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Storms Over Europe (An Alternate Weird History Quest in The Inter-War)

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    • March 1st, 1933
    Escalating tensions causes the peasants to demand a solution, indeed, they demand a solution now. Teams sent in to disperse them with negotiation eventually arrive at the conclusion that, unless they offer an enticing prize for their dispersal, the peasants will escalate beyond just tensions.

    As such, promises are drafted up, promises to enact reform, promises to enact reform to better their lives and of course, reductions in taxation to appease them for the troubles they've been facing so far.

    It's not much in their eyes, but enough to pacify them for now. Statesmen worry that, with this weakness shown, communism will find itself a fertile crop to grow in the people of rural Poland. They have been shown that protest and revolt are how to effect change in the nation.

    The reduction in taxation has a fairly staggering effect on the economy, especially the tangible assets the government has to spend on works and anything else on that matter. Something to handle, even as it drives the Nationalists and even large parts of the NBCG absolutely mad.

    In other news, Communism is banned by law as a political group in Germany, followed by a flurry of bannings for various newspapers and reductions of freedom of the press. Communists are persecuted and, finally, a fire burns in the Reichstag, causing the current President to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, an act which reduces many civil liberties and practically dissolves the German Parliament as a body of import.

    In eastern news, Japanese troops are told to retreat from Manchuria on orders of the League of Nations but are ignored.

    The Civilian economy increased by 9IC until March of 1934.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Foreign News

    Germany:     From our spies within the country and listening in to radio traffic, worrying ideologies are being spread. Hatred of Poles and Jews is becoming commonplace in most urban centres, the military is still weak, but the current government, according to its supporters, is sure to rapidly change this.

    Soviet Union: Radio traffic from the Union is sparse, but much of it is related to this five-year plan that is coming to its fruition. Industrial development has reached an all-time peak and finally, the Union is no longer a purely agricultural economy it seems. Worrying.

    No other news of import.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In Progress
    A Bond Between Neighbours
    Progress 27/75

    To Bond A People
    Ukrainian Acceptance Progress 38/400
    German Acceptance Progress 0/1000
    Jewish Acceptance Progress 0/800
    Belarus Acceptance Progress 0/500

    Gdynia Port
    Construction Progress 40/75

    Hearts of Iron
    Construction Progress 18/80

    All Roads Lead to Warsaw
    Construction Progress 7.5/80
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Available Leadership-50

    Total Industrial Capacity-59
    Current Army Upkeep-3
    Current Civilian Upkeep-30 (Civilian Economy)
    Usable IC-26
     
  • Threadmarks
    • So this time there will be three plans. One focused on diplomatic overtures to the Czech and education, one focused on streamlining the bureaucracy of the Polish state and education, and one focused on increasing the military reserves as well expanding the officer pool and education

    [] Diplomacy, development and education
    -[] 20 Leadership, Czech trade agreement: If there is one thing that the Czech are famous for it is their pragmatism(and their bear). While they may not love us, another avenue for exports to the wide world will be deeply appreciated by their state and their companies especially during a time period so heavily marked by the protectionism of great powers. While there are few resources Poland may offer the industrial powerhouse of Czechoslovakia, except for fabrics from Lodz, grain and maybe some chemicals in the future, there is a lot the Czech are able to sell to us. Machine tools from Skoda, trucks from Skoda, cars from Skoda, guns from Skoda, artillery from Skoda, tanks from Skoda, coal not from Skoda, but one of the cheapest in the world and bear(worse than Polish obviously). All of it make Czechoslovakia an important trade partner for our republic especially as all the equipment manufactured by their heavy industry can be used to speed up our own industrialization.
    -[] 30 Leadership, Educational reform: Education in Poland is very much unequal. It is not only the fault of the state, some regions have simply less teachers than others, but the fact remain that only 80% of people can read or write, even in cities the number is only around 88% and those who can are often not educated in much more beyond basic literacy. While this is not something that will change quickly, an implementation of adult education through a system of night classes as well as vocation training schools, creation of boarding schools for rural population to combat teacher shortages, expansion of universities especially the technical ones as well as creation of special lecture system for farmers should be to everyone benefit, and in the last case speed up mechanization of agriculture. All of it could also have the benefit of decreasing ethnic tensions and increasing general level of tolerance in the population if implemented with a bit of propaganda.
    -[] 18IC Gdynia Port: Just one more push, just one more and the newest city in Poland will reach its completion. The pearl by the Baltic sea with modernistic architecture and bustling industry so different from many cities during these bleak years will be completed giving Poland its very own harbor allowing for any and all ambitions to be realized in the future.
    -[] 4IC Central Industry: The recently declared tax break as well as the need to finish the Port in Gdynia does not leave much of a choice. Something must be cut and this something is the rapid industrialization of the interior of the republic.
    -[] 4IC Infrastructure: No one argues about the need to improve Poland's infrastructure, but the budget is stretch thin. This means that the size of investments from the previous months must be enough going forward

    [] Bureaucracy, development and education
    -[] 20 Leadership, Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy in Poland is very much a problem. For an average citizen it is a meeting with the hands of the state which more often than not look like closed fists due to bureaucrats ability to interpret laws as they saw fir, for the state employees it is a work with no reward which more often than not does not allow for normal living on government salary. An average bureaucrat in Warsaw earns less than the cheapest apartment costs to lease(outside of slums). This encourages corruption. To eliminate both problems at the same time the salaries will need to be raised and the bureaucratic procedures as well as laws these procedures are based on made more precise. No more should the government employee be able to decide what should be done in any given case. All should be clear-cut for the citizen before one even enters the government buildings. With this the corruption should decline and with it the economic growth should increase and so should the population trust in the government.
    -[] 30 Leadership, Educational reform: Education in Poland is very much unequal. It is not only the fault of the state, some regions have simply less teachers than others, but the fact remain that only 80% of people can read or write, even in cities the number is only around 88% and those who can are often not educated in much more beyond basic literacy. While this is not something that will change quickly, an implementation of adult education through a system of night classes as well as vocation training schools, creation of boarding schools for rural population to combat teacher shortages, expansion of universities especially the technical ones as well as creation of special lecture system for farmers should be to everyone benefit, and in the last case speed up mechanization of agriculture. All of it could also have the benefit of decreasing ethnic tensions and increasing general level of tolerance in the population if implemented with a bit of propaganda.
    -[] 18IC Gdynia Port: Just one more push, just one more and the newest city in Poland will reach its completion. The pearl by the Baltic sea with modernistic architecture and bustling industry so different from many cities during these bleak years will be completed giving Poland its very own harbor allowing for any and all ambitions to be realized in the future.
    -[] 4IC Central Industry: The recently declared tax break as well as the need to finish the Port in Gdynia does not leave much of a choice. Something must be cut and this something is the rapid industrialization of the interior of the republic.
    -[] 4IC Infrastructure: No one argues about the need to improve Poland's infrastructure, but the budget is stretch thin. This means that the size of investments from the previous months must be enough going forward

    [] Reserves, development and education
    -[] 30 Leadership, Educational reform: Education in Poland is very much unequal. It is not only the fault of the state, some regions have simply less teachers than others, but the fact remain that only 80% of people can read or write, even in cities the number is only around 88% and those who can are often not educated in much more beyond basic literacy. While this is not something that will change quickly, an implementation of adult education through a system of night classes as well as vocation training schools, creation of boarding schools for rural population to combat teacher shortages, expansion of universities especially the technical ones as well as creation of special lecture system for farmers should be to everyone benefit, and in the last case speed up mechanization of agriculture. All of it could also have the benefit of decreasing ethnic tensions and increasing general level of tolerance in the population if implemented with a bit of propaganda.
    -[] 20 Leadership, Reserves: The number of soldiers our country can call to war in a rapid fashion is abysmal compare to the total population. This problem has two components: lack of soldiers and lack of weapons ready for mobilization. To eliminate the first problem the government will establish a series of programs in our educational institutions focused on training reserve officer in addition to normal curriculum which could be quickly mobilized in case of war. The problem of lack of training for lower rank reserve personnel will be handled by boy scouts and girl scouts units which exist since 1911, but can be further expanded and give something to do for idle teens without work. Once the teens reach 18 years of age they along with members of reserve officer training programs can join the Polish Home Guard a basic infantry like formation with rudimentary training(once a month) and minimal salary, but always ready for potential mobilization. The second problem will be handled by setting up a series of weapons depots across the country in such a way that every county would have the ability to mobilize its local population.
    -[] 18IC Gdynia Port: Just one more push, just one more and the newest city in Poland will reach its completion. The pearl by the Baltic sea with modernistic architecture and bustling industry so different from many cities during these bleak years will be completed giving Poland its very own harbor allowing for any and all ambitions to be realized in the future.
    -[] 4IC Central Industry: The recently declared tax break as well as the need to finish the Port in Gdynia does not leave much of a choice. Something must be cut and this something is the rapid industrialization of the interior of the republic.
    -[] 4IC Infrastructure: No one argues about the need to improve Poland's infrastructure, but the budget is stretch thin. This means that the size of investments from the previous months must be enough going forward
     
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    Dapperlad1 said:
    The reduction in taxation has a fairly staggering effect on the economy, especially the tangible assets the government has to spend on works and anything else on that matter
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    So I don't know anything about the intricacies of Poland during this interwar period, and have been doing some light reading where I can:

    www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl

    The economy of the Second Polish Republic collapsed because of dogmatic policies | Obserwator Finansowy: Ekonomia | Gospodarka | Polska | Świat

    Poles idealize the interwar period. However, this was a period which cannot be assessed only in an positive way. One issue that is particularly difficult to describe is the way in which the Polish authorities dealt with the effects of the 1929 economic crisis.
    www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl

    Poland - Interwar Poland

    countrystudies.us

    and though a lot of things are being abstracted I come to two conclusions.

    The first is that we must not flub our diplomatic arm. France will lose their taste for foreign military adventurism, and Britain will not be better. Meaning, we need to keep doing what we're doing. Which will be tricky as I get the sense, these articles are downplaying how poorly Poland was to it's neighbors.

    The second is that we're sorting of ahead compare to OTL. The Polish Sanitation Political Campaign hinged on Public Work Projects, and nothing was truly started until 1935; coincidental, after our current leader Józef Piłsudski dies. The fact we were not waiting years is great, but as we're in the early stages so Poland doesn't reap the benefits yet. Moreover, there's also the issue that Poland religiously stuck to the Gold Standard Bloc. Now, I don't think we should move off it at this moment. We're just too busy dividing our IC to juggle infrastructure, diplomacy and now agricultural reforms.

    I bring this up to show Poland's kind of funny. Their top economist and the Creator of their Currency, Jerzy Zdziechowski, said to not go to the gold standard. He said this in 1926, and in 1927 Poland has a bit of Military Coup. The leadership of the Coup decided to join the Bloc of countries in favor of the Gold Standard because that's what it means to join the cool Western Nations. In 1931, many of these same countries apparently abandoned the gold standard, but not Poland. Even Czechoslovakia, the one of Founders of the Gold Block, abandoned the gold standard back in '31. Now, I'm not 100% how long this quest will go, nor how the Weird War Aspect changes things, but if we want to leave the Gold Standard then we can do so when France does in 1936 to give the Nation more in-Universe freedom to adjust their financial policy. Though, there is a strong part of me that wants to keep the Gold Standard for the memes. Poland can fix itself, and we have ALL THE GOLD.

    With all that said, anyone got anymore reading material?
     
    With the spies finished, I think we should start up a propaganda department. Creating ethnic harmony will eat a lot of effort and this could streamline our efforts.
     
    Perhaps building up our military is a good idea, indeed. Things are going to get a bit heated.....and if we suitably indoctrinate the soldiery to the government, and away from general politics, we have men to use against the nationalists and communists if they try fucking around
     
    Azel said:
    With the spies finished, I think we should start up a propaganda department. Creating ethnic harmony will eat a lot of effort and this could streamline our efforts.
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    We could also use the spies to "ease" our relations with the Lithuanian government and people through propaganda.

    Coduss said:
    Perhaps building up our military is a good idea, indeed. Things are going to get a bit heated.....and if we suitably indoctrinate the soldiery to the government, and away from general politics, we have men to use against the nationalists and communists if they try fucking around
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    We can not afford any kind of civil war when we are surrounded by hostile nations (Germany and the USSR) it would be a better idea to use our spies to monitor problematic organisations so that they can remove them if they decide to go violent but for that we would also need a working police department.
     
    I see that someone has made a quest with Poland in the lead role.
    Interesting.
    Retired Explorer said:
    We can not afford any kind of civil war when we are surrounded by hostile nations (Germany and the USSR)
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    This is why the May coup of 1926 did not develop into a full-fledged civil war. Because neither side wanted a civil war. No political force wanted it.
    RookDeSuit said:
    Which will be tricky as I get the sense, these articles are downplaying how poorly Poland was to it's neighbors.
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    More specifically, Poland was poorer than almost all of its neighbors but also militarily stronger than almost all of its neighbors. Only the USSR could have been a more serious challenge.
    Although I am surprised by the formulation about small and insignificant air force and obsolete Army and lack of naval forces.
    In 1934 it was quite different, in fact it was a sizable and modern army for the time.
    The Polish Air Force did not stand apart from other countries.
    And the Navy, although not large, had two solidly armed destroyers.

    In addition, I see a few other errors and misrepresentations. But less so, it's the fun that counts and not the historical accuracy to the world.


    [X] Bureaucracy, development and education
    Let's start with the basics.
    The bureaucracy in Poland OTL was a nightmare, this needs to be changed by simplifying regulations. Although I guess there won't be as in reality resistance of clerks to change right?
    Education OTL Poland had the eternal syndrome of the too-short quilt, whatever it achieved it had to achieve at the expense of something else. And in many places in Poland, especially in the countryside, there were only four grades out of the mandatory seven. There was not enough money for adequate equipment and teachers.
    And the further east you go, the worse it gets.

    [x] 18IC Gdynia Port
    The development of Gdynia is extremely important, the ever rebellious Gdansk is not to be counted on. The Port of Gdynia must quickly become fully operational.
    [x] 4IC Central Industry
    The sooner the Central Industrial District is built the better. And even better if the former becomes the flywheel for the next 37.
    Why so many? Because that's how many Poland needed in 1939 to match Germany, at least.
     
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    eh this one isa bit more complicated again.

    [X] Bureaucracy, development and education

    sounds good to me.
    But damn, shit is going down, and fast. Not sure if I like it or not xD
     
    Batrix2070 said:
    I see that someone has made a quest with Poland in the lead role.
    Interesting.

    This is why the May coup of 1926 did not develop into a full-fledged civil war. Because neither side wanted a civil war. No political force wanted it.

    More specifically, Poland was poorer than almost all of its neighbors but also militarily stronger than almost all of its neighbors. Only the USSR could have been a more serious challenge.
    Although I am surprised by the formulation about small and insignificant air force and obsolete Army and lack of naval forces.
    In 1934 it was quite different, in fact it was a sizable and modern army for the time.
    The Polish Air Force did not stand apart from other countries.
    And the Navy, although not large, had two solidly armed destroyers.
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    I actually did this quite accurately. Between 1933 and 1934 there was a massive armament movement. These are accurate numbers for 1933 Poland. But we will see if you follow OTL in that sense.

    In the other points made, its probably true, I didn't put that much research towards the situation!
     
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    Dapperlad1 said:
    I actually did this quite accurately. Between 1933 and 1934 there was a massive armament movement. These are accurate numbers for 1933 Poland. But we will see if you follow OTL in that sense
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    I understand.

    But though I would add some corrections.
    Namely the huge human reserves for which there was a lack of viable weapons.
    Modern though few air forces (but not the same everywhere)
    Only the Navy has a problem in itself, but it only serves one purpose anyway. Blockading the Gulf of Finland.
    And the army should be a problem for the budget because a lot of money devoured its maintenance at its size.
    A huge even problem.

    But the game is already on so fuck it, let's go with what we have.
     
    Randomnerd said:
    We should really start work on the military now, also education takes years to pay off and we don't have that long.
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    No, first the economy and education and then the military. At the present moment, the Polish military is the fourth force of the continent. A new generation of armaments is just coming in, with the only thing I would add is the implementation of the 4TP into mass production to replace the FT17 and TKS. The OTL was abandoned because it was felt that it would make this tank obsolete too quickly. They were right, the problem is that in place of more than 300 7TPs you could have at least twice as many 4TPs. By removing from the line all the tankettes that already in 34 were insufficient for current requirements.
     
    [X] Bureaucracy, development and education

    Batrix2070 said:
    A new generation of armaments is just coming in, with the only thing I would add is the implementation of the 4TP into mass production to replace the FT17 and TKS.
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    Hey, what's your opinion on the PZL, and their P.11 Fighter? Should we go all in production, or do we wait, not just for the P24 Fighter, but a hypothetical Grandchild design?
     
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    RookDeSuit said:
    Hey, what's your opinion on the PZL, and their P.11 Fighter? Should we go all in production, or do we wait, not just for the P24 Fighter, but a hypothetical Grandchild design?
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    For its time, the P.11 is a very good and modern fighter, one of the fastest in 1934 in the world.
    Unfortunately, it came too late to its modernization (Because in 39 only!) and was too reluctant to introduce the P.24 to the Polish Air Force. Because they wanted the ultimate best version of this machine.
    And also a lot of time was wasted on the design of bomber (Łoś will still get away with it because it's a good machine) and above all the Wilk heavy fighter project should be avoided.
    Through Wilk, only precious time was lost before it was realized that nothing would come of it.
    At the time, it was possible to complete either the PZL.50 Jastrząb as it should be, or to complete its revised version, the PZL.50 Jastrząb II. Or go all the way and implement the PZL.56 Kania which was the final version of the PZL.50.
    Or go the PZL.55 route and create the Polish Splitfire.

    We should have just avoided the WP OTL mistake of waiting for the best machine/arms instead of taking what is good.
    WP abbreviation for Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army)

    With the PZL.11 being a marvel of technology when it comes to durability. You could have crashed to the ground with the damn thing and the plane would have been repairable.

    Generally all Polish aircraft were like that.
    Which later after 39 caused problems because Polish pilots in the West tended to damage their machines with their maneuvers in the air because they were too used to the durability of the 11.
     
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    I kinda really want to at some point work on the Polish air force. Both the aircraft and pilot training.


    ...Kinda also want to suggest airship carrier but probably a bad ideal despite how much I like them. Such as the USS Macon. Just the thought of having an armored airship deploying planes...
     
    [X] Bureaucracy, development and education

    If we start wanting to do some propaganda to rally the people then we could try emphasizing the commonwealth history, especially its golden liberty idea. Only difference is that the golden liberty is now for everyone rather than an aristocratic elite.

    As for the military, whenever we do get to it we should start drafting up war plans for the soviets and germans. Most likely a defensive hold against the soviets and a defense/offense one against the germans. Especially if it becomes a two front war cause the original commonwealth fell due to being partitioned between russia, prussia, and austria
     
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