A global call to arms: The Second World War
When Germans woke up on December 17, 1908, they expected reports of conflict in the world. They expected reports of conflict within the Reichstag. They did not, however, expect reports of conflict between European armies for the first time since 1896. Socialists and Fascists, Communists and Conservatives, Germans and Italians put aside their differences and rallied to defend German soil from the encroaching enemy.
The dominant battles that captured the national press had been political, not military, for quite some time. The widely derided "Reichstag of Old Men" (as it was dubbed in a leading Fascist publication) had spent most of their time arguing about votes of censure and, in particular, about the coveted post of Minister of War. No fewer than three eminent German citizens had held that post in the span of a few hours. Konrad von Schwaben was ousted from his office for failing to appoint a Chief of the General Staff and delaying the expansion of German forces. Franz Meningen took the office after calling for the vote of no-confidence, but he was equally unable to find a citizen of Germany willing to become Chief of the General Staff. Franz von Bavel-Timmermans, Chancellor of Germany, declared himself Minister of War and called upon Graf von Schlieffen, an old military mind, to fill the role of Deputy Chief of the General Staff until such time as a proper Chief could be found.
The Ministers of Germany had quite a bit to say as well. Otto Meier, President of the State Planning Commission, put forward a revolutionary plan that closed the doors of over 20 German factories permanently, expanded more than 40, and modernized the German economy. The Reichstag's measure to raise Unemployment Subsidies helped ease the economic transition, particularly in conjunction with Johannes Carile's plan that offered subsidies to help Germans move to understaffed factories in regions throughout Germany.
The military received a much needed modernization as well. Jean-Pierre St. Gerard, the Minister of Education, authorized the production and distribution of new bolt-action rifles. The Chancellor also authorized the raising of 40 new brigades, including elite Guards units and several Artillery brigades, the first expansion of the German army in a long time.
Yet all thoughts of the 1912 general election vanished before the headlines of that fateful December morning.
"War with Poland!" "Poland demands Galicia!" "Canada answers the call of Germany!" "China defends Germany against Polish aggression!"
The Second Great War (which some observers called World War II) would pit Poland, Chad, Zaporozhie, the Byzantine Empire, Pskov, and Nizhny Novgorod against Germany, Morea, Castille, Dalmatia, Krakow, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Beiyang China, Morocco, and Canada. German and Polish troops had already clashed in Breslau, in what was almost guaranteed to be a Polish victory. Bopulu was also invaded by Polish armies in Africa.
All reports suggested that the war would come down to five powers: the Polish-Byzantine Alliance and the German-Canadian-Chinese-Castillian Entente. These six powers had most of the military, industrial, and economic strength. The Entente outnumbered the Alliance, but only in terms of raw numbers; only Germany had a truly modern war machine, and 12 years of half pay left German soldiers out of practice. The naval advantage was solidly German, along with Castille's surprising contribution of 55 ships. In the long term, nobody questioned that the Entente would triumph, but who knew how many thousands--perhaps millions--would die in the process?
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Herr Chancellor, the Supreme Court requires you to formally appoint a Chief of the General Staff. All political considerations must be discarded; military expediency alone must rule your judgment. Should you fail to fulfill your constitutional duty, the Supreme Court would urge President Herwig to declare a State of Emergency and lead the country's forces himself. Germany cannot be without effective military leadership.
Herr Wouters, you are hereby requested to formulate the German peace strategy.
Further, the Supreme Court recognizes that it failed to publish the results of voting for all three ballot measures. Regrettably, the specific count for the Unemployment Subsidies has been lost, although the trending was definitively in favor of passage by a substantial margin. ((I had to record two no-confidence votes and inadvertently overwrote the subsidies votes. It was easily a 10-1 landslide, perhaps higher.))
As for the Youth Emancipation Act, it
passes both Houses, 304-0 and 57 to 7. This bill must be signed by the President ((
@Warlord Skorr)) and Chancellor ((
@TJDS)) to take effect.
The National Flag Act was
defeated in the Assembly, 99 to 180, although it did pass in the Conclave, 51 to 7.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
))
