1887: The KPD's first move
1887 was another year of banner scientific accomplishments. Thomas Edinsohn made a startling discovery that promised to spread cheap and efficient lighting to every German. The Ministry of War affixed torpedo tubes to every cruiser, helping them chase the enemy's larger ships. A Museum of Natural History opened in Milan to rave reviews, with one wing of the museum named the Emmanuel Victor Memorial Wing of Botany, after the late Stadtholder's known love of gardening; the museum's curator was famous for discovering rubber trees in German Liberia, a valuable natural resource. President Karl Adimari also announced government funding for worker education throughout the entire state of Lombardia. Minister of Education Walter Herwig announced a long overdue revitalization of German commercial practices in the wake of the completion of the navy's modernization ((no pun intended)). The first step was the establishment of new banks across Germany, specializing in small business loans.
Most Germans were relatively pleased, on the whole, by the Meningen administration. In Karsten-Steiermark, the German Chancellor was feted at every opportunity. A women's group also applauded the efforts of Franz Meningen and the German liberals to promote not only their suffrage, but the suffrage of women around the globe. For most of 1887, domestic peace was the watchword. A brief conflagration in Champagne was quickly put out and the ringleaders arrested. Minister of the Interior Johannes Carile was unrelenting in shutting down separatist groups wherever they might arise.
One particular neglected minority group started to speak against not only the administration, but the German democracy as it stood. A Czech society, calling themselves the Sokols, started to argue for Czech autonomy, and they gathered a substantial audience by arguing that, since his favored group received additional rights, the 'Liberator' had betrayed his promises, as not a single bill promoting further national devolution had been introduced by him or any other liberal in the Reichstag. A new Socialist newspaper appeared in the capital that disseminated these views to a wider audience still, taking the issue national. A national group supporting a higher minimum wage endorsed Sokol candidates to the Assembly from Prague and other Czech regions, but the matter came to a head when a full out riot broke out in German Croatia. KPD members in that region rose up, arrested the management of local factories, and demanded that Germany completely federalize, granting full autonomy to all national groups. The Gendarmerie stepped in as quickly as possible, arresting the groups involved, but other minority newspapers took the cause to the streets, and a general atmosphere of chaos existed.
All of these issues played into the debates surrounding the Presidential election of 1888. The NLPD no longer had viable candidates for the office, so it was a certainty that some other party would control the Presidential Palace in Nürnberg. Conservatives criticized the regime for allowing the budget to drain in favor of a tax cut. Socialists demanded a further increase in the minimum wage. Communists demanded total devolution in all aspects of German minority life. Imperialists attacked the Bundespartei for cozying up to Poland. Whoever became President had much to deal with.
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The first order of business for the Reichstag is to address Herr von Hohenzollern's call for no-confidence in the Meningen government. All members of the Reichstag must vote on this; this will include Konrad von Schwaben, whose term as President is at an end, and who returns to the Reichstag as a full voting member in good standing. If there is no confidence in Meningen, a new General Election will begin immediately. If the vote of no confidence fails, Meningen will retain his office until the 1889 General Election, and we will move to the business of electing a new President.
No legislation may be proposed at this time. That will come after the no confidence vote.
Members of the Reichstag, please vote either
confidence or
no confidence in Herr Meningen.