OOC: To make it easier to track our characters, may I requestion that whenever we make new posts, either at the top or the bottom of the post, we post the full name of our character (aka our partly leader).
That way I don't have to read through pages of posts to find the name of someone if I want to address them by their characters name. When I want to speak to you, I would rather address you as Vincenzo Rusafio instead of Nintz, Ernst von Hinten instead of Talonschild and Otto Von Ludviht instead of Christos200.
What would be preferable is if Bowsling updates the OP to include the name of the party leader next to the name of person playing him. However if it becomes too hard to track, I would understand if you opted not to do this.
Thoughts?
IC:
A short character Bio:
Hanz Diebert, leader of the DLP (Liberal Party of Germany)
Born in Bremen in 1854, the Diebert family was a middle income merchant family. In 1875 he graduated from some unnamed Military College, near the top of his class, and joined the army as a major. However being unable to pass the rank of Oberstleutnant, he shortly resigned and went back to continue his education. This time he studied at the University of Munich, where he learnt law and various languages (He now boasts fluency in German, Danish, English, French and Latin). From 1888-1891 he served as the German Ambassador to France. Afterwards he decided to run for public office in the 1892 election. Since leaving active duty in the army, he has strongly identified with the liberals and so joined the DLP. After serving as an MP (remember Bowsling said we were using the British system for simplification, and I have no idea what they're called in Germany) for 8 years, he was elected leader of the DLP in 1900. Which is where he stands today.
The Five Pillars of Liberalism:
What the blue book is to the centrists, the five pillars are to the liberals. The 5 pillars represent the 5 most important believes, German Liberals have. These 5 pillars are:
Trade, Equality, Property, Liberty and Knowledge
Pillar of Trade: The DLP understands the importance of trade and its effects on the economy. Most past DLP leaders have spent almost all their political capital on trying to push through free trade agreements, sadly they have seen little success, mostly due to lack of popularity. Due to the emphasis on trade, the DLP has long since taken an Anti-British stance on foreign policy, which is partially responsible for their popularity in the North West. The British have long since tried to limit the trade opportunities and colonies of the German Empire, and as a result the DLP see Britain as the biggest threat to national security. However, the DLP is the least pro-war of the 3 major German parties, and they are more annoyed of the rhetoric coming out of Britain then hating the British Empire for the size and strength of her empire. Should Britain be more accepting of German culture, power and trade routes, then the DLP would likely drop the anti-British rhetoric often heard.
Pillar of Equality: A majority of legal proceedings take economic and political class into consideration when evaluating the law. Justices pass shorter sentences on aristocrats then on commoners for the same crime, and this is assuming the off chance that the aristocrat is found guilty. The DLP strongly believes that the only thing that should matter in determining the sentence is what the crime that person committed. Everyone should be treated equally under the law. While Germany still has a long way to go, the DLP has seen more success under the Pillar of Equality then the Pillar of Trade. While most DLP leaders will deny this, most of the progress under equality has been more due to the work of social democrats then of liberals.
Pillar of Property: The second treatise of government, written by John Locke, was one of the most influential writings towards liberal thought in history. While John Locke may have been English, this has not prevented the DLP from adopting John Locke’s opinion of property. The DLP believes that the largest responsibility of the government is to protect the property of Germany, and the property rights of its citizens. This means a navy to protect her oceans, an army to protect her borders, and a police force to protect the private property of German land owners. The DLP believes that owners of property should be able free to do whatever they please with their property, so long as it doesn't harm the property of neighbours. Property doesn't just refer to land, but everything on the land. Labour is also considered property, and each German citizen owns the rights to his own labour. This is one of the most criticized views of the DLP. The Centrists in the past have long criticized the DLPs actions and claimed this belief was hypocritical, as the DLP, despite claiming to support the protection of private property, would stop at nothing at seizing the lands owned by aristocrats to give them to those born in less prominent families. The DLP claims that the aristocrats do not have the rights to property that they took by force, and that the feudal system under the HRE gave these aristocrats lands that they had no right to, and that it should be given back to their true owners.
Pillar of Liberty: Given the choice between two policies. Ceteris paribus, the one promoting liberty is the better choice. The DLP supports Free Speech, Freedom of the Press, and Free Religion.
Pillar of Knowledge: Prussia was the first western nation to have a government sponsored public education system (This fact is taken from Victoria II, which is a computer game. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but historical paradox games are pretty accurate so I will take their word for it). The larger cities across the kingdom of Prussia had schools designed to give basic education to the masses. While the liberals seek to upheaval most of the traditional values of Germany, the education system in Germany is one that the liberals are proud of. However the DLP thinks that the government should increase funding to this education system, and provide better quality education to rural Germany.
