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Springtime of Nations II: A European Republic Quest

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The German Republic in 1887
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    • The German Republic in 1887​

    Government
    Government Type: Parliamentary Republic
    Governing Document: Constitution of 1880
    Head of Government: High Commissioner Erich Mueller (Vanguard Communists)
    Head of State: Chief Representative Viktor Schmidt (Social Radicals)
    Legislative Majority: Sunrise Coalition (VC-SR-AS-CS-PI-RR)

    Demographics
    Population: 48.31 million (39.61 million eligible voters)
    Population Growth: 3.1%
    Cultures: German, Polish, Danish, Sorbian, Ruthenian, Other
    Religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism

    Social Reforms
    Basic Income: Minimal
    Minimum Wage: Adequate
    Work Safety: Adequate
    Work Hours: 40-Hour Week
    Healthcare: Adequate
    Pensions: Adequate
    Unemployment: Adequate
    Childcare: Adequate
    Retirement: Adequate
    Child Labor: Banned

    Foreign Affairs
    War and Peace: N/A
    Alliances: Spain
    Defensive Pacts: N/A
    Military Agreements: Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Spain
    Naval Agreements: United Kingdom
    Trade Agreements: United States, China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Persia, Siam, Mexico, Central America, Argentina, Peru-Bolivia

    War
    Landwehr
    Type: Combined Army
    Training: Adequate
    Quantity: Medium
    Equipment: Adequate
    Morale: Adequate

    National Gendarmerie
    Type: National Guard
    Training: High
    Quantity: Small
    Equipment: High
    Morale: High

    Marinewehr
    Type: Brown-Water Navy
    Training: Low
    Quantity: Tiny
    Equipment: Low
    Morale: Adequate

    Infrastructure
    Fort Quality: Low
    Fort Quantity: Low
    Seaport Quality: Adequate
    Seaport Quantity: Large

    Interior
    National Stability: Medium
    Police Quality: Low
    Police Quantity: Medium

    Finance
    Treasury: Low
    Debt Ratio: Low
    Credit Ratio: Medium
    Tax Income: High
    Tariff Income: High
    Principal Creditors: Britain (Large), Domestic (Large), Other (Tiny)
    Principal Debtors: Domestic (Huge)

    Commerce
    Economic Output: High
    Economic Growth: Booming
    Economic Activity: Agriculture (High), Industry (High), Trade (Medium), Finance (Medium), Services (Medium)
    Economic Ownership: Co-Operative (High), Single-Family (Medium), Public (Low)
    Commercial Output: High
    Commercial Growth: Booming
    Trade Partners: America [mixed] (High), Other [exports] (Medium), Britain [mixed] (Low), France [mixed] (Low)

    Public Works
    Roads and Canals: Adequate
    Railroads: Adequate
    Public Utilities: Adequate

    Education
    Literacy Rate: 83%
    Literacy Growth: Adequate
    Education Quality: Adequate

    Stats
    [None/Critical/Tiny/Minimal] / [Low/Small/High] / [Adequate/Medium] / [High/Large/Low] / [Ideal/Huge/Booming/Maximum]
    Stats in bold are improving, stats in italics are declining.
     
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    CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887​

    The following is an account of events provided to the National Assembly by the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Police, the National Gendarmerie, and the Commission for External Relations. These events are related from the perspective of the participants and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or biased.


    April 13: Wilhelm Schnäbele, inspector of police for the Bas-Rhin department of Alsace, arrives in Luxemburg via the Luxemburg-Metz railway. The purpose of his stay in Germany is to attend the International Conference on Policing held in Frankfurt-Darmstadt. Rather than proceed directly to Frankfurt, he arrives early, with intended stops in Luxemburg and Saarbrücken.

    April 15: The National Gendarmerie detachment in Luxemburg observes Schnäbele meeting with members of the local Landwehr, some of whom are under suspicion of cross-border smuggling. Schnäbele is placed under surveillance. Later reports indicate that these soldiers are distant relatives of Schnäbele's.

    April 16: Schnäbele arrives in Saarbrücken. He spends the day touring the city and meeting with friends.

    April 17: Schnäbele arrives in Frankfurt and registers for the conference. En route to his hotel, he is detained by members of the National Gendarmerie. He declines to be interviewed and is held in secure quarters.

    April 18: The scheduled start date of the police conference.

    April 21: French newspapers publish a report that a French police inspector has been detained while in Germany on official business. The French government sends an official communique to the Commission for External Relations requesting information, clarification, and the release of their official.

    April 22: French Minister of War Georges Ernest Boulanger puts forward a bill in the Senate authorizing the Emperor to take all appropriate measures, including a declaration of war, if Schnäbele is not promptly released. This bill passes, but the subsequent bill to endorse the mobilization of several army corps does not. Napoleon IV does not take immediate action, instead waiting on further diplomacy.

    April 23: The Commission for External Relations transmits details of the accusations against Schnäbele to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs but does not indicate its intentions regarding Schnäbele's disposition. The Quai d'Orsay reiterates its request that Schnäbele be released.

    April 24: The National Gendarmerie concludes its investigation and transmits its report to the National Assembly. They allege that Schnäbele was engaged in a clandestine operation designed to assess German border fortifications and military readiness, as well as make contact with corrupt soldiers of the Landwehr, in preparation for future Entente military action. They recommend that he be hanged as a spy.

    Later that day, Boulanger makes a speech before the Senate calling upon the Emperor to declare war, thereby avenging the slight to France, repairing the wound caused by the theft of Luxembourg, and putting paid to the German threat once and for all. This demand is echoed by calls in the French popular press, where Boulanger is dubbed both a hero and an avenger of France's besmirched honor.


    What is to be done?

    [] Release Schnäbele with a full apology.
    The implicit agreement between nations is that foreign nationals traveling to other countries on official business are granted diplomatic protections. Regardless of the circumstances, if that unwritten tradition is to be honored, he must be released and offered an apology.

    EFFECT: Crisis averted. Minor negative impact on national stability. France will likely be mollified and its war-hawks defanged. Relations with France and the Entente will improve.

    [] Release Schnäbele, but insist upon his guilt.
    While diplomatic niceties must be respected, there's no reason to be timid about it. Indicate that the release is purely for reasons of state, ban him from re-entering the country, and impose additional scrutiny on any future visits by French officials.

    EFFECT: Crisis averted. Minor positive impact on national stability. France will likely swallow the insult, but its war-hawks will be moderately strengthened. Relations with France and the Entente mostly unaffected.

    [] Hold Schnäbele pending further discussions.
    There is clearly tension between the Emperor and his Minister of War, and that tension could be useful. Delay a final decision on Schnäbele to allow the government to formulate a set of demands, or even just to let France's internal pressures continue to develop.

    EFFECT: Crisis continues. Minor negative impact on national stability. France may or may not declare war and the French war-hawks will be greatly strengthened. Relations with the Entente will decline. Unpredictable further potential consequences with the Entente.

    [] Hang Schnäbele as a spy.
    The Gendarmerie's evidence is compelling and not even a diplomatic cover is grounds for ignoring blatant acts of espionage. Try him, hang him, and be damned to France, its hawks, and its Emperor.

    EFFECT: Crisis continues. Unpredictable impact on national stability. France will almost certainly declare war and the French war-hawks will be in the ascendant. The rest of the Entente may or may not intercede.


    Voting will begin immediately and end in 24 hours. Please vote for ONE option. If a single option fails to secure a majority of the vote, we will move to a run-off between the top two choices. If there's any ambiguity in which choices are to be selected, I will favor those options which are least provocative.
     
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887 - Decision Point
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    • What is to be done?

    [] Release Schnäbele with a full apology.
    The implicit agreement between nations is that foreign nationals traveling to other countries on official business are granted diplomatic protections. Regardless of the circumstances, if that unwritten tradition is to be honored, he must be released and offered an apology.

    EFFECT: Crisis averted. Minor negative impact on national stability. France will likely be mollified and its war-hawks defanged. Relations with France and the Entente will improve.

    [] Hold Schnäbele pending further discussions.
    There is clearly tension between the Emperor and his Minister of War, and that tension could be useful. Delay a final decision on Schnäbele to allow the government to formulate a set of demands, or even just to let France's internal pressures continue to develop.

    EFFECT: Crisis continues. Minor negative impact on national stability. France may or may not declare war and the French war-hawks will be greatly strengthened. Relations with the Entente will decline. Unpredictable further potential consequences with the Entente.


    I'll leave this open for 12 hours, with an option for a further 12-hour extension if the votes are still coming in by then. Pick ONE option from the two provided. Please remember to be civil and thoughtful in your rhetoric at all times. Thank you.
     
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    • Scheduled vote count started by Etranger on May 22, 2023 at 11:22 AM, finished with 144 posts and 105 votes.
    Click to expand...
     
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887, Continued
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887, Continued​

    All information made known to the National Assembly save its own deliberations is derived from reports provided by the Frankfurt-Darmstadt Police, the National Gendarmerie, and the Commission for External Relations. These reports are related from the perspective of the participants and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or biased.


    April 25: Following a bitterly contentious vote in the National Assembly, in which even the normally marginalized seven-member Moderate Democrats are mobilized to lend their support, a slim majority emerges in favor of a plan: don't try Schnäbele, but don't release him, either. Then, or so the theory goes, the internal tensions exhibited by the French can further develop, and the Assembly can make a decision with more information.

    The next day, the National Gendarmes issue a confidential report to the Assembly, supplementing their earlier findings. They conclude that Schnäbele's relatives in Luxemburg have confessed to cross-border smuggling and misappropriation of military goods, but either cannot or will not implicate Schnäbele himself in any plot, nor will they confess to their own involvement in any sort of treason. Schnäbele's friends in the Saar do not offer any damning testimony either; as far as they knew, he was there on vacation prior to his official business. Schnäbele himself denies everything, of course.

    The only firm piece of evidence, besides the suspicious nature of Schnäbele's movements, is a rather cryptic notebook confiscated from his belongings, in which he seems to have sketched out guard stations in both cities, as well as notes on patrols. Schnäbele claims that these sketches and notes were to better inform himself and his inspectorate about the state of German policing, in accordance with his official business. The Gendarmes present this information without further comment.

    April 26: A missive is transmitted directly to the High Commissioner from Napoleon IV, Emperor of the French. In the diplomatic note, the Emperor requests a top-level meeting in Switzerland to directly negotiate the Schnäbele Affair with the Steering Commission. He indicates that he is prepared to hear the German case regarding Schnäbele in full, and to discuss matters of policy beneficial to the two states, but ends the note by cautioning that "a general calamity will befall both our nations" should they fail to take him up on his offer.

    Meanwhile, Boulanger is giving daily speeches in the French Senate calling for the destruction of the "libertine and endlessly provocative German regime."

    The National Assembly meets in secret session to discuss what to do with this new information.


    What is to be done?

    [] Authorize the meeting and prepare to negotiate in good faith.
    Now that the French have come to the table, it is time to be magnanimous. The Emperor is a champion of social reform, Boulanger a bellicose lout, and Schnäbele's guilt is in question. Cooperation is the only way forward.

    RESULT: Crisis concluded. Schnäbele will be released and a friendly agreement reached on future diplomatic exchanges, as well as the rights of foreign nationals. In exchange, the Emperor will agree to quietly table the proposed treaty with Italy. The Emperor's position and that of the reform movement will be strengthened within France, while Boulanger and his warhawks will be weakened. Relations with the Entente will be restored and further improve.

    [] Authorize the meeting and stand firm as a matter of principle.
    We will allow a negotiated settlement, but it will be on our terms. The Emperor is a roadblock to true change, Boulanger a thug who cannot be appeased, and Schnäbele a spy in intent if nothing else. Caution is the only way forward.

    RESULT: Crisis concluded. Schnäbele will be released, a somewhat adversarial agreement will be drawn up regarding the rights of foreign nationals, and both nations will agree to mandatory escorts for all of its official visitors to the other in future. The Emperor will publicly renounce the proposed treaty with Italy. The Emperor's position and that of the reform movement will be weakened within France, while Boulanger and his warhawks will be in the ascendant. Relations with the Entente will decline further.

    [] Refuse the meeting.
    It isn't enough. The spy must be dealt with in the manner prescribed for his kind and the French taught an important lesson about infringing upon German territory, unless we want more of this nonsense in the future. The Emperor is a weak boy sitting in his father's chair, Boulanger a cretin, and Schnäbele the worst kind of criminal. Strength is the only way forward.

    RESULT: Crisis concluded. Virtual guarantee of war with France. Schnäbele will be detained pending trial and very likely executed. Any further terms and consequences will likely be decided on the battlefield. Relations with the Entente will decline sharply.


    24 hours to vote. If no option receives a majority, we move to a run-off between the top two. Pick ONE option from the three provided. Please remember to be civil and thoughtful in your rhetoric at all times. Thank you.
     
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887, Conclusion
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    • CRISIS: The Schnäbele Affair of 1887, Conclusion​

    Following receipt of the French Emperor's diplomatic note, the National Assembly overwhelmingly authorizes Chief Representative Viktor Schmidt, former Commander of the Red Guards and later Marshal of the Northern Red Army, to meet with Napoleon IV at the latter's family estate at Arenenberg, near Lake Geneva. He is given wide latitude to negotiate terms and dispatched with a retinue of fellow delegates from the Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Interior Commissions.

    Arenenberg was originally the home-in-exile of Napoleon III's mother, Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine and Queen Consort of Holland. She had the chateau and its grounds remodeled to resemble her mother's estate in France and it retains its First Empire aesthetic despite numerous renovations over the last half-century.

    After a day of welcoming ceremonies and much-needed rest from the multi-stage train-and-carriage journey, the German delegation is ushered into the salon, where they meet with the Emperor, his Foreign Minister, and several other prominent figures in the French court. In deference to the infamous casual style of the Germans, who have shown up wearing suit jackets of all things, the French delegation is in country dress, as though intending to go out hunting. Fortunately for all involved, there are no painters or photographers present.

    Schmidt later describes the Emperor as "charming, affable, not the most incisive mind but well aware of his own limitations, and clearly quite relieved that we agreed to this conference." Interior Commissioner Voight's own rather terse notes indicate that he's "a bit dim, but handsome enough, if you like that sort of thing." All delegates make strenuous efforts not to be seen as kowtowing to the Emperor, who for his part acts more like a man on vacation.

    The negotiations themselves are pleasant and straightforward. A joint statement indicating that Schnäbele was caught up in some kind of personal misadventure, a petty crime as opposed to an act of war, is agreed upon with only modest haggling over the wording and is then subsequently released to the press. A convention on border crossings, the rights of foreign citizens, and official conduct in foreign nations is likewise swiftly drawn up, signed, and copied; it will later be ratified by the other nations of the Entente, joining the Geneva Convention as another triumph of Swiss hosting prowess.

    As for the issue of Italy, Napoleon IV is more than willing to wash his hands of that entire sordid affair; the draft having been trumpeted in the radical press and turned from a quiet triumph into a very loud debacle, there is nothing more for France to gain from pursuing the proposed treaty. He is therefore pleased to quietly drop the matter, requesting only that he be given the chance to later pursue an amicable diplomatic agreement with the Italians, possibly involving a plebiscite along the border. No firm commitment is made by either side on this issue, but the door is left open for future talks.

    A few other issues of mutual interest, including renewed trade treaties and various minor technical issues, are brought up and resolved during the conference, leaving the Foreign Affairs delegates with plenty of work piled up for when they get home. The Emperor of the French concludes the proceedings with a speech congratulating everyone on their fine show of amity and reasonableness, and expresses seemingly earnest hopes for continued peace and commerce between France and Germany. The French delegation departs for Paris, the German delegation for Frankfurt, and Western Europe breathes a collective sigh of relief. No war. Not today, anyway.

    Several weeks later, after all the protocols and conventions have been ratified, news reaches the Assembly that Minister of War Boulanger has tendered his resignation and been assigned to oversee coastal fortifications in Brittany, while a handful of his allies in the French Senate have likewise left their seats for various forms of comfortable retirement. Stymied by the loss of their leadership and the lack of public support for outright conflict, the French warhawks, quietly furious but temporarily rudderless, turn toward a cause familiar to their counterparts in Germany - military preparedness.

    Wilhelm Schnäbele spends the next sixteen months in a French prison for smuggling and misuse of official authority. Upon his release, he emigrates to America, where he lives in obscurity for the remainder of his life.


    Crisis over. I'm taking a break and then we'll be back with the 1887 election.
     
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    • The Election of 1887
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    • The Election of 1887​

    Germany experiences an unprecedented wave of public confidence and contentedness as the crisis with France is successfully defused, seemingly securing the Sunrise Coalition's continued dominance as the natural party of government and paving the way for another decade of low-acrimony elections.

    This optimism lasts about six weeks.

    The first sign of calamity is the collapse of the Constitutional Socialists and Moderate Democrats. Once seen as potential pillars of the left and right, both parties have had anemic recent showings in the last few elections, and as their membership has dwindled so has their funding and institutional support. Neither party even bothers holding a convention.

    As for the Radical Republicans, their own implosion is less expected but swift nonetheless. Their convention is poorly attended, with most of their luminaries having defected to the Progressives or the Social Radicals, and they barely manage to field any candidates outside their northern strongholds. Few consider them a serious contender in 1887.

    The other factions of the Republic suffer from the opposite problem; teeming with cliques and unable to exercise any real discipline, they lack sufficient cohesion to impose their leadership's will, and their constant dissolution during coalition talks has left them more of a theoretical allegiance than anything. Not even the most disciplined faction finds itself able to rally a majority around a single platform, and so, they functionally cease to exist as well.

    The disintegration of the factions scant months before the election results in a novel experience for most Germans: a truly wide-open electoral contest. Candidates scramble to put together their own proposed manifestos and capture the local electorate's imagination, leading to the prospect of entirely new ideologies and alliances emerging. As the 19th century nears its final decade, the German political landscape resembles nothing quite so much as an empty void, ready for an entirely new status quo to emerge.

    Until it does, chaos reigns.

    Which plan will you support in the election of 1887?


    Vote for ONE plan, consisting of six planks ranked in order of preference from top to bottom. Each plank should be no more than two concise sentences. Any plan that receives at least 10% of the vote will have its top-most plank enacted as part of the governing agenda. For every 10% it receives after that, it will enact its second plank, then its third, and so on. The exact math may be subject to change depending on how the vote shakes out.

    If two enacted planks from different plans are considered "harmonious," they may be merged and the next-highest priority of the party with more votes used in addition. If two enacted planks from different plans are considered "opposed," they may both be nullified and the next-highest priorities from those plans used instead. I will be the final arbiter on whether planks are harmonious or opposed and what results from that.

    No governing agenda can have less than five planks or more than nine. If the governing agenda has fewer than five qualifying planks, additional planks will be selected from the plan with the greatest unallocated vote share, then the next greatest, and so on, until the agenda has the minimum number of planks. If there are more than nine planks, those planks from the plan with the lowest vote share will be removed in reverse priority order.

    If a corner case or unusual situation arises, the plan with the larger vote share will take precedence over the plan with the smaller vote share. If there's a tie somewhere, I'll flip a coin. If something really weird happens, I'll make a ruling on the spot.

    Each plan must have a unique, distinctive name; do not post "That Plan, Version 2" or "That Plan But With Sprinkles".

    There will be a 24-hour moratorium and then a 24-hour voting period. An example plan is included below:

    [] Plan Ostrich
    -[] Build forts along the eastern border.
    -[] Build forts along the northern coast.
    -[] Turn Frankfurt into a walled city.
    -[] Build bunkers everywhere.
    -[] Put every idle hand to work making bricks.
    -[] Teach children how to dig trenches.

    Enjoy, and remember to keep it civil and respectful.
     
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    • Dispatches from Abroad: 1887
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    • Dispatches from Abroad: 1887​

    Commissioner Liebknecht,

    Please find enclosed a selection of excerpts from our foreign representatives and various German nationals abroad. As directed, I have paid particular attention to "the good stuff, you know, something that'll make [you] laugh." Please do not hesitate to ask if you ever require a more detailed precis on international matters.

    Your fellow-citizen,
    Johannes Erhardt
    Permanent Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs

    "Quoting a British Foreign Office official I recently lunched with, 'It's our view that, despite the occasional bout of overheated rhetoric from your National Assembly, your foreign policy is fundamentally pragmatic. You pay your bills, you abide by treaties, you don't go around conquering your neighbors. As such, a little saber-rattling for domestic consumption isn't considered much to worry about.' I'm sure the Commissioner will love to hear that."
    - German Representative to the United Kingdom

    "The situation in Spain is quite good, actually. Reconstruction is more or less complete and they've actually relieved themselves of a fairly substantial logistical and administrative burden by freeing their colonies. The military's been kept in decent shape too, given the usual concerns about France and Portugal. All in all, while I wouldn't expect them to march on Paris any time soon, they can certainly hold up their end in a fight."
    - German Landwehr adviser, attached to the Spanish Army

    "Some of the generals are a bit vexed with young Bonaparte, like that MacMahon fossil, but for the most part no one's too upset about the entire affair. He said he'd get the man back, after all, and that's what he did. No real loss of face for anyone except old Boulanger, and he's not bothering anyone while he's off counting seashells on the beach or whatever they do over in Brittany."
    - A cultural attaché, assigned to the German embassy in Paris

    "Pleased to report that the overall outlook in Manila is rosy. The US Asiatic Squadron is permanently based out of here and they keep the colonial vultures more or less at bay. Plenty of local Spanish advisers, too, though the Filipinos seem to be handling things by themselves pretty well. Honestly, I think some of the Spaniards have just gone native and don't fancy heading home to Madrid or Barcelona."
    - A German merchant mariner, veteran of the Far East trade route

    "Things are getting a bit dicey. There are all sorts of rumors in the cafes right now; that the French or the Austrians are due to invade, that the King is shipping gold to Switzerland, that the Roman garrison is being sent home, all sorts of unsubstantiated nonsense. Everyone's a bit twitchy, more troops on the street than usual, but we're not quite at a boiling point yet. Still, we're all treading with caution. PS: Please see enclosed request for additional embassy security."
    - A military attaché, assigned to the German embassy in Florence

    "For such a moralizing people, the Americans sure do love to put it away. I didn't get home from the Justice unveiling celebrations until about a quarter to 4, and when I woke up at 9, I had the most godawful headache. Last night, they were all waving tricolors and kissing the embassy staff. Really very nice, actually. Think I'll put in for a second tour over here."
    - Deputy Representative for Administrative Affairs to the United States

    "Spent my morning getting lectured by old FJ on the 'dissolute, outlaw ways of your godless people,' which means it's basically just another Tuesday. I think he was a little perturbed that our recent squabble with France didn't blow up in anyone's face. Still, he's quite spry for 57. Just wish it wasn't so difficult to keep a straight face staring at those fluffy whiskers for a few hours straight, especially when they get all twitchy like a cat's back hair."
    - Representative to the Austrian Empire

    "Day 472 of my tenure in St. Petersburg. Still have not met the Emperor, nor any of his senior officials, nor anyone in his court above the rank of Baron. The embassy roof continues to leak incessantly. Becoming distressingly adept at building these houses of cards. Reliably up to six stories now. Considering starting a whist game at the embassy, like the ones they hold in the Assembly between votes. Praying for recall thrice daily."
    - Representative-Designate to the Russian Empire
     
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    • Scheduled vote count started by Etranger on May 23, 2023 at 7:45 PM, finished with 147 posts and 77 votes.
    • [X] Vanguard Communist Party (Valkyrie Clique)
      -[X] As the implementation of Labor Recognition has only just begun, provide full support to the Commission on Equality to avoid immediate backsliding and continue the effort.
      -[X] Centralize the planning committees of the various Commissions into a standing Planning Conference Committee with the initiative to place sectoral and cross-sector planning bills before the Assembly.
      -[X] Establish a national system of borrowing centers and goods libraries to reduce redundant production while improving the standard of living of the populace.
      -[X] Reintroduce and formalize the morale and mental-healthcare functions that the commissariat in the United Front had taken on during the Second German Revolution.
      -[X] Legally enshrine a right to literacy, with anyone who has been prevented from obtaining literacy in their mother-tongue being provided the materials and instruction needed.
      -[X] Celebrate the wedding of Walpurga Voight and her wife as a proverbial gauntlet thrown at the face of reaction.
      [X] To Moscow by 1900
      -[X] Begin construction of the Friedrich-Engels-Canal* and the Rhein-Herne-Canal* using the expertise we gained from the Karl-Marx-Canal. Use all technological methods to finish construction quickly and hire foreign workers if necessary, supplying the Ruhr area and taking strain away from our railway network is essential.
      -[X] Build large railway routes that will allow fast mobilization and steady supply along our most likely offensive routes against the Imperial League. Conduct regular mobilization drills and work-out mobilization schedules that involve the War Commission, the Unions and other interested parties.
      -[X] Provide funding and training for radical groups in Italy and begin drawing up plans for quick intervention to support progressive forces should the situation escalate.
      -[X] Formalize the counter-intelligence role of the National Gendarmerie and provide the additional funding, training and manpower the agency needs to fulfil that role. Also create an intelligence agency that collects intel on foreign nations and provides it, along with analysis, to the War Commission and authorized Assembly members.
      -[X] Bankroll a program of subsidies and no-interest loan to accelerate the growth of future industries like the Benz Motor Co-op. Technological leadership is crucial for the security of the Republic.
      -[X] Offer military goods at factory price to Spain and encourage barter deals instead of currency payment.
      [X] Rekindling the Republic of Virtue
      -[X] Create a new national holiday, Mobilization Day, where all citizens of the Republic participate in a mock mobilization. This is to bring our citizens together, and provide regular stress testing for mobilization practices.
      -[X] Continue naval expansion and army reforms
      -[X] Formalize an intelligence agency to gather information on our enemies and organize the activities of graduates of our Alpine Academy.
      -[X] Provide recognition and funding for social groups that promote republican virtues in defense of the republic, such as community halls and hunting clubs.
      -[X] Support the creation of Junior War Clubs in high schools across Germany, where students will practice and compete against each other in mock war games. These clubs will be democratically organized, preparing students for service in the Landwehr.
      -[X] Facilitate the organization of a civic religion devoted to the republican struggle and dissolution of crowns.
      [x] Plan National Market
      –[x] Establish the German Foreign Development Bank to help direct investment and provide loans to our allies in need of financial aid. Most of the focus will be on Spain for now to aid in local development.
      --[x] Establish a streamlined framework for issuing and trading of bonds by local governments, banks and commercial enterprises to let them raise more capital from the people to fund projects. Bonds will only be nominally taxed to encourage their use.
      --[x] Establish generous programs and permanent grants for supporting artists, local fairs, cultural festivals etc celebrating German culture, folkways and nationalism.
      --[x] Pass a major tax relief package for families to encourage population growth. The more children, the greater the benefits.
      --[x] Establish a guest worker and student program with all expenses sponsored travel from anyone willing including their families, with the option to become a citizen or return home whenever they wish.
      --[x] Encourage mergers of industrial co-operatives to allow for better economies of scale through formation of industrial giants, capable of competing with capitalist corporations on equal ground.
      [X] Plan: The moderate case for war
      -[X] Build upon our successful peace conference to deepen ties with the Entente, focusing on our shared enmity with the imperial league to see how much the Entente is likely to let us get away with if we go to war east.
      -[X] Organize a dedicated national counter intelligence agency to investigate foreign spies and sabotage, answering to the assembly directly.
      -[X] Organize a dedicated foreign intelligence agency under the assembly to keep it informed of political developments in other countries.
      -[X] Seek to renew our alliance with Italy by promising them gains at the expense of Austria if war breaks out. Reassure them that shared strategic interests matter more than divergence in internal politics.
      -[X] Discreetly reach out to Japan to see if they would be amenable to opening up another front in a hypothetical war with Russia, and generally deepen ties with the country.
      -[X] Send diplomats touring Europe and America, building a case for war against the autocrats of Russia and Austria.
      [X] Plan ISWC Internationalism
      -[X] Work with Spain & ISWC member organizations to create the democratic, anti-capitalist, & anti-monarchist Volunteer Aid Movement. VAM, which is officially unaffiliated with any countries nor the ISWC, will have humanitarian aid & armed volunteering public sections.
      -[X] VAM will also have a secret section to foment revolutionary cells. It will selectively vet & recruit from Republican Alliance revolutionary training sites' graduates, veterans of Alliance members' intelligence services, & radicals in non-revolutionary states.
      -[X] Invite ISWC members to hold the 3rd International & propose for a regular International every four years with a Continuing Committee, elected & subject to recall by ISWC member organizations that attend Internationals, tasked to administrate ISWC during intervals between them.
      -[X] Petition 3rd International to create a Research Bureau, which will do research to further revolutionary theoretical development, aid socialist polities' transition to statelessness, & improve mass organizing strategies against absolutism and capital.
      -[X] Establish pilot communes in places within Germany that have strong anarchist or less-centralist socialists' support, as well as a balance of urban & rural production. Attempt to create less centralized versions of the trialed labor voucher system through them.
      -[X] Organize union laboratories in Germany to foster bottom-up answers towards the industrialization of tomorrow by pairing up scientists, engineers, & factory workers' expertise.
      [X] Technocratic Anarchistic
      -[X] Some Educated English Refugees have alerted us to a brilliant invention, "The Analytical Engine" which could prove to be very useful in naval warfare at the very least. Let's build a few.
      -[X] Plan new neighbourhoods to accommodate the influx of migrants, designed according to scientific principles. Include space for parks, public transport, electrical infrastructure, and so on.
      -[X] Select respected authorities on socialist and republican thought to live in migrant-dominated communities, in order to help them acclimate to the German economic system and to assist them in their democratic decision-making.
      -[X] Establish direct liaisons between universities and all local government entities. This will permit local administrators to draw on the latest breakthroughs in social science, while universities will be able to collect research data more easily.
      -[X] Make research grants available via a new bureau of independent citizen-researchers, charged with comprehensively answering questions posed to them by legislators, cooperatives, public petitions, or Leutewehr officers.
      -[X] Create a new commission to examine and review the operations of government, with the aim of cutting unnecessary red tape and minimizing wasted effort in the remainder of the central bureaucracy.
      [X] To Moscow by 1900
      [x] Plan International Localism
      -[x] Encourage Immigration of the oppressed to the Republic.
      -[x] Set up non-territorial councils and communication hubs so that people of particular languages and culture groups can discuss matters relevant to them as such.
      -[x] Work to devolve more control over local resources to local planning organs.
      -[x] Push to establish electrical infrastructure to supply various localities with electricity.
      -[x] Check to see if there are any large properties left that need to be expropriated.
      -[x] Oppose the idea of Mobilization Day being a holiday.
      [x] Plan We Did the Economy, Now the Military
      -[x] Continue the program of naval expansion, aiming to match the Scandinavian and Russian fleets. Ensure Britain is aware of our limited naval ambitions.
      -[x] Match the increased naval funding with a general increase to the Landwehr's funding, to support an increase in the standing size, improvements to their equipment, and extensive drills and war games.
      -[x] Use the connections of our new citizens and the Alps Academy to strengthen and support a network of agitators and resistance leaders in the East…and in Italy.
      -[x] Reach out to the independent states of Africa which rebuffed Italy. Offer them trade, military assistance, and free education in the Republic.
      -[x] Invest heavily in the arms industry and its supporting industries. Aim to have as much as possible under state control.
      [X] German Futurism
      -[X] Hold an international weapons fair for inventors to show off their latest creations. Invite delegates from friendly nations and the Entente
      -[X] Expand and electrify Railways and Canals using caternary wires, to speed up traffic and increase the amount of cargo that can be carried.
      -[X] Invest in language courses to promote the learning of foreign languages, as polylinguism has shown to increase creativity. Polish, Czech, Hungarian, and Serbian are all good languages for Germans to learn.
      -[X] Set a bounty to be paid out to the first person or group who can demonstrate a reliable self-propelled flying machine.
      -[X] Publish a propaganda leaflet to be spread around the Imperial Federation explaining how absolute monarchy is an outdated system and republicanism is the future.
      -[X] Put together a "time capsule", filled with photographs, letters and common items from today. It should be opened 100 years after the day it is buried.
      [X] The Final Preparations
      -[x] Have our economic planners develop a Three Year Plan to increase our military industry by half.
      -[x] Continue our planned naval expansion and army reforms.
      -[x] Form a foreign intelligence agency to spy on and sabotage our enemies.
      -[x] Send diplomats to neighbors of Austria and Russia to see if any of them are interested in forming an anti-Imperial League coalition.
      -[x] Send graduates of our Alpine training camp into Austria and Russia to lay the basis for a local revolutionary struggle.
      -[x] Expand our military infrastructure (forts, railways, critical roads, etc.) to protect our borders from Imperial aggression and allow us to quickly mobilize in case of war.
      [X] Plan: How To Do More With Less.
      -[X] Establish Libraries of goods, allowing even rarer goods and luxuries to be shared widely, and freeing up resources while improving the wellbeing of the people.
      -[X] The instatement of a peacetime industrial commission, tentatively the Industrial Production Board, tasked with engaging in stress testing with specific sectors of the economy to see how well they could handle unfavorable conditions (ie, wartime, global economic downturn, embargo etc.).
      -[X] Establish pilot communes in places within Germany that have strong anarchist and less-centralist socialists' support which also have a balance of urban and rural production. Construct with them examples of self-organized, localized versions of the labor voucher system.
      -[X] Seek to renew our alliance with Italy by promising them gains at the expense of Austria if war breaks out. Reassure them that shared strategic interests matter more than divergence in internal politics.
      -[X]Establish generous programs and permanent grants for supporting artists, local fairs, cultural festivals etc celebrating German culture, folkways and nationalism.
      -[X] Create a new national holiday, Mobilization Day, where all citizens of the Republic participate in a mock mobilization. This is to bring our citizens together, and provide regular stress testing for mobilization practices.
      [X] Vanguard Communist Party (Valkyrie Clique)
      -[X] As the implementation of Labor Recognition has only just begun, provide full support to the Commission on Equality to avoid immediate backsliding and continue the effort.
      -[X] Centralize the planning committees of the various Commissions into a standing Planning Conference Committee with the initiative to place sectoral and cross-sector planning bills before the Assembly.
      -[X] Establish a national system of borrowing centers and goods libraries to reduce redundant production while improving the standard of living of the populace.
      -[X] Reintroduce and formalize the morale and mental-healthcare functions that the commissariat in the United Front had taken on during the Second German Revolution.
      -[X] Legally enshrine a right to literacy, with anyone who has been prevented from obtaining literacy in their mother-tongue being provided the materials and instruction needed.
      - [x] Permit the workers' and socialist International to deposit its funds with the National Bank, fully insured to the same extent as German and Spanish state debts, extend it loans on the same terms as the German and Spanish governments, and permit it right of first refusal on the issuance of German state bonds.
      [X] Plan:long term king kicking
      -[X] Create a formal intelligence agency to coordinate worldwide efforts and more efficiently support revolutionaries worldwide.
      -[X] Assist refugees and immigrants fleeing from tyrannical states and use their testimony to further convince the public of the neccesity of revolution and war.
      -[X] Further invest in the education system with a focus on higher education so that everyone has acess to college and foreign students can be exposed to revolutionary ideas.
      -[X] Continue pouring funding into the Navy so as to be able to at the very least act as a Fleet-In-Being and at best be able to be peers of the Royl Navy
      -[X]Pour funding into the healthcare system and medical research so that our QOL is increased and in the event of a war we take less casualties.
    Click to expand...
     
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    • 1888-1889 in the German Republic
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    • 1888-1889 in the German Republic​

    - As the implementation of Labor Recognition has only just begun, provide full support to the Commission on Equality to avoid immediate backsliding and continue the effort.
    - Centralize the planning committees of the various Commissions into a standing Planning Conference Committee with the initiative to place sectoral and cross-sector planning bills before the Assembly.
    - Begin construction of the Friedrich-Engels-Canal* and the Rhein-Herne-Canal* using the expertise we gained from the Karl-Marx-Canal. Use all technological methods to finish construction quickly and hire foreign workers if necessary, supplying the Ruhr area and taking strain away from our railway network is essential.
    - Build large railway routes that will allow fast mobilization and steady supply along our most likely offensive routes against the Imperial League. Conduct regular mobilization drills and work-out mobilization schedules that involve the War Commission, the Unions and other interested parties.
    - Create a new national holiday, Mobilization Day, where all citizens of the Republic participate in a mock mobilization. This is to bring our citizens together, and provide regular stress testing for mobilization practices.
    - Continue naval expansion and army reforms
    - Establish the German Foreign Development Bank to help direct investment and provide loans to our allies in need of financial aid. Most of the focus will be on Spain for now to aid in local development.

    While the collapse of the party system may be a source of anxiety and dismay for the elected representatives of Germany, the people of the Second Republic seem largely indifferent to the turn of events. Their interest, as ever, is in electing leaders who can create effective policies that improve, defend, and support their lives. So that's what they do, albeit in lesser numbers than prior elections.

    The largest still-standing bloc in national politics is the Vanguard Communists, whose dedicated core membership still rally to the red banner on Election Day. It is their discipline that ensures that they retain control of the High Commissionership and the ability to shape the legislative agenda, though the fragmentation of the electorate makes even that exercise of influence a highly cooperative one.

    Meanwhile, they and other candidates campaign on the issues of the day: economic growth, infrastructure, foreign aid, and military preparedness. The resulting agenda is something of a hodgepodge, including as it does both a centralized body for overseeing the economy and a foreign development bank. However, as is the norm in the Second Republic, the emphasis is on achieving results rather than insisting on strict ideological coherence, and so the necessary deals are made with alacrity.

    In terms of raw power within the National Assembly, the Steering Commission looms large. It guides all legislative debate, sets commission membership, moves all bills to the commissions and then to the floor, sets the calendar, and otherwise directs traffic. It is a very heavy responsibility to shoulder, given the 900-plus members of the legislature, and with that responsibility comes authority. However, there is a new commission which may come to challenge its pre-eminence: the Planning Commission.

    In actuality the Commission for Economic Guidance in the same way that the Steering Commission is the Commission for Legislative Oversight, the Planning Commission is a centralized legislative and bureaucratic body charged with overseeing the whole of the German economy. It is forged together from the individual planning bureaus from each of the other commissions, making it into a juggernaut in its own right. By gaining the authority to move cross-sectoral economic legislation through the lawmaking process, a power it takes directly from the Steering Commission, it becomes an effectively co-equal body within the Assembly. After all, it is the rare industrial bill that does not in some way touch on agriculture or commerce, and vice versa.

    Though much of the Planning Commission's two-year term is spent fully amalgamating its disparate parts and establishing procedures for future action, it is expected to substantially streamline and harmonize the increasingly complex process of producing and promulgating bills relating to the economy. Far from the simple producer of coal, iron, and grain that it was only fifty years before, the Second Republic now boasts shipbuilding, chemicals, and numerous other multi-stage industries that intermesh with each other. Rather than growing haphazardly according to the whims of capital, these sectors will now be carefully tended and pruned with local and national attention.

    While the Labor Recognition process is a multi-decade affair with numerous phases of implementation, much remains to be done in the short term, and the Commission for Equality is kept on task by the governing majority to ensure that no backsliding is permitted. Year by year, domestic labor and educational attendance stipends increase, particularly those in single-parent households, shifting more economic power into the hands of home workers and students. The legal processes for no-fault divorce and separation are simplified and expedited, while providing two meals per school day is made standard practice in primary and secondary education. These measures, while either technical or minor in nature, nevertheless smooth the way for the ongoing seismic change in German society.

    Despite the persistent efforts of the National Assembly, the labor situation in Germany remains somewhat lopsided. There is still a noticeable shortage of trained workers in technical and credentialed fields, while the increase in immigration has led to a surplus of young workers who may or may not be qualified or suitable for education but, crucially, do not possess the language skills to flourish in the job market or the required national service to qualify for citizenship. This is a problem, but fortunately one with a solution.

    Enter the Commission for Infrastructure, which sets out on a mad canal-building rush across the whole of the Republic. The Friedrich-Engels-Canal is intended to connect the inland industrial city of Dortmund with the seaport at Emden, extending the River Ems over 300 kilometers in the process. This ambitious effort, along with a connecting canal to link the network into the Rhine and numerous other smaller canals, is intended to measurably improve the Ruhr's access to the sea, relieving pressure on the substantially overburdened rails and roads already doing the job.

    To expedite this process, along with a raft of new steam-powered earth-moving machines, the Commission authorizes a special program in which Labor Reservists can serve full-time on a canal project in exchange for time-and-a-half on their mandatory hitch, effectively allowing them to achieve citizenship in two years rather than three. As active members of the Reserve, in addition to working alongside their fellow citizens, they spend at least two hours of their workday taking literacy and language lessons, along with putting in time on technical certifications, should they wish to continue as engineers or professional laborers. These incentives ensure that the canal projects, despite their wide-ranging nature, are always fully staffed with enthusiastic volunteers, and progress is rapid across the entire country.

    Using a more conventional approach, and disguising their efforts behind the rapidly rising cloud of dust from the canal program, the Commission for War authorizes the construction of secondary and tertiary military railways leading from major mobilization centers to border posts, with special attention paid to the east and southeast. These tracks are not particularly economical, nor are they intended to serve as arteries for trade or industry; instead, their aim is to move soldiers and materiel from one place to another swiftly and without delays or bottlenecks. The bulk of the 'shadow rails,' as they are known, have their courses plotted through unproductive or otherwise isolated areas, in an effort to keep outside knowledge of them to a minimum.

    The International Development Bank is officially opened in early 1889 under the auspices of the Commission for Finance. The IDB serves as a mechanism by which the Republic can ethically invest its foreign-trade surplus into other countries, namely those aligned with Germany and its interests, while promoting cooperative economic values. The principal initial area of investment is the Spanish Republic and its former colonies, where dozens of industrial co-ops subsidized with German funds begin operation. Co-op workers in the Hispanophone republics are paid and treated better than their privately-employed counterparts, and soon begin to out-compete them, as well. Germany sees none of the profits enjoyed by these foreign co-ops, receiving only repayment of its initial investment capital, but by strengthening its trade partners, the Republic's own commerce continues to flourish.

    Naval expansion continues in the ports and shipyards of Germany, as the Marinewehr is rapidly scaled up to crew and support the future navy of the Republic's substantial projected tonnage. Given the relatively small size of the naval budget and the Second Republic's ongoing love affair with the army, emphasis is placed on technological advancement and unorthodox methods, including an entire corps dedicated solely to designing torpedoes and mines. The naval training center at Willichshaven, previously a somewhat homey and run-down affair is expanded into a full service academy, and the Combined Staff's admiralty expanded from a single man to an actual board of flag officers. As the first torpedo boats, gunboats, and corvettes come off the drydock, the Marinewehr transforms from a hypothetical into a small but growing reality.

    Meanwhile, the Landwehr is caught up in a new national craze. Officially a Day of National Service, some genius dubs the new holiday 'Mobilization Day' and soon the name is enshrined not just in German hearts but in German law. In brief, on the last Thursday of June, work is called off for that day and the day after. Mobilization Day proper is dedicated to a mass mock drill, in which the whole of the nation's adults (save essential workers and those exempted for reasons of illness) put on their reserve uniforms and go out to their assigned duty posts, in effect creating a mock emergency-readiness drill. There, they spend the day doing team-building exercises and other large-scale activities, with a sort of half-serious festival air.

    This is not initially well-received by the nations of Europe, despite being notified well in advance. The British Parliament, French Senate, and Austrian Imperial Council all go into emergency session, while the Russian Emperor breaks a lengthy dry spell and summons the German representative directly into his presence for a furious multi-hour interrogation, then banishes him from court. Only on the second day, when the uniformed formations disperse and everyone takes a relaxing holiday, do tensions slowly ratchet back. At least one jingoistic foreign politician, having called for immediate war on the Republic, is shamed into resigning after pictures of smiling reservists maneuvering with lengths of shaped wood rather than actual firearms make their way into the press.

    Despite the brief international scare, Mobilization Day is a hit with the cheerfully martial German populace, and chortling over their neighbors' response serves as an instant boost to national morale. Indeed, the foreign backlash is quick to fade, and the impression left in distant courts is not one of growing terror, but misplaced confidence. If all Germany does is play soldiers and do dress-up games, so the reasoning goes, they can't be that serious about actually going to war, can they?

    World Events in 1888-1889​

    Wilhelm I, King of Prussia, dies in early 1888. His successor reigns just long enough to be crowned before dying himself, and the new King of Prussia is Wilhelm II, a brash and ambitious young man who chafes beneath the Russian yoke. Despite his obvious thirst for greater things, his position as a figurehead within his so-called kingdom has likely doomed the Hohenzollern ruler to permanent obscurity.

    British author Lewis Carroll is beaten to death by a crowd of women following his attempted murder of Elizabeth Stride, who was working as a prostitute in Whitechapel at the time. These women were members of a vigilance committee made up of unionized female workers, several of which were formed as a response to the two prior murders, which also targeted prostitutes. Carroll's diaries are recovered subsequently by Scotland Yard and are alleged to contain accounts of 'the most heinous acts, not suitable for contemplation by any person in possession of their soul.' This act by unionized workers, particularly women, is emblematic of growing union presence and social prominence within Britain, as well as conflicts between labor and management.

    Efforts by the Japanese Emperor to impose an authoritarian constitution are met with substantial resistance by republican and progressive opponents, who object to the wide-ranging powers reserved to the monarch. Instead, the draft is tabled and modifications are made, guaranteeing the Emperor a far reduced role in daily governance. Henceforth, the Japanese National Diet will take primacy in legislative affairs.

    The Eiffel Tower is completed in 1889 and used as the entrance arch for the Universal Exposition, in which scientists from across Europe and the Americas flock to Paris to show off their latest inventions. The German delegation is particularly prominent, boasting a wide variety of talents, and the number of languages spoken by its multi-cultural members make it a miniature exposition in its own right.

    The Panama Canal project, intended to create an artificial waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific, collapses in failure following investor withdrawals and heavy loss of life among the workforce. The French consortium overseeing the effort goes bust and the construction rights are bought at a fraction of their original cost by a group of Americans, but no immediate effort is made to resume digging.

    In the spring of 1889, following negotiations with the Kingdom of Italy, the Emperor of the French orders the withdrawal of the Imperial Guard from Rome. What would normally be a jubilant occasion for Italian nationalists is marred by the cession of Savoy and Nice in a lopsided plebiscite only nominally contested by the royal government, which also receives a substantial payment for the territory. Veterans of the late Giuseppe Garibaldi's Redshirts march on Rome and seize all but the Vatican Hills, but refuse to hand the city over to the Savoyard king or acknowledge his authority. Tensions rapidly mount between royalists and republicans.
     
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