Tautos Jėga Vienybėje (POP Demand Mod AAR)

[Nax24]

Dagys (1845-1849)​

The Second Term of Presideny Dagys would begin with the Conservative agenda of producing colonies for the UBP. However, finding the best place to start a colonial empire is never easy. The British did it with Newfoundland, the French with Quebec, the Portuguese with Goa, and Spain with Hispaniola. However, America's colonial days are done, and the Baltic is in no position to start colonizing Asia. This left many politicians wondering where the capital of the new Baltic Colonial Empire would go. Thankfully, a solution was found. The location would be in Africa.

Africa at this time had little colonization in terms of European Powers. The Portuguese were ahead of everyone with their colonies in Angola and Mozambique, but the other European nations had few colonial presences in Africa. Most European powers like Britain and France stayed near the coast in small pocket cities along West/Southern Africa. The British had South Africa, and ports along West Africa. The Spanish had Equatorial Guinea, and France had Sierra Leone, and were invading Algeria. The Baltic looked for a spot in Africa to colonize, and stumbled upon the Central-West African states.

One of these nations was the tiny African Nation of Calabar. It was a one province minor in terms of Africa strength. It barely had a military, and that military was very poorly equipped compared to European armies. It had one ally that was in short the same relative strength. Calabar's one province, Calabar, was home to a lucrative spice trade, and the wealth obtained from the trade would fuel desires to claim the small African country. This was further spurred on by the Conservative Assembly's appointment of a new Chancellor. Kunnap would step down as Chancellor of the UBP. His successor was Mihkel Kuusk. Kuusk was a traditional conservative in a sense. He did not favor reform as much as his predecessor. Thus, research and education declined under his Chancellery, for he favored the "peasants" working in the fields and not in politics.

(Kuusk)

Kuusk did favor the idea of expanding Baltic sovereignty to the uncivilized African Tribes. He urged President Dagys to assert the belief of Baltic supremacy, that the Baltics deserved to rule over much more then three states. Dagys agreed, and a plan was set in motion to attack Calabar. Agents of the Baltic Provinces went into Calabar to exam ways to get a claim. They soon started fabricating stories to the Baltic nation saying that the tribes of Calabar were "Barbaric, and devil worshipers. They cannibalize all who enter their land, and they forsake God's wishes whenever they can." This would attract outrage from many European nations on the blatant lies being emitted from the expedition to Calabar. This would raise infamy about the Baltic State. The Baltic people (mind you literacy for the nation was only 6% at this time), did not care, and wanted to see Calabar converted to the Protestant faith. They believed that Calabar could very well be plotting the downfall of society as they knew it. Thus, the "evidence" from Calabar only proved to make the Baltics want to take Calabar even more.

By the end of the year, the evidence was enough to show the International Community that an invasion of Calabar was justified.

In 1846, the President asked the Assembly to declare war on Calabar. They responded with a declaration of war. For the first time in its history since independence, the Baltic State was now at war with another country.

The Calabar War started in earnest. That year, three large clipper ships called the "African Squad", started their long route to Africa carrying over 9,000 expeditionary soldiers with them. The voyage was long and grueling. the ships were worn out by the time they reached the shores of Calabar. From there, the expedition unloaded and attacked the very technologically inferior African army and easily defeated them. Leading the attack on Calabar was a nationalist imperialist general assigned to this task named Mindaugas Danauskas.

(Danauskas)​

Danauskas would lead the victory against the Calabar people. Soon, the province of Calabar would be under siege as Baltic Military personal engaged numerous African soldiers on the battle.

(Artist Renditions of Baltic Soldiers Fighting African Tribesmen)​

By the end of the year, Calabar had officially capitulated. The province was transferred over to Baltic Colonial rule. Calabar had over 230,000 males living in it, and increased the total population of the UBP by almost 25%. Calabar had more people living in it then in all of Estonia. This was just one province as well. The war was indeed costly. Over 1,000 Baltic soldiers were killed due to battle and diseases like Malaria. The war cost an estimated 60,000 Baltic currency units to fight, and the war would shake the economy up a bit. Taxes would have to be raised, Education would be cut back on, and a tariff was raised to about 10% to help cover the cost of the war. The people would be upset about this, but it would mean nothing due to the quick and easily won war.

The Baltic Government, fueled by the nationalistic pride they had with the new colony, decided to expand even further. Just north of Calabar was the country of Aro. Aro had two provinces in it, and had tropical wood to spare. The wood was a luxury commodity, and would serve to boost the industry of the Baltic Provinces. Thus, once again, the process of getting claims to invade Aro were fabricated, and once again, the Baltic Provinces would go to war. The UBP would soon realize that this war would last a lot longer then the war against Calabar. Aro was bigger and it had a larger army. Though, the Aro army was easily defeated, they took more troops with them. The war was costly due to Malaria and sickness, and soon the economy began to sag due to the war-time costs needed to keep the campaign going.

In the European Theater, the Baltic Provinces would be dealing with another form of change in Europe. 1848 marked the Springtime of Nations, an event that spawned countless revolutions across Europe. Due to the Baltic Provinces being a Democracy, little was changed since freedoms were in place that many other countries craved. Yet, not all was well in other countries. In France, a Spring-Time revolution would overthrow the Bourbon Monarchy, and establish the Second Republic.

In Germany, massive revolts against the many German State Governments would lead to many Jacobins implementing government changes. The biggest country to be hit by the revolution was Prussia. Prussia would suffer one of the largest Jacobin revolts it had ever seen. The Jacobins soon overran the Prussian Army, and captured Berlin. The King of Prussia tried to give minor reforms to calm the people, but they would not have it. In 1848, the Jacobins established a Limited HMS Monarchy in Prussia, making the King basically useless now.

Perhaps with these new Republican-friendly nations popping up in Europe, the UBP could find some friends. It was an interesting time to be Baltic, with the rising stem of Baltic Imperialism, and the rise of democracy in other European States. it could be safely assumed that the 1850s would prove to be very interesting, but first, an election had to be fought.

(Baltic Colonial Holding Borders in Black, 1849)​

 

[Nax24]

Election of 1849​

The election of 1849 was considered a war-time election. The Baltic colonial wars in Africa have caused a great deal of controversy in the Baltic over the necessity of claiming these states for the Baltic. Many people however did agree that their support should be behind the government in supporting the soldiers fighting on another continent. Others however saw this as an opportunity to force the government to do what it wanted. Secret unions and movements began popping up across the Baltic, and many people began joining the suffrage movement in hopes of expanding the franchise by pressuring a war-time government to allow for the people to have a choice. Many people were lured to the side of the Liberals in hopes of being able to cause change within the government during this time of warfare.

The election also saw a surge of support for the Reactionary cause. Many aristocrats feared the rise of the liberal movements and the liberal efforts to campaign across the country. They stated that the Reactionary cause could help counteract the liberal rise. The reactionaries also stated that if a reactionary was elected to the government, then perhaps the people would simmer down knowing that there will be a man in government who wants to stop the liberal movement from getting any further. Aristocrats began agreeing to this, not wanting to loose their voting monopoly to some rabble. The reactionary party gained a significant number of members during the 1849 election.

The Conservatives seeing the rise of the reactionary party saw the potential of a reactionary coalition being more beneficial then in previous years. They decided to make their Joint-Ticket candidate a man who was a reactionary, someone who they knew would have the stomach to resist the rise of the liberal backwash, and to protect the sanctity of the Republic. Dagys could no longer run for President due to the two term limit in place by the constitution. The man they selected to replace Dagys was former Colonel of the Baltic Confederacy Joosep Alver. Once again the Conservatives were playing the "Military Hero" card in these elections, giving them a greater advantage over the Liberals. Alver was a former Colonel in the Russian Military, who defected to his native Estonia to fight against the Russians. He is one of the last generals still alive to have fought in the revolution. His role in the revolution was leading Estonian skirmishers to the Finnish-Estonian border to fight off the Russian puppet state from invading from the North. Eventually he had to fight the Fins and Russians to a stand-still near Tallinn Heights, were he held his ground waiting for General Rosen to arrive with reinforcements. He was also a reactionary, being one of the founding members of the UBP Reactionary Party. He believed that a democracy was weak, and that the literate were the only ones allowed to even work in the factories. He was a hardcore nationalist, and he believed that the attack on Africa would make the UBP great. Thus, he was selected to lead the Conservative-Reactionary Ticket.

(Alver in Full Military Uniform)​

The Liberals took another step forward in terms of campaigning. During the election, the Liberals started to take what they had did in Latvia and apply it to Lithuania, the bulk of Liberal power. Liberal campaigners soon came into Lithuania, and slowly but surely, they managed to secure Lithuanian Party Loyalty. It was not enough to secure the needed votes, but what they accomplished during the election would help them a bit in the polls. The Lithuanian people wanted change and they wanted to make the UBP great without violent conflict. The UBP would need to have a strong industry in place before it could become prestigious. The Liberals selected a Lithuanian man by the name of Benjaminas Paleckis. Paleckis was, like his predecessor candidate, a diplomat to a foreign country. He was a diplomat to the United Kingdom, and his experience in the UK would help him in this election. Of course, it was still a long road before the Liberals could achieve a successful electoral margin.

(Paleckis)​

The election would go along, the Aristocrats would cast their votes, and low and behold, the conservatives pulled another victory out of their asses managed to win again. Alver would receive a joint-ticket total of 74% of the vote, while Paleckis would receive about 26% of the vote. Joosep Alver was declared the Third President of the United Baltic Provinces.

---

((Side-Note: So apparently Literacy has a huge impact on Research Points, and my literacy at the moment is 6% it took about 4 years just to research experimental railroads. I have gotten a good amount of clergy in Lithuania, but I need more ways to up the research points before my musket-men get out-classed by machine-gun brutes. Any tricks or tips to help me?))

 

[Terraferma]

Sold & Subbed.

 

[Nax24]

Alvers (1850-1854)​

The presidency of the reactionary Presideny Joosep Alvers might be considered the most liberal presidency up to that point. The reason why was due to many factors, but for now, lets focus on the end of the Baltic war with Aro.

Aro's army was easily crushed, and its provinces occupied fully. The capital was taken over, and the Aro Tribal government soon capitulated. Now the colonial holdings of the Baltic Colony was at three provinces. With the rise of Baltic colonialism in Africa, the time was right to appropriately name a Royal Governor to the colony. The royal governor selected was none other then former President of the United Baltic Provinces Leonas Dagys. Dagys was the man who was responsible for the first trek into the African lands, and helped start the African colony by taking over Calabar. It was only appropriate that he lead the colony he started. Dagys's colonial capital would be Calabar. His first orders were to construct a naval base so that goods could be carried out of the colony and to the mainland. Soon spices, tropical wood, and other colonial luxuries were flooding into Baltic markets. The timing could not be any better.

The months following the war, the world went into an Economic Panic. The Panic was started due to foreign countries taking too many loans from other countries. Many European banks loaned money to countries in Europe and the Americas. During the Columbian War, and other wars, many European nations raked up huge debts. Russia alone had almost one-million in debts to multiple countries. Soon, the banks across Europe ran out of money. Many nations were called upon, but it was not enough. By the end of 1851, two nations had hastily declared bankruptcy. This would lead to a spiral that would eventually lead to many banks across Europe closing, and hurting the world economy.

The UBP was hurt by this panic as well. Prices dropped and expenses increased. The Baltic Union had accumulated a debt of over 20,000 by the end of the Aro war. It needed money and it was needed fast. Tax reforms were passed, Education and military spending was dropped down, the tariff was increased to almost 20%, and taxes were raised. Alver's economic policy would work, and soon the debt was paid off, and the economy was earning a steady stream of income. Soon education was restored, even raised, more bureaucrats were hired to help administer regions, new factory workers were encouraged, and new research was conducted. But, the Panic of 1851 did have an effect on the country politically.

The Panic would help strengthen the Suffrage Movement greatly. By 1852, the movement had over 150,000 people backing it. The people were mostly dissatisfied workers, uneducated people, and liberals who wanted change. The liberals were the main backing behind this, and soon the movement would lead to protests across the country. In one day in 1852, 50,000 people participated in a protest in the capital of Vilnius. 25,000 people marched on the Latvian city of Riga. The protesters would not be silenced, and it would have been a matter of time before they would riot and revolt.

So President Alver did the only sensible thing that he could do, even if it was against his own ideology, and against the ideas of his party. He passed a reform giving the middle class the right to vote. Yet, the conservatives were cunning in how they gave it. They passed their own form of this vote. The reform would guarantee the right to vote for the middle class, but at the same time it gave the aristocracy more power in the election. This "Weighted Wealth" reform system would be met with salt by the middle class, delight by the aristocracy, and anger by the lower class, who still did not have the right to vote. While it was not totally universal suffrage, it was still a step in the right direction for the enfranchisement of the UBP.

Religion would become center-stage when a group of Conservative moralistic citizens began to try and "revitalize" the importance of religion. Most people said that it was just a group of preachers trying to spread the word of the Lord across the land, but some people claimed that this was just a group that was being used by the Conservatives to promote their moralistic approach to religion, and would be used to counter the pluralist approach by the increasing number of Liberals. The society would grow with many clergymen and preachers joining and preaching across the country.

In foreign happenings, a crisis began to simmer when the nation of Greece claimed the area of Southern Macedonia for the Greater Greek Kingdom. Russia would soon try and force this claim onto the Ottoman Turks. A mini crisis emerged out of this, but it was soon halted when peace negotiations reached a settlement.

This was the mindset of the world and of the Baltic State when the elections of 1854 rolled around.

((Yes I forgot to get the complimentary "Election Started Post".))​

 

[Nax24]

Election of 1854​

The Conservatives and Liberals once again butted heads in the 1854 election. The difference this time was the fact that the middle class had a say in the election. The Middle class was mostly artisans, military officers, bureaucrats, and clergymen. The middle class had been struggling for a while. Artisans had a hard time in the country due to the rise of industry, with many of them going broke. They had to face facts that the cottage industry which grew in Europe before the Industrial Revolution was no longer viable. Many began to switch to bureaucrats and clergymen, the largest groups of the middle class. The election of 1854 would see an orderly election. The people were satisfied with the reforms they were given, and showed respect to the government for listening to their demands.

One political group though would emerge to challenge the orderly affairs of the election, and to possible stir up radicalism in a moderate society. In Hamburg during the early days of the election, a group of former German Revolutionaries were discussing the possibility of a government that had absolutely no involvement in economic affairs, full citizenship for all citizens in the country, and the complete disregard, even outright ban of religion, all in a peaceful society. Some men believed by the philosophy of moderate radical Henry David Thoreau, "That government is best which governs not at all", and wanted to overthrow the current government establishments to create a better society for the people. Capitalists in these groups wished to see themselves leading the country like they lead the economy. These "Bourgeois Dictatorship" governments would be led by capitalism. This combination of Anarchists, Liberals, and Radical Liberals would spark the rise of a new political group, the Anarcho Liberals.

It wouldnt be long before the Anarcho Liberals would make a party in the Baltic. They became popular among the radical groups of liberals in the Liberal Party. The Anarcho Liberal Party would be established in the UBP before long, and would see their case heard across the country.

The Conservatives needed the Reactionaries more then ever, and were willing to run Joosep Alvers again, even if his reactionary views differed from that of his conservative party bosses. The Conservative Party also began using the same tactics their liberal opponents were using in Lithuania and Latvia. Of course, they would not be so broad in most countries, instead they would focus on Estonia, where the bulk of their support came from. It would provide a nice stream of electorates, but it would be a while to counter the liberal strongholds of Latvia and Lithuania.

The Liberal Party on the other hand wanted to make sure that all the hard-work they had been doing over the years would pay off this election. The new electorate of middle class men would allow the Liberals to gain more electorates in the vote. They knew that the Conservatives were not campaigning as hard as they should be. Yet, a problem was beginning to rise along with the rise of the Anarcho Liberals. Many people speculated the Anarcho Liberals would split the Liberal vote enough so that the conservatives would pull ahead and win the day. All speculation was thrown out the window when the Anarcho Liberals announced they would do a Joint-Ticket with the Liberal Party. With that, the Left and the Right were caught in one of the fiercest elections to date.

The man who would represent the Liberal-AL ticket would be a Lithuanian by the name of Aras Urbonas. Urbonas served as Governor of Latvia under the Dagys's Presidency, and would serve as Minister of Commerce under the Alvers Presidency. His support among the people of Latvia would be enough to secure their vote. Now, the UBP Party System would be divided culturally, with the majority of Latvians and Lithuanians supporting the Left, and the Estonians supporting the Right.

(Urbonas)​

Election came day as many middle class men turned up to vote for President for the first time in their history. The electorate would be counted, and a shocking result came in. Urbonas would receive a total of %55 of the vote, Alvers would receive 45% of the vote. Thus, Aras Urbonas would be declared the fourth President of the United Baltic Provinces.

The Liberals had finally won. After twenty years of campaigning, the Presidency was theirs.

The conservatives though had one trick up their sleeve. They still controlled the Baltic Assembly by a large margin. They soon picked a new Chancellor, a man who was very popular with the people, a man by the name of Alexei Rybak, a Belarussian from Pinsk. Even though he was Belarussian, he had served the people well as Minister of Regional Development. He was now the new chancellor, and would but heads with his Liberal President. The Liberals will also learn that their ideas would come at a huge cost to the entire nation.

(Rybak)​

​

 

[Reqinald]

I better see Nigeria come completely under Baltic rule. That'll be just fantastic.

 

[Nax24]

Urbonas (1854-1858)​

The presidency of President Urbonas would begin in earnest. The world around President Urbonas was ever changing. After the election, the world would enter into another crisis. Bosnia and Herzegovina was claimed by three nations, Serbia, Austria, and the Turks. Austria and Turkey believed that Bosnia was a key region of their respective empires, Serbia believed that Bosnia belonged the greater Serbian Kingdom that they were trying to form. This would spark an international crisis. Many nations joined up with both sides. European nations like Russia and Prussia would join Austria, while the rest would join the Turks. Eventually the crisis would be resolved in a white-peace, with many nations realizing that a destabilized Balkans would lead to a disastrous war between Austria and Russia over Balkan sovereignty.

On the political side of the Urbonas presidency, reform of the voting system was once again on the table. In 1855, the suffrage movement was once again gaining strength. With the creation of a radical party, more and more middle-class and lower-class civilians began to protest the “weighted” system of voting that the government had endorsed for the past few years. They wanted an election system in which votes would be equal no matter what part of society you came from. The middle-class wanted to be on par with the upper-class. The suffrage movement soon attracted multiple people across the country.

(Suffrage Movement 1855)​

Once again the conservative legislature tried its hardest to prevent the aristocracy from losing the power it had in place for the last twenty years. Chancellor Rybak would not budge for suffrage reform. “The aristocracy is the binding nature of our country. They were the ones who helped funded, lead, and create our glorious republic. They should have a bigger say in political matters over any class in this country.” While he was a man of the people, Rybak was also a conservative and a aristocrat himself. People began to take notice that when Rybak is mentioned as a “Man of the People”, he was in reality a “Man of the Electorate”, which in this case was mostly the aristocracy. Rybak himself would push for action against the suffrage movement, claiming that “This movement jeopardizes the prosperity of our nation, and would make our nation fall into chaos and anarchy, only to be swallowed again by the tyrannies that border our nation.” President Urbonas, being a liberal, would not stand by as his chancellor infringes on the right of the people. Yet, he feared that upsetting the aristocratic electorate, he could possibly endanger his chances of winning another election. Urbonas had to tread cautiously when handling the situation. The suffrage movement would grow stronger and stronger, soon reaching over 150,000 supporters.

Rybak was in a bad position to handle the situation. He had to either cave or suppress the movement. Being a staunch loyalist to the conservative cause, he decided to make plans to bring the military down on the movement. That is, until Executive Order #11 was passed by President Urbonas. The president of the UBP mostly relates to foreign policy, with domestic policy being handled by the chancellor. The president does have the authority to pass executive orders to handle domestic situations should the country be at risk. Executive Order #11 stated that “By order of the President of the United Baltic Provinces Aras Urbonas, that the weighted system of electing officials to government be dropped and that all votes be counted equally.” The order basically bypassed the Assembly and dropped the weighted voting system. Now middle-class men and upper-class men both had equal voting power. The movement celebrated the order, while the aristocracy was in uproar. Chancellor Rybak was even criticized by conservative newspapers as being “inefficient to handle the situation accordingly, and having the president bypass his power to handle domestic-policy.” Rybak’s political prowess was hurt drastically, and soon many people fell out of favor with their chancellor. Yet, Rybak was still popular among many upper-class and middle-class civilians, and would retain that popularity throughout the rest of his term as chancellor. President Urbonas would issue more executive orders to bypass the legislature when the “country’s stability was on edge”. It became clear after this that the president and the legislature were at severe odds with each other.

This would not be the only time the president and chancellor would butt heads. Following the reform, the country would be faced with another suffrage movement in 1857. This time, the suffrage movement would be handled by lower-class civilians, those who had not been enfranchised yet. This movement argued for a concept that was considered extremely radical for the time, universal suffrage for all classes and men. It was radical for so many that even some liberals began to protest it saying “the suffrage reform has gone too far, next thing you know we will give atheists and Africans the vote, and then women will vote.” Many people began to argue against the movement, but none the less, the movement would attract many people, over 160,000 people (ten thousand more than the last movement). The people wanted quick change, and would do anything to get it.

(Suffrage Movement 1857)​

Chancellor Rybak wanted to crush the movement like he tried to do in 1855. Yet, he learned from his past mistake that his president could possibly crush the crackdown with another executive order. He knew that letting the movement slide would risk having universal suffrage become a thing. He decided to act. Later that year, Rybak and the Assembly passed the “Minority Act”, which guaranteed the right for all citizens to vote, regardless of ethnic background. Being a Belarussian as it was, Rybak hoped to see his own people participating in the election. This was also a strategic maneuver for the conservatives. Baltic Pinsk, the land of the Belarusians, was predominantly conservative. the Belarusian people supporting the conservative party. Getting their voice in the election would lead to more conservative votes, and would tip the scales back to the conservative favor. For the liberals and President Urbonas, the act would correspond with their political beliefs about “Full Citizenship” for all citizens under the UBP. The Minority Act would allow for their citizenship policy to be enforced throughout the rest of history, even if the ruling party would happen to not favor it.

The only people not happy about this was the suffrage movement. They did not want minority rights, they wanted enfranchisement rights! Soon, the suffrage movement turned violent, with riots and mass protests becoming common throughout the country. There were even talks about rebellion from the people who partook in the movement. The government had to act fast. President Urbonas knew that he would have to pass another executive order to get the people to calm down. Then he wa approached by Rybak and the party-bosses of both the conservatives and reactionaries. It was not revealed until after Rybak and Urbonas were out of office what the meeting these men had was about. Rybak basically threatened to call a vote of no-confidence on the President should he fail to meet the demands of the conservative majority in the Assembly regarding the suffrage vote. President Urbonas, having to decide between his position and the people, choose the accept the deal. He did not pass an executive order, and let the conservatives pass a reform reinstating a weighted election system, while giving the lower-class the right to vote. It was both celebrated and protested across the country. The people were angry about the reinstatement of weighted suffrage, but they were content with being able to vote. To them, it seemed like a victory. But the true victor here was Rybak. He lost his first battle with the president, but now, he had won the war for suffrage reform, and had recovered his popularity among the people.

Economically wise, the country was beginning to enter a new age of liberal economics. Laissez Faire was an idea pushed by liberal government officials across the country. They wanted the government to stay out of economics, but it would come at a huge cost to industry. At first, the government was successful. They introduced a stock-market to the region, and soon the country developed a “Bull Market” in the world, leading to increased production. Yet, the fact would dawn on the liberals that their country was not ready to be an industrial power, and Laissez Faire would not be the appropriate economic mentality for the nation. It began in Lithuania. failure to support the factory via subsidies would lead to the canned goods factory shutting down due to lack of production and more expenses over income. Soon, other factories were suffering from lack of government control. In Latvia, 2,000 workers were laid off at the industrial bakery. 400 workers were laid off in Estonia in one year. Factories could not produce the needed goods and meet market demands. Soon, the “Help yourself, help others” mentality of Laissez Faire backfired on the liberals. The reasons for the industry collapse was due to a lack of capitalist investors. Unlike in other countries like Prussia or France, there were no true industrialist people with money to help further progress industrial development. Thus, money was not being funded to factories and they ultimately failed.

While industry was failing, the economy was actually rising. Income was higher than it ever was before. Tariffs would bring in more revenue than ever. Taxes were also dropped, with all classes paying a 50% tax. This would put more money in the pockets of the average man. Soon, income began to rise, and the economy would begin to rise with it. “He failed the industry, but helped the economy,” was a popular slogan for this presidency. With this, education received more investment, and administration would be boosted to help with the economy. It soon became apparent that the economy was destined to continue to rise.

Thus was the country when the elections of 1858 rolled around, Urbonas backed into a corner by his powerful chancellor, and his economy fluctuating between a falling industry and a rising income. Perhaps Urbonas would be elected again by this new electorate. But for now, the decision of who is in charge was up to the people. All was watched upon as the country prepared to enter a new decade.

 

[Nax24]

Election of 1858​

1858 would come around just like any other election year. This year, the liberals though started off as the party with the upper-hand defending the presidency rather then fighting for it. The conservatives were now the challenging party, a position that they never had for twenty years. The conservatives now had to pull the same strategy the liberals up till this point by securing party loyalty across the states. The election was an orderly affair, with little violence, probably due to the reforms passed that greatly pleased the population. They were content for now with their government, and now all classes could vote on who would be their president.

The leftist coalition would once again run Aras Urbonas for the presidency. He had a lot going for him; his reforms were popular, his support was wide-spread, and he had Latvia and Lithuania under the liberal boot. Urbonas said that his plan for the future of the UBP was "a plan of economic growth, stability, and peace across the nation. For too long we have been involved in foreign wars and colonialism, methods of prestige which are morally wrong in the eyes of our God. We should seek to expand economically by improving the quality of life across the country. Once we do that, we will be the envy of all the nations of Europe and the world." Urbonas basically wished to undermine the system of colonial expansion that was put in place by the conservatives over the past twenty years. He hoped to expand education across the country and increase the quality of work in the factories. His plan for economic growth would be seeking out foreign companies to invest in the Baltic. This was a very liberal approach to the situation. The foreign investment was met badly by moderate liberals who did not want to see their country economically dominated.

The right coalition would run a man who had previously been chancellor of the UBP. A traditionalist and a member of the aristocracy, this man had the most success under the Dagys's presidency when he managed to financial stabilize the nation during the wars against Calabar and Aro. This man was Mihkel Kuusk. Kuusk, who was 78 at the time of the election, was old and frail. He did not have much time left in his life, and the electorate knew it. Kuusk however had the most experience of all the conservatives. He was chancellor, a position that was regarded with high honors in Baltic society. The conservatives did not really have a choice in the matter, for Kuusk was the only one who was considered eligible in the right coalition. Once again, the conservatives pushed the agenda of colonial expansion. Kuusk himself said that "it is our duty to expand our glorious European civilization across the world. We should be diligent in christening these underdeveloped nations, and bringing the greatness of civilization to them. They will supply us with goods that we can use to expand our economy domestically."

(Kuusk)​

The election would see wide-spread use of newspapers to campaign for candidates. The conservatives used this strategy to good affect in Estonia, where they soon acquired full loyalty from their main supporters. The conservatives also managed to spread its influence into Baltic Pinsk, home of such conservatives like Chancellor Rybak. The Belorussian people were a minority in the UBP, but with promises of political power, they were easily swayed to support a conservative agenda. The liberals also employed newspapers to their advantage. With free press being a guaranteed constitutional right, the newspapers could print what they want. The liberals swayed newspapers to attached cartoons and paintings to effectively slander the conservative opposition.

(A conservative mob-boss overseeing the ballot. The liberals used images like this to paint to the masses that the conservatives tried to strong-arm the enfranchisement to prevent the masses from voting)​

The election would see Urbonas and Kuusk traveling the nation debating and talking with the electorate. Now that the people's choice mattered, the candidates had to do their best in securing the electorate. Urbonas would speak to factory workers in Riga, Kuusk would speak to farmers in Baltic Pinsk. The election of 1858 was considered a stepping stone into campaigning for government office. Now politicians had to go across the country winning their support rather then letting others handle the campaign.

On election day, the masses came out with over 80% turnout for the vote. The votes were cast, and at the end of the day, they were counted up. The left coalition would receive about 64% of the vote, while the conservatives would win about 36%. The people had spoken, and Aras Urbonas would lead the nation into the 1860s. Would Urbonas's prove effective in keeping the economy afloat in these times of industrial depression? The next four years would answer that question.

 

[Nax24]

Urbonas (1859-1863)​

Scandal and near depression.

That would be the result of the Urbonas presidency for this term. How did it come to this though? It all started soon after President Urbonas was elected to his second term as president. With the recent failure of industry in his nation, and with many workers unemployed throughout the state, Baltic economists said that the "bull market" that existed with the advent of the stock-exchange was cooling off. The robust economy that had gave the UBP a prominent future in the world market, was no more. On top of factories across the country shutting down, and many workers loosing their job, the economy of the country began to falter. The Panic of 1860 would see a high in unemployment across the country, as well as an almost complete shutdown of the industrial sector of the country.

The liberals had made sure that the government could not get involved in the economy, even with all these economic hardships. Many workers and civilians began to turn away from the liberals. In order to help his country get jobs, President Urbonas would go abroad for support. Foreign investment was little to nothing in the UBP. Many countries refused to invest in the UBP due to the nation being "a haven of radical Jacobinism and an insult to monarchies across the world". However, just because the government refused to invest in the UBP, does not mean companies did not. Many companies in Europe wanted to invest in the UBP and hope to earn a profit. The first companies to do so where the railroad companies. The UBP had the requirements to build railroads across the country, and many railway companies across Europe hoped to take advantage of this.

The first company to start investing in the Baltic was a French railroad company by the name of Chemin de Fer du Nord. The railroad was original a regional company in France, but now the company began to look internationally for expanding its business. The Baltic opened its doors to the company and soon the company began building railroads in Estonia. The second company to start investing in the Baltic was a Prussian company called the Rheinische Eisenbahn. This German company already had achieved the first international railway in Europe by connecting Germany to Belgium, and wanted to create another international railway connecting Germany to the Baltic. Work began in East Prussia and soon the company began building large railroads in Lithuania and Latvia. It did come into competition with the French railroad in some areas of Latvia, but in the end, the railroad system was booming across the Baltic, clearing some of the pain felt by the Panic of 1860.

(A German train in the Baltic)​

However, factories would not work out as well. The only company that wanted to build factories in the Baltic was a British steamer company by the name of George Pyman, West Hartlepool. George Pyman, the manager of the company, wanted to build a monopoly around Scandinavian shipping. All ships crossing the Baltic sea would be his own ships, and he hoped that this would boost his company's profit. It would not be so. Construction of the factory went smoothly, and soon a steamer factory was fully built. People began working on the steamers. Steamers fetched a hefty profit throughout the world, and would add a nice amount of income to the Baltic. However, problems began to emerge. The company soon reported that their Baltic endeavor was loosing money mysteriously. It soon became apparent that money was just disappearing from the company. George Pyman began conducting an investigation into the factory, and into its manager, Benjamin Thomas. It was soon found out that money was being siphoned by Thomas to an unknown affiliate. Thomas was fired for corruption, but he said that "I do not know who I was funding the money to, all I know was that he threatened to nationalize my factory and hand it over to the Baltic government if I didnt pay up."

The British government demanded an investigation be conducted into this by the Baltic government. Chancellor Rybak soon ordered a five-man committee to investigate this. The committee soon tracked the money being siphoned off by Thomas to a bank account in Latvia owned by none other then Minister of Finance Benjaminas Paleckis. Paleckis had been threatening to nationalize and shut-down the company if he did not receive a "considerable donation" by the factory to him. This was basically extortion. Paleckis was soon fired from his position and arrested for charges of extortion and corruption. While Paleckis was removed, this did have a substantial impact on the Urbonas presidency. Many people began to turn their backs on Urbonas since he let Paleckis get away with this. Urbonas was not part of this affair, but his reputation would be hurt drastically because of it. Chancellor Rybak soon took advantage of the situation and urged his party to denounce Urbonas as "a man who turns the other cheek to corruption".

(Paleckis)

(George Pyman's Baltic Steamer Shipyard)​

While recession and scandal rocked the UBP domestically, things were beginning to shake up in neighboring Poland. Poland had been a seat of controversy over the last few years. Russia was not well liked in the European community, and with the decline of the Ottoman Turks, it became apparent that Russia could possibly become stronger. The European nations already made their stance clear that they would not support Russia in this, even going as far as to back the Turks in keeping sovereignty over the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin.

During this time, another Polish revolt broke out. It was much smaller then the uprising in 1831, but it would soon catch the attention of a world that wanted to weaken Russia. Soon, European powers began to pressure Russia to release its Polish territory. The British were leading this coalition, along with Prussia and France. Russia refused this, and secured the aide of Austria in this matter. Soon, the nations of Europe were embroiled in a crisis.

Soon the crisis would boil over before a diplomatic solution was reached, and war would be declared. The war would see Prussian troops spilling into Russia, being backed by the superior might of the British navy. Russian Poland was soon overrun, and in a humiliating treaty, Russia was forced to release their polish territory as a new nation called Congress Poland. Congress Poland was now the Baltic's new neighbor. With a new Polish state emerging, many people across the Baltic began to dream about a new Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, like of the days of old. Yet, Congress Poland and the Baltic were two different cultures and governments (Poland becoming a constitutional monarchy), so the thought of a commonwealth was scarce.

This was the state of the country in 1863 when elections came around. the liberals were humiliated, and the conservatives had received a huge boost to their membership. A new country asked the questions of unity, and foreign investment would lead to scandal. Urbonas's time as president was over, but would the next President be able to repair the damage done?

 

[Gen. Marshall]

A good update. I have the fullest trust in you that next update's report on the shocking Conservative defeat will be as well written

 

[Jacobi-99]

Subbed! This is fantastic

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

A new Poland-Lithuania? You need a president with the last name of Jagiellonian... And you need him now!

 

[unmerged(328438)]

Ah man, I was going to do a Latvian/United Baltic AAR when I finished my one on Georgia, but you beat me to it. Great AAR!

 

[Nax24]

Election of 1863
​

The election of 1863 looked as if it would have been a shoe-in for the conservatives. The liberal reputation was ruined by scandal and inability to rescue the industrial sector, and the conservatives looked as strong as ever. A new reform was introduced to the masses prior to this election, and that was the elimination of the so-called gerrymandering system of dividing electoral districts to suit the ruling party's needs. With gerrymandering eliminated, the electoral districts were reorganized to be as fair as possible. Though, the ballots were not secret. Voters will still have to vote in front of party bosses and leaders who may persuade the voter to vote for the party in power instead.

The leftist coalition had to choose someone to lead them as the presidential nominee. The fallout from the Urbonas presidency would convince many people to side with the conservatives. They had to choose someone who could salvage the liberal campaign. The person they would choose is Andrejs Gulbis. Gulbis served as Minister of Interior under Rosen, Minister of Commerce under Dagys, Ambassador to Britain under Alvers, Minister of Education under Urbonas, and would serve on the committee that would discover the Petrakis scandal. He was a man who had served in government for as long as the country existed, and has been faithful to the liberal and Baltic cause. To the liberals he was the perfect candidate. Perhaps this man could be experienced enough to lead the liberals out of the fallout that existed from Urbonas.

(Gulbis)​

The rightist coalition thought that they were a shoe in for the presidency. The work required for them to pull a victory would be minimal. Workers, and many poorer citizens began to side with the conservatives. The man they would choose for the presidency was Aleksander Contravarius. Aleksander was from the illustrious Contravarius dynasty, a Baltic-German dynasty that has existed in Europe for hundreds of years. Relatively small nobles, the family never forgot their true origins in the Baltic. Now Aleksander was in the best position to ascend to the most powerful position in the land. Aleksander had the wealth needed to fund a campaign, and the popularity to get votes. Now all he had to do was wait.

(Contravarius)​

The election would get under way in an orderly fashion. The candidates would campaign for their position, they would debate, and they would enlist newspapers to help their cause. Contravarius had the easiest time with getting propaganda for his campaign. He and his party accused the liberals as being corrupt and oblivious to what was happening around them, and thus unworthy to get anywhere in government. The campaign slogan for Gulbis was "Hate the corrupt, do not hate the party he part of".

However, when election day neared, disaster struck for the conservatives. Contravarius was invited to attend a conservative-sponsored ball on the Estonian island of Saareema. This was all fine and dandy, but Saareema had seen an influx of anarcho-liberals throughout the past few years. Some began to call Saareema the "radical island". Contravarius was not phased by this, and traveled to Saareema to end this public affair. Unknown to Contravarius, there were two men watching him the moment his boat arrived on Saareema. These men were brothers, Mihkel and Peeter Saar. These men were Estonian separatists and associated with Estonian anarchists. The ball took place in June of 1863, a week before election day. The brothers began to make a plan to attack and kill Contravarius, a stern believer in Estonia being part of the Baltic Union. They decided to take advantage of Contravarius's travel to Saareema to plan their attack.

The brothers Saar forged letters of invitation to this ball. The plan was simple:
I. Mihkel would infiltrate the ball, concealing a small derringer two-shot pistol.
II. Mihkel would then proceed to shoot and kill Aleksander Contravarius.
III. In the ensuing chaos, Mihkel would make his escape to a boat at the docks manned by his brother Peeter. The brothers would then flee to Finland.

Mihkel would be successful in infiltrating the conservative ball. Concealed in his coat was a small derringer two-shot pistol. Aleksander Contravarius was mingling with the crowd, as conservative politicians and famous party-figures, and newspaper writers and even foreign envoys, were walking up to shake the hand of the candidate. Mihkel would slip in line to meet Contravarius. Mihkel would soon be in a position to shake the hand of Contravarius. He shook the man's hand, and Contravarius began to feel the handshake was going on for too long. He tried to pull away, but the man would not let go. "Seems to me you are very interested to meet me." he said. Mihkel said nothing, and soon walked away. Contravarius soon went back to his business.

"Sir, I have a gift for you." suddenly shouted Mihkel, as he pulled out his derranger, and shot Contravarius twice in the abdomen.

Mihkel would escape the area in the swarm of confusion that followed. He made his way to the docks, only to find that police officers were at the escape boat, arresting Peeter for supposedly smuggling arms to Saareema. Mihkel was arrested as an associate. Both men were soon found out to be the murderers of Contravarius and were sentenced to death for conspiracy and murder.

(The Brothers Saar)​

Contravarius would succumb to his injuries that night. The conservatives had lost their candidate. With the death of Aleksander Contravarius, the conservatives did not have a running candidate for the election. Gulbis was basically running unopposed. Election day came, and with it the electorate went out to the polls. 53% of the electorate voted for Gulbis just because he was the only candidate who was still alive. The rest voted for a mismatch of conservative and reactionary candidates, all of which received little support. Andrejs Gulbis was declared President, and the conservatives snatched defeat from the jaw of victory. Through the greatest yet saddest chance, the liberals had won.

((This update is dedicated to my good Estonian Friend and IAAR co-player Contravarius, whose dynasty stretches across all IAARS))

 

[Contravarius]

Naxy-Nax, you silly little man.
This post is so cute that I forgive you for completely botching the history of the Contravarius dynasty.

Also, just a hint - the biggest island in Estonia is Saaremaa, not "Saareemaa". Fun fact - the name of the island literally means "isle's land", while "SaareEma" would mean "the mother of (an) island".
Why did we call our biggest island that? No idea. Before we started calling ourselves "estonians" we just called ourselves the "maarahvas", which literally means "the people of the land" or "land's people".
Apparently naming things makes our blood run cold or something.

 

[Mikkel Glahder]

Are you secretly referring to me by transforming my first name to 'Mihkel'? Anyway, great chapter!

 

[Nax24]

Are you secretly referring to me by transforming my first name to 'Mihkel'? Anyway, great chapter!

Mihkel is Estonian for Micheal. It was just a name I use

 

[Nax24]

Gulbis 1863-1867​

Many people called Andrejs Gulbis the "President that was not to be", after his extremely lucky (at least from a liberal standpoint) victory over the conservatives. This was three consecutive elections in which the liberals had managed to pull out a victory. Many conservatives felt that the age of conservative rule was coming to an end. There was hope that perhaps if the liberals managed to screw up badly, then the conservatives could possibly gain the advantage and take back their rightful office. They needed to show that the liberals were not the reason why the country was doing as prosperous as it was. They wanted to show this by selecting a new chancellor. Chancellor Rybak had "plans for the future" that apparently did not involve the chancellery. Rybak would step down as chancellor of the UBP. The conservatives replaced Rybak with an administrator, and a good one to. The man they chose for the job was Georg Oja. Oja was Minister of Regional Development under the Alvars presidency, and served as governor of Estonia from 1854-1862. Oja was one the best at his job, his job being he was an administrator. The conservatives thought that if Oja could prove domestically that the conservatives were the best party, they could earn the presidency.

(Oja)

The chance for the conservatives and Chancellor Oja to show that they were capable domestically came in 1865. Latvia had been known for its potato crop for decades, and next to Ireland, was one of the main consumers of the potato. However, like Ireland, the Latvian potato crop was open to attack by disease and blight. In 1865, Phytophtora infestans, or as it is commonly known, the potato blight, struck a province in Latvia. The people began to starve in mass numbers, and soon many people started to emigrate to countries like the United States, much like what happened when the Irish suffered a similiar blight. The Latvian blight would be on a much smaller scale then the Irish blight, and did not have ramifications on the whole country. Still, over five thousand people starved to death, with hundreds moving across the country or emigrating from the country all together. The death toll would have been higher if not for the work of Chancellor Oja. Oja spared no relief in getting food diverted to Latvia, and made sure the people got fed. The government lowered the price of food in Latvia so that all could afford to feed their families. This proved to work, as the effects of the blight slowed, and less people ended up starving. Many historians call the move by Oja as "Rapid and successful, just what is needed by an executive".

Oja also proved that conservative policy could help in the industrialist sector. Large factories and corporations found themselves out of money after the economic downturn of the Urbonas presidency. Factories were slowly going out of business from the lack of funds being produced on the market for the sale of goods. Foreign investment was shown to lead to scandal, and thus was not trusted by the people and the government. Chancellor Oja would pass a bill called the Private Industry Act, an act that encouraged small businesses over large and complex factories. Oja thought that the time was not right for large factories to pop up. In his words; "The factory system that the governments of the past have implemented is not ready to be introduced to the people of the Baltic. We must nurture it in the womb, slowly build it up, so that then when it is reintroduced, it will be fully mature and able to withstand a global economy." The Private Industry Act would prove to be a resounding success for Oja. Soon, the bull market which disappeared under Urbonas came back to the Baltic, the economy was booming once again. Oja would again be praised for his work, and many electorates began to consider the possibility of a conservative president once again.

The legislature to was also given a pat on the back by society. The Baltic Assembly would see an influx of pacifist members, those who do not want war at any cost. This caused a great reduction of military spending with few troops being raised. The military budget would be kept for national defense and not for colonial expansion or war. The international society began to see that the Baltic Assembly was "A pacifist legislature, one that would not go to war, even if Baltic lives were being taken in another state. One must applaud this legislature for its firm position to peace, but at the same time, a peaceful legislature would not en-devour to see war for any reason, even if it is to defend itself." The people were happy to see that the Baltic was in a time of peace. They were tired of these foreign wars, and wanted a break from conflict to look inwards and promote industry and economics over military might.

President Gulbis, even though for this term the attention was on his chancellor, had some success of his own. The Baltic found itself in one of its first military alliances in its history, with the French. The reason for this was due to a change of government among the French people. France's revolution in 1848 saw the Second Republic form out of the old Bourbon monarchy. Yet sadly, it did not last. The first president of the Second Republic was Louis-Napoleon, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Louis-Napoleon easily won the first election of the new republic, being sworn in as president. However, when his term expired in 1852, the French upper house demanded he stepped down. Louis-Napoleon tried to pass a constitutional amendment to eliminate the term restriction, the the upper house denied him this right. In 1852, Louis-Napoleon launched a coup to overthrow the French government. He was successful and crowned himself Emperor Napoleon III of the Second Empire. Louis-Napoleon however was not like his uncle, and did not have any intentions of conquering Europe. He sent numerous envoys across Europe to ask the major countries not to coalition him, destroy France and exile him for an alliance with France. The Baltic received one of these envoys. The French diplomats claimed that France and the UBP were very close in ideology, and that both governments would find common ground on many issues. President Gulbis gladly accepted this proposal, and France and the UBP became allies. Now the UBP had a working alliance should Russia* ever attack.

Thus, the term of President Gulbis came to an end, and election season began. The conservatives under the backing of a very successful chancellor were returning to the political seen after almost twelve years out of the presidency. The economy was back on track, industry was slowly growing again, and the Baltic found a new friend in an unlikely place. It would seem all would be well for whoever would win the executive office in January of 1868.

*=((So this is kinda not the case. Russia has the best relations with my country as of now, and surprisingly had the best relations over the course of the first thirty years.))

((Note: Due to the forums being shutdown for the incoming new format, the next update of this AAR wont be until March 20th.))

 

[KanyeWest]

France's revolution in 1848 saw the Second Republic form out of the old Bourbon monarchy. Yet gladly, it did not last.

I found a grievous error in here; I gladly corrected it. ;B

 

[Nax24]

Edit: So since the forum update has been pushed back, the next update will be tomorrow.