In His Own Right, Part III

[LacheyS]

The Treaty of Calcutta

Baron Chelmsford had succeeded the assassinated Lord Hardinge, and had still failed to end the rebellion in India. The cost had been too great, with loss of economic power compounded by the lost war in Persia and Afghanistan, as well as growing discomfort in the Dominions. Chelmsford had been appointed to negotiate with the Indians on a way to end the violence and grant Britain relief.

Among the negotiators on the other side stood Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who had regularly petitioned authorities to recognise the need for greater representation by the Indian people in local administration. He had spoken regularly to his Irish counterparts regarding a way forward and had even visited South Africa to speak to and guide the leader of the Indian nationals there, Mohandas Gandhi. With him came others. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an advocate of complete independence from Britain. Professor Dadabhai Naoroji was a former British MP. His assistant, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, was his most likely successor, a prominent Muslim from Sindh. Bipin Chandra Pal of Syhlet was a wealthy extremist who had staged boycotts of British goods and locked down British companies on the subcontinent. Lala Lajpat Rai represented the Indian trade union movement. Annie Besant was a British-born secularist, socialist and President of the Theosophical Society.

There was one point on which none of the negotiators would move. India wanted home rule and, without it, the rebellion would not only continue, but intensify. They laid out their plan for self-governance as follows:

1. There would be an independent Legislative Assembly governing all of India in Delhi, elected by universal suffrage, and a Legislative Council, consisting of half popularly-elected Indian members and half members appointed by the Emperor-King. It would have five year terms.

2. The Governor General would appoint Ministers from the Parliament, all of whom could be removed by the Parliament by majority vote, and one-third of all ministers must be Muslim.

3. There would be, wherever possible, parliamentary districts representing one religious community or another.

4. At provincial levels, the same conditions would apply, except that instead of appointing half of the members of provincial legislative councils, the Crown would only be entitled to appoint one fifth.

5. No bill affecting a particular community could become law unless it had the agreement of a majority of persons elected from those communities.

6. The British could maintain whatever apparatus they wished in India, but it would not have power over Indian affairs and would not be paid for by the Indian people.

Baron Chelmsford came back, offering to make agreement with the following changes:

1. All bills passed by the Indian Parliament would be referred to a Council of State, chaired by the Governor General, of which one quarter of the members would be Ministers elected by the Parliament. All members of the Council of State must be Indian or have lived in India for in excess of a decade.

2. The British would retain responsibility for the defence of India and the Indian Parliament would provide funds for that purpose.

3. The Legislative Council would be 55% elected, 45% appointed with a five year tenure. The Legislative Assembly would be 70% elected, 30% appointed with a three year tenure.

4. The Parliament could not remove Ministers.

5. Provincial parliaments would become unicameral and would be, like the Legislative Assembly, 70% elected and 30% appointed.

Early on in the negotiations, an agreement was reached on the construct of the new Indian Parliament. The Legislative Assembly (lower house) would have four year terms and would be 80% popularly elected, 20% appointed. The Legislative Council (upper house) would be half appointed, half elected and have a five-year term. There would be guaranteed seats not only for Muslim and Hindu, but also for Sikhs and Christians. It was also agreed that provincial parliaments would become unicameral, with a ratio of three quarters elected, one quarter appointed. It was agreed that the judiciary would be appointed by the Governor General but that he must listen to advice from the Parliament, though he was not obliged to take it, and that judges could only be recalled for proven misbehaviour or criminal activity. It was further agreed that the area of the new Dominion would include all territory under British administration, including Burma, the new areas taken from Persia and the remnants of what had once been Afghanistan.

However, the structure of the executive and military expenditure remained the sticking points. There were some among the negotiators who were never going to give ground; however, the majority did agree to a compromise. The Governor General would name a Secretary and Undersecretary for each portfolio of the Cabinet. The Secretary would be appointed by the Governor General and would not be subject to parliamentary oversight. The Undersecretary would be appointed by the Parliament and would be responsible for reporting on the Secretary's behaviour. The Secretary could be removed by the Governor General at his discretion on a plea from the Parliament, carried by a two-thirds majority in both Houses. One-third of all Secretaries would be of Indian nationality. Costs of defence would be met half by Britain, half by India.

The Treaty of Calcutta was signed on 25 May, 1914. The effective outcome was that it split the Indian resistance movement, allowing the British to effectively crush those who were unwilling to compromise. Bal Gangadhar Tilak returned to prison on charges of sedition, dying behind bars in 1917, aged sixty-one. Bipin Chandra Pal was imprisoned for seven years, before being exiled to Britain in 1921.

 

[LacheyS]

Here's the flag of the Dominion of India.

 

[eschaton]

Wouldn't the Dominion of India still include Burma at this time?

 

[LacheyS]

Wouldn't the Dominion of India still include Burma at this time?

Yep. "It was further agreed that the area of the new Dominion would include all territory under British administration, including Burma, the new areas taken from Persia and the remnants of what had once been Afghanistan."

 

[G.Bone]

Wow...the "new" flag for India looks.....

Doesn't keeping out the immigrants seem a subtraction to American industries? With everyone going elsewhere it seems that those states such as Australia and Canada {and S. America not under the thumb of the US} are profiting...

The bit about Central America does sort of raise some questions on Anti-American(isms) within those countries. Is it alive & well as OTL?

More importantly, is the concept of the "corporation" of OTL {i.e. "Visa", Coca-Cola} begun to rise because of the stronger relationship that the Republicans possess {is it still on going?} ITTL?

Also - you should really put this in the wiki....

 

[David bar Elias]

Not until 1926, but it is going to happen.

Did you like the new name for Pluto?

Yes I did.....

 

[LacheyS]

Wow...the "new" flag for India looks.....

Doesn't keeping out the immigrants seem a subtraction to American industries? With everyone going elsewhere it seems that those states such as Australia and Canada {and S. America not under the thumb of the US} are profiting...

The bit about Central America does sort of raise some questions on Anti-American(isms) within those countries. Is it alive & well as OTL?

More importantly, is the concept of the "corporation" of OTL {i.e. "Visa", Coca-Cola} begun to rise because of the stronger relationship that the Republicans possess {is it still on going?} ITTL?

Also - you should really put this in the wiki....

To explain the flag of India, it consists of the Union Jack, of course. The red represents the Hindu people and the green represents the Muslim people. The pattern of stars is the Sapta Rishi (seven great sages of Hindu astronomy), but we know it as the constellation Ursa Major. The crescent moon is another Muslim symbol.

There are still immigrants arriving, but they are "guest workers", not permanent immigrants. As a result of law, those permanent immigrants that are arriving are educated, prosperous and industrious. There just aren't enough low-cost workers to keep industry booming, which is why America is now in recession. The Eastern European immigrants of OTL are still stuck in Eastern Europe, as ALL Western countries in TTL are anti-immigrant. Do you recall I said in 1906 that Poland-Lithuania survived under an absolute monarchy for eight years? Guess what? It's now 1914 and Russia and Germany are gravely concerned about the instability of that country, fearing that it is about to explode. Wait for the next few posts and you will understand.

Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, in TTL, are doing extremely well. They are still suffering the recession, like everybody else, but they have a living standard comparable to that of Germany and France. Argentina has an economic size comparable to that of Canada or Belgium.

In Central America, there is suspicion of the United States (the Bolivarian Pact is still in place), however, they are giving Clark the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, Clark is being seen in the United States as a weak and somewhat incompetent leader. While he is earning the trust of those who have come to fear the United States, he is regarded as having neglected those he was elected to govern.

The concept of the corporation is very much under attack. The Republican Party had become a nationalistic party by this time (the strong corporate supporters, the Constitution Party, have support but it is waning). Now the Democrats have taken the anti-corporate agenda further with new environmental restrictions and company licensing requirements, driving up their costs even further. So, the Republicans want to make the large corporations part of the state appartus, while the Democrats want to break them up into small pieces and force competition. "Visa" was created in OTL by Citibank - in TTL, Citibank is still the Union Bank and mostly owned by the Federal Government.

I don't understand your reference to the wiki; could you please explain?

 

[G.Bone]

As in, putting it in the websites wikipedia, as shown in the tacked bit in the chat forum.

How's Australia coming along?

Brazil?

 

[LacheyS]

As in, putting it in the websites wikipedia, as shown in the tacked bit in the chat forum.

How's Australia coming along?

Brazil?

I will look into the wikipedia thing. I hadn't known about it.

The changes are coming through in Australia. I haven't referred to them yet because they hadn't begun to make a major difference to the timeline. Joseph Cook did not win the 1913 election. The governance remained in the hands of Andrew Fisher and his referenda got up, allowing an increased centralisation of the Australian federation. He will be forced to step down in October 1915, having served six years in the top job, due to destabilising efforts of William Morris Hughes. Without World War I, Hughes will struggle to maintain control due to his abrasive manner and will come close to losing the election of May, 1916. I don't know how close yet and whether the Commonwealth Liberal Party will get up. However, I do know that Hughes will be dumped after the election in favour of Frank Tudor.

In Brazil, they have a clear development lag. Incomes are low, a good 30% behind their nearest competitor and about one fifth the development of Argentina, who is top of the table. However, their sheer size (about 24 million people) means that they are the third largest economy. Recent US laws have also dampened demand for Brazilian coffee, sugar and cotton. The rubber market is in decline as well and, without World War I, British industrial imports will ensure the survival of the oligarchy. I predict that, by the early 1920's, Brazil will be in severe trouble.

 

[LacheyS]

The Demands on the Sublime Porte

For a government that was supposedly anti-expansionist in its doctrine, there were certainly a lot of demanding voices in the Porte wanting to expand. The fortunate element was that those demanding expansion all wanted to expand in different directions. The Armenians wanted conflict with Russia in order to liberate "their people". The Arabs wanted to march south and crush the Sultan of Nejd, Ibn Saud, and eliminate the "Wahhabee heretics".

However, there was agreement on one front. The Greek majority in Cyprus was conducting what could only be described as oppression of the Turk minority. The Greeks in Athens were demanding enosis, but the British, who managed the island, steadfastly refused to allow union with Greece. At the same time, the level of trust between London and Beirut was weak and Britain was concerned about the Porte's continued promotion of immigration to the island, which had pushed the Turkish population to about twenty percent of the total.

On the Greek side, those demanding enosis were divided. While all three groups agreed that the island should be granted in full to Greece, some wanted full political union, others wanted Cyprus to be an autonomous region of Greece and another group believed that Cyprus was not ready for self-rule and should be managed by Athens. The growing wealth of the Ottoman Empire combined with Greek distractions in Albania meant that Beirut was able to promote these divisions effectively and increase hostility among members of the Greek population.

Under international law, Cyprus remained part of the Ottoman Empire, even though it was, to all intents and purposes, under British rule. This further strengthened the claim of Beirut. In June, 1914, the Sublime Porte put its negotiating position on the table. It wanted Cyprus back under its rule. It was prepared to guarantee the British a 100-year lease on its military facilities and it was prepared to fund the repatriation of all Greeks who could not live under their rule.

To encourage acceptance of the terms by Greek Cypriots, there would be a eight member Federal Council of Cyprus, consisting of four Greeks and four Turks with a rotating chairmanship, as well as a local parliament elected by universal suffrage. The Council would approve be required to approve all legislation. The Cypriots would also elect delegates to the government in Beirut. Finally, if the Greeks or Turks believed a law to be unjust and were able to garner the signatures of 10% of the population against such a law, the legislation would need to be resubmitted to the Federal Council and passed by a three-quarters majority.

 

[LacheyS]

The Chancellor's Demands

Kaiser Wilhelm III had returned from his twelve-day visit to the United Kingdom and France and had much to tell Chancellor Friedrich Ebert. Firstly, he had seen the new British battleship, the King George V, with a displacement of nearly 25,000 tonnes. She was a majestic giant and Britain was willing to assist Germany by selling the design, along with the rights to build one of these vessels only, in Kiel.

Secondly, President Bourgeois of France was gravely concerned about the behaviour of Austria-Hungary in relation to Poland-Lithuania. In his opinion, their actions violated the terms of the Triple Alliance. The French anger at Austria was growing due to Austria's interference in the Cisalpine Kingdom and Aragon. It appeared as though Paris could not wait until 1917 to get out of its relationship with Vienna and the President had even suggested blatantly that the Triple Alliance should be scrapped earlier than planned, so that neither country was obliged to defend Austria's actions.

Discussions had been ongoing between the Russian Ambassador and the Chancellor for some months now. A common plan of action had been agreed and now it only required the Kaiser to sign off on the action. His Majesty agreed. On 5 July, 1914, a letter was dispatched to Warsaw and the Russian and German Ambassadors came to visit King Karol. He was advised that his neighbours could no longer tolerate his intransigence in failing to deal with the troublesome Josef Pilsudski. He had illegally dispatched arms into German cities to sponsor unrest by Germany's Polish minority. He had conspired to undermine the stability of the Polish-Lithuanian state and should be charged with high treason. Continued tolerance of his actions would result in a withdrawal of recognition of the borders of the Polish state and military action to ensure the stability and lawfulness of its citizens.

To assist with the process, Austria-Hungary would be advised that it must end, immediately, all contact with Pilsudski and his criminal gangs. Russian forces would be mobilised to the border to act in support of the loyal citizens of the Commonwealth and to assist in the removal of "dangerous criminal elements" should that become necessary. This would not be an annexation; it would be a removal of parties that were interested in seeing the legitimate government overthrow. As such, the British had agreed that it would not violate the independence of the state and would therefore not trigger any treaty they had with Warsaw to protect its sovereignty.

On 25 July, King Karol ordered the arrest of Josef Pilsudski and, minutes later, the King was taken into custody by his own armed forces. In a radio address, Pilsudski declared himself Commander in Chief of the Army and President of the Socialist Republic of Poland-Lithuania. In response, Prime Minister Trotsky of Russia and Chancellor Ebert of Germany stated that Pilsudski was not a socialist, but a radical nationalist who threatened the stability of Europe. They stated that contact had been made with Antanas Smetona, the leader of the Lithuanian faction of the National Democratic Party, and that he had requested Russian and German assistance to "liberate" his people. As such, Germany and Russia were now at war.

 

[LacheyS]

The Polish War and its Outcomes

By the time Russian artillery began hitting Warsaw on 29 July, the situation in Eastern Europe was already in chaos. Lithuania had declared itself independent earlier in the day. There were uprisings in West Galicia around the cities of Krakow, Lemberg, Tarnopol and Stanislau, as well as a number of other cities, putting the Austrians on high alert. As much as five percent of the Hapsburg Empire was in active revolt, calling on the Emperor to intervene and defend Poland against Russian and German assaults. In the Grand Duchy of Poznan, former Prussian collaborators had declared their support for Pilsudski and were firing on German troops.

The following day, Emperor Franz Joseph mobilised his armies, not to prevent Russia and Germany from activities in Poland, but to attempt to control his own population. In response, President Pilsudski called for a general uprising of all Polish people to "defend the homeland". He issued a declaration of independence for "Greater Poland", which included all the territory he currently held, as well as large chunks of his neighbouring countries. Kaiser Wilhelm III issued a statement that he would utterly crush all resistance. On 31 July, the New York and London Stock Exchanges closed to avoid panic buying and selling.

There were, however, those in Poland who suddenly found themselves without a friend. They were neither Polish nor Lithuanian. Many were Jewish and were as keen as possible to get out of the war zone. In the midst of the chaos came a champion for these people. On 4 August, Sultan Mehmed advised the German government that he was sending $5 million in gold to finance the evacuation of the Jewish population of Poland from the nearest available ports. He said that he would finance their transportation to Uhyun and that the monies would be transferred to a bank account in London within two days. The Kaiser, happy to assist his Ottoman ally, complied.

While there was no way to evacuate them all, over the course of the war some 350,000 Jewish people were evacuated. Ultimately, a percentage of those chose not to return to Poland after the war, boosting the Jewish population of the Ottoman Empire to 165,000. The boost led to the growth of Hebrew newspapers, literature and the establishment of a local governing council similar to that given to the Arabs, Kurds and Armenians. Much of the funding for the migration came from the migrants themselves as they purchased and refurbished the port cities of Haifa and Joppa, making them almost exclusively Jewish cities. (See Map of Uhyun below)

Meanwhile, back in Europe, the Kaiser was advising his citizens to evacuate the city of Posen, within his own borders, so that artillery could be brought to bear against the rebels within his own country. There was a cry of "Remember 1806", a reference to the Dabrowski-led uprising that had aided the liberation of Poland from Prussian occupation in that year. By month's end, the rebellion in Germany was out of the control of the Kaiser, who had lost the cities of Gratz, Wronke, Wongrowitz and Kosten to the rebels.

By 1 September, a little over a month into the war, there was no question that Pilsudski had gained ground. However, it was estimated that over a quarter of the Polish army had been killed in running battles with the Russians and the rebellions in Austria and Germany were slowly being dismembered. On the 4th, President Pilsudski was killed during an attack upon a base outside Warsaw. Within a week, the rebellion was dwindling and, on 14 September, Acting Prime Minister Roman Dmowski requested a ceasefire and surrendered unconditionally to Russia, Germany and Austria.

In the United States, multi-millionaire businessman Herbert Hoover established the International Commission for the Relief of Poland and travelled to Europe to convince the parties to allow delivery of food and relief from all countries and persons wishing to participate. In the end, his delivery of aid, valued at the time at $150 million, did much to rebuild and rejuvenate Poland from the horrors of the Pilsudski rebellion and the Polish War. In addition, it made Hoover a hero to many Europeans and Americans while the process of deciding the future of Poland would commence in a December conference in Berlin.

 

[SteveW]

All good stuff, couple of points strike me:

1. If there's large-scale Jewish emigration in this TL, there might be much larger Jewish populations in Scandinavia and Britain than OTL. At the Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, it says many Polish Jews headed to Denmark in the early 20th century.

2. If there's no war now, the effects on culture and going to be incredible. The Futurists might well be stronger, Wilfred Owen will never come to the fore, Alain Fournier, Saki and Trakl will survive (big butterflies in French, English and German literature). Even more oddly, you might get the potential of a nihilist grouping: many of the younger generation, such as Rilke, wanted a war, as a sort of new broom.

 

[G.Bone]

A smaller Isreal?

When did that come about?

Isn't this a catalyst for further future changes?

I do appreciate the details involving Germany, A-H, P-L, and Russia...it's a level of details that I couldn't really get in my TL (since it was from Germany's POV). It's very good...although I'm wanting more details about the nationalist drive in Poland and how they are different, seeing that Germany is kinder than OTL...

(P-L means Poland Lithuania)

The Ottomans look stable for now....

How much research do you do for each nation apart from the US?

Is it greater or lesser than the US?

 

[LacheyS]

All good stuff, couple of points strike me:

1. If there's large-scale Jewish emigration in this TL, there might be much larger Jewish populations in Scandinavia and Britain than OTL. At the Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, it says many Polish Jews headed to Denmark in the early 20th century.

2. If there's no war now, the effects on culture and going to be incredible. The Futurists might well be stronger, Wilfred Owen will never come to the fore, Alain Fournier, Saki and Trakl will survive (big butterflies in French, English and German literature). Even more oddly, you might get the potential of a nihilist grouping: many of the younger generation, such as Rilke, wanted a war, as a sort of new broom.

OK, there isn't any large-scale Jewish immigration before now, nor is there likely to be. The same restrictions apply to the Poles as they do to others. Unless you have money and education, forget about immigrating anywhere. The only reason why this happened is that the Ottomans had already established Uhyun, were keen to get the Brits onside to help with Cyprus and a future planned expansion into the Arabian peninsula and say this as an investment that would impress the British upper class in their favour.

The Futurists will begin their rise as a political party in the next few years and will gain large numbers of support, initially in the Cisalpine Kingdom, then moving into France and Aragon. You may even end up with Marinetti as a Prime Minister into the mid-1920's. As one of his weirder behaviours, he will seek to institute "The War Games" in which teams will fight on a pre-determined battlefield and the first team to spill blood wins. Sometimes those who are wounded will die; sometimes not. Eventually, it will become a tactic by the best players to get wounded but not killed while showing particular heroics, making them the "best players". (Displays of heroism, rather than victory, are the most important thing.) What do you reckon?

Any ideas what the aforementioned authors would write and how it might impact? I admit to no idea. Re Saki, any chance of him turning Reginald and Clovis into a gay couple to scandalise society; I don't know enough about the characters to know. I think Trakl will still die early.

 

[LacheyS]

A smaller Isreal?

When did that come about?

Isn't this a catalyst for further future changes?

I do appreciate the details involving Germany, A-H, P-L, and Russia...it's a level of details that I couldn't really get in my TL (since it was from Germany's POV). It's very good...although I'm wanting more details about the nationalist drive in Poland and how they are different, seeing that Germany is kinder than OTL...

(P-L means Poland Lithuania)

The Ottomans look stable for now....

How much research do you do for each nation apart from the US?

Is it greater or lesser than the US?

It isn't Israel; it's Uhyun. And it was a scheme cooked up by the Grand Vizier of the time to lure investment funds into the Ottoman Empire, one that worked a treat. The reason why it is smaller than OTL Israel is that Jews could only buy land within limited areas. However, they had to purchase from Arab owners. Thus, instead of being granted land, they have had to buy it, meaning some Arabs are making wads of money off land speculation. As to the future impact, I think that it is probably that eventually the Arabs will go their own way, but that Uhyun will remain loyal to the Porte. However, there will not be the current anger, as all land held in Jewish hands will be legally purchased and Jerusalem will be a matter of debate between the Orthodox and the Muslims, rather than the Jews.

Thanks for your comments. My approach to my timeline is this: I look at each year individually and see what were the major items of news in that year as they affected all the countries of the world. I then look at the political and social forces behind them and wonder how they would have impacted upon this altered world. I then rewrite the calendar for that year accordingly. I have a list of each of the modern day countries with an ongoing update as to population level, GDP and per capita income so that I can track what effect changes at an economic level will have and whether the economy might produce additional outcomes.

If the new events have an impact, or are likely to have an impact, particularly in relations with other countries, they get included in the posts. For example, in 1913 in Egypt, the position of Khedive was abolished with King George V becoming Emperor of Egypt. However, the role of Viceroy is restricted to the family of Mehemet Ali. Similarly, there was a revolt against Emperor Menelik II in Ethiopia. However, neither of those activities had an obvious affect on the timeline, so I didn't include them in my posts. Though the notes remain there in case it does have a future impact that I didn't foresee and I can refer back to them by saying something like "In 1913, Egypt had changed its form of governance from ..... to ..... and nobody could have foreseen the important effect that would have in 1927."

The Ottomans are VERY stable and increasingly wealthy - the only thing that can really challenge them is a search for Arab independence and I don't see that happening in the short term. I don't spend a lot of time working on the United States particularly. It is just that the United States played such a large part in 20th century history that it is going to continue to receive more attention than most.

 

[eschaton]

Yep. "It was further agreed that the area of the new Dominion would include all territory under British administration, including Burma, the new areas taken from Persia and the remnants of what had once been Afghanistan."

Doh! Bad reading on my part. I guess I had just wondered because your last entry mentioned Hindu, Muslim, and even Christian representation, but nothing about Buddhists.

 

[LacheyS]

Doh! Bad reading on my part. I guess I had just wondered because your last entry mentioned Hindu, Muslim, and even Christian representation, but nothing about Buddhists.

Ah, now I understand the confusion. Not mentioning Buddhism was clearly an oversight on my part. I will include it in the final draft. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[SteveW]

OK, there isn't any large-scale Jewish immigration before now, nor is there likely to be. The same restrictions apply to the Poles as they do to others. Unless you have money and education, forget about immigrating anywhere. The only reason why this happened is that the Ottomans had already established Uhyun, were keen to get the Brits onside to help with Cyprus and a future planned expansion into the Arabian peninsula and say this as an investment that would impress the British upper class in their favour.

The Futurists will begin their rise as a political party in the next few years and will gain large numbers of support, initially in the Cisalpine Kingdom, then moving into France and Aragon. You may even end up with Marinetti as a Prime Minister into the mid-1920's. As one of his weirder behaviours, he will seek to institute "The War Games" in which teams will fight on a pre-determined battlefield and the first team to spill blood wins. Sometimes those who are wounded will die; sometimes not. Eventually, it will become a tactic by the best players to get wounded but not killed while showing particular heroics, making them the "best players". (Displays of heroism, rather than victory, are the most important thing.) What do you reckon?

Any ideas what the aforementioned authors would write and how it might impact? I admit to no idea. Re Saki, any chance of him turning Reginald and Clovis into a gay couple to scandalise society; I don't know enough about the characters to know. I think Trakl will still die early.

Not too sure- Saki was not one for having his own sexuality pried into, so maybe not! However- as he grew older, he was increasingly anti-German. Could be a seam worth exploring. As for Trakl- I think you're right, incestuous coaine-addicted manic depressive poets don't last long...

 

[LacheyS]

The Conclave of 1914

The name had been called three times without response. The Cardinal Chamberlain, Francisco Salesio della Volpe, declared that there was a sede vacante - Pope Pius X was dead. The controversial and aggressive pontiff had made many enemies among liberals, modernists and socialists. He had antagonised governments in France, Portugal, Ireland, Britain, Russia and Ethiopia. He had persecuted and condemned the priesthood through espionage in the seminaries and use of the Sacrorum antistitum. Now, he was gone and many in Europe breathed a sigh of relief.

The question was now with whom to replace him. Representing the traditionalist faction that had provided the last pontiff was Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, Cardinal Secretary of State. On the side of the modernists was Giacomo Cardinal della Chiesa, Archbishop of Bologna. There was also the consideration of the existence of a Papal State to rule, the first time that had factored into decision making since 1861. That made the conclave look at Italians born within their new borders. In the first ballot, it is said that there were seven candidates.

While there is no definitive information as to the process which occurred, it is said that della Chiesa led the voting for most of the ballots. However, he continued to be opposed by Merry del Val and no party was able to get the required two-thirds vote. On the 11th ballot, the name of another rose and, on 4 September, the balance was tipped by the late arrivals of three cardinals, the Archbishops of Boston, Baltimore and Quebec, who threw their support behind the leading candidate to ensure a progressive pontiff. The bells of St Peters Basilica rang out as the white smoke appeared above the Sistine Chapel. The Dean of the College, Serafino Cardinal Vannutelli, emerged to declare "Annutio vobis gaudium magnum! Habemus Papam! The most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord, Lord Pietro,Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Gasparri, who takes to himself the name Gregory XVII".

During his years in office, driven by the vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917, Pope Gregory XVII will undertake a major reform of the Church to unify Rome with the Orthodox faith. He will continue to declare that the Pontiff is infallible when speaking "ex cathedra", but specifies that such declarations can only be made "in consilium". He will convince the Orthodox Churches to accept the use of unleavened bread. He will state, like Leo XIII, that the Bible can only be interpreted in the context of the world in which God gave it. He declares that the Bishopric of Rome, while "primus inter pares", is equal to the Bishoprics of Jerusalem, Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria.

However, the largest change will be a statement issued in June, 1918 which states:

"The confusions and schism that occurred within the Church in the latter centuries, we realise today, in now way affects or touches the substance of our faith, since they arose only because of difference in terminology and culture and in the various formulae adopted by different theological schools to express the same matter. Accordingly, we find today no real basis for the sad divisions and schisms that subsequently arose between us concering the doctrine of Incarnation. In words and life, we confess the true doctrine concerning Christ our Lord, notwithstanding the difference in interpretation of such a doctrine which arose at the time of the Council of Chalcedon."

In accordance with that statement, the Creed was altered for both Orthodox and Roman followers of Catholicism to express that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and through the Son".