The immigration hopes seem overly optimistic, I wouldn't really expect a lot of immigration. Unless we manage to divert the floods from Russia and Austria to the USA to us, I suppose.
Much cheaper travel is likely to be a big advantage over the USA. Us explicitly making accommodations for minorities would also help make us more attractive. On the other hand we don't have land to offer so we're probably less attractive to rural immigrants who want to go back to farming.
[] Anarcho-Confederalists
-[] Ultraleft Anarchism - Nyvis's Preliminary Draft
--[] Establish communally operated and owned "libraries" of goods that do not need to be owned by individuals but can instead be shared to improve everyone's access to uncommon goods. This includes books, but also things like tools and radios or similar things.
--[] Reorganize police to be organized and overseen by local communities, enshrining the right to policing by members of the community and the ability to recall and discipline police, with favoured hiring for post military/civil service trainees returning to their community
--[] Establish pilot anarchist communes in places with strong anarchist political support and a balance of urban and rural production to construct example of self organization of non commodity based answers to local needs
--[] Organize union laboratories to foster bottom up answers to the industrialization of tomorrow by pairing up scientists, engineers and factory workers' expertise
--[] Welcome the marginalized of the world to Germany, offering citizenship and employment to those who lack a nation, are persecuted where they live or just want opportunities in a country that respect their contribution as workers
Those were the words Gunther had lived by ever since his life had been turned upside down. Once, he had been the quiet and meek son of a well off working family in Vienna.
Now, he was a rebel running through the streets of Budapest while dodging the gunfire of reactionary dogs. As he sprinted past a homeless man sheltering in the alley he was running through he felt a brief pang of remorse that he couldn't stop and help the man in some way.
The crack of another firearm drove the thoughts away from his mind.
Gunther had remembered what life had been like before he had joined The United Peoples Movement.
Quiet, Easy, Boring, Empty and most importantly Lonely.
His mother probably thought it was because of some German deviant that her beloved son had been led astray. The weight of the German made rifle in his hands reminded him that the probable thoughts of his mother weren't that far fetched.
The street corners were becoming familiar, he was getting closer.
Gunther's family didn't have anyone who was a part of the Austrian forty eighters, not like many of his brothers and sisters in arms did for their respective cultures rebellions at least.
What Gunther's family did have though was a veteran of the five weeks war, his brother had even been one of the many foreigners fighting for the monarchists in the German civil war.
Neither facts were something he was proud of, his actions now were partly to make up for his family's past sins.
The sound of marching feet was getting much closer now, he tried to speed up as much as he could but he was flagging fast.
Through his peripheral vision saw salvation, the old run down smithy was his marker for the ambush. Just past the ancient building was an alley surrounded by high roofs and dead ended by a waist high wall, the perfect spot for their plan.
Making an abrupt turn Gunther slid slightly and nearly crashed into a mother holding her child before he caught himself. Reaching the entrance of the alleyway Gunther came to the abrupt realization that he wasn't going to make it over the wall in time.
He's ten steps away from the wall when he hears the dogs reach the entrance.
Eight steps when he hears the shouts for the soldiers to form into a firing squad.
At six steps all he hears is the blood rushing through his ears, and the ghostly sound of Laszlo's voice calling him stupid for volunteering as bait.
Time seemed to stop at the imaginary sound of his lover's voice.
In truth it was not a German man with a shady overcoat offering guns and workers liberation that had enticed Gunther into being a radical.
No, instead it had been love that drove Gunther to his extremes. The idea that there could ever be something wrong with a man loving another man echoed as wrong in his head. Surely, said the voice in his head, if he and Laszlo could just demonstrate how much they meant to each other his family would understand.
And yet, he could not delude himself fully into the idea that he would not be shot at best or separated from his love at worst if he so much as thought about coming clean to his family and community about such thoughts.
To his shame Gunther did not know if the fact Laszlo was a man would be what angered his family more or if it would be the fact he was a Hungarian.
There were five steps left when Gunther realized he refused to leave this world without at least trying to see his love one more time.
He wouldn't make it over the wall, he knew that just from looking at it, so he didn't even try.
In a single moment Gunther dropped to his knees sliding fast towards the waist high brick wall, dust went into the air in great plumes as he spun around and pointed his German rifle at the enemy through the cloud and said one word.
"Now!"
Instantly two dozen gunshots rang through the alley.
As the dust settled Gunthered realized he was alive, his back against the wall and his eyes wide.
He could distantly hear laughing, it was a deranged and pathetic sounding thing.
It took him far too long to realize it was his own voice laughing.
"Gunther!" At the familiar voice Gunther felt his heart skip a beat.
All around the alley from the rooftops above and the wall behind him his allies made their presence known Austrians, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans, and even a few Croats were present.
Despite the hooping and hollering of his comrades the only one Gunther had eyes for was the worried face of Laszlo.
As his loves strong arms encircled him, he could feel the manic energy leave his body as he collapsed into the embrace.
"You are an idiot, and a fool, and I promise to all on heaven and earth if you do that again..." Gunther shut him up with a kiss, it was a spur of the moment decision at best as normally they tried not to be overly affectionate while around others. He just couldn't help himself this time.
As they separate he feels rough hands pull him from the ground, looking towards the arms pulling him up he sees the satisfied face of the grizzled leader of their little band of ambushers.
Manfred was an ideologically driven man straight from the fronts of the German Civil War, he had been a part of the Republican Alliance and officially he was in Budapest to ensure friendly relations with any concerned buyer of German weapons.
"Sixteen tyrannical dogs dead, you did a good thing today Citizen Muller."
From what Gunther understood he had lasted all of a month before abandoning his post to assist their burgeoning movement's fight against tyranny.
From what Gunther had heard this was longer than most of his kind in Germany proper would have lasted.
"Now, as much as I hate to interrupt the celebrations we must get to work with the bodies before any more of their ilk arrive."
As the rest of their group went to work he heard Laszlo sigh and felt as his lover moved to get up.
Before he could Gunther pulled him down for one last kiss and a whispered, "Egy nép egyesült?"
And of course, "Ein volk vereint." came the response.
Hours later the bodies of sixteen soldiers of mostly Hungarian descent were found lined side by side in an alley way near an old black smith's shop draped over the bodies of the imperial soldiers was a flag and on the walls in five different languages were scrawled with paint the words:
ONE PEOPLE UNITED AGAINST TYRANNY
Because the soldiers had been predominantly Hungarians the scene never even made it into the local newspaper in Vienna.
Much cheaper travel is likely to be a big advantage over the USA. Us explicitly making accommodations for minorities would also help make us more attractive. On the other hand we don't have land to offer so we're probably less attractive to rural immigrants who want to go back to farming.
We don't have free (read: stolen) land to hand out and instead of a libertarian homesteading vision we offer Integration into a highly communal system with a ton of duties. Also war is ever looming.
People will come of course but hopes that we will make a dent into the sure to be much larger immigration to America seems awfully optimistic.
I figure the usa will be too racist to take in anyone from Africa or Asia in big enough numbers so Germany will become the primary destination by default.
45.47 million people, 72% of whom can vote, vs. 42.98 million people, 24% of whom can vote
Growth of 1.9% vs. Growth of 2.1%
Minimal basic wages vs. none
Adequate work safety vs. low
40-hour week vs. 55-hour week
Universal adequate healthcare vs. adequate healthcare only for veterans
Universal adequate pensions vs. high pensions only for veterans
Adequate childcare and retirement vs. low
Army is adequate across the board and medium quantity vs. a Bundsewehr with High except for quantity and a Landswehr with a Large quantity and adequate across the board
Navy has low training and equipment, tiny quantity, and adequate morale vs. low training, small quantity, adequate equipment, and low morale
Forts are low in quality and quantity vs. forts are adequate in quality and low in quantity
National stability is medium vs. high
Police have low quality vs. police have adequate at worst and federal/guards are better
Treasury is low and improving vs. low and worsening
Debt ratio is low and improving vs high and worsening
Credit ratio is low vs. tiny
Tax income is high vs. medium
Tariff income is high vs. maximum
Economic Output is high vs. medium
Economic Growth is high vs. low
Commercial Growth is high vs. low
Public works are difficult to compare due to stats being different across the two iterations.
Literacy rate is 85% vs. 87%
Education quality and literacy growth are adequate for both, but only 1878 has education presence noted.
Which faction will you support in the elections of 1885?
[] Vanguard Communists Named after the elite Red Vanguard of the Civil War, the Vanguard Communists believe that the promise of the Second Revolution has yet to be fulfilled. They advocate for further centralization and militarization as essential components of the armed global revolution that must sweep across the whole of the planet to guarantee the total liberation of humanity.
[] Constitutional Socialists The moderate wing of the former United Front is committed to the present constitutional order and the restoration of both peace and prosperity. They believe that Germany must heal and cohere before it can exert itself any further, and that the current governing structure is an ideal to be pursued rather than a starting point to be moved on from.
[] Social Radicals Adherents of the "Orange" or "Marxist-Jacobin" tendency, these egalitarian republicans have syncretized their beliefs with socialist thought to produce an ultra-radical faction that advocates for aggressive social reform and a belligerent foreign policy toward reactionary and monarchist states.
[] Anarcho-Syndicalists The anarchist faction calls for the devolution of central authority to localities, the preservation and extension of minority rights, increased prominence for unions and workers' groups, and a foreign policy in which peaceful cooperation is established with revolutionary and progressive factions in other countries.
[] Radical Republicans Tracing their roots back to the hyper-radical Jacobins of the early Republic, the Radical Republicans are a militarist and ultra-democratic faction whose members believe that virtue resides solely within the armed, voting citizenry of the Republic. They advocate for an aggressive foreign policy and an agricultural program centered around single-family farms.
[] Progressive Independents The social-democratic wing of the Progressives retains the party's name but not its more conservative policies. Instead, the Progressive Independents believe in a pragmatic market-socialist approach that maintains the basic structure of the economy while incorporating liberal and financial elements to improve efficiency.
[] Moderate Democrats A liberal and technocratic faction, the Moderate Democrats are representative of the (relatively, for Germany) conservative elements of German society. The Moderates advocate for a diminishment of radicalism in foreign affairs, a more market-based economy, and the professional execution of government policy.
There will be a 24-hour moratorium. Please vote by plan, with a maximum of five planks, representing the proposed manifesto for your faction. Each plank should be at most two concise sentences. For my ease of understanding and everyone else's, please ensure that your plan has a name that is completely distinctive from all the others, especially if it iterates off another plan.
For this election, please be sure to rank your manifesto planks in order of importance. The most-important plank should be at the top and the least-important at the bottom. This will assist me in coalition-building.
An example is included below:
[] Hyper-Revanchists
-[] Vienna by Christmas
--[] Invade France.
--[] Annex the Netherlands.
--[] Send arms to Poland.
--[] Enlist every man, woman, and child into the army.
--[] Pass out jaunty hats to raise national morale.
[] Constitutional Socialists
-[] Plan: Health and Welfare
--[] The first priority must be the health of our people. Establish new medical schools to train doctors and begin creating subsidized, low-cost clinics. Expand the production of medicine.
--[] Second is our children. Begin expanding and improving primary and secondary schooling, including promoting progressive educational methods. As part of this, to ensure an adequate supply of teachers, establish a teacher's college.
--[] Third, the railroads and cities of Germany must be improved. In the cities, ensure easy access to public transport, provide green spaces, parks, and zoos, and make it so that all the essentials of life are easily accessible - experiment with urban planning! In between them, double-track the railroads where economical, upgrade the locomotives, and improve infrastructure.
--[] Fourth, the world is full of oppressed and marginalized peoples. Offer them a home, with citizenship following three years of service and education in the Landwehr. Help them establish community organizations so that their traditions and customs are not forgotten.
--[] Fifth, begin a state-sponsored program of international journalism, to raise interest in foreign affairs and help keep the government informed of far-away events, as well as to help build more discreet connections among the workers of the world. They can also propagandize about our new immigration program!
A few potential alternative plank ideas:
-Create an Institute of Economics with an eye towards evaluating internal efficiency and external opportunity
-Create a framework for co-ops and SOEs to set up branches in foreign countries under German labor laws
-Go on a goodwill tour of all countries not formally part of the Imperial League, paying special attention to the Balkan states and attempting to sway the Scandinavians towards neutrality
-Begin construction of an additional series of canals
-Start sending arms, trainers, and technical aid to Japan, China, Romania, Greece, the Ottomans, Serbia, and Albania, with the aim of building these states up and creating allies in our struggle against imperialism.
-Propose the joint creation of an international medical and humanitarian corps with the US and other powers.
After careful consideration, I have elected to make my own platform for the VanComs instead
[] Vanguard Communists
-[] War Now, not Now
--[] Establish a National Institute for Research and Development, tasked with the development and creation of new technologies to assist the Republic and it's citizens, and is to be granted a substantial budget in order to get a leg up over our adversaries. This institute should endeavor to cooperate with all Universities in securing for it's purposes the brightest minds of the Republic with heavy material incentives.
--[] 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.). These reports are to be filed for public viewing once completed, to allow for central and local planning committees to better augment these considerations into their planning.
--[] Expand the school curriculum to include "scout" classes, aimed at fostering communal brotherhood between underaged citizens and instilling basic survival skills for those living in the growing urban areas of the Republic.
--[] Rapidly expand public infrastructure within the Republic, roads, railways and public utilities must all be constructed to allow for greater freedom of movement of both personnel and cargo, minimizing costs of travel. Furthermore, allowing for rapid wartime conversion must be kept in mind for planning consideration.
--[] Taking the tocsin from the German Republic's implementation, and the American Trade Unions' and Radical Republicans' advocacy, of the eight-hour day and forty-hour week, introduce a resolution that the International direct all member organizations to campaign for this reform in their own countries.
[] Progressive Independents
-[] Plan Belt and Road Initiative
–[] Pass subsidies for industrial and Arms enterprises to support continued expansion of the economy as well as modernization of the military industrial complex.
--[] Establish a streamlined framework for issuing and trading of bonds by local governments, banks and commercial enterprises, to help them raise more capital from the people. Bonds will be exempt from taxation to encourage their use for further augmenting the ongoing economic boom.
–[] Establish the German Foreign Development Bank to help direct investment and provide loans to our allies in need of financial aid for economic development.
–[] Negotiate a new commercial agreement with Spain to reduce barriers to investment between the two nations. German Co-ops and SOEs will be encouraged through tax cuts and other means to form joint ventures and establish branches within Spain to aid in local development for mutual benefits.
-[] Reform the local police into strictly professional and relatively independent organizations with internal democracy. They will have oversight by local boards made up of representatives from co-ops, unions and single family businesses
The yet more revised form of the plan to keep in line with Moderate Democrat description. We need to start building up our allies and encourage further economic growth during this period of calm!
Edit: Decided to change the party to Progressive Independents after some thoughts.
[] Radical Republicans
-[] Do not wait until the iron is hot to strike
--[] We appear to have a number of surplus weapons still lying around the country. A number of these should be liquidated and passed off to interested buyers, wherever those might be found.
--[] Many socialist, nationalist, and republican groups exist around the world yet they can often be each other's worst nemesis. We should focus our international diplomacy on peacemaking and sharing our experience with these groups.
--[] Isolated and uncoordinated acts of adventurism are a useless waste of talent and materials. We should identify individuals prone to such acts and provide advice/organisation to them so they may best serve the cause.
--[] This body rightly finds it offensive that a German claims the title of "Emperor". Particular attention should be paid to studying this character, his duties, and his schedules.
--[] We should focus resources on supporting and influencing the trade union movement around the world. Naturally we should start wherever the German language is spoken.
Switched the union plank to the bottom because I think it's the least important.
@Etranger can you confirm if these planks are too wordy? The guy is trying to obscure the fact that he's saying "let's hire an assassin to kill the Austrian Emperor" in parliament, so it is quite wordy. I'm pretty confident all but maybe plank 3 should be fine, but I want to check first.
[] Progressive Independents
-[] Plan Two of the Four Modernizations
--[] Begin the universalization of secondary education for the German youth, to ensure that the next generation is more prepared for industrial labor then any before it.
--[] Establish a system of technical schools to begin the development of a dual track education system, splitting the university and technical tracks between each other and ensuring a surplus of skilled labor.
--[] Allow state owned enterprises to sell bonds (a type of non-controlling loan) to workers at home to efficiently raise capital from the people. These bonds are to only be sold domestically, and will supply more capital to ensure growth, and start a transition towards the communalization of the enterprises.
--[] Create several dedicated trade focused state owned enterprises in individual areas of responsibility, dedicating out commodity trading and allowing a degree of specialization.
--[] Create the Foreign Bank for Investment as our instrument to invest in our allies such as Spain and allies-to-be under the most equitable terms.
In general, I would advise people to be direct and open about their planks and their intent rather than phrasing them in an in-universe or in-character manner. It makes it much easier for me to implement them that way and also helps you keep your word count down.
Just to make the same threat here as I did on Discord: if people make their planks too verbose this time around, I will consider imposing a character limit like in the previous quest.
[] Anarcho-Syndicalists
-[] Ultraleft Anarchism
--[] Establish communally operated and owned "libraries" of goods that do not need to be owned by individuals but can instead be shared to improve everyone's access to uncommon goods. This includes books, but also things like tools and radios or similar things.
--[] Reorganize police to be organized and overseen by local communities, enshrining the right to policing by members of the community and the ability to recall and discipline police, with favoured hiring for post military/civil service trainees returning to their community
--[] Establish pilot anarchist communes in places with strong anarchist political support and a balance of urban and rural production to construct example of self organization of non commodity based answers to local needs
--[] Organize union laboratories to foster bottom up answers to the industrialization of tomorrow by pairing up scientists, engineers and factory workers' expertise
--[] Welcome the marginalized of the world to Germany, offering citizenship and employment to those who lack a nation, are persecuted where they live or just want opportunities in a country that respect their contribution as workers
[] Social Radicals
-[] Plan: Guns, Gays and Guerillas
--[] Increase funding to the Landwehr so improvements proposed by the Civil War Commission can be implemented speedily and in their entirety. Also conduct large scale maneuvers and war games with a focus on preparing for war against the Imperial League.
--[] Begin sending resistance fighters, agitators, and other such graduates of the training camp into Austria and Russia, to begin building up the material basis for the liberatory war soon to be waged! Begin propagandizing our own people against Austria and Russia, calling for them to remember Poland, to remember the injustice of the Civil War, and the damage they caused!
--[] Turn the National Police into a branch of the Landwehr and rename it to National Gendarmerie. To ensure national security is overseen by the best and brightest the Republic has to offer, raise funding for the Landwehr accordingly.
--[] Enshrine homosexuality as a protected right in the constitution and guarantee universal access to marriage, accompany it with positive propaganda highlighting the progressive historic role of homosexuality. Create the National Institute of Sexology to sponsor research into love and sexuality free from the reactionary traditionalist shackles of aristocratic-bourgeoisie society.
--[] With the King of Metal, Gold, cast out of the nation, now it is time to introduce the Silver Mark, to build up our ability to make debt repayments and increase foreign trade, without hurting the value of our currency or impacting domestic currency exchange. Institute similar caps on silver as gold and create a silver reserve alongside our gold reserve to stabilize the Mark further, as well as increase debt repayments.
[] Constitutional Socialists
-[] Plan: Health and Welfare
--[] Establish new medical schools to train doctors and begin creating subsidized, low-cost clinics. Expand the production of medicine.
--[] Begin improving primary and secondary schooling, including promoting progressive educational methods and introducing outdoorsmanship classes. As part of this, to ensure an adequate supply of teachers, establish a teacher's college.
--[] Rebuild the cities with easy access to public transport, provide green spaces, parks, and zoos, and make it so that all the essentials of life are easily accessible. Get experimental with urban planning!
--[] Offer marginalized people a home, with citizenship following three years of service and education in the Landwehr. Help them establish community organizations so that their traditions and customs are not forgotten. Proactively reach to to various groups and promote our social wage and enshrined equal rights.
--[] Begin a state-sponsored program of international journalism, to raise interest in foreign affairs and help keep the government informed of far-away events. They should also help build more discreet connections among the workers of the world.
A few potential alternative plank ideas:
-Create an Institute of Economics with an eye toward evaluating internal efficiency and external opportunity
-Create a framework for co-ops and SOEs to set up branches in foreign countries under German labor laws
-Go on a goodwill tour of all countries not formally part of the Imperial League, paying special attention to the Balkan states and attempting to sway the Scandinavians towards neutrality
-Begin construction of an additional series of canals
-Keep improving the railways with double-tracking
-Start sending arms, trainers, and technical aid to Japan, China, Romania, Greece, the Ottomans, Serbia, and Albania, with the aim of building these states up and creating allies in our struggle against imperialism.
-Propose the joint creation of an international medical and humanitarian corps with the US and other powers.
@Nevis I would argue establishing union connections is way more important than assassinating the Emperor.
[] Vanguard Communists
-[] Engage in Domestic Class Struggle
--[] In the most populated areas of the country, the government is to aid the people in organizing and begin attacking reactionary bourgeoise-traditionalist ideas, cultures, customs, and habits in their immediate area and come up with revolutionary alternatives, for spreading to the rest of the nation.
--[] Build the Dortmund-Ems Canal to better aid in the production of goods in the industries of Essen.
--[] Plan to accommodate and invite a large influx of immigrants into Germany. Plan for an additional 10 million new citizens at the end of the decade.
--[] Establish the Department of Political Economics to study the political economies of states all over the world so we can better understand materially how they work so we can invade them better and how Germany and its allies can organize better for future class wars. Prioritize the Russian Empire, the Austrian Empire and the new Balkan states.
--[] German nationalism has fulfilled its historical role, switch from a nationalist to an internationalist identity. Immediately begin de-emphasizing nationalism in our republic until we can safely decouple the concepts of nationalism and republicanism entirely.
[] Constitutional Socialists
-[] Plan: Health and Welfare
--[] Establish new medical schools to train doctors and begin creating subsidized, low-cost clinics. Expand the production of medicine.
--[] Begin improving primary and secondary schooling, including promoting progressive educational methods and introducing outdoorsmanship classes. As part of this, to ensure an adequate supply of teachers, establish a teacher's college.
--[] Rebuild the cities with easy access to public transport, provide green spaces, parks, and zoos, and make it so that all the essentials of life are easily accessible. Get experimental with urban planning!
--[] Offer them a home, with citizenship following three years of service and education in the Landwehr. Help them establish community organizations so that their traditions and customs are not forgotten. Proactively reach to to various groups and promote our social wage and enshrined equal rights.
--[] Begin a state-sponsored program of international journalism, to raise interest in foreign affairs and help keep the government informed of far-away events. They should also help build more discreet connections among the workers of the world.
A few potential alternative plank ideas:
-Create an Institute of Economics with an eye toward evaluating internal efficiency and external opportunity
-Create a framework for co-ops and SOEs to set up branches in foreign countries under German labor laws
-Go on a goodwill tour of all countries not formally part of the Imperial League, paying special attention to the Balkan states and attempting to sway the Scandinavians towards neutrality
-Begin construction of an additional series of canals
-Keep improving the railways with double-tracking
-Start sending arms, trainers, and technical aid to Japan, China, Romania, Greece, the Ottomans, Serbia, and Albania, with the aim of building these states up and creating allies in our struggle against imperialism.
-Propose the joint creation of an international medical and humanitarian corps with the US and other powers.
@Nevis I would argue establishing union connections is way more important than assassinating the Emperor.
[] Vanguard Communists
-[] No More Waiting
--[] Finally recognize childbearing, childcare, and all forms of domestic labor as labor, with all attendant benefits. To facilitate implementation, expand state-sponsored creches and orphanages, modelling them on the vanguardist childcare system pioneered in Trier during and after the civil war.
--[] Support proposals for national research or medical institutions on the condition that generous funding be allocated toward women's reproductive health at every point, from contraceptives or abortions to birth and delivery to post-natal recovery and nursing.
--[] Expand the educational system, and implement vanguardist educational principles wherever possible. Intent is to improve educational quality and further reduce educational barriers and inequalities.
--[] Establish borrowing centers and goods libraries to develop the sharing economy, whether centrally or communally operated and owned. The primary aim here is to increase personal-independence by weakening the use of private ownership of petty capital and personal goods as a means of maintaining social control, but the reduction in wasteful overproduction is also welcome.
--[] Reintroduce and formalize the morale and mental-healthcare functions that the commissariat in the United Front had taken on during the civil war. The intent here is to have commissars who help, comfort, and care for their soldiers, specifically as an ironic reversal of the contemporary memes about commissars, but also to help the soldiers and improve their morale.
