So, not back yet. Still pretty busy through this coming weekend. However this is something I had mostly thought out and was planning on opening for commentary and discussion.
Commentary desired J
Musings on the formation of the Confederation of Orange aka The United Kingdoms of the Netherlands
This is organized into several sections, so you can skip around as I tend to be overly windy.
-The Goal
-Preliminary historical work as foundation
-Moving forward
-Conclusion
The Goal :
My predecessor, RAM, expressed the long term goal of merging the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium when he formed the Benelux trade association in&1922 (?).
When I took the reins in 1933, I backwrote the 1928-32 events, and collaborated with Hrolf & HooMan on Dutch/Belgian/German/SAE history. I wasnt allowed to alter the course of WWI events.
Ultimately, Id like to logically find a way to finish the integration process by the End of Game in 1950, in a political structure that allows the evolution to equality of the Dutch provinces as well.
To that end, I was thinking of turning the United Kingdoms of the Netherlands- currently more of a commonwealth into a confederated /semi-federal situation. As previously indicated the total population of over 100million, and most strategic resources, so some real heft.
To that end&
Key points worked into the history were:
Doing research, I discovered Queen Wilhelmina was a formidable woman. Historically reported as the first female billionaire, her financial acumen was well known, she made use of her commander in chief hat and personally ordered a cruiser to rescue the Boer leader from under the noses of the British, hosted peace conferences, and ticked off the Entente by giving Wilhelm II an escape- which also resolved the crisis in Germany. Known for espousing in 1905 the Ethical policy in the DEI- which failed due to poor execution and funding she generally she ruled well from behind the throne. Extremely popular at home, she used personal appearances to defuse an attempted communist coup and rally the country after the North Sea Storm. Given her real life background - she became my foil for many things.
1) The 1898 constitutional change did not occur quite as historical. Not quite sure what is the exact result, but the Queen is very much involved.
2) Instead of the Belgian state reluctantly taking over the Kongo from King Leopold, Queen Wilhelmina stepped up to the plate and committed her Household troops and personal wealth to saving the Kongo, forcibly evicting the brutal Force Publique. Her personal connections with SAE led to SANTA and the Dutch and SAE capitalization of the Kongo- whose mineral wealth has well rewarded both. Rubber and quinine trees were introduced, and rail infrastructure is advanced. Political structure has been designed to capture and evolve from tribal values by first introducing a feudal structure complete with trials by combat and melee- , then broad based education, and then a path to voting leading to a House of Lords/House of Commons implementation.
3) The Ethical Policy was more successful and has been followed by the TIDE program, leading to limited elections. The # of factories allocated to DEI is equivalent per capita to Bahrat. The DEI has been broken into 7 provinces to minimize pan-archipelago nationalism. The communist and nationalist movements both had revolts in the mid1930s which both antagonized locals and led to the TIDE program. After the Sons of India shot the Queen while she was doing the ribbon cutting of a new public University, Rockys Bahrat ceased its funding for such groups. As such the DEI is a more developed and Europeanized area than historical.
4) One conundrum I had was that in WWI, Bahrat had threatened Britain, and had been redirected, and given a free hand in the Andaman Islands- which they seized from the Dutch. However RAMs OOB showed the Dutch had Capital ships not committed- why? The answer was the historic blockade of the Neutral Netherlands by the allies on the pretext of their being the Port of Germany. How that also explained the seizure of Dutch shipping on high seas I know not. But it certainly didnt lead to fond feelings, especially as food supplies ran low. However, such a blockade would explain why the Dutch capital ships did not intervene in DEI, and why Bahrat could seize the Andamans. This made proposing the Malaysia-DEI-Australian alliance that led to SAER a bitter pill to swallow, but it had been 20 years and it was necessary.
5) Hrolf I were not allowed to change the course of WWI, which was at that time not specified, but widely acknowledged to not have been so grinding and bitter. So I proposed and Hrolf agreed that the Belgian massacres and retributions that occurred historically were altered. Once they started, the Dutch Queen intervened with the Kaiser. The Germans wanted secure supplies lines, the Belgians threated those and so the Germans were brutally reacting. The Dutch Queen ahistorically offered to supply peacekeepers. Belgian provinces and towns were notified that
if they desired, Dutch Household troops (later the Dutch Govt got behind her and regulars were deployed) would take over. While extremely annoying the Entente (part of its attraction due to the aforementioned blockade), they did not wish to see either the 15 Dutch Divisions, nor the Capital ships, added to the German forces, so Dutch neutrality continued. Wildly popular in Flemish areas, the Dutch troops were also later requested in Walloon areas. While strongly disapproved of by the political elite, who were on the other side of the front lines, this intervention became a basis for popular Belgian support for the Dutch Queen. An echo of this approach was seen in the Kongo Expeditionary Brigade deployed to Bolivia.
6) The Germans displaced at the end of WWI by border changes were offered the 40acres & a mule deal funded by the Dutch Queen. This led to a sizable German population in the highland areas of the East Kongo- Katanga, Rhodesia, and the coastal plains of Dutch Guiana. This is supplemented by some SAE / Javanese colonists. This is also part of bringing these areas along faster than historical.
7) In the Early 1930s I plunged Belgium into a depression, brought on by massive political-business corruption. The Belgian King enjoyed great popular support as a figure free of taint who moved to clean up the mess. In this time frame Princess Julianna of the Netherlands married the popular Belgian Crown Prince. This was followed by Dutch recapitalization of Belgian industries and financial support for infrastructure and industrial projects. All of which made the House of Orange rather more popular in Belgium. Then the prince ahistorically tragically died, making Princess Julianna a popular but inexperienced young figure, which was followed by the historic death of the King, leaving a Belgian that had turned to the Monarchy for salvation&without a monarch.
Then came my big duex ex machina, where the Belgians, searching for a suitable Monarch, desiring one strong and experienced (why the Princess was bypassed), with strong moral traits and with great financial acumen& and (after I rewrote the Belgian succession) wound up settling on the Dutch Queen (who actually had all these traits) underpinned by very strong Flemish support, and a slight majority of Walloon support, as the new Belgian Queen. She commutes by train from capital to capital. The Kongo actually saw some protest at her assumption of the throne, which led to some deaths as many took offense at those slighting the Liberator Queen and tore them to pieces before the police bothered to intervene.
9) Princess Julianna has since remarried, controversially choosing one of Kaiser Wilhelm IIs grandsons. Her personal reputation is strong enough to withstand this.
10) I have occasionally included news bits indicating that a Luxembourg political faction believes greater integration with Belgium and the Netherlands is desirable from a Military, Employment and long term relevance POV. RAMs Benelux and the historic use of Belgian currency underscore this.
Moving forward
So all the above results in a more integrated Benelux area, with hopefully a plausible basis for further integration, a far more developed Kongo, and somewhat more developed DEI and Dutch Guiana.
The question is& how to design a political structure that will
1.Allow foreign policy and trade heft
2.Provide for mutual defense.
3.Allow the economies to grow at disparate rates
4.Allow for the richer economies to provide capital to the poorer, leading to fast growth and good return on investment
5.How to ensure some common values and rights
6.How to preserve strongly individual societies
7.Allow provincial areas (DEI, Dutch Guiana) to transition to sovereign areas within the framework.
What I am leaning to is a Confederation structure for the United Kingdoms of the Netherlands
A Bill of Rights establishing minimal norms.
A ruling council representing the nations, with a Monarch as head. This would also serve as a constitutional court and validate elections, and sign off on member nations forming treaties outside the confederation. The council would also decide when a military action by all was required. The council would generally act by 2/3rds majority, the exception being when judging elections/constitutionality of a nation, that nation would not vote.
The Monarch would be designated as the head of the House of Orange, or the next in line of succession if the head of household was not at age of majority.
All Heir Apparent, Monarchs, and Prime Ministers would be subject to being found unfit for service and disqualified only by a supermajority vote of the council, followed by a majority vote of the non-involved nations parliaments. Call it coup and idiot protection.
Centralized Customs/coast guards, with a nominal tariff funding.
Each Nation would have to chip a % of their annual tax take to the central treasury. This would fund both the Council, and a common Navy/Marines (i.e. most of what matters here). Each Nation would maintain a separate Army. Quite possibly there would be joint Army that the National troops would rotate through.
The Queens Investigative Service would be bumped up to UKN level.
The Bill of Rights would include the right to education and languages. Each nation would commit to teaching Dutch in addition to a native tongue and a foreign tongue. The Dutch native speakers would have to learn a Confederated tongue. All bureaucrats would have to demonstrate proficiency in the language of the area posted.
A central treasury which would be entrusted with minting coinage for all, but there would be a primary Currency likely the guilder, and the secondary currencies pegged to the Orange and allowed to inflate at an announced rate, annually adjusted. This would allow Kongo/DEI to grow without having currency crisis.
The central treasury would also issue a limited amount of mutually insured debt say 20% of a nations budget (stable bonds are actually useful in economies), with all debt above that being only insured by that nation, except in times of Confederated war.
So we would see a series of constitutional monarchies, mainly led by the House of Orange.
United Kingdoms of the Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina of Orange
Kingdom of the Netherlands Queen Wilhelmina of Orange, then Crown Prince William
Kingdom of Belgium Queen Julianna of Orange
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg.
Kingdom of the Kongo King Alexander of Orange..(who may marrying some SAE princess) Though I think originally I meant for him to marry into Luxembourg...rats...
Grand Duchy of Ubangi-Shari King Alexander of Orange
Province of Dutch Guiana Im thinking some Prussian Exile is picked to be Grand duke here.
The Dutch East Indies would probably become ruled by some of the old Native nobility, as constitutional monarchs. This part I really dont have worked out well. The Governors Ive got are either Dutch born there, or folks with native names cobbled together from 2 historical native figures. I havent addressed the old nobility at all, though historically the Dutch worked through them.
The way TIDE is set up, the initial legislatures were not elected, but actually appointments of local grandees and wealthy meant to ensure folks benefitting from the status quo were in power. The second elections opened half of those seats, and the third elections filled the other half&but the franchise was rather restricted to the educated, further favoring the status quo. Eventually, most will qualify to vote- but thats a ways off. Each tier of legislature sends its appointees up to the next tier, which means the advisory council to the Governors probably features many of the prominent nobles, who have built power bases in the lower councils. Eventually, a prosperous and educated public would presumably choose to be a nation rather than a province, but hopefully would stay within the Confederation.
The 7 Provinces of Dutch East Indies aka the Malay Archipelago :
Sumatra
Java
Borneo
New Guiana
Moluccas
Celebes
Flores
Conclusion
So& after all that Blathering&
1)Is anyone still awake
2)Is what Im proposing to move towards make sense to folks
3)Where does it fail the logic test
4)What am I missing?
5)What should I be adding ?