If I make it so there are no votes and all parties are illegal, it will convert.
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If I make it so there are no votes and all parties are illegal, it will convert.
Are Communists really that rare to get democratically elected that none of you appear to know what will happen? I always get a Communist party elected at least once per game. It doesn't automatically do anything. Communists in-game will try to roll back liberal reforms and support social reforms.
Well so far, there are two countries that currently are not proletariat dictatorships that have a commie ruling party:
I. Me
II. Botswana
Fascist parties being elected is even rarer.
I. Me
II. Botswana
Fascist parties being elected is even rarer.
There are a few proletariat dictatorships. Portugal is the only fascist dictatorship right now. Guatemala is a Bourgeois Dictatorship.
Goba (1922-1926), The Election of 1926, Goba(1926-1930)
((Lets wrap this son of a gun up))When the Bolshevik party assumed control of the government in both the Assembly and the executive office, the policies of a radical group like the communists soon took hold. Almost immedietly following the election, reforms were introduced on a scale never before seen in the history of the Baltic. Let us look at each individual reform from a perspective of how things got.
Pollution is our first target. At this point, socialist governments had managed to pass pollution regulations on a scale that would limit the amount of toxins being pumped into the atmosphere. The communist government took it a step further. They founded an agency called the Pollution Regulation Committee, a group dedicated to the extreme regulation of pollution emitting from factories. They soon began to press hard by getting legislation passed that would curtail pollution to a point where it would not even become a major health factor. By the end of his first term, pollution regulations were at their strictest.
Next, was the wage. The minimum wage was adequate when the communists took power. However, it was not enough for many of the lowest paid employees in the government. They demonstrated this by organizing a large strike in Vilnius. Thousands marched on Vilnius ordering more wages for them, and it soon caught the attention of the communist government.
The wage was soon to be increased dramatically over the next four years. The government passed wage law after wage law, soon bumping it up to a wage in which all workers would be paid a good amount of money. The workers became happy with these wages, and the government became very popular among the working class citizens.
Next, came worker safety. Up to this point, only lethal tasks were regulated. A new fight would emerge for more regulations to protect workers when a boiler in a factory in East Prussia exploded. Seven people were killed, and hundreds more were injured. This was enough for the government to pass "The Boiler Act", and act aimed at increasing the safety regulations of all factories across the country.
The government though had another problem that was never faced in any generation prior. With the increasing life expectancy of the Baltic rising dramatically, their was now an influx of elderly people in the country. A study showed though that many of the elderly were impoverished, many of which had to be taken care of by younger family members. The communist government would not have it, and decided to introduce the Social Welfare Committee, a committee bent on raising pensions for the elderly. This committee would be given the task of increasing pensions, and it would increase it drastically over the years. The government soon found itself paying social expenses for the pensions.
With reforms all piled up, President Goba could focus on foreign agenda. The biggest coming from neighboring Austria. Like the UBP, Austria also had a communist government at the time. Except it was not a democracy, it was a communist dictatorship. The Austrian government soon began enacting radical purges and industrial plans. Ethnic minorities would suffer most of all under this new form of government. Austrian communists thought that they had a friend in the communists in the UBP, but the UBP communists were more democratic then the Austrian communists. This would show when Austria asked for an alliance against an increasingly anti-communist coalition forming against Austria.
The war would come, and Austria would find itself attacked by the strongest nations in Europe. The main goal of this coalition was to end the communist regime in Austria, and to tear the old empire apart. Austria begged for the support of the UBP, but to no avail. Communist Austria would be ripped apart, and replaced by a democratic government put in by the coalition powers. The democracy though soon turned out to be an imperialist republic. Imperialists in the Austrian Diet would try to avoid total collapse by increasing the amount of land in their Empire. This would lead to the Venetian war, a war that saw Austria invade the old territory for more land. The UBP was asked to join, and, satisfied with the transition to democracy, joined in earnest. The UBP would get back at Venice for all the destruction the tiny nation had caused over the years.
This was the scene of the area when the election of 1926 rolled around.
It was basically Goba versus the country. Every single party was disgusted at the radical reforms, disgusted by the blatant mistreatment of capitalists and private property, and disgusted at the total abuse of the free market. It was Goba verse them all, and it was to be one hell of a fight.
Two men led the charge against Goba, Villem Allik and Anton Contravarius. Anton Contravarius himself had already secured Lithuania by implementing it as a fascist stronghold, much like how East Prussia was to the communists. It would prove to be very interesting, as communists and fascist fought on the border between Lithuania and Estonia. The two sides soon began to face off against each other in earnest. It was all in for the communist party. If they won this, they would be in power for much longer.
Goba promised more reforms, more reforms then the last term every had. Workers cheered for these reforms, the commies were making their lives better! The other parties argued for a return to capitalist nature, and free market economics, which only the rich seemed to applaud. In the end, it did not matter. Goba would win 35% of the vote, Allik would win 31%, Contravarius would win 14%, and the last votes would go to Rihards Bolemanis, a man who threw his hat into the ring claiming he never got his second term. Communism had won the day again, and the red tide was growing stronger and stronger.
Villem Allik would not live long to see his country avoid communist rule. Bolemanis would not either. The two titans of politics would succumb to separate diseases, Allik tuberculosis, Bolemanis a stroke. The two titans of the political scene for almost forty years would be put to rest next to each other in Vilnius, in which their graves are marked "Here lies the men whose voices influenced millions, may their voices now influence the angels in heaven".
Goba would immediately ramp up his reform program by introducing new reforms. Goba would lower the working hours to 10 hours, then to 8 hours, a move that caused one capitalist to die of a heart attack when he heard the news. The working hours were now well supported by many workers in the country, as they began to cry praises of the communist regime's ability to create a worker's utopia.
He would also establish a botanical society in which botanists from Africa would be able to put their discoveries on display in a museum. Plants ranging in all shapes and sizes made their way to Vilnius to be put in this museum. As such, the budget of the government on museums was also increased.
All these new government institutions meant large deficits in the government spending. Funds that were used for other things before hand were now in the hands of social committees, and many in the Assembly began arguing against this. However, their complaints fell on deaf ears. The Assembly would continue to expand spending into social functions.
Other then this, Goba's second term went pretty uneventful. His reforms were firmly in place, communist agendas were implemented, and he had done this all in eight years. Now, with the election of 1930 approaching, Goba would step down and allow someone else to takeover. The only question would be, who would take over?
Election of 1930, Noreika (1931-1935), Election of 1935
((Last In-Game Update, stay tune for an epilogue and end-game screenshots))1930 would mark the start of a new decade, a decade of hope, a decade or promise. How fitting for it to be like this during an election season. The major candidates for the election however, would not mean very much compared to who they were running with. Before he left office, Goba would name his "successor" to the presidency in a sense. That man would be fellow Bolshevik Visvaldis Noreika, a communist who helped lead the charge into East Prussia when the communist party first began to stretch its legs into the area.
(Noreika)
With the sudden deaths of Villem Allik and Rihards Bolemanis, the liberals and conservatives struggled immensely to find someone to fit the titans' shoes. Thus, they ended up with many candidates running for their party, something that no party wants for their presidential campaign. Anton Contravarius would once again run as the fascist candidate, the only man who has been stubborn enough to oppose communist hegemony. The fascists would find themselves as the only organized candidates in this entire election.
It would come to no suprise who would win at this point. The final poll was Noreika got 34% of the vote, while Anton Contravarius got 16%, the other 50% would be divided up among conservative and liberal candidates. Communism, for the third election in a row, has won. The red-sun was almost at high noon.
The biggest event of this presidency was the signing of the Treaty of Vienna. The treaty would effectively dismantle Austria. Minority groups would be given their own country, and many new countries would form. These new countries would create their own governments, and Austria would be dramatically reduced in size.
One of the nations in particular was the Czech Kingdom. The Czechs had just established an absolute monarchy, and were ready to use the vast quantities of natural resources at their disposal. The UBP took a very interesting approach to the Czech situation, and decided that "If we secured Poland, we can secure the Czechs". So, the UBP Assembly voted, by a slim margin, to declare war on the Czechs to "Restore Democracy and order to the Czechs".
The Baltic army would steamroll over the weak and unorganized Czech forces, ultimately taking Prague itself before the year was out. At Troppau, the entire Czech army was destroyed following a battle, with the UBP suffering only 2,000 casualties.
(A Baltic Tank around 1930. The invasion of the Czech Kingdom would see the first use of Tanks and Airplanes by the UBP army.)
However, things were not looking well among the neighbors. Russia took a very keen interest in making sure that those "Red bastards" dont include another country in their sphere to dominate Eastern Europe. So Russia did the thing that shocked many countries across the world, it intervened on the side of the Czechs, and declared war on the UBP.
Russian troops poured into the Baltic, creating the infamous "Bear Line", a line that encompassed millions of Russian troops across the entire border of the Baltic and Poland. The Bear Line would way waste to the border cities, and would utterly shock and awe the crap out of the Baltic.
The Baltic immediately sued for peace, and promised to withdraw from the Czech lands in exchange for the status quo. Russia accepted the peace, and the war was over. While nothing was exchanged in terms of land, the UBP considers this war a huge blunder, a blunder which almost costed their independence. The commies were criticized for not seeing Russians as a major force in the war.
Chancellor Darius would resign, leading to the communist coalition to implement a man who can help their image. The man they chose for the job would come to no surprise for many men, Toms Goba. Goba's place in the Chancellery would help bring popularity back to the regime after the Czech blunder. It worked as well.
To help smooth things out for the rest of the country, the president passed more safety regulations aimed at increasing the safety of all factory tasks, preventing deaths in the process. This would help boost his popularity a little bit, but election season would determine if he got reelected.
The economy also helped the president. Once again, the UBP entered a stage of increased production and revenue across the country, something that helped boost the popularity of the communist regime a bit more.
The UBP would enter elections in earnest in 1935. Noreika would once again seek a second term, but his opponents had finally organized into effective parties once again. Each party now had one candidate to send forward with his own agenda.
The conservatives would draw something out from their hat, a man who had ties to a hero of the UBP, a man who once served in the military, and a man whose very name could inspire polls, Georg Rossen III, the grandson of the founder of the UBP, Georg Rossen. Rossen III would be the ace in the hole for the conservative party. He would help garner many votes due to his military background and his family name.
(Rossen III, pictured in center)
The liberals would pick Augusts Bolemanis, the son of former liberal titan, Rihards Bolemanis. His son though, was not Rihards, not even close. The only reason why he was chosen was because "He had a famous name and he looked political", nothing else. The liberals would be hurt when many critics cited the boy's lack of experience in the field. This would severly hurt the liberal chances.
(Bolemanis Jr.)
The fascists would pick Anton Contravarius, the man who has led the fascist party for the past thirty years. The now seventy year old man would cite that the "Red terror will destroy this country, and I refuse to let this country fall into the abyss, God help me." This clearly showed that Contravarius would not let some upstart commies ruin his chances of winning the presidency for the good of the country.
The results came in, and here are the polls: Rossen III would get 30% of the vote, Bolemanis Jr. would get 17% of the vote, Contravarius would also get 17%, and Noreika would get 36%. The people had spoken, and the red tide was here to stay.
Inauguration day would come in 1936, the following year. 1936 would mark the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Baltic state. 100 years is a very long time. It is safe to say though, that the UBP has survived whatever was thrown at it. Foreigner and domestically, the UBP survived the test of the Victorian Era, and had survived into the modern era. 100 years had passed, and many hopped for 100 more. Yet, the UBP would have to endure one more challenge before it can go on, and this challenge might be the end of it. For now, the UBP is indeed the strong country that it was born to be, and many were proud to be called Baltic.
Epilogue
What happened to the UBP after 1936? Why is it not around today? Well dear readers, allow me to explain exactly what happened. Let us fast forward in time, to the year 1939.
In 1939, the communist party was still in charge, and it was carrying on business like normal. It was a nice time to be a Baltic citizen, for the economy was good, and the people were happy. That was, until the Germans came. Germany at this point had every reason to despise the UBP. The biggest was that the UBP stole land from them. This further boosted the prowess of the Nationalist Socialist Democratic Party, but you may know them as the Nazis. In 1937, the Nazis coup the government in the "Bavarian Beer-Hall Putsch", and its leader, Adolf Hitler, immediately began to create a fascist state. The rhetoric was strong from Hitler, and he soon began to talk about the UBP as "A nation that stole land from us, a nation that is the epidemy of everything the Germans are against, and it must be destroyed." The British promised to defend the UBP from the Germans, who were rapidly militarizing. The Nazis then proceeded to invade the UBP on September 3, 1939. The Russians also attacked, with Hitler and the Tsar promising to split the UBP. The United Kingdom soon declared war on Germany, and the third great war to strike Europe began.
To say that the UBP was outnumbered is an understatement. The UBP was outgunned in ever aspect. The infamous blitzkrieg would see much of the UBP army destroyed. While they put up a good fight, the odds of victory seemed slim. The UBP would finally collapse when fascist sympathizers led by Anton Contravarius stormed the Assembly, suspended the constitution, and declared a new fascist state, similar to that of Nazi Germany. The coup effectively destroyed UBP resistance, and the occupation of the Baltic began.
Operation Barbarossa would be launched against Russia in 1941. The Nazis had conquered huge swaths of land, including France, Norway, the Balkans, and Italy. The Nazis would push on into Russia, and the Tsar could only watch as his army began to be obliterated. All this time, the UBP would engage in a civil war between communist forces loyal to the old communist elected regime, and those who supported the fascists.
Fast forward to 1943, and the Russian Tsar is deposed. Joseph Stalin, angered by the weak leadership of the Tsar, led a Bolshevik revolution and made Russia the Soviet Union, a communist state. From there, Stalin would begin to push back the Nazis, back out of Russia, and eventually out of the UBP. Soviet forces would be on the same side of the communist partisans fighting the fascists. Eventually, Anton Contravarius would be found and hung by Baltic partisans. However, the UBP would trade one dictator for another, as the Soviet Union implemented a communist government, one in which the Baltic Bolsheviks would be the only leaders for as long as possible. East Prussia would become a Russian province, and Baltic Pinsk would be made part of Belarus.
After the war, the UBP would join the Warsaw pact, and engage with the Soviet Union in a proxy war against the United States of America and the West. The UBP would follow communist agenda and communist principles. For the next fifty years, the UBP would be a socialist state.
That all changed in 1991, when the Soviet Union fell apart. The UBP was free to return to democracy, but the communists in charge refuse to see this happen. Civil violence would erupt, and the UBP would be rocked to its core. Nationalism sore in these years of turmoil. Soon the communist government resigned, and the entire country fell apart. The UBP would split into the separate democratic countries of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The United Baltic Provinces was no more. After nearly 150 years of unity, that all came to an end.
Today, the three countries have no possible chance of reuniting, and each one peruses its own agenda. The one reminder though of the old UBP days is the one thing that refused to die, the Baltic Assembly. Unlike its previous form, this new Assembly was an international organization between Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The capital would be in Riga, and not Vilnius. It is the only thing uniting the three Baltic countries to this day.
The UBP is now but a distant memory. Many still talk about the possibility of uniting the three countries into one power, a power that today could rival that of many Eastern European countries. Many talk about the greatness of unification, and many still cite that aspects of the UBP are still used today.
One such of these is the Lithuanian motto, which was adopted from the UBP motto. The motto is
Tautos Jėga Vienybėje; The Strength of the Nation lies in Unity.
My Closing Thoughts
Wow, what an experience! To be honest, I never thought I would have made it to the end. The United Baltic Provinces had never been something that most people automatically want to play. The reason why I choose the UBP is because it was something new, something that most players never really have played before. It is something that I wanted to experiment with, something that I wanted to look at and say "I was the guy who took control of that country and led it to the end". It was an amazing experience for sure, and I would happily do it again.
An Estonian once told me "The Baltic does not expand, it survives", and that statement never rang so true throughout this entire game. I was always focused on keeping the nation alive, making sure nothing bad happened to it, instead of trying to expand. I got my expansion request from making Poland my puppet and capturing East Prussia, yet it was not enough.
The country surely did change a lot. I will post the save game below, but man, it sure changed. I went from the weakest European power, to a rank 10 secondary power. I had no military at the start, now I had over 60,000 troops in just Europe. I had no industry, now I had a level 32 cement factory employing 3 MILLION people. I had 4% literacy at the start, now I had almost 100%. I had no capitalists, no clerks, and now I have numerous amounts of them. It is very satisfying to go back to how you started, and see the work that you did over the course of the game.
So in all, I am very grateful that I did this. For a five month project, it took a lot of time to complete. Not bad for me I do say. To be honest, I finished the game about half way through the story, and just been using pictures that I took along the way. The writing has taken so long, and it has made me somewhat a better writer.
So with that, this AAR is now finished. We have gone from 1836-1936, and the UBP survived it all. On behalf of myself, I thank all of you who have read up to this point. Your support is what helped keep this going. Thank for reading, thank you for being you, and expect my next AAR installment to come very soon.
Cheers: naxhi24
Final Save (Make sure you have PDM 3.03 installed with HoD)
Also, first save. I want you all to try and make it as the UBP. It is a fun journey, and I highly recommend you doing it.
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Russia almost kept you from surviving there, but you pulled through. 
I was hoping to see a fascist government just for some variety, but the communists held onto power until the very end.
I was hoping to see a fascist government just for some variety, but the communists held onto power until the very end.
This AAR placed 4th in the 2015 Q2 AARland Choice Award, and placed 4th in the 2015 Q1 AARland Choice Award.
Thank you all that have voted for this AAR
Thank you all that have voted for this AAR
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