The Crisis of Modernity: New World Order

[Arthur Frayn]

The Mexican government strongly condemns President Hearst's actions and announces its solidarity with the American people in resisting dictatorship.

Click to shrink...

The Mexican government would be wise to remember its friends, and to perhaps consider its words more carefully when condemning the internal affairs of ally.

 

[Lore Snuggleton]

Internal Events - United States

Tanks of the Maryland National Guard outside the Capital Building
​

An address from President Hearst: My fellow Americans, we live in a time of extraordinary opportunity. Breakthroughs in science, technology, and medicine are curing illnesses and solving problems that prior generations thought impossible to solve. Each day, however, also brings news of growing dangers that threaten everything we cherish and value. Radical ideologies, spurred by foreign and southern agitators, threaten our very way of life. The most dastardly regimes support these agitators, and threaten other nations and their own people with violence and degradation.

To that end, I am declaring a state of martial law in the states affected by these socialist agitators, and am directing the state governments to use any and all means available to stamp out this insidious ideology and those who would seek to undermine our way of life. Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the ordinary, hard working American people, and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

To those foreigners and immigrants who come to our shores seeking a better life for themselves, we welcome you. Know your place and work hard, and the fruits of America will be open to you. If you agitate and spread these insidious and poisonous ideologies, know that we will fight you and reject you, as true God fearing Americans should.

Know that I do not take these actions lightly. All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests, and their wellbeing, including their prosperity. However, if we do not protect ourselves, our hearts, and our minds in our nations, if we will not build strong families, safe communities, and healthy societies for ourselves, we will fall. We are calling for a great reawakening of Americans, for the revival of their spirits, their pride, their people, and their patriotism.

May God bless you, and may God bless these United States of America.

Click to shrink...

From: Confederate States of America


General Statement from President Davis:

This is why Dixie has separated from the Yankees. The Yankee Tyrants will use guns whenever their citizens protest. Martial law??/You only use that when Negros are looting towns and raping women, not when good Anglo-Saxon men try to democratically protest. They claim socialist agitators but if anything, the government has been supporting socialists and have been using them as an excuse to beat up and rape good white folks, especially good Kentuckians and Virginians under occupation! And the accusation that we have been sending agitators is nonsense, if anything it shows how their pathetic Progressiveness is not working. It is otherwise the lighter version of Socialism, and it is infecting their own people. We denounce the Yankees in the harshest of conditions for their tyranny and hope fellow Southerners of Dixie still living under Yankee occupation fully protest back at the villainous Dictator Hearst. Hopefully this trigger-happy charlatan actually learns to lead instead of brutalizing his own citizens.

 

[Lore Snuggleton]

From Victory to Populist Chaos​

Huey Long's typical publicity stunt, showing off his drink making skills to people while carousing politicians to vote for his legislation

After Huey Long's victory in Louisiana, Huey Long made an impassioned speech about the working-class, about shaking up the establishment, about sharing the wealth. Many elites in Louisiana were somewhat hesitant but were planning on expending their influence his way. However once Long was sworn in, he moved quickly to consolidate his power, firing hundreds of opponents in the state bureaucracy, at all ranks from cabinet-level heads of departments and board members to rank-and-file civil servants and state road workers. Like previous governors, he started filling the vacancies with patronage appointments from his own network of political supporters. Every state employee who depended on Long for a job was expected to pay a portion of his or her salary at election time directly into Long's political war-chest (hidden secret). The funds were kept in a famous locked "deduct box" to be used at Long's discretion for political and personal purposes. Overall, the Louisiana government was immediately overturned in its almost entirety and it shook through the Louisiana Democratic Party as the state party become's Long's party. Soon after in his first year, he passed legislation under Democratic legislators that actually fulfilled his promises. Free textbooks for school children, adult literacy, a huge infrastructure bill to repair Louisiana's decaying infrastructure as well as expand it for the rising motorists in the state, and even higher taxes on wealth citizens. His methods were pretty unorthodox, approaching authoritarian as he bullied Democratic legislators who wavered. But many of his bills were already being passed in the first 7 months of his governorship and this unorthodox style inspired more populist candidates. Democrats throughout the rest of the country started worrying after the populist was becoming not just only popular in Louisiana but in the rest of the South. Even though the Democrats supported farmers, they still had much ties to the planter elite, and with this new populism, the Democratic Committee decided to latch on to the populist wave rising in an effort to defeat the Whigs. Leftists even were included as long as they "moderated their views" on their leftism to not be socialist. The far-right which has been distanced from during the Whig years has been slowly coming back in force, as they get more angry at their situation, some of them even blaming the Negros for their problems.

 

[King Saul]

From: Confederate States of America
To: Chile @KingOfPenguins

Secret:

Our government has heard about some chaos with espionage and potential war. We will not ask if you plan on going to war but in the case you do, we would like to be proactive and have our arms companies sell you wonderful Dixie guns and shells in the possibility you plan for war. We can link you to some of our arms manufacturers if you wish to buy Confederate arms.

From: Confederate States of America
To: Argentina @King Saul

Secret:

Our government has heard about some chaos with espionage and potential war. We will not ask if you plan on going to war but in the case you do, we would like to be proactive and have our arms companies sell you wonderful Dixie guns and shells in the possibility you plan for war. We can link you to some of our arms manufacturers if you wish to buy Confederate arms.

Click to shrink...

Secret

The Argentine Government agrees to buy arms from your country, but I must warn you that we will not sign any arms purchase agreements, since we already have a treaty with the Empire of Brazil and we will be faithful to that.

 

[The Lone Taco]

Operation: Shining Star


A group of activists are cited and arrested for trying to enroll Black sharecroppers in the underground League of Negro Tenant Farmers. Taken in Richmond, Virginia, a larger, more liberal city the activists can expect some weeks in jail, a permanent mark on their records and a large fee that'll take them some years to pay off, if they're lucky not to incur late fees and further restrictions on their personal freedoms. In the Deep South they likely would have been lynched or roughed up by the police.


With the wave of "revolution" brought on by the Red Summer of 1926, 1927 brings a wave of reaction, in both the North and the South. While the United States may have opted to enact martial law and roll tanks out into the streets, the Confederacy has opted for a more subtle strategy. Utilizing plainclothes secret police, the Confederates step up their surveillance of Black organizations and underground unions agitating for economic independence and civil rights. Upon identifying leaders, Confederate state security quickly moves to knock their front doors down in the middle of the night and commence sweeping raids, arresting dozens of activists and organizers. Confederate state police, national guard, and elements of the military harshly round up over four hundred people all over the country, officially declaring it an operation to "clamp down on criminals and subversive elements", while many are released, those that are generally face large monetary penalties and serious restrictions on the little freedoms of movement and assembly they have -- most will likely be arrested again in the near future for failure to pay back their court imposed fees. Dozens of other, more senior members of the various Black liberation movements are tried and convicted of counts from terrorism to armed robbery to "revolutionary activity" and many organizations see their leadership chain disassembled over night. Confederate media, with financial pressure from their planter owners and "benefactors", generally go quiet on the actions committed by police, however in the more rural and deeper South, things quickly go from bad to worse. In some cases, local police departments go as far as to encourage vigilante violence against Black subversives: the few protests scheduled after the sweeping arrests face gunfire and intimidation tactics, while most leaders are tried and convicted, some don't even make it to the jailhouse, and are lynched by angry mobs before the police can secure them (sometimes with police officers joining in with the mobs). While arrests and beatings are censored and quickly erased or played down in the newspapers and the radio programs, rumors of mass lynchings rage out of control both inside and outside of the country. Media from outside of the Confederacy report on the news rather extensively, often utilizing correspondents in New Orleans, Memphis and Richmond to report on the arrests and violence. A few fringe, independent socialist publications in the South decry the state's heavy handed measures, but they're drowned out by most and rarely have an audience among their own left-wing comrades, who ultimately choose to look away as the government clamps down on Black protests. For the time being, the Afro-Confederate response has been muted, with communities mostly in shock, however their is a sense that this is merely the calm before the storm.

@Lore Snuggleton

 

[Lore Snuggleton]

From: Central America
To: The Confederacy @Lore Snuggleton

The Federal Republic of Central America would like to open talks over new trade deals on our mining products both for luxuries such as gold or more industrially natured minerals such as iron or zinc and copper, we would also like to open up discussion on trade deals in regard to the purchase of Industrial products such as cars, radios, farming and mining tools etc. On a further note, we would also like to open up the possibility of investment into the creation of local Central American industry designed around taking advantage of the Nicaragua canal and high population of El Salvador such as a small arms industry, canned goods industry, a rum industry, and a cigar industry if at all possible though we will begin such on our own foreign investment is always welcome let alone the Confederacy's industrial expertise.

Click to shrink...

@Cybandeath

We would gladly help the Central American economy invest to grow and thrive. For mining, we can negotiate investments and loans to help you pump out more gold, iron, zinc, and cooper. We can also offer all sort of high tech goods if you just want us to sell and ship them to your ports. However if you want factories these new industrial products, we can help you build them with Confederate expertise. We just want a *decent* amount of bonds and stocks for profit in all those industries in exchange for the construction of these factories. Once these factories come up and running, your country will be even more industrialized for the modern world. Hell our companies who are currently contracted with our government will give you some bonus investment as well for your currently booming mining industry. How would that sound?

Secret:

We are concerned with the socialists as well. As a matter of fact, we might even be able to sell you arms for a bit of a cheaper price. A loan program if you will for cashback to us in the long term, low interest. But besides giving you good weapons, we even wish to give you an official guarantee of protection. All we ask for in exchange is the protection of Confederate businesses and their individual owners within your country so the money can freely flow into your country. We certainly do not want angry socialists getting jealous over our prosperity and trying to steal it from us.

 

[Cybandeath]

@Cybandeath

We would gladly help the Central American economy invest to grow and thrive. For mining, we can negotiate investments and loans to help you pump out more gold, iron, zinc, and cooper. We can also offer all sort of high tech goods if you just want us to sell and ship them to your ports. However if you want factories these new industrial products, we can help you build them with Confederate expertise. We just want a *decent* amount of bonds and stocks for profit in all those industries in exchange for the construction of these factories. Once these factories come up and running, your country will be even more industrialized for the modern world. Hell our companies who are currently contracted with our government will give you some bonus investment as well for your currently booming mining industry. How would that sound?

Secret:

We are concerned with the socialists as well. As a matter of fact, we might even be able to sell you arms for a bit of a cheaper price. A loan program if you will for cashback to us in the long term, low interest. But besides giving you good weapons, we even wish to give you an official guarantee of protection. All we ask for in exchange is the protection of Confederate businesses and their individual owners within your country so the money can freely flow into your country. We certainly do not want angry socialists getting jealous over our prosperity and trying to steal it from us.

Click to shrink...

This all sounds agreeable, and your industrial expertise would be more than welcome, we hope our economic partnerships will continue to benefit us both well into the future.

Spoiler: secret

El Presidente will of course continue to maintain foreign investments from harm via socialist agitators and revolutionaries, such aside we would be more than happy to purchase further arms to maintain a better oiled military to better protect Central America especially so with your guarantee of protection.

 

[Darth Invictus]

The Emperor is Dead! Long Live The Dying Emperor!


The Late Emperor will henceforth be known by his posthumous name, Emperor Taisho
​

On March 12th 1937 at approximately 6:30 PM the Emperor of Japan finally lost his long battle with illness and passed away due to pneumonia, which he had contracted in early December. According to unconfirmed reports the Emperor was greatly distraught by the news of the Crown Princes stroke and went to the nearest shrine to pray immediately, crossing the imperial gardens during heavy rain and remaining for hours at the shrine, refusing to change out of his wet clothes
​

The de jure Emperor of Japan, Hirohito​

A week of mourning will be observed across the Empire as decreed by the Regent and new Crown Prince Yasuhito, with the death of the Emperor Taisho his eldest son Hirohito is now Emperor of Japan, although his true status will be uncertain. As Hirohito was rendered comatose due to the stoke he suffered late last year (and according to the Imperial Households doctors it is unlikely he will ever emerge from the coma) he cannot undertake the traditional enthronement ceremony, some traditionalists are claiming he should be declared ineligible to rule. Liberal factions in the Diet and military are suggesting that the new Emperors brother remain as regent for the remainder of the new Emperors natural life, claiming that as the Taisho Emperor undertook virtually no duties for the final years of his life the precedent has already been set. Ultimately it may not matter as according to reports Hirohito has contracted a bacterial infection, the Emperor may resolve the issue before either faction can​

​

 

[NapoleonCorinII]

Coup in the Republic

The Military of The Republic of Colombia, both factions supporting Liberals and Conservatives, has unified Pedro Nel Ospina* in a coup against the current government. The military forces, calling themselves "Revolucionarios para la Libertad", (Revolutionaries for Freedom) are calling for a third Constitutional Convention which will remedy the infighting between Colombia's Conservative and Liberal Partisans. The Revolution was declared in Cartagena on May 23rd by Ospina and fellow generals** [Conservative] Laureano Gómez and [Liberal] Enrique Alfredo Olaya Herrera. Soon After Military officials took control of 7 of the 11 states (not including the Caqueta Territory, which is still controlled by a liberal Government***)

Upon hearing news of the announcement and action taken by the military, Former President Jorge Holguín**** made an announcement that the "Revolution" did not stand in line with the true beliefs of Colombia. "Let it be declared that this revolution is nothing more than an anti-republican demonstration, all who support this revolution should be considered traitors to the cause." Later that day, Holguín was shot while walking to the Congressional Building by an unknown supporter of the Revolution. Leaving his Vice President, Liberal Belisario Porras Barahona***** to take over his place. The President has not made an announcement on how it will act to the revolution. While his own Liberal party, led by Herrera, calls for military action, Barahona

General Nel Ospina, the father of the revolution
​

To: President Barahona @The Lone Taco
From: Revolutionary General Pedro Nel Ospina

Dear President,
The Republic is a mess. She does not help her citizens, her economy is in the pit, and we are in a constant state of war. The members of this revolution will put down arms if you agree to a constitutional convention including Liberals, Conservatives, and all other interested parties so that we may be able to rebuild our grand Republic.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

*= While Pedro is growing old, he is still a well-known figure who, while fighting many times for the conservatives throughout civil wars in 1875, 1889 and 1905, is seen as a uniting figure for his calls to begin a Colombian "Renaissance"
**=The leaders of the revolution, not including Ospina, were younger generals who had been members of the "Centennial Generation." These Leaders had dealt with growing up in both the civil wars of 1889 and 19-05. For this many among them and many in the ranks of the younger generation joined in the fight to prevent further civil strife in the Republic.
***=The States controlled by the Liberal Governments are Panama, Nevada, Boyacá, Tolima, and Caquetá.
****= Holguín was a conservative who had been supported by the Liberals. While he attempted at some Conservative Legislation, in the beginning, he quickly became a puppet of the Liberals, his Conservative VP being replaced by a Liberal VP, his cabinet being dominated by Liberals, and this angered the growing Conservative movement.
*****=Barahona is the first president of Colombia from Panama.

 

[Komrade Kermit]

Dutch Internal Events
Without a doubt, their was room for improvement in the Dutch Colonies. After years of minor investments mostly made to merely repair existing structures and roads,
this year a massive 9 Million Guilders have been set aside for one purpose, to overhaul the colonies. Dutch Guiana (Suriname), a largely forgotten colony with most of it's income from
minimum gem and farming resources, has now been the target of a massive plan that will include the expansion of harbor facilities at Paramaribo, the construction of 2 (Yes 2)
new railroads and the overhaul of the single railroad currently in operation. In addition, a grand total of 7 new gem mines are to be constructed.

A current gem mining plant.

However, the amount of money being put into Dutch Guiana means neglect elsewhere. Only 32,000 Dutch Guilders (15,000 USD) where put to the Dutch West Indies, and left
only 5.7 million Guilders were left for the Dutch East Indies. However, this meant no shortage of investment. Many of the Oil drills in Borneo and Sumatra used tech that
was 10, 20 even 25 years old for some. Entire drills were torn down and replaced with newer models. Another railroad was built on Borneo, while ports along all
the islands were expanded. However, both the crash crop and rubber industries remain largely unchanged.



Meanwhile, in the Dutch naval department, things were picking up. The last of the Admiralen-class destroyers is due to launch in February, 1928. Meanwhile, plans to begin
the construction of a new light cruiser class have been sent in motion. The first De Ruyter-class light cruiser is to be laid down in early 1928, while a new type a sub, named the
O-16 class, has begun construction of 2 ships. However, the pacifist movement is slowly growing in strength, so unless a certain threat besides Japan presents itself, a lack of naval
construction could be the result. In the meantime, the government has agreed to sell 4 of the 8 old Wolf-class destroyers, with one already being sold to Argentina.

HNLMS Evertsen
In addition, PM Colijn addressed several other problems to the countries' defense: Air power and tanks. In the former category, the Royal Dutch Air Force was almost nonexistant
during the Welkrieg, and the armor corps was even smaller. With a total of only 126 fighters, mostly from the Welkrieg, 43 bombers (again, outdated) and a single armored airship,
any battle for the skies was certainly lost. Without any current modern designs available, an Aircraft Engineering Board was created and tasked with designing a new type of fighter,
but starting from scratch means that it will likely take at least a year to get any plan out. On the armor side, the Corps had 42 German tanks that had been given to them during the
war, and 18 captured British ones. Much like what happened with the Aircraft problem, an Armor Engineer Board was also formed and tasked with designing a light tank and a
tank destroyer, likely with the same chassis, but face the same problems as the Aircraft Engineers.

​

To: Central America @Cybandeath, Mexico @Ceslas, Brazil @Walker Of Chaos, Iran @Altzek, Bulgaria @Azecreth, China @CommandoHowitzer, Ukraine @Crilltic, Canada @Non Sequitor, and Any nations really @The Lone Taco
From: Netherlands
PUBLIC
We are selling 3 of our Wolf-class destroyers at the time being. They date back to the Welkrieg, and thus are only 15 years old. We are now opening up bids for who wishes to purchase them, with our starting price at *Average Price* to any interested nations. In addition, we are willing to build ships for any of your nations, providing you either purchase plans for a ship or present your own design.​

 

[Ceslas]

Dutch Internal Events
Without a doubt, their was room for improvement in the Dutch Colonies. After years of minor investments mostly made to merely repair existing structures and roads,
this year a massive 9 Million Guilders have been set aside for one purpose, to overhaul the colonies. Dutch Guiana (Suriname), a largely forgotten colony with most of it's income from
minimum gem and farming resources, has now been the target of a massive plan that will include the expansion of harbor facilities at Paramaribo, the construction of 2 (Yes 2)
new railroads and the overhaul of the single railroad currently in operation. In addition, a grand total of 7 new gem mines are to be constructed.

A current gem mining plant.

However, the amount of money being put into Dutch Guiana means neglect elsewhere. Only 32,000 Dutch Guilders (15,000 USD) where put to the Dutch West Indies, and left
only 5.7 million Guilders were left for the Dutch East Indies. However, this meant no shortage of investment. Many of the Oil drills in Borneo and Sumatra used tech that
was 10, 20 even 25 years old for some. Entire drills were torn down and replaced with newer models. Another railroad was built on Borneo, while ports along all
the islands were expanded. However, both the crash crop and rubber industries remain largely unchanged.



Meanwhile, in the Dutch naval department, things were picking up. The last of the Admiralen-class destroyers is due to launch in February, 1928. Meanwhile, plans to begin
the construction of a new light cruiser class have been sent in motion. The first De Ruyter-class light cruiser is to be laid down in early 1928, while a new type a sub, named the
O-16 class, has begun construction of 2 ships. However, the pacifist movement is slowly growing in strength, so unless a certain threat besides Japan presents itself, a lack of naval
construction could be the result. In the meantime, the government has agreed to sell 4 of the 8 old Wolf-class destroyers, with one already being sold to Argentina.

HNLMS Evertsen
In addition, PM Colijn addressed several other problems to the countries' defense: Air power and tanks. In the former category, the Royal Dutch Air Force was almost nonexistant
during the Welkrieg, and the armor corps was even smaller. With a total of only 126 fighters, mostly from the Welkrieg, 43 bombers (again, outdated) and a single armored airship,
any battle for the skies was certainly lost. Without any current modern designs available, an Aircraft Engineering Board was created and tasked with designing a new type of fighter,
but starting from scratch means that it will likely take at least a year to get any plan out. On the armor side, the Corps had 42 German tanks that had been given to them during the
war, and 18 captured British ones. Much like what happened with the Aircraft problem, an Armor Engineer Board was also formed and tasked with designing a light tank and a
tank destroyer, likely with the same chassis, but face the same problems as the Aircraft Engineers.

​

To: Central America @Cybandeath, Mexico @Ceslas, Brazil @Walker Of Chaos, Iran @Altzek, Bulgaria @Azecreth, China @CommandoHowitzer, Ukraine @Crilltic, Canada @Non Sequitor, and Any nations really @The Lone Taco
From: Netherlands
PUBLIC
We are selling 3 of our Wolf-class destroyers at the time being. They date back to the Welkrieg, and thus are only 15 years old. We are now opening up bids for who wishes to purchase them, with our starting price at *Average Price* to any interested nations. In addition, we are willing to build ships for any of your nations, providing you either purchase plans for a ship or present your own design.​

Click to shrink...

We will start the bidding at *average price.*

 

[Komrade Kermit]

We will start the bidding at *average price.*

Click to shrink...

For all ships or just one.

 

[Ceslas]

For all ships or just one.

Click to shrink...

All.

 

[Walker Of Chaos]

@JbeJ275

The Empire of Brazil hereby announces the signing of an arms treaty with the Venezuelan Republic.

 

[Komrade Kermit]

​

To: Central America @Cybandeath, Mexico @Ceslas, Brazil @Walker Of Chaos, Iran @Altzek, Bulgaria @Azecreth, China @CommandoHowitzer, Ukraine @Crilltic, Canada @Non Sequitor, and Any nations really @The Lone Taco
From: Netherlands
PUBLIC
We are selling 3 of our Wolf-class destroyers at the time being. They date back to the Welkrieg, and thus are only 15 years old. We are now opening up bids for who wishes to purchase them, with our starting price at *Average Price* to any interested nations. In addition, we are willing to build ships for any of your nations, providing you either purchase plans for a ship or present your own design.​

Click to shrink...

All.

Click to shrink...

Final bid for all 3 destroyers is closing. Make your final bids now. Mexico leading at *average price*

 

[Komrade Kermit]

We will start the bidding at *average price.*

Click to shrink...

Congratulations, you are now the owner of 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf-class_destroyer. Bidding has now closed.

 

[Komrade Kermit]

Dutch Internal Event: Gerrit Achterberg's Poem Why do we fight?
Gerrit, a Dutch Poet, was thrust into the harsh reality of war, seeing friends killed or maimed, neighborhoods destroyed and thousands killed.
After following his dream of being a poet, he constructed one meant to rally people around the world by describing the nature of governments as "less than human,
monsters and warmongers" and promote a pacifist international organization now gaining momentum around the globe, named the Humanity First Group.​

Nare a piece of earth not filled with a cold body of innocence, barely a household with out a weeping lady, or a town without grief. Such end comes without mercy, but with warning. But the ignorant lead, yes lead they do, lead their people down the wrong path, to squabble over dirt or rock, that oh so soon gets stained with blood, blood shed from humans to animals. For perhaps the first time, our civilization creaks its foundations give away to death, the everlinging presence, that takes from man and gives to monsters.

We give more flowers to the dead then the living, as grief is more powerful than thankfulness. We call ourselves intelligent, when grasshoppers fight, don't they? Do they tear the world itself apart in their similar quarrels?

 

[The Lone Taco]

Socialists and the far right engage in a street fight in Graz, Austria. While not particularly larger than a violent strike in America, nor outright dangerous to the government, the incessant street battles between the far left and right heavily contributed to the air of instability and uncertainty.

Perching on the Precipice
​

The Ausgleich of 1927 has been "indefinitely delayed" on the unconstitutional orders of Emperor Franz Ferdinand and the Reichsrat. The Emperor has insisted that the state of emergency in place since the attempt on his life -- which ended in his wife's murder by socialists, must continue especially with "rumors" circulating about a major attempt on wherever the Ausgleich conferences are held. The truth is, those rumors are mostly hysteria and being pushed on the government and the Emperor by military intelligence and rabidly anti-leftist ministers; Franz Ferdinand is particularly bloodthirsty and distraught following the murder of his wife, Sophie and is particularly pliable to the increasingly authoritarian elements in his government. As the situation on the streets appears to be reaching a fever pitch and the economy begins to feel the effects of prolonged strikes and labor actions to curtail production and disrupt infrastructure, the government overreacts and commences suspending constitutional provisions while centralizing control of the country. The Ausgleich is just one of several casualties in Ferdinand's attempt at creating a "new security regime".

The number of police under direct control of Vienna and the Hapsburg monarchy increases greatly in the streets of towns and cities across the empire. The military is dispatched in Austria proper, in order to "clean up the streets" and restore life to normal. These moves are not seen lightly across the empire, and while the newly formed "security state" in Austria greatly inflames right wing and left wing resistance to the Emperor, the same is done among nationalists in the constituent regions of the empire. Hungary is suddenly set alight in pro-independence and nationalist sentiment. Protests swell in the major cities, often leading to clashes with the police and military. Poles living in Galicia commence agitating for annexation by Congress Poland, Germany's puppet Polish state -- with more radical elements calling for a "truly independent Poland" to begin, mostly out of the historically nationalist city of Krakow. While Croatia remains loyal to the Hapsburg monarchy and the empire it fears that Vienna can no longer offer them the security and stability they desire, and many are fearful of Hungary's attempts at independence, feeling that the Hungarians will forcibly try to take Croatia with them in the divorce.

The Romanians in Carpathia, the Serbs in southern Hungary, and even the Czechs and the Slovaks were beginning to see separatist and nationalist demonstrations. Many feel that the Emperor, once supposed to be a reformer and the harbinger of a new, liberal and federal era of the Hapsburg empire, has overstepped his bounds and become a tyrant. Many are sympathetic to the Emperor's tragedy and indeed his popularity in the country rallied in the days following Sophie's death, but the situation in Austria and the Empire seems to be reaching a limit before something, or someone, has to give. The Hungarians don't want to, with even the most pro-empire politicians and elites wish to exact tremendous concessions from the Austrians, concessions no one will reasonably be able to make, and the rest of the reactionary and right wing aristocracy desiring their own state where they will not be encumbered by Austrian demands and constitutional rights. The Austrians themselves, particularly those in the government, feel that the Hungarians are simply trying to exceed their station and take them for fools in order to shift the balance of power in the empire towards them and the nationalists who want their own state are nothing more than ungrateful pigs who wish to tear centuries of tradition and Hapsburg preeminence to the ground.

Each side views the other through an increasingly negative and de-legitimizing lens. Violence continues to break out at protests, which are beginning to look more like riots, the rightists and the leftists continue to ratchet up their violent tactics and a dangerous game of escalation is being played between the two sides, who are increasingly disorganized themselves, more just angry mobs of dissatisfied and disaffected veterans, workers and peasants. The Emperor is increasingly withdrawn from public life, issuing statements and making the occasional public appearance where he looks sullen and miserable, many fear for his mental health, his dreams of a federal Austria seemingly dashed and his wife dead, the "Weeping Emperor" is rapidly pushed aside while a cadre of "patriots, veterans and businessmen" begin to gather and exert their influence on a divided and weakened government.

Summary:​

• The Ausgleich is "indefinitely postponed" while the state of emergency granting the government wide reaching and unconstitutional powers is extended indefinitely. Austria is essentially a dictatorship by way of the Emperor and his cabinet ministers. ​
• The Emperor spends most of his time lamenting the loss of his wife and the end of his Federal Austria project, mostly while the country burns in the background.​
• Elements of the military (active duty and veterans), the far right and business are organizing in order to make some semblance of stability in the chaos, feeling the liberal-conservative establishment is unequipped and unprepared for this unprecedented challenge to Imperial authority.​
• Hungary responds to the centralization and newly declared "security state" with unruliness and refuses to accept many of the Austrian demands, at least until the Ausgleich takes place -- whenever that will be.​
• Ferdinand, thanks to the pressure by military intelligence and the shadowy cabal of veterans and the far right, deploys Austrian police and military across the country, further angering minority nationalists and socialists. ​
• Austria is at a standstill, many feel the unthinkable could happen: A civil war. ​

@Interested Party @Alex Costa @Azecreth @Watercress

 

[The Lone Taco]

To: President Barahona @The Lone Taco
From: Revolutionary General Pedro Nel Ospina

Dear President,
The Republic is a mess. She does not help her citizens, her economy is in the pit, and we are in a constant state of war. The members of this revolution will put down arms if you agree to a constitutional convention including Liberals, Conservatives, and all other interested parties so that we may be able to rebuild our grand Republic.

​

Click to shrink...

Secret:

It does not appear I have much of a choice. I will allow it to proceed.

 

[Watercress]

From: Russia
To: Germany @Interested Party

Emperor Michael bids good wishes to his relation, Kaiser Wilhelm III. It is evident that the situation in Austria-Hungary must be dealt with swiftly before it deteriorates further. As the head of Mitteleuropa, we hope that the German government has solutions in mind - ideally ones beneficial to the peace of Europe, and indeed to the Slavic peoples of Austria-Hungary, who look to Russia for salvation.

From: Russia
To: Slavic Parties in Austria-Hungary

SECRET

We are prepared to render financial assistance, through the Okhrana Bureau in Vienna, to your respective movements. Russia may be weaker now than what she once was, but we remain the natural leader and guardian of the Slavic peoples.

 

[Azecreth]

General Statement
From: Bulgaria

The Bulgarian government is disheartened by the worsening situation in Austria-Hungary, which threatens to cast a large portion of the European continent into chaos. It is our sincere hope that peace can prevail for the good of everyone, by whatever means are needed to bring that about.

Bulgarian Internal Event

Additional troops are deployed to the border with Austria-Hungary, ostensibly for security and preventing any conflict from spilling over into Bulgaria

 

[Interested Party]

General Statement
From: The German Empire

The German government is concerned by the growing levels of violence in Austria-Hungary. We hope that peace will prevail in this fractious situation, however it must come about, and we stand ready to offer aid if needed.

German Internal Event

The number of military forces along the border between Germany and Austria-Hungary is increased, obstentiably in case the violence in Austria-Hungary attempts to spill across the border into Germany.

From: Russia
To: Germany @Interested Party

Emperor Michael bids good wishes to his relation, Kaiser Wilhelm III. It is evident that the situation in Austria-Hungary must be dealt with swiftly before it deteriorates further. As the head of Mitteleuropa, we hope that the German government has solutions in mind - ideally ones beneficial to the peace of Europe, and indeed to the Slavic peoples of Austria-Hungary, who look to Russia for salvation.

Click to shrink...

From: The German Empire
To: The Russian Empire

Kaiser Wilhelm III reciprocates Emperor Michael's greetings, and hopes this communication finds him in good health.

We agree with the concerns about the deteriorating situation in Austria-Hungary, and we have begun discussions as to what should be done in response to the situation. Rest assured that maintaining the peace and security of those people in the area is of our utmost concern, including that of the Slavic peoples.

 

[NapoleonCorinII]

Secret:

It does not appear I have much of a choice. I will allow it to proceed.

Click to shrink...

We thank you for your cooperation, we hope a better Colombia may soon become a reality

 

[Darth Invictus]

From: Yasuhito, Regent of the Empire of Japan
To: John B. Davis, President of the Confederate States of America @Lore Snuggleton


Your Excellency

As the executor of the office of the Emperor I am reaching out to yourself and your nation, I have a proposal you may find interesting, a way to help each of us solve both our problems

 

[NapoleonCorinII]

The Colombian Constitutional Convention

From: The Federal Republic of Central America
To: The Republic of Colombia @NapoleonCorinII
On behalf of the Central American people through the power given to me by the people I wish to extend an offer of friendship towards Colombia, and put an end to old hostilities and rivalries and open up a variety of discussions listed below.

1. Firstly the possibility of an agreement on the Panama issue and the Central American claims onto it through a potential purchase of the territory through the expenditure of a negotiable sum dependant on the request of the Colombian government on what they would be willing to sell it for.

2. Secondly the possibility of aiding the Colombian economy through investment into the known but frankly unexploited mineral wealth of Colombia by the opening of a Central American-Colombian mining company to mutually benefit our two nations.

3. Thirdly the offer of a Mutual Defence Pact or even Alliance against the many dangers that face both our nations be it filthy communist uprising or foreign threats that surround both our nations such as Mexico, Venezuela, or Peru should such needs arise.

4. Fourth and finally we would like to open up the possibility of opening up a common market in which to allow both our peoples access to new goods and cheaper prices to allow a better easier living style be they rich or poor alike.

Click to shrink...

From: The Acting Government of The Colombian Republic under Pedro Del Ospina
To: Central American Republic @Cybandeath
This offer greatly interests us. While we in the current government do not have the power to agree to such foreign ideas and many will be angered by the prospect of releasing Panama, we have a great interest in negotiating for better relations and further trade between our nations.