StockNES


The Rise of the Republic of Germany

Germany, once a major regional and significant world power, was hit hard by the crises of the first modern era. Famine and economic collapse had become a fact of life for the German people, and the government had become completely unable to support the people that elected them. As the nation destabilised, individual towns and cities formed militias and banded together for protection from the now sizeable number of roaming refugees in central Europe. Eventually, Germany ceased to exist as an entity, instead becoming a collection of largely democratic city-states with loose ties to each other, none of them able or willing to attempt to reunite the German people, with conditions at home already terrible.

As time went on, the various city-based polities began to stabilise and redevelop their surrounding areas. For the first time in decades, hunger and famine were no longer omnipresent problems but obstacles that could now be effectively tackled and beaten. Militias were formed into small, professional standing armies, and small wars were fought between the various German states. Diplomacy and trade once again became an integral part of German life, and contact with far-flung regions of the world was slowly being restored. Germany was coming out of the darkness, though it was even more broken apart than the German principalities of old.

Most German city-states, having garnered some power for themselves, were opposed to the idea of reuniting Germany, even once the troubles of the past were quickly becoming annoyances at best. However, the rise of Bavaria and the growth of the Technocratic system caused a shift in views that led to the reformation of the German state. Most German states, in order to cope with the instability and chaos around them, had revitalised the ideals of German exceptionalism and militarism that had been subdued since the end of the Second World War in order to galvanise their population and provide them with a new identity and resolve so that they may prosper in the future. This was wildly effective, and caused ideals such as the bettering of the self and the brotherhood of community to come to the fore of the German world view. When the Technocrats rose, many German states took offence to the idea that they and all they had worked for could be considered somehow ‘inferior’ to the artificial whims of a supercomputer, or the idea that a scientist or an engineer was well versed in how to lead a nation of militarists. The Humanistischer Liga (Humanist League, or the League) was formed, headed by Hermann Tenner, President of the Free City of Berlin, and it quickly led to the peaceful integration of many German states into the new Republic of Germany, a nation characterised by liberal democracy, nationalism militarism, and pro-human ideals. As the South German Federation grew, so too did the Republic of Germany, with states giving up much of their powers in order to ensure they were led by men.

As the nation grew and developed, so too did its politics. Eventually, three major parties came to the forefront. The Humanistischer Liga remained the most powerful party in Germany, on the back of a platform of liberalism and pro-humanism. The Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Socialist Democratic Party, or SDP) is the second largest party, and is very similar to the League in its views, differing mostly in that the SDP calls for more government control in the economy and a more centralised nation. Finally, the Deutsche Reichspartei (German Reich Party, or DRP) is a smaller, but still influential conservative party which argues that the only way for Germany to avoid the collapses of the past is to increasingly militarise the state until it becomes a European military power with the ability to project force around the Mediterranean and Atlantic. So far, the presidency has belonged mainly to the League, though occasionally the SDP gains enough votes to take control. As of yet, there has never been a DRP president, though as Germany becomes increasingly boxed in by its Technocratic neighbours the DRP has seen a significant shift in public opinion towards itself.

Modern Germany, while weaker than pre-crisis Germany, has emerged as an advanced and viable state. With a functioning democracy, a content and wealthy populace and well developed technological infrastructure such as a rebuilt autobahn network and multiple major solar arrays, Germany is well prepared for the future, and as its government seeks to regain the control and resources that Old Germany once had, its people look to the future to make Germany great once more. The current president, Konrad Haas, is a capable politician and one of the strongest leaders ever to come out of the League, and there are high hopes for him to restore Germany as a player on the international stage.
 
From Germany
To All Democratic European States

Centuries ago, Europe was a bastion of democracy. The idea that a man had a say in his own land was one which most all nations subscribed to. Now, Europe is in danger of falling to an innumerable number of dictatorships which, while varying in flavour, are a potential danger to all of us. In light of this, the Republic of Germany proposes the formation of a European Democratic Council, composed of willing democratic European nations working towards strengthening bonds between existing democratic states and, if possible, bringing other states into the democratic fold. It will not be an alliance so much as a loose cooperative working towards a similar goal. We would be happy to refine it to suit the needs of our ideological allies, and look forward to hearing any response.
 
From the Celtic Union, Italy
To Germany


We would be interested in joining such a council, should Germany setup its headquarters and host its first convention, as well as suggest its first subjects of discussion/cooperation.
 
From Germany
To the Celtic Union, Italy
CC: All European Democratic Nations

We will be establishing the headquarters of the Council in Berlin, and will be hosting a convention this year. The topics we intend to discuss will be the creation of a non-aggression pact between all democratic nations, along with the powers and purpose of the Council in the eyes of all member states. We will be open to any input from any nations which wish to discuss another matter alongside. We formally invite all European democratic nations to send delegates to the First Democratic Congress of Berlin.

From Germany
To the Trade Federation of England
CC: Bavaria

We would be willing to invest in the Celtic North Sea oil drilling platforms alongside England in order to gain joint right of first refusal, assuming the Celtic Union allows it.
 
To: North Germany, South Germany, Celtic Union
From: The English Trade Federation


The English Trade Federation would be willing to share the right of first refusal with our friends in Berlin, were our combined bids be higher than that of the South Germans. As it stands, even without the right of first refusal, a thriving resource industry would be beneficial to English interests, so the English will commit to a 3 EP investment into the oil drilling platforms.
 
To Germany,
From the United Commons,
CCed, Attendees of the European Democratic Convention


The United Commons is pleased to have renewed its trade and diplomatic ties with Europe- we are very thankful to England for its assistance in the matter.

We ask to attend the conference as well, as although we not a European democratic state, we believe the United Commons practices an ultra-modern form of democracy, one where governance is a voluntary act and no individual is ruled by a government chosen for it by a majority that may or may not share that individual’s values. We believe that the clade system of democracy has all the advantages of traditional ‘majority-driven’ democracy and minimizes the disadvantages related to ‘majority rule’.

We would like to introduce members of the European democratic community to the concept of federal cladeship, and if you are willing, would like to send a speaker to present the operational structure and execution of clade-based government at the conference.
 
OOC: how do you split right to first refusal? is that possible?

From the Celtic Union
Regarding Oil Drilling

We won't be splitting the right to first refusal, an individual state will have to overcome the highest bidder's investment, not a coalition of them. Anyway, we'll accept EP for the project if the state respects that they will not gain the rights of the highest contribute.

Edit: Also, 24 hours remaining before the deadline tomorrow morning.
 
Hawke’s Blog

My name is Stingfellow Hawke. Welcome to my blog!

This is me.


I’m a helicopter pilot. I fly a MH-62T, a new marine helicopter based on a ‘before times’ MH-60R Romeo.

This is my baby.


I call her Airwolf. Here’s a close up of the custom paintjob I got on the nose.


In February Airwolf, and all the other 62Ts in my squadron got pretty comprehensive retrofits, especially in the sensor department. We got new forward looking infrared radar, multi-mode radar, and new weapon stations to carry homing torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. We also got sonobuoy launchers and dipping sonar. We’re fricking submarine finding, ship-killing machines.

Here’s airwolf deploying the dipping sonar.


We’re not the only ones who got retrofits. The United Commons navy destroyers got new sensor packages and so too did the fighters and bombers. The bombers got lots of naval mines too.

Even before we deployed to the Caribbean we all knew what our job was going to be. We knew that Venezuela had 4 unaccounted for submarines somewhere out there and those submarines were going to potentially be a major pain in the ‘der-riere’ if we didn’t find them and put them down.

In late February the Commons Council withdraw from the ceasefire with Venezuela. We were going to get the Cubans their home back!

Our first mission was reconnaissance. Our transports were getting loaded with the grunts and some hefty-looking artillery and we and the fighters were supposed to go and make sure we could open a channel to Cuba for our convoy.

Here we are on the lookout for Venezuelan ships.


We caught sight of the Venezeulan fighter jets on the third day and our squad withdrew to let the fly-boys do their thing. I talked to Josh (those of you who know who I am talking about know who I am talking about and those of you who don’t know him probably don’t have the security clearance to know the specifics of who he is so I won’t say anything more on the blog) and he says we had a pretty consistent advantage over the Venezuelans due to our advanced radar and sensor suites and our ability to heavily outrange them by missile delivery.

Here’s a pic one of Josh’s buddies took of him in his aircraft.


That stubby little thing is the probably the fastest thing that’s ever flown in over 100 years and probably the deadliest anti-air weapon ever developed hands-down. Its extremely stealthy and that stealth is backed up by a whole suite of sophisticated jamming equipment that means its going to see you waayy before you see it. And when it does see you, and it will- its crammed with radar and ECCM like you don’t believe, it going to launch these anti-air missiles that are gonna knock you out of the sky from 35 miles away.

Anyway, pretty early on we started to inflict some pretty grevious injuries to the Cuban-based Venezuelan airforce. Their aircraft were probably a full 10 years behind ours at least. We knocked their aircraft back and then it was our turn.

On day fourteen we got contacts from several sonor buoys and that was pretty exciting. We dropped a few torpedoes and we called in the bombers and they laid some mines but we didn’t see anything blow up and so we figure the subs got away.

On the 18th day things got pretty wild.

The convoy had got most of the way to Cuba when we spotted the Venezuelan destroyers. They were advancing under cover of the remaining V-airforce and presumably the missing subs were around there somewhere too. We deployed in force, with the destroyers screening our transports and Josh and his buddies chasing away the enemy fighters but we knew somewhere out there was these submarines and with all that noise in the water, it was going to be hard to spot them.

Here’s a nice picture Sharon got of Airwolf flying over a destroyer that day.


We started flying low, pinging the water with our radar like crazy and dropping all these buoys. We started to get contact on a buoy then on two and we knew we had something. We converged and I couldn’t see anything but the sensors were going crazy. We dropped our torpedos and about 15 seconds later there was this whole explosion of bubbles and fire coming out of the sea and next thing you know there’s these guys in red sub-jackets asking for rescue in Spanish.

Well, we cleared the way and the destroyers sunk a ship (with some help from the bombers) and I don’t think we lost anyone that day. The transports landed and as you know, we eventually retook Cuba for the Cuban clade.

So i know this is really crap writing but its meant to be 'in character'.
 
We hope the political posturing by the North German leadership doesn't see them discard the planned cultural exchanges.
 
Hey, sorry, orders will be late because I have to ask some questions and such first in a PM.
 
A cultural exchange is something we would greatly appreciate. Our cultural ministers already have clearance to begin organising events with yours.
 
Orders 3/4 finished. Need to sleep. Planning on finishing and sending in the morning.
 
Small book sent :p Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
 
From Germany
To the Celtic Union, Italy
CC: All European Democratic Nations

We will be establishing the headquarters of the Council in Berlin, and will be hosting a convention this year. The topics we intend to discuss will be the creation of a non-aggression pact between all democratic nations, along with the powers and purpose of the Council in the eyes of all member states. We will be open to any input from any nations which wish to discuss another matter alongside. We formally invite all European democratic nations to send delegates to the First Democratic Congress of Berlin.

From California
To Germany

The Republic is rejoiced to see that true demoracy has endured in Europe and voices its support for the Democratic Congress and German democracy. The Republic wishes to attend to the Congress in order to renew its ties with Europe, being one of the oldest democracies still present. California also voices its concern on how democracy should be defined today: should it include only liberal and social republics or also include some variants of technocratic and corporate regimes? This is a matter to be discussed.

To North American nations.
We should not only concern ourselves with European democracy but with democracy on our own continent. That is why I put forward the proposal of a similar Congress that the Republic proposes to host in Sacramento. Democracy is rare enough in theses perilous days. It is our job to preserve it.

OOC: non-european nations such as me should be allowed to attend to the Congress but only as spectators :)
 
From Germany
To California, the United Commons

We invite California to send delegates as spectators, and to discuss the idea of cooperation with democracy in North America. Nations such as ours should support each other in this dangerous world. We refuse the offer of the United Commons, as we can realistically argue they are not democratic, and they are currently fighting a war against democratic Venezuela as well as their own Western seperatists. Once the Council is established and policy towards clade-based systems of governance has been established, we reserve the right to revisit the UC offer.
 
I'm under the impression that cross-oceanic travel is still quite underdeveloped. England has the largest and best developed Navy on the planet, and crossing the Atlantic is still quite a feat. We've been able to help the UC get their goods to market, and can conceivably provide an escort/retinue for a UC delegation to the First Democratic Congress of Berlin, but California's the other side of the American continent. I'm not sure it'd be logistically possible for a Californian delegation to attend.
 
Surely the Californian delegation could simply just fly to the UC-held East Coast and then take up the British offer?
 
Which brings me to a question I'd like to direct at Stockholme. How developed is international travel? Assuming intercontinental flights aren't a thing at this stage, how are cross-continental flights?
 
I've been thinking about making some maps to indicate the distances different regions and countries can easily communicate to. I'll include those in this update I think.

There are no commercial airplanes and no commercial airports anywhere on the face of the earth, only military airfields which can be used to land private diplomatic or government sanctioned missions by military plane. It would require explicit government approval from everyone, however, and even then, that's just the speed at which someone can travel across a continent, not the speed of regular communications.

Realize that there are no undersea communications cables, no satellites, no civilian internet. The best you have by ground are telephone lines which don't usually connect across international borders. The more relevant factor isn't how long it'd take to get Californian nationals into Europe, but how late in the year it would have been by the time that a) California heard about the Democratic Council, b) was able to send a message to Germany requesting observer status, and c) Germany could have responded with a "yes".

So in direct response to the question, California could attend probably late in the year after all of the above time had been taken to communicate, by sending a military craft to land in a Floridian (UC) airfield, whereupon a week or two later they'd end up in London, and then could visit Berlin by an English plane or ship. So it's conceivable, California can attend with English and UC permission.

I was intending to assume such permission would be granted and not bring the issue up until I produced some maps indicating communication distances.
 
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