Q3, 1938.
Elections are held in Belgium. The Kingdom has seen pronounced changes since 1934. The new Queen, the new constitution and the new government have been coupled with fiscal sanity, regulatory certainty and a harsh line against corrupt practices. The Belgian economy has been resurgent as a result. Internationally, the mission to Lithuania is seen as a success for the League, and Belgium's international standing. While the decision to buy Panzer-II tanks from Germany still is a black mark, the founding of the Dutch-Belgian Mobile Corps is seen as a boon to the common defense.
The electoral opposition proved weak and divided, allowing the current leadership to recapture their offices.
1938-41 Belgian Government
Prime Minister :Count Hubert Marie Eugène Pierlot
Finance Minister : Paul Guillaume van Zeeland
Minister of Foreign Affairs : Paul-Henri Spaak
Economic Minister : Count Jean Charles Snoy et d'Oppuers
Belgian Minister of Defense : Andre Flahaut
1939
Q1.
February 4th
The morning papers carried this excerpt :
"Citizens of Bharat, Today we are entering a new era. An era were the cooperation with Europeans is now a reality. An era were our needs are being fulfilled and the future will be bright. An era were the Empire will rise to greater glories. Today we have ended our ties to Satsuma, a relationship that helped our nation in the past and we are thankful for the cooperation between the members nations of Satsuma but is the time to move on..."
The Foreign Ministry confirms that the speech comes from legitimate sources, but had no comment. Prime Minister Krook's Assistant Secretary for Public Relations issued this statement : “The apparent withdrawal of Bahrat from the SATSUMA alliance structure is consistent with the behavior of the regime. The Empire of Bahrat has a long history of exploiting others for their gain, and having received maximum benefit from SATSUMA and reached the point of diminishing returns, they have cold heartedly left the Alliance. Only time will tell if this is in fact a true action, or rather a subterfuge by Bahrat in collaboration with it's now secret allies. ”
When contacted, the Queen's spokesman, Frederick Mercurr, offered this statement “ The Queen has never felt that the adversarial relations between the Empire of Bahrat and the United Kingdoms of the Netherlands were in the enlightened self interest of either people. It is the Queen's hope the future deeds of the Nation of Bahrat match the words uttered this week. “
Rotterdam, April 20th.
The Engagement of Princess Julianna of the House of Orange to Prince Louis-Ferdinand of the House of Hohenzollern was announced today. The couple has intermittently appeared together at public events for several years, first appearing in a formal setting at the Nordmark Coronation review in 1936.
The ceremony is to occur on March 31st, 1940 in Den Hague.
Initial reaction by the Belgian people is muted. The engagement has been rumored as immanent for sometime, but the couple's charitable ventures has gained the Prince a great deal of exposure to the common people, and he is generally well thought of.
Military : The Design 122 Flying Boat, formally designated the T.14W was accepted into service today. Designed by Fokker, the hull was designed and built by Dornier, with first delivery in May of 1936. The plane is powered by Jumo diesel radials which give good fuel consumption, and modular fuel tanks may be fitted in the bomb bays, allowing ferry or personnel transport flights from the Netherlands to Dutch Guiana or the Kongo, and from the coast of East Afrika to Sumatra.
KLM airlines is said to be conisidering an “Express” version for passenger and package deliveries from the Netherlands to Afrika, Asia and South America, from Grand Uraguay to the Moluccas.
( this was something Hrolf and I started way back when, but not sure I finished it. But heck it's close enough to an armed Pacific clipper I'm not going to worry about it )
Q2.
April 26th
Dutch Elections
The incumbent DMZSBD campaigned on the promise of security, pointing to the past four years of international upheaval. Pointing to conflicts and crises in South America, Lithuania, the Middle East, Peru, and elsewhere, the DMZSBD pointed to their strong record of military preparedness. The DMZSBD cited the signings of AEGIS and SEAR as foundations, and their buildup of the Dutch Fleet as a deterrent. The DMZSBD postulates that their “Armed to Fight” slogan helped persuade Bahrat that participating in SATSUMA's future warplans were no longer in their interests. A parallel to Grand Uruguay was drawn, with SATSUMA in the position of the South American powers.
Eduard Land's De Progressieve Eland-Stier Partij (PEP) campaigned on the diplomatic improvements during the Land administration laying the groundwork for the current international situation, an argument that did not seem to work well with the public, as the events occurred during Krook's administration. The PEP also campaigned on educational reform- rolling back many of the more unpopular aspects of the DMZSBD programs, and broadening and cutting taxes- in part to be funded by “savings from Defense reviews undertaken in the current international climate”, a claim the DMZSBD turned into “Land doesn't mix with Water, so he wants to Sink the Navy”.
Note: Actually, the Land administration prior to 1935 got most of those programs rolling
The Dutch election results once again failed to produce a clear majority party.
Support for the Partij van de Arbeid or PvDa (labor party) and Communistische Partij Holland (Communist) was insufficient to garner seats in the 150 member Erste Kamer.
Former PM, Jan de Voor's Vrijheidsbond has recovered somewhat. The Vrijheidsbond had split prior to the 1931 elections, giving rise to the De Progressieve Eland-Stier Partij (PEP) of then PM Herr Land. The 1935 decision of Herr de Voor to form a coalition with the De Mannen met Zeer Boze Blikken Partij (DMZSBD) placed Herr Krook in power. The split between de Voor and Land explains while the two ideologically similar parties do not form a coalition, but rather the Vrijheidsbond hitches itself to the DMZSBD to form a slight majority.
The retirement of Herr Lodewyk van der Berg from politics seems to have impacted his conservative Rooms-Katholieke Volkspartij .
De Progressieve Eland-Stier Partij or PEP (Progressive): 34%: 51 members
-Vrijheidsbond (Freedom league-conservative party): 14%: 22 members
-Arbeiders-Democratische Bond (Democratic Workers' league): 8%: 12 members
-De Mannen met Zeer Boze Blikken Partij (DMZSBD, semi-fascist): 36% : 54members
-Rooms-Katholieke Volkspartij or RKVP (catholic peoples party): 8% : 10 members
-Partij van de Arbeid or PvDa (labor party) : failed to qualify
-Communistische Partij Holland (communist party): failed to qualify
The DMZSBD has announced that Herr Herman Loeder, currently War Minister, will seek to form a coalition government with the Rooms-Katholieke Volkspartij and Vrijheidsbond again.. The Rooms-Katholieke Volkspartij is expected to keep control of the Foreign ministry and medical policy, while the Vrijheidsbond will now take the Treasury post.
No reason was given for the choice of Herr Loeder over Herr Krook, but rumors from the palace have long indicated a pronounced rift between the Queen and the Prime Minister.
1939-42 Netherlands Government :
Prime Minister : Herman Loeder
Treasury Minister : Jan De Voor
Foreign Minister :Jan Baars
Staatssecretaris of Foreign Affairs, Jan Bogaart
Staatssecretaris of Foreign Affairs, Louis JM Beel
Education Minister : Coenraad AA Haighton
War Minister : Lieutenant-Admiral (ret)Hans Pienaar
Staatssecretaris of the Army, Jan Snellensoon
Staatssecretaris of the Air force, Hendrik Visscher
Staatssecretaris of the Navy, Ernst van Rappard
Staatssecretaris of the Marines, Willem de Rave
Editorial note : This was of course the “known” to me, and factored into some of my participation, this just codifies it for the rest of you all.
Q3.
Prinsjedag
The Queen gave the annual Speech from the Throne in the Ridderzaal today. While in recent years, the Queen has often made veiled references to differences with the Government's policies, in this year's speech the primary theme was a 'feel good' state of the Kingdom.
Subsequent to the speech, Prime Minister Loeder gave his address, which included the line “we are waiting patiently on Her Majesty's deliberations and signatures on several important bills to fulfill the DMZSBD's promises to our constituents”. Research by this paper has identified three potential bills which have been passed but which have not been signed by the Queen. These include the Church registry, a revision to Identity papers, and changes to the State Mental Hospital involuntary incarceration regulations.
Military : Z85 & Z86 enter service. T-35C enters service.
Q4.
October – The Indic Fleet arrived off the East African coastline today for exercises with the Royal South Afrikaan Navy. This is the first joint exercises since the 1934 Libreville games. The Royal Army of the Kongo will be engaged in wargames with the Royal South Afrikaan Army near Petauke between the Luangwa and Zambezi rivers.
November,
The spat between China and the English Commonwealth over territorial waters raises concerns. The publications of correspondence placing demands on the Iberians at San Hianando, and Australian concerns over the Bahrat navy lead to a higher alert status throughout the Dutch East Indies, with leaves limited to 48 hours and maritime patrols are conducted at a heightened rate. Submarines are dispatched from Medan to supplement the patrols in the Bay of Bengal. At military bases, “Surprise raid” drills are undertaken.
Note: the above is really just par for the course, the Dutch get more worked up when SATSUMA warships transit one of the straits
Military :
The Navy accepted the lead two ships of the S44 Escort class, and the lead 4 ships of the South Afrikan-based TBJ “Buizzard” class. Additionally, the O-9 and O-10 submarines are to finish trials.
This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Kaiser Kirk" (May 8th 2012, 3:26am)