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NB: This AAR will be beginning in 1936, and take place primarily within that year. It will be a series of stories, documents, etc. explaining the state of the world in 1936 and how it got there; not a conventional AAR per se.
The 8th World Congress of the Communist International
Convened in Amsterdam, the Dutch Republic; 1936
Full Members:
The Dutch Republic - Social-Democratische Bond
The People's Republic of Sweden - Socialdem. Vansterpartiet
The Dominican People's Popular Republic - Partido Communist
Observing Members:
The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway -- Socialdemokratiet*
The Republic of Haiti -- Parti Socialist*
The Republic of Liberia -- African Revolutionary Party*
The French Empire -- Parti Ouvrier Francais
The Russian Republic -- Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Respubliki
The Commonwealth of Nations -- Communist Party of Great Britain and Ireland
Croatia -- Komunistička Partija Hrvatske
and others
*denotes parties in government within bourgeois states
Excerpts from opening remarks by Henk Sneevliet, Chairman of the Central Committee for the Social-Democratische Bond:
"Comrades!
We gather here today in the spirit of international solidarity and brotherhood, united for a common cause: that of Communism; of freedom and prosperity for all workers. I am pleased to host you in Holland, in Amsterdam, until so recently held under the imperialist heel of the French and now of late returned to the rule of the Dutch proletariat... [...]
But while we gather here today, there is another spectre haunting Europe and, indeed, the world: the spectre of Fascism. As nation after nation has fallen to the insidious threat of this degenerate capitalism, we must remain ever-vigilant to guard ourselves and our peoples against such a fate. The Dutch Republic stands, as she has for decades at the helm of the international struggle... [...]
I greet with sorrow those delegations, from as diverse climes as Russia and Croatia, who come to us from states where the proletariat was once triumphant. I know there are those even within our very ranks who claim that communism in these countries has failed; driven into the earth by reactionary and revisionist elements who usurped the rightful place of the people. To them I say no! Communism in these places has barely begun! We have lit a flame that the ages shall not extinguish... [...]
END REMARKS
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Munich, the German Empire; 1936
Eugène observed the interior of Nymphenburg Palace with undisguised envy. Paris had nothing to compare to it's stately grandeur. The city of a thousand lights was still left in ruins after decades of internecine civil war tore France to pieces. Even now the Emperor reigned from the Palais du Tau in Reims rather than brave Paris itself; a testament to the slow pace of rebuilding and the scale of the damage which war had caused. Still, France would rise again; as sure as the sun rose in the east...
"Herr Deloncle?"
The query snapped him from his reverie, and Eugène looked up sharply. An attache from the Foreign Ministry stood there, in formal coat and tails, waiting patiently for him as if he had been standing for a long time. Perhaps he had been. Eugène felt a nervous sweat break out and attempted to quell his nerves. He was His Excellency the Ambassador to the German Empire. A man of importance and distinction.
Breathe.
"Ja?" he replied.
"His Majesty is ready for you."
---
"Are you sure I must be here for this?"
His Imperial Majesty Kaiser Rupprecht, King of Bavaria and Emperor of Germany, looked irritably at his foreign minister. The Minister in question only gave a glib smile and didn't respond. He knew the Kaiser could be temperamental, as well as the Kaiser knew he damn well had to be present to receive the Frenchman's credentials.
"Protocol, Majesty."
To say that Franco-German relations were chilly would be an understatement. After the deposition of Napoleon V in the 1870s, in the aftermath of his victory in the First French Civil War, France had plunged headlong into a decades-long series of civil wars. While Germany was proclaimed after the Westphalian Parliament and spent her time gradually expanding, France fells to government after government. Europe slowly became accustomed to her former premier power collapsing in upon itself and paid little heed as government after government proclaimed itself in Paris.
Then something remarkable happened: in 1927, Pierre Laval and his Rassemblement national populaire marched into the ruins of Paris and proclaimed the second fascist state in French history -- barring a short-lived fascist republic during the civil wars -- and declared that Napoleon VI would be restored to his throne. And for a wonder, he was; returning from his exile in sunny Italy to be crowned in Reims and settle into the comfortable role of a figurehead. Now it was almost a decade later and Laval was still going strong as Chef of the Empire. France's instability had finally been put to bed, and Germany was thoroughly unhappy.
This exchange would mark the first time serious diplomatic relations were to be established amongst the two powers. Germany and her constitutional democracy were intensely sceptical of Laval's fascist ways, and Laval in his turn felt something to prove to the mighty German Empire. And now it was time...
Deloncle and the attache entered as the Kaiser rose to receive him; and the two men faced each other. Deloncle stifled a cough, and extended his credentials. The attache spoke for him.
"May I present Eugène Deloncle, Ambassador for the French Empire to the German Empire, with letters of credence from His Majesty Napoleon VI?"
The two, Deloncle and the Kaiser, bowed to one another and shook hands. A new era had begun.
Subscribed!
But shouldn't it rather be "partido comunista" in The Dominican People's Popular Republic?
But shouldn't it rather be "partido comunista" in The Dominican People's Popular Republic?
Great start. It looks like Britain and Russia are the main Communist powers? Also, why is a Fascist state observing a Communist conference?
Glad to have you aboard! And probably, yes, but in-game it's "Partido Communist" so I ran with it.
Actually, The Netherlands, Sweden, and the Dominican Republic are the only communist powers; although there have been ephemeral communist states in both Britain and Russia. And the POF is an underground party which acts as an observer to the Comintern; not an official government organ of the French Empire.
Thank you! And no, I don't believe there are. At least, I haven't seen any.
The Fifth World Congress of Fascism
Convened in Marseilles, the French Empire; 1936
Full members:
The French Empire - Rassemblement National Populaire
The United Mexican States - Unión Nacional Sinarquista
The Republic of North Yemen - Alttahaluf al-Watani
The Chilean State - Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile
The State of Catalonia - Partit Feixista de Catalunya
The State of Moldavia - Uniunea Naţională
The Kingdom of Laos - Phak Aehngsad Soalab Pathedthi
The Kingdom of Greece - Chrysí Avgí
The State of Savoy - Lega Nazionale di Savoiardi
The Kingdom of Hungary - Nyilaskeresztes Párt – Hungarista Mozgalom
The State of Paraguay - Asociación Nacional Republicana – Partido Colorado
The State of Johore - Hizb ut Darul Ta'zim
The Irish State - Ailtirí na hAiséirghe
The Unido Imperio - União Nacional
The Romanian Union - Legiunea Arhanghelului Mihail
The Montenegrin State - Crnogorska Stranka
Observing members:
The United States of America - The Silver Legion
The Russian Republic - All-Fashistskaya Partiya Rossii
The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania - Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski
The Kingdom of Spain - Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista
The Kingdom of Italy - Partito Nazionale Fascista
The German Empire - Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
and others
Maybe it's because I just finished a book all about teasing meaning out of the endless paperwork the Soviet Union filed about the Spanish Civil War, but this style hits a sweet spot for me.
That is an astonishing amount of Fascist nations for a Victoria II game. The fallout from the collapse of the Austrian and Ottoman Empires must have pushed the Balkans to dark places, but Austria and Turkey don't seem have significant Fascist movements themselves. Interesting.
That is an astonishing amount of Fascist nations for a Victoria II game. The fallout from the collapse of the Austrian and Ottoman Empires must have pushed the Balkans to dark places, but Austria and Turkey don't seem have significant Fascist movements themselves. Interesting.