this till Tommy comes back, so no else respond to me, please.
 
Well, since there are two of us, can we form a new faction? We'd probably outpoll the Moderates....

Well, if both of us voted for that faction, then we would indeed do better than the Moderates, considering they only got one vote last election...

Of course, the sad thing is, the Moderates in this election most closely represent what I want (Marxist economics, aggressive foreign policy, and some level of political freedom), but they always do terribly. I think part of their problem is their dogmatic adherence to ideology. They fact that they support the unnecessary anti-religious policy disappointed me, and I think if they loosened up on the strict ideological stance a bit and allowed more political freedoms alongside their other policies, they would perform better and would make me more likely to support them. I think the other problem they have is that they don't have a big name leading them. Frankly, I don't think the Luxemburgists would have done as well as they did if they didn't have Rosa Luxemburg at the helm. Which isn't a problem really, it's just how politics works.
 
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