Discussion thread - outbreak of WW1

My Frozen Spring TL is still proceeding, at its usual glacial pace, but I'm now reasonably sure of where I'm going up to the end of WW1. I would like however to get feedback on one issue.

There is going to be another General Election in the ATL, in 1914. The reasons for that should be fairly clear from the last couple of posts in the TL thread. The Lib-Lab coalition of 1913 is fragile and the Constitutional Convention has failed. The details of the failure and the consequences haven't been posted yet, but Asquith is left with no choice but to call yet another election. It is the timing of this election that gives me concern. I want events in Europe – the assassination, the political manoeuvrings, the mobilisations of various armies – to impinge on the election and vice versa, but I'm still looking for Britain to get involved, probably about 2-3 weeks later than OTL, although I haven't yet pinned down the precise timing.

I'm thinking that the greatest uncertainty for all concerned would be if the election was called for domestic reasons, after Sarajevo, with the result just before Germany moves into Belgium, so making the response to that invasion the first task of the new administration.


Any thoughts?
 
Getting elections called after Sarajevo is Imo problematical. Yes domestic reasons would be prevelant, but Britian would know that it is taking itself out of the actors in this crisis if it does that. The uncertainities of the next governament would do that...

But maybe you could use the pilling up differences to get the powers to talk first and that breaks down. If this happens and no British intervention has had happened jet, that may be enough. That the talk sink like a lead duck is clear as you want the war.

A question, how long was the normal period between calling and actual polling. A month seems rather short. But that may be the modern viewpoint.

Also the two or three week could break France. If they take serious losses in this time they could loose the nerves if Britian seems to sit it out with their internal problems pilling up, civil unrest and "unstable" govs.
 
At this time the period between the dissolution of Parliament and the election was 17 days. In practice therefore if the Government loses a critical vote, or if coalition partners pull out, the PM can ask the King to dissolve parliament, so the time between losing a vote and the election wouldn't be more than about 21 days. If it went on past that I think the opposition would force a no-confidence vote.

It would be possible for the King to ask the leader of the next largest block of MPs to try, (in this case actually a larger group) but this would be unlikely if he is advised to go for a dissolution, and anyway in this case Bonar Law has already said no only a few months earlier and the electoral arithmetic is exactly the same.

In OTL of course we had a change of government during the war, when the Lib-Conservative coalition fell apart, so it isn't unprecedented.

Timing is obviously critical. Just after Sarajevo, I doubt if any UK politician expected it to blow up as it actually happened. By the time of all the mobilisations, I think they would have tried quite hard to keep a government in place, but even so, I don't think an election would be utterly improbable.
 
Don't realy have a good idea for the timing.

But maybe get a conference going shortly after the 28. of June to clear things up. That could assure Britain that the things will be handled diplomaticaly.
Then the PM calls for a new vote to be done by the 25 to 28 of July. That Imo would stopp an imediate reaction of the British to the Start of WWI. They would be in the counting and or building of an alliance. So we could get the delay of two or three weeks.
Depends on the results and the dissenting Irish, Welsh and Scotish stances. But again, that could significantly change the first month of the war. And so bring a French tap out or worse situation that they see no chance in.

The source of dissolution of the conference again could be various things. AH demands, Serbian pride and German, French or Russian manouvers to gain in the diplomatic and or millitary arena.
Be aware however, that in OTL the Russians had to secretly start mobelizing bevore anyone else or they will lag behind in OTL. That could be the straw for the collapse as well.
 
I had forgotten that. I'm not sure what triggered the change or if there was primary legislation. I could build in the extra two weeks I think, or perhaps bring back the change to a single day from 1918 to this ATL election, perhaps on the basis that there is a major crisis going on and a stable government is needed quickly.
 

LordKalvert

Banned
There is a gap between the assassination on June 29 and the sending of the ultimatum on July 23. No one expected a crises until the note is sent, so the crises would break out in the middle of the vote- which would be interesting. Sort of like India's when Ghandhi is assassinated in the middle

If you want a one-day vote, the King could declare the results too abnormal and hold another vote on a single day
 
Conduct of Elections

Does anyone know the legal basis for the change from voting over several weeks to voting on a single day?
 
Found it - s21 of the Representation of the People Act 1918, which introduce almost universal male suffrage and votes for women over 30. Which means for an election to be held on a single day it would probably require primary legislation. I suppose that could be the last gasp of the dissolved parliament as an amendment to the equivalent act in force - 1884.
 
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