To: German Economic League and United Kingdom
From: Vinland
The Kingdom of Vinland applauds the principled stance taken by Austria and Brandenburg. It has been with profound disappointment that we have watched as the League of Continental Nations have hemmed and hawed about the manner in which Russia is to be punished or if it is to even be punished at all. A refusal to throw out Russia for its actions, in the eyes of the outside world, is effectively a declaration by the League that they are complicit in and tolerating of Russia's genocidal policies.
Let us explain our stance, to the respectable nations of the League who will doubtlessly protest that we have declared their complicity in the Rape of Poland and the Purging of Prussia.
Russia will not change its actions based on foreign actions. It is an uncontrollable force, and to think that Russia will accept paying a fine or some other form of restitution is foolish. In a direct quote from Representative Dmitri Reznov of Russia, "The League cannot force Russia to do anything."
Herein we have a fundamental lack of accountability. Russia has openly stated that they are free to flaunt the charter of the League of Continental Nations. While rules may apply to the smaller and less powerful states, Russia may act with impunity, and it will be forgiven for doing so due to its military utility.
Russia exists for Russia's own sake, not for the sake of the League. Every action Vinland has watched unfold in its brief time as an observer has been for the furthering of Russia and Russia alone, not once have we seen Russia doing something to actually strengthen the League, unless we are to believe that their stated justification for why they should go unpunished was actually a selfless attempt to protect the domestic autonomy of the League's nations.
"If the League attempts to punish us for this incident, it will set a precedent that League members are not allowed to punish rebels and traitors in their own nations in the manner of their choosing. This will foster a sense of legitimacy amongst potential rebels that such uprisings will succeed because the League will not allow the affected party to deal with them as they should: with enough force to end the rebellion and send a message to other would-be rebels what will happen to them if they rise up."
It is painfully obvious that Russia will not budge. It has made its stance clear with its actions, and clearer with its words. It acts without any checks on its power, with nothing but a few half-hearted voices providing verbal- but not tangible- opposition from within the League. Given this, any attempt to make Russia pay reparations is meaningless and willfully ignorant.
In summary, Russia is not interested in the League as an organization, beyond its purposes as a group of bumbling yes-men and its ability to seemingly legitimize Russia's actions. It has shown itself to be unaccountable to the law, and it seems terrifyingly likely that they will soon do something that makes even the recent slaughter seem minor. Any action short of ejecting, sanctioning, embargoing and otherwise diplomatically isolating Russia is implicit tolerance of Russia's business as usual, and will be interpreted as such by Vinland and much of the outside world.
From: Vinland
The Kingdom of Vinland applauds the principled stance taken by Austria and Brandenburg. It has been with profound disappointment that we have watched as the League of Continental Nations have hemmed and hawed about the manner in which Russia is to be punished or if it is to even be punished at all. A refusal to throw out Russia for its actions, in the eyes of the outside world, is effectively a declaration by the League that they are complicit in and tolerating of Russia's genocidal policies.
Let us explain our stance, to the respectable nations of the League who will doubtlessly protest that we have declared their complicity in the Rape of Poland and the Purging of Prussia.
Russia will not change its actions based on foreign actions. It is an uncontrollable force, and to think that Russia will accept paying a fine or some other form of restitution is foolish. In a direct quote from Representative Dmitri Reznov of Russia, "The League cannot force Russia to do anything."
Herein we have a fundamental lack of accountability. Russia has openly stated that they are free to flaunt the charter of the League of Continental Nations. While rules may apply to the smaller and less powerful states, Russia may act with impunity, and it will be forgiven for doing so due to its military utility.
Russia exists for Russia's own sake, not for the sake of the League. Every action Vinland has watched unfold in its brief time as an observer has been for the furthering of Russia and Russia alone, not once have we seen Russia doing something to actually strengthen the League, unless we are to believe that their stated justification for why they should go unpunished was actually a selfless attempt to protect the domestic autonomy of the League's nations.
"If the League attempts to punish us for this incident, it will set a precedent that League members are not allowed to punish rebels and traitors in their own nations in the manner of their choosing. This will foster a sense of legitimacy amongst potential rebels that such uprisings will succeed because the League will not allow the affected party to deal with them as they should: with enough force to end the rebellion and send a message to other would-be rebels what will happen to them if they rise up."
It is painfully obvious that Russia will not budge. It has made its stance clear with its actions, and clearer with its words. It acts without any checks on its power, with nothing but a few half-hearted voices providing verbal- but not tangible- opposition from within the League. Given this, any attempt to make Russia pay reparations is meaningless and willfully ignorant.
In summary, Russia is not interested in the League as an organization, beyond its purposes as a group of bumbling yes-men and its ability to seemingly legitimize Russia's actions. It has shown itself to be unaccountable to the law, and it seems terrifyingly likely that they will soon do something that makes even the recent slaughter seem minor. Any action short of ejecting, sanctioning, embargoing and otherwise diplomatically isolating Russia is implicit tolerance of Russia's business as usual, and will be interpreted as such by Vinland and much of the outside world.
But seriously, what I got from the updates in the pre-NES that there were slaughters, but they were predominately military, and the rest were scattered and driven off, rather than systematically exterminated to the last. Also, the implication that Russia views Poles and Prussians to be on the same level as warlike pagan savages not even possessing simple things like metal tools and literacy is rather revealing.
