WWI Alt Hist Turn Thread

Spain 1908:


***I decided to now base the structure of my turns off the new structure of parliament, which was mentioned in my previous turn.


Governmental Structure:

Philip V of Aragon, King of Spain is now facing political mockery after his many attempts at declaring wars on other nations. Many leading members of Spain are calling for his abdication from the throne. Philip holds a few emergency meetings with his parliament to ask how he can fix this.
The Parliament recommends the building of more Spanish landmarks to remind people of what it means to be Spanish. Construction of a few of them begin. We will roll to see how well construction goes:
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Economy/Trade:

We are still suffering economically compared to other nations of Europe. We are working on building ties to a major European power who will continually buy our goods like wine and such. Either way, we are working toward a mercantilist policy, and we have increased exports to Brazil (Ivan Kolev), who lowered our tariffs only two years ago.


Culture:

Culture stays pretty static....


Defense:

At the start of the year, Philip was just about ready to enact major conscription laws, but then the peace deals between Austria-Hungary and Greece became a reality. For now, we are improving the plane design from our previous turn.
Rolling (1-6 = No significant improvement, 7-9 = Flying but not far enough, 10-12 = We can fly a plane!)



Colonial Affairs:

We are seeking to control the majority of Morocco from France. If Tadamichi Kuribayashi accepts, we will lower tariffs by 50% for 4 years. As a side note, we look toward developing what provinces of Morocco, we do have, toward allowing ships to dock.


Industrial Development:

I was going to roll last turn to see what the new industry development would produce. Let's see.
Industry:


International Affairs (CRI):

The Spokesperson, David Juan de Castillo, claims, "After the recent international conflicts, Spain will enact a temporary neutral policy for the next 5 years. We feel that it is important to focus on our homeland for a little while. We are not leaving the alignment with Italy (liamcog) and Greece (@joshuameme) behind, but at the current time, we support no international conflicts."


Justice/Law Enforcement:

We aren't martial law... I guess that's significant...

Religious Society:

We are still primarily Catholic, and so we look toward building more cathedrals. Hopefully, this might increase our national unity.

Agricultural Institutions:

MOO!
·····

The landmarks project succeeds, and as a result more people are temporarily happy with Philip V of Spain!

Our plane has near to no improvement. It now averages about 643 feet... "Probably a problem with the fuel tank or something" ~ Mariana Grande de Granada commented (Yes, I know)

The industry has moderate improvements, which is better than what it used to be. We will continue construction of industry next year.

USA

Political: The Progressives keep their position in the government and in the legislative bodies, largely due to economic success. 

Economy: The Unemployed are being offered infrastructure improvement jobs. Mass labor efforts at car factories make cars a  luxury affordable for even the middle class. 

Military: Some militias are being activated as part of a drill. Testing the response time to get the trained and well-equipped citizens ready at the barracks:
2s2Wi1l2
1 or 2 is slow
3 or 4 is mediocre
5 or 6 is quick response

Foreign Policy: Despite close ties to the Hellenic State the United States has decided to not interfere in the current Balkan war. Outright annexation of the sovereign Hellenic Nation or annexation of the Ottoman Empire will not be accepted by the States.

Imperial Russia 1908 (the first half)

At Home:

Midst of the scrambling and running over each other in speedy preparation, the locals of Crimea are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the pressing crowds of soldiers, engineers, and others involved in the war readiness process. Their patience starts to run low and growing restless. Some enterprise owners and farmers are more than just a bit upset about the clogged railroads and even the backroads in the countryside is having traffic issues. In addressing the grivenaces, a large group of those restless folks gathers at Kaushany, the captial of a county within the Bessarabskaya Governorate (Bessarabia). But because even though Bessarabskaya is fairly sparse in population, it's still relatively important in bordering both Romania and the Black Sea.

Rolling, if 5 or lower, a full-blown revolt develops within Bessarabskaya Governorate, stemming from unrest in Kaushany spreading to the rest of the small region.
PWr1JmG4

And the results are: 11! The stability in this area is strong against the onslaught! Out of gratitude to the Moldavians and Ukrainians, Nicholas II orders a permit of schooling to be taught in the languages of Romanian and Ukrainian (but Russian is still the required language in all essays and assignments turned in by the students) in an effort to improve the lives of the locals during this hard time.

Foreign Policy:

"About going to declare war upon the enemies of our ally, we received word that those enemies have declare regret in their foolish venture and are having second thoughts. In the light of the recent turnarounds, we must stop and await for certainty and assurance rather than leap into the dark uncertainly."

The embassy is awaiting further confirmation since after Russia has received word in regard to the Romanians, Italians, Spaniards, and Greeks seeming to be giving up their crusade against the Ottomans.

Romania (best75) is confirmed to be spared by the Austrians for the most part, retaining all of their borders except for the recent Serbian acquisitions. Russia wishes to strengthen the small country with a moderate but respectable shipment of funding (about $200,000) for improvements as they see fit to construct in their own country.

The embargoes on Italy (liamcog) and Greece (@joshuameme) haven't been lifted. Russia hasn't received a copy of the international peace treaty in due time to conclude this war. An embargo was almost placed upon Spain (Gaius Julius Caesar)

Military development:

In hindsight, the mess in Kaushany nearly caused a serious problem in the flow of soldiers and goods in a vital area. This isn't good. We must explore alternatives to the land-based railways & roads and the water-based barges in the rivers. We begin researching into the concept of using large airships to bypass the rough and so vast terrain of Russia. We also invite leaders of French aviation (which has been quite the foremost experts in RL) to come and stay in our empire to enjoy a new industry blooming into existence.
·

Romania 1908
We agree to the Austria Hungary (Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck ) demands and our troops withdraw from the Serbian land we gained.

Army is demobilized to to 100,000 men.

We gladly accept the Russian funding and will use it to develop our infrastructure

We want to avoid another peasant revolt so we enact a law that increases the minimum wage. Rolling for how well it is received by the peasants.
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The peasants are quite happy with the new law so they are less likely to revolt in the future.

We send a diplomat to Greece to attend the funeral of Joshua 

Great Qing 1908

With the revolts of 1907 shocking China, both the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi has agreed to pass sweeping social and political reforms in China. A new National Principle must be forged, in line with the circumstances of the time. How reciprocity and social hierarchy can be united with liberty and egalitarianism is anyone's guess, but the Grand Council must try, and try they shall.

The year starts with all the governors' term ended and the captain-generals' post abolished. All of the governors and captain-generals are summoned to Beijing tor relinquish their title and swear everlasting loyalty to the Guangxu Emperor. Rolling for how many comply.

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Most of the Captain-Generals and Governors have complied to the request of the Guangxu Emperor. Yet some notable faces are absent, such as En Ming, the governor of Anhui, recently rebelled against. In total, five captain-generals and five governors are missing, including Fengtian, Gansu, and Yunnan. The Guangxu Emperor decrees their arrest, to be tried for violation of the Grand Council and Emperor. The reformed gendarmerie, with the power of all police work, arrests these defectors. Roll for general success.



The arrests have been successful; though some arrests were met with early resistance, all the insubordinate governors and captain-generals are arrested. They are tried in Beijing, the trial led by the Emperor,  Xu Shichang, and Zhao Bingjun. The trial ends with the rebellious governors condemned for violating Confucian social hierarchy; they were not good subordinates to the Emperor. All of them are imprisoned for five years, exiled from the regions which they held office, and barred from holding office again.

Meanwhile, with all the governors in Beijing, the Gendarmerie, secretly overseen by the Jinyiwei purges provincial officials and legislature for corruption and loyalty to anyone other than the Guangxu Emperor. Rolling for the result of the investigation. The less dice rolled, the more officials corrupt.



Gadzooks! Corruption and disloyalty is prevalent in the provincial level, some cliques ruling independently of the Emperor. The Gendarmerie tries to finish the purge by arresting them, supported by the Jinyiwei. Rolling for success:



The attempted arrests are a total failure, with most resisting, even some powerful officials rebelling. Facing a political crisis in all the provinces, the Guangxu Emperor has no choice but to call the army. The cadre army, now 12 divisions in number, combines with the Beiyang Army to deal with the rebellious and corrupt officials. The plan is simple. A division is assigned to each province, crushing revolts and arresting rebellious officials. Roll for success.



The rebellious officials are crushed, arrested, and brought to Beijing for public condemnation. The ones in hiding are mostly arrested, but some still remain, missing. The Jinyiwei attempts to trace and arrest them.



Officials in hiding arrested, the Great Purge, as some dub it, is finished. The Grand Council now labors tirelessly to think of the way governors are chosen. Several regions, including Tibet and Xinjiang have demanded greater participation of provincial legislature in the appointment of governors. The Grand Council passes the new Protocols of Appointment, which consists of:
1. Each candidate for provincial governor must first sign-up for the examinations in each provincial capital; they must present their identification, record, and a letter of approval from a minimum of ten citizens,
2. The first phase of examinations includes verbal argumentation, modern prose writing, knowledge of local culture, and the sciences. They are conducted by the local officials and Imperial representatives, with the top 10% passing,
3. Those who pass the provincial level tests go to Beijing for another test, now including recent government policies and analyses of it. From here, five candidates for each province are taken,
4. A test of loyalty to the Emperor and values, which happens via interrogation by current Mandarins, asking for knowledge of Confucian morals and a test of loyalty in which the Emperor himself participates,
5. The Emperor and Grand Council appoints the provincial candidate from the pool of people that have passed each test, with the loyalty and value test as consideration,
6. Appointees must be approved by the local legislature, consisting of representatives elected by locals.
7. As an added clause, the governor for Tibet shall always be the Dalai Lama.

The same process is done for high-level provincial officials, though low-level provincial officials only have to pass a local test. I'd not roll for this since the examinations were tried and true.

From the Pronvicial Examinations, a reform of the Imperial Examinations (instead of scrapping it entirely) is planned. A revised examination, including modern fields of study and a requirement of finishing university education.

The success of the Examinations has led Beijing to start a policy of localization, gradually delegating tasks to local authorities. Provincial authorities are now involved in industrialization, education, and infrastructure.

---

Plans for political reform are made. Now with the landlord class' power damaged by the uprisings and regional purges, universal suffrage is introduced to provincial and county legislatures. A voter must only present documents and prove his literacy to vote. This concession to the people serves as an assurance despite the centralization shown by the regional Purges.

Meanwhile, in the central government, the Guangxu Emperor orders the establishment of a provisional cabinet, to be replaced by an actual cabinet come the creation of a national legislature, elected by 1910. Yikuang, the Prince Qing swiftly forms a cabinet by August. They consist of:
1. Prime Minister: Yikuang, Prince Qing
2. Deputy Prime Minister: Zhao Bingjun
3. Minister of Foreign Affairs: Liang Dunyan
4. Minister of Interior: Charlie Soong (in this TL, Soong Ai-Ling marries a prince of the Qing, with promises to give Soong governmental positions for reform)
5. Minister of Finance: Sheng Xuanhai, president of the Imperial Bank
6. Minister of Education: Liang Cheng
7. Minister of Defense: Yinchang
    -Chief of Army: Feng Guozhang
    -Chief Admiral: Sa Zhenbing
8. Minister of Justice: Li Guojie
9. Minister of Commerce and Industry: Xu Shichang
10. Minister of Agriculture: Prince Zaitao
11. Minister of Mail and Transport: Tang Shaoyi
12. Special Representative for Tibet: Tsarong Dazang

The cabinet is praised for proportional representation of the Han, though worries arise due to some appointments seemingly due to parentage, most importantly Li Guojie. Still, the provisional cabinet begin drafting a constitutional outline, as well as passing a law regulating political parties.

---

Rebellions and Raids

After the failure of the Zhengguan Uprising, the southern border of China has been beset with revolutionaries leading raids from Vietnam. As a result, a division of the cadre army is stationed at the Southern border. On the 27th of March, a particularly large raid led by Huang Xing, seemingly targeting cities around China. Rolling for the severity of the uprising.


The rebels are moderately successful, even reaching the cities of Qinzhou and Lianzhou. The army attempts to drive them off. Roll for the melee.



The rebels are driven off, some captured. Angered by the incessant raiding, the Guangxu Emperor orders an operation by the Jinyiwei to burn Tongmenghui bases in Vietnam. The Jinyiwei are disguised as peasants, teachers, and local intellectuals, finding out the location of Tongmenghui bases, collecting intelligence, and burning them if necessary. Roll for detection, lower than 11 means that the agents are not found, successfully disguised.


Now onto the intel collection and sabotage part.



The mission in Vietnam fails, though contacts reside inside the Tongmenghui. Due to the failure, Huang Mintang leads a band of 200 out of Vietnam, to raid Yunnan. Rolling for local forces' success.



They have failed to repel the band of 200. Now, troops from the cadre army have to be mobilized. Rolling for their success.



The rebels are driven off, but remain in good order.The Jinyiwei, sensing the Tongmenghui as a ticking time bomb, plans to insert several operatives into the organization, in an attempt to destroy it.The first phase of this, of course, is infiltration. The bigger the dice, the deeper the Jinyiwei infiltrates.



The Jinyiwei has successfully infiltrated the regional leadership of the Tongmenghui, though leaders like Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing remain far from the operatives' reach. Still, valuable intelligence regarding planned rebellions are found. A planned rebellion exists in Anhui, by a subset of the Tongmenghui. Still, the Jinyiwei decides to let the uprising happen, but prepare local forces for it. And in November, the uprising happened. With the police forces in the area prepared, they have attacked first.


 The attack is a success, all the rebels killed or captured.

---

The "Eleven Points for Social and Political Reform" are introduced by Charlie Soong, after extensive compromise:

1. A literate and numerate populace,
2. A modern education,
3. Adoption of the metric system in measurement,
4. Equality of the races,
5. Redefinition of Confucian gender roles,
6. Civilized freedom of speech,
7. Rule of law based on Confucian principles and human rights,
8. Reinvention of Chinese cultural identity,
9. Limitations on governmental power, bringing trust back to the people,
10. Judicial reform,
11. New national principles.

On the first point, some radical circles proposes simplification of Chinese characters, making it more easily understood. Specifically,
    -Character simplification of classics and modern books will occur,
    -Simplifications include eliminating unnecessary radicals, simplifying shape, using ancient characters, and using vulgar characters instead of complex traditional characters,
    -The simplified characters will be used in modern prose and bureaucracy, though usage of traditional characters will still be kept, especially in palace circles.

Moreover, Xu Shichang proposes cooperating with local factories to provide adult literacy courses, increasing their human capital. Now, the funding for state-sponsored industry shall be diverted from building up the industry proper to improvement of human capital. Basic mathematics are also taught, this being a part of vocational education for workers, able to operate modern machinery. Each business leader can add their own lessons to the mandated vocational education other than literacy and numeracy.

On the second point, education is managed on a policy of localization, where each county can form their own curriculum, though mandated subjects are Mathematics, Classics and Civics, Language, History, and Geography.

On the fourth point, a propaganda campaign is conducted. The campaign harks back to the time of Tang, where Taizhong of Tang cooperates with Manchu lords in his management of the Tang against the true barbarians. The violence of the Yuan, Ming, and the Manchu conquest is downplayed as a result of violence begetting violence, urging the Chinese people back to the peaceful period, to the prosperity of Tang by ending anti-Manchu or anti-Han racism. Sociologists are sent to examine the ethnic groups in China.

The Eight Banners system is abolished, ensuring everyone, under a banner or no, to be citizens of China.

On the fifth point, a young man by the name of Hu Shih publishes an essay, "A Modern Examination of the Master". In there, he argues that the basic confucian principles of social order and hierarchy will forever exist in the world, though the people constituting its class are different now. This is trumped up especially in regard to female suffrage.

On the rest, the Cabinet plans to reform the Chinese ideology, to make it fit the modern age. Most importantly, the Cabinet adopts the theory of realpolitik in foreign policy, understanding the situation of China as a regional power at best, eschewing the tribute system.

The agenda of judicial reform happens in a fairly simple manner; Chinese legal experts have examined judicial systems, and concluded that the independence of the judiciary, with judges serving for live and decisions unable to be protested, needs to be implemented in China. Even so, the judicial exam is hard, requiring good character, a knowledge of past cases, and memory of laws.

---

The economy is well, and gatherings of business leaders have formed larger agglomerations of business and larger factories. Now, the government gradually cuts funding to unnecessary industries and heavily funds the steel, weapons, and electricity industry. To speed up the growth, moderate tariffs are implemented.

Financially, the Imperial Bank's authority is expanded, with the mints abolished. They have the power to conduct monetary policies, distribute paper money as legal tender, and deal with interest rates. The Bank is brought under the Ministry of Finance, with an independent Auditory Body established to curb excessive or corrupt spending.

Hiram King's survey of Chinese land continues. Chinese scientists are more involved in it now, knowing more of geography. An Imperial Society for Scientists is formed, to be the body that unifies all scientists in China.

A Department of Internal Affairs is added into the Gendarmerie, to fight against corruption in the police.

---

Night of Glorious Succession

Over the course of November, the Guangxu Emperor has fallen weirdly ill, reporting stomach pain. Rolling to see if physicians can identify and cure the disease. A 15, I suppose?


The Guangxu Emperor is cured from his disease. Not a disease, however; it is found that his illness was caused by poison. The Emperor, while restoring health, orders that the investigation regarding his attempted murderer be done in secret by the Jinyiwei. In fact, news of his restoration from disease must be kept secret. Rolling for progress of investigation. 6-12 for Cixi, 13-18 for Yuan Shikai.


It appears that Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang have been running a clique against the Emperor, and is responsible for his poisoning. The Emperor replaces his chief of staff (silenced by the Jinyiwei, ofc). Now, Prince Zaitao tends to the Emperor's residence. He orchestrates the replacement of his guards and cooking staff, to prevent any other incident such as those. The Jinyiwei begin to infiltrate the Beiyang army and Tianjin police, using bribes and intimidation to turn them away from Yuan Shikai.

Tianjin Police


Beiyang Army


A minority of the Tianjin police has become agents against Yuan Shikai. Meanwhile, the Jinyiwei is successful in its mission, with most of the Beiyang's army generals against Yuan Shikai, partly due to the close relations between the generals of the Beiyang Army and the cadre army.

On the night of 13 November, the Guangxu Emperor visits the dying Empress Dowager Cixi. At the morning, he has in his hands Cixi's last decree; upholding the Guangxu Emperor as Emperor still, appointing Puyi, son of Prince Chun as the heir apparent. The last decree, too, warrants the arrest of Yuan Shikai and all his co-conspirators.

The Imperial Army, or the cadre army disarms the Beiyang Army with ease, but a division of them encounter resistance in disarming the Tianjin police; roll for melee.

 

The Tianjin police is disarmed. Yuan Shikai and his clique have no more power, and on the night of the fourteenth the Guangxu Emperor personally leads a group of Imperial Guard and Jinyiwei to arrest Yuan Shikai. Other groups of Imperial Guard, Gendarmerie, and Jinyiwei arrest Xu Shichang and other members of the Beiyang clique all across China.

Yuan Shikai


Xu Shichang


Clique


Most of the clique and Xu Shichang have been arrested, but Yuan Shikai escapes the Emperor's grasp. A Beijing-wide search is called. 6 to find Yuan Shikai.


Yuan Shikai, His Highness the Viceroy of Zhili, is found in a gutter. He and the members of his clique are tried for treason, and summarily sentenced to death by firing squad.
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OOC) Mind if I take a break? I'm really getting busy due to my IRL problems. If somebody like Gaius Julius Caesar takes care of my nation, that'd be wonderful. I am so sorry Will be back posting turns in 5 days at the most, I just need some catching up to do.
The Forum Mafia will continue as scheduled.