Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg

[Strategos' Risk]

I would like to think of all sides of the 2ACW as having the potential of being equally good, or equally bad. The CSA is power to the people to end the economic crisis, or it is yet another revolutionary gov't that rejects the reform of Curtis or the constitutionality of Garner for the sake of bloodshed followed by Totalist takeover. The AUS is the chance to rebuild the Union as something both stronger and equitable along vaguely Bismarckian/Latin American caudillo lines buffered with economic security and social justice for all, or it is Long's despotate or Pelley's ethnostate. The U.S. is the legitimate elected government taking steps, like Lincoln before it, to fight secession, or it is not only MacArthur's unending emergency junta but also the means with which the plutocrats who were behind the inequality in the first place to continue a corrupt unjust establishment. (I like to think that one of the reasons federal U.S. would be unpalatable in KR is because the Business Plot industrialists are with them, not the radical AUS.) Both the PSA and New England are either the last localized bastions of liberal democracy and free enterprise taking refuge from a continental war zone, or they are the aforementioned wealthy elites fleeing from their nation to let it burn, while suckling at the teat of foreign imperialist monarchs. And Hawaii is either the restoration of a native-ruled order or a bunch of planter elites using a puppet royal while accepting aforementioned imperial aid.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

The AUS is the chance to rebuild the Union as something both stronger and equitable along vaguely Bismarckian/Latin American caudillo lines buffered with economic security and social justice for all, or it is Long's desperate or Pelley's ethnostate

should I mention that that Longs share the Wealth policies would have likely brought down the entire economy?

 

[Strategos' Risk]

Share the Wealth policies weren't even economically workable. The reforms that would get enacted would likely be heavily modified variants of the rhetoric.

 

[GDIS Pathe]

Share the Wealth policies weren't even economically workable. The reforms that would get enacted would likely be heavily modified variants of the rhetoric.

So you know the wealth caps wouldn't exists?

 

[Strategos' Risk]

S.O.W., like most panacea movements at the time, made for a great slogan but in practice would be very hard to enact and enforce. But once in power he could just do wealth redistribution through drastic tax brackets or something tired and true instead. It's just branding.

 

[HIM Dogson]

Potentially after finals.

Same here, though I will warn you I'm not that good. Probably do someone like Mexico who wouldn't have that much of an impact.

 

[LHB]

Same here, though I will warn you I'm not that good. Probably do someone like Mexico who wouldn't have that much of an impact.

Red Australasia is a good option for that as well since they're rather out of the way & facing the fringes of the Reichspakt.

 

[HIM Dogson]

So I've been quoting "Direct rule from X" so much that my mom said it the other day. This is the level of infiltration of KR memes we are on.

 

[Wayside]

So, I feel like I should try to get back into Kaiserreich after, like, one aborted attempt. With the most current version, what would you say is the best starter nation? Ideally socialist/syndicalist, because I just can't see myself playing La Plata.

 

[Worffan101]

So, I feel like I should try to get back into Kaiserreich after, like, one aborted attempt. With the most current version, what would you say is the best starter nation? Ideally socialist/syndicalist, because I just can't see myself playing La Plata.

Union of Britain, Commune of France, and Germany are pretty good. America is fun too.

Dominion of Canada and Russia are also fun but Russia is tricky to do and the democratic republic tree, while rewarding, is hard af.

 

[Godwin]

So, I feel like I should try to get back into Kaiserreich after, like, one aborted attempt. With the most current version, what would you say is the best starter nation? Ideally socialist/syndicalist, because I just can't see myself playing La Plata.

I'd start with an out of the way country with a simple focus tree so that you can get a general idea of the major events and which powers are to be taken seriously. I started with La Plata.

 

[A Piece of History]

Forgive me if I sound like a uneducated moron, but can someone please enlighten me on the differences between Communism and Syndicalism?

 

[Godwin]

Forgive me if I sound like a uneducated moron, but can someone please enlighten me on the differences between Communism and Syndicalism?

Syndicalism divides society into trade unions and uses those to effectively govern and make decisions. In general it is more decentralized. Communism is directed by a strong centralized government with the hopes of eventually dissolving the state entirely. Also syndicalism isn't derived from Marxism, but rejects it due to it's failure during the Russian Civil War.

There are more differences, but that's the gist of it.

 

[Worffan101]

Communism typically advocates for a planned, state-controlled economy, and syndicalism for labor unions replacing corporations, roughly. The latter is generally into things like workplace democracy and voting for your boss, the latter is more about communal ownership and state control.

 

[Worffan101]

Syndicalism divides society into trade unions and uses those to effectively govern and make decisions. In general it is more decentralized. Communism is directed by a strong centralized government with the hopes of eventually dissolving the state entirely. Also syndicalism isn't derived from Marxism, but rejects it due to it's failure during the Russian Civil War.

There are more differences, but that's the gist of it.

I'd argue that it is derived fundamentally from Marx's codification of the socialist PoV, but syndicalism in KR also takes a lot from Bakunin and from DeLeon. Straight anarcho-syndicalism is more like Y Glais in Britain, devolution of the state since power corrupts. KR's approach with the syndicalist parties is typically DeLeonist in most if not all aspects--workplace democracy, a central government to protect the workers but beholden to them, etc.

KR's socialist ideologies roughly cover this array:
Totalism: Everything from Nazbols/Commie Nazis through Stalin to Lenin and Tito. Sorellians are Commie Nazis, as is Mosley; Browder is Stalin, roughly, and as stated by @herkles Foster is something like Tito.
Syndicalism: DeLeonist/straight anarcho-syndicalist mashup. Like 'Murica if you replaced corporations with labor unions that own the factories, there's a reason the syndicalists are typically portrayed as the good guys, or at least A Lighter Shade Of Grey, and why the "We are all Americans" option when you take a city in ACW2: Electric Boogalaoo is always the more rewarding option except when you finally slog your way to the heart of Long's beast (and even then the "Slash and burn" option is clearly less rewarding)--Syndies are pretty chummy sorts and don't like Stalin very much.
Radsocs: Grab bag; some very anarchist-leaning anarcho-syndicalists, agrarian socialists, religious socialists, market socialists, etc. Gandhi, the CNT-FAI, Brazil, Socialist Iran, all those sorts.

 

[Godwin]

I'd argue that it is derived fundamentally from Marx's codification of the socialist PoV, but syndicalism in KR also takes a lot from Bakunin and from DeLeon. Straight anarcho-syndicalism is more like Y Glais in Britain, devolution of the state since power corrupts. KR's approach with the syndicalist parties is typically DeLeonist in most if not all aspects--workplace democracy, a central government to protect the workers but beholden to them, etc.

KR's socialist ideologies roughly cover this array:
Totalism: Everything from Nazbols/Commie Nazis through Stalin to Lenin and Tito. Sorellians are Commie Nazis, as is Mosley; Browder is Stalin, roughly, and as stated by @herkles Foster is something like Tito.
Syndicalism: DeLeonist/straight anarcho-syndicalist mashup. Like 'Murica if you replaced corporations with labor unions that own the factories, there's a reason the syndicalists are typically portrayed as the good guys, or at least A Lighter Shade Of Grey, and why the "We are all Americans" option when you take a city in ACW2: Electric Boogalaoo is always the more rewarding option except when you finally slog your way to the heart of Long's beast (and even then the "Slash and burn" option is clearly less rewarding)--Syndies are pretty chummy sorts and don't like Stalin very much.
Radsocs: Grab bag; some very anarchist-leaning anarcho-syndicalists, agrarian socialists, religious socialists, market socialists, etc. Gandhi, the CNT-FAI, Brazil, Socialist Iran, all those sorts.

That's sort of what I as trying to say. I personally don't have a high opinion of either, however I can see the argument for Syndicalism. It makes more sense to me than Marxist thought. My understanding of the ideology comes mostly from gameplay and the KR Wiki.

 

[Worffan101]

That's sort of what I as trying to say. I personally don't have a high opinion of either, however I can see the argument for Syndicalism. It makes more sense to me than Marxist thought. My understanding of the ideology comes mostly from gameplay and the KR Wiki.

The American syndicalists especially, if you follow the Unionist branch in the new tree, are pretty clearly going with DeLeonism, which was codified in 1902 as sort of a compromise between Marx and Bakunin. (This is before Lenin associated Marx so closely with Soviet-style planned economy models) The idea is basically, "America is great, but what if we had the workers run the economy rather than some rich fuck whose daddy made a lot of money in the stock market?"

I'd argue that since they're coming from the same position as Marx--that the system of capitalist exploitation so prevalent in late 19th/early 20th century Europe and America is bad, and that it needs to be overthrown in favor of a system run by the working class--and Marx really codified that stance in 1848, that to say that syndicalism is not derived from Marx's theories is incorrect.

I'd also argue that socialists spend way too much fucking time arguing over ideological minutiae and not enough trying to help create a new socialist system, but that's just me and my experiences with a bunch of my fellow undergrads who tried to make a commie club and spent half the time arguing over which minutely different ideology they thought was the best and the other half trying to ban the fraternities. So that lasted about 3 meetings.

 

[Wayside]

Okay, starting as the Union of Britain. I just finished up the 1936 TUC, and God help me, I'm doing this as the Totalists. Odds are that my first go will end horribly, seeing as how I freely admit that I don't know what I'm doing.

 

[dmg86]

that's half the fun.

 

[Yorel]

Odds are that my first go will end horribly, seeing as how I freely admit that I don't know what I'm doing.

That's generally how the first time goes in any Paradox game, whether you use a mod or not. At least if you don't start using cheat codes.

PDox games are basically based on trial and error in terms of learning. But even failing can be fun.