AYKRR Chapter 6
Nothing to Worry About
24th June 1942,
Wien,
"I implore you, citizens! Cast your eyes from the false charm of the siren that is the promise of a fair democracy and see the rot beneath! Democracy weakens, weighs down and befuddles nations! Gaze upon the failures of De Lugo and his parliament as they tried to humiliate us! Stare down at the Churbull ministry and their crumbling empire! Peer at Muzzioli and the war that his voters brought to our allies!" Ludwig bellowed to his rally of over six thousand people. A fantastic turnout.
His deep voice, amplified by a communication spell, easily reached the whole crowd.
"These democrats running for their electoral seats do not see you as people! They see every single one of you as votes! They will promise heaven on earth yet the moment they are elected, they will turn around to scorn you."
"Then do you want us to be ruled by unelected dictators!?" A voice screamed out. This was a paid contrarian that they had prepared beforehand.
"Nay, good man. I want us to be ruled by a virtuous leader who is not easily corrupted by absolute power, like our good Chancellor-President for example. She had the power of an autocrat, yet she never let it get to her. Just imagine if Degurechaff had been Chancellor since the moment the First Great War ended, instead of those old fossils, and what she could have done in their place. Imagine where our country would be now. Had she not been weighed down by cumbersome democracy, even the Russy Federation would have been child's play." Ludwig responded.
"A strong Germania needs a strong leader. A leader who is neither burdened by the bureaucracy of democracy, nor held back by opposition parties. Here I present to you the Final Solution to the Democratic Problem." He paused for dramatic effect.
"We, the Germanian… no, the Imperial people, shall hold one final election to elect the ideal figure to ascend to the Imperial throne as our monarch. An absolute authority figure with ultimate executive power, yet she- I mean they will also be fair and benevolent. Their hand shall be the one that guides the Empire towards its future! Their voice shall be the one that the world listens to! Their will shall be the one that unites our Empire!" At that, the crowd erupted in cheers.
The Imperial Party had paid about five dozen cheerers and planted them in the crowd, but it seemed like they had wasted their money after all. The crowd was more than just supportive.
Ludwig had intentionally scheduled this rally to be held just an hour after Chancellor Degurechaff's rally in Wien, and close to her venue. Many people leaving the Chancellor's rally had given his rally a chance due to the close proximity. Furthermore, it allowed him to study the Chancellor's rallies and make improvements on his own speeches. He only made one slip of the tongue today, he should try to remember to always use 'they' instead of 'she', or it would be too obvious to even the most oblivious person out there.
Once the rally ended and the crowd started to disperse, Ludwig headed down the stage, where von Schiel was waiting.
"Fantastic work out there, Herr Ernst. It was a good decision for us to advertise your war record and former royal status. That got more than enough curious people to come." Von Schiel praised.
"It was mainly due to me leeching off of the Chancellor's supporters who came from her rally. Still, I do wonder something." Ludwig mused.
"What is it, my friend?"
"Who do you think she's running against? The Germanian Workers Party is gargantuan, and the Imperial Party supports her. All the other right-wing parties try to ride behind Degurechaff's success too. And the left-wing parties barely have ten percent of the seats."
"I honestly have no idea who she is campaigning against either. At this point, she could run against God Himself and still win."
I blended in easily with the rally goers leaving the venue, disguised with a black wig and sunglasses. Ernst proved himself a proper rabble rouser, alright. His voice was strong, and his figure was confident. His demagoguery vied for impractical solutions that sounded good in theory but horrible in practice while intentionally ignoring deeper issues. The type of public speaker that made people think whatever he was saying must have some grain of truth, no matter how many droppings of lies it held.
The contents of his speech were also quite dangerous. He was literally asking people to vote against their own right to vote. A move like this from any party other than the Imperial Party would be political suicide.
Ernst was also being deliberately obtuse about the monarch that he wanted to place on the throne, never mentioning any name. Even though I could tell that he was just itching to tell people to restore his family to the throne, he amazingly held himself back.
The response from the crowd to his speech had been jarring and shocking at first. I didn't expect them to be that ecstatic about getting rid of their democracy. It was thanks to my perceptiveness that I noticed many people around me that seemed overly enthusiastic. I then figured out that the Imperial Party must have paid hundreds or even over a thousand undercover cheerleaders to artificially bring up the crowd's zeal.
I internally sighed in relief at that. The actual rally goers probably got swept and peer-pressured into cheering, despite being uncomfortable with what Ernst was proposing. I was thankful that Germanian citizens were reasonable creatures, even if prone to excitement.
He also made a mistake in his speech earlier, saying 'she' instead of 'they' when referring to the monarch he was advocating for. He was likely referring to his mother, who he probably wanted to inherit the throne first before it could be passed onto him. Whether it was a genuine slip of the tongue or not, I couldn't be sure.
I was also initially confused as to the reason behind him bringing me up as a model autocrat. It was almost like he was recommending me to the throne, if it wasn't for how counterproductive to his goal it would have been. After all, Ludwig Ernst wanted the throne for himself.
Then I realised Ernst was likely trying to ride on my political coattail and implying that he could do a similar job to me. It wouldn't take much effort to see the similarities in our military and political records. That was likely why he had scheduled his rally so close to mine in time and location as well.
I shouldn't have much to worry about Ernst. His promises sounded nice, but he had no real way to carry them through. He also seemed to be targeting democrats, but his views were so extreme that I doubted he'd be able to wrest away any more than a couple seats.
I should still be careful around him though. Perhaps ask for international observers for this election to prevent voting fraud or ballot manipulation by the Imperial Party.
Elya approached from behind me. "Should we start suppressing the Imperial Party now? Their anti-democratic rhetoric could be dangerous for your party."
I shook my head. I wasn't going to dabble in tyranny and political suppression just because I didn't like the Imperial Party's policies. That would just prove the people who call me a dictator right. Aside, I doubt the Imperial Party will be able to grow much with its flawed politics.
"No, leave the Imperial Party alone. I don't particularly care if it grows larger." I spoke. Elya looked at me in surprise, and then her expression suddenly turned into one of contemplation.
She looked at me, before looking at the Imperial Party's rally, and then looking at me again. Her expression suddenly switched to one of enlightenment and awe. Surely the logic behind my action can't be that profound.
"I see. To think that I had to be told by you directly before I realised what's going on. From now on, I will handle matters pertaining to the Imperial Party with your best interests in mind." With that confounding reply, Elya disappeared back into the crowd.
25th June 1942,
The Rathaus, Wien
Me and the leaders of OZEV were meeting up for another round of our monthly meeting. This time, we had a new member from Kieva. The Prime Minister of Kieva, Aleksander Adamovich, had come in person. This made him the OZEV Executive Council's 10th member.
The first point of discussion today concerned internal issues that required international cooperation. There were two issues brought up, both by Ildoa.
"We are currently having extensive difficulties with arresting organised criminals. Many of them are escaping through our borders to the rest of OZEV to avoid arrest." Luigi Falasca said. "I want OZEV to establish an international police body to tackle this problem."
"Don't we already have Interpol for that?" I asked. I knew that they existed in this world. Their headquarters were even in Wien.
"These criminals are different. They're mafia who have access to repaired military-grade computation orbs looted from fallen mages."
"Are any of those orbs dual-core ones?" Istvan Ronai asked. I was extremely concerned as well. It would be terrible for OZEV's computation orb advantage if our dual-core orb designs were sold on the black market to the rest of the world.
"Yes, but none of them could be repaired by the mafia. They only managed to repair the single-core ones." I let out a breath of relief. Still, it was imperative that we round up these criminals, confiscate their repaired orbs as well as retrieve any unrepaired ones.
Tackling criminal mages was outside of the scope of local police officers, or even Interpol. We would need mages to arrest them. While we could divert some of our military mages and send them on manhunting missions, these mafia gangs could become a long-term problem.
In the end, Moscicki of Pullska had proposed an international special police force who primarily employ mages equipped with military grade computation orbs in their roster. Their duty would comprise of completing high-risk missions such as hunting down wanted or especially dangerous criminals, bomb defusal, criminal raids and hostage situations. They were basically SWAT teams on steroids.
We had decided on the name Central European Magic Police (Zentraleuropäische Zauber Polizei) or ZEZP for short. The vote for their establishment had passed unanimously. All countries were worried about having mage criminals or even mage terrorists after all.
The first members of the ZEZP will be military police mages sourced from all ten OZEV countries. They would then begin recruiting mages for training. I expected that their recruitment would not be that difficult, since there were many mages who wished to use magic but didn't desire joining the military. It was also a good alternative civilian career for mages. If the ZEZP had been around when I was little, perhaps I would have joined them instead of the military.
We also decided that the headquarters for the ZEZP would be in Vienna, close to the headquarters of Interpol so that the two police agencies could collaborate easily.
Falasca then brought up the second issue that has been troubling him. Apparently, it was a minor one, but he had still wanted international input. "It's the Vatican."
I almost couldn't suppress my scoff. The Vatican? That group of ancient clergymen that worshipped Being X's religion?
Jan Benes asked my own question. "I thought the Vatican doesn't have much power?"
"They don't. Not hard power at least. But their influence amongst the global Catholic population is palpable."
"What ruckus have they been causing then?" Adamovich asked. I noticed the impression of an Orthodox cross under his tunic. It seemed I wasn't the only person who was opposed to the Catholic Church. I should probably get a hold on every OZEV leader's religion.
Almost as if reading my mind, Elya, who was in attendance as my secretary, handed me a list of details about OZEV leaders. It included their biological information, birthplace, education, various other factoids and of course, religion.
I took a quick glance at the list. The majority of the OZEV Executive Council were Protestant, with Luigi Falasca and Istvan Ronai being Catholic; Adamovich was the only one following Eastern Orthodoxy. I was of course the only atheist, but Elya's list had recorded me as Catholic due to my upbringing at a Catholic orphanage.
"With the removal of the Italian royal family and the establishment of the Republic of Ildoa, there are no more Catholic royal families that have any form of power. The Vatican has basically lost the last vestiges of political influence." Luigi Falasca explained.
I supposed that they would be quite upset at that. Now that the Italian royal family was gone, the only two royal families left in power in Europa were the Albish royal family and the Ragma Rumelian royal family.
The other ancient royal Europan families had either long been abolished when their countries transitioned to republics, or absorbed into another royal family, like during the Empire's conquests across Europa in the 19th century.
The Albish royal family were firmly Protestant, with them having established the Church of Albion some centuries ago because a king wanted to divorce his wife. The Ragma Rumelian royal family followed Rumelian Orthodoxy.
In either case, both royal families were part of a constitutional monarchy, so neither of them had much power in the first place.
Regardless, I should be quite glad that the Vatican had no way of influencing politics anymore. The last thing I needed was the Vatican determining policies or swinging elections.
"So, what is the Vatican demanding?" I asked.
"They're trying to gain any political influence they can by attaching their name to the success of Catholic OZEV leaders. Namely: me, Prime Minister Ronai and Chancellor-President Degurechaff. They also wish for Prime Minister Ronai and Chancellor-President Degurechaff to declare Catholicism the official religious denomination of their respective countries." Falasca explained, looking down in embarrassment at having to tell the Council this.
Immediately, the Protestant leaders in OZEV lost their cool, denouncing the Vatican for stepping out of lines. The stoic Adamovich remained silent, but I could see that he was outraged by their audacity. Prime Minister Ronai simply looked at me for guidance, since his country might not even exist next month if the plebiscite succeeded.
"ORDER!" I shouted with a magnified voice spell. Silence immediately arrested the other leaders of OZEV. The only sound in the Rathaus left was the echoes of my voice. Every head of state except me looked like schoolboys who had been caught by their teacher while causing trouble. Shit, so much for not looking like Germania controlled OZEV.
"Half of Germania identify as Protestant. I will not start a religious war in my country. Especially not at the behest of the Vatican. Germania firmly believes in the freedom of religion." I declared. If I had been a third-party bystander, I would honestly bust out the popcorn and lie back while watching Being X's followers whittle down his own faith, but that was unfortunately not the reality.
Ronai looked at me gratefully and nodded. He must have come to the same conclusion. Falasca also breathed in relief. He probably didn't want the Vatican to have more power, despite being Catholic himself as the Prime Minister of a Catholic country.
With that matter out of the way, the Council went into an early recess to calm ourselves after the outbursts that everyone displayed earlier.
When we reconvened fifteen minutes later, everyone had recomposed themselves. We then moved to the next item on the agenda. The application of two countries into OZEV.
We gave the permission for the representative of the first country to enter. A middle-aged blonde man of medium height walked in, wearing a tailored suit and carrying a walking stick. This was Johan Andersson, one of the members of the Council of Ten of the Legadonia Entente Alliance. More specifically the Councilman of Defence, which was equivalent to a Minister of Defence.
I wasn't sure whether I wanted Legadonia to join OZEV or not. While having an ally with such access to the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Arctic Sea would be nice, it might also be a challenge to the Allied Kingdom. Not only were we potentially putting in a bid for domination of the North Sea, but we were also robbing Albion of one of its allies, for whom it had a security guarantee for.
By trying to join OZEV, Legadonia was basically spitting in the Allied Kingdom's eye by calling their security guarantee worthless. Which wasn't completely uncalled for, if one recalls Albion's underperformance in Legadonia during the Second Great War.
Furthermore, I was also aware that the Legadonia Entente Alliance's attempt to woo Suomiland had succeeded and the process of absorbing Suomiland was already underway. Once Legadonia expanded its territory, it would share a huge border with the Rus Federation. A border that was distant, not connected to OZEV by land and difficult to reinforce should hostilities break out.
I was already uncomfortable with having Kieva in OZEV, adding Legadonia too would be too risky. If Legadonia failed to present a good argument, then I would vote against them joining.
When we all motioned for Johan Andersson to speak, a gravelly voice came out. "I thank you all for having me today. As you all know, the Legandonia Entente Alliance is making a petition to join the OZEV alliance. Should we get accepted, we hope to be a valuable member of OZEV's co-prosperity and defensive sphere."
"Mr. Andersson," Moscicki said. "I believe that the Legadonia Entente Alliance was successful in convincing Suomiland into joining the Alliance, correct? Wouldn't that create a large border with the Russy Federation, once Suomiland is fully part of Legandonia?"
"Correct. It would." If the man was embarrassed by this, he didn't show it.
"Then why should we allow Legadonia to join OZEV if you present a security risk to us?" Jan Benes asked.
"Firstly, Legadonia is not weak. Our defence force has been greatly strengthened compared to even just last year. Our defensive budget has also been increased. Secondly, we will not be bordering the communist Rus for much longer." At this, it caused a small commotion amongst the Council.
"What do you mean by that?" I leaned forward, interested. Was another Russy state going to break away from the Federation?
"You have not heard of this since news from the Russy Federation is slow to travel and the legitimacy of the contents hard to validate. But a new major faction has reared its head in St. Petersburg. They have great civilian and military support and have managed to control a significant territory." Andersson reached into his jacket and pulled out a rolled map. He unfurled it and presented it to the Council.
It depicted a chunk of Northeastern Russy Federation coloured in blue. The territory encompassed Pskov, Leningrad, Karelia, Murmansk, Novgorod, Vologda and Arkhangelsk. It was a very impressive amount of territory conquered, likely around the size of the Empire at its peak.
"Even if news travelled slowly, how did they manage to achieve this without any of us knowing?" I asked. A conquest like this would have taken months, if not years. Koenig's expeditions into the Russy Federation mere weeks ago should have also informed me.
Andersson calmly explained. "None of this territory was acquired through conquest, but rather simple diplomacy. According to the factions there, Moskva's NKVD had overstepped themselves when they started assassinating any leader that refused to join them or even declared neutrality. So, to have greater security, the faction in St. Petersburg ratified an alliance with other factions. This event occurred only last week."
I see, this new faction were basically pacifists that had no desire to get involved in the infighting of the rest of the Russy Federation. Instead, they banded together to fight off against the overly bellicose Moskva faction, led by the NKVD. I could relate to a principle of self-defence like that and even empathise with their plight.
However, the next words out of Andersson's mouth dashed away my empathy. "They call themselves the Russy Tsardom. Their leader is Aleksei Romanov, purportedly a grandson of Tsar Nicholas II who escaped the purge of the Tsar's family. Their economic policy is staunchly capitalist, and Aleksei Romanov seems to be an advocate for international cooperation of capitalist nations against the communist Rus."
What's with all the people trying to restore monarchies these days? Don't they understand that a strong democracy was the government of the future?
"The Russy Tsardom have approached the Legadonia Entente Alliance for a deal. In exchange for serving as a bulwark against the rest of the Russy Federation, the Russy Tsardom wants the Legadonia Entente Alliance to join OZEV and sell the Russy Tsardom OZEV supplies and equipment. The Russy Tsardom will not attempt to join OZEV itself."
I started thinking. If this deal was genuine, then there was no need to fear a security risk from Legandonia joining OZEV. If anything, it would be an economic boon. The expanded Legadonia would have great access to natural resources and offshore oil and gas reserves. Of course, they couldn't access those reserves yet, as oil fracking had not yet been invented. There was also the fishing and timber industries in Legadonia, which made up a big part of their GDP.
OZEV will also be able to establish economic ties with the Russy Tsardom. It might just be selling them weapons and equipment now, but the Russy Tsardom may very well become part of the MEF in the future if I play my cards right. I might have a distaste for monarchies, but I didn't have a distaste for cheap oil and natural gas, both of which the Russy Tsardom would have in abundance, even if they only controlled a small part of the Russy Federation.
Moreover, aside from Germania, which had sold its weapons and supplies to the Allied Kingdom, the other countries in OZEV still had a surplus of supplies and equipment. They all stood to make some money from trading with the Russy Tsardom.
Other OZEV leaders realised it too, as the following vote held for the Legadonia Entente Alliance had been unanimous. The only person who hesitated was Dacia's Prime Minister Constatine Groza, who was probably worried that the Russy Tsardom's oil and natural gas reserves would lessen the strategic importance of Dacia.
Moscicki had to persuade him by saying that the Russy Tsardom likely didn't have the infrastructure to make full use of those reserves so Dacia could take advantage of it by sending its oil drilling companies over there to make a proposition to the Russy Tsardom.
After confirming the vote, Johan Andersson's face had brightened and reaffirmed that OZEV will look back at this decision ten years from now and smile back at our own wisdom. I just hoped that I won't still be on the OZEV Executive Council ten years from now.
Then it was our next applicant's turn. The Francois Republic.
This was somewhat of a surprise. While I expected that they would try to join OZEV eventually, I didn't expect it would be so soon.
The wound to their pride from the Second Great War was still fresh, and neither their military nor their economy had fully recovered. They must be desperate if they were approaching OZEV now. Even if we voted in favour of them joining, I wouldn't be taken back to see riots on the streets of Parisee when the news broke out.
I was surprised again when the Francois representative who walked in was President De Lugo himself. The Francois election was not slated to be held for more than four more months, but it was obvious to everyone that De Lugo was sure to fail his re-election. Losing a war in a humiliating fashion would lose you popularity faster than a snowflake would melt in hell.
De Lugo began by greeting every OZEV Executive Council member by name. No fanfare like the Legadonian representative. His gaze lingered on me the longest.
"Members of the OZEV Executive Council, my argument for joining you is simple. The Francois Republic possesses numerous colonies around the world. As a member of OZEV, we would readily permit any of our allies to build military bases on these colonies and to station troops, vehicles and ships there. I believe that all of you can recognise the massive strategic advantage this would present. You would be able to defend any of your allies around their world or attack any of your enemies."
Left unsaid was the fact that nearly none of OZEV had the capability to build and maintain such bases. Germania was the only country in OZEV with the capital and logistics to build a base halfway around the world and staff it with soldiers. It was obvious that this proposition was not for OZEV, but for Germania, or rather specifically, for me.
I knew what De Lugo was insinuating, of course. In my world, America had numerous military bases spread around the world, on every continent with the exception of Antarctica. This granted them a wide logistic range and great military power projection capabilities. In short, De Lugo was offering me the chance to make Germania a global military superpower. Any power-hungry maniac would love to snatch at this chance.
But offers that seemed too good to be true often have a catch behind them. And I already knew De Lugo's catch.
"While that sounds very tempting, President De Lugo, I do seem to recall that many of your colonies are experiencing frequent revolts. Annam for example. I don't think that these colonies would make for ideal military base locations, unless you can guarantee their stability." I spoke.
Left unsaid was that if I built military bases in politically unstable colonies, I would also be obliged to pacify them, both as an ally and as someone using the colonies. I wasn't going to subject Germania to being De Lugo's colony babysitter.
Of course, the Francois Republic still had its troops and weapons, but they couldn't transport them effectively with vehicles due to us taking all of their oil. The troops that they sent to Annam even had to be transported on coal-fed steam ships. Their efforts to buy more oil to sustain their colony pacification effort was still underway.
Even worse, the Francois Republic's weakened army wouldn't contribute much to OZEV's already sturdy defence. In fact, it might even expose OZEV to new threats. After all, just to the southwest of the Francois Republic was the ever so volatile Ispagnia, which was still embroiled in a civil war between the nationalists and communists, even though it seemed to be drawing to a close soon. I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot in Ispagnia thought it was a good idea to take advantage of the Francois Republic's temporary weakness.
"The matters in Annam are going well. Francois troops will soon arrive, and we will push Ho Chi Minh and his communists out of Hanoi and return Indochina to peace." De Lugo stated. His tone will likely change when his troops start experiencing the hell of fighting guerilla warfare against a determined local militia.
"And these troubling reports of the Annamese communists getting supplies from the Qinese communists?" The Prime Minister of Daneland asked.
"I do not deny this. The Annamese are getting weapons from the Qinese. However, these weapons are horribly outdated, and the Qinese are forcing the Annamese to pay through the nose for them. Last I heard, the relationship between them was deteriorating." If international communism was falling through, then perhaps I should try to find a way to drive a wedge between the two communist countries. Food for thought.
"Be it as it may, the situation in Annam is still precarious. OZEV does not want to play security guard for the Francois Republic. Not until Annam is either pacified or out of Francois hands." De Lugo looked almost insulted that I could even suggest the Francois Republic losing to a bunch of rice farmers.
When the vote was finally held, it ended with a result of nine votes against and one abstain vote. Adamovich had chosen to abstain because he was unfamiliar with the state of geopolitics in Western Europa.
De Lugo didn't look surprised at the result at all, if anything he looked resigned. Ah, I see. This was his last desperate gambit to secure the Francois Republic's colonial holdings. His last final great contribution as President. Even if the Francois Republic succeeded in Annam, there were still its African colonies. Who's to say they won't revolt any time soon? Especially when the Francois were tied down in Annam.
I shook my head ruefully at his colonist mindset. With more and more dissent in the colonies, colonialism was losing its profitability quickly. It was better to grant these colonies independence and develop goodwill to establish favourable trade terms or even alliances. Both the colonials and the natives would stand to gain from this type of arrangement.
As De Lugo left the building, shoulder slumped, I stared at his back. While his future departure from politics will not be grand by any means, he would likely still enjoy a carefree retirement. I could only hope such a future was not a distant prospect for me.