Excerpt from the speech by Robert Habek, Greens.
"Indeed, this has been the most unusual proposal this house has heard. This is probably as most members of this house have command of their senses and are not given to stark lunacy. Nobody with any knowledge of our constitution would make such a proposal, nor would he think it an idea worthy of our attention.
Article 79 of our Basic Law gives the Eternity Clause for the rights enshrined in Article 1 and 20. All judges specializing in constitutional matters I contacted about this state that this Eternity Clause covers Article 79 in itself as it makes no sense whatsoever otherwise. Would this house pass your motion it would be in front of the Constitutional Court in no time and in all likelihood, this is where it would be shot down and rightly so.
The only way you could make such a change to Germany and have it stick is abolishing the Basic Law according to Article 146 and draw up a new one. You want a new, very different Germany then step forward and say so. Do not hide behind "we just want small changes" as I do not think this is what you really want.
Be that as it may, even besides the constitution being in the way of what you want, there are more practical matters. You state that a Kaiser would improve our relations to foreign realms. Are you really sure about this?
The privileges and powers given to the Bundespräsident are representative and ceremonial in nature. While several of them have inspired Germans, they make no laws, negotiate treaties or declare wars. They appoint secretaries and chancellors, they do not pick them. The fathers of our constitution have decided to take these powers from the Bundespräsident based on the experiences with Hindenburg and this was a good decision. The office of the Bundespräsident is a representative one or to put it frankly, that of a figurehead. None of the rulers of the realms around us are figureheads, they lead their governments and neither listen to parliaments nor bow to constitutional courts. Do you really think such beings would be impressed by an Emperor who is a mere figurehead or isn't it far more likely they would call him a farce, a scam and a mockery of their existence?
And I really hope you do not mull giving this Emperor more power to avoid that, the German Basic Law certainly would not stretch to that.
You think that a lifelong training for the job will bring forward especially gifted individuals. Why should that be so? History gives a much more mixed message, having a lot of mediocre individuals, some very good humans and some really crazy examples. We could not choose between them, genetics would decide if we receive Fredric the Great or Ludwig the Mad.
Any German should have the right to choose his or her own path in life within the framework of law and ability. Telling an individual that he has no choice but, to study to become head of state, form his professional, private and family life all around the needs of the state seems rather cruel and something else the constitution will not allow. Doubly so as his post would be mostly ceremonial. What do we do if our Empress to be decides to become an artist, a lawyer or an engineer? Do we train a couple of replacements for him or her and tell them to study hard for something they'll likely never be? And while they are about it they are told to marry the right persons and always be aware of Paparazzi?
You say an Emperor would be the Emperor of all Germans. Why should the Germans feel that way? They did not elect him or her, they did not elect the representatives who elect him. He or she is there because the right sperm met the right ova at the right time and place. Wow, those are impressive credentials for a head of state, not.
The Kings and Emperors of Germany governed not with the consent of their citizens, but by God's grace. Do you believe that God willed Wilhelm Two on the Germans Herr Junge? Do you believe that God will select Germany's next Emperor with more care, and if so, which God do you believe will do the choosing? This world indeed presents us with new challenges. This is not the way to meet them."
The protocol would note a lot more applause this time. The vote that was cast later that day would reflect it. The Kaiserlichen would have to receive two-thirds of the votes for a change of the Basic Law, they received slightly less than a third. The latter was only possible as the delegates from Nanseitochi believed an Emperor to be a good idea, they were more used to it.
Uwe Junge had been right, this speech would define his political career. Two secretaries of defense had become German chancellor on the Warhammer World already. He would not join that list.
Neustadt, Naggaroth
Kuan Ti was called by her name rarely. Her Hung mother had named her and called her by her name a few times before they took her away. She had been called many things ever since, girl, useless, slave, skilled with her fingers, hard to breed, mother and worker. She had worked for a Druchii lord as a cook who had lost a lot of money at this thing the Germans had brought with them, the thing they called stock company. She had been sold to the Germans when the debtors laid siege to the household. She had been told she got lucky, that working for the Germans was easy and they treated their slaves well.
She cried all the way to the Germans, she did not sleep when in bed and she did rather poorly. She hardly registered that little witch Anja when she asked what was up and was too deep in her misery to have any hope after that, not that she had received any promises.
All of that had changed when the Patron brought her children. At first, she had not believed that she was seeing them for real, then she had feared what price she would have to pay for their return.
And pay she did, but not in any way she had been expecting it. The kids would be looked after, would be to school even. But if she wanted a room just for her and them, if she wanted the tutor Ng needed if he wanted to keep up with math she needed credits and for those, she needed to work. And she worked hard for them, first at making brushes faster than nearly anybody else.
She had been good at making brushes, but these were no longer needed that much, or so she had been told. Instead, they needed to make more weapons, many more. Kuan Ti had no qualms making weapons, even for the Druchii as long as the Patron asked for it. But she was not yet as good at making brass cartridges as she had been at making brushes and so she had to work more to make the same amount of credits.
On top of that they had sped the production up again and that meant that the brass was still hot from the annealing, whatever that might be. So she endured with fingers that were red and hot during the day and pushed the brass under the press as fast as she dared. The press came down with terrible speed and power, if she did not pay attention just once she would lose a finger for sure.
Kuan Ti was called Sweety most of the time by her co-workers, as she had a sunny disposition ever since her children were back with her and as she had a life worth living. That she had a bit of a sweet tooth made the name doubly appropriate.
There was one who called her Kuan Ti every time the few times he had met her. Torsten Breitkop had handed her the "Worker of the Month" medal personally, he had talked to her before and after the presentation to the Dread Lords and he had asked her if these were her children.
Kuan Ti's eyes burned, her fingers developed so much callus that she felt less with them and she had to pay attention for full 12-hour shifts. She did not like any of this, but she did it for her kids, for her Co-Workers and her patron.
Meeting room of the Kaiserlichen Bundestag faction
The men and women of the Kaiserlichen after their loss about "Paragraph 79" had retreated to their meeting place to lick their wounds, so to speak. What some observers seeing them on the way made curious was that most of the Kaiserlichen politicians did not look really defeated. On the contrary, outside some comforting words to Uwe Junge, there was a serious vibe of "That´s Life. Once again onto the breach". Interesting in many ways.
While the meeting room was a rather utilitarian one, with leather seats, metal and wood tables, it was not without some decorations. The ex-Imperial and ex-Nipponese members of the party left their own imprint within.
Pictures on the walls showed places and persons of German and partly Warhammer History. Kings, Queens and Emperors like Henry "the Fowler", Frederick I "Barbarossa", Louise of Prussia, Frederick the Great or Maria Theresia. Famous Emperors represented the Empire, while several Tennos did so for the Nipponese.
Politicians of various factions, from Rainald von Dassel from the Middle Ages to contemporaries like Schmidt and Kohl. But in center position was the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck.
Places were also present, like pictures of natural points of interest, Castles and Cities. The historically savvy could see some places not on Warhammer with Germany, but were with Germany during the HRE or later. The Masurian Lakes, Vienna or Milan were some examples. Pictures of Sumeto, Shirasagi-Onsen, the Rokozumi Mountain range or Altdorf, the Drakwald, Middenheim, Kemperbad or even modern Drakenhof rounded out the selection.
It was not a gallery per se, most pictures were rather small, but it was the impression that was wanted and counted. Over two millenia of Geschichte (History).
Then again the Kaiserlichen saw themselves as the successors to the various incarnations of Germany and Germanic Tribes before and that was quite a span of time, something you could be proud about. But despite their open patriotism, most were not that convinced about a monarchy again. Both systems, a parliamentary monarchy and parliamentary republic had their up and downsides, but it had been rather obvious that a Green like Habeck would mostly blab about the disadvantages, not the advantages. "Naive, traitorous cloudcuckoolanders in spirit, the whole lot." was a common opinion among the Kaiserlichen where the Greens were concerned.
For the Kaiserlichen - and for other conservative parties and party wings like the CSU or a lot of the Freisinnigen - the Greens and their sympathisants were the main political opponent, even if on Warhammer the Greens had lost much ground.
For many conservative eyes, the Green faction was a dogmatic feel good party, who successfully you had to admit, morally overloaded even simple questions, were equally good at campaigning with results made by others and tried to paint itself as the "Good Ones".
The biggest problem for the Kaiserlichen and other parties were the Green followers and fans in the media, you could be rest assured that the Greens always had much airtime even for questions they were not involved while other parties did not get that many invitations and stuff. That media advantage and their insinuations that they were the morally right ones sucked in quite a number of voters in good times.
What the Greens were quick to cover up was that they had their main voters among the well off or wealthy, since many of their half-cooked ideas were simply expensive for normal citizens. A prime example the windparks at the North Sea shore had been championed much by the Greens, but when it came to build the new lines into Eastern and Southern Germany to transport all that electricity, the Greens were among the fastest to complain in court against it.
While in good times, that was often overlooked by their sympathisants and the party gained comparatively large vote shares, to the joy of the conservatives on Warhammer only the a bit less dogmatic Realo Greens were still in parliament. Well, when the going got tough, the Treehuggers, peacenics and activists got normally uncovered as what they were; naive incompetents.
Not that the other parties were so much better, every party in the Bundestag had a portion of politicians who would never reach anything in the "normal world". But on another level it was not just the level of Green competence which gave birth to the word "Linksgrünversifft" (Leftist Green tainted), but something different a lot on the center-right part of the population would not forgive. The Greens and their media friends Hypermorality, overblown PCness, resorting quickly to call opponents Nazis, Misogynists, etc. and their total onesideness when it came to law and order was seen as a slowacting poison at the fundaments of state, justice and the unity of the populace.
As said, in face of the multiple threats and hardships Germany endured over more than a dozen years on Warhammer, the Greens were on the backfoot. The debacle at Hof early after arriving on Warhammer and the pressure of various dangers led to the fracture of the Greens into 2 parties.
The more radical "Fundi" Green party was already out of parliament and on their way to total oblivion, the more center-left "Realo" faction was still in parliament, but the 5% hurdle was very close. As such, the Kaiserlichen - and several other conservative factions - would like nothing more than to send the Realos "packing" too, so to speak, before the living situation became so well the Greens could regain somewhat substantial votes.
The Greens were not really the topic of the discussion underway, they were only part of the conversation due to it being one of their leaders, Habeck, who spoke against the "Paragraph 79" proposal.
"We told them that it is too early for such a move."
"Yeah, we did and now our royalist supporters know exactly why we did caution. I do not see this as bad. We did bring in the proposal to become the German Empire again, Uwe actually did a good job with a hot iron topic and now we will keep on getting the substantial donations from the falcons are now off our back, we will have time until bringing in a new proposal into that direction."
"Yes, but have you seen Böhmermann yesterday? I have no problems with Germany getting an Emperor again, if it should happen, still I am no monarchist. But Böhmermann´s show of the 'Superkaiser' was simply bad taste. Still, millions saw that crap and will be influenced by it."
"I saw only a trailer of it and am happy to not have seen more. Yes, it will influence many people against a monarchy. BUT Böhmermann is a pretentious, average comedian at best - he definitely cannot hold a candle to Ehrhard, Nur, Hildebrandt or Mittermeier, for example - and how he displayed the German nobility was bad taste and insulting. If you read the comments in the newspapers and social media, even many people who never want a monarchy again are displeased.
He went overboard with displaying all nobles as inbred imbeciles, this might even help us in the long run."
"Yes, especially since we could get some reports into the media about the charity and honorary work of members of the Hohenzollern, Wittelsbachs, Schaumburgs or Kressensteins to name only a few. I think Böhmermann made a boomerang with his poor taste, pseudo-satire."
"Maybe, maybe not, time will tell. Böhmermann will be mostly forgotten by the time we are Grandfathers and Grandmothers, he is not that interesting. What is far more interesting, is that we got a third of the plenum votes for our proposal. Even accounting for the representation of our former Imperial and Nipponese citizens in other parties, that is actually more than I thought we get just a dozen years after arriving here. I was prepared for a real hit, but we got off better than I predicted. That is something we can work with."
"I have to agree with Markus, Silke and Mariana on this. I too was not that sure of the results, mainly because few of us are dyed in the wool monarchists, but now we can tell them that we have something of a hidden part-success. That is about as well as we could made it under the current circumstances. Even the hardliners among our royalist donators will see this. They are not our only donators, far from it, we are getting even better on that front, but they are important for us."
"Agreed. By the way, I might not be the greatest Kaisertum fanboy there is, but how will we go on with this? We have some breathing room now, since we told those pushing us forward what would happen.
But in one thing Habeck is definitely wrong. The number of 'Grüßaugustpräsidenten' (only good for greetings Presidents) Germany has had outnumbers the number of pisspoor Kaisers or Kings by a margin in comparison. In hindsight, Scheidemann and Co did a mistake by going for a republic full force in 1918/19. They broke the tradition lines and so added to the instability following. They should have gone for full parliamentary Monarchy instead. Forcing Willy Two and the Crown Prince to abdicate and setting Viktoria Louise, Wilhelm´s favourite daughter, on the German Throne. Massive Change, but with some tradition lines still intact."
"Well, fortunately we can put that hot iron on the backburner for a while. Maybe some years down the line with a reworded proposal. But our law specialists tell me we might get better results if we go with article 146..."
"146? You mean a new constitution? How the heck could we get this through?"
"Maybe not the baddest idea, thinking about it. It is not as if we have to change much, we are all relatively happy with the Grundgesetz as it is, it is one of the best constitution around, no matter the flaws.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel anew. A couple of articles changed is all we have to do, not a complete new constitution, besides a reform of the Federal States is far overdue. We worked on it already before the Weltensprung and after that shattering event became even more needed, but look, it is still in the works. Even the Greens and others agree with this.
We should be more ready than the other parties when the time comes and the reforms cannot be pushed back any longer. We have to have prepared our reform package before the others. If we improve on the Grundgesetz - and there are some improvements possible, despite some people trying to enshrine the constitution, which is a bad idea. Look at America, at least when we left, where needed reforms are entangled in Red Tape because they think of the constitution as gospel.
Anyway, if we make some substatial improvments, say in the working together of Federal Government and the States and some improvements for all citizens, we´ll have a serious challenge for our political competition.
Our longterm goal is to mix the best of Federal Republic and the old German Empire together for a stronger whole. Let´s do it!"
"Sounds good to me as a closing word on the topic for now. Moving on other things: since we have settled into this new government, what do you think about our ministries? Did we choose well or not, after some time running things there?"
"I agree with several media analysts on this one. We chose well and did good with leaving the Foreign ministry for the Freisinnigen. On one hand, Lindner makes a good job there, no need to rock the boat and we got great choices for abstaining what we could have gotten as second-largest party.
I mean, we have the Interior, Defence, Innovation, Nanseitoshi and Sorcery ministries, that is some political prime rib. It was absolutely right that for coalition peace the Union, Freisinnigen and us we retired a lot of the 'Superministries' and made needed new ones, like the overdue Ministry of Sorcery and other Magic.
It gave enough ministries for everyone and besides that, most Superministries were not such a hit. They work better in theory than practise."
"Yep, that is quite correct an observation. More ministries mean more officals and all, but that cost factor is offset with the smoother run."
