Military Policy: Emphasise Army
Economic Policy: Emphasise Industrial Growth
Diplomatic Policy: Balance of Power
Possible wars of aggression:
1. A cooperative attack with the Dutch on the Polish colonial empire, especially Polish China. This will not happen before 1865 or so, and should not happen when at war with anyone else, and should happen preferably when the Japanese are otherwise occupied in Kamchatka or the Zunghar Khanate. After all, seeing as we are the attackers, we get to choose when the war happens, and so we will choose a good moment.
2. A war with Languedoc if the situation is favourable (i.e. only if things pan out as listed below)
Specific policies:
1. Keep on reducing secret police expenditure gradually by 1EP a turn until they no longer exist.
2. Encourage the development of a specific Burgundian national identity, based on the heritage of Charlemagne, and encourage a sort of Unionist art. Create an Academie Burgundienne in Dijon to encourage biligualism, Burgundian unionist art, and a national identity that is proud that it is both French and German at the same time. Also carry out other Burgundian culture projects.
3. Rapprochement with the Dutch is our most important foreign policy. Our cooperation on this point will cover several elements:
- we will make a point of cooperating with them against the Polish,
- we will look for support in the Dutch Republic if we ever support Orleanist Republicans, because they are Republicans and a joint endeavour of this sort in Republicans' favour will endear us to the Dutch public,
- we will cooperate militarily with them, buying some Dutch ships
- and receiving their military organisation (boosting our army enormously in the process). This will be the very first and highest item of priority on our agenda in the BT, and was what I was just about to do, pretty much, when the NES halted.
- we will allow them to recruit troops in the Rhineland from the Germans there to conserve their manpower reserves.
- we will (whenever is convenient) sign an explicit defensive alliance with them (probably in the 1860s some time).
- We will also try to gradually build relations with Hanover, with the aim, if we so desire, of being able to make an alliance with them too shortly after 1900 if we want.
4. Most importantly, we are forming a Franco-Burgundian Confederation consisting initially of Paris-Burgundy and Normandy - i.e. a merger of our nations into a single nation. This will be listed as a single nation. It will come into being about twenty years into the BT, once the free trade agreements are coming very near to completion, and it will have a single Parliament with authority over foreign policy. Any two kings belonging to the Parliament can veto any measure together. Seats in the Parliament will be allocated both on the basis of wealth and on the basis of population. All French states are allowed to join on this basis, but while slight and temporary concessions may be made to new members, there can be no Austria-Prussia relationship with Languedoc; no-one will be allowed seats in Parliament or veto powers significantly out of kilter with their economic strength or population. The most obvious candidates apart from Normandy are Dauphiné and Poitou. Piedmont will join if Dauphiné does (unless Dauphiné won't join if Piedmont does, in which case Piedmont can just stay away and remain a sort of puppet state). Any states that join the Confederation will also be allowed to trade freely in China, etc. just like Parisian and Burgundian merchants, creating a significant incentive for countries to join.
5. By the end of the BT, I want as much as possible of the French Colonial Society to belong directly to the Confederate government, through the admission of the participating states into the Confederacy. At some point, the whole thing will essentially be appended to the Confederate government.
6. As for Piedmont, the King should be a pliable scion of the royal house who is fully briefed on everything and who knows what he's going to have to do and is willing to do it (i.e. join and support our position in the projected Franco-Burgundian Confederacy). The most likely system is one where the King of Piedmont is always the King's brother, or the heir apparent, or something. A representative assembly is to be formed, but with very limited power, and only parties that already exist as of 1851 in Burgundy and that are legal according to Burgundian electoral law will be allowed to field candidates in Piedmont. This means that all Piedmontese candidates will have to register and meet the entry requirements for a normal Burgundian party. This will mean, that rather than having a free choice, the Piedmontese (although they will have Italian candidates) will have a choice between Burgundian parties, e.g. the Septembrists and their conservative rivals. By this trick, we will give representation but make extremism and Italian nationalism positions that cannot be represented in the Piedmontese representative assembly, as Burgundian parties are not allowed to support regionalism. Tariffs will remain up along the Piedmont-Burgundy border unless Piedmont gets included into the Confederacy as discussed below.
7. As for Switzerland, when it is annexed it will receive the right to elect MPs to Parliament on the same basis as any other area of the country, and the German speakers there will have equal rights with everyone else, just as the rest of the Burgundian Germans do. If any important Swiss show any particular loyalty, peers will be created. Military rule in Switzerland will continue if necessary, but no longer than necessary; at any rate important strategic locations and passes should be firmly guarded, and an eye should be kept out for problems.
8. Continue liberal education of princes, liberal reforms as necessary to maintain stability. Hold elections whenever at peace and Parliament has lasted at least for years. Regular Parliaments may be adopted later on if convenient.
Polish War - War Aims
The Netherlands and the Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy will be waging a war against Poland during the BT with the following war aims.
The Netherlands - The Polish Indian Ocean Islands and The Polish Korean Port will be turned over in entirety to the Dutch Republic.
The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy - Polish Gabon (Stanislavia) will be turned over to The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy
Equal Split - The Polish Chinese concession will be equally split between the Republic of the Netherlands and The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy
To Britain - Since, neither The Netherlands and The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy want control of Polish Guinea, the Polish colony will be turned over to the British
Languedoc War - Conditions
1. Orleans must rebel first. We will covertly make sure (as we have been) with appropriate *secret* financing that if they do rebel they will do it properly, and, with any luck, they will rebel, and do it successfully.
2. We must have, in the war, initial control of Orleans. If the revolt doesn't manage to start with to seize control of Orleans' territory or at least the vast majority of it for our army to defend, then we're not going to war over it.
3. Orleans (presumably run by Republicans) must be willing to join our Confederacy as a member like any other, providing Parliament representatives, etc.
4. There must not be any obvious reason why we should not intervene, e.g. being attacked by someone else in a war that we can't drop to help Orleans, or Orleans rebelling in a half-baked fashion, or the entire place being completely awash with dozens of Spaniard brigades, or something.
5. The war must not happen before we are far enough into the BT and into our rapprochement with the Dutch that we have their army organisation, i.e. not within the first few years of the BT.
If these conditions aren't met - and they're not particularly likely to be met - there is to be no war with Languedoc at all.
Languedoc War - Orders
1. Appeal for military reinforcement to the Dutch (who have promised it), to the Austrians (who have also promised it), to Piedmont (who will give it because they are a puppet state), and to Milan, Genoa, Naples, Bavaria, and the Pope, who may or may not help us as they like. But this coalition building will not slow us down in the absurd way it did last time we intervened in Orleans. We will help Orleans as soon as they revolt in any numbers, and we will help them with almost our entire army, without waiting for the foreign troops to arrive.
2. Do not move out of Orleans's former territory. We will simply admit Orleans to the Confederacy, entrench, and defend it against all comers. In moving into Orleans, we hope that we will not face determined Languedoc opposition because the rebels will hopefully have driven out most of their troops already. There will be no attack into the Languedoc interior or into Provence and we will make it perfectly clear that we have no intention to do any such thing. We will be happy to make any reasonable peace with Languedoc that lets the Confederacy keep Orleans.
3. If the rebellion in Orleans causes a coup in Orleans proper, then so much the better. We will recognise and negotiate with the new regime.
4. If the rebellion in Orleans causes a Provencal revolt, then that can join the confederacy too, unless we can get a cheap peace by letting Languedoc keep it, in which case we'll save ourselves the trouble of an enormous war.
Languedoc War - War Aims
To secure Orleans. Nothing else is important as a war aim and therefore I hope our war - while containing support from the Dutch and the Austrians and maybe some Italians and/or Bavarians - will nevertheless be limited in its nature.
Secondarily, the war, I hope, will lead to Poitou, Dauphiné and maybe Piedmont joining the Confederacy.
A quick victory and a moderate peace. If all goes pearshaped, evacuate Orleans under terms in preference to being driven out and made to accept worse terms: i.e. if we start losing, cut our losses and get a status quo ante bellum peace.
Appendices and later edits:
1. We will take suitable action to prevent any irritatingly early war over Orleans disproportionately affecting the Norman economy, particularly by signing more commercial treaties and import deals with the Normans if necessary to ensure that it actually benefits them.
2. Build the Paris-Munich-Vienna railway we said we were going to build with Austrian cooperation (provided the Austrians are willing).
3. When Sardinia attacks Piedmont, defend it, reinforce it as necessary and as possible, and call on Genoa, Milan and especially the Pope to help solve this threat to the balance of power in Italy.
Economic Policy: Emphasise Industrial Growth
Diplomatic Policy: Balance of Power
Possible wars of aggression:
1. A cooperative attack with the Dutch on the Polish colonial empire, especially Polish China. This will not happen before 1865 or so, and should not happen when at war with anyone else, and should happen preferably when the Japanese are otherwise occupied in Kamchatka or the Zunghar Khanate. After all, seeing as we are the attackers, we get to choose when the war happens, and so we will choose a good moment.
2. A war with Languedoc if the situation is favourable (i.e. only if things pan out as listed below)
Specific policies:
1. Keep on reducing secret police expenditure gradually by 1EP a turn until they no longer exist.
2. Encourage the development of a specific Burgundian national identity, based on the heritage of Charlemagne, and encourage a sort of Unionist art. Create an Academie Burgundienne in Dijon to encourage biligualism, Burgundian unionist art, and a national identity that is proud that it is both French and German at the same time. Also carry out other Burgundian culture projects.
3. Rapprochement with the Dutch is our most important foreign policy. Our cooperation on this point will cover several elements:
- we will make a point of cooperating with them against the Polish,
- we will look for support in the Dutch Republic if we ever support Orleanist Republicans, because they are Republicans and a joint endeavour of this sort in Republicans' favour will endear us to the Dutch public,
- we will cooperate militarily with them, buying some Dutch ships
- and receiving their military organisation (boosting our army enormously in the process). This will be the very first and highest item of priority on our agenda in the BT, and was what I was just about to do, pretty much, when the NES halted.
- we will allow them to recruit troops in the Rhineland from the Germans there to conserve their manpower reserves.
- we will (whenever is convenient) sign an explicit defensive alliance with them (probably in the 1860s some time).
- We will also try to gradually build relations with Hanover, with the aim, if we so desire, of being able to make an alliance with them too shortly after 1900 if we want.
4. Most importantly, we are forming a Franco-Burgundian Confederation consisting initially of Paris-Burgundy and Normandy - i.e. a merger of our nations into a single nation. This will be listed as a single nation. It will come into being about twenty years into the BT, once the free trade agreements are coming very near to completion, and it will have a single Parliament with authority over foreign policy. Any two kings belonging to the Parliament can veto any measure together. Seats in the Parliament will be allocated both on the basis of wealth and on the basis of population. All French states are allowed to join on this basis, but while slight and temporary concessions may be made to new members, there can be no Austria-Prussia relationship with Languedoc; no-one will be allowed seats in Parliament or veto powers significantly out of kilter with their economic strength or population. The most obvious candidates apart from Normandy are Dauphiné and Poitou. Piedmont will join if Dauphiné does (unless Dauphiné won't join if Piedmont does, in which case Piedmont can just stay away and remain a sort of puppet state). Any states that join the Confederation will also be allowed to trade freely in China, etc. just like Parisian and Burgundian merchants, creating a significant incentive for countries to join.
5. By the end of the BT, I want as much as possible of the French Colonial Society to belong directly to the Confederate government, through the admission of the participating states into the Confederacy. At some point, the whole thing will essentially be appended to the Confederate government.
6. As for Piedmont, the King should be a pliable scion of the royal house who is fully briefed on everything and who knows what he's going to have to do and is willing to do it (i.e. join and support our position in the projected Franco-Burgundian Confederacy). The most likely system is one where the King of Piedmont is always the King's brother, or the heir apparent, or something. A representative assembly is to be formed, but with very limited power, and only parties that already exist as of 1851 in Burgundy and that are legal according to Burgundian electoral law will be allowed to field candidates in Piedmont. This means that all Piedmontese candidates will have to register and meet the entry requirements for a normal Burgundian party. This will mean, that rather than having a free choice, the Piedmontese (although they will have Italian candidates) will have a choice between Burgundian parties, e.g. the Septembrists and their conservative rivals. By this trick, we will give representation but make extremism and Italian nationalism positions that cannot be represented in the Piedmontese representative assembly, as Burgundian parties are not allowed to support regionalism. Tariffs will remain up along the Piedmont-Burgundy border unless Piedmont gets included into the Confederacy as discussed below.
7. As for Switzerland, when it is annexed it will receive the right to elect MPs to Parliament on the same basis as any other area of the country, and the German speakers there will have equal rights with everyone else, just as the rest of the Burgundian Germans do. If any important Swiss show any particular loyalty, peers will be created. Military rule in Switzerland will continue if necessary, but no longer than necessary; at any rate important strategic locations and passes should be firmly guarded, and an eye should be kept out for problems.
8. Continue liberal education of princes, liberal reforms as necessary to maintain stability. Hold elections whenever at peace and Parliament has lasted at least for years. Regular Parliaments may be adopted later on if convenient.
Polish War - War Aims
The Netherlands and the Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy will be waging a war against Poland during the BT with the following war aims.
The Netherlands - The Polish Indian Ocean Islands and The Polish Korean Port will be turned over in entirety to the Dutch Republic.
The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy - Polish Gabon (Stanislavia) will be turned over to The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy
Equal Split - The Polish Chinese concession will be equally split between the Republic of the Netherlands and The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy
To Britain - Since, neither The Netherlands and The Kingdoms of Paris-Burgundy want control of Polish Guinea, the Polish colony will be turned over to the British
Languedoc War - Conditions
1. Orleans must rebel first. We will covertly make sure (as we have been) with appropriate *secret* financing that if they do rebel they will do it properly, and, with any luck, they will rebel, and do it successfully.
2. We must have, in the war, initial control of Orleans. If the revolt doesn't manage to start with to seize control of Orleans' territory or at least the vast majority of it for our army to defend, then we're not going to war over it.
3. Orleans (presumably run by Republicans) must be willing to join our Confederacy as a member like any other, providing Parliament representatives, etc.
4. There must not be any obvious reason why we should not intervene, e.g. being attacked by someone else in a war that we can't drop to help Orleans, or Orleans rebelling in a half-baked fashion, or the entire place being completely awash with dozens of Spaniard brigades, or something.
5. The war must not happen before we are far enough into the BT and into our rapprochement with the Dutch that we have their army organisation, i.e. not within the first few years of the BT.
If these conditions aren't met - and they're not particularly likely to be met - there is to be no war with Languedoc at all.
Languedoc War - Orders
1. Appeal for military reinforcement to the Dutch (who have promised it), to the Austrians (who have also promised it), to Piedmont (who will give it because they are a puppet state), and to Milan, Genoa, Naples, Bavaria, and the Pope, who may or may not help us as they like. But this coalition building will not slow us down in the absurd way it did last time we intervened in Orleans. We will help Orleans as soon as they revolt in any numbers, and we will help them with almost our entire army, without waiting for the foreign troops to arrive.
2. Do not move out of Orleans's former territory. We will simply admit Orleans to the Confederacy, entrench, and defend it against all comers. In moving into Orleans, we hope that we will not face determined Languedoc opposition because the rebels will hopefully have driven out most of their troops already. There will be no attack into the Languedoc interior or into Provence and we will make it perfectly clear that we have no intention to do any such thing. We will be happy to make any reasonable peace with Languedoc that lets the Confederacy keep Orleans.
3. If the rebellion in Orleans causes a coup in Orleans proper, then so much the better. We will recognise and negotiate with the new regime.
4. If the rebellion in Orleans causes a Provencal revolt, then that can join the confederacy too, unless we can get a cheap peace by letting Languedoc keep it, in which case we'll save ourselves the trouble of an enormous war.
Languedoc War - War Aims
To secure Orleans. Nothing else is important as a war aim and therefore I hope our war - while containing support from the Dutch and the Austrians and maybe some Italians and/or Bavarians - will nevertheless be limited in its nature.
Secondarily, the war, I hope, will lead to Poitou, Dauphiné and maybe Piedmont joining the Confederacy.
A quick victory and a moderate peace. If all goes pearshaped, evacuate Orleans under terms in preference to being driven out and made to accept worse terms: i.e. if we start losing, cut our losses and get a status quo ante bellum peace.
Appendices and later edits:
1. We will take suitable action to prevent any irritatingly early war over Orleans disproportionately affecting the Norman economy, particularly by signing more commercial treaties and import deals with the Normans if necessary to ensure that it actually benefits them.
2. Build the Paris-Munich-Vienna railway we said we were going to build with Austrian cooperation (provided the Austrians are willing).
3. When Sardinia attacks Piedmont, defend it, reinforce it as necessary and as possible, and call on Genoa, Milan and especially the Pope to help solve this threat to the balance of power in Italy.
and sorry for repeating myself, it just seemed a bit vague to me.
