Election of 1908 + Darius (1908-1912) Pt.1: Domestic Affairs
War dominated the election of 1908. The war against the French had dragged on for nearly three years, and the death toll was massive. In Africa alone, all sides suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties in fighting for colonies. In Europe, most of the fighting was around the Baltic, and northern France. The war had become pretty unpopular though in the United Baltic Provinces. All parties wanted to capitalize on the anger the war was bringing to the people of the UBP. They wanted to channel that anger to get more votes. Thus, the biggest issue became "The War", and all candidates had to make a point about it and take a stance.
The conservative candidate was a Latvian politician by the name of Oskars Baltroze. Baltroze, and the general belief of most conservative politicians was to "Fight on". The belief here was that the UBP needed to show the world that they are a military power, and that they are not one to back out of fighting a war just because the people were uninterested in it. The Baltic had few damages done, with the Venetians only causing the most havoc. The conservative pro-military belief was evident in making sure the army was well funded.
(Baltroze)
Both the liberals and socialists had the same idea. The liberal candidate was Jonas Daukantas (Bolemanis was unable to run due to a broken pelvis). Alongside President Darius, Daukantas was set on the belief of "Stopping the war no matter what". The liberals took a harder approach to this unlike the socialists, but both sides wanted the war to end as quickly as possible. Most people protesting the war sided with the socialists and the liberals, and denounced the conservatives are dastardly war-hawks. This would tip the tide in favor of the left in general.
(Daukantas)
There was a fourth candidate. Contravarius's Fascist Faction would mark 1908 as the first election they would be a part of. The fascists promoted the belief of "Expand the war". They wanted to take the fight straight to Venice, Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam, and Rio. They wanted to show that you dont mess with the UBP without loosing some cities. It was a jingoistic approach, and it was loved by the military. The military wanted to fight on, and see some action, go on the offensive. Thus, Anton Contravarius would earn a lot of military votes.
When the votes were tallied, the following percentages were assigned. Daukantas got 29% of the vote, Baltroze got 28% of the vote, Contravarius got 10% of the vote, and Darius got 34% of the vote. Darius won his second term easily.
However, as soon as the elections were closed, a peace treaty was signed between the British and the French. The treaty was basically an armistice to end all hostilities, and did not do anything to address the grievances between the British and French over colonial holdings. Thus, the way was paved for a second war of this magnitude in the future.
The UBP was entering an age of democratic pride and social reform. With the passing of the Common School Act last term, Darius was more inclined to start passing more social legislation in the Assembly. Two reforms would make society a little bit better. The first was a bill that outlawed child labor. For years, children had been working alongside their parents in factories earning meager wages. With this bill, children would be allowed to go to school and enjoy life outside of work. Along with this piece of legislation, Darius would pass a minimum wage bill, setting the minimal wage to a small amount. The wage was not large, but what made it so extraordinary was the fact that the government would force businesses to set the wage no lower then that. Factories that had employed people for less were starting to hurt, and had to adapt to meet the situation. These two pieces of legislation, alongside with the Common School Act, would go down as the "Darius Reforms". A new age of social reform was dawning.
Democracy was also spreading around the world. In Haiti, a revolution would depose the dictator there, thawing a dictatorship that had lasted for decades. The UBP applauded the turn to democracy. In Portugal, a republican coup would oust the king and the royal family. The Kingdom of Portugal would be replaced by a new republic, which the UBP gladly supported. Both nations spurred democracy in their respective regions, and the institution of democracy would continue to spread. Many countries had abandoned absolutism for a more democratic society in the world. Parliaments, Chambers, Senates, they all were able to form because of the efforts of thousands of liberals beforehand.
Two big events would reach their climax under the Presidency of Darius. The first of these was an issue surrounding women's rights. The movement had mostly been silent up to this point, but in a blaze of furry, they unleashed untold amounts of energy into the public. The fact that cannot be denied is that these women were trying hard to get what they want.
Allow me to share with you a list of events regarding the movement that happened in this second term: ((Picture Heavy))
There were many more like this, but the point was, the women were not satisfied with how things were for them, and wanted change. The UBP tried to pass some reform to help them, but conservatives continued to shut down any attempt to let the women vote. In an extreme case, reactionaries proposed to ban public meetings like this from occurring so that these women can be stopped. The Assembly smashed this down, saying that public meetings were a constitutional right for all in the UBP. It did not gain the reactionaries much support.
In all, the pressure broke Darius and the Assembly. Strikes, marches, large scale assemblies, women chanting in front of the Presidential Manor, it all drew up pressure on the government. Finally, in 1912, the Assembly voted on and passed the "Stauskas Amendment", named after the women who first organized the Lithuanians to fight the Russians in the 1830s. It would pass, and the United Baltic Provinces would give the women the right to vote in the upcoming election, and all elections in the future. The movement had won the day.
The next big issue, which was bigger then anything that the UBP had ever seen, would occur during this time. To begin, we start in a small region in East Prussia:
This is a picture of the city of Klaipėda, a modern day Lithuanian city located on the border of modern Lithuania and Russian Danzig. Back in 1910 however, it was the East Prussian city of Memel. Memel had for a very long time been the source of heated debate between Germany and the UBP. The reason for this, while Memel was part of East Prussia, over 42% of its population was Lithuanian. The Germans had resorted to integration programs to help integrate the Lithuanians into German society, something that many Baltic civilians remember the Russians doing when they controlled the UBP. This stirred anger among UBP war-hawks and Lithuanian civilians. Lithuanian Assemblymen were advocating for the capture of Memel due to it being Lithuanian cultural territory. The Germans ignored this, stating that Memel was part of East Prussia since 1773.
The UBP needed a way to break through to help beat the Germans at this task. At this time, the Russian Empire was exerting huge amounts of influence on the UBP via lobbying politicians and expanding industry. Seeing the dispute over Memel as a way to sorta retake land that they had lost (Memel was Russia when Prussia took it in 1773), they decided to pressure Germany to hand over Memel. Germany responded with lobbying against Russia in the UBP. This would lead Germany to basically kick out Russia from UBP politics and industry.
Many began arguing for the UBP to go to war with Germany, more then before. They stated that without Russian support, Germany would surely invade to assert its dominance over Memel. President Darius however was conflicted by this. His nation just got out of a long war, and he was not willing to go into another. Also, the Baltic owed the Germans since the Germans helped the UBP achieve independence by sending troops and supplied to Baltic rebels in the 1830s. Darius felt his nation was still in-debt to the Germans for this. However, as the year rolled on, things became hotter and hotter between the two former friends. Eventually, the war-hawk climax reached its apex when the Germans lost a war with France. France had forced the Germans to cut back on its army, navy, and military spending. War-hawks in the Assembly immediately took this as a chance to take Memel, and pushed for a declaration of war. The Assembly though was not in favor, the majority wanting peace. That was, until the Memel Massacre.
200 Lithuanian civilians were executed under allegations that they supported the UBP in giving Memel to the UBP. The Kaiser himself ordered their deaths. This infuriated the UBP, and it now had a goal to liberate Memel from the oppressive Germans. Whatever support against the war was left was all but vanished. In late 1910, the UBP Assembly would vote yes almost unanimously to declaring war on Germany. The formal declaration of war came the next day. Two former friends who aided each other against a common enemy, now were pit in war with each other. The day of reckoning had come to the UBP, for this was the toughest fight they will ever face.
