Macedonia will not automatically go to war with you if you give them nothing. They just won't be mollified and will approach you again to see if they can concessions once you do start doing land reform. It's a gauge of your stance and seeing if business will continue as usual.
Edit: Also you don't actually have to pay them for their land. When the time comes you can work around the promise without breaking it.
Scheduled vote count started by Fission Battery on Mar 4, 2022 at 3:45 AM, finished with 27 posts and 12 votes.
[X] The Loyal Opposition
-[X] Give the CAP a ministry
--[X] Health & Social Affairs
-[X] Allow Copts to continue operating private religious schools
--[X] Must teach mandated material
[X] Alexander's Folly
-[X] Promise not to take land from Macedonian landlords without compensation
[X] The Loyal Opposition
-[X] Give the CAP a ministry
--[X] Health & Social Affairs
-[X] Allow Copts to continue operating private religious schools
--[X] Must teach mandated material
=== Egypt, Summer 1916 - The AENC's Agenda
===
Over the course of negotiations, Pavlotis's face grew pensive, his smile slowly becoming ever more strained. He held it though, never dropping the pretense of civility, and hummed in acknowledgment when Issa finally agreed to one request. Hakim had been called during the process and trusted the minister to handle the issue, giving him his full support. Promising to pay for land stolen from them offered a great deal in theory, yet didn't immediately bind Egypt's hands. It was one Issa felt most comfortable giving, though he'd have preferred to give nothing at all. It was a strategic concession to mollify the Macedonians, no more, no less.
"I'm disappointed to say that this meeting was not as productive as I had hoped it would be, however I am pleased that your government could see reason. The rights of property owners must be protected, after all," Pavlotis tersely responded. "I'll notify the admiralty to move our ships."
"Of course, ambassador, we want nothing more than to maintain our good neighbourly relationship with your government," Issa replied, smiling congeniality at the man opposite him. He put in more effort to appear genuinely pleased at the outcome. "I too am pleased that we could reach an understanding."
Pavlotis gathered up his documents. "I'll notify Salonika about our agreement." He let out a short sigh and stood. "His majesty isn't going to like having to redo the budget."
"I offer our sincerest apology in any distress the price of grain may cost. I'm sure you understand our reasoning though," Issa replied, standing up. There was a degree of satisfaction he felt at hearing that news. It wasn't a victory, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the inconvenience was caused by Egypt. The increased income from higher prices would certainly help the government's already bare coffers.
Issa ushered the ambassador to the door and exchanged hollow pleasantries that meant little to either man before saying their goodbyes. With the distraction gone, he returned to his previous business, preparing foreign policy approaches.
===
Mina Psoy was both very surprised and very pleased to learn that David would agree to a few of his party's requests. It was a sign of good faith that would not go unappreciated, appeasing many of the CAP's anxieties about the new government. Psoy thus found himself in charge of Health and Social Affairs, a ministry his party was admittedly well suited to run given the reach of the church and private charities in providing limited social work.
Religious schools would continue on as normal, though what constituted state mandated policy had yet to be decided. Public schools were next to non-existent, so curriculum was often decided upon by local headmasters. Most education was provided by various religious institutions, though even that was beyond the reach for the majority of the population. Those that could afford to do so would send their children private schools or even abroad if they had the means.
David knew it was a concession without much bite, yet, so he found it acceptable to make it. He hoped it wouldn't cause any upset among the Islamist wing of the party. A few Marxist members had protested the move, though they relented under good arguments and the reality of the situation. They both accepted it, though he knew they were biding their time until the topic of education came up again.
The prime minister put such thoughts aside. He had the matter of budget to decide upon, and then priorities. David had heard it said that the first hundred days in office were the most important for a new government. While he wished that he could accomplish the party's programs within that time frame, he knew it wouldn't be possible. They'd have to do what they could over the course of the administration. That in mind, David grabbed his briefcase and went to meet with his ministers, one by one. They were trusted friends and allies, most of them, but he wanted their thoughts privately before bringing the cabinet together.
===
David first met with Ari Khouri. The officer had gotten himself settled as the Minister of War. It was one of the few ministries that hadn't been completely gutted under the Venetians.
Khouri's assessment of the military painted a promising picture, all things. Most of the old royal officers had been demoted and replaced. Their skills had atrophied in the ensuing decades and their loyalty was questionable at best, given many of the older ones earned for a return of the king. The officer core was near nonexistent. It was men like Khouri that made up the remainders, younger, up and coming men whose careers had been put on hold by the conquest of Egypt. They were foreign educated, bringing back modernizing and revolutionary ideals, and thus sidelined by Venetians.
The main of the colonial army hadn't fallen apart yet. Soldiers had guns, albeit outdated ones, army horses hadn't all been sold off yet, and its stockpiles of older cannons were in decent condition. Easy enough to be repaired and fixed up into operational use, though outdated. Bedouins maintained a distant but neutral relation with the government, leaving them a possible recruiting pool. Its navy was near non-existent, possessing only a few smaller ironclads commissioned by the king in the 80s and 90s. They were more comparable to frigates in size and armament though, undergunned and easily outmatched by modern ships. The Macedonian cruiser formerly in Alexandria could have fought off all three Egyptian ironclads and would have likely achieved a mutual kill on all three. Not that the ships could sail, reduced to skeleton crews performing maintenance in port.
It's air force consisted of a single biplane, used by the colonial government for surveying archaeology sites. Its pilot had retired, leaving it to sit in a hangar untouched without a replacement. It was more of a novelty than a weapon of war.
"It's something we can work with, better than we had feared," Khouri concluded, raising a hand up and wiggling it back and forth. "It goes without saying that we will need a strong military to establish independence. There's much that needs to be done."
David nodded along with the explanation. "What's our most pressing issue?"
Khouri rested a hand on his clean shaven chin. "We need to increase the quality of our soldiers. We can work with outdated weapons if our army was organized and well run, which it sadly isn't. If we attempted to revolt now it'd be more like an unorganized uncoordinated mob than an army." He turned his palm upwards. "Of course we'd pursue modernizing reforms with increased funding. Trainers and materials can be imported from abroad, and allies can make up for manpower shortages."
"If anyone was capable of accomplishing such a feat, I'd trust it to be you," David replied. Their prospects were grim but under Khouri they'd have a chance if, and when, they fought for independence. The possibility of not increasing military funding hadn't even crossed his mind.
===
David found himself pouring over stacks of paperwork with his friend Jabari. The economic minister held more authority than his title would imply, many of the domestic focused ministries fell under his purview: industry, infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, and education. Nearly everything would be handled and influenced by his decisions in some form or another. Only healthcare would be given more leeway to deviate from his commands, given the deal with the CAP.
In a word, the situation was grim. David had expected nothing less. Egypt's institutions had been stripped down under colonial rule, turning the once rising star into an export driven colony. Barely 15% of the populace was literate, a significant portion of which were urban and well off Copts. The majority of the populace, already poor under the king, had only been driven into further poverty. Outside of the major cities, there was only destitution and hardship. Most of the land was owned by a fraction of the population, leaving nearly everyone in the countryside as a tenant farmer, forced to work and live on other people's land to make impossible rents. Yeoman farmers were far and few between, if they even existed as a notable class. Foreigners made up a significant portion of landowners too, especially cotton, which was almost entirely owned by Macedonians.
The factories that had been built under the king were torn down, sold off, or left to sit in disrepair. The lucky few found work under new bosses, for a given definition of luck, while the majority of the workers were left to seek jobs elsewhere. Their skills slowly atrophied as they moved on to other work. Specialists used to working on machines ended up maintaining trains. Railways was one of the few areas the country was not entirely lacking in. That left domestic production poor, mostly done on a smaller scale by craftsmen working with hand tools. Electricity was nearly non-existent outside of a few sections of Alexandria. Nothing more than a novelty installed by a few hotels to entertain their rich patrons.
Education and healthcare had languished under the Venetians, the few public schools that had existed were closed down. It was left in private hands, which often meant religious authorities had stepped in to provide a meager education to the lucky few who could have access to it. The same applied to healthcare, most had to depend on charity to have access to it. The most common health worker in the country often came in the form of local 'apothecaries' whose knowledge would usually begin and end with supposedly useful foods and herbs to eat, and access to cheap opium to dull pain.
Only Alexandria and Cairo were fortunate enough to possess semi-modern hospitals, staffed with actual Egyptian doctors and nurses. Though most of the administration and specialists came from Europe.
Needless to say, the AENC's work was cut out for them.
"The king," Jabari said, standing over a map of the Nile, "had proposed a dam at Aswan. It was never built. It would have aided in controlling flooding downstream. I say we take that a step further and build a hydroelectric dam."
"It'd help free us from importing fuel on the electricity front," David said in approval. "The cost is a concern. It'd eat up a significant portion of the ministry's budget."
"It'd free up resources for other projects," Jabari readily countered. He knew his friend well enough that the cost would make him hesitant. "In this regard it's better to invest in a larger project than spreading it out across the entire country."
David hummed, weighing it in his mind. "I suppose we'll decide at a later point." He lifted his gaze from the map to his friend. "We can't afford to invest in everything," he said matter-of-factly. It was a sad reality that they couldn't afford it. "Some ministries are going to have to make do with what they have, or worse we may need to cut their budgets."
"I'm aware," Jabari winced, a frown forming on his face. "We have to make do with what we have. We could go into debt if it's necessary, but that comes with its own risks."
"I fear that we may have to no matter what. We can't keep a 'balanced budget,'" he said with disgust, "unless we decide to fund nothing but the bare essentials, if that. We can borrow from private creditors before looking into getting loans from other nations."
"I'm confident in Issa to find us allies to make that happen without having to turn to unscrupulous lenders. Macedonia is out of the question entirely," Jabari replied.
"That goes without saying." David would continue speaking with Jabari for several hours but seemingly countless possibilities that they could focus on. His heart ached knowing they could do only a fraction of them with the time and money they had. Every project had to be an impactful one. That much he was sure of.
===
"I understand that I wasn't your first pick for minister," Mina Psoy said, sitting across from David. They were in the former's own office, which was being used as a temporary headquarters for the meager ministry. "So I appreciate the opportunity. I do only want what's best for Egypt."
David hummed, lips pressed into a thin line, and nodded. "I'll reserve judgment for a later date. Now, I'm aware of the shortages facing healthcare."
"We're short on nearly everything needed to run the system: facilities and personnel most of all. It'll take years for the first students of training programs to graduate to even begin making up for the shortfalls. That'd require importing professors from abroad to even run the program if we wanted to see results," Psoy replied, straight to the point as he rested his hands on his desk. "With that in mind, I'd recommend simply maintaining the ministry's funding for the time being instead of increasing it."
David raised his eyebrow and tilted his head. "I'll admit I'm surprised."
Psoy dipped his head down. "While I would like to see these problems addressed immediately, I understand that other ministries will take priority. Thankfully most healthcare and social services are already provided by private sources. They're used to running without too much in terms of funding."
"Could the ministry withstand its funding being cut?" David hesitantly asked, frowning. "It's not a possibility I enjoy entertaining, but if it's managing on its own so far."
"I'd strongly advise against that," Psoy replied, raising his hands off his desk and holding his palms out. "While our reach is currently limited, if we cut funding then we can't provide to anyone outside of a few areas. We'd be ceding not only all healthcare but social services to private groups. That'd include managing orphanages and civil disputes. We'd be stretched to the breaking point. The only places that'd receive any care would be the richer districts of Alexandria and Cairo."
David grimaced. "Consider it off the table then. We don't want that." They spoke for some time before wrapping up their meeting and calling it.
===
"Issa, bless you for keeping your cool when dealing with that jackal," David praised his minister as he entered his office and sat down. "The gall of that ambassador."
"Thank you, Hakim, it is part of the job," Issa replied, smiling at the genuine praise from his friend. "He couldn't have gotten a rise out of me." He spread out several folders across his desk and presented them to the prime minister. "I won't bore you with details you're familiar with. We need allies to better our odds against Macedonia. To that end, there's three main groups which we wish to align ourselves with: The Comintern, Arab League, and Black Sea Pact."
"I don't suppose we could send invites to all of them to get them to line up outside your door to deal with one at a time?" David rhetorically asked, softly chuckling at his own remark. "It'd certainly make things easier."
Issa laughed as well as he shook his head. "Sadly not. Ambassadors will only get us so far. I'd expect them to want to meet with myself and you when the time comes for any significant agreements. We'll have to prioritize who to approach."
"I suppose we can only do so much," David muttered.
"They're eager to speak with us at least. We've already received congratulations on our electoral victory from many countries within those blocs. Italy also congratulated us."
That got the prime minister's attention. "Italy? That's unexpected. Any guess on what they're after?"
"They're nominally allied with Maghreb. It's possible they want to shore up their image with them by supporting us," Issa mussed, leaning back and raising a hand. "They could also be wooing us to be friendly with them. If Venice petitions to join Italy, we'd be dragged in too. Egypt would be quite the feather in their cap."
"We'll have to be cautious if they approach us. We don't want to trade one colonial master for another," David firmly replied. "Any thoughts on who to approach first? We need allies."
Issa rested a hand on his bearded chin. "Comintern has resources and political will to aid us. We can actually begin trading with them now that the Macedonian ships have relocated. It does however run the risk of drawing us further into their sphere, which I am not opposed to," he held up a hand, palm out. "I am merely concerned that they may draw us into future conflicts."
David thought over the strategic calculus. Italy, Scandinavia, and Burgundy didn't border Egypt, but it was well within range of their fleets and colonial armies. The Red Sea would be closed and relief from the Comintern would be fought every step of the way across the Mediterranean. "I don't want to see Egypt become a theater in the next world war, not if I can help it. Certainly not when we aren't ready for it."
"I also feel that the Islamists may take issue if we begin to favour the Marxists over them," Issa noted with concern. "Though I'm sure they can be placated with a few favours thrown their way when the time comes."
"Of course, we're all in this together. The party must stay united," David replied. "That said, we can't write the Comintern off either. They'd give us aid practically for free. Maybe even pay us for it."
Issa nodded. "The Black Sea Pact is similar to the Comintern. They have industry, manpower, and political will to lend it to us. They also have experience fighting the Macedonians which could prove very valuable." He dipped his head and frowned. "However, receiving any aid would be costly. It'd have to be shipped through Iran and reach us by the Red Sea. The Bosporus Straits and Suez Canal have been closed to all of them."
"And I'm sure Macedonia wouldn't react well if they realized what we were doing. It's a good thing they've pulled their ships back from the area," David said, mirroring his minister's expression as he frowned. "Our ports along the Red Sea are underdeveloped. They'd have to be upgraded to handle cargo in any sufficient capacity."
"It's something to keep in mind," Issa nodded, then he raised a finger. "I have heard that they're beginning to standardize their military equipment. That means a surplus of older guns and ammo as they're phased out, and another in newer guns too once all three countries finish retooling their factories. I'm sure they'd even give us a discount."
"Then there's the Arab League. We need close relations with them." David maintained his frown as he leaned forward, resting an elbow on the desk. "However I am concerned by their reactionary politics. Yemen's the only one among them that shares our values."
The Arab League was a loose alliance and economic union consisting of Nejd, Hejaz, Yemen, and Oman. It formed out of mutual defense against Aragon aggression during the crusade. They continued to wage a war of liberation against Levant and Syria, engaging in skirmishes across the border to burn down settler villages. They were short on materials to engage in a full scale invasion and had spent the time since the crusade attempting to build up their armies. Among them only Yemen wasn't an absolute monarchy, or caliphate in Hejaz's case.
Spain had conquered Yemen in the 1870s to use as a naval base, and in the wake of its empire's collapse its collaborator regime was overthrown. The new revolutionary state that rose in its place was led by a Ba'athist inspired party, desiring a pan-Arab socialist republic. That made it strange bedfellows with monarchies that would like to see it crushed once Levant was dealt with, if they had their way.
"They are our closest neighbours, and do require good relations with them if we want to pursue our pan-Arab goals," Issa countered. "They've already offered to let us host the 1921 Arab Congress. It'll be a golden opportunity to forge a closer bond with them and any one else we invite. We can set the tone."
"Tell them we accept it. It'd also be an opportunity to formalize our plans against Macedonia. God willing, we should be more capable by then," David remarked. "What of Maghreb? Any word from them?"
"Nothing more than congratulations. They are observers in the Arab League and may be interested in attending, however for the time being I believe they're preoccupied with Aragon. We can't count on them doing more than letting us move goods through their country," Issa replied.
The two continued speaking of the finer details of the subject before parting.
===
As David closed and locked up his office for the day, he turned and saw the figure of Marcato approaching him down the hall. The governor's stern gaze locked onto him once they made eye contact.
"I see you're leaving, so I won't keep you long. I'll be attending cabinet meetings and thought to extend the courtesy of informing you ahead of time," Marcato politely said, gesturing to the prime minister with his hand. "Rather than appearing without any forewarning."
"A considerate gesture," David neutrally replied, biting back a sarcastic remark. "Should we consider you a minister without portfolio?"
"If that's the term you wish to use for a governor taking an active role in governing, then by all means," Marcato cordially replied. "I won't keep you any longer."
David held back the urge to mutter beneath his breath as the governor walked away. It seemed there would be no dissuading the man from retaining from involving himself in government affairs.
===
The day had come and the cabinet had assembled in the capital. Each minister briefly explained what they had told David over the previous week, repeated for everyone's benefit. Each laid out where they thought money should be allocated and what should be prioritized. David had no doubt that it would take a while to be sorted, but they would not be leaving until it had been ironed out.
They would not fall at the very first hurdle.
===
This is where players decide on what to spend money on and in what order decisions will be made. There are six categories for ministries: Military, Agriculture, Industry, Infrastructure, Education, and Healthcare.
You have three choices regarding each ministry. You may double funding, increase funding, keep it the same, or decrease funding. Ministries that receive funding will build up institutional faster and accomplish their goals better than ones that don't, though ministries whose funding remains the same will slowly but steadily putter along. will putter along. Decreasing funding increases Budget, at the expense of not only stalling institutional growth but possibly regressing it. As the name implies Doubling is doubling down on a ministry, however that costs 2 Budget, while Increase costs 1 Budget. Decrease gives 1 Budget, allowing it to be saved or spent elsewhere. The downside is obvious however.
There will also be another part of the vote about Priority. The first 100 days matter a lot but you don't accomplish everything at once and then sit on your ass the whole time. You can't do everything you want at once. It dictates the order that things get covered in updates, essentially. That's where you make more in depth decisions on the specifics of a ministry's policies. Priority order has a minor affect on the quality of policy decisions too, since lower priority ministries will be dealt with later into the administration, like years later. Investment doesn't equal priority, so it's entirely possible to fund or not fund a ministry but still want to cover it first. Land Reform is one such example. It can be done right away without increased funding, though that may limit options.
You start with a Budget of 4, which comes from a base amount of 3 plus 1 from increasing the price of grain shipments. You may go to zero and even the negatives without major consequence, though the further you go the higher your debt will become. There will be opportunities to gain more money in the future, but also a lot of opportunities to spend said money. Debt will be incurred through bonds, private loans, printing money, etc. You may spend like it's going out of fashion, but if the Budget goes too high into negatives then bad stuff will start to happen. Including possibly being forced to take out a loan from a foreign power.
Foreign Policy is separate from domestic ministries and happens at the same time. Only one bloc may be visited and wooed in person by David Hakim and Hanif Issa per year. Some countries may approach you during that time with their own offers, regardless of the order picked. There may be minor synergy involved, as countries may put in a good word for you with friendly nations down the road.
Voting plans are required. Everything must be included in the same plan. These are not separate votes. There is a 48 hour moratorium to discuss plans as this is a very large and complicated vote that will affect the course of the quest.
Budget: 4
Options for Budget are Double, Increase, Maintain, Decrease.
Options for Foreign Policy are Arab League, Black Sea Pact, Comintern, and Italy.
[ ] Foreign Policy
-[ ] 1
-[ ] 2
-[ ] 3
-[ ] 4
Below is an example plan. It's not valid since it's cut down for demonstration and comedic purposes. Do not write in options that aren't listed above. Otherwise the plan won't be considered valid.
[X] You get the land if you eat the political education
-[X] Budget
--[X] Agriculture
---[X] Double
--[X] Industry
---[X] Increase
--[X] Infrastructure
--[X] Health
---[X] Maintain
--[X] Education
--[X] Military
-[X] Priorities
--[X] 1 Agriculture
--[X] 2 Education
--[X] 3 Infrastructure
--[X] 4 Industry
--[X] 5 Military
--[X] 6 Health
-[X] Foreign Policy
---[X] 1 Comintern
---[X] 2 Arab League
---[X] 3 Black Sea Pact
---[X] 4 Italy
Honestly a part of me wants to put the military in the backburner considering that our immediate priority is to get a surplus and generally fixing society and our sources of income.
Yes you can run it into the negatives without too much issue at first. It's only once debt balloons that it becomes a concern. You also dont need to go into the negatives to get a loan. You could deficit spend the entire time of course. I thought I made that clear in the post itself.
I'm thinking of this. We're not going to get anywhere without literacy, and education is key to good politics. Meanwhile we get the economic improvements going.
I'm thinking of this. We're not going to get anywhere without literacy, and education is key to good politics. Meanwhile we get the economic improvements going.
It should say Same instead of Maintain, but honestly that's a much better word for it so I'm gonna edit that in. The math is all good, so it's valid.
As for Agriculture I got asked about it on Discord, and I hadn't had a chance to reiterate what I said there over her. I'll do so now.
On if your current Agriculture budget can cover land reform. "You can manage, though if you did want to buy back the land you'd need to Double it. Otherwise funding would go towards modernizing agriculture. The details of land reform would be decided once Agriculture is reached under Priorities.
Well you can keep the budget the same and still enact sweeping reforms, since there's a lot of land not controlled by foreigners. Plenty of nobles and local landlords too. Could gut them while avoiding Macedonian held land, but that would basically be giving up cotton production as a source of income."
-[ ] Foreign Policy
--[ ] 1 Comintern
--[ ] 2 Arab League
--[ ] 3 Black Sea Pact
--[ ] 4 Italy
Resulting Budget: -2
Land Reform is the biggest issue we currently face, as without it we won't have enough revenue or manpower to truly build an industrial base to fuel our economy and war machine. Close behind is education, as a 15% literacy rate is abysmal and will greatly restrict our ability to cultivate skilled workers and professionals. The military, industry, and infrastructure follow after, as modernizing them all will take time, and will be reliant on our ability to generate revenue and educate our population. Finally, Healthcare will regretfully have to be left as it is, as unless we're willing to import a large amount of foreign material and expertise, it'll require us to develop our domestic industry and education to far beyond their current states to truly improve things.
Based on that, the overall priorities are largely in line with the budgetary allocation, with the exception of Infrastructure, which has been boosted to second place. This is because regardless of whether we choose to build the hydroelectric dam or a more dispersed project, what happens in Infrastructure will greatly affect how Land Reform goes. So we should make sure to take it early, rather than letting it languish at the bottom of the priority list.
When it comes to Foreign Policy, I chose to start with the Comintern as they are the group most likely to give us support with the least amount of costs, which will be greatly beneficial at this early stage. Following them, the Arab League are our closest neighbors and approaching them right after the Comintern should hopefully mollify the concerns of the Islamists about the Marxists being favored over them. By the time the Black Sea Pact will be approached, we'll have hopefully developed enough industry or revenue to trade for their surplus armaments to outfit our military. Finally, Italy is the least trustworthy Foreign polity in my eyes, so leaving them for last is okay in my book, as we'll have established ourselves well enough by then to avoid becoming their puppet.
Foreign Policy is separate from domestic ministries and happens at the same time. Only one bloc may be visited and wooed in person by David Hakim and Hanif Issa per year. Some countries may approach you during that time with their own offers, regardless of the order picked. There may be minor synergy involved, as countries may put in a good word for you with friendly nations down the road.
Hey Fission, making up a plan here and I got a question about this. When you say "only one bloc may be visited and wooed in person," does that mean we only put down one option on the foreign policy side of our plan or does it simply mean that every option past 1 will just get basic ambassador outreach stuff from our government?
Hey Fission, making up a plan here and I got a question about this. When you say "only one bloc may be visited and wooed in person," does that mean we only put down one option on the foreign policy side of our plan or does it simply mean that every option past 1 will just get basic ambassador outreach stuff from our government?
It says per year, meaning you'll visit each bloc in person over the course of your administration, four years. You can put down only one if you want to ignore the rest, but I know that's not what you want to do.
We are using the Suzerain budget system I see. In the Suzerain budget system, it is generally best to have a modest deficit when building a budget. You cannot really drive massive economic growth with just a balanced budget as you are not spending enough to drive the economy. You have to spend money to make money. Going into much debt will cause problems that will ruin the economy. In Suzerain, a budget deficit of -3 or more was the critical point that triggered a crisis, but it might be different in this quest. Excessive debt can also threaten a country's independence as the history of Egypt shows. A budget surplus is money sitting around doing nothing for the government or the economy. A modest deficit encourages economic growth that will eventually pay for itself and allows some room for the government to borrow some more money for issues that pop up if needed. It is not a good idea to deficit spend at the maximum sustainable amount right away at the start because that would leave no room to deal with either emergencies or great opportunities.
On military spending. Ideally, we would maintain or reduce the military budget so that we could redirect funds to grow a civilian economy that would be able to better sustain a good military. However, it seems that it would politically be difficult for the Prime Minister to justify not increasing the military to the AENC base, there is a rogue Crusader state next door that will pounce on Egypt if we seem weak, and increasing military spending is a good way of making the military more loyal to the AENC so I think we have to at least increase the military budget.
On agriculture spending. Land reform is one of the AENC's big signature promises and one that can be completed relatively quickly. Additionally, agriculture is the main income of the Egyptian state and economy. Effective agricultural modernization and land reform is the best way to improve Egyptian income and pay for later reforms. I think we should bite the bullet and double the budget for agriculture to allow us to do the best possible modernization and land reform.
On Industry and infrastructure spending. Improving these things requires many things and that money Egypt currently lacks. Egypt needs a good education system and agriculture base first before we can industrize effectively. If we try to skip ahead to building meaningful amounts of industry and massive infrastructure projects, we will likely have to resort to taking out massive loans from European powers and that runs the risk falling under foreign influence due to that debt just like Egypt under the Muhammad Ali dynasty OTL. On the other hand, there is a rogue Crusader state next door and industry and infrastructure soon would help.
On Education spending. Education spending is often the target of budget cuts both by Suzerain players and in real life. This is because the negative consequences of education budget cuts do not occur immediately in a dramatic fashion and takes years to fully occur possibly well after the officials who made the cut have left public office. However, the Republic of Sordland in Suzerain has a somewhat modern education system at the start. Budget cuts in education, while not good, would not be an immediate disaster. Egypt's education system is terrible with only about 15% of the populace is literate and the spread of literate Egyptians is uneven with most being urban Copts. The situation is so poor that budget cuts in education would likely be catastrophic. A good education system is required for us to have a modern and free Egypt. We should probably increase the education budget or at least not cut it. Increasing the budget will also allow us to meaningfully enforce the teaching of materials we desire to be taught inside private religious schools. Unfunded mandates should be avoided if we can.
On Healthcare spending. This is the ministry we granted to the CAP. Mina Psoy advises us to maintain the budget and not to cut the budget on healthcare. The advice to maintain and not increase the healthcare budget is probably not given wholly out of a desire to be helpful. Not improving public healthcare would allow the CAP's influence through its control over private Egyptian healthcare to go unchallenged by state-run public hospitals. However, it seems that the small amount of government healthcare and welfare funding that already exists is the glue that connects and keeps together the fragile private Egyptian healthcare and social service system. Cutting the budget here would be disastrous and really anger the CAP. It is probably best that we maintain the current healthcare budget as Psoy advises. It is not a great status quo but it is a status quo most Egyptians are used to and one that the CAP knows how to run effectively.
It says per year, meaning you'll visit each bloc in person over the course of your administration, four years. You can put down only one if you want to ignore the rest, but I know that's not what you want to do.
Gotcha. That's what I figured, but I wanted to make sure so as to not make a mistake when building and justifying my own budget and priorities. Thank you!
[] A Nation Taking Its First Breath
[] Budget
-[] Agriculture
--[] Double
-[] Industry
--[] Increase
-[] Infrastructure
--[] Increase
-[] Health
--[] Increase
-[] Education
--[] Increase
-[] Military
--[] Maintain
[] Priorities
-[] 1 Agriculture
-[] 2 Infrastructure
-[] 3 Industry
-[] 4 Education
-[] 5 Military
-[] 6 Health
[] Foreign Policy
--[] 1 Black Sea Pact
--[] 2 Comintern
--[] 3 Arab League
--[] 4 Italy
Final Budget -2
I feel like with how fucked everything is the only that one that seems marginally able to hold the front is the military. The black sea pact is chosen as a net "neutral" compromise on our internal situation and feels closer to home.
It should say Same instead of Maintain, but honestly that's a much better word for it so I'm gonna edit that in. The math is all good, so it's valid.
As for Agriculture I got asked about it on Discord, and I hadn't had a chance to reiterate what I said there over her. I'll do so now.
On if your current Agriculture budget can cover land reform. "You can manage, though if you did want to buy back the land you'd need to Double it. Otherwise funding would go towards modernizing agriculture. The details of land reform would be decided once Agriculture is reached under Priorities.
Well you can keep the budget the same and still enact sweeping reforms, since there's a lot of land not controlled by foreigners. Plenty of nobles and local landlords too. Could gut them while avoiding Macedonian held land, but that would basically be giving up cotton production as a source of income."
So I'd need double to get the Macedonians out with their cash, huh. Yeah that's something to consider so that we can wash our hands of them.
[] You get the land if you eat the political education
-[] Budget
--[] Agriculture
---[] Double
--[] Industry
---[] Increase
--[] Infrastructure
---[] Increase
--[] Health
---[] Maintain
--[] Education
---[] Double
--[] Military
---[] Maintain
-[] Priorities
--[] 1 Agriculture
--[] 2 Education
--[] 3 Infrastructure
--[] 4 Industry
--[] 5 Military
--[] 6 Health
-[] Foreign Policy
---[] 1 Comintern
---[] 2 Arab League
---[] 3 Black Sea Pact
---[] 4 Italy
We go for all the agriculture to get land reform done with, and all the education to try bringing literacy and political thought to the countryside to secure our rule and a population able to develop further. We're trusting our CAP minister on healthcare being okay at maintain for a turn.
Foreign policy wise, I'm not a fan of the Black Sea Pact, both logistically and ideologically. The Arab League is also ideologically terrible, but we share enemies and we might be able to pry Yemen from the monarchies into an Arab Socialist block of the future. The Comintern has both the ideology and the economy to help us, and I really don't mind the alignment. This is going to spook people but once we're done with land reform we can go into military spending and they'll probably help us modernize that too. Probably the only backer that could really give us the means to get the canal.
Budget is in the red but that's fine, we're going to need some of that loan money to get going.
Wouldn't going to the Comintern spook a bunch of people in Egypt and Macedonia? Egypt isn't a fully independent country yet. Perhaps it would be better to approach another bloc first and visit the Comintern second?
I feel we should first go to the Arab League. They would make good places to export grain to as a favored trader, as well set up the foundation for the Arab Congresses (which is time-sensitive) as mentioned in the chapter. It would also ameliorate the more Islamist side of our coalition from all the Leftist policy we plan to implement. ComIntern should come either second or third, depending on how our priorities on land reform and industry end up since that would affect on what playing field we can negotiate with them and with Italy.
I feel we should first go to the Arab League. They would make good places to export grain to as a favored trader, as well set up the foundation for the Arab Congresses (which is time-sensitive) as mentioned in the chapter. It would also ameliorate the more Islamist side of our coalition from all the Leftist policy we plan to implement. ComIntern should come either second or third, depending on how our priorities on land reform and industry end up since that would affect on what playing field we can negotiate with them and with Italy.
Looks good to me. Since we are ordering this by which year we visit them respectively, I think that will also go along nicely with the pace of our reforms starting to take effect and how it can bring us new weight to our words in leaving Italy and Black Sea Pact for the later two years.
We are using the Suzerain budget system I see. In the Suzerain budget system, it is generally best to have a modest deficit when building a budget. You cannot really drive massive economic growth with just a balanced budget as you are not spending enough to drive the economy. You have to spend money to make money. Going into much debt will cause problems that will ruin the economy. In Suzerain, a budget deficit of -3 or more was the critical point that triggered a crisis, but it might be different in this quest. Excessive debt can also threaten a country's independence as the history of Egypt shows. A budget surplus is money sitting around doing nothing for the government or the economy. A modest deficit encourages economic growth that will eventually pay for itself and allows some room for the government to borrow some more money for issues that pop up if needed. It is not a good idea to deficit spend at the maximum sustainable amount right away at the start because that would leave no room to deal with either emergencies or great opportunities.
Yeah I'm taking a lot of inspiration from Suzerain, including the Budget system. It's a very nice simplification for handling that issue. There's more leeway here than in the game, so reaching -3 won't automatically trigger a massive recession. It also depends on how the money is spent too that matters. If a significant portion of your budget goes off to paying off foreign debt and landlords, well that's money leaving the country instead of stimulating it.
On Education spending. Education spending is often the target of budget cuts both by Suzerain players and in real life. This is because the negative consequences of education budget cuts do not occur immediately in a dramatic fashion and takes years to fully occur possibly well after the officials who made the cut have left public office. However, the Republic of Sordland in Suzerain has a somewhat modern education system at the start. Budget cuts in education, while not good, would not be an immediate disaster. Egypt's education system is terrible with only about 15% of the populace is literate and the spread of literate Egyptians is uneven with most being urban Copts.
The best part is 15% is better than Egypt's literacy rate in real life around this time. That's to represent the king's modernization attempts before they were cut short and ended, which were getting off the ground much faster and better than they did in real life. Unfortunately colonial rule gutted what had previously been put in place and whatever's left atrophied.
Also the Islamists will remember the education deal you made with the Copts. They may expect similar concessions.
On Healthcare spending. This is the ministry we granted to the CAP. Mina Psoy advises us to maintain the budget and not to cut the budget on healthcare. The advice to maintain and not increase the healthcare budget is probably not given wholly out of a desire to be helpful. Not improving public healthcare would allow the CAP's influence through its control over private Egyptian healthcare to go unchallenged by state-run public hospitals.
There is another element with Psoy I feel I can share. He felt asking for an increase in budget while things were holding together would be seen as him demanding for more resources and didn't want to risk upsetting the cabinet. It may let the CAP continue doing what they're doing, for sure, but it is him trying to avoid stepping on anyone else's toes. If others believe Healthcare needs an increase, then he would gladly accept it. It's a gesture to show he's trying to deal in good faith.
So I'd need double to get the Macedonians out with their cash, huh. Yeah that's something to consider so that we can wash our hands of them.
Foreign policy wise, I'm not a fan of the Black Sea Pact, both logistically and ideologically. The Arab League is also ideologically terrible, but we share enemies and we might be able to pry Yemen from the monarchies into an Arab Socialist block of the future. The Comintern has both the ideology and the economy to help us, and I really don't mind the alignment. This is going to spook people but once we're done with land reform we can go into military spending and they'll probably help us modernize that too. Probably the only backer that could really give us the means to get the canal.
There will be interesting options opened up if closer ties are pursued with Yemen in particular and if certain decisions made regarding the Arab Congress when the time comes.
The Black Sea Pact is somewhat ideologically diverse. Turkey is communist, Iran is republic currently ruled by a socialist coalition, and Tatarstan is a constitutional monarchy under a vaguely left leaning government. They're still tightly held together, despite Turkey's revolution. Chairman Hassan has currently decided to pursue closer relations with the pact and a military first policy to go alongside it. They're basically preparing for The Great Patriotic War since as far as they're concerned when the Christian League comes for them again there's no third chance. It's do or die. If they fall Poland and Macedonia will conquer and settle their lands, turning their people into second class citizens. Iran would survive but weakened, without allies, and bordered by multiple enemies. The Christian League doesn't have genocidal intentions like the Nazis, though that's little comfort for colonized peoples.
If nothing else, the Black Sea Pact is preparing to throw millions of men into a meatgrinder for the sake of survival.
I feel we should first go to the Arab League. They would make good places to export grain to as a favored trader, as well set up the foundation for the Arab Congresses (which is time-sensitive) as mentioned in the chapter. It would also ameliorate the more Islamist side of our coalition from all the Leftist policy we plan to implement. ComIntern should come either second or third, depending on how our priorities on land reform and industry end up since that would affect on what playing field we can negotiate with them and with Italy.
The Arab Congress will take place in Spring, 1921, essentially at the end of your term. Unless you decide to snub a bloc, you'll get a chance to visit each of them before the time comes. I don't think I'll end the quest there. I'll see how I feel after making it to that point, but I'd be open to switching up the format to something more in line with Weygand's Red Flag Flies style with larger time skips covering the an entire administration in split between domestic and foreign updates. We'll see. I don't want to promise anything yet. I do love the idea of continuing to play with whatever end state you guys reach.
There will be interesting options opened up if closer ties are pursued with Yemen in particular and if certain decisions made regarding the Arab Congress when the time comes.
The Black Sea Pact is somewhat ideologically diverse. Turkey is communist, Iran is republic currently ruled by a socialist coalition, and Tatarstan is a constitutional monarchy under a vaguely left leaning government. They're still tightly held together, despite Turkey's revolution. Chairman Hassan has currently decided to pursue closer relations with the pact and a military first policy to go alongside it. They're basically preparing for The Great Patriotic War since as far as they're concerned when the Christian League comes for them again there's no third chance. It's do or die. If they fall Poland and Macedonia will conquer and settle their lands, turning their people into second class citizens. Iran would survive but weakened, without allies, and bordered by multiple enemies. The Christian League doesn't have genocidal intentions like the Nazis, though that's little comfort for colonized peoples.
If nothing else, the Black Sea Pact is preparing to throw millions of men into a meatgrinder for the sake of survival.
Ah, I wasn't clear who they were. I'll edit to bring them up a little, though I still think the industrialized comintern is more likely to help us with what we need for now.
I'm not too hot on Arab League first because I think Yemen is the only member we really want to stick with long term. And we really really need some kind of economic investment, which none of them can provide.
The Black Sea Pact is cooler than I thought but they're also, well, in the Black Sea. Macedonia is in the direct path of trade, this is less than ideal. The arm surplus makes them a good partner if we want to go for a large military, but that seems foolish.
