The Keystone

[Shave N Haircut]

German France was imploding

 

"Deutschland fur die Deutschen!" the crowd chanted and walked down the street, elsewhere in the group where the chant hadn't caught on they were singing "Deutschland Uber Alles." The German occupied territory had been almost entirely shut down with protests such as this. French Authorities had categorized the protests as nationalist in nature, rather accurately, and reacted by attempting to contain the chaos to peaceful protest.

 

The Occupation had gone well for years, French rule had brought a great deal of liberty to the German people, prosperity they hadn't enjoyed before, but the prestige of nearby Alvonia had finally begun to make them look away from France, and then become angry at being a part of it.

 

Protests abounded

 

The French legislature of the region promised reform, but none of it was satisfying. The people would take no less than autonomy, and in truth wished the right to merge back with a people who meshed better with their culture. Nothing out of the ordinary, as expected protests continued at a slightly slower pace than the days prior, the government were optomistic that they might collapse within the week, more realistically by the end of the month. But they rebounded back, full strength. Government buildings were almost entirely blocked off by the heated protest.

 

A Catalyst...

 

OOC:

[spoiler]So, Markus should read this, if anyone, so if y'all get ahold of him, let him know.[/spoiler]

Edited December 11, 2014 by Shave N Haircut

[Markus Wilding]

While we in Alvonia are always willing to assist fellow Germans, we must in this case ask for calm in French Germany and request those protesting to follow the proper channels in airing their grievances and hope that the Germans living in France will not resort to violence to make their opinions known. If a reasonable and legal solution can be found by the protesters to enforce their will, Alvonia will support it.

 

- Alvonian Foreign Ministry

[Shave N Haircut]

Encouraged, Protests continue...

 

"What are we supposed to do?" The Governor looked out the window and was rewarded with spiderweb-cracks at his window, this particular protest having gotten rather... rowdy one could say.

 

The aide he was speaking to moved to his side as he let the curtain fall over the window again, "Well sir, our police are clearly not sufficient for this and quite a few of them, being local, are quite loyal to the cause." he always spoke so proper, the Governor hated it, "The logical choice would be to call Orleans and have an Infantry Division moved in."

 

"That's insane." the Governor says simply, punctuating it with an exasperated, short wave of a hand, "They'd go insane."

 

There was a pounding at the door, "You might be running out of options at this point sir."

 

[hr]

Escalation

 

French Armored Personnel Carriers rolled into the area just outside the Saar, the French flags they flew being met with outrage almost as soon as they came onto the scene. The national flag wasn't used in the region, just the regional flag, as a nod by the French government that they respected the sovereignty of the people; the oversight by XVI Corps would be one they would quickly regret, the decidedly French troops, most of them not being able to speak German at all, quickly and harshly putting a stop to any hint of violence, though their efforts would be easily misconstrued...

 

Elsewhere, it wasn't as pretty.

 

The Troops were met with outright hostility in Karlsruhe, the city closest to Alvonia, the border actually passing through the city's outer edges. Troops were hailed with stones, bottles, anything the protesters had on hand as soon as they arrived, the vicious assault being met with chagrin by the soldiers. Their training kicked in, but they were woefully outnumbered, the protesters couldn't all be suppressed and every effort only made them that much more angry.

 

Later there would be many stories as to what happened. The one agreed to be the most reliable was the one told by the driver of one of the APCs, removed from the conflict by his relative safety, though he said he dearly wished to be capable of assistance.

 

"~We were completely, surrounded, a riot policeman's worst nightmare. You know, we expected them to keep on peacefully but it just didn't happen, we couldn't stop them, the guys became panicked and... shots rang out, I don't know where from, we weren't even supposed to have live ammunition in our weapons, just the standard riot stuff ya know? But someone had it somehow... That changed the atmosphere, most of the crowd left but there were some who took it very poorly and started attacking our guys."

 

Outrage

 

The German Occupied territory exploded, any sense of restraint brought by the Alvonian address was lost as calls for justice for three German citizens, fallen in Karlsruhe, abounded.

 

The Empress was finally roused, and announced that she planned to address the issue personally, urging restraint from all sides. The speech would occur the next day.

[Shave N Haircut]

Jeanne was ready.

3...
2...
1...
 

"People of France, Of German Alsace, I speak to you today not as your Empress, but as your peer. I know very well of what is happening in Alsace, and to a lesser degree Lorraine, and I wish you all to know that I share

 the concerns, and the pain of those who have lost people to the unfortunate conflict going on in these areas at the present time. I can say nothing that will return the deceased, a toll which has risen to 23 police, military, and civilians of the region, but I can say that I pledge to never allow such a thing again so long as I live.

"The Tragedy of the situation, as I see it, is that it was all perfectly avoidable. None of the things that led to this bloodshed and rioting were necessary, none of them were any but oversight and mismanagement, and for that I hold myself personally accountable. Solving this situation will take more than me, it will take all the people of France, of our German colleagues, to bridge the gap between our people, culturally, and cooperate to make something better than we could be individually.

"When I heard of the shooting in Karlsruhe I was absolutely shocked, appalled that troops I trusted, and that the people should be able to trust, would do such a dastardly thing, and I will personally see to it that a thorough investigation is made into who precisely is the one who began the tragic incident. I simply ask that the people of Alsace wait for a result, allow the police to do their job, protect the people, and allow the situation to be solved peacefully. I've began to speak with the Governor about changes to be made, the possibility of an autonomous state, and many more reforms. My only request is that the people return to their lives, knowing that they have succeeded in sending a strong message to my administration. I don't ask that the protests end, I know this to be a vain thing to think of, but I wish to remind everyone that violence will get us nowhere and can only lead to more violence. It is an uncontrollable spiral, and none of us want what happened to those 23 men and women already passed to happen to someone we know. I thank you all for your time tonight, Vive la liberte."

Edited December 7, 2014 by Shave N Haircut

[Shave N Haircut]

Cracks in the Picture

The death of the Empress affected the nation in a profound way. At first, everyone was united in mourning the Empress, flags were held at half mast, ceremonies would be held across the country, and the question of who would take her place weighed heavily on the minds of the people. The Prime Minister was ill suited to direct leadership, having been placed in a secondary position for over two decades.

 

The Empress' funeral was two days after her untimely demise, the casket open and her uniform still on, her sabre grasped in her hands over her chest as she was paraded through Orleans on the way to Paris, where she was to be interred in Les Invalides. The responsibility for the decision to leave it open casket is entirely unknown to the present day.

 

It is only known that the citizens of France took the sight of their beloved leader laid low, with so martial a bearing, as a sort of challenge. Opponents and proponents of her style of governance alike began to make plans.

Edited December 12, 2014 by Shave N Haircut

[Shave N Haircut]

Vive l'International!

 

In Brettagne and industrial centers nationwide, it didn't take long for the workers to be exploited after the Empress' death. She was a bastion against abuse, pay may not have been good but benefits were always high, until employers saw the opportunity to get their money back. Benefits began to become harder to get, complaints went unanswered by the Prime Minister as he had no means of solving the problem, having little respect from anyone and furthermore not knowing the methods that would be used to solve the issue anyways.

Old Ideologies resurfaced with the anger and charismatic figures came with them.

 

"With the Empress dead there's no one to advocate for us anymore!" the mysterious figure known only as Monsieur Delmont said in the center of Nantes to a large, growing crowd, "Why should we allow ourselves to be taken advantage of? Was it not the aspiration of the people for the last few centuries that the people would rise up and create a new state? Why not now? Why not here? Who's going to stop us from taking the power back? The Proletariat, us, have allowed ourselves to be taken advantage of, placated by paltry boons tailor made to keep us in poverty for too long! We've been fed lies to keep us trapped in greed, slitting the throat of our neighbors that we might be given a scrap more from the table!"

The crowd responded positively, as did the police who had been assigned to keep the gathering peaceful, "We should take what is ours back from the hands of those who would horde it for themselves. It is a time of weakness for them, the Empress protected them from us as much as she protected us from them, a tool of the status-quo! We cannot remain stagnant any longer, it's time that Capitalism saw its way out, we can learn from the Soviets, the Chinese, all who came before us and create a better system, a better world! Not only for us, but everyone, our children, our grandchildren! The only thing that stands in the way is them."

[Shave N Haircut]

In the Royal Palace there was a man whose stress was equaled by no other, and his name was Halefort, Prime Minister. He was confronted with issues he didn’t hardly understand or know what to do on. He was swamped, it seemed every decision he made was the wrong one, every compromise detrimental to the safety of the nation, and to make things worse, the Grand Mareshal was coming to his office in a few minutes, probably to discuss how much of a dismal failure he was, he took a deep breath and looked at the piles of paper in front of him. He wasn’t exactly making the best of impressions by the mess of his office either. It was strange, calling it his office. He’d always had a thing for the Empress though he’d never admit it, and hearing of her death, sitting where she’d sat, it all seemed unreal.

 

There was a knock at the door, and with no further ceremony Mareshal Arsenault entered the room, “Monsieur.” He said, addressing the Prime Minister as an equal still.

 

Halefort nodded and waved, “I assume you’re here to tell me what a terrible job I’m doing.”

 

Mareshal Arsenault looked at him and cocked his head a little, “Monsieur, I would never dream of telling you the job you’re doing is bad. However, you are not the man for the job you are doing, I will freely admit I am here to say.” He took a seat across from him and clasped his hands on the desk, “We’ve known each other for a long time Halefort, this isn’t your job, you’re better at making sure the machinery runs smoothly, not directing the flow of traffic. He smiled, “I think it would be best if you turned the nation over to me, I’m sure you suspect that’s what I’m here for regardless.”

 

“I would love to.” The Prime Minister said, “But what would that change? I think it’s too far gone now to save.” He continued bleakly, putting his face in his hands.

“It could prevent a conflict. Bloodshed is already on the rise but we can keep it from destroying the country if we simply act fast man!” the Mareshal said emphatically, “We can end this before it begins, I know what needs to be done, I’ve done this sort of work before, I can do it again. I was with Jeanne in her coup, I know how she did it and what it took for her to earn the respect of the people, you just need to-”

 

The Prime Minister’s phone began to ring, “Hello?...” The Prime Minister went suddenly pale, “Yes Mademoiselle de LaQueu, I can be ready in an hour. Yes. Vive la France.”

 

Mareshal Arsenault looked at him for a second, blinking a few times and clearing his throat nervously, “It’s not who I think it is, is it?”

 

“It is.”

[Shave N Haircut]

Totalitarianism, a how-to guide

 

Mareshal Rodger Sanicheau sat at his desk in Metz and considered the reports he was getting with frustration. The Prime Minister was impotent, he couldn’t manage the nation on his own if he was given an instruction manual and furthermore he was allowing fragmentation to a rather extreme degree while simultaneously making certain promises with certain groups to try and ensure that the situation wouldn’t get out of hand.

 

It was useless; the nation was going to fall into some manner of self-destructive governance or worse, fragment entirely if it was left to the man’s supervision. To make matters worse, if reports were true that Tanilee had ascended to the throne the ultra-catholic bitch would probably call down some manner of inquisition, it was little known that she was highly extreme in her views and he doubted she’d consulted anyone before she’d decided to leave her hole of a nunnery in favor of royalty.

 

French interests had to be protected over all others and now even the people were at stake. The great nation had been made subservient to foreign powers for too long, was now shackling itself to a League of Nations with no interests other than checking nations such as France.  Someone had to step up and Rodger Sanicheau was that man. He was popular, charismatic, competent, and had ideas that would speed France to the next age, back to the superpower it once was instead of a secondary power wallowing in the shadow of an East Asia who only cared so long as France toed its line. He had a great many loyal Corps, he could take the throne himself and stop it and crush anyone who would stand in the way of the glory of France.

[Shave N Haircut]

Of all the Regions of France the South was the most awash with political sentiment, but it was primarily moderate, as opposed to the more extremist views of the North, though except in Bretagne the opinions expressed weren’t necessarily the majority opinion. No, the South was a mottle of varying opinion, most of which were directed in the direction of allowing the people to decide for themselves what manner of governance they would have through a method of voting not dissimilar to that of the Republics that France is so familiar with.

 

Of course, the manner with which to implement that system and the political parties within were in disagreement, but that was something to be sorted out when the present crisis was over. It seemed that the wishes of the people were being entirely disregarded in the political center of the nation and the Powerful south wasn’t about to let their views go unheard.

 

The Republicans were led by many groups of course, but the most powerful of them were the French Democratic Résistance (FDR), which patterned itself off of the Résistance of World War II, tactically speaking, the more upfront Republican National Front (RNF) and the so called “Enfants de la Patrie,” (EdlP) the former being the most overall Moderate group to come out of the crisis and the other being a more extreme patriotic movement that stood more for the Glory of the Republic than the say of the people, and finally, the Snow Haven Separatist Movement (SHSM), which is at the same time the best supported and the worst liked group within the Republican Revolution as a whole, controlling almost all of Republican land East of Nevers.

[Shave N Haircut]

The former Queen of Snow Haven sat in her home in Switzerland with a newspaper and a cup of coffee. She shook her head and sighed, the events in France were getting far too out of control and it threatened to spill out over the borders at any moment. To make matters worse there was a whole group whose aim was to separate the lands she once ruled off again. That wouldn’t do of course but what was she to do? She would certainly be viewed as the legitimate ruler of such a nation, but while she wasn’t fooling anyone with her missing-persons act (It was well known that she just valued her privacy) no one had found her to offer her a throne.

 

Of course she thought she could do a better job than all of the present candidates to replace Jeanne. She’d grown up in a political nightmare of people attempting to steal her throne from her, she knew how to deal with dissidents just as well as she knew how to command the respect and loyalty of a wide base of people. The End of Snow Haven hadn’t been something she’d foreseen, but she’d handled the aftershocks rather well, as well as helping, behind the scenes, to reintegrate what had been Savoy into France after the disintegration of the aforementioned government.

 

She sighed once more and stood to look out her window at Geneva. She knew that there was a huge majority of people who wanted her to come back, an even larger portion wanted her to take command of the movement and the military infrastructure, if it could be called that. She wasn’t even opposed to the idea, but she had to wait for the right moment to come forth, if she did, or it would all fall apart when she announced her plan.