The 1872 Anglo-German War, part 1
General Christian Held, new commander of the 9th army, had the only easy task in the Anglo-German War: eliminating the Papal States.
4th Army, in Africa, also went on the offensive, attempting to take British territory as fast as possible.
17th Army marched to Opeln, near the Polish border, to receive the enemy assault. 11th Army, poised to attack Ireland, was one of the best offensive generals in the world and well prepared to lead that invasion. All of the German war plans were in good order; only one major mistake had been made: eager to meet the enemy, the German Fleet left Venice without picking up 11th Army. [1] That army would never make it to Plymouth. Predictably, the Poles charged across the border and were met by a German counterattack. [2]
This first clash between German and Poles in the war was a nasty one, but the German army held the field at the end of the day, and that was all that mattered.
Good news came from the Straits of Gibraltar, as the German fleet sunk a single transport, possibly loaded with supplies for the British war effort, without so much as a scratch to any German warship's paint. That was the only good news about Britain, however. The British had flanked 4th Army in Africa, forcing General von Baden to meet their attack onto German soil -- right into a British trap, with master defender Donald Haig having already dug in.
Farther to the north, the German fleet encountered a British squadron patrolling the English channel and engaged it; the obsolete wooden vessels, commanded by an inept English Admiral, surely stood no chance against Horst Köhler's modern vessels. Good news came from Bulgaria, where Athens had capitulated, ending that particular conflict, allowing Germany to focus all of its attention on the present war.
Yet, the German press could muster little enthusiasm for that victory, not when the entire 4th Army was forced to surrendered to the damnable Haig.
In short order, the German navy proved its quality, sinking the entire British squadron. That created a tactical dilemma -- whether to send the fleet in for repairs, or to race to Germany, pick up troops destined for Ireland, and land them? Ultimately, the latter course was chosen: Germany badly needed to regain the initiative against the British while the Poles continued to run into the brick wall of Germany's defenses.
However, said brick wall could only extend so far. While the Poles were unable to dislodge German forces, there were not enough troops to man every conceivable border crossing and the Polish army flooded into eastern Germany.
In April 1872, as German fortresses surrendered to the Polish invaders, the German fleet deposited troops in Ireland, only to meet a Polish fleet off the coast of Brittany.
The importance of this battle was, perhaps, missed, as Irish politicians in Wexford toasted the driving of British troops from their soil for the first time in centuries.
A week later, three Polish armies were forced to retreat, simultaneously, providing an opportunity for Foreign Minister von Wittelsbach to demand the return of German cores in Tunisia as a condition for peace with Britain.
That was when British forces rallied in Ireland, calling upon local militia to supplement their numbers. Armies poured into Kildare, beating back the German advance.
The average German, however, was unconcerned, even finding time to remark on the current state of archaeology.
Another victory against Poland encouraged the Foreign Minister to demand the liberation of Ireland, yet the British representatives continued to duck his calls upon them. [3]
Even German military victories could not delay the insistence of women to have the right to vote, and the infamous "Mud March" attracted many voters to the liberal cause.
By June, it all came crashing down. British flanking maneuvers eliminated the army that had landed in Ireland, the Plymouth garrison was wiped out, even the Poles won a rare victory, and most of the German fleet was sunk or badly in need of repair.
At a speech to the HUN party congress, Chief of Staff and party leader Friedrich von Hohenstaufen called for a new era of "German nationalism" to reclaim Plymouth and break the British Empire once and for all. He also promised to seek funding for archaeological expeditions to Egypt.
These speeches, timed as they were to coincide with the string of German defeats, angered a group of French patriots, who worried about a possible British invasion and longed to return to the peaceful embrace of their mother country.
A rebellion in Japan threw out the pro-German government there; the German ambassador to Tokyo, as he boarded a ship headed for Manila, swore that Germany would have her revenge.
Desperately seeking to keep his government together, Chancellor Konrad von Schwaben called for the closing down of the infamous German penal colonies in the Philippines, hoping to regain some momentum for the liberals and calm down the infuriated German populace.
On the heels of another Polish defeat, Bulgaria then requested German aid in repelling a Byzantine attack on their soil, a request that was, at least initially, met with silence.
Although the French rebellion was already largely suppressed, the Poles continued to push westward, while the British forces enjoyed complete command of the sea and could strike anywhere at any time.
Chancellor von Schwaben once again called an emergency meeting of the Reichstag to address the war and what should be done about it.
[1] I'm not sure it would have made any difference. We had to move quickly, because the Brits and Poles could crush our fleet by sheer weight of numbers, as indeed they did. I did genuinely forget about 11th army, but marching them to Venice or sailing the fleet to Marseilles seemed a waste of time.
[2] I took a little leeway with LK's directions here. As soon as they hit German soil, I attacked. We didn't have enough armies to force them to attack us (and thus take advantage of the defensive bonuses).
[3] I have no idea why we couldn't make the extra war goal, but I'm kind of glad we didn't. With the Japan thing, we gained just enough infamy that going after Ireland now will actually put us over the limit. I had to think for a very long time what the Foreign Ministry's policy towards Japan would have been; given that Sakura_F has been consistently hawkish, that's the choice I made.
Since we're in September of 1872, we'll go ahead and just have the 1873 meeting a few months early. Please submit any constitutional amendments for consideration, including any reforms you'd like to pass and, if someone wishes, to propose the expedition to the Valley of the Kings.
Sakura_F, you need to decide what to do with our foreign policy. Poland won't go for a white peace. The Papal States will be overrun before 1873 is out, so we might consider a war goal against them.
LatinKaiser/Jack LEagle, all four Eastern armies have seen significant action -- the cluster of 60 is 19th, 17th, 12th, while 1st is farther to the west. Our fleet is now 13 ships -- 9 commerce raiders and 4 transports. It will take a couple of months to repair them all. We either need to pull the French armies east or mobilize our reserves (which Poland and the Brits already have), if not both. If we want to make any headway against the British, we'll need some major fleet construction. We just started Raider Group Doctrine, but waiting for that and the bases to build Ironclads would take way too long.
PTSnoop, we've got an extra NF for you to play with.
So,
48 hours to propose amendments, then we'll go on to voting. We will also make four year plans
mandatory based on voting. Next elections will be September 1874, so any plans should cover that two year span.
You should also make it clear what connection it will have to in-game election results. 
