Part 82: Victoria: Chapter 16 - Reforms: 1870 - 1875

1870 - 1875: Reforms

Technology investment continues to be varied under the Unifiers, investing into the econony, the fleet, and the development of better railways.





The military is expanded with two new armies to a total of 15 standing armies.


In March of 1870, France decides to show itself on the line, manuevering an 18-division army up and down the border. The army is put on heightened alert and weak points reinforced, but the situation never escalates beyond saber-rattling.


Russia declares war on Lithuania once more in June, a short war that results in Russia taking all its remaining territorial claims on the Commonwealth.



New ship designs are unveiled in August with the addition of Monitors and Ironclads, powerful iron steamboats that vastly outclass the older commerce raiders.



In Arabia, the fighting between the Byzantines and the revolutionaries has stalled in Palestine, with the Byzantine offensive brought to a grinding halt by new Arab troops.


Bismarck succeeds in renewing the alliance with Russia in November, but Scandinavia remains reluctant to ally with Swabia.


A major expansion of the fleet begins in 1871 with the construction of five monitors intended for the Baltic fleet and ten ironclads intended for the Mediterranean.



After suffering severe losses in its unsuccessful attempts to break through the Arab lines, the Byzantine Empire sues for peace in April, recognizing the independence of Arabia and triggering a wave of celebration throughout the Muslim world.


In June, the alliance with Dauphine expires, but instead of renewing it, Frederick II issues a more controversial order, fully backed by Bismarck. Campaign scenarios drawn up by Swabian strategists have shown that if another war with the Grand Coalition was to break out, Dauphine would be overrun and occupied within weeks, threatening Swabian Italy and sandwiching the port at Massa between hostile powers. While the Dauphinese have been mostly steadfast friends, Swabia is not in a situation where it think much of anyone but itself. Guiseppe Tittoni is Bismarck's instrument in the war, the former King holding a speech condemning the oppression of Dauphine's Catholic Italian minorities. When Dauphine protests, Tittoni declares war between the Kingdom of Italy and Dauphine. Generously granted three armies of Swabian expeditionary corps, he enters Dauphine in July.


The Dauphinese fight back bravely, but the few understrength divisions they have left are little match for the Swabian troops. In the peace, they are forced to cede Genoa and its surrounding lands, which are given to Tittoni to rule in the name of his liege, Frederick II. The flimsy pretexts and Swabian insistance that the war was an Italian one and not a Swabian fails to convince just about anyone, but no other power intervenes.



In October, the United Kingdom attacks and annexes the remainders of the Manchu lands, adding all of Manchuria to their colonial empire.


The exchange of technology with the SGF continues as Swabia strikes a deal trading Swabian banking and navy technology for SGF knowledge of industry and commerce.


All year, the liberal risings continue, increasing in frequency and strength.


The hard line taken so far is not working, and after much discussion, Fredrick II manages to convince Chancellor Bismarck that some compromises must be made with the liberals. Swabia's state finances are booming, and what better way to spend it than on placating its people?


Press restrictions are lightened, with the creation of permits to run private newspapers - though said permits can be revoked at will and all political articles must first be approved by the state.


An ambitious program of social reforms is instituted across the nation, with the creation of a business regulations board, state pension, health care and unemployment subsidies programs, and minimum wage laws.


Construction of Swabian trade posts in Middle Africa stands finished in December, extending Swabia's control to a new swathes of land.




A major economical reform is passed in January of 1873 as the silver standard is replaced with a double standard to combat the difficulcies Swabia has been having in backing its ever larger monetary supply.


In the same month Jadakal launches into a war of aggression against its former ally Muhajedz, taking several border territories in the peace.


The United Kingdom also goes to war, invading Korea from its new Manchurian bases.


The new fleet stands ready in summer. With fifteen iron warships, Swabia's navy has once again pulled ahead of the competition, with Mazula, the only other naval power to own ironclads having only built three of them.



France and Iberia invade the Dauphinese rump state in 1874, reducing it no more than two provinces in the ensuing peace.



A massive renovation and expansion of Swabia's border fortifications begins in autumn.


1874 ends with the total conquest of Korea by the UK, establishing its dominance in Northeast Asia.