[OOC] Precipice of War - We Write Under The Sign Of The Goat

[Meiyuuhi]

Well ideally any conflict should not be finished between the announcement of and the actual invasion of an irrelevant thing.

@Dinh AaronMk

Methinks that you are taking me slightly too seriously.

[Pepperm1nts]

So it's recently come to my attention that several people have been bitching about my inactivity. These people aren't relying on me for anything so I wondered why and checked with someone. I found out it's basically people who don't even need me to post, bitching about me not posting because it suits them to use me as a scapegoat to justify their own laziness.

So I'll say it flatly like I told the person that briefed me on this:

I get that I'm slacking but I don't like this bullshit where people try to ride off of that to come up with their own excuses to not post, while throwing all the blame on me like a fucking scapegoat.

It's real fuckin' convenient to lay all the blame on me because I haven't posted in a long time, but it's also very, very annoying, and I feel needlessly worsens people's frustrations towards me by making them believe that my not posting is having widespread effects that are holding people back from doing their own thing, which is absolutely not the case, at least with these few people that have been bitching. No one is being held back by me not posting. Is it a bit silly? I guess. Should I post? Yeah, I should. But I am not holding anyone back, and I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop fucking pretending I am just because it suits you.

Thanks.

EDIT: I have been informed that "bitching" may not be the best word to describe the complaints, but since this somehow reached Googer, Vilage and Aaron, I have to assume the complaining is loud enough to be upsetting. Those three are already mad enough about my inactivity without people blaming me for their own lack of posts.

[The Grey Warden]

So, there's a war going on. What happened so far in the war? Could anyone give me a summary?

[Dinh AaronMk]

Ignoring Hugs post @Pepperm1nts because I talked with Vilage on this and we both settled on a way to both ignore it so I can ironically use "lol post fggt" but to keep Germany semi-relevant with Hugs-related things in mind, so in as far as it matters to the Triumverate the issue is settled. And we can probably keep Hugs about without so much "strain" as it were.

But going on to @The Grey Warden's post:

In-so-far the war's been this: Spain led by Alfonso Sotello is staunchly anti-Communist and they've put a lot of effort and time into keeping socialists and communists out of Europe. Their enemy-in-Africa - Ethiopia - has aligned itself with China since the assumption of Yaqob Yohannes, beginning a regime of drifting away from Europe and seeking allies in the Communist east, as opposed to the reign of the aloof - if pro-Europe because of it - elder brother: Sahle (who has now assumed a new identity and is now living underground as a jazz musician in Armenia).

Yaqob also received an education in China as an officer and has himself written an essay (or something) on Communism/socialist which sort of affirms his ideological stance. Spain tried to make an attempt on his life, but that failed.

Anyways, fast-forwarding through the background: Spain decided to invade Africa to clean out the Ethiopian regime as a long-term mission to try and isolate and dismantle the Chinese government which is seen as the source of all things revolutionary. The first "battle" was that at the Suez with the Spanish navy assaulting in force the meager Ethiopian garrison sent there to deal with Egyptian warlords who had been causing trouble in Ethiopian Sudan or something. The Ethiopians being undermanned and the Egyptian militias too unskilled and unarmed were not able to fight the Spanish. The Ethiopians tried to slow down or block the Spanish advancement by lodging the canal up with so much debris the Spanish effort would effectively be frozen in its tracks.

To the Spanish, who wanted a quick jab at Addis Ababa couldn't have this, and they broke through anyways. If the Ethiopians had been successful, then Spain would have to sail around the long-way to get their assets in position.

Following the battle of the Suez was the Battle of Mandeb which saw the total annihilation of the Ethiopian navy at the hands of the Spanish air force. After this is the now current Battle of Djibouti, which you can see what's going on by reading Gorgenmast and VilageidiotX's collab post. But in short: Ethiopia sets fire to Djibouti to trap the Spanish landing party and give them nothing to attack since the city is an inferno and they shelled them at the beach for part of the night. The Battle of Djibouti also marks the first engagement in which the Ethiopians had to deal with a jet, which was brought down by the swarming Ethiopian air force.

Something that probably isn't known to anyone besides Ethiopia, Spain, and China is that near the island of Socotra the Spanish and Chinese had a brief skirmish, making the first moment in which jet airplanes ever fought one another. This was to intercept a Spanish airplane deployed to shoot down the airplane carrying the Empress Azima, her son, her nephew, and the queen-mother out of the country for refuge in China. The Chinese got their late, but couldn't confirm if the Empress' plane had been shot down as much as the Spanish plane couldn't confirm. But the Spanish pilot was fatally wounded and died on his return to the Spanish armada and the Chinese jets had to make an emergency landing in Addis Ababa for refueling. One of the three sent was however forced to depart the battle early and crash-landed in Somalia - but that pilot is back and on his way to Addis.

So in so far: that's the skinny. The other factor to know behind the scenes is the possession of what's basically this RP's super-weapon by Spain: VX nerve gas. France I'm not aware would know the Spanish possess it and only a few international parties are aware. China and Ethiopia being the relevant ones in this conflict.

And Chinese involvement in this war isn't official yet.

[Vilageidiotx]

words

@Pepperm1nts

I don't think anybody is "mad" about you not posting. Like, we'd prefer you post, but it is a game after all and we aren't all freaked out about it. I mean, I don't think this is as personal or mean spirited as you think it is, and I'm sorry if I accidentally gave you that impression.

The first "battle" was that at the Suez with the Spanish navy assaulting in force the meager Ethiopian garrison sent there to deal with Egyptian warlords who had been causing trouble in Ethiopian Sudan or something. The Ethiopians being undermanned and the Egyptian militias too unskilled and unarmed were not able to fight the Spanish. The Ethiopians tried to slow down or block the Spanish advancement by lodging the canal up with so much debris the Spanish effort would effectively be frozen in its tracks.

To clarify, the Ethiopian contingent went to the Suez to confront Spain, not to deal with the Egyptian Warlords (who were not doing anything in Sudan). Egypt collapsed a couple of months ago in RP time along with the rest of the Ottoman Empire, so there was a contingent of Egyptians belonging to one of the post-collapse governments present at the Suez when the Ethiopians arrived. Those Egyptians saw what was going on as an invasion of their land, and got caught between the Spanish and Ethiopian forces as the battle commenced.

[Dinh AaronMk]

To clarify, the Ethiopian contingent went to the Suez to confront Spain, not to deal with the Egyptian Warlords (who were not doing anything in Sudan). Egypt collapsed a couple of months ago in RP time along with the rest of the Ottoman Empire, so there was a contingent of Egyptians belonging to one of the post-collapse governments present at the Suez when the Ethiopians arrived. Those Egyptians saw what was going on as an invasion of their land, and got caught between the Spanish and Ethiopian forces as the battle commenced.

@Vilageidiotx

Oh, whoops.

[Shyri]

War stuff.

@Dinh AaronMk

And Britain is using the Spanish attack on Ethiopia to retake South Africa, while they have nobody to come to their aid. So far there's been a battle in which they took the peninsula south of Cape Town, and now they're about to attack Cape Town itself. Once I stop playing Paradox games and taming dinosaurs long enough to finish my post, at least.

Much less important war, though.

[Dinh AaronMk]

<Snipped quote by Dinh AaronMk>
And Britain is using the Spanish attack on Ethiopia to retake South Africa, while they have nobody to come to their aid. So far there's been a battle in which they took the peninsula south of Cape Town, and now they're about to attack Cape Town itself. Once I stop playing Paradox games and taming dinosaurs long enough to finish my post, at least.

Much less important war, though.

@Shyri

Be careful of those mountains, they effectively funnel anything to having to go urban straight away.



I was worried you haven't noticed those exist since that post.

[The Grey Warden]

<Snipped quote by The Grey Warden>

Because Brazil's thing is militant anti-imperialism. And buying it is both the pansy way out and more expensive for a developing country than giving people guns and sending them in.

@Mihndar

You know what. Just take it as long as you don't officially declare war on France, I don't want to deal with Brazil and her allies while having issues for the Great War at the same time to deal with.

[Dinh AaronMk]

And so glorious France continues its position of colonial negligence.

[The Grey Warden]

And so glorious France continues its position of colonial negligence.

@Dinh AaronMk

Come on now, every country that had colonies had to neglect one of their colonies... Plus, I am going to tell the people that the government has given up the colony. I might give them independence just to see Brazil eat them up.

So, I found the wiki for this roleplay and I decided to not to change much for the original user (who made it). But, I did add and remove somethings that didn't made sense to me. And I fixed the errors on it.

---

FRANCE

"Liberté, égalité, fraternité"
Nation
France

Leader
President Benito Beaudoin

History
A month after the war, things got worst as people were now waiting in line for bread and the soldiers for the war were getting tired of it. It was getting worse that the women and the elderly had to work for poor wages as the casualties were high. People were disliking the government every week as they tried to make the country stable before the war. But, the Great War changed people as they never saw a war going on for years and with the high amount of casualties never seen before in any war.

When the announcement that the arts programs in schools were getting cut, a group of prominent poets and musicians
took over the administration building at Nanterre University. They held a meeting about class discrimination in French society and the political bureaucracy that controlled the university's funding. The university's administration soon called the police and demanded that the students get out of the building. As soon as the meeting ended, the students left the building without any trouble. This caused students to distrust the police and the administration at the university. After months of conflicts between students and authorities, the university was finally closed.

After hearing about the closing of Nanterre, students at the Sorbonne University met to protest against the closure. With the help for The Union Nationale des Étudiants de France (UNEF), the number of protesters grew to 20,000 as the police arrived. The high school student unions, then joined the protesters at the famous Arc de Triomphe to demand three things happen after the protest:

1) All criminal charges against arrested students, teachers, and supporters be dropped,
2) The police leave the universities,
3) And the authorities reopen them.

Government officials didn't like the list that much; but, a 'leak report' that the government reopened the universities surfaced. The students ended the protesting and returned to their schools. But, students at the universities were shocked that police were still there. When students tried to enter the universities, they were sent back by police forces and some were even arrested. They now had a near revolutionary fervor.

After the false reports surfaced, a massive protest was held at Rive Gauche. When the police again blocked them from crossing the river, the crowd threw up barricades and said that they weren't leaving the bridge. After hours of negotiations, the police attacked the crowd at 2:15 in the morning. The confrontation, which produced hundreds of arrests and injuries, lasted until dawn of the following day. The events were broadcast on radio as they occurred and the aftermath was shown on television the following day. Many people were upset at the police force for treating the people harshly.

The government's heavy-handed reaction brought on a wave of sympathy for the strikers as mainstream singers and poets joined after the heavy-handed police brutality came to light. Artists all over the word also began voicing support of the strikers. The major left union federations, the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) and the Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO), called a one-day general strike and demonstration. Then, over a million people marched through Paris on that day; the police stayed largely out of sight. The Prime Minister personally announced the release of the prisoners and the reopening of the university.

After the university reopened, students occupied it and declared it an autonomous "people's university". Public opinion supported the students' actions at the university. The police couldn't do anything without upsetting the people more, so the police was put on hold until they could retake the university.

While the students were protesting, the factory workers were tired of not getting enough money for their work. A group of them decided to do a sit-down strike at the Sud Aviation plant, the first factory to start the protest. This was the start as workers had occupied roughly fifty factories on the first day, and 200,000 were on strike by the next. That figure snowballed to two million workers on strike the following day and then ten million, or roughly two-thirds of the French workforce, on strike the following week.

The police tried to contain this spontaneous outbreak of militancy by channeling it into a struggle for higher wages and other economic demands. Workers put forward a broader, more political and more radical agenda, demanding the ousting of the government and the president attempting, in some cases, to run their factories. But, the demands were changed to fit the The Ministry of Social Affairs' deal, which increased the minimum wage by 25% and the average salaries by 10% to the workers. The deal was rejected, and the strike went on as the working class and top intellectuals were joining in solidarity for a major change in workers' rights.

With the massive numbers, a meeting of the UNEF, the most outstanding of the events, proceeded and gathered 30,000 to 50,000 people in the Stade Sebastien Charlety. The meeting was extremely militant with speakers demanding the government be overthrown and elections held. The parties demanded it as well, start with the Federation of the Democratic and Socialist Left declared that "there is no more state" and stated that they were ready to form a new government. A day after the meeting, the president suddenly disappears from the public eye. He had gone to Germany in order to get somewhere safe from his family, if the government was overthrown. As soon as his disappearance made headlines, the people were declaring that the president had left the country. Crowds were formed to celebrated the news and fireworks could be heard in Paris.

During the time of celebration, the government was in panic mode as they were removing classified information or planning out their escape. During that time, the Prime Minister took over and acted like the government during the chaos moments. He demanded that the military find the President and bring him to safely as he was afraid that he was kidnapped or worse. As soon as the President heard the news, he returned to France and told the people that he was in Germany doing something 'personal'. The people believed that he was planning his escape route if the revolution did break out.

After the President's speech, 400,000 to 500,000 protesters (many more than the 50,000 the police were expecting) led by the CGT met and marched through Paris, chanting that the President must leave. The head of the Paris' police force told the officers to not use force; however, his word didn't mean anything. The protest was largely centered around the Paris metropolitan area, and not elsewhere. Soon, they started to occupy a key public building in the heart of Paris: Les Invalides. They weren't doing anything harmful, but the government used military troops to force them out. Soon, it turned bloody as a soldier shot at one of them. Claiming that he was running towards him with something on his hand, even known people claimed that he just shot him for no reason. After the shot was fired, a couple more soldiers fired into the crowd out of fear until they were told to stop. Five died and three were wounded for gunshots at Les Invalides.

After the shooting, the people were getting ready to force the government to change in both a peaceful and harmful way. The revolution had begun due to the resulting casualties in the streets of Paris. The Socialist Party and French Communist Party gains public support quickly as the revolution starts in Paris and spreads all over France. The government and military are confused by the revolution as officials left the country or captured by the rebels. Two months of fighting between police and military forces and the people turned France into another war zone as towns were damaged and Paris was on fire.

This revolution would end with the president's death as he and his family were caught escaping a month and a half after the revolution started. The family was killed in the car, that they were escaping in, and the President was taken to an unknown location. Days later, camera filmed the execution of the President as a man waited for the President's last words to be said and then fired three bullets to the head. The revolution had ended. The parties had done well gaining the support needed for the elections in the coming months.

After the people voted, they founded out that the Socialist Party won the election as their president's name was called. The Communist Party was such that they would gain the next election; but, due to leadership changes and the fears of Communism later on would lower them. After the president was elected to office, he introduced several reforms and programs over his term and tried to improve his country. France would be improved until the Great Depression, which almost caused France to enter another revolution. But, the government was able to fix them before the fire could spread.

During that time, France improved relations by helping Britain restore their monarchy as they realized that their king was in France. After sending supplies to them, they became close friends and still are to this day. However, they had to give up almost all of their colonies in order to force back at home. Lost to rebellions or sold them to other countries, France was such to rebuild themselves and become once more a powerful nation in this world.

[Dinh AaronMk]

Ah yes, the Wiki.

Also I've seen your app. I'm just calling upon various relevant parties and being mildly distressed Vilage took this moment to snooze over Steam. I move on the voice of counsel.

[Pepperm1nts]

I don't know if the Franco-Prussian war is canon, but if it is I'm fine with it if no one else has a problem. The only thing that is definitely not canon about it is the CEL alliance shenanigans. Germany is kind of tricky because its old history is a mess, but I think we settled that it was split into two nations for a while, one of them named Prussia, and that they later united and became Germany again. So I don't know which nation France would have been fighting against.

Aside from that, I think the only thing to point out is that Fitzroy-France is non-canon. You can keep it if you want, I guess, but you don't have to. He was also a dude, but if you want to give him a sex-change that's probably fine too.

EDIT: Fitzroy-France is fine to keep as long as you exclude the invasions he did.

[Dinh AaronMk]

When we did the transitional Retcons I don't recall us ever saying CEL and such was noncanon. It may have been disregarded to simplify things, but we didn't necessarily abandon it totally.

And on checking the lore summaries the Swiss Debt War at least... And Germany was evidently divided as two Republics between the end of the war and the seventies when Frederick happened.

[Pepperm1nts]

I'm pretty sure we did throw out CEL and their war. It didn't make any sense, anyway. @Vilageidiotx?

[Vilageidiotx]

I believe CEL is kill. The lore summaries in the OP are the ultimate source of canon though.

[Vilageidiotx]

The one thing imma note about that app though is that the term "Fascist" is anachronistic. That's a term that Mussolini and his buddies came up with, and it is a very Italian reference to the Roman "Fasces" which was a symbol of government in Italy.

[The Grey Warden]

Okay, I kept the whole fascist government believing it was the Germans behind the attacks in. But, I made such that they didn't go to war with Germany/Prussia. Instead, another French Revolution happens and that government is overthrown.

[Dinh AaronMk]

I had to sit down with @Shyri and we came to the conclusion the 1920's is early for the anarchy stuff. Especially since through till 1925 was the era of the Great War. For the most part we felt that it would be safer for France's sake if they could acquire the resources to back the Crown by the 1950's.

Besides that, I am greatly disturbed by France's sudden economic growth post-war. Though it's not often talked about there was the same sort of international Great Depression that afflicted the war. But compounded by the lingering effects of post-war recession or depression. Simply put: the systems in America and such that instigated a global financial crises was compounded by the sudden and violent drop in demand for war-time resources and a further dip in the international economy when the markets are flooded with so much cheap shit; it can be said for that reason that there's a lot of Great War surplus now.

But off the bat from the war both I and Vilage are iffy on continued strong economic growth post-war. It was a violent affair that cost everyone a lot to simply manufacture for it. And with it also acting out such great damage of France itself it would have been worse there. So I'm going to have to request that to be revisited.

[Meiyuuhi]

<Snipped quote by Mihndar>

You know what. Just take it as long as you don't officially declare war on France, I don't want to deal with Brazil and her allies while having issues for the Great War at the same time to deal with.

@The Grey Warden

Brazil "and her allies"

Let's pretend I have some~

But who needs allies when you're an usurper great power?