1845: The year of death
The cholera that had terrified so many was a thing of the past. It had been almost a full year since there were any outbreaks. People in Germany began to take their ease, to enjoy life as they once had. The passion for intense intellectualism and philosophy – the province of those select few wealthy enough to afford life-saving medicines – dissipated, and thoughts turned to more practical matters.
The new Chancellor, Alex von Bern, one of the most experienced statesmen in Germany and a bastion of conservative values, championed the further industrial development of his native land, no matter the cost.
The deliverer of that speech – a young upstart in the New Society, Otto von Bismarck – was booed by quite a few members of the Alliance for his “callousness” and laissez-faire attitude towards the lives of the workers. In fact, Bismarck was lampooned as the “Laissez-Faire Conservative” in many of the leading newspapers in Germany. Yet his coldness was not in vain, and thanks to government funding, the problem of accessing the rich veins of coal in Karlsbad were surmounted. Further, these new techniques were applied to iron ore mining and, most impressive of all, gold mining.
The new iron and coal deposits served extremely well, as Germany industrialized at a break neck pace and railroads crisscrossed the land.
German aristocrats praised the outpouring of German sympathies in Ravenna, and roundly criticized the “weaklings” who would “mollycoddle” convicted felons throughout the country.
Assemblyman DDr. Gotha fumed as he watched France carve off bits of Grenada: not because he loved the people of Grenada, but because his own countrymen had so thoroughly annihilated his own aims to seize parts of Africa.
The morning of 23 November looked like any other day to most Germans. Birds sang, rivers ran, a parade of workers armed with shovels, or hammers, or other tools proceeded to their daily tasks. The Hall of Government (which housed both the Conclave and the Assembly) convened to discuss the normal affairs of state. The horrific and unexpected death of Friedrich von Mannerheim at the beginning of the year, during an impassioned speech, had caused everyone to reflect a bit more on life’s ever-fleeting nature, but within a few weeks, things had returned mostly to normal.
And then Joachim Peymann, the oldest member of the Assembly at 67 years of age, began to convulse uncontrollably. Within minutes he was dead. The German Influenza, which would cost hundreds of thousands of lives and £139,000 – almost 20% of the entire state budget – had only just started. Even in the Hall of Government, it would claim still more victims. Maximilian Unger also met his end that fateful day, yet even that was overshadowed by the most shocking death of all: Friedrich von Hohenzollern. Just a few days before he was supposed to be seated in the Assembly, Albrecht von Hohenzollern found himself the Stadtholder of Nürnberg.
He was also an Imperialist.
((So, Some Georgian, you need a new Minister of Education and a new Minister of Finance. One of them has to be New Society; other than that, you can choose who you like.))
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