Part 141: History of the Reichstag, Part Four

History of the Reichstag by Servant

History of the Reichstag, Part 4: The Zuhrimani Wars

The Zuhrimani Wars affected all of Europe, as the the Revolutionary hordes, led by the cruel Iberians, attempted to reform all of Europe into a radical Liberal utopia. Much blood was spilt, but it also shook all of Europe out of its stagancy and caused important changes to the major insitutions, including the Holy Roman Empire's Reichstag.

The 1780 Reichstag, called into session at the eve of the First Zuhrimani War, and criticized by angry Conservatives disappointed at the Reichstag's liberal tendencies, is best known for its last debate over Imperial Proposals. Three Imperial Proposals were brought to the floor:

*The Imperial Free Trade Act. This Act received only one solidatry vote from raptus, confirming the Reichstag's uncaring nature towards economic reform. The Holy Roman Empire was already rolling in cash, so the Reichstag members wisely believed future reform would not be necessary.

*The Defense of the Divine Order would have declared all non-monarchial governments as "rogue states", granting the Emperor free reign to counter the Revolutionaries. This proposal received 5 votes. Many votes for the Act were just protest votes motiviated by ideology.

*The Imperial Corps Reorganization Act promised military reforms to make the Holy Roman Empire's armies more effective. This proposal received 21 votes, being the most popular in the Reichstag. zeal supported military reform: "Clearly the Byzantine-French war showed us that our military, while fully capable of dealing with the French threat, was woefully unprepared against upstart enemies like Austria. Our armies must be strengthened in both body and spirit for the battles to come." GunnerJ also supported the Act by stating, "Who gives a poo poo what governments other nations have when we can kick their rear end if they come for us." Rebel Blob also reluctantly gave into the calls for military reform: "I suppose I will have to throw my hat in for the Imperial Corps Organization Proposal, though it means abandoning our proud history of flogging our troops into battle. An interesting experiment by our Emperor at least, to see if you can motivate an army through anything but primal fear of their superiors."

Nakar led out a detailed defense for military reform: "ICOP, which sounds like some bizarre standardization format. Casualties are incredibly important in the late game and Discipline is how you get them. Remember that unless the sliders were changed some from the last time that there's a Quantity bias, which slightly lowers Discipline. This is not good because high Discipline troops will just meatgrinder up Quantity troops unless you're full-on Quantity (hi Russia). "

There were also much criticism over the actual point of the Defense of the Divine Order, since Zuhriman's armies would be the likely aggressors in any future war. KnoxZone said, "Another vote for Imperial Corps Organization Proposal since it's not that hard to fabricate a claim, not to mention I doubt you will be taking to many more aggressive wars against other European states." Peel said, "We are on the front lines against France and the new muslim barbarism, and the Great War demonstrated that our armies are in dire need of reform. We won't need a casus belli, they're coming to us." Gul Banana backed Peel's beliefs: "if war is coming, we won't need to start it."

The Imperial Corps Reorganization Act was passed with overwhealmingly support in 1780, and the Reichstag members left in a joyful mood, glad that they did their part to ensure Germany's defense against the Iberians.

In 1800, any trace of this joyful mood disappered. The Imperial Corps Reorganization Act was not enough to help the Holy Roman Empire even able to make a dent in France during the Third Zuhrimani War, as the empire's army was massacred by the well-trained French Revolutionary armies. The Holy Roman Empire was forced to agree to a White Peace to deal with other threats, while Revolutionary France stole Sierra Leone from the British Empire. Also, Emperor Augustin spilt up the crown of Swabia so as to prevent a reactionary revolt in the rich territories of Italy. The lazy and incompetent liberal, Mathias II, became the new Holy Roman Emperor, while his conservative brother, Werner IV, became King of Italy.

The Reichstag panicked over the existence of such a lazy ruler, especially with the presence of Zuhriman's armies. They disliked a ruler who was only interested in "wine, women, and horses" instead of ruling, and decided early on that if Mathais II isn't going to rule the Empire, then the Reichstag will rule the Empire for him!

It was decided that the "informal consulations" that was traditionally used as a way for the Emperor to receive advice from the Reichstag would be reorganized into an offical "Advisory Council", and its members would be selected by the Reichstag every 20 years. This "Advisory Council" would run the affairs of the state while Mathais II lazily enjoyed the perks of power, altough the Reichstag itself would still need to be called into "emergency sessions" in during a time of crisis.

The main question however was who would sit on the Advisory Council. There were three major factions vying for control, and the Reichstag had to decide whom to appoint: *The Militarists, who want a strong military and industralization, and put unity on the backburner. They received the support of one member, Golden_Zucchini. He made a passioned plea for Militarism...a passioned plea nobody listened to. Golden_Zucchini was offended by a comment made by McFetusBurger claiming that the army can easly hold the Empire from Zuhriman. He said:

"I am not so sure that our army is as powerful as you think, Herr McFetusBurger. Zuhriman has quite a taste for war, and though we survived this most recent set of wars, I am unsure of how well we can withstand a second pummeling from all sides at once, especially since Italy is no longer directly a part of Swabia. Yes, this time it was coincidence to be at war with France, Iberia and Austria all at the same time, but should they decide to form an alliance, I fear we would stand little chance against the three of them united.

And yet, I do agree that modernization and industrialization will also be key to the future of the Empire. Provided that they make good on their promise to always keep industrialization as a second priority after security of the homeland, I will cast my vote for The Militarist Faction."

*The Unifiers, receiving 26 votes. A result of the tolerant religious policies practiced by the Reichstag in the 16th century, the Unifiers seek to unite the Holy Roman Empire into one German nation, while giving some priority to the military and devoting no attention to industrial reform. Cyrai led this charge: "There is no point splitting hairs between Protestant, Cathar, or Catholic, when our allies are Orthodox and our enemies are Islamic and a sacriligious atheist state." bgreman also backed Cyrai: "The time has come to bring all the peoples of Germany together, to face the uncertainty of the new century as one nation, and present a unified face to the world." Clayren took the rhetoric one step further: "We need to start ripping land away from Austria in bloody chunks. With them down we can easily take the rest of Germany and then pull Italy back into the fold. Only a united German Empire can stand up against dangerous extremist nations like France and Iberia."

Apocalypse Nyao pointed out the lack of suitable allies to defend the Holy Roman Empire: "With friends like Great Britain and Byzantium, Unification is looking better than ever." Pester supported this view: "With the HRE divided and our allies scattered, we can't afford to these needless and primitive divisions among good Swabians any longer." Crazy Joe Wilson, for his part, pointed out that Germany needs to gain territory after it lost Italy: "Losing Italy, we must gain the rest of Germany!"

*The Modernizers, a faction composed of devotees of Adam Smith and supporters of the failed Imperial Free Trade Act, received 36 votes. The Modernizers, at this time, did not develop the radical devotion to railroads that defined them by 1840, but they were heavily anti-military. Dr. Video Games 0031 reluctantly supported the concept: "This is probably the most important decision we will have to make. Remember to think about how this affects the nation in Victoria before casting a vote. This will not only give us a starting tech, but will likely affect things like the ruling political parties, the ideological makeup of the country, and how Mathias II plays the game.

As much as I want unification, I'm going to have to side with the Modernizer Faction. Industry is everything, and unifying Germany will mean nothing if the economy is too weak to keep the newly formed country on its feet. Give us a strong industrial base, then when the time is right, unite.

This really isn't an easy choice, though, all 3 have their merits."

Nakar, however, was more forward in his support for Modernization: "The other Germans will flock to their brothers when Zuhriman's forces come calling, and unification will be a secondary goal. Militarism is right out. There will be wars no matter what, but focusing entirely on conquest is a losing game. Sure, Iberia's factories will be cranking out guns and canned beef, but who is going to produce the world's steel and lumber and clothing? Let Swabia get bogged down in militarism and the Americans will take over basic goods and get rich. Don't blame me when everyone decides to run off to Mazula."

Some people felt that Modernization at home is the best way to combat Revolution abroad. zeal was reported to have said, "If the First Zuhrimani War proved anything, it is that we need a true edge in industry and technology if we are to succeed in the wars to come. With warfare on so many fronts, we must have the power to meet all comers." Whitecloak claimed, "The ultimate weapon of war is the forge. We must turn Swabia into a forge in preparation for these dire times." iLurk shouted, "Sooner we get our factories up, sooner we can build a gaint army and crush France "

A few people actually opposed unification. RentACop cynically commented, "We have enough problems at the moment without appeasing those who are nostalgic for a united germany that never actually existed. Industry is the future, and Austria's time will come." farrady said, "No monarchy can survive without the solid core of the established church. It is one quick step from freedom of religion to anarchy!" Most other people believed that Modernization will eventually unify Germany though. meatbag said, "Let us Modernize and then unite!" while Torgo2727 said, "Money unites everyone! Except poor people, but forget them." Alan Bstard pointed out, "If you promote industry and free trade, you might wind up with a European Free Trade Area and who knows where that could lead?"

There were also some isolationiasts within the Reichstag that supported the Modernizers. James Gratz said, "As the world burns, we should turn inward." McFetusBurger noted, "Prosperity at home seems to be the most effective way to keep the revolution at bay from within, and our army is already powerful enough to hold it from without."

The real debate in the 1800 Reichstag election was between the Modernizers and the Unifiers, between unification and industralization. ManifunkDestiny was shocked at the closeness of the vote: "Holy cow this is one split Reichstag", KnoxZone described the election as "An epic debate which will undoubtedly shake the very foundations of the world", and Nakar proposed a unity Cabinet: "If it stays this close, maybe we could go with a compromise coalition of industrialists and politicians heading into Victoria? It's clear the hawk faction is losing out. Teaming up could allow for going in with a unified front in favor of one peaceful and prosperous German union! (and we can get a Commerce tech instead, cha-ching)"

Alas, a unity government was not forth-coming. The Modernizers won, and the capitalists that had spent centuries trying to promote free trade finally tasted power. The Modernizers jealously used the Advisory Council for their own ends, and vetoed any attempt by Mathias II to raise more troops or even move against Zuhriman's advances.

In 1810, Mathias II finally got his chance to move against Zuhriman. The stage was set for a final confronation between Monarchy and Revolution, only for Mathias II to receive reports that the Qin Dynasty, the "allies" of the Holy Roman Empire, are being threatened by the Sibir Khanate. The Qin Dynasty promised the Holy Roman Emperor rewards if he assisted, but the Emperor was more concerned about the loss of a trading partner and prestige within Asia.

The Emperor really wanted to help peserve the Qin Dynasty, but was also fearful of the costs that he had to pay for, especially at the begining of a war with Revolutionary Iberia. During the Reichstag session, Mathias II offered three choices: abandon the Qin Dynasty, send in military advisors, or send in both military advisors and the German army. The Emperor stressed that while sending in the German army will kill his manpower reserve entirely, all his military divisions have been fully reinforced.

Most people supported sending military advisors only, which was commonly seen as the 'compromise' option. Rebel Blob said, "we can't fight a war at home with only scraps of an army, but we also can't ignore the future opportunities of China." Nakar also supported the compromise: "Leadership will recover and it's only a general or two. Manpower can't be spared right now, and ignoring Qin's plea is sure to have dire consequences. The leadership might help them, and if they lose anyway, at least troops weren't dying in vain." OfChristandMan was another major supporter: "Send just advisors, Iberia is on the war path, and even though you have a bunch of allies, it needs to make sure it doesn't gain any more land, particularly with France on its side." 23 people voted for this moderate proposal (11 Modernizers, 6 Unifiers, and 6 unaligned members).

Fewer people supported sending in military troops along with the advisors. Cyrai made a passionated plea for intervention: "Swabian Germany is the bastion of civilization in the west, if not the world. Our principles require that we do what we can to aid those less fortunate. If we win this war but throw out our values, what have we really won at all?" Whitecloak saw profit to made in Qin: "Even if we face turmoil and struggle now we will survive another day- in Qin we have potentially a strong eastern ally with near limitless manpower and a near limitless ability to consume the fruits of our ever expanding production capabilities. While expensive, worth it." Some people felt that Qin needed the help more than Swabia, Beet said, "Swabia will be able to get a handle on this. Let the chinese have some troops." 11 total Recishtag members supported the proposal (6 Unifiers, 4 Modernizers, and 1 Unaligned Reichstag member).

Dr. Video Games 0031 originally supported sending in the military. He said, "Send the troops and advisors. If you mobilize your reserves, you're going to get a boost in manpower anyways, enough to make up for the 50 you'll lose here." He was however informed by Mathias II that he has already mobilized his troops. Dr. Video Games 0031 switched his vote to the compromise. "Oh well poo poo. Nevermind then, the chinese can fight their own drat war! I guess just send them a few of our more useless advisors and let them figure it out."

Only a small minority of the Reichstag advocated abandoning Qin to its fate. RentACop rememberede that Qin was found sponsoring rebellions in Swabia-controlled Chinese provinces: "They were already trying to screw us earlier by supporting rebels, and now they want us to help them? Nonsense." Konstanin represented the views of most of the isolantists though: "We have no need to be mucking about in Asia when we have a huge war to fight close to home. I vote for option C, we'll have our hands full as it is without sending aid to another front." Fleur Bleu was worried that Swabia might help a future rival: "I vote C, screw the Chinese, they can't help us anyway and if you help them they might modernise and become dangerous." 8 people voted for this proposal (3 Modernizers and 5 unaligned members).

The 'compromise' proposal to send only advisors instead of the HRE army seemed to have been successful due to the support of the 11 Modernizers (as opposed to the 7 Modernizers that were against the compromise) as well as the unaligned Reichstag members who mostly spilt in favor of the 'compromise'.

The 'compromise' policy backed by the Modernizers...was exactly the wrong policy to be taken. Many of the 'compromise' advocates had some flawed ideas about China's ability to survive against the Mongols. Crazy Joe Wilson said "The Khanate is so small I doubt they could steamroll all of China with military being now what they are." The Khanate in fact was very strong, and they were able to form a military alliance with the Ming Dyansty, thereby being able to steamroll over China. Mirello, another supporter of the proposal, said, "Most of the leaders you would get might suck anyways, and you wouldn't want to abandon china." The problem is that if most leaders are likely to be terrible, then Qin would have no use for these leaders. They need cannon fooder, not useless generals.

Many supporters of the Compromise only did so because of the war with Iberia, once the war ended, they believed that Germany could then send troops to Qin and quickly reverse the tide. Geshtal supported this policy: "Although, if you somehow knock Iberia flat on its rear end, then by all means go all in with aiding the Qin. You just know those Mongols intentionally waited until you were distracted in Europe." This was the policy that the Holy Roman Empire attempted to do after the Empire defeated Iberia, but Qin fell before reinforcements arrived.

Opponents of this 'surge' may argue that Qin may have been a quagmire, and that it would have been impossible to save it. However, the Qin was, quite plainly, outnumbered. Had it received actual support instead of meaningless generals, the Qin may had stood a very decent chance of survival. The Holy Roman Empire's army would have been likely been decent enough to hold off the Iberians, and losing an important trading partner and ally would have done much damage to the economy of Swabia. The Modernizers, due to their belief in compromise rather than "going all in", have lost China to the Sunni Muslims.

Even if the opponents was correct, then the real answer would have been to abandon Qin to its fate. The Empire would have suffered a loss in prestige, but this would have been more than made up for the prestige gained through victory in Iberia.

The Modernizers did not choose this path, and thus wasted resources needlessly. Either way, the Modernizers had made a grevious error in judgement.

Sad to say, this is not worst desicion the Reichstag has made in this period.

That honor belong to the Stuttgart Congress.

The Stuttgart Congress

After a long, hard struggle, Revolutionary Iberia fell and the Zuhrimani Wars ended with a Swabian victory. The royalist coalition, led by the Holy Roman Empire, held a "congress" at Stuttgart to dictate peace terms to Iberia and France and decide the future of Europe. The Holy Roman Empire has gained much prestige, but its leader (Mathias II) was still known as an incompetent buffon. Mathias II called an "emergency session" and relied heavily on the Reichstag to determine the policy of the Holy Roman Empire, even going so far as to let Reichstag members draft his very opening speech. And while the Reichstag members were very progressive, they aren't exactly profiles of courage, and their actions was mostly responsible for destroying the "soft power" of the Holy Roman Emperor and turning most of Europe against Swbaia. Why?

PART 1: The Speech
Mathias II's speech would get to determine the tone of the conference, affect Germany'srelationships with other superpowers, and decide what form of government the Congress would force France and Iberia to adopt. Mathias II could to claim the conference is to punish Iberia and France, claim to protect monarchy, or claim to protect stability. The proposal with the "least" support (20 votes) was "Stabilizing Europe". The two other proposals shared equal support (23 votes), "Restoring Monarchy" and "Punishing Iberia and France".

The Reichstag was divided heavily over what the proposed speech should say, upsetting Mathias II greatly, with intense political debate over the issue. Even the political parties were spilt, as the Unifiers voted equally for all three proposals, and the Modernizers barely backed Punishing Iberia. The Reichstag vote could have easily been swayed in a different direction, as can be seen by the close vote tallies. It was the Non-Aligned Members that decided the course of the election.

Stabilizing Europe

Nakar led this charge: "As much "fun" as it would be to punish the revolutionaries, I'm pretty sure that will come of no good in the future. And while the revolutions are over, democracy will not be contained forever, so safeguarding monarchy is a risky proposition. I therefore propose Option C as the overall tone of the Congress. Forget about who started this nonsense, we need to make sure Europe doesn't keep exploding into rivalries in the future." RabidWeasel declared that less wars in Europe is a good thing for both the HRE, and IlluimantusVespucci declared that Europe has to be realistic about monarchies.

7 Modernizers, 5 Unifiers, and 8 Non-Aligned Members voted for the proposal.

Punishing Iberia and France

Some of the advocates of Punishment were reactionaries furious at the attempts at revolution. Dr. Video Games 0031 said, "The revolutionaries committed way too many crimes against the world and humanity as a whole to get away from this situation without punishment." Cyrai meanwhile claimed, "France has done enough to ruin the world. They are not a fit enough people to deserve the land they have." Cyrai's views were echoed by Manifunk Destiny. "Punish the bastards, use them as an example for any other country that may have revolutionary bents." One member, Whitecloak took a more moderate position on Iberia and France: "Swabia's blood has run deep through these barbaric wars of 'revolution' and while perhaps Zuhriman's ideas were not entirely wrong, his methods of conquest were very much so. Let us punish these transgressor states, our slain soldiers deserve at least this much."

A couple advocates of Punishment were followers of the theory of realpolitik, not angry at France and Iberia for causing revolution, but because they were ancient and constant threats to the Holy Roman Empire. farrady is an example of this theory of "realpolitik": "The French have been our constant enemies for centuries. Revolutionary or Monarchy the French will continue to be as odds with the Holy Roman Empire. Punish them." Spirit Tree pointed out that this was the only chance the Holy Roman Empire has to punish France and Iberia and that it should take it: "Punish them. Screw stability, there'll be plenty of larger fickle wars to worry about. For now you just need to poo poo on everyone you can." LITERALLY MAD IRL was rumored to have shouted in the Reichstag: "Iberia and France need to be whittled down to nothing! Nothing, I say!"

One advocate of Punishment believed that punishment would be the best way to promote stability. Vlad Antlerkov said, "Destroying the ability of Iberia and France (especially France) to make war will do wonders for the continent's stability, since I think all the wars we've fought over the past few centuries have been sparked by France plowing into the Empire or France invading Iberia or France invading the Low Countries or something like that."

It has been argued at the Session that punishing Iberia and France would backfire in the long term. In a heated debate, iLurk pointed this out to one supporter of Punishment, Faux Shoah. "You understand that punishing both is going to more or less going to bite us back in the end?" Faux Shoah smiled and replied, "Of course, but that's a lot more fun." Whitecloak himself replied, "Exactly why I voted the way I did." OfChristandMan also endorsed Faux Shoah's statement: "I was going to say stability for Europe, but hey, when is it actually stable, and when is that actually inetersting?"

This lead to suspicions that not all those who voted in the Reichstag actually voted in Germany's best interest. Rather, at least a few of these people seemed to have voted in favor of what they feel is the most interesting and "fun", even if it would be disasterous to peace, stability, and the German nation. The list is numerous.
*zeal was reported to have said: "Crush the heathens and their swine-bellied whores ... (Not that this isn't designed to provoke hilarious wars in the future or anything...)".
*Lester B. Pearson said, "it is way more fun when you are on the brink of collapse then when the good times roll"
*TheLoquid cynically remarked, "Crippling enemy nations through severe and unreasonable penalties never results in bad things, right?"
*aqu voted for this proposal for "happy fun times!"
*Squalid: "We must punish Iberia and France ... because World War II was much more fun then World War I." [Footnote: World War I, in this case, is in reference to the Zuhrimani Wars. What Squalid would call World War II, we today would call it World War I.]

To this day, there has not been an adequate explaination for this. Mazulan psychologists have been trying to decipher the mind of these people, to no avail.

9 Modernizers, 5 Unifiers, and 8 Non-Aligned Members voted for this proposal.

Restoring Monarchy

Most voters here are truly reactionary. Takanago led this charge: "The people of Iberia and France are not the ones at fault here. There is no need to punish them for being taken advantage of by crazy revolutionaries. We must vote to do the civilized thing, and bring them back under a proper monarchical government." Drone said, "Democracy is a frightening prospect, let the future generations deal with it!" Oginares merely stated "The divine mandate of the kings and queens of Europe must not be ignored." Bloody, on the other hand, passionely claimed, "This whole mess was Monarchy vs Revolution. NOTHING ELSE matters. We must maintain the order of things. We've proven our superiority in the greastest of ways. "

Some voters saw restoring monarchy as a way to pursue stability. Crazy Joe Wilson said, "The greatest goal we must achieve is gaining stability in Europe, pushing down the former Revolutionaries will only cause permanent alliance blocks to form that will probably down the line cause even more problems." Grendel said, "These revolutionaries have proven to be the greatest menace to European stability. We need to return to an era of monarchy if there's to be any hope for peace."

3 Modernizers, 5 Unifiers, and 14 Non-Aligned Members voted for the proposal.

Result
Due to the pluarlity voting system that the Reichstag has adopted, there was a tie between Punishment and Monarchy, a tie that would not be borken. Mathias II was disraught at the pointless and inconclusive debate and reported to have said to the Reichstag, "Unless someone votes within 10 minutes, I'm flipping a coin. Heads punishment, tails monarchy." Somebody did vote though: Dan 9410, a Non-Aligned member of the Reichstag. Dan 9410 said, "I'm dreadfully sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but returning these rogue nations to their proper state, that is to say, monarchy, is the only way to go." 10 minutes later, Mathias II was out addressing the Congress, praising Monarchy and using quotes from Bloody.

It is clear that Non-Aligned Members were the key behind the proposal to Restore Monarchy. Was it the smart move?

The Mazulan Intellectual Establishment, biased towards Iberia, praised the move as 'moderation' and hated the nobles who wanted to Punish Iberia and France. However, the Mazulan Intellectual Establishment never actually lived in Europe during the Middle Ages. France was, to put it plainly, the ultimate rivals to Swabia, a potential superpower that could threaten other nations, such as the Byzantine Empire. The various noble families that compose the Reichstag had experiences during the massive conflicts between France and Germany. It is no surprise that these noble families continued the feud.

What the Mazulan Intellectual Establishment fail to realize is that, by having Mathias II make a plea to restore monarchy, it made sure that the Absolute Monarchies of Iberia and France would be restored. Had Mathias II refused to make such a plea, either calling for Stability or calling for France and Iberia to be punished, then the Congress may have been persuaded by a lobby of French politicans and former Revolutionary military generals to adopt a different policy: allowing for France and Iberia to become consitutional monarchies. Iberia did eventually became a consitutional monarchy, but France remained stuck as an reactionary, absolutist dictatorship until it was finally overthrown by Communists. The proposal to Restore Monarchy was not at all 'moderate', and it did nothing more than promote chaos and radicalism (altough, we should thank Dan 9410 for his part in promoting global Unionist Revolution).

On the other hand, the speech did appeal to Austria, Lithuania, and Byzantine Empire. In fact, both Lithuania and the Byzantine Empire were impressed by the speech to seriously considered friendship with Swabia. In the process, Swabia alienated its offical "ally". England wanted a speech that would glorify stability for future generations. England was experimenting with democratic reforms, and the Parliament became incredibly upset at a speech that would glorify reaction. The King of England had to have taken a hard line against Mathias II's speech, complicating relations with the Holy Roman Empire.

Even though "Punishing Iberia and Spain" was rejected, the anti-French feeling within the Reichstag still had an impact on the rest of the Congress.

PART 2: Flanders
The Congress' first major desicion was what to do with the province of Flanders. Both the Dutch and the French had claims on Flemish territory, while the Flemish people wanted their own independent nation.

In this and other "Parts" to this chapter, I will be doing two breakdowns, one based on political party, and a second one based on the people's previous vote during Part 1.

French Flanders

The call for a French Flanders was supported by only a few people. For instance, Dr. Video Games 0031 supported punishing France, but believed taking Flanders would not be how to do it. Gul Banana, a supporter of Restoring the Monarchy, said, "Maintaining the divine right of kings means we put a Bourbon back ruling Flanders, not give it to some random stadtholder."

Crazy Joe Wilson also objected to taking Flanders away from France, with a different reason: "The needless Division of Western Europe would only make future wars and trades messier. France is already a pushover for Swabia in the hands of friendly monarchs, why make them a completely worthless state?"

4 people voted for French Flanders. Breakdown by Party: 2 Unifiers, 1 Modernizer, and 1 Non-Aligned Member). Breakdown by The "Speech Vote" (the vote in the first part of the Congress): 2 people voted for Restoring Monarchy, 1 person voted for Punishing, 1 person abstained.

Flanders Independence

Nakar said, "For Flanders, I support Independence. It will weaken France and create a buffer state." Whitecloak also endorsed this view: "An independent Flanders suits our needs quite nicely." This was basically the belief shared by most Flanders Independence advocates; Flanders can protect Germany from France, therefore Flanders must be independent.

There was some other viewpoints that are worth mentioning. Manifunk Destiny wanted to gain an extra ally, not just a buffer state: "Flanders independence...followed by some swift diplomatic action on our part to gain another ally." skipThings also saw Flanders Independence as a way of promoting monarchy: "I think we'll find some nice exiled aristrocrats for a new ruling class in Flanders, and that way we'll further ensure the stability of the monarchy in europe, we have seen where it leads when the common people choose their own leaders."

The Saurus (a supporter of Flanders independence) said "Liberté pour les flamands!", which provoked a harsh response from Fleur Bleu (another supporter of Flanders independence): "We don't speak french here."

18 people voted for Flanders Independence
Breakdown by Party: 6 Modernizers, 3 Unifiers, 9 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by The "Speech Vote": 5 voted Punishing, 7 voted Restoring Monarchy, 5 voted Stability.

Dutch Flanders

The supporters of Dutch Flanders point out that if Flanders become independent, it would be nothing more than a weak buffer state against France, and can be easily annexed. By giving Flanders to the Netherlands, it can then be better protected. Vlad Antlerkov said that this proposal "Strengthens the Dutch, and makes it more difficult for Flanders to fall back into the French sphere of influence." Dr. Video Games 0031 also said, "Sorry to the Belgians, but there's just no way they could retain their own sovereignty."

farrady backs the idea of a strong Netherlands to counter French influence: "I fear revolutionary fervor in all it's forms. The HRE, and Swabia herself are a patchwork of old nations now under our glorious rule. We can not give any ground to Revolution. Flanders must not become independent. Furthermore a Netherlands without Flanders will be too weak, certain to fall back under the influence of Paris. A strong Netherlands will be free from French influence." Drone also supports farrady: "A strong Netherlands will indeed stand as a valuable ally against future French and Iberian treachery."

The Reichstag also seemed to be very biased towards the Netherlands, sympathizing with their freedom struggle against the French. reL himself admitted, "I like the Netherlands."

Handing Flanders over to the Dutch also would serve to punish or weaken France. Bloody said, "France do deserve to be punished for all the hell they've put us through these many thousands of years. Give it to the Dutch." Grendel said, "And although we may not want to punish France, there's certainly no need to let them remain strong - if we return Flanders to the Dutch, that should help to counter-balance French power."

40 people voted for Dutch Flanders. Breakdown by Party: 8 Modernizers, 6 Unifiers, 27 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by The "Speech Vote": 14 voted Punishing, 12 voted Restoring Monarchy, 14 voted Stability

Result The Reichstag supported giving Flanders to the Dutch. This improved relations between the Netherlands and Swabia, but France disliked the loss of territory.

The rest of the Congress agreed too, with the sole exception of Lithuania, who wanted France to own Flanders. France suffered its first Humiliation, as it was forced to cede five provinces to the Netherlands.

Ironically, even though Austria voted in favor of the Dutch owning Flanders, Austria was unhappy with the outcome, and secretly desired for France to retain Flanders. Internal records revealed that Austria actually prefer a strong France in order to counter Swabia, but decided to vote in favor of Swabia's proposal as a "good faith" gesture, and may have very well been influenced by Mathias II's speech. After the Congress, Austrian rulers said that they regretted their vote, and should have worked with Lithuania to return Flanders to France.

PART 3: Aquitaine

Aquitaine was a liberal Mazulan-style democracy before it was annexed by Iberia. Pro-monarchy advocates was, understandably, not desiring to resurrect such a democracy. There was an alterante proposal to create an Occitain Union with Dauphine, both to strength Dauphine and to create a buffer state against Iberian aggression, but other nations would have just preferred the status quo and let Iberia keep Aquitaine.

Iberian Aquitaine

It must be noted that while most of the German nobility hated France before the Zuhrimani Wars, feelings were more mixed about Iberia. there were a few Iberian sympathizers within the Reichstag. There were times where the Reichstag members would actually suggest forming an alliance with the Muslims as a counter to France. While this feeling all but disappered, there was still one person willing to resurrect the idea of a German-Iberian alliance against the hated French.

ManifunkDestiny said, "A strong Iberia is a better protection against France than some sort of Occitain paper tiger." This person voted for Punishing France and Iberia. He is not affiliated with any party.

Independent Aquitaine

While restoring the Aquitaine democracy was out of the question, the idea of an independent Aquitaine was still doable. Riso proposed, in his own words, "Independence for Aquitaine under a reactionary monarchy". The plan itself lacked the important detail: where was one to find such a reactionary ruler? Still, it provided a compromise by which Aquitaine would become independent while at the same time not be seen as sponsoring revolution.

Dr. Video Games 0031 casted a protest vote for an independent Aquitaine: "Voting B because seriously, look at all of these goddamn Cs." Miles Vorkosigan was also upset at the drumbeat to the Occitain Union, because it would not allow for the Division of Europe: "The Divisioning vote would be for B, which I am in favor of. Flanders should have been made independent too, but oh well."

3 people voted for an Independent Aquitaine.
Breakdown by Party: 1 Modernizer, 2 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by The "Speech Vote": 1 voted Stability, 1 voted Punishment, 1 Abstained

Dauphine-Aquitaine Union

This was the most popular proposal in Germany, the formation of the Occitain Union. Many reasons were given for this. skipThings distrusted the Iberians: "If we would know that the Tahirids are trustable we could give it back to them, but they'll be revanchistic pricks most probably, monarchists or not." Ogianres also shared that this distrust: "I was going to go with the first choice, so as to make sure the just and mandated thrones may be aligned, but we have no way of knowing that Iberia can be trusted."

Other people were more forthcoming in their distrust and hatred of Iberia; Dan 9410 said, "The Tahrids are the one thing almost as bad as revolutionaries. Heathens." Luigi's Discount Porn Bin also concurred, "screw Iberia and France. Go with C."

Nakar wanted to protect Dauphine: "Dauphine has suffered too, after all. It would need to be strengthened. And a powerful buffer will prevent Franco-Iberian collusion in the future." Takanago agreed: "Dauphine was the victim of agression here, and we need to help them out as much as we can."

Other people were more cynical, and just wanted a buffer state. Grendel said, "A union may not be much more than a speed-bump if the Iberians become aggressive, but it's certainly better than nothing." Lester B. Pearson also concurred, "It will at least slow Iberia down in the mean time." Sergg aimed for redirecting Iberian aggression: He said that the Union would be a "[n]ice little barrier state for France and Iberia to fight over."

Whitecloak want to follow the precedent set in the previous vote: "It pairs nicely with the result of the Flanders situation. If we are to take this route, we may as well follow this route to its conclusion." Cyrai also wanted to continue the policy of Division that was done during the Flanders vote: "We have to go with Dividing everything we can. It's just more fun!"

Finally, there was the Reactionaries, who did not want democracy and wanted to protect monarchy. gardenald said, "If we're looking to support the power of monarchy, then this would be the most sensible option." RabidWeasel said, "Liberal republics are not what Swabia needs right now."

The Reichstag knew that an Occitain Union was in its interests, and it did not even begin to conceal its desire. TorpedoBeetle said, "Clearly, a union between Dauphine and Aquitaine would be of the greatest benefit to Swabia, and the Empire at large."

There was some reluctance to the Occtiain Union, as it did not go far enough. Clayren said, "Though giving all of Frances land to Aquitaine would have been more fun."

32 people voted for the Union.
Breakdown by Party: 10 Modernizers, 5 Unifiers, 17 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by The "Speech Vote": 8 voted Punishing, 5 voted Restoring Monarchy, 12 voted Stability, 7 Abstained

Result

The German Reichstag voted for the Dauphine-Aquitaine Union, and was backed by Dauphine. Germany made Iberia angry, but pleased Dauphine. Scandinavia proposed granting Aquitaine independence through a consitutional monarchy, but Lithuania, Austria, and the United Kingdom all was in favor of Aquitaine staying with Iberia. Germany lost the vote. In the aftermath of the vote, Vivan Darkbloom commented, "Pity that the others supported Iberian Aquitaine - perhaps they see a powerful Iberia as a useful counterbalance to Swabia?" This is a theory that many scholars today accept as well.

But there is another reason: Prehaps these powers saw the newly-restored Iberian caliphate as a growing world power and wanted to ally with it. Therefore, they casted their vote to appease Iberia.

PART 4: Nova Aquitaine

Nova Aquitaine was a colony in Jadakal that had lots of Aquitanian emigration. The people there had no connections to the French, and in fact wanted to spilt away. They sent a petition to the Congress, and hoped that the monarchs would listen. France, understandably, wanted to keep Nova Aquitaine as a colony, but there was also a compromise position to grant Nova Aquitaine autonomy. Nobody in the Reichstag voted to give Nova Aquitaine back to France, so there was a heated debate between Independence and Autonomy.

Abstain

One person was angry about how the Congress was focusing on the affairs of colonies outside of Europe. Gul Banana abstained, saying, "This issue is nothing to do with us really." He was a Unifier who voted to Restore Monarchy.

Independence

The mood within the Reichstag was that France was not punished sufficently during the Flanders vote. So, the Reichstag still was interested in continuing the punishment. TorpedoBeetle said, "Since we couldn't wrest control of Aquitaine from the Iberians, the least we can do is give them a new country. Plus, we can stick it to the French some more." Lester B. Pearson also agreed to this: "i say let it be, screw the french, we didn't get to punish them so they should at least loose the colony as compromise."

There were still an anti-French component to granting independence. Lackloss said, "Obviously this would be best way to weaken France and their frog eating ways." Rebel Blob ranted: "Why should we stop chopping pieces of France here? Continue I say!" Grey Area also commented, "Screw the frogs." UED Special Ops was a bit saner in his hatred of the French: "Anything to weaken the French, who have been our foe for countless years, is good in my book." However, UED Special Ops soon changed his vote for autonomy.

Other people were upset at the loss of the Aquitaine vote, and wanted to still continue the crusade to liberate the Aquitaine people. aqu said, "If Aquatine must remain a slave than New Aquataine must be free!"

At least one person overtly rejected his previous vote against punishing France. Ferroque, who voted to manitan monarchy back during the Speech Vote, stated, "To hell with the status quo." This suggested that, by this time, people who have originally supported one policy during the Speech Vote changed their policy. It also showcased that those who may have originally supported Stability and Monarchy ma have been seduced instead by the siren call of Punishment.

26 people voted for Independence.
Breakdown by Party: 8 Modernizers, 4 Unifiers, 14 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by The "Speech Vote": 7 voted Punishing, 2 voted Restoring Monarchy, 17 Abstained.


Autonomy

There was a massive backlash against the "Punish French and Iberia" movement, led by Dr. Video Games 0031: "Wow. What right do the colonists in north africa have to independence? Just because a lot of people from Aquitaine happened to move there? Do you guys really enjoy pissing off the french this much? I'm going to have to go with C on this one. Obviously the french aren't going to be happy about it, but we can't just outright rip their rule over the colony that's rightfully theirs and wasn't even involved in the war." [Footnote: Actually, New Aquitaine is in Jadakal, it was an error on Dr. Video Games 0031's part.]

Dr. Video Games 0031's argument however provoked a strong response from Geshtal, a supporter of Independence: "What are you, new? We're Europeans! That alone gives us the right to arbitrarily redraw borders all over the globe. After all, it's not like this could ever backfire against us or have a negative effect on the natives. That's just crazy talk. Another vote for B." Still, many people sympathized with Dr. Video Games 0031. Dan 9410 said, "Loving the losing side over never works."

Cyrai also endorsed Video Games 0031's logic: "I'm with 31. I just like making things protectorates. It's not theirs, but they still have a lot of control over it. If we'd have had that option with Flanders, I probably would have voted for it." Oginares shared Cyrai's love of protectorates: "Creating protectorates is about as 19th century as it gets." Drone also endorsed the concept: "Such a tiny country in the New World would be crushed by its neighbors without European support, even if it is from the French!"

A few people saw autonomy as a way to protect Monarchy from liberal ideas. Dibujante said, "France is our ally now, right? But we don't want them to be infected by liberal ideas from the New World." Serisothikos said "Let the revolutionaries have someplace to call home, and let it be across the oceans." skipThings combined both this and the arguments for protectorate when justifying his vote: "The muslims of South America will see them as easy prey, or worse, they could become some crazy democracy."

There are also some people who saw autonomy as causing more problems for the French than independence. Peel, when voting for Autonomy, said, "It'll involve the French in Jadakal and whatever trouble happens there without giving them the benefits of a colony." zeal said, "Hopefully it'll lead to the French getting a deathblow from the Mazulans somewhere down the line." meatbag was more direct: "Lets entangle the French in South America." UED Special Ops said, "Sounds like it would cause more havoc for the French in the long run."

Finally, there are those who wanted to at least give France a semblance of Great Power status and was willing to give the France a chance. Vivan Darkbloom said, "I'll go with C - it's not a bad idea to leave the French with some responsibility, and Nova Aquitania would be pretty helpless on its own." Bloody took a more hardline view: "....C, but keep a strong eye on them. Should France fail in keeping them, be ready to pick up their slack. They'll be SO grateful..."

The call for autonomy represented the best possible chance for the Reichstag to stop its policy of punishing. Three people who originally voted Independence (Peel, UED Special Ops, and Vlad ANtlerkov) defected and voted for autonomy. The vote total was fairly close, offically, 28 people voted for Independence, and 23 voted for Autonomy. However, my unoficall tallie point that the vote was even closer: 26 people voted for Independnece, and 23 voted for Autonomy.

Vivan Darkbloom explained the reason for the popularity of "Autonomy" within the Reichstag: "There isn't much point to independence for Nova Aquitania. They have limited population and resources, so they can be expected to stagnate while the rest of the world industrializes. And unlike Flanders and Aquitaine, the place is a remote backwater with no strategic value for European wars."

23 people voted for Autonomy.

Breakdown by Party: 7 Modernizers, 4 Unifiers, 12 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 6 voted Punishment, 9 voted Monarchy, 5 voted Stability, 3 Abstained

Result

The Autonomy coalition received support of the pro-Monarchists, and the pro-Stability, while the Punishment vote was equally divided. Even the Non-Aligned Members did not break heavily for one side or another, but it must be stated that it was the Non-Aligned Members and the support of one Modernizer that tipped the balance. The Reichstag debate could have swayed in favor of autonomy, thereby improving relations with France.

Swabia was backed by Dauphine in voting independence, however it was alone. Austria voted for a French colony, but Lithuania, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom voted for autonomy, and thus the Congress ruled in favor of autonomy.

As much as France disliked granting Nova Aquitaine autonomy, the French King himself was relieved that it wasn't granted independence. So, France did not suffer any sort of Humiliation. The German Reichstag, however, faced a chance of great humiliation. RentACop, when casting his vote for Tarwajali autonomy in the next Congress vote, said, "If we get outvoted on every issue at out own Congress the other nations will laugh at us." Hey Sesus, even when casting his vote for Independence, said, "[W]e'll probably be the only dissenting voice again."

Part 5: Tarwajal

Tarwajal was a reactionary monarchy seeking to gain independence from Iberia. That alone endeared it to many reactionaries, who heard of the Emir's hyped-up struggle against Revolutionary Iberia, and supported spreading monarchy. Still, there was a compromise proposal to give Tarwajal autonomous status.

Colony

Only one person voted for Tarwajal to remain an Iberian colony. reL was a Modernizer, who voted to punish France and Iberia. No reason was given for the vote.

Tarwajal Independence

There were many who voted because they supported a monarchy. Dan 9410 said, "Targi- Tarjo- Tarwi- American Muslim Place should be allowed its independence. It's isn't a republic, after all." Lackloss supported this course of action: "If we allow the evils of Democracy to spread to the new world all will be lost. We must have a strong monarchy that is allied to us in the new world." Manifunk Destiny also was reported to have said, "One more monarchy in the world isn't a bad thing."

Many more, however, wanted to punish Iberia. Whitecloak said, "Considering that Iberia was allowed to keep much of its Zuhrimani territorial gains, I say we should cut them off quite a bit and vote Option B. Independent kingdom." Rabidweasel agreed, saying, "I vote for B, on the grounds that Iberia is likely to be the stronger of the two and thus needs it wings clipped a bit." There was also anti-Iberian feeling within the Reichstag. Rebel Blob said, "Why should our votes for Iberian and French evisceration end here?" seal it with a kiss admits, "I'd rather stick it to the Iberians than to the French."

34 people voted for Independence.
Breakdown by Party: 6 Modernizers, 5 Unifiers, 23 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 9 voted Punishing, 6 voted Monarchy, 7 voted Stability, 12 Abstained

Tarwajal Autonomy

Support for autonomy was very low compared to the support of autonomy for New Aquitania. This may be due to, among other reasons, that some Reichstag members felt while Iberia needed to be knocked down a peg, France had been punished enough (or needed "lesser" punishment, since nobody voted to give France its colony back).

There was a pro-protectorate faction within the Reichstag that tried to promote autonomy for Tarwajal. Cyrai, leader of the pro-protectorates, said: "What can I say? I like my protectorates. I mean, come on. Just say it. Protectorate!" meatbag endorsed this view: "It wouldnt be fair to have one independent state and one protectorate, so another protectorate it is!"

Clayren tried to explain the delimma: "It breaks down to who we want to like us the most. Mazula would likely support an independent Tarwajal, while Iberia would of course wish to keep their colony. Abstaining could be seen as a signal of Swabia not caring about New World politics, so I cast my vote for C Autonomy. This way we show little favoritism for the anti-monarchist forces of the new world, while still weakening Iberia."

RentACop voted to try and avoid Swabia being embarrsed in its own Congress: "C , as that seems to be the way the wind is blowing and if we get outvoted on every issue at out own Congress the other nations will laugh at us. "

4 people voted for Autonomy.
Breakdown by Party: 3 Modernizers, 1 Unifier
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 1 voted Punishing, 1 voted Monarchy, 3 voted Stability


Result

The United Kingdom voted for the compromise of making Tarwajal an Iberian Protectorate. Austria and Lithuania voted for Tarwajal to remain an Iberian colony. But Swabia, Dauphine, and Scandinavia voted for Tarwajal to become an independent state, and so the Emirate of Tarwajal gained independence. The Reichstag celebrated.

Tarwajal autonomy was always a dicey proposal. The Iberian Caliph was not as pliant as the French was when it came to colonial possessions.

The Iberian Caliph wants absolute obedience and control, something an "protectorate deal" won't give him. So, if the Congress voted for the Iberian Caliph to accept autonomy, Iberia would have been Humiliated.

But Tarwajal was being granted independence! Not only are rebels being rewarded, but Iberia was kicked entirely out of the New World! This was viewed as a Double Humiliation (the humilation of losing Tarwajal, plus the humilation of losing its last New World colony).

The acceptance of Tarwajal independence had an unintended side-effect. It led to the Swiss in Kongo demanding independence as well, citing the Congress as evidence for their cause. Mathias II put down the independence movement with force, causing some anger among the Swiss population.

Part 6: Share of Spoils

The Congress believed that, since the Zuhrimani Wars caused much grief, that the nations involved in fighting must get some territories. Mathias II was looking forward to this, because it meant that his desicion could not have been voted down by the rest of the Congress members, and thus there was no chance for Swabia to be rejected again.

Making no claim would have pleased France and Iberia greatly. But few people in the Reichstag would consider it. Instead, the main debate was over what colony to claim.

Some people were incredibly upset that the Reichstag was forced to choose. Cyrai said: "Why can't we be horrible imperialists and take both?" Mathias II replied, "Temper, temper. All in due time."

No Claim

Whitecloak, one of the most feverent advocates of punishment, was afraid of a reaction: "Option C, for a change. We have taken enough and done enough damage to the revolutionaries. To ask for too much more would threaten our position and might risk backlash." Riso agreed: "This outrageous grabbing for more territory has to end." uberkeyzer also registered fear of overreach: "Voting C because I fear the consequences of land-grabbing..."

Still, the majority of the Reichstag wanted territory. Clayren represented the majority by saying, "This outrageous grabbing for more territory has to continue!" The question was...which territory? Riso still sought to stop the mad tide: "People please! If we don't show some restraint at some point it will inevitably backfire and doom us all.

This aggression cannot stand!" Vivan Darkbloom argued rigorously against this: "It's 1815! What are we supposed to do, not subjugate everyone in the world? "

4 people voted for no claim.
Breakdown by Party: 2 Modernizers, 2 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 1 voted Punishing, 1 voted Stability, 2 Abstain.

Claiming the Gold Coast from Iberia

TorpedoBettle voted for the Gold Coast claiming "I just wanna piss the Iberians off some more!" However, most support for claiming the Gold Coast was based on the Gold Coast giving access to new colonies, and natural resources. Frankenfreak said, "We already have a solid base in the East Indies to work from once we start our bid for world domination try to spread civilization further. The gateway into western Africa is more important since it will give us a base in a region where we don't have a base yet." RabidWeasel agreed: "Getting better penetration into Africa will be key in the rush for the Dark Continent."

Many represenatives in the Reichstag felt that the Golden Coast had lots of Gold. Lester B. Pearson said, "Since the west coast of america is in Muslim hands we need a steady supply of gold to show off our success to the rest of the world, plus if we don't get our fair share of the Africa pie now, we will be stuck with the bitch rear end parts." Some Reichstag members were very greedy for this gold, like raptus screaming, "Get the gold coast, gold, GOLD! HAHAHAA" LITERALLY MAD IRL was less mad and calmy stated, "They don't call it the Gold Coast for nothing." [Footnote: reL echoed the same sentiment, by saying: "As already said, they call it the Gold Coast for a reason."]

Nakar however countered the argument for gold, stating, "Believe it or not, there's not really that much gold in the Gold Coast." Vivan Darkbloom endorsed this argument, saying, "There was, but the early European explorers pretty much took care of it "

There was also talk of a civilizing mission, but that is mostly buried underneath pure, unrestrained greed. RestRoomLiterature said, "Bring the light of the western wold to the savages of Africa and turn a profit in doing so."

20 people voted for the Golden Coast.
Breakdown by Party: 5 Modernizers, 4 Unifiers, 11 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 10 voted Punishing, 1 voted Monarchy, 5 voted Stability, 4 Abstain

Claiming the French East Indies from France

Two people claimed French hatred as the sole reason for taking the French East Indies. Grendel said, "Iberia and France have both lost territories in this war, but Iberia lost a major settlement in the New World, while France lost a small European territory, little more than a province. The Iberians may have begun this whole "revolution" nonsense, starting these wars in the first place, but they've lost enough, whereas the French have barely lost anything. Besides, France is in no position to extend their protection and aid to the East Indies - Swabia would be doing them a favour by relieving them of the burden of doing so."

Lance of Llanyln also echoed the same hatred of the French: "The French are our traditional enemy, and always have been. The Tahirids can be trusted to keep to themselves, but the French will surely cause us trouble in the future. Thus, we ought to lock-up the East Indies and benefit from their wealth and exotic goods and allowing us a free hand in the area. Iberia will not upset the balance of power in Europe as long as it has an outlet for its energies in Africa, but France will never let go of seizing a natural border along the Rhine."

Then, you have people that, while hating France, also support claiming the French East Indies for an important strategic reasons. TheLoquid, for example, said, "We already have a strong foothold in the Swabian East Indies, why not expand our power? Also screw France." Peel also supported this: "we should consolidate our hold over the East Indies to promote Swabian power in the Far East in general. Also screw France." Claverjoe endorsed Peel: "Hear hear, screw France." On a saner note, Geshtal said, "France frustrated Swabia in that part of the world once already, option B for satisfying revenge"

Then, you have voters interested purely in strategic concerns about projecting power in all of East Asia. Vivan Darkbloom said, "Controlling key positions in the south Pacific is more important. Iberian West Africa is hardly as appealing, as it's not too productive and doesn't connect to our present African holdings." BklynBruzer said, "Africa will be nothing but endless colonial wars. In Indonesia, we can dominate." And zeal had great ambitions: "As appealing as the Gold Coast is, we're not gonna plant the Swabian flag in Beijing if we don't consolidate in East Asia first."

There are those who also believe that the Golden Coast could easily be taken in the future. Vlad Antlerkov said, "Effectively shuts the French out of that market for the time being. And since I get the feeling that the Tahirids aren't going to last long, we'll have another shot at taking the Gold Coast." Ogianres also seemed to share the same views as Vlad: "The east indies would be a good foothold in "securing" the future of our east asian allies, as well as the valuable trade commodities available in the area. Africa is easily taken by force if need be."

Finally, Ferroque was reported to have said during the session, "I don't think French retaliation would be worse than Iberian." This may mean that Ferroque was weighing the consquences of retailation and the richness of the territories, and decided to go with territory that was richer (the French East Indies) under the impression France would not retailiate effectively.
29 people voted for the French East Indies:
Breakdown by Party: 10 Modernizers, 4 Unifiers, 15 Non-Aligned Members
Breakdown by "The Speech Vote": 5 voted Punishing, 8 voted Monarchy, 8 voted Stability, 8 Abstain

Hanging Chad

During the debates, Eumendies voted B, stating, "The east indies can come later". Clayren however questioned Eumendies' desicion, stating: "Option B is the east indies." However, Eumendies failed to change his vote, or confirm that he really meant to vote Option B. It is unknown what Eumendies meant by his vote. Maybe he felt that it was the Gold Coast that can come later (by invading Africa), and he should have changed his reasoning. Maybe he really intended to believe that the East Indies can come later (by attacking France), and that he should have changed his vote to Option A. We just don't know.

Luckily for the Reichstag, as this was not a disputed election, Eumendies' vote didn't matter.

Eumendies was a Modernizer who voted to Restore the Monarchies.

Result

The French East Indies proposal has lost much support from those wishing to Punish France and Iberia...but was able to prevail due to the combined influence of the pro-Monarchy forces (7 more Monarchists voted for the French East Indies) and the Modernizers (5 more Modernizers voted for the French East Indies). And so, the French East Indies was seized by Swabia.

The "Share of the Spoils" session of the Congress was the single most destructive event ever to face Europe, and it was all Swabia's fault.

The Congress pretended to be about peserving monarchy, but it ended up devolving into nothing more than a petty land grab. This was not constrained to the Swabians alone. Great Britian took Bermuda from Iberia, Scandinavia occupied the Andaman Isles from the French, and Austria seized the Canaries from Iberia. However, Iberia did not take offense to the loss of Bermuda and Canaries. France, for its part, was alright with losing the Andaman Isles. Both the Iberian and French monarchs, while understandably upset that their land was being seized, believed that the loss of such "minor" territories is alright, and may have been sufficent to guarrante the two powers won't lose any "important" territories in the near future.

France was Humiliated by Swabia seizing the French East Indies, but Swabia also angered two other Great Powers in the process. The English was worried about the rising colonial power of Swabia, and believed that Swabia was a potential threat to its naval dominance. The Byzantine Empire, while not invited to the Congress, observed in horror as Swabia increased its dominance in East Asia, and potentially undermine the Empire's own plans for India.

In addition, Swabia suffered a loss of reputation for taking such a large piece of territory, and non-German diplomats saw Swabia as "greedy dogs". Such a reputation in the International Community made diplomatic alliances harder.

If the Reichstag had voted the Golden Coast, then it would have Humiliated Iberia instead, but not threatened any other Great Power. If Swabia wanted to avoid Humilation, it should have rejected claims on both nations, improving relations greatly, and showcasing its seriousness for stability.

Part 7: Aftermath

The Reichstag was pleased at the result of the Congress. skipThings cheered: "Bring the champagne, we finally castrated France for good."

If it was just a peace treaty between Germany and France, prehaps the international community would agree with skipThings. But it was not. For better or for worse, Swabia (the 'de facto' leader the Holy Roman Empire) led the Conservative Forces against that of the liberal tyranny of Zuhriman. Swabia represented such a coalition, a coalition that is composed of a variety of nations. Some nations wanted a strong France and Iberia, other nations wanted to promote a reactionary course, and a few nations just wanted stability and a break from violence. Swabia had a duty to represent the interests of all of Europe, not just the Holy Roman Empire. Europe trusted Swabia, and Swabia betrayed that trust.

France was Humiliated a total of two times. This led to an internal debate within France itself. Many people within France wanted to let those territories go, and move on. However, the King himself refused this. "Thanks to the Mohammadan [Zuhriman] and that German scum [Mathias II], we are no longer a Great Power. The French is a great nation, and should not tolerate Humiliation!" The French King chose the policy of Revanchism.

Iberia was also Humiliated twice, due to the independence of Tarwajal. Again, there was an internal debate, and much support for Iberia agreeing to be a stable monarchy. But the Caliph argued in his circles that the general public would not stand for a Muslim leader being appointed by infidels, and that adopting a policy of Revanchism would do much for the Iberian Caliph to be accepted by the people. The Iberian Caliph also said, "The reason Zuhriman was able to gain power was not because the Caliphate is a wrong system, but that we have wrong Caliphs. We need to have progressive, liberal Caliphs, if we want to avoid another Revolution." The stage for slow reformation was set.

It was a good thing for the radicals that France and Iberia was not punished even more. Both France and Iberia were unstable countries, dealing with revolutionaries at home. Had France suffered more Humilation (being forced to grant Nova Aquitaine independence or the other powers seizing more important territories during the "Shares of Spoils"), the revolutionaries would only be boosted into an unstoppable force. The King would have no choice but give into their demands and become a Radical monarchy, adopting Zuhrimani ideology. The Caliph of Iberia was not immune to the same pressures. If it had lost Aquitaine, or had the Golden Coast and other 'important' territories seized during the Shares of Spoils, it too would have been compelled to become a Radical monarchy. This is the fruit of Humilation.

The English parliament would likely have tolerated Mathias II's speech calling for a Reaction and grudingly accepted a policy of Friendship with Germany. They did not tolerate Mathias II seizing the French East Indies though. The English monarch was furious at Swabia's act, and decided to accept a policy of Hostility. The English government however decided, even with Swabia's unilateral aggression, that dialogue is the best way to contain the German menance and prevent Germany from expanding its colonial holdings. England would later renewed its alliance.

The Byzantine Emperor loved Mathias II's speech, but upon hearing that Swabia has taken the French East Indies, he said, "Good words mean nothing if you're a hypocrite." The Byzantine Empire has decided in his secret speech that, in order to protect Byzantine India and stop Swabia's influence from consuming the entire East Asia, the Byzantine Empire will take up an aggressive foreign policy and work with any other nation who is against Swabia.

Austria was always a secondary rival to Swabia. But Mathias II's speech really had the chance to change things. The Austrian monarch really loved how Mathias II defended the insitution of monarchy, and was seriously considering accepting finally accepting Swabian control over the Holy Roman Empire. It was partly due to this speech that caused Austria to vote for handing Flanders off to the Netherlands. But as Mathias II continued to weaken France further, the "Swabian love" started to fade away, and the traditional policy of rivaly continued. Austria reaffirmed its policy of Hostility.

All five nations were united only in their hatred of Swabia. They hated Swabia for many different reasons. But it is this hatred that would drive Europe into yet another bloody and pointless war. The Congress was a failure for that reason alone.

MISC. STUFF:

While the 1815 emergency session focused heavily on the Congress, some Reichstag members saw it fit to bring up other issues.

During the debate over drafting the speech, Apocalypse Nyao asked, "How far has Islam advanced into Iberia? If it's not much, say 1/3rd of the provinces, it may be time to return a proper Catholic king to the Spaniards." Mathias II told the member, "Iberia is completely Sunni at this point (minus Aquitaine territories)." Apocalypse Nyao then decided to vote for Monarchy.

During that same debate, Alan Bstard made statements upsetting the entire Reichstag. "Hell yeah lets vote for stability for future generations and then arbitrarily redraw the borders." Emperor Mathias II appeared to sympathize with Alan Bstard and said in a private conference, "It's hilariously disingenuous but I'm not gonna call them on it because arbitrarily redrawing the map while pretending to be principled is about as 19th century as it gets."

During the third debate over Aquitaine, one of the supporters of the Occitain Union, RabidWeasel, expressed worry of upsetting France and Iberia too much. "I just hope all this hate we're pouring on France and Iberia doesn't come back to bite us in the rear end. Shouldn't there at least be an option for a French Aquitaine?" Clayren replied, "It wont come back to bite us if we rip a nice chunk out of France and reinstall the monarchs. Also, a statue of Mathias is to be built in Paris. A big statue. Made of bronze." Clayren was wrong.

There was a push by several members of the Reichstag for Germany to intervene to defend Qin, now that the Zuhrimani Wars are over. meatbag said, "[R]amp up involvement in China. There is nothing more sensible than getting involved in a land war in mainland Asia!" Peel also wanted a German intervention: "Also go bail out Qin, the Empire of the East must also be protected." skipThings also endorsed this view: "I think we should now focus on stabilizing the Qin Dynasty, we can't afford more strong Sunni powers like the Khanate." Mathias II gave into this pressure and tried to send in reinforcements, but Qin fell before the German army could reach Asia.

skipThings sought to push for more internal reforms to try and stop future revolutions: "And we have a huge pile of money laying around, right? Let's give some of that to our people, we should be known as a generous monarchy, and who wants to rebel against that?" Mathias II replied, "Actually we're £10,000 in debt from paying for the war." skipsThing said in response: "Uhhh, yeah ... now I really feel like an aristrocrat who has lost contact to the normal people. Great work Mathias II!"

This caused a debate over the Empire's finances. Claverjoe said, "What's that? Pillage all the resources from the former french east indies to pay war debts you say? Hell with that, pillage, err... civilize India." Dr. Video Games 0031 objected to that suggestion: "You don't "pillage" resources. How would that even work?" Clayren responded, "Rip out their railroads and trains and melt them down for steel?"

Dr. Video Games 0031 also tried to play down concerns over the national debt: "Swabia's going to make money hand over fist when this is all said and done, I don't think we'll have to worry a whole lot about our debt. £10,000 is nothing." Dr. Video Games 0031 was correct, as the Modernizers were able to successfully stabilize the economy of Germany, through a regressive tax policy.