Well, looks like an alliance with the new Italian Republic could occur. If that happens, Republics vs. Monarchies Great War?
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At this point, I'm not really even sure how effective it's been to try and manually encourage conservatism in the states I've tried. It may be better to just focus on building up industry more and let the elections do what they will. Even with the debate choices I get during election times, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference.
I don't know if V2 has similar government types predisposed to favor each other, but as I play further in, I do see the alliances drifting that way.
Well there's one great power to succumb to revolution, and to anarcho-liberals no less. It surely won't be the last. Victoria 2 does love its revolutions.
Well, to be fair, so did our world's Europe in the 1800s.
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On the other hand, those tended to fail pretty badly, most of the time (even in France, I don't think more than half the attempted revolutions actually worked out). In Victoria, I get the idea that it works quite often, if we only count the big rebellions and not "one brigade of anarcho-liberals revolted in Eastern Cameroon".
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In my current play through, I was pretty disappointed to see a lot of unsuccessful revolutions. Continental Europe was annoyingly stable until the 1890s when, as usual, the first Great War broke out way ahead of schedule. That said, playing as the U.K. with a somewhat.. wilful disregard for political good sense, I experienced a ton of fairly major rebellions. Pretty much one every five years. Only one was successful, and the rest I managed to deal with before they took the capital.
I think my issue with the mechanic is that it’s a bit too cut and dry. There’s pretty much zero flavour to what’s going on, and just having to send the troops in or fire off a couple of reforms every few years gets tiring very quickly. Particularly when, as you say, nearly every revolt includes the one logistical nightmare of pacifying some out the way province in the colonies.
I think in general I’d just like to see more depth to the political RP aspect of Vicky, sort of like how you get a little bit of an insight into things with HoI nowadays. A pipe dream in all likelihood, but we can dream nonetheless!
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Maybe when we get our mythical Victoria 3, that will be a focus!
I do agree that I would have liked some more depth regarding those things... I find that in V2, more than the EU4 or CK2 legs, I'm playing the game much further ahead and posting years or even decades behind so that I can write some context and continuity into my posts that otherwise wouldn't really be provided by the game.
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I would love it if mythical Vicky 3 included focus trees like HoI4 and (as I understand, tho I haven’t played it in a long time) EUIV. Honestly, that was what attracted me to even get HoI4 in the first place – after reading the start of your Mexican campaign, in fact!
Liberals back into power. Hopefully they don't wreck the economy this time.
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Liberals back into power. Hopefully they don't wreck the economy this time.
Spoiler... they do
1868 - 1883 AD
The Dead Men's Riots - The Price of Political Change
Following a historic three-term presidency, Juhan Varnik was unseated from the Estonian presidency when a wave of pro-liberal and socialist sentiment began to take hold among the Estonian electorate, leading to his shocking defeat in the election of 1868. With the rise of the ENLP, Arved Bielke became the president of Estonia and was faced with the challenging task of proving that liberal policies could be successful in Estonia. The first time a liberal president had been elected, Kahru Reinsalu's administration saw a near-total collapse of the Estonian economy, with the national treasury being emptied at an alarming rate and the closure of many factories leading to widespread unemployment. The prior failure of liberal policies was among the largest contributing factors to the historic conservative run on the elections, and it would be up to Bielke to prove that he and his newly organized liberal party could do better.
The initial fruits of Bielke's labor were not promising.
Within one year of his party taking over the Estonian government, over 25,000 Estonians were out of work, and over a half dozen factories had once again shut their doors. It looked to be a step-for-step repeat of Reinsalu's disastrous administration, and calls for amendments to the party's economic policies began to gain traction. But rather than make any changes to its program of governance, the Bielke government responded by passing a weighted universal suffrage model, opening the voting franchise to the poorest of Estonia's citizens for the first time. Feeling that their concerns were being willfully ignored, disgruntled conservatives took matters into their own hands.
In the summer of 1870, a combination of unemployed workers, profit-starved capitalists, and reactionary agitators began a series of violent riots across the country. The uprising was colloquially referred to as the "Dead Men's Riots," coined after the leader of an angered factory laborer's union declared at a rally: "The government's ineptitude has sentenced us to starve to death; if we must die, we will die fighting for our livelihoods." The riots lasted for over three weeks in July of that year, and came to a head in Kiev on July 27th. A large band of armed factory workers had taken refuge in their now-shuttered former workplace, firing from inside the factory on military forces attempting to pacify them. In the course of exchanging gunfire with the military, the factory caught fire; some of the rioters fled the burning building only to be shot dead in the streets, while the remainder stayed inside and fought to the last man until the factory burned down around them.
The bulk of the riots were pacified by the end of the summer, but sporadic violence would continue all the way up until the election of 1872. With Bielke's popularity falling consistently as he attempted to force his economic agenda and subdue violence in the streets, he was unable to mount a convincing campaign against an energized conservative base, and he was decisively defeated and replaced by conservative Tarmo Kuusik.
"Suur Paevakord" - The New Agenda for Estonia
The violence of the Dead Men's Riots exposed the frustration that led to Estonia's return to conservative governance, and Kuusik once again resumed the typical conservative economic agenda by raising taxation and heavily subsidizing industry from the government treasury. He shored up Estonia's alliance with newly-democratic Italy, and was able to completely eliminate unemployment in Estonia within two years as a result.
In spite of his success, Kuusik faced heavy opposition as social consciousness continued to rise in Estonia. By the time he campaigned for re-election for 1876, socialists had secured a 20% representation in the Estonian parliament, and conservative support was decreasing within the government and among the people. With demands mounting for full universal suffrage and greater calls for the enactment of social programs -- Estonia was the only Great Power that had yet to enact any social reforms such as schooling or pensions -- the traction of Kuusik's government decreased sharply. Employment may have been high, but the priorities of the Estonian voter were shifting. Social progress, rather than political, was taking center stage, and the alliance of liberal-leaning parties capitalized on this leading into the 1876 election.
When Taaniel Mannik launched his presidential campaign, his promises were grand. He was quick to call for the enactment of a full universal suffrage, free of any favoritism or weighting of votes based upon wealth, status, or influence. The economic stability provided by the conservatives, he argued, was meaningless if that industrial and economic growth did not translate into greater benefits and equality for all Estonians. He campaigned aggressively among the various Slavic demographics in particular, and he was able to unseat President Kuusik in a decisive electoral victory. This would begin a period of time that Mannik had referred to in his campaign publications as his Suur Paevakord -- his New Agenda. He committed fiercely to the principles of lower taxes, higher individual liberties, and the introduction of new social programs -- and to the surprise of many of his skeptics, it worked and caught fire.
Mannik delivered on his social promises -- during his four-year term, Estonia implemented unweighted universal male suffrage, mandated that elections be conducted only through secret ballots, and took the first steps toward permitting trade unions greater legal permission within the society. His social reforms succeeded, but it was his economic policy that would become the greatest surprise, as well as the greatest legacy, of his presidency. In the past, each time Estonia had attempted to embark on a liberally-skewed laissez-faire economic policy, the results had been nothing short of absolute disaster. But when Mannik implemented the same policies during his term, the results were far more positive.
Under the Mannik government's guidance, workers were encouraged to migrate in pursuit of economic opportunities. Capitalists were encouraged to let failed projects die and invest more heavily in those ventures that saw significant success. Many more factories were closed due to a failure to turn a profit during this period, but the factories that did perform well grew rapidly in size. Private capital poured into the most lucrative regions and projects, and as competition pushed the free market to its limits, Estonia began to thrive economically. Instead of the national treasury being depleted to dangerous levels, it began to increase steadily. By the end of Mannik's first term, the government held a surplus of nearly £10 million, and unemployment was rapidly shrinking as local populations ebbed and flowed with the success of their business. Under this model, Estonia's industrial base rocketed ahead, attaining decades of progress in only a few years. By 1880, Estonia had built the second strongest industrial network in the entire world, and was rapidly ascending in its position among the Great Powers.
Riding the wave of this great success, Mannik was easily elected to a second term in 1880. This would see him continue his industrial and economic agendas, but would see him run into a grave threat to the country and pose one of the greatest dangers to the nation in many years.
The New Kaiser - Albrecht's Dreams of a Greater Empire
Siegbert von Erbach became the Kaiser of the German Empire in 1829 at the age of 44, inheriting the throne from his mother, the Kaiserin Ortun. After seeing the dual monarchy of Germany-Persia dissolved in a revolution aided by Estonia, he harbored a great bitterness toward the country that had deprived him of ruling what could have been the greatest empire on the planet. Siegbert had dedicated much of his reign to elevating Germany to the center of the world stage, and had done so with great success. Germany had retained its place among the top powers of the world,had expanded its territory, and had become the most industrially-advanced nation in the world, with an industrial capacity nearly double that it of its closest rival. But as he advanced in age, his health began to fail, and the Kaiser chose to abdicate the throne of Germany in 1869 at the advanced age of 84, just a few short years before he passed away in 1872. With his abdication, the rule of Germany passed to his 57 year-old son Albrecht, who was possessed of great vigor in spite of his age.
Albrecht had watched as the United States continued to take territory from the Navajo and eventually seize the remaining colonies in Nevada and Utah from the Celtic Empire, and as the Persian Empire won a war against Vijayanagar to claim large stretches of land from them.
He likewise watched as another of the world's historic empires -- this time, Arabia -- fell to rebel agitation for governmental reform. A widespread outbreak of protests, riots, and outright assaults on the government saw Arabia descend into chaos, and after the imperial government was toppled in 1876, it eventually emerged from over a half-decade of civil war as a republic, mirroring the transition of Italy. This transformation saw Arabia, much to Albrecht's dismay, drift even closer to Estonia, as the Estonian government fostered close alliances with Italy and Arabia in an attempt to unite the European republics together in an organized power bloc.
Albrecht, seeing the nations around him grow stronger, was determined to see his own nation do the same, and Germany took an aggressive stance toward most of its neighbors during his reign.
In 1878, after years of political maneuvering and military saber-rattling, Albrecht succeeded in dissolving the Republic of Holland and integrating all of its remaining territory into the German Empire.
He then went on to wage a military campaign in Africa against Kanem Bornu, effectively increasing the size of Germany's African colonies by one third. While the German Empire had adopted a Constitution under Siegbert's reign and created a legislative branch, the German parliament's power was significantly restricted by the Kaiser's autonomy, and Albrecht was largely free to reign as he saw fit so long as he took the proper steps to appease his legislative houses. Albrecht reinforced Germany's national pride and stoked its desire to expand, painting the German people as leaders among the world and declaring the German Empire responsible for guiding Europe with a "firm, wise hand" into the next stage of history. Support for his reign grew, but the annexation of Holland and Kanem Bornu were only preludes to his greatest plan -- achieving what his father could not by recapturing the German-populated Sachsen from Estonia. Another war was about to break out between the two European powers, and this one would be much deadlier than the last.
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To those of you who predicted a monarchies-vs-democracies Great War.... You might be on to something here.
ancap arabia is cursed and must be obliterated
Also, I'd like going forward some discussion of what's going on in Asia, particularly since this is a world much less dominated by Europe.
Also, I'd like going forward some discussion of what's going on in Asia, particularly since this is a world much less dominated by Europe.
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Unfortunately, not a whole lot has really happened out there. China and Japan have really been silent in world affairs, and there have hardly been any meaningful wars out there. I was hoping to see them clash with the USA over Alaska at least, but Asia has been disappointingly dead.
It seems that Germany will lead itself into war. Good. Let this war be their utter ruination! Salt the Earth that their capital stands on, ensuring that its very name strikes fear of Estonia into men's hearts!
Let democracy triumph! Now and forevermore!
Let democracy triumph! Now and forevermore!
It looks like you've finally transitioned into the second phase of Vicky 2 where your industry has been built up enough to actually function under laissez-faire. Second place is pretty good, considering just how far that Germany is. Hopefully you will be able to catch them, or at least beat them in military score.
Also, that China's military score.
Also, that China's military score.
It looks like you've finally transitioned into the second phase of Vicky 2 where your industry has been built up enough to actually function under laissez-faire. Second place is pretty good, considering just how far that Germany is. Hopefully you will be able to catch them, or at least beat them in military score.
Also, that China's military score.
China is absolutely absurd right now. Fielding 378 brigades out of a maximum of 1,698. And their navy is 174 ships strong out of a cap of well over 200. If China built up to its max capacity it would just steamroll everything at this point. Which makes it a bit of a bummer that all they've done this game is slowly take over the Mongol lands and expand up north a little bit. No major political upheaval, no government changes, no grand campaigns against the western powers... Just. Kinda slowly snowballing at a snail's pace.