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Welfare of the Cantons: A Swiss AAR

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Eärendil: Welcome aboard!

asd21593: Indeed, liberty is good! Thank you very much, and i needn't answer the rest of that, seems it got answered for me :) But yes as Ahura Mazda says, the Swiss were feared Mercenary soldier during the 15th and 16th centuries.

stnylan: Well don't expect anything agressive, as a kinda house rule i have said no agressive actions outside the Swiss border :)

Mishgan: Very interesting, that is quite a ...well its an Empire ;)

Cinéad IV: Technically, Vive le Switzerland, Sehnen sich die Phasenschweiz (testing my German there, though i think i got word muddled up) and Vivá Svizzare! To be honest, i don't plan any outward expansion. But internally, that is a totally different matter!

likk9922: What would i do without you? :D

kalenderee: Thats the badger, as stated abovish....

update coming tommorow evening, until then keep safe and stuff
 
Nope, vive la Suisse and Hopp Schweiz, even if we get steamrolled by Czechs! :rofl:

Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.
 
Mishgan said:
Nope, vive la Suisse and Hopp Schweiz, even if we get steamrolled by Czechs! :rofl:

Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.
Click to expand...

Hence why i don't do foreign languages ;)
 
1836: Budget


2.

The budget was of great concern to the Katholic Fraktion, as it would not only define many of the election seats, but also the welfare of the country on a whole. Above all else, every Swiss politician was to rate the Welfare of the Cantons above all else, including election success.

Von Salis-Soglio had to tread a very careful path when revising the aged budget reforms of 1815. If he did not organise a section well enough the Swiss National income would not be enough to keep the nation in the "Green" area. Therefore, he would be force to raise taxes, and lose the support of many people. If he let the taxes down to gain support, he would likely send the nation in Bankruptcy.

Therefore, imports were to be administered throughly. The Minister for the Economy, Hans von Reinhard, drew up a plan to import things that could only be then turned into something more worthwhile, to be sold back onto the German states. When he came to office, the imports office was poorly organised. Imports were desperately needed for Chemicals, mainly from Germany and France, Dye, from British India, and Cotton, from a variety of places but mainly the Southern States of the United States of America.

trades1.jpg

The state of the Imports Office report, 1835-36

GR1940.jpg

Hans Von Reinhard, Minister of the Economy​

Reinhard's eventual decisions were swayed by the state of Switzerland's small, yet effective, industry. At the time, Switzerland possed Steel Manufactories, which made Switzerland renowned for production of the metal, a lumbering industry, converting the simple timber cut from the Alpine forests into useful planks ect. of wood. There was also a Fabric factory, which was demanding the cotton, dye and some of the chemicals.

factories.jpg

Switzerland's small indutrial core, 1836​

The steel manufactories could buy some of their required iron from the mines near Bern, but these could not support the steel industry on its own. Some more iron would need to be imported to fill demands. Chemicals would also be needed help in production. The situation was much the same with the lumber mills. They could use lumber cut around Luzern, but it would simply not be enough to fill demand. More would need to be imported. These would cost the Swiss economy enough, and therefore the demands of the fabric industries were to be cancelled, as it would cost too much. Swiss industry in this area was, after all, easily outclassed by that of Britain and France.

It was hoped that the situation for both Timber and Iron could be rectified as better techniques that were being developed in Germany and, most notably, Sweden were brought in to help the efficiency of these industries.

trades2.jpg

The Imports Office report after Reinhard's reforms​

Reinhard had saved the Swiss economy a lot of effort that would have been needed to import all the requirments of the Fabric Industries, and therefore saved Von Salis-Soglio a political Catch 22. However, even the small imports that were being brought into the country wer ecostin something. Therefore, instead of raising the taxes by anything, which may have seemed a destruction of peoples rights by the Liberals, Von Salis-Soglio deicded to put an import and export tax on all good entering or leaving the country.

Apart from this, little changed from the old budget reports since 1815, except the full funding of a huge education program to finish off the work that de Rochemont had started, having 100% of the population being literate. The police forces, which were too take the brunt of criminal activity instead of the small army, were also given funding to crack down on corruption that many politicians had seen infest the courts of many other, and sometimes "Greater", coutries.

budget.jpg

The Budget Report of 1836​

It would be a tight call to see if the 1836 Tax Reforms would give the Katholic Fraktion anymore votes, but they had certainly made the right course of action, bringing the Swiss Economy into a new zone that would match the shrewdness of many other countries.
 
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Given the taxes you collect and the cost of running the nation, I think you are making a very healthy budgetary surplus. :)
 
qwerkus said:
chemicals ?!?

Which mod are you playing ?
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I think he's calling the other things used in those industries "chemicals" for flavor.
 
likk9922 said:
I think he's calling the other things used in those industries "chemicals" for flavor.
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No, you can see the Fabric factory in the screen shot needs chemicals to run.

He's playing VIP 0.2 for V:R.
 
Drake Rlugia said:
No, you can see the Fabric factory in the screen shot needs chemicals to run.

He's playing VIP 0.2 for V:R.
Click to expand...

Oh, huh... interesting.
 
A healthy surplus must be spent on somewhat - the only question is - what?
 
Ahura Mazda said:
Why 100% crime fighting?
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It kills all crime buildings and drastically reduces revoltrisk.
 
germanpeon: enough for my countries size, but it will not sufficient for very long.

upside_umop: Welcome and hope you enjoy :)

qwerkus, likk9922, Drake Rlugia: Indeed, it is VIP 0.2

Dr. Gonzo: Well Europe always throws up somethings.

stnylan: err... well you got me there :D

Ahura Mazda: What germanpeon said, and also just personal preference ;)

Sematary: the present... perhaps not good enough in a few years though... or even a single year! who knows? :)

update on its way
 
1836: The Elections


3.


The elections were called in early Febraury, and set to end ion Novemeber 3rd. That gave the parties 10 months to campaign for votes. It was more than sufficient for the task, but unfortunately some of the parties were not.

The main political factions of the Tagsatzung were: The Freisinnige Fraktion (The Freedom Faction), who represtented the Liberal percentage of the population. Then there were the conservatives. These were split between the Catholics and Protestants, but the Catholics were the only ones to gain support as they ran most of the politics of the country. However, they both stood for exactly the same things, so in the circumstances the Katholish Konservative Fraktion (Catholic Conservative Faction) won the votes over the Protestant Conservative Faction. Then there was the Katholic Fraktion, led by Von Salis-Soglio, who represented the aging European courts of the 1700's. The last, and Revolutionary Party, which was deemed bad for Switzerland, and would have little playing in the elections.

The Freisinnige's were held back by a lack of definate leader, and made little effort at a campaign, only trying one single speech in Bern, which ended badly. This was due to the Liberal Speaker, Wilhelm Snell, being more of a radical, probably suited to the Revolutionaries rather than the normal Liberals. When the speech was deemed too revolutionary by people watching, Police and a small detachment of the SND had to break up the meeting and arrest Snell. It was a debacle for the Liberals, and would deter them from any more activity during the first half of the election process. Their Lassiez-faire plans for the conomy, however, gave them some support, meaning they were not complete failures during this period.

The Katholic Fraktion were over confident. They believed that their reforms and the fact that they made up a large part of the Swiss Cabinet, would kcontinue to keep them in power. They couldn't have been more wrong. People saw the, almost, 'laziness' of the politicians as signs of things to come, and couldn't risk the idea of 'Lazy' politics. Couped up in their courts in Bern, the Katholic Fraktion's politicians were unaware of the bad situation on the outside. The Katholic Fraktion's unmovable need to stay along the lines of 'normal' European politics had been their downfall, and the party failed to recieve any votes.

montenach-turc.jpg

Johann von Montenach, leader of the Katholic Konservative Fraktion​

The Katholic Konservative's, however, were by far the most successful party. Launching a modern campaign, which had not been matched by any election campaign in history to that point, the conservetives swept up the votes of most Swiss people, Catholic and Protestant. They sent ministers all over the country, holding rallies for people in Bern, Bellinzona and Geneva. It was reported that, in the Canton of Bern, there were 15 Ministers holding speeches in the 10 month period. It was a similar situation all over the country, in every Canton, and took the Conservative message toWhile this was, so far, untried, it proved a huge success, and the Conservatives looked as if they would sweep a clear and quick victory. Their leader, Johann von Montenach, was even considering ordering the elction close becuase of his great victory.

parties.jpg

Political Polls, midway point, July 1836​

However, it was certainly not over. Two events were to change the whole course of the election. They would both be caused by a single man; Hans Von Reinhard. Von Reinhard, unlike other Katholic Fraktion politicians, could see their 'efforts' not paying off in the election. There was simply no way his party could win this election off such a bad start. He could also see that, with their modern campaigning system, the Catholic run conservetives were going to win if he did nothing about it. He was a protestant*, and unlike many other protestants in the country could not allow a fully Catholic party like that to win the elctions. Therefore he made a move no one had expected. On August 19th, he defected to the Freisinnige Fraktion. No one could believe it, and Von Salis-Soglio almost had a emotional breakdown after loosing his best minister. He brought with him two assests. The first was his popular support, as the people respected what he had done to get the economy back into shape and save them from extortionate taxing. This gave the Liberals more popularity on the whole. Secondly, he brought the Liberals a man who had the political experiance and knowledge to be a leader, and he was given the title of leader of the party soon after the defection.

As people became evident that he had defected, the support for the Liberals grew, and they began to get grants from the wealthy and well-to-do of Switzerland's Urban population. In one instance, the Head of Geneva University claimed that the Freisinnige Fraktion would "lead the Cantons into a new age of prosperity unknown to any civilisation before!"

feb15thlib.jpg

The Head of the University of Bern pledged support to the Liberals​

As the final polls began to be taken, it was clear that Von Reinhard's defection had done a huge ammount to change the course of the elections. The conservatives were still very popular, no doubt, but it appeared as if a large percentage of the population called out for a new and more Liberal Switzerland. When the polls finished and the votes were counted, this 'appearence' became reality. The Freisinnige Fraktion had scraped together 53.87% of the vote, and the Conservatives had won 46.13%. It was a great victory for the Liberal's and would be the true start of the "New Era" of Switzerland's politics. Von Salis-Soglio's reforms had simply opened the path for the Liberals to gain support, and had caused his own defeat. The Katholic Fraktion all but disintergrated, many ministers joining the Conservatives.

liberalsnovember6th.jpg

The end results for the elctions, no other parties won any votes​

The Conservatives had not be badly beaten, and Von Reinhard, who was sworn into office on November 6th, had to accept that they had some right to empower reforms over the Swiss population; at least the Catholic part. However, in his defection and shock victory, Von Reinhard had already sown the seeds of his down fall. But for a time, he would control Switzerland's politics.

Notes:
*Reinhard had only joined the Katholic Fraktion becuase it was the only party with any electorial success
 
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Wow, I guess that goes to show what one event can do in a nation with only one state. :eek:

Nice update!
 
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