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The Land of Hope and Glory: A UK Government Quest.

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The War to End All Wars has come to its bloody end. See to it that you win the peace.
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    • nachtingale

    nachtingale

    20. On that "honk, mimimi" type beat everyday.
    Location
    Malaysia
    Pronouns
    He/They


    The Land of Hope and Glory
    A Quest About the Trials and Tribulations of the United Kingdom and His Majesty's Government.
    ​
    The announcement of the results of the 1918 election would come as no shock to those who knew well enough the mood of the nation at that very moment. Negotiations would occur in the great backrooms of British politicking, between the hitherto allied parties of the Tory and Whiggery powers, bound together by the wartime coalition, to herald a peaceful transition of government, as none would want to see chaos so soon after the war.

    Lists would be handed out by those in power, officially sanctioning candidates for the so-called "Coalition Ticket" between the Conservative and Liberal parties, ensuring that there would be no split vote against the two traditional centers of British political life. The election would thusly be known as the "coupon election", with even prominent persons such as Sir Stanley Baldwin remarking that there were now, in this new parliament, "a lot of hard-faced men who look as if they had done very well out of the war."

    The end of the Great War would be welcomed greatly by the population, eager to be rid of the wartime policies that were enacted by the Liberal government under PM Lloyd George and to welcome back an age of peace and prosperity. It was a peace that would be sorely needed with the chaos on the continent, as the exhausted Anglo-French armies of the Western Entente would be thoroughly exhausted by the last offensives of the Great War in the autumn, helped on by the outbreak of a German Revolution against the Kaiser and the Prussian Monarchy in general. Further east, the Soviet Revolution would be in full swing, the question of intervention looming greatly over the governments of liberal Western Europe as Lenin's Reds swept the cities.

    It was the end of an era in Europe, the death of a great deal of monarchies.
    ​
    ​

    Indeed, the victory of the Conservative-Liberal Coalition would herald the coming of the new age in the British Empire as well, as they swept an excess of 500 seats in total, more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament, many of them the aforementioned "coupon men". Noticeably however, the parity that Prime Minister Lloyd George's party of coalition Liberals had once enjoyed with the Conservatives would shrink drastically, a consequence of the infighting with Asquith's men and the strengthening of Conservative influence in the coalition listing appropriations as a result. Though quieted by the popularity of the wartime PM for now, already, grumblings would appear within the Conservative Party for the ascension of one of their own men, minor yet still, though growing incessantly.

    Across the island of Great Britain, Ireland itself slumbers awake, as the nationalist movement now catches full steam in the peace of the Great War, amassing a great deal of seats and votes all across that Emerald Isle. Rumors abound of a revolt, of calls for independence, but for now, the men of Sinn Féin are but content to exclaim their refusal to sit in parliament, both sides of the Irish Sea watching each other to see who would fire the first shot. Others still talk of revolution, like that of the Bolsheviks, in our own fair isles, yet surely they would not despoil our glory as such, right?

    It is in this situation that the newly re-elected PM Lloyd George begins yet another (hopefully) successful career in office, and may God grant him the good grace and luck to do so…    ​


    A/N: Hello one and all, some of you may recognize me from my previous quest, some of you may be new, but I hope you'll enjoy this new quest of mine all the same! This quest is heavily inspired by some recent readings on UK history during this particularly turbulent period of it's history, that being the 1920s, the great explosion of political activity in the aftermath of the greatest of all wars up until then, and will see you questers placed in the position of PMship of the most vast Empire the world has ever seen.

    It will not be a stable position, PMs will come and go as mistakes are made and elections won/lost. That said, good luck and I hope you all have fun!
     
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    • Prologue: The Glasgow Strike.
  • Threadmarks

    • The Giant of British Politics.​

    Political fraction would not be the chief concern of Lloyd George however, not now.

    At home in Britain, the trade unions had made a patriotic pledge to support the war effort, many making considerable efforts to contain any efforts that might impede war production. Now, however, with the war ended, the trade unions would not remain content with their positions within the economy, most especially as the beginnings of demobilization proceed apace with the end of the war, the first regiments of soldiers returning to the British Isles faced with the prospect of finding employment in a stretched economy.

    Thankfully, with the return of so many hungry consumers to their homes, the government would be allowed some reprieve, as the great manufacturing centers of England found themselves with great demands for consumer goods and thusly a great demand for more production, and more workers. However, the most radical of the trade unions, most especially those of the ilk of the Clydes' Workers Committee, a group of anti-war radicals based out of Glasgow, would almost immediately declare and agitate for strike action to be taken against the industries.

    Chiefly demanding for the reduction of labor hours, by the middle of January, almost 100,000 Scottish workers would be up in arms in support of the calls for the so-called "8 hour workday". Taking the initiative, several local police departments were already at work breaking up the rabblerousers, though the effectiveness of their tactics seems to have grown ever the more dubious as the days go by, with even rumors of the red flag being flung up high atop Glasgow's town halls.

    Pressure mounts from the government to mount an official response, with many already calling for a quick and decisive routing of the strikers by calling in still mobilized soldiers to end their Glasgow revolt, hopefully setting an example for others who would wish to follow the calls of the Clyde Committee. A minority of Coalition Liberals, and the one remaining Labour MP in the coalition, on the other hand, would request for some sort of compromise to be achieved, opposing calls for an immediate and violent suppression of the strikers, hopefully wearing the strikers down enough to convince them to accept lesser compromises for an end to the strike, fearing as well a larger and more general uprising in response as was the case in Russia.

    The Prime Minister, upon taking in all the advice would ultimately decide to…    ​


    [] Send in the troops.
    Damn the strikers, the soldiers will strike them back!
    + Opinion with the Conservative and Liberal Party
    - Opinion with the Labour Party

    [] Negotiate a settlement.
    Perhaps the strikers have a point…?
    -- Opinion with the Conservative Party
    + Opinion with the Labour Party


    Current Situation:

    Conservative Party (Bonar Law)
    Strength in Parliament:     Overwhelming
    Wartime PM (Opinion +++, Decaying)
    Fears of a Red Revolution (Opinion ++, Dependent on Choices)
    The Lesser Partner (Opinion -)

    Liberal Party (Lloyd George/Current PC)
    Strength in Parliament:     Sizeable
    Wartime PM (Opinion ++++, Decaying)
    The Liberal Splitter (Opinion -)
    The Old Man of Government (Opinion ++)

    Liberal Party (Asquith)
    Strength in Parliament:     Miniscule
    Traitor and Deceiver (Opinion ----)
    Fears of a Red Revolution (Opinion ++, Dependent on Choices)

    Labour Party (William Adamson)
    Strength in Parliament:     Miniscule
    Wartime PM (Opinion ++, Decaying)
    Conservative Puppet (Opinion -)

    King of England (George V)
    Wartime PM (Opinion +++, Decaying)
    Mandate of the People (Opinion ++)
    Governing it Right (Opinion +)

    Public Opinion: Positive
    Unemployment: Slowly Rising
    Labor Unrest: Steadily Rising (Assumed)
    Labor Radicalization: Concerning (Assumed)


    A/N: Not all effects of your actions will be made immediately known in the votes, and some may carry repercussions long after they have been enacted. Voting is immediately open.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Negotiate a settlement.

    I think we can afford the hit to Tory opinion. We'll just make it up to them by sending the troops into Ireland.
     
    New Quest!
    Let's goooo!!

    [X] Negotiate a settlement.

    Right after the end of the Great War, sending our soldiers against our own people... Seems a bit gauche.
     
    [X] Negotiate a settlement.

    The Problem with sending Soldiers to stop strikers is that it very much can backfire if the soldiers decide to support the strikers. Its Better for the government to make a settlement
     
    [X] Send in the troops.

    We need the Tories happy if we're going to get anything mildly more interesting than collapse done.
     
    Gentlemen, please! We can't send in the army to shoot true British workers, even if they might be dirty Reds! We need to send our boys to Ireland to teach those rabble rousers a good lesson, by Jove!
     
    [X] Send in the troops.
    ​
    THE SUNDAY EXPRESS
    The Reader's Newspaper​

    'Pure rubbish to appeal to the Bolsheviks that squat in Glasgow. The are reports that the Sheriff of Lanarkshire, Mr Alastair Mackenzie, was violently prevented from reading the Riot Act. In response, he has already requested the assistance of military troops. The figures behind the current turmoil belong to the extreme fringe: card-carrying members of the Clyde Workers Committee. The leaders of the outfit were previously seized through the Defence of the Realm Act of 1914 for seidious publication. The so-called strike is likely a coordinated action on the behest of Moscow to weaken if not overthrow the Empire. A nefarious plot to undermine Germany is already underway through the revolt of the Spartacus League. Now the same tactic is being used in Britain. A vigorous response is required to keep the peace.'​
     
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    [X] Send in the troops.

    Can any man really call it a sin, when a man who strikes first is struck back?
     
    [X] Send in the troops.

    here's me hoping that for once we can play a brutal rightwing authoritarian on this forum.
     
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