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CascadiAAR; or An Experiment in NNM and Modding

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Three hurrahs for the National Democrats! :p

Excellent stuff you have going here, very interesting. I do wonder if the US will get any ideas about reclaiming its territory, however. Looking forward to see what's in store for Cascadia.
 
Chapter Six: Changing of the Guard​

1st of March, 1877:

Sir Anthony Musgrave, second Governor General of the Dominion of Cascadia, did not like the way this man was speaking. He understood what Andrew did, even if he didn't agree with it, but he didn't think it would result in ... this! The elections had gone as smoothly as expected, which is not at all. Socialists stood beside suffragettes and protectionists in picketing the Capitol Building in Victoria. There were rumours of ballot stuffing in Boise and of blockades by socialists and communists in Portland. Anthony rubbed his temples, thinking how these damned workers are as annoying as the Luddites his father use to speak about back in Saint John's.

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The 1876 elections, not yet a year following the last, were contentious
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The Minister of Security was exceedingly busy during that time. Damned socialists. But when everything came down to it, the populace was tired of the laissez faire and free trade policies of the Liberal Party. Indeed, the vote was overwhelming against them. When ballots were counted up, the middle class that swept the Liberals into party rejected them, turning to the protectionist National Democrats instead. Andrew's Legacy, one thought to last a generation, lasted not even five short years. The liberal spectrum dominated Cascadian politics, but the Liberals were forced to become only a second fiddle to the larger and more dominant NatDems.

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George Anthony Walkem, Second Prime Minister of Cascadia.
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George A. Walkem, commonly called "Boomer" for his loud voice, was elected as the second Prime Minister. Musgrave normally would be happy with the outcome, as liberals with a fire in them took hold of the reigns of state. However it was the rhetoric that Boomer began speaking that started to grow fear deep in Musgrave, and indeed many reactionaries and conservatives across the benches.

Gentleman, we stand today before a precipice. We can do two things now, step back from the brink and establish ourselves as a nation, not some unwanted colony. One only has to look across the Rockies at our Canadian "brothers". Some say we should join their confederation, as they are truly a blessed nation, but why should we give up our soverignty for a Dominion that is favoured over ours? Are we that weak as a people, as Cascadians, that we will give in during economic turmoil. Should I send a letter to the American President now advocating our immediate annexation? NO!

...

It is clear, the Queen, long may be her reign, cares nothing for Cascadia. We should no longer take directions from London without forethought on our own! No longer shall we be described as Britons, French, Yanks or Dixies. Today, we are united, today and forevermore we are Cascadians!
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Excerpt from Prime Minister Walkem's opening address
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The reactionary bench had more then one member removed by the Sargent-at-arms after multiple physical confrontations and declarations of treason and lese majeste, the conservative bench looked shocked and it was reported in the Victoria Times Colonist the next day that Sir George Howard, MP for West Seattle died of a heart attack after the speech. One thing was understood though, the guard had changed and a new leadership is now in charge of Cascadia.
 
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:eek: Oh my! Quite the outlandish thing to say! This Walkem character...I hope Cascadia expands une him.
 
Treason! Socialism! Blackguardism of the highest and most disgraceful order! HANG HIM!
 
Chapter Seven: End of the Dominion​

1st of October, 1878:

Sir Anthony Musgrave, second Governor General of the Dominion of Cascadia, did not like the way this man had been elected, did not like how he spoke, how he acted, and now it no longer mattered. Putting on his cap, he began his slow walk down to Victoria harbour, a ritual he had cultivated unwillingly over the course of the year. He knew what was coming, he saw the rhetoric being thrown around, but could not do anything about it, with clear wishes by the Crown stating that Cascadia will no longer be expected to be within it's magnanimous grace.

It all started truly back in 1875 with the release of the Dominion of Canada. It's release was a surprise to the average Cascadian, but viewed the new nation in a positive light, giving their new neighbour an equal chance. However as the Government of Lord Salisbury, reactionary to the utmost, began heaping rewards and favours onto the new Canadian Dominion at the detriment of Cascadia this positive view started to fade fast. As a result of the actions of Lord Salisbury, Cascadia started to turn away from Britain quite rapidly both in terms of public opinion and political will. The transferal of Rupert's Land, gigantic swaths of untouched and rich northern land, to Canada in 1876 allowed the National Democrats to begin speaking against the Crown without committing political suicide. However the gravest mistake was instead of working with Cascadia in a minor dispute in Alaska over the ownership of the town of Skagway, the British judge sided with the Americans while not a month later releasing the Maritime Union in Eastern Canada.

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The new map of Eastern Canada, as the Maritime Union, a Dominion lasting 3 days, was annexed into Canada
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This set off a chain of events that led to the beginning of the end. Musgrave looked over the HMCS Vancouver, the newest member of the Cascadian Navy and a source of pride for the small, well in one way of speaking, nation. It was only a sea raider, similar to the type used by both the Union and Confederacy in their civil war not two decades before. He looked across the harbour at her sisters, the HMCS Columbia (whom the ship type was named after) and the HMCS Victoria. Protested openly by the British Embassy during the discussion of it's creation, with only a Pacific Coast the Dominion of Cascadia knew that it could never rely on the Royal Navy in case of war and had to build it's own domestic navy, no matter how small.

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Picture of a similar ship type to the Columbia Class Searaider
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Sir Anthony tittered to himself though, tucking the hat against his face to keep out the light drizzle that was endemic to the region. Indeed it was many ways like England he was told, never been there himself though. Shame, he had to have an emissary tell him and confer onto him his knighthood. Good thing it wasn't like December 5th. That was a bother. Three thousand women, protesting their lack of suffrage, marched through the mud and guck of Victoria's streets. It was really quite a sight. In one of the few sensible moves of the government, it supported this movement, and the cause of liberalism across the Rockies. It soon became common afterward for similar Mud Marches to occur in other parts of Cascadia, and even down into the United States.

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5th of December, 1877, forever known as the "Mud March"
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It was a good period in that short time. But it was cut too short. The announcement of Prime Minister Walkem was shocking only to those in Britain unfamiliar to Cascadia, which seemed to be the majority. For on the first of January, 1878, Prime Minister, with the backing of the National Democrats, National Worker's Union (which finally changed it's stupid name), Revolutionary Worker's Front, the American Ambassador and members of the Imperialist Party, announced the dissolution of the Dominion of Cascadia and the formation of the Nation of Cascadia, permanently independent from Britain.

Sir Anthony Musgrave had begun packing his bags at that point when he realised that Walkem wasn't done speaking in terms of his relationship with the new Cascadia. It turned out that Queen Victoria, and all House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, will be the hereditary rulers of Cascadia. This left Cascadia, the Crown and more importantly Musgrave in a very odd position. Cascadia was a fully independent nation, however it had a British monarchy at it's head and a Governor General acting as their agent. Against the will of the Crown, the reactionaries accepted the separation of Cascadia from the Empire, leaving the separation permanent and legal in all forms.

By October, a few immediate effects could be noticed. The first was the end of British Dominance ethnically, while it would last for generations in high society, the French and American ethnic quarters were growing exponentially, as they were seen as equal partners of Cascadia. The next was the switch of Cascadian from the British to the American sphere of influence, as British interests finally abandoned Cascadia in preference to Canada. The last was the most surprising, as the American offer for "mutual protection" was declined by the Cascadian Diplomatic Office, as claims to the Yukon were established by Cascadian explorers.

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The Rocky Mountains Alliance, proposed by the American Ambassador shortly after independence
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Sighing, Musgrave pulled the coat closer to him. He couldn't wait to get out of this nation, and back to a place that God and Queen of ever present, instead of just lip service paid too.


_________________________

((Ok, note. I have no idea why or how, but Cascadia became an independent nation between 1875-1878. Part of the length in updating was me trying to figure out how to establish context for the drop. And no, the British League of Fascists won't leave Britain, without Fascism being actually created.))
 
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Wow, that is weird.
 
SotV said:
Does the USA have cores on the Pacific Northwest from Manifest Destiny in this game?
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Nah, I removed them from Idaho after giving some concessions to the USA as Britain (Notably Caribou and a shitton of money).

So no, American cores will only be restored if the fascists gain occupancy of the highest office.
 
Chapter Eight: Stagnation and Independence​

4th of April, 1881:

Prime Minister Walkem paced back and forth in his office in Victoria, capital of the Cascadia. Tomorrow will be the first election of the newly independent and as he overlooked the previous three years he was thoroughly unimpressed with the outcome. 1879 was an exciting year, with the independence of Cascadia proclaimed starting it with a wave of confidence and productivity. All was quite until March, when the Leaflet Campaign of 1879, administrated by the Cascadian Women for Suffrage, a group dedicated to the enfranchisement of women. Comprising of hundreds to thousands of letters arriving at the desks of the various members of parliament, it took traction with the population and encouraged a boom in liberalism that made even grumpy old Governor General Musgrave happy.

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The 1879 Leaflet Campaign
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This kept everyone, excepting the socialists and reactionaries, happy for the moment. But like all other happy memories it too was soon to pass, as controversy was stirred in the House of Commons by pro-British Traditionalist Clique in May of 1879. When Cascadia decreed it's independence, the traditional favours given to British citizens and companies operating in the name of the Crown were dropped in favour of free trade. This led to an explosion of American investment in Cascadia. This came to a head in May of 1879 when Pacific United, an American company based in Baltimore, built a rail line in Westminister. Normally it wouldn't be an issue, but the Pacific United line, much cheaper and more advanced the the domestic Rocky Union line operating the same area previously, pushed all competition out of Westminister. This led to an outcry by the pro-British Traditionalist Clique and the pro-Cascadian Imperialist Party, both arguing that the American domination of Cascadian railways needed to stop, even if they didn't agree how. Even as Walkem paced, he didn't know an answer, as Pacific United continued to creep across Cascadia, dominating completely all rail travel within Oregon and Washington.

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The completion of the Westminister Line by Pacific United, an American rail company
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To make matters worse, immigrants, the life blood of Cascadian prosperity and at least ninety percent of the current population of Cascadia, increasingly turned away from Cascadian shores in favour of American or Canadian opportunities. To them the economic turmoils of Cascadia and it's admittedly bloody repression of the socialist and communist movements have made it seem unwelcome to many European immigrants. Non-European immigrants were swayed by the incredibly progressive social and political rights in the United States and Canada. It was clear to the Prime Minister, the Government and Cascadia as a whole that in order to grow and attract immigration, it will have to move past it's hate of socialism and social progression and enact reforms.

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Immigration Chart to Canada, USA and Cascadia on December 2nd, 1879
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Luckily that was a decision for another day. Walkem grabbed his coat and impatiently strut out towards the harbour. The rest of the next two years were extraordinary only in their stagnation. No factories were built, the population growth dropped as the flood of immigrants slowed to a stream, and taxes were raised from their traditional lows in order to pay for increased subsidy costs. Indeed, some argue that the only thing that expanded was the military, growing to a full 15,000 men at arms by 1881. Interesting in an anti-military policy, but Walkem always cut down his critics with the argument that lots of soldiers will raise international prestige more then lesser amounts of fully paid soldiers. On top of that, with the Cascadian Government, headed by Walkem himself, formally established claims in the Yukon. While uncolonised for now, it was expected by some within the House of Commons that Canada and Cascadia will end up fighting over the northern scrap of land.

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A dispatch of Cascadian militia patrolling Portland, Oregon in 1881
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Walkem gave a huff, between stagnation, independence and the ever annoying American ambassador. That god damn ambassador had walked into his office, His, the Prime Minister of Cascadia, and declared Cascadia under American protection. He had to pay the reporter well to keep the story of his near attack of the ambassador a secret. De Amos was always a funny little man. In the end, the voters will decide, and Walkem was honestly nervous to see who they will vote into government next.
 
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