-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Unless you meant "Live the Union", it should be "Vive l'Union"
Gosh, I knew I should give a little touch to my French. Bien sur, Vive l'Union!
Live the Union, Taste the Union - Anglois for only 30 franc at a store near youUnless you meant "Live the Union", it should be "Vive l'Union"
I hope I'm not late too join the show! Just finished reading through the thread and this is masterful work, cheers to Plank's creativity! Anxiously waiting to see what this Grand Coalition can do in these concerning times.
August-October 1845
The effects of de Caen's coalition were immediate. York, furious, left for England to consult with his allies. If the route of politics and reform was closed to him, then war was his last option. He assembled leaders of the various English militias (a huge step, as York had so far been careful to distance himself from them) and asked them how quickly they could mobilise for war and whether it was reasonable that they could win. The majority were optimistic – they could call their volunteers to arms and within two weeks they could secure the entire country up to the coasts. But realist voices, notably the leaders of the English Gendarme (who would be the most experienced and professional English soldiers in a hypothetical revolt), doubted the ability of such a hasty force to resist intervention from Paris. Two possible options were open to York if strategic victory was to be a possibility – a cross-British front, supported by all the nations of Britain, all fighting against the Plantagenets, or intervention from a foreign power such as Burgundy or Aragon. York, while having no particular preference for either option, knew that the romanticism of a Pan-British revolution would win him more support than being propped up by Anvers or Barcelona. His sub-ordinates contacted their counterparts in the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh nationalist movements, and within days plans were drawn up for a formal negotiation of an anti-Plantagenet Alliance.
The Edinburgh Conference, on the 15th of August, would be the first attempt Pan-British nationbuilding in history. Representatives from every major cultural group (excluding, for obvious reasons, the Anglois) were present. The Irish Charles Palmer Allen, a Cambridge educated lawyer who had become the mouthpiece of the Irish Nationalists, the leader of the Scottish-Scandinavian 'Jacobin' Government, Malcolm Carlyle, the Welsh Francis Jones, and, of course, the Duke of York sat together at the negotiating table as equals, in a symbolic gesture of brotherhood. Edinburgh was doomed from inception, as would be noted by historians since.
Edinburgh Castle, one of several places where the Edinburgh Conference took place from the 15th-20th of Sepetember.
The Welsh delegation were not co-operative. Jones, and most of his delegation, did not want Welsh independence nor union with England. Wales had prospered under the rule of Paris, and most Welshmen considered themselves loyal to the monarchists - and there was a suspicion that the English radicals viewed them on the same terms that they viewed the Anglois. This, oddly, lead to the proposal of the British Commonwealth; rather than a patchwork of independent states, the nations of the British Isles would unite into a single British Commonwealth under a legitimate monarch (assumed to be either a Scottish Jacobite or the tenuously Plantagenet York). It was shrewd offering, as York would be tempted by the offer of the crown of all British peoples, rather than just England, and England itself would be outnumbered demographically by the other British nations - thus preventing an English tyranny replacing the French one. The English Radicals, naturally, disapproved for the same reasons that Wales supported it, and made sure York knew of their concerns.
Similarly, Scotland was sceptical of a Pan-British Revolution. Their own war with Scandinavia was not explicitly nationalist – it was a revolt against the Absolutist regime in Copenhagen, and while the Scottish Rebels were a powerful force they did not want to risk their war by involving Paris in the conflict. Indeed, while Carlyle debated the principles of self-determination in Edinburgh, envoys from the Scottish-Scandinavians secretly offered Paris bilateral neutrality in any British conflict – which was an easy sell to de Caen. Carlyle made negotiations difficult for York – whenever one of the Scottish demands were met, Carlyle would raise another, more unreasonable demand. Allen, the Irish delegation leader, was openly supportive of a Pan-British alliance against Paris, and even promised Irish troops to support a war in England. These promises were mostly empty – there was little proof that Irish Nationalists could have raised a coherent fighting force in the Autumn of 1845, much less one with enough of a surplus of men to fight wars abroad.
It was a unlikely prospect. Wales did not want war and, even if they did, disapproved of the post-war plans for Britain. The Scots were already effectively independent and did not want Anglois intervention in their own war with Copenhagen. Allen was with York, but lacked the ground support in Ireland to go to war – in Ireland the population was far less radicalised, and there existed no tension between the few and far-between Anglois settlers and the locals. York recognised that the Pan-British revolution was unlikely, and so turned to Anvers. Burgundy, the shadowy sponsor of the Dual Monarchy's nationalist ills, had been arming the nationalist opposition covertly as early as 1839. They had good reason to do so - the Dual Monarchy was Anvers' natural strategic enemy, and the manpower of both Britain and France made ground war a sickly prospect. But to behead the Lion, to cut off the economic, military, and political power of Britain from Paris, meant Burgundian dominance in Western Europe. York was well aware of this - and if support could not be found at home then foreign help was just as welcome. If Burgundy used her naval might to prevent French troops from being shipped to England, then the English Revolution would be all but won. If, better yet, Anvers sent troops directly into France, the Dual Monarchy would likely be overwhelmed and independence for all of Britain would be likely. But Burgundian politics was complex. Conservative factions feared Dutch revolts - as growing nationalist sentiment across Europe had infected Burgandy's own minority - and many were appalled by English atrocities against the Anglois. Worse still, York overestimated the antagonism between Burgundy and the Dual Monarchy - while they were not allies by any means, they had largely cordial relations and land trade across the French border was integral to the economies of both states. They had hoped that a successful Edinburgh Conference would have united the British Isles and mean war would have quick and trivial, but that had been a failure. The answer to York's plea for help was a polite, but stern, 'non'.
Anvers, the Burgundian Capital.
Meanwhile, in Paris, De Caen dealt with his own problems. The Grand Coalition, itself a mishmash of Unionist Liberals and Conservatives, knew that open warfare in England was on the horizon but saw hope for ending violence on the mainland. Open rioting from Liberal students in Tours, Leon, and Caen was suitably frightening enough to bend Conservatives into supporting democratic reform – most notably an end to the appointed system in the Upper House. The constant necessity of balancing English and French nobility had been a bugbear for French Nationalists (who detested the disproportional power it granted England) and anti-aristocratic populists alike – and after all, if England were on the verge of revolt anyway, what was the point in placating them any longer? Press Freedom, an underplayed aspect of the Parti Liberale’s agenda, was also implemented, with the lifting of regulations on printed media (nationalist sentiment was still censored, though not unreasonably). These two major reforms, passed in the first month of the new administration, quelled anti-government resentment in all but the most radical of the French populace. Legitimiste unease continued in the Midi, but lacked the widespread support to truly revolt on a mass scale.
But, the issue of England still weighed on the minds of the Parisian elite. Reports of forced evictions of French-speaking villages (had they occurred a century later, they would have been easily termed “ethnic cleansing”) and reprisals from the Anglois community threatened the rule of law. Worse still, most accepted that enforcing Plantagenet law north of the “Londres-Bristol line” – the hypothetical border where English became the majority language – was over. A radical group of Anglois Loyalists, the Faction Anglois, began arming themselves (with implicit support from the Anglo-French Army) if the north should declare independence. De Caen’s War Ministry, under the leadership of the then relatively unknown Adolphe Monforte, quietly withdrew English speaking troops and dispersed them amongst French Armies along the Burgundian border, whilst garrisoning the most traditionally Monarchist regiments – largely Bretons and Northern Frenchmen – along the French coast. On the 17th, a third nationalist riot in Bristol – itself a city split equally between Anglois, Welsh, and English speakers – razed the Town Hall to the ground. Though by then this violence was an unfortunately common occurrence, the line in the sand had been crossed. De Caen’s Coalition, horrified, approved direct intervention in England by the Anglo-French Army.
Nationalist Rioting in Bristol, however similar events ravaged Nottingham, Sheffield, Norfolk, and Brighton. Note that the Anglo-French Cavalry are depicted as wearing English colours - support for Independence was not unanimous in the English soldiery by any means.
Stalling on the question of revolution had aggravated the grassroots English Nationalist movement. Nationalist violence was now at the breaking point, and England proper was now effectively out of control of Paris. De Caen, needing to prove his legitimacy to both England and France, ordered French troops to cross the channel to regain control of the situation and to defend the Anglois minority. This, as many knew at the time, was the final step to all-out war. York's main opponent within the nationalist movement, Lord Tyne, summoned all English Nationalist delegates to the Estates-General on the 28th September to Livreport - now renamed to the local name 'Liverpool' - to discuss the future of England. It was made clear that this would be the official declaration of independence by the democratically elected English delegates and the drafting of the constitution of England. York sheepishly attended, knowing fully well his political fate rested on whether his efforts over the last decade would be recognised or rejected. Tyne, however, was not a spiteful man and admired York for what he was - but Tyne's own experiences in Greece had transformed him into a natural revolutionary leader. And Tyne did not want a constitutional monarchy like York did, he wanted a radical liberal republic. York was hopelessly outmanuevered, with the shambles of the coalition and the Edinburgh Conference hanging over his head, and was forced to concede leadership of the English Nationalists to the radical liberal wing.
On the 2nd of October, a group of Oxford students walked into a Gendarmie barracks, took their weapons, and replaced the flag of the Plantagenets with the flag of St. George. Though the road to the English Revolutionary War was largely run by this point, it is historically considered the starting point of the 'Glorious Revolution'.
The English War of Independence
Law and order has broken down, but the will of the people has not. Who do the English people side with?
English Loyalists
L'armée Royale de la Double Monarchie d'Angleterre et de France
The professional, standing army of the Dual Monarchy. Seen as an occupier by some, an impartial peacekeeper by others.
Organisation: Professional Military
Leader: General Antonin Adjeni
Faction Anglois
Radical Loyalists, determined to repulse any attempt to drag the Anglois into an unwanted divorce or attacks on the Anglois community. They are untrained, but suspiciously well armed.
Organisation: Militia
Leader: Unclear
Law and order has broken down, but the will of the people has not. Who do the English people side with?
English Loyalists
L'armée Royale de la Double Monarchie d'Angleterre et de France
The professional, standing army of the Dual Monarchy. Seen as an occupier by some, an impartial peacekeeper by others.
Organisation: Professional Military
Leader: General Antonin Adjeni
Faction Anglois
Radical Loyalists, determined to repulse any attempt to drag the Anglois into an unwanted divorce or attacks on the Anglois community. They are untrained, but suspiciously well armed.
Organisation: Militia
Leader: Unclear
Brenhinol y Fyddin
The Welsh "Royal Army". A mixture of reservists, volunteers, and veterans who have been mobilised to defend Wales from English annexation, but are not officially part of the Royal Army.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Unclear
English Revolutionaries
The Army of the English Republic
Largely made up of mass English defectors from the Royal Army, various militias, and urban volunteers, the young Army faces problems in training and manpower, however its passion is unrivaled by any army on the British Isles.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Consul Albert Tyne, Lord Tyne
The English Gendarme
The former armed police forces of England, which have been careful trained and mobilised into a coherent fighting force. They retain loyalties towards the Yorkist faction, and have the potential to become something of a Praetorian Guard.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Colonel Reginald Roberts
Vote for One or Abstain like a pacifist euroweenie. Voting ends on Thursday, 11pm GMT.
The Welsh "Royal Army". A mixture of reservists, volunteers, and veterans who have been mobilised to defend Wales from English annexation, but are not officially part of the Royal Army.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Unclear
English Revolutionaries
The Army of the English Republic
Largely made up of mass English defectors from the Royal Army, various militias, and urban volunteers, the young Army faces problems in training and manpower, however its passion is unrivaled by any army on the British Isles.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Consul Albert Tyne, Lord Tyne
The English Gendarme
The former armed police forces of England, which have been careful trained and mobilised into a coherent fighting force. They retain loyalties towards the Yorkist faction, and have the potential to become something of a Praetorian Guard.
Organisation: Semi-Professional
Leader: Colonel Reginald Roberts
Vote for One or Abstain like a pacifist euroweenie. Voting ends on Thursday, 11pm GMT.
Vive les milices de la Faction Anglois!!!
Hurray for the glorious Plantagenêt dynasty! Let's destroy the separatists!
Hurray for the glorious Plantagenêt dynasty! Let's destroy the separatists!
Last edited:
Just to get this right, there is no difference between the fighting capabilities of the Army of the English Republic and the English Gendarme?
Edit: What exactly is the status of Beornia within the conflict. Do they support the English because of nationalism and the will to liberate the homeland or do they not, because England is a republic?
Edit: What exactly is the status of Beornia within the conflict. Do they support the English because of nationalism and the will to liberate the homeland or do they not, because England is a republic?
The average is the same, but the range in competence is greater for the Republican Army. The worst volunteer in the AER is way worse than the average Gendarme, but the best Royal Guard-class defector is a lot better than the best Gendarme.
Up for an English Constitutional Monarchy, Up the Duke of York! A Second Split in the House of Plantagenet is a coming!
I vote for the The English Gendarme!
The French King is gone, Long live the English King!
I vote for the The English Gendarme!
The French King is gone, Long live the English King!
Anyone can vote.
Beornian opinion: If England becomes free, there should be some discussion on whether a Beornian King is appropriate as a candidate for an English monarchy. However there are more pressing concerns in Ameriga and the fate of the homeland is only a fringe concern.
English opinion: What the fuck is a Beornia?
Well then, my vote goes out to the The English Gendarme.
It's time for the English to rule themselves once again!
With the will of the Brenhinol y Fyddin, Wales will hold against the revolutionaries !