Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Munich
Today, King Maximilian III. has, after long deliberation, appointed the Ministers of Bavaria.
Following are their names and what position they have.

Franz Josef Strauss - Finance minister
Manfred Lahnstein - Economics minister
Heinrich von Brentano - Foreign minister
Peter Struck - Defence minister
Robert Schmidt - Information minister
Gustav Heinemann - Interior minister
Theodor Blank - Education minister
Karl Schiller - Environment minister
Hans Apel - Health minister
Ewald Bucher - Justice minister
Heinrich Lübke - Culture minister
Jochen Borchert - Agriculture minister
Friedrich Zimmermann - Transport minister
Theodor Blank - Commerce minister
Hans-Christoph Seebohm - Energy minister
Heinz Kessler - Inland revenue minister

Additionally, to strengthen the Economy - which, until now, was barely above Nordland-levels - various industries will be invested in, with Manfred Lahnstein, the Economics minister, spearheading the effort of bringing our nation to levels that we can be proud of.
To remind you, some of the companies in Bavaria are:
Heckler&Koch, Fraunhofer Society, BMW, Siemens, Krauss Maffei, Audi, Lufthansa, SoftMaker, Munich Re, Allianz, RTL Television, Infineon, Tandem Verlag, Messerschmitt, MAN, Brainpool, Wacker Chemie, DSR-Precision Corp., Genomatix, Puma AG and Adidas AG, amongst various others.


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OOC: This following part is edited in, over time.
Links to major news posts, etc.

Announcement by Minister Lahnstein
The economic situation shortly after achieving independence
Fusion power plant, first in Europe
The King is dead
The King's Funeral
New Ministers under Vetinari
A note from Vetinari
A note to sceptics
100% fusion
Terrorist guild; NOEP
More border-guards
Demonstrations to unite all Bavarians
HRE Announced (Separate thread)
Preparations in a war
HRE Surrenders; Austria founded (Separate thread)
End of a short war
Interlude~
Hellfire - Civil War. (Separate thread)
/Interlude~
The Civil War is over
Elections in Austria (Separate thread)
New Chancellor
More socialism
Uberstein estate finally finished
Great Achievements
Mining Consortium
Expansion of Vienna
AR Alpha 01
AR Alpha 02
AR Alpha 03
AR Alpha 04
AR Alpha Interlude 1
AR Alpha Interlude 2
AR Alpha 05
Burning...Squirrel?
Propaganda
King driving through Vienna!
AR Alpha 06
Getting Canadian technology
PHASR
Plans for Space
Stop improving, Austria D:
More construction
The Holy Roman Empire!
Celebrations in the Empire!
Ultor completed, walking around in it
Walking and talking
War!
Sitting and thinking

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen of Bavaria, I've been given the pleasure by King Maximillian the Third of serving this great nation as our Finance Minister. My name is Manfred Lahnstein. The King has asked me to lay down an economic plan for stimulus, growth, and development relating to both strengthening economic sovereignty, increasing the power of our currency, and optimizing the job market. That said I am going to state some of our objectives for the coming year."

"The first objective relates to economic sovereignty. There is no secure state without a secure economy. However, to secure the economy does not mean to close it off from cooperating with the rest of the world.. quite the contrary.. closing your economy off can be the most devastating action a government can take in order to provide a false sense of security. Instead, we are going to look to partial government and popular control of the economic environment and enforcing limitations on the allowance of foreign capital participation in domestic equity. Any corporation headquartered within this great state will be limited to no more than 33 % foreign control at any time. Additionally in key economic sectors where national security is at stake such as industries with heavy manufacturing and capitol equipment such as the automotive and aerospace sectors.. instead of nationalizing the businesses, the state will be buying enough equity to constitute a major voting position on the board of directors of these business entities. In addition, in order to strengthen the nation, in opposition to using war as means of expansion, a portion of 1% of the government budget at the minimum has been allocated towards acquiring foreign equity and debt to constitute a reserve of sovereign wealth which will also be used to back the value of our domestic currency. Surpluses will also be deposited into this Sovereign Wealth Initiative."

"The second objective is closely controlling the strength of our currency. To do this the ministry has been granted control over the treasury as a federal reserve. All banks will be required to register with the reserve and participate in the reserve requirements and regulatory system. Interest rates will be closely controlled, with objectives of keeping inflation at or near 4% and unemployment at or near 5% which we believe to indicate a healthy economy. However, we also recognize that fundamentals affect these #s, not just money supply. We realize in this day and age that fuel is a critical factor in economic function. In order to remedy that we're going to be working closely with the energy department and do a full court press on diversifying the national power grid and implementing practical wind, solar, nuclear, bio-fuel, and multi-source transport systems; this in addition to securing traditional fossil fuel resourcse. We will be looking to opening trade treaties and ownership programs with states which have known historic deposits of these resources. Additionally more research is being done into making Fusion a more practical power resource. Our goal is to eventually become a major energy exporter."

"Our third objective of stabilizing the labor market should fall in line with objectives 1 and 2. If there is a shortage of labor we will open our borders to cross-border labor from neighboring states and providing incentive for immigrants to come to this great state. At this time however, we do not anticipate a shortfall in labor supply although we do anticipate a very hot economy going forward which is why we will be closely following inflation numbers to make sure we're not over-stretching our resources. I am now open for questions."

OOC: Yes, I've approved of this. And yes, you can ask questions. =3

IC:
Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Overview

Minister Lahnstein has mentioned that he wishes to reduce both unemployment and inflation severely. This may be a hard task for him, with unemployment rates being 14.3% and inflation 12.63% after the recent war and the sudden collapse of the Greater Nordland Reich.
Currently, the national Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, is at $ 300,683,759,530 (OOC: What is CNRP's standard currency? lol), with growth being -0.3% right now. Thus, with a population of 31,298,280, the GDP bavarian per capita is a mere $ 9,607.

Because the realization of Minister Lahnstein's plans, Maximilian III. gave him considerable powers in decision-making. Should Herr Lahnstein not be capable of meeting his short-term and medium-term goals, he will be replaced with a more competent minister, but the King has expressed that he fully trusts Lahnstein's judgement and will work closely with him and the other ministers to strengthen the economy and country.

OOC: the Sargun

OOC: You wish...

IC: Promised Land inquires as to how this will affect, if at all, Artemis Global Services and their base in Bavaria.

"Artemis will not be affected by this due to various reasons."

Minister Lahnstein continued, "Artemis is bringing a bit of an alleviation to our unemployment problem with their presence, it wouldn't be prudent at this time for us to interfere with their operations as the King has implied."

A Note from His Majesty, King Maximilian III.

"Numerous new nations have emerged in the world, and to be frank, I don't have the time to greet them individually, unfortunately.
Thus, with this announcement, I welcome all nations who have newly emerged in the last days and weeks. Welcome, and may you prosper."

Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Regensburg, Oberpfalz



Yesterday, the until then secret construction of the BNFR, the Bavarian Nuclear Fusion Reactor, has been unveiled. It has been in construction for several months, but until yesterday it was thought to be a large facility built as project for scientific research by Siemens, Infineon and Fraunhofer Society. Already, most of the components have been finished and only need to be put together, ensuring that the reactor will run within the next weeks.
According to a Siemens spokesman, even parts of the Government have been kept in the dark about this, with the exception of the King and some other necessary institutions.
The BNFR's 2 gigawatts of thermal output will be on the scale of a modern electric power plant,with the end result being roughly 1 GW in electric power. At the beginning however, it will be started 'slowly', at roughly 4 times the power output for breakeven - where it delivers more power than is put into the starting sequence - after which the power output will slowly rise towards the projected end-result of 1 GW.



Interestingly, this has been achieved intependently of Vinilandian research, where a fusion reactor has been running for some time already.
For the less tech-savvy of us, we have included a nice and informative picture of what the reactor does.




OOC: NPP in 4 days, on the 14th. Means I'll be able to finish this thing, finally. lol.

Minister Lahnstein noted, "I will be taking contracts for energy exports from our neighbors at this time as once we get this system active it will produce far more than we need. Umm.. however, this is going to make the unemployment issue worse. One plant will not employ as much as our standard power grid. I think we should sell off as much as we can and phase the other plants out over time to prevent a spike in unemployment and provide retraining funding for current persons specialized in old grid infrastructure."

Minister Lahnstein announces, "I am pleased to inform everyone the test of the Fusion Plant has gone successfully and the barrier to outputs has been surpassed. It is now operating at over-optimum efficiency meaning we're getting more energy out than we are putting into making it because of the output of the fusion. That said, we can now fulfill supply contracts requested by our neighbors at a very inexpensive rate. Please contact the department of foreign trade if you wish to tap some of the state contracts! With the first one developed, 2 more are under way to replace the old coal and nuclear plants throughout Bavaria."

"Domestic supply coupled with batteries is expected to replace all fossil fuel based power mechanisms."

Interesting the BNFR is identical in design to the Tahoan Fusion Reactor Complex currently under construction. I wonder why...

"Possibly because the Tokamak design, which both reactors use, is one of the most easily controlled designs, yet delivering quite a bit of power."


OOC: Also, yes, I finally have the NPP wonder.

OOC: Congrats!

OOC: I swore to God I posted in here but it doesn't seem like it.

IC: "We congratulate Bavaria on their success, and for the looks, it is very likely Bavarian efforts were indeed independent from Viniland's."

Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Munich
As the Regent and thus new leader of Bavaria, Lord Havelock Vetinari has renamed the offices of the ministers, and appointed some new ones, relieving the old ones before, of course.

Feucht von Lipwig - Finance advisor
Manfred Lahnstein - Economics advisor
Heinrich von Brentano - Foreign advisor
Peter Struck - Defence advisor
Robert Schmidt - Information advisor
Markus Wolf - Interior advisor
Theodor Blank - Education advisor
Karl Schiller - Environment advisor
Hans Apel - Health advisor
Samuel Mumm - Justice advisor
Waltraut Berger - Culture advisor
Jochen Borchert - Agriculture advisor
Hans Eintönig - Transport advisor
Theodor Blank - Commerce advisor
Johann Alexander - Energy advisor
Heinz Kessler - Inland revenue advisor

Additionally, Lord Vetinari will soon announce some changes that will be made to make Bavaria "[...] all in all much more efficient and organised.", though it is unknown as of now what kind of changes these will be.

A note from Lord Vetinari

"I will make this as short as I can.
In simple terms, a lot in Bavaria will be changed. For example, so-called 'Guilds' will be introduced. In very simple words, a Guild will be a union for a job, such as accountant. Or plumber. Or thief. Or beggar. Or assassin.
Guilds will have to register with the palace and are expected to regulate their members' behaviors. For example, before the legalization of the guilds, thieves would rob and mug as many people for as many times as they, the thieves, liked, and the monetary gain may be high or low depending on luck or hard work. After legalization, the Thieves' Guild will make money mainly by having rich people pay an annual premium so that members of the guild do not have to break into people's houses and rob them. This and similar systems will make life more predictable, and people, including the Thieves, have time to get on with their lives.

Guild enforcers will police the behaviors of guild members and make working a privilege of guild members. This ensures two things: clients will get fully professional services, and guild members can charge a high price for their work. Guild enforcers will have the right and indeed duty to catch and punish a working non-member; this does weaken the traditional Police, more or less kicking it out of a lot of its traditional jurisdiction. A Guildhouse and its grounds are considered private properties, and even in case of a suspected crime are not to be intruded by Policemen. Guilds can take in orphans and train them up in guild schools, giving them skills for a career for life. Some guilds may inevitably offer such a high-quality education that people pay for their children to be educated there.

Some of the people who will not be able to create a guild are murderers, traitors, rapists and other such people. The main work of the police force will thus soon mainly be to arrest the aformentioned people.
Oh, and mimes won't be able to create guilds, too. Because they're outlawed from today onwards.

That would be all for the time being. Thank you."

"This is...a most unusual justice system we have ever seen, though we do admit it seems like it would be effective."

"It may seem strange, but trust me that I have thought carefully about its pros and cons.

Another short announcement, while I'm at it: The current government will be changed slightly, and thue while a regent is in power, there will be a system of One Man, One Vote."
What did Vetinari not mention? He is the Man and he has the Vote.
Each guild would - obviously - have a head. These men or women would then be able to gather in the palace and give Vetinari advice, but ultimately, he could overrule them as he pleased.


OOC: Comments are appreciated. c:

OOC: Well, i've already given my IC comment...

But did you have to allow a Thieves' Guild, but ban Mimes? What are you playing at here...

A guild for thieves? That sounds more like an extortion ring, or a protection racket to me. I wonder if they’ll allow a guild with calamitous intent to exist? -Premier Medvedev

"Ultimately, you cannot end crime.
You can organise and tax it, however. And if guilds prove themselves to be detrimental to society, I do reserve the possibility of simply outlawing them."

"We do not see the "guilding" of criminals as a step in the right direction. Any criminal that does not want to be caught will avoid those, and white-collar thieves will likely exploit it to gain political leverage."

"Unlicensed thieves will have to stay hidden from other thieves, many of whom may or may not be better or smarter. If unlicensed thieves are caught, their punishment is entirely in the hands of the guild, ranging from imprisonment to ridding him of his hands with modern surgical procedures.
Regarding the policital leverage: As said before, the head of a guild will be able to try and advise me, having to contend against hundreds of other guild leaders. Each of whom has different interests.
And in the end, I do the decisions and can override those of the guilds if I feel like it.
Everything has been accounted for."

OOC: Why does these guilds remind me of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?

OOC: Because you've never read Terry Pratchett's Discworld books.

OOC: You're right, I never read them. Are they good?

OOC: They are excellent. All 31 of them.
Do read!

OOC: I read the first one. Are the plots of all of them that random?

OOC: 31 books?
Hm, I might check them out.

OOC: At first, they may seem random, but over time, it'll all make sense.


OOC: =3

Vetinari was sitting in his office, when suddenly, an idea manifested itself.
He took a pen and wrote down, 'Note to self: Found "Colonel Kraut's Bratwurst Bunker" fast food chain.'

A note to sceptics
A public announcement

"Several nations have criticized my choice to establish guilds in Bavaria.
Well, just as was planned by me, the guilds paid off quite well. Bavaria's industry and economy grew noticably in the last weeks and months since guilds were established. The Bavarian GDP is now 2,584,743,695,605 $ (two trillion, five hundred eighty-four billion, seven hundred fourty-three million, six hundred ninety-five thousand, six hundred and five), at an all-time high.
The GDP per Capita is 82,584.21, which makes the Bavarian people the richest in the world.

May this be sufficient to silence doubters."

"It seems that Bavaria forgot about the lightning bolt!"

Manfred Lahnstein noted, "We still have more to go. Lets just hope the world doesn't get pissed off we're making so much money." He'd chuckle. "I'm going to recommend the government take some of the newly generated taxes and begin to stockpile mineral and resource wealth to back our currency so its value remains unquestionable."

Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Leader of the Plumber's guild inhumed

This morning, the body of the Plumber's guild's leader, Markus Mario, has been discovered in his house, alongside a receipt of the Assassin's guild, showing that the inhumation of Mr. Mario cost whoever found that he had to be removed 782,816.65 Marks.
This is only one in over two dozen cases in the last month where the Assassin's guild sent a member to fulfill its contractual obligations after a price was put on the corresponding (and now inhumed) people.

Now, to the weather...

OOC: Would that Nario happen to look like this?

OOC: Possibly.

ooc: I had to pick plumbers as an occupation. Now we're getting visibly pun-nished.

OOC: Sure, whatever.
Now someone go comment on how atricious this is, legal murder and stuff. :V

OOC: Lynneth, that was friggin hilarious. As was your post, MV.

IC: "Assassin's guild? We were under the impression murderers would not be allowed to form their own guilds...and no semantics about how an assassin is trained to do this sort of job--it's still murder."

"Let it be noted that assassinations as carried out by the Assassins' guild are not murder. The official designation is 'Inhumation', which is entirely acceptable. We have a high moral standard. We stick to the rules of our Guild. Those rules include a prohibition of killing without a contract or fee. If you did, you would be a common murderer, not an Assassin. Those that break the rules of the guild are indeed common murderers.
We give one of the best educations you can have here in Bavaria, that is a fact. Many children of rich people and nobles attend our school, and even the Honourable Lord Vetinari has an education from us. (OOC: Guilds were made legal retroactively.)"
- Lord Downey, current Master of the Assassins' Guild

*Classified*

In light of Croatian aggression and war-production, Bavarian industry was notified that the country needs to gear up for war.
Additional divisions were sent to the border to set up defensive positions, while the current border guards were set to Defcon 3.
The forces in Koper were brought to Defcon 2, while the Bavarian Navy was set to Defcon 1.5, activating all anti-missile defenses and preparing for an enemy strike.

*Classified*

With Croatia having fallen unexpectedly, almost all forces were put back down to Defcon 4, while the Bavarian Navy would return to the harbours, former croatian vessels in tow.
Everything worked quite nicely to Vetinari's plans for Bavaria and its future, at least at the moment.

"And we note that despite our warning, part of your justification was indeed education and skill level. Suppose someone put a contract out on you yourself? It would be...interesting, to say the least, to see the leader of your nation be 'Inhumated,' or whatever the term would properly translate as."

OOC: I have to admit I look forward to seeing what kind of amusing repsonse you compose for that question...

"Well, in theory, the Guild could indeed take a contract on Lord Vetinari.
However, we do not accept contracts that destabilize the country to a point that will endanger the state and this guild. Lord Vetinari is a stabilizing force in Bavaria, making it possible for this country to grow and thrive.
As leader of the Assassins' guild, I thus simply cannot accept the - indirect - responsibility for his death and the subsequent destabilization of Bavaria.
And even if we did take contracts on him, it would be nigh impossible to pay. His head would likely be worth hundreds of millions, perhaps even more. Mostly because he has considerable skill in the evasion of assassination attempts."

And he was Downey's classmate back in the day.

"Oh, and the correct term would be 'Inhumed', not 'Inhumated'."
- Lord Downey, current Master of the Assassins' Guild

"Sounds like the saying, 'Honor among thieves,' though obviously you are more than that."

"The Thieves' guild has their own code of conduct, but...Yes, you could say that it is kind of like that.
And it works. Because those who fail to follow the rules will receive a freshly dug grave, sponsored by their friends in the guild."
Lord Downey, current Master of the Assassins' Guild

Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Munich
Today is a historic day in Bavaria, as the last non-fusion power plant is shut down, namely the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant, which until today was capable of producing 2 x 1344 Megawatt, resulting in an average annual generation of 20,091 Gigawatt-hours. It was able to supply Bavaria with roughly 10.5 % of the total power consumption, amounting to 21.8 Gigawatt or 191,342 Gigawatt-hours.
As of this day, the entirety of Bavaria, a hundred per cent, is being powered by nuclear fusion. The first Bavarian fusion reactor, as you may remember, was the BNFR, generating 1 GW - less than one of the Gundremmingen reactors. Three additional power plants have since been constructed, the first of which replaced the Isar nuclear power plant, generating 3 GW power. The second was built where the old Grafenrheinfeld power plant stood, and is now producing 6 GW. The last power plant now stands at Gundremmingen, the same place where the old nuclear plant has been shut down. This power plant is by far the biggest, producing more than all others together: 14 Gigawatt. In total, these power plants produce more than what currently is being consumed in Bavaria, and as such we'll gladly supply neighbouring nations, but also countries that are further in asia, with cheap power. If needed, further power plants will be built, and experts do say that Bavaria will soon become the supplier in Europe, enabling many nations to completely phase out fossil fuels and concentrate on renewable energy generation.

Some have also voiced their hope that Minister Lahnstein will issue a statement of his views about these incredible achievements.

OOC: Nobody cares about me anymore. ;_;

IC:

Bayrische Nachrichtenagentur (bna; Bavarian News Agency)

Munich
Apparently, yesterday several people tried to get an audience with Lord Vetinari, attempting to establish a 'terrorists' guild'. Completely ludicrous, obviously.
These people have been imprisoned due to wanting to destabilize Bavaria, thus amounting to treason. It is expected that they will be executed after standing trial before members of the Judges' guild.

In other news, a National Office for Environmental Protection (or NOEP) has been established. It is hoped that not only will this improve the Bavarian environment, but also, in the long run, make the lives of Bavarian citizens healthier and reduce the upkeep for older structures, such as cathedrals, due to less damaging emissions in the air.
Already, the NOEP has proposed replacing all gas-guzzling vehicles to be replaced with clean, electric variants, due to abundance of electrical energy in Bavaria. Additionally, restrictions on what kinds of filters factories must put onto their chimneys (or other vents through which exhausts or exhaust fumes leave the building) are being planned already. Reportedly, the aim of the NEOP is to make Bavaria not only one of the richest countries, but also the cleanest.


OOC: Built the NEO, have the lowest possible environment without rad cleanup, even without border walls, lols.