1886: Give them an inch...
With a few months of governing under his belt, Chancellor Franz Meningen turned his attention to improving the lives of ordinary Germans, as his mandate suggested. Two major new domestic programs were initiated by his ministers. Minister of Finance Friedrich Thiessen announced a 5% tax cut, across the board, for all Germans. Minister of the Interior Johannes Carile, in turn, started an initiative to start technical schools in some of Germany's most rural regions in an effort to industrialize them and to teach the workers of tomorrow what they needed to know to work in modern factories. Thiessen's plan actually cost the treasury some money over the course of the year, but the German economy could easily absorb it, and workers were grateful to have more money in their pockets.
The Minister of War, HF Gutfreund, had his own project: 10 new cruisers, designed to accompany the fleet and engage the enemy long before German transports could be endangered. A reorganization of the navy sent one transport fleet to England, one to southern France, and one to Amsterdam, while the battle fleet continued to defend the Kiel Canal. Expensive new ships like battleships and cruisers required extensive retraining to make sure that naval officers knew how to protect their ships as best they could, when to risk them and when not to.The army saw three new armies join their ranks -- two standard armies, stationed on the Polish border, and a third "Shock Army," built for speed, to punch through the enemy's ranks before they even knew what happened. A mixture of highly trained light infantry, known as guards, and heavy cavalry made up this elite unit, commanded by Viktor Schmitt, a dapper young officer from Hamburg, who was one of the youngest colonels in the entire army before his promotion.
In foreign affairs, Poland absorbed another piece of Africa while the Byzantine Empire acquired the colony of Tonga in the South Pacific after a brief diplomatic exchange with Venice. Venice, humiliated, lashed out at the German ambassador to Venice instead, falsely accusing him of the basest crimes in an attempt to provoke a German response. Meanwhile, the government of Danzig surreptitiously sounded out Foreign Minister Samuel von Dwyfor-Frauenkirche about German military support for the liberation of Danziger territory that at present belonged to Norway. The Foreign Minister promised to investigate the matter, and to take it to the Reichstag if need be. Meanwhile, relations with Poland slowly but surely improved.
Yet, while under the surface, everything appeared peaceful, in reality a group of German citizens were seething with anger. A visit to the southern regions of Italy, largely populated by Greeks, by President of Italy Karl Adimari infuriated a Greek organization dedicated to Neapolitan independence from Italy. As a show of good faith, Adimari was accompanied by fellow Italian and Stadtholder of Sardinia Emmanuel Victor. Victor and Adimari gave a joint speech before the Italian Parliament, when three mercenaries entered the room and opened fire on both men. Members of the Gendarmerie quickly rushed to the aid of Adimari and Victor, but while Adimari was only badly shaken, Victor was shot twice in the chest and once in the head. His death was instantaneous. The death of Victor provoked a mass Greek uprising, but a note found on Victor's body suggested that the assassins' motives were not Greek:
Let this be a warning to all liberals. More of you will die until Franz Meningen resigns his office and "liberates" Germany from his odious presence.
All three assassins escaped with no trace of who the killer was or who it might be. The rebellion was quickly smashed, thanks in large part to the new Shock Army and General Schmitt.
The funeral for Emmanuel Victor, held in Sardinia, was very well attended, with members of every party there. The Reichstag's opening was actually delayed until 3 January to allow the proper time to grieve. As soon as the Reichstag opened, Fritz von Hohenzollern announced his retirement from the Conclave to allow his nephew, Konrad Friedrich von Hohenzollern, an opportunity to serve in the Conclave. Konrad Friedrich thanked his uncle for the opportunity to serve, and also announced a bit of good news: the birth of a son, Erich. Fritz did not stay retired for long, however; he found a home in the Assembly. Chief of the General Staff Friedrich von Hohenstaufen also announced his retirement, both from the office of Chief of the General Staff, and from the Assembly.
There was plenty of business to discuss in 1887, with all of the changes, and there were questions about who would be elected Stadtholder from Sardinia.
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((Assassin roll: 11, 20, 5; detection: 5))
((It's been a rather quiet year.
Avidian, if I remember correctly, someone earlier suggested allowing players to have multiple characters, one in the Italian parliament and one in the Reichstag. What are your thoughts?))
((It would be kind of a hassle to keep track of voting for yet another parliament. You guys can RP as them, if you want, but separate characters, especially if we want to give them voting rights, are a no go.))
The Minister of War is requested to name a new Chief of the General Staff in the wake of Herr von Hohenstaufen's retirement. As a reminder, this appointment will be for life and must be confirmed by a majority vote of the Assembly.
The Court also has one other item of business to discuss. Herr von Schwaben's term of office will expire before the 1889 election, as he was elected President in 1884. The Court is placing before the Reichstag a question: Should Herr Schwaben's term be extended until after the election of 1889, or shall his replacement be elected in 1888? This question, as well as that of the new Chief of the General Staff, will be part of the ballot, along with any other initiatives submitted within the next 48 hours (by Monday at 10 PM). Ministers may also wish to adjust plans and may do so in the same time frame.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
((
@Jack LEagle, for the moment, I've added the cruisers to Battle Fleet; let me know if you have a different idea for them.
@alxeu, I followed your instructions, choosing NFs based on those areas with 50% or less of their total factory space empty.
@Dr.Livingstone, feel free to create a new character. It's your own fault for saying how quiet it was.
@LatinKaiser claimed Konrad Friedrich quite some time ago; I'm keeping Fritz in the Assembly solely so I don't have to mess with the spreadsheet too much.
Admin hat on.))
With our first successful assassination attempt, it occurs to me that you may wish to investigate such matters. Below is a preliminary mechanic for carrying out these investigations. A failed detection roll makes this moot, obviously.
1) The only person who may initiate an investigation is the Commander of the Corps of Gendarmerie. The Minister of the Interior may order such an investigation, but the Commander must agree. If the Commander refuses, the Minister may ask for his resignation. If the Commander does not choose to resign, the Minister of the Interior may replace him without a vote; however, the investigation may not begin until the following year. The same is true if the Commander resigns voluntarily.
2) The first phrase of the investigation involves the Commander ordering a local investigation into eight
states (in the Victoria 2 sense). If the perpetrator of the assassination is located in one of those states, the investigation continues to phase 2. If not, the Commander may repeat the investigation the following year, with the capability to add an additional state. This will continue for a maximum of five years, with one additional state added to the search area each year. (Obviously, the smart Commander will issue a different list each year.) If after five years, phase 2 has not begun, the perpetrator has gotten away with it and the case goes cold.
The perpetrator of the assassination is assumed to be in the state of his residence
unless he PMs me with a new location, which can change once a year. He may not move to a state which was already investigated, both to be sporting and to simulate that the Commander would have people keeping an eye out for him. He may not move if the Commander successfully identifies the correct state. I will
not tell the Commander which state is the correct one, only that he has successfully identified the correct state in his investigation. For the purposes of investigations, the assassin may not leave Germany for those five years, but anything belonging to Germany is fair game.
3) In Phase 2, the Commander may choose a specific member of the Reichstag to interrogate who resides in the state. He may ask any questions he likes; in turn, the person being interrogated may tell the truth or lie. The Commander, at this point, can either accuse the individual of the crime or interrogate somebody else. He has a maximum of two interrogations per year. If he accuses somebody of the crime, we move to a trial. The Commander will be the prosecutor, as currently established. Once a trial begins, there cannot be any more interrogations. The Commander has a maximum of three years to conduct interrogations without a trial, or else the case goes cold.
4) If the defendant is found innocent,
whether or not he actually did the crime, that is grounds for dismissing the Commander of the Gendarmerie, again without a vote. If the defendant is found guilty, but did not commit the crime, the perpetrator gets a +1 bonus in all areas where such a bonus is appropriate, including coups and future assassinations. The defendant will still be punished. If the defendant is found guilty and committed the crime, the Commander of the Gendarmerie's appointment becomes permanent, and he is immune from being removed without a vote, even if there is a new Minister of the Interior. He also gains a +1 bonus in all areas where such a bonus is appropriate, including coups and his own assassinations. Further, any Commander who successfully prosecutes more than one assassin has the right to demand a post in the government a single time; it is the Chancellor's job to find him a different post if at all possible. The Chancellor chooses the post; if the Commander refuses the new post, he may not ask again, but he will retain his post as Commander.
5) If at any point the Minister of the Interior suspects that the actual assassin was the Commander of the Gendarmerie, he may insist during phase 1 that the Commander's own state be included in the search, separately, and not deducted from the Commander's choices. In this circumstance
only, I will directly confirm the state instead of the more general "one of those states contains the perpetrator."
6) The assassin is free to confess at any time, but if he does so after being interrogated, the Commander receives all the benefits of a successful prosecution. The Commander may not be removed from office if the assassin confesses before the trial. The assassin
may not confess during the trial unless he is called as a witness. If he confesses after the trial, even if somebody is found guilty, the assassin will still be punished, although the Commander will also be punished.
I want everyone to look these rules over (especially
@Qwerty7), ask questions if necessary, or for clarifications. After our new legislation period expires, I will include a meta vote on the ballot on these regulations or whatever the final product turns out to be.