The 1881 Election Results
The dominance of the left-wing coalition that had dominated politics for so long was threatened, however minimally, this year. A strong base of support from their municipal governments was seized upon by the powerful Freedmen's Party machine, bolstered by a policy platform focused on peaceful internationalism and universal prosperity. With the newspapers full of reports of blood and death in the inter-monarch conflict, the majority of people wished to stay well away from such a conflagration, and their voting choices reflected it.
However, the powerful industrial base of the Socialist Party and their allies was enough to secure yet another victory for the coalition and the continuation of their efforts to transition to full socialism.
The Des Moines Alliance was tightened, with a full customs union established, simplifying trade. The slow approach had allowed for measures to be taken by various parties, including subsidies for vital industries in each nation, keeping a key core of the production of vital goods in each nation, including Haiti as much as feasible. And the timing was perhaps fortuitous, for the outbreak of war in Europe had seen many of the major trading partners of the Worker's Republic and Freedmen's Republic vanish, creating a noticeable dip in the economies of both nations.
Fortunately, strong welfare in both states insulated many from the worst of the impacts, and the many valuable goods produced in both such as high-quality steel tools and medicine were still eagerly sought after (the British were making a killing selling to both sides, attempting to maintain neutrality while taking advantage of the distraction of their imperial rivals).
Legislation to take advantage of this economic shift was passed, directing the Social Planning Committee to commit additional funding to a series of enterprises. The pharmaceutical complex of the Freedmen's Republic was expanded, becoming one of the most significant single industries in the nation, with thousands of workers employed in dozens of factories making every conceivable type of medicine. While antibiotics were the most common product, the chemical works also produced anesthesia, pain medication, and dietary supplements, and excitement for the prospect of vaccine expansion was growing among many. There was even speculation about the use of plants from distant Brazil to combat malaria.
The cutting edge engines of the Freedmen's Republic saw additional investment. After years of work, mass-produced diesel engines, powered by the black gold produced in Texas and Sequoyah, were created. The new trucks and tractors were far more potent than the previous generations, and there was even speculation about using them in trains. And several massive engines were ordered for the use of the Navy.
The same Navy that was significantly expanding its infrastructure. While much of the new construction, such as deeply dredged ports and the expansion of rail networks around them, was primarily intended for civilian use, ten massive slips built for ships larger than any on the ocean were created, much to the alarm of those Europeans paying attention. Another run of small ships was established, more for the purpose of increasing the amount of personnel who had experience aboard the ship in the hopes of establishing a tradition.
The next major legislation passed was an implementation of a package of laws designed to clamp down on corruption and reform the justice system. Legal protections for whistleblowers were strengthened, whether the alarm was coming from within the government, an enterprise, or the few private businesses that still existed. For the professional, official anti-corruption agents, standards were raised, training extended, and with the increased requirements came increased wages. Coming with it were new regulations designed to reduce the cruelty inherent in common punitive measures such as imprisonment, with the goal being to reduce the rates of recidivism and make a healthier society.
The justice system was divided into two sections - one for crimes of a political nature, mostly seen in Texas, and one for regular crimes. Political criminals were to be educated, to be exposed to the realities of life under transitional socialism and cultivated into willing converts. Regular criminals were to be rehabilitated, to be taught how to control the urges that led to harm and encouraged to offer recompense to their victims. Combined with an extension of the ongoing anti-poverty campaign, the hope was to make the streets and open fields of the Republic vastly safer.
Such a program was not without controversy, especially when the first cases of violence entered the new court systems.
The last and largest piece of legislation was a grand omnibus bill devoted to continued support for "valiant comrades and oppressed workers throughout the world." Taking the form of joint military exercises, with Haiti joining in for the first time, adding their tiny army to the well-equipped regiments of the army, the final kinks in coordination between the four armies were ironed out, while the grand affair that such a major exercise inevitably was also provided an excuse for transfer of personnel between various spy agencies and the International's organizations, which were heavily focused in Europe, propagandizing against the war and building on existing labor organizations. The Turtle Island Confederacy had strong connections to the south and west - Mexican revolutionaries were being sheltered within their borders, and pinprick raids along Pacifica were being used to gather intelligence and distribute equipment. The Worker's Republic had allies within the underground Canadian labor movement. And you contribute with knowledge of going-ons in Africa.
All the organizations are being expanded, with investments in funding and a growing increase in institutional skill, including the establishment of front organizations pretending to be American emigres in Brazil that are being used to make contact with the indigenous resistance organizations, the nascent labor unions, and the increasingly restive slave populations.
And a propaganda campaign was begun, focusing on the plight of countless oppressed peoples and linking it to the struggles of the Freedmen's Republic, from the continuation of slavery in Brazil to the wholesale looting of Africa by the British Empire.
As part of this program, to emphasize the international character of the Republic and its allies, adult schools were funded and outreach to immigration was sponsored. It proved especially effective in Ireland, in the north German states, and in Russia, to the point where the latter two forbade immigration of military-aged men in order to maintain their supply of young men to feed into slaughter.
Both the Socialist Party and the Socialist Worker's Party took pride in helping organize those campaigns and schools, winning themselves many new members from the immigrants, some of whom began organizing campaigns to add Irish to the languages taught in schools and create a translation of the bible into Irish.
The International Revolutionary Party, meanwhile, sponsored programs introducing women to the Navy (they were required to be on separate ships from men, out of concern for discipline and pregnancy, but were officially equal in all respects otherwise) and sponsoring shooting clubs and training camps that proved popular, especially among the urban youth who enjoyed them as much as a chance to go out into nature as anything else.
While their rival parties focused on immigrants, the Freedmen's Party led the charge to finally eliminate illiteracy, using their extensive political machine and grassroots network to ensure everywhere was reached, from the most isolated hamlet to the heart of the biggest city. They even crossed borders to teach people to read in English, Spanish, and other languages, and crossed borders politically, successfully establishing sister parties in other members of the Alliance and even beyond.
And the Radical Republicans, increasingly irrelevant, built endless internal party structures in an attempt to pursue purity and printed propaganda no one read.
Foreign Affairs
The undeclared war in Brazil has escalated. Support from the DMA has seen the natives grow increasingly well-armed, and the government has been forced to send in several detachments that normally patrol for escaped slaves and help suppress plantation revolts into the Amazon to reinforce depleted formations. Elements of the government are agitating for conscription to help fill out numbers, while others are entertaining British offers of a loan.
The Argentinian government, meanwhile, has seen an opportunity and sent a proposal to you. They are interested in a joint war, using the violence in the Amazon as a justification.
Their proposal is:
They receive economic concessions and technology transfers from you. In exchange, they will allow you to position troops and use their ports as a naval base and invade Brazil alongside you with the aim of forcing them to abolish slavery, give up the Amazon, and offer territorial concessions to Argentina alongside the deals they want from you.
Mexico is similarly in an unstable position. The conflict in the Yucatan is now being called the Caste War, indigenous peoples in the northwest have risen in revolt, and there are riots in the cities over conscription and an economic downturn caused by the war.
Great Britain is actively seeking to secure strategic river mouths, ports, and other vital points all along the continent. They have also secured hegemony over the horn of Africa and Egypt through networks of local aristocrats and garrisons and are currently faced with ongoing fighting in the south, with the Zulu defeating two small British expeditions and unrest among the Boers reaching a breaking point. However, even with this conflict they are active elsewhere. Most notably, they have purchased Cuba from Spain and begun offering loans and investments to several Latin American nations.
Finally, the Franco-Prussian war has continued. Bavaria is occupied by Prussian troops, and Austria-Hungary has faced several stinging defeats. Russia has been sending vast numbers of poorly-equipped peasant conscripts into battle, effectively throwing them into the fight in order to allow well-drilled Prussian troops and artillery to maneuver about the fight and secure victory, but Prussia is fighting on two fronts and French troops have successfully entered the Rhineland, although they have since bogged down around Essen and Cologne.
Also, Haiti has sought formal entrance into the Des Moines Alliance. They will almost certainly be let in, unless the next government objects.
Popular Sentiment
We must support our allies to the south! Onwards to Mexico City! (Medium)
We must not ignite a war and shed our blood on foreign fields. (Low)
Women can probably sail a ship as well as men...but why do they need to? (Low)
It's amazing seeing a government that's taking such care to keep everyone healthy and happy. (High)
I think there are some crimes that are being forgiven too easily. (Medium)
All this new technology is wonderful! The sky is the limit! (Medium)
Each platform may have five legislative planks and two non-legislative planks. In addition, you may also list who you wish to have or not have as a coalition partner. Finally, each party has an Ideology. One legislative plank must match this ideology. Planks which go against an Ideology will damage Discipline, and possibly divide the party into two new ones.
The ideologies are Centralized Worker's Democracy and Develop Productive Forces(Socialist Party), Justice for the Oppressed and Develop Productive Forces (Socialist Worker's Party), Carry the Struggle Onward and Develop Productive Forces(International Revolutionary Party), Peace and Prosperity (Freedmen's Party), and Preserve Our Privilege (Radical Republican Party).
Platforms should be voted for in this format:
[] [Party Name] Plan name
-[] Plank 1
-[] Plank 2
-[] Plank 3
-[] Plank 4
-[] Plank 5
-[] Non-legislative plank 1
-[] Non-legislative plank 2
-[] Coalitions
You may vote for multiple plans, but only for one party.
However, the powerful industrial base of the Socialist Party and their allies was enough to secure yet another victory for the coalition and the continuation of their efforts to transition to full socialism.
The Des Moines Alliance was tightened, with a full customs union established, simplifying trade. The slow approach had allowed for measures to be taken by various parties, including subsidies for vital industries in each nation, keeping a key core of the production of vital goods in each nation, including Haiti as much as feasible. And the timing was perhaps fortuitous, for the outbreak of war in Europe had seen many of the major trading partners of the Worker's Republic and Freedmen's Republic vanish, creating a noticeable dip in the economies of both nations.
Fortunately, strong welfare in both states insulated many from the worst of the impacts, and the many valuable goods produced in both such as high-quality steel tools and medicine were still eagerly sought after (the British were making a killing selling to both sides, attempting to maintain neutrality while taking advantage of the distraction of their imperial rivals).
Legislation to take advantage of this economic shift was passed, directing the Social Planning Committee to commit additional funding to a series of enterprises. The pharmaceutical complex of the Freedmen's Republic was expanded, becoming one of the most significant single industries in the nation, with thousands of workers employed in dozens of factories making every conceivable type of medicine. While antibiotics were the most common product, the chemical works also produced anesthesia, pain medication, and dietary supplements, and excitement for the prospect of vaccine expansion was growing among many. There was even speculation about the use of plants from distant Brazil to combat malaria.
The cutting edge engines of the Freedmen's Republic saw additional investment. After years of work, mass-produced diesel engines, powered by the black gold produced in Texas and Sequoyah, were created. The new trucks and tractors were far more potent than the previous generations, and there was even speculation about using them in trains. And several massive engines were ordered for the use of the Navy.
The same Navy that was significantly expanding its infrastructure. While much of the new construction, such as deeply dredged ports and the expansion of rail networks around them, was primarily intended for civilian use, ten massive slips built for ships larger than any on the ocean were created, much to the alarm of those Europeans paying attention. Another run of small ships was established, more for the purpose of increasing the amount of personnel who had experience aboard the ship in the hopes of establishing a tradition.
The next major legislation passed was an implementation of a package of laws designed to clamp down on corruption and reform the justice system. Legal protections for whistleblowers were strengthened, whether the alarm was coming from within the government, an enterprise, or the few private businesses that still existed. For the professional, official anti-corruption agents, standards were raised, training extended, and with the increased requirements came increased wages. Coming with it were new regulations designed to reduce the cruelty inherent in common punitive measures such as imprisonment, with the goal being to reduce the rates of recidivism and make a healthier society.
The justice system was divided into two sections - one for crimes of a political nature, mostly seen in Texas, and one for regular crimes. Political criminals were to be educated, to be exposed to the realities of life under transitional socialism and cultivated into willing converts. Regular criminals were to be rehabilitated, to be taught how to control the urges that led to harm and encouraged to offer recompense to their victims. Combined with an extension of the ongoing anti-poverty campaign, the hope was to make the streets and open fields of the Republic vastly safer.
Such a program was not without controversy, especially when the first cases of violence entered the new court systems.
The last and largest piece of legislation was a grand omnibus bill devoted to continued support for "valiant comrades and oppressed workers throughout the world." Taking the form of joint military exercises, with Haiti joining in for the first time, adding their tiny army to the well-equipped regiments of the army, the final kinks in coordination between the four armies were ironed out, while the grand affair that such a major exercise inevitably was also provided an excuse for transfer of personnel between various spy agencies and the International's organizations, which were heavily focused in Europe, propagandizing against the war and building on existing labor organizations. The Turtle Island Confederacy had strong connections to the south and west - Mexican revolutionaries were being sheltered within their borders, and pinprick raids along Pacifica were being used to gather intelligence and distribute equipment. The Worker's Republic had allies within the underground Canadian labor movement. And you contribute with knowledge of going-ons in Africa.
All the organizations are being expanded, with investments in funding and a growing increase in institutional skill, including the establishment of front organizations pretending to be American emigres in Brazil that are being used to make contact with the indigenous resistance organizations, the nascent labor unions, and the increasingly restive slave populations.
And a propaganda campaign was begun, focusing on the plight of countless oppressed peoples and linking it to the struggles of the Freedmen's Republic, from the continuation of slavery in Brazil to the wholesale looting of Africa by the British Empire.
As part of this program, to emphasize the international character of the Republic and its allies, adult schools were funded and outreach to immigration was sponsored. It proved especially effective in Ireland, in the north German states, and in Russia, to the point where the latter two forbade immigration of military-aged men in order to maintain their supply of young men to feed into slaughter.
Both the Socialist Party and the Socialist Worker's Party took pride in helping organize those campaigns and schools, winning themselves many new members from the immigrants, some of whom began organizing campaigns to add Irish to the languages taught in schools and create a translation of the bible into Irish.
The International Revolutionary Party, meanwhile, sponsored programs introducing women to the Navy (they were required to be on separate ships from men, out of concern for discipline and pregnancy, but were officially equal in all respects otherwise) and sponsoring shooting clubs and training camps that proved popular, especially among the urban youth who enjoyed them as much as a chance to go out into nature as anything else.
While their rival parties focused on immigrants, the Freedmen's Party led the charge to finally eliminate illiteracy, using their extensive political machine and grassroots network to ensure everywhere was reached, from the most isolated hamlet to the heart of the biggest city. They even crossed borders to teach people to read in English, Spanish, and other languages, and crossed borders politically, successfully establishing sister parties in other members of the Alliance and even beyond.
And the Radical Republicans, increasingly irrelevant, built endless internal party structures in an attempt to pursue purity and printed propaganda no one read.
Foreign Affairs
The undeclared war in Brazil has escalated. Support from the DMA has seen the natives grow increasingly well-armed, and the government has been forced to send in several detachments that normally patrol for escaped slaves and help suppress plantation revolts into the Amazon to reinforce depleted formations. Elements of the government are agitating for conscription to help fill out numbers, while others are entertaining British offers of a loan.
The Argentinian government, meanwhile, has seen an opportunity and sent a proposal to you. They are interested in a joint war, using the violence in the Amazon as a justification.
Their proposal is:
They receive economic concessions and technology transfers from you. In exchange, they will allow you to position troops and use their ports as a naval base and invade Brazil alongside you with the aim of forcing them to abolish slavery, give up the Amazon, and offer territorial concessions to Argentina alongside the deals they want from you.
Mexico is similarly in an unstable position. The conflict in the Yucatan is now being called the Caste War, indigenous peoples in the northwest have risen in revolt, and there are riots in the cities over conscription and an economic downturn caused by the war.
Great Britain is actively seeking to secure strategic river mouths, ports, and other vital points all along the continent. They have also secured hegemony over the horn of Africa and Egypt through networks of local aristocrats and garrisons and are currently faced with ongoing fighting in the south, with the Zulu defeating two small British expeditions and unrest among the Boers reaching a breaking point. However, even with this conflict they are active elsewhere. Most notably, they have purchased Cuba from Spain and begun offering loans and investments to several Latin American nations.
Finally, the Franco-Prussian war has continued. Bavaria is occupied by Prussian troops, and Austria-Hungary has faced several stinging defeats. Russia has been sending vast numbers of poorly-equipped peasant conscripts into battle, effectively throwing them into the fight in order to allow well-drilled Prussian troops and artillery to maneuver about the fight and secure victory, but Prussia is fighting on two fronts and French troops have successfully entered the Rhineland, although they have since bogged down around Essen and Cologne.
Also, Haiti has sought formal entrance into the Des Moines Alliance. They will almost certainly be let in, unless the next government objects.
Popular Sentiment
We must support our allies to the south! Onwards to Mexico City! (Medium)
We must not ignite a war and shed our blood on foreign fields. (Low)
Women can probably sail a ship as well as men...but why do they need to? (Low)
It's amazing seeing a government that's taking such care to keep everyone healthy and happy. (High)
I think there are some crimes that are being forgiven too easily. (Medium)
All this new technology is wonderful! The sky is the limit! (Medium)
Each platform may have five legislative planks and two non-legislative planks. In addition, you may also list who you wish to have or not have as a coalition partner. Finally, each party has an Ideology. One legislative plank must match this ideology. Planks which go against an Ideology will damage Discipline, and possibly divide the party into two new ones.
The ideologies are Centralized Worker's Democracy and Develop Productive Forces(Socialist Party), Justice for the Oppressed and Develop Productive Forces (Socialist Worker's Party), Carry the Struggle Onward and Develop Productive Forces(International Revolutionary Party), Peace and Prosperity (Freedmen's Party), and Preserve Our Privilege (Radical Republican Party).
Platforms should be voted for in this format:
[] [Party Name] Plan name
-[] Plank 1
-[] Plank 2
-[] Plank 3
-[] Plank 4
-[] Plank 5
-[] Non-legislative plank 1
-[] Non-legislative plank 2
-[] Coalitions
You may vote for multiple plans, but only for one party.
