Teh Udpate
Sponsored by NBN. NBN: Not an evil Megacorp bent on collecting entirely too much data about every facet of your life so we can invade your privacy
The government of Pulias, in association with NBN (not an evil megacorp &c. &c.) has recently released a large body of data about several different facets of our great nation. Including such diverse elements as
fear, surprise, an almost fanatical devotion to the pope, and some nice red uniforms the results of the recent census, our annual values of crop production, and the total troop counts of our standing army, it is certainly highly informative, and also provides an excellent way to compare our nation's statistics to what we know of the other Great Powers of the region. A portion is here reproduced:
In other news, the last decade has notably seen the society of Pulias trend towards socialism. Already the fruits of reworking our government along these lines have paid off, as the nationalization of some industries, notably in the new field of "Computing", has partially remedied a severe budget deficit. Alongside this has been a program to ensure secularism. Though already weakened, the active campaign to remove the influence of the church has largely swept away one of the few remaining aspects of the pre-Revolution government. Some remain concerned that this might also spell the end of what was once a vital aspect of our pre-Fall nation's culture, but for now the program has seen a major boost in our nation's scientific development, to the degree that several of our spies report we have now met or surpassed the technological development of several other Great Powers.
In regards our spies, who, if you are not a Pulian and still reading this, please be advised do not actually exist and are certainly not currently masquerading as Mr. and Mrs. F. Gray, 19 River Street, Eruch City, we have been informed that they have informed the government that someone informed them that Eruch was planning to attack Orlin:
This is interesting, as the current Tsar of Orlin, Ignace Curlow, sent a secret envoy to our nation suggesting that the nation of Eruch was plotting a surprise attack against us. Whether in either case this is mere alarmism, a carefully-planned ruse by Orlin, or an actual threat remains to be seen, and it will be up to the incoming government to decide how to deal with this. However, the aggressive behavior perpetrated under the direct orders of Cyrus Rotheram of Eruch against the weak minor nation of Zurich suggests the last option may be true (our Grand High Exalted Majah tells us that he, after meeting with the Kaiser of Eruch, opted to avoid war by revoking our pledge of protection to that city-state; as Zurich is well outside of the region we have begun to consider our Sphere of Influence, this paper does not feel he overstepped his authority.)
While no war has yet materialized, our Prime Minister, Heerlo, and his associate Senator Augustus Absoluti successfully destroyed the Luddite encampment threatening our city of Coventry. In a lopsided battle, our Land Ironclad created several extremely flat Luddite Brutes, while suffering two minor scratches and a dent on the engine compartment. The victory was so successful that several city-states have offered to reward us if we assist them in defeating other Luddite encampments. If we make the attempt, we will be successful: Progress cannot be stopped!
...though there are disturbing reports that some Luddites may have obtained advanced rifles, most dismiss these as mere rumors. Speaking of Progress (R), our scientists, aided by the new secularism taking root in our nation, have made great steps in the fields of Propulsion and Economic Imperialism. Indeed, in the former case, reports tell us the Pulian military has just made a successful test-flight of a steam-powered "Flyer", which flew over Pulias City (as it is now to be known) for over 30 minutes, doing several loop-de-loops and other aerial acrobatics. Reports that the pilot had lost control and was heard shouting "I can't stop, I don't know how it works; good-bye, folks!" are to be discounted, as L. Frank Baum does not exist in this timeline.
Despite the absence of L. Frank Baum, culture continues to develop throughout Europa. Indeed, they seem to be flourishing more notably in the nations of Orlin, which recently created a huge art museum out of a large palace one called the "Louvre", and the Eruch, who have built a large clock-tower known as "Big Ben". Reports also suggest that an unknown nation has built a massive monument to their military might known as the Brandenburg Gate, but no verification has yet arrived as to who this nation might be.
Though there are theories, naturally.
And so, at the end of 1832, Pulias can be said to have recovered nearly completely from the turmoil of the Fall. With a new election cycle coming up, and at least one new party having recently formed, the future looks bright for the nation!
I'll keep it vague in-character until I hear one way or the other.
--- but since the ten years whizzed by so quickly, can you provide information on what is causing the treasury deficit?
