1923 Parliament Elections for Kingdom of Lowlands (50 seats) – (5 political parties)
In order from radical left to radical right. Each comes with their party name and a brief description of party’s leader and goals. (OOC: Party names in English to help you non-Dutch/German speakers out there
)
IC:
* In hopes of capitalizing on his most popular/controversial decision to allow universal suffrage,
Charles Beerenbrouck held the parliament elections in 1923 with the blessings of
Queen Wilhelmina.
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Lowland’s Communist Party (Communism) - LCP
-Led by
Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. Calls for a worker’s revolution and the establishment of a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of all objects. (3 seats)
Social Democratic League (Socialist) - SDL
-Led by
Pieter Jelles Troelstra. Calls for an 8-hour work day, minimum wage of $1.00 per hour, an establishment of a national bank, the usage of banknotes rather than gold coins, a
national welfare program(uh-oh) , a 10% tax increase on the rich and a 5% tax decrease on the poor. Lastly, calls for freedom of religion in the Lowlands and the end of capital punishment. (35 seats)
Christian Union (Liberal) - CU
-Led by
Charles Beerenbrouck. Calls for the establishment of a national bank. Points out role in establishment of universal suffrage for men and women of all color. Calls for the establishment of a national language, Dutch. Also wants to constitute Christianity as a whole (counting Catholicism, Protestantism, and Mormonism(?) LOL), as the official religion of the Lowlands. (10 seats)
Dutch National Party (Conservative) - DNP
-Led by
Wilhem Ninstra. Calls for the separation of the “perverted” union of Belgium and the Netherlands. (0 seats)
Belgian Nationalist Party (Progressive) - BNP
-Led by
Yves Leterme. Calls for the separation of the “perverted” union of Belgium and the Netherlands. (0 seats)
National Socialist Lowland Worker’s Party (Facist) -
Nazi
-Led by Russian immigrant
Grigori Rasputin and Austrian immigrant
Adolf Hitler. Calls for the national build up of the Lowland’s military and the disbandment of the Lowland’s parliament. Wants to use powerful military to establish Lowland colonies in Pacific, Asia, Africa, and South America. Plans to undo changes made by the Christian Union and calls for closer ties to the Russian Empire, rather than the British Empire. Also wants to round up and deport/execute Jews and Communists on a massive scale. (2 seats)
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However,
Beerenbrouck did not anticipate that the women and blacks he recently awared rights to would betray him and vote for the SDL instead. Thus, his party lost the majority of the seats in Parliament.
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The new prime minister,
Pieter Jelles Troelstra, immediately used his new parliamentary majority to his advantage. He immediately enacted laws limiting the work hours to eight, setting up a minimum wage to a dollar per hour. He also created a national bank for the Lowlands and forced them to issue bank notes, rather than gold and silver coins. Then, the Lowland parliament authorized the establishment of Hilaryca-uh I mean a national welfare system, but was unable to pass the 10% tax increase on the rich or the 5% decrease on the poor due to opposition from the moderates within the SDL. Lastly, the SDL was able to attach an amendment to the Lowland constitution that established a freedom of religion/no-official religion policy and an edict banning capital punishment forever.
In the halls, he gave a speech that stated something in the lines of...
"Socialism then!"
"Socialism now!"
"Socialism forever!"
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Queen Wilhelmina congratulated the new party in power but warned the SDL to "keep your slimy hands" off the power of the monarchy.
Beerenbrouck, leading the opposition, denounced the freedom of religion amendment and lamented, “
God is dead.”
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To:
Republican Spain
From:
The Kingdom of Lowlands
We, as your fellow socialists, feel nothing but pain and grief regarding your recent losses. But, should you ever lose out and seek asylum, you will find no home more accommodating for you and your supporters than the Kingdom of Lowlands.
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OOC: If I keep on switching on and off between past-tense and present-tense, forgive me.
I'm tired from playing Halo and I'm out.
