Hmm, Rhodesia I can get, Ulster not so much. How bout Biafra?
If (and it's a big if) this goes badly, I don't see it being anymore than a Galicia v Poland fight with Germany and Bohemia going in as peace keepers.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Hmm, Rhodesia I can get, Ulster not so much. How bout Biafra?
If (and it's a big if) this goes badly, I don't see it being anymore than a Galicia v Poland fight with Germany and Bohemia going in as peace keepers.
ferdi254
Banned
If a lot of settlers come from protestantic Prussia there is one more note in the conflict religion. IOTL until today the RCC has made it clear that protestants are in their eye not part of the only church (which is in their view of course the RCC) and in the sixties intermarriages were heavily frowned upon by both groups.
I wasn't thinking so much the specific economics as the "we are going to lose everything that we have built up, we can't trust the central government" strain of thinking. I don't really know enough about the Biafra conflict to make a meaningful comparison.
Now what put a thought like that into your head?
Typically when I start talking about NI in any way shape or form, you tend to show up like the Raven from the Poe poem....
From the Night's Plutonian Shore!Typically when I start talking about NI in any way shape or form, you tend to show up like the Raven from the Poe poem....
My vibe was that Warsaw starts over policing Galicia which from my (mis)understanding has a non Polish majority and there would unconstitutional acts by the Central Polish government.
I could see court challenges to the cancellation of the Galicia state elections that may be overturned by the Supreme German Empire Court (if there is such a thing) which would lead the Polish nation to leave the German Empire altogether.
That in turns would lead to the depopulated southern and eastern parts of Poland which is now being repopulated with non Polish immigrants choose to stay part of the German Empire which is rich instead of a rump Polish state that can't pay it bills without a handout from Berlin.
I could see court challenges to the cancellation of the Galicia state elections that may be overturned by the Supreme German Empire Court (if there is such a thing) which would lead the Polish nation to leave the German Empire altogether.
That in turns would lead to the depopulated southern and eastern parts of Poland which is now being repopulated with non Polish immigrants choose to stay part of the German Empire which is rich instead of a rump Polish state that can't pay it bills without a handout from Berlin.
Right, SEA didnt get its early dose of freedom this time around...
Part 103, Chapter 1665
Chapter One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-Five
5th December 1964
Tempelhof, Berlin
It played out exactly as Kat feared that it would.
When Louis Ferdinand had elevated her to be Fürstin he had basically made Berlin into one large, rich Principality with extremely varied interests. It seemed like all of those varied interests wanted something from her, frequently in contradictory ways. When she had been a teenager, Kat had joked about who she was going to be angering today. That wasn’t a joke anymore. While she hadn’t chased anyone off at gunpoint yet, she had needed to change the phone numbers for the lines going into her house and the Social Secretary that she had needed to hire was letting people know that meeting with her was by appointment only. The little detail that she had never actually made herself available for said appointments didn’t seem deter anybody.
That was also a reminder that she had needed to expand her household significantly. In addition to the cooks and housekeepers that she had already had, there was the previously mentioned Social Secretary, a mousy girl who looked like she had finished University last week. The fact that she obviously found Kat intimidating didn’t help matters. There was also a Driver and a personal security detail to contend with. All of which required that she buy a new car when she would have preferred to have kept using her old Volkswagen Föhn.
The Mercedes-Benz W189 that she now used felt more like a Panzer than a useful vehicle from the passenger seats and the Driver cleaned it out every day, so she felt like she couldn’t exactly call it her own. The saving grace was that the car had seized from the estate of Franz von Papen when it had been liquidated to pay back some of what he had stolen from the Hohenzollern Trust. Still, as the forensic accountants were figuring out, he must have been siphoning money out of the accounts for years before he was caught. That was the only way that the Board could have depleted the accounts to the extent that they had. Also, the efforts that they had engaged in once they were trying to cover their tracks had not been cheap.
Apparently, Kat now also had a great deal of property in Rhineland, Baden and Württemberg, which the Emperor had signed over to her to partially settle the loans that she had made to the House of Hohenzollern. Again, it was property that had belonged to former members of the Board of Trusties. Louis had said that he wanted to be seen as rewarding loyalty. The truth however was that the property was something of a white elephant because the heirs of those whose sticky fingers got them disposed and stripped of their titles had still been able to tie things up in litigation.
Now Kat was facing something that she was completely unprepared for, the Christmas Season and attendant Social Season.
The Postal Service had sent several bins of invitations for Fürstin von Mischner zu Berlin to her house and Kat had yet to look at any of it. The Social Secretary, Kat really did need to learn her name, said that she was sorting through it and would tell her which ones she could and couldn’t ignore. Kat already knew of a few events that she couldn’t blow off. Suse Rosa, her god daughter and Josefine Falk, Kat’s ward, were to be introduced to Berlin Society and the Imperial Court. Gerta was all abuzz about it while Suse seemed to be on the edge of flying into a rage at any given second because her of mother. The fact that Gerta had pressured Helene into getting Kat’s nephew Manfred to escort her seemed to have Suse particularly on edge. It was obvious to everyone that Gerta had high hopes that Manfred and Suse would be a good match and Suse was having none of it. That wasn’t helped by the stark contrast between Suse and Manfred, she was physically small while he towered over her.
According to Suse, all that had happened was that she had agreed to help Manfred with mathematics, a subject he struggled with. Gerta had read more into that then she should have. It wasn’t the first time that Gerta would have allowed a flight of fancy to get the better of her. Still, Gerta was good at reading people, so there might be more to it than Suse or Manfred were willing to admit to yet. Time would tell.
Then there was Jo. Kat hadn’t been able to tell her the whole truth about her mother, just that the investigation that she had conducted had concluded that Jo’s mother hadn’t committed suicide. What Kat hadn’t said was that she had made sure that those responsible had been dealt with. It was something that Jo was probably better off not knowing about. Kat had taken care of the guards from the prison while she had let Jarl handle his lieutenants. There were a lot of bodies that had piled up because of that matter and it was something that Jo shouldn’t have to live with.
All three of Kat’s own children would be home. It was the one part of the Holiday Season that she was looking forward to. While Tatiana and Malcolm were somewhat pulling away as was the nature of teenagers, the infectious enthusiasm for the holiday that Marie Alexandra had was something that not even Tatiana could resist.
5th December 1964
Tempelhof, Berlin
It played out exactly as Kat feared that it would.
When Louis Ferdinand had elevated her to be Fürstin he had basically made Berlin into one large, rich Principality with extremely varied interests. It seemed like all of those varied interests wanted something from her, frequently in contradictory ways. When she had been a teenager, Kat had joked about who she was going to be angering today. That wasn’t a joke anymore. While she hadn’t chased anyone off at gunpoint yet, she had needed to change the phone numbers for the lines going into her house and the Social Secretary that she had needed to hire was letting people know that meeting with her was by appointment only. The little detail that she had never actually made herself available for said appointments didn’t seem deter anybody.
That was also a reminder that she had needed to expand her household significantly. In addition to the cooks and housekeepers that she had already had, there was the previously mentioned Social Secretary, a mousy girl who looked like she had finished University last week. The fact that she obviously found Kat intimidating didn’t help matters. There was also a Driver and a personal security detail to contend with. All of which required that she buy a new car when she would have preferred to have kept using her old Volkswagen Föhn.
The Mercedes-Benz W189 that she now used felt more like a Panzer than a useful vehicle from the passenger seats and the Driver cleaned it out every day, so she felt like she couldn’t exactly call it her own. The saving grace was that the car had seized from the estate of Franz von Papen when it had been liquidated to pay back some of what he had stolen from the Hohenzollern Trust. Still, as the forensic accountants were figuring out, he must have been siphoning money out of the accounts for years before he was caught. That was the only way that the Board could have depleted the accounts to the extent that they had. Also, the efforts that they had engaged in once they were trying to cover their tracks had not been cheap.
Apparently, Kat now also had a great deal of property in Rhineland, Baden and Württemberg, which the Emperor had signed over to her to partially settle the loans that she had made to the House of Hohenzollern. Again, it was property that had belonged to former members of the Board of Trusties. Louis had said that he wanted to be seen as rewarding loyalty. The truth however was that the property was something of a white elephant because the heirs of those whose sticky fingers got them disposed and stripped of their titles had still been able to tie things up in litigation.
Now Kat was facing something that she was completely unprepared for, the Christmas Season and attendant Social Season.
The Postal Service had sent several bins of invitations for Fürstin von Mischner zu Berlin to her house and Kat had yet to look at any of it. The Social Secretary, Kat really did need to learn her name, said that she was sorting through it and would tell her which ones she could and couldn’t ignore. Kat already knew of a few events that she couldn’t blow off. Suse Rosa, her god daughter and Josefine Falk, Kat’s ward, were to be introduced to Berlin Society and the Imperial Court. Gerta was all abuzz about it while Suse seemed to be on the edge of flying into a rage at any given second because her of mother. The fact that Gerta had pressured Helene into getting Kat’s nephew Manfred to escort her seemed to have Suse particularly on edge. It was obvious to everyone that Gerta had high hopes that Manfred and Suse would be a good match and Suse was having none of it. That wasn’t helped by the stark contrast between Suse and Manfred, she was physically small while he towered over her.
According to Suse, all that had happened was that she had agreed to help Manfred with mathematics, a subject he struggled with. Gerta had read more into that then she should have. It wasn’t the first time that Gerta would have allowed a flight of fancy to get the better of her. Still, Gerta was good at reading people, so there might be more to it than Suse or Manfred were willing to admit to yet. Time would tell.
Then there was Jo. Kat hadn’t been able to tell her the whole truth about her mother, just that the investigation that she had conducted had concluded that Jo’s mother hadn’t committed suicide. What Kat hadn’t said was that she had made sure that those responsible had been dealt with. It was something that Jo was probably better off not knowing about. Kat had taken care of the guards from the prison while she had let Jarl handle his lieutenants. There were a lot of bodies that had piled up because of that matter and it was something that Jo shouldn’t have to live with.
All three of Kat’s own children would be home. It was the one part of the Holiday Season that she was looking forward to. While Tatiana and Malcolm were somewhat pulling away as was the nature of teenagers, the infectious enthusiasm for the holiday that Marie Alexandra had was something that not even Tatiana could resist.
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*Passes Kat a fresh set of knife sharpening stones and some oil*
I smell something rotten coming the Tigresses way.
I smell something rotten coming the Tigresses way.
I think Kat should back a series of festivals showcasing the various communities within Berlin; the Berliners, the Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Danes, Marianas, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, etc. But with an underlying theme that all of these communities coming together are what make Berlin, Berlin. Reminding the Powers-That-Be that she backs the Kaiser AND the People, not them.
You'd think that people would know by now that crossing swords with the Tigress usually ends poorly for the idiot daft enough to consider it. That said, there is always the normal, totally run of the mill, day-to-day crap that life throws in your face. Not to mention Stupid Luck & Happenstance.
Like Tatiana introducing a new boyfriend/girlfriend to her parents for the first time. At Christmas.
I would suspect that by now, Jack Kennedy's senior partners in Ireland will be doing everything they can to head off the moment when JFK decides to set up his own international practice. He will have made them very rich men on the basis of his client list, and his current engagement with Kat alone would be a solid enough basis for his own, very financially secure practice.
Being the man that led the forensic accountants will be enough to black ball him amongst a fair portion of the old Junkers, but those who remember their duty of loyalty to the Crown will be happy that if the Kaiser engaged him, then he's good enough for them.
The problem will be finding German and/or Irish lawyers, solicitors and barristers with a similar mind set and skill set to Jack.
Is the world ready for that?
Being the man that led the forensic accountants will be enough to black ball him amongst a fair portion of the old Junkers, but those who remember their duty of loyalty to the Crown will be happy that if the Kaiser engaged him, then he's good enough for them.
The problem will be finding German and/or Irish lawyers, solicitors and barristers with a similar mind set and skill set to Jack.
Is the world ready for that?
There is a saying about power and responsibility but I can't think of it right now, Kat should just leave the day to day running of Berlin to the politicians while letting them know without really saying it that she is the final word on what goes on.
I like the idea of having the various ethnic groups throwing festivals during the Christmas season as it will bring in the tourists in what is normally a dead time.
I am glad that Kat finally understands that she needed more help and unfortunately for her she is going to have to throw a couple of formal social events herself throughout the year.
I have been shipping Suse Rosa and Manfred ever since they were born just to see what kind of children they could have, but they will only get together when they are good and ready on their on time not on anybody's else's.
On the embezzlement, the reason that no one found out sooner was because as long as the scheduled disbursements were made on time there was no reason to suspect that anything was wrong and that allowed the looting of any liquid assets that were the main source of the cash that was coming in.
There is still all the entailed assets that wasn't allowed to be liquidated and still is producing some income but that is needed to rebuild the principle of the trust.
I like the idea of having the various ethnic groups throwing festivals during the Christmas season as it will bring in the tourists in what is normally a dead time.
I am glad that Kat finally understands that she needed more help and unfortunately for her she is going to have to throw a couple of formal social events herself throughout the year.
I have been shipping Suse Rosa and Manfred ever since they were born just to see what kind of children they could have, but they will only get together when they are good and ready on their on time not on anybody's else's.
On the embezzlement, the reason that no one found out sooner was because as long as the scheduled disbursements were made on time there was no reason to suspect that anything was wrong and that allowed the looting of any liquid assets that were the main source of the cash that was coming in.
There is still all the entailed assets that wasn't allowed to be liquidated and still is producing some income but that is needed to rebuild the principle of the trust.
I think the principal assets of the Trust are still intact, they just drained the vast majority of the operating accounts. The assets will keep generating income, but it will take time to rebuild the cash accounts. At least until or unless they can recover the stolen funds. The repossession of the lands of those trustees who embezzled the funds is a first step.
The whole process of the Kaiser repoing all those properties in a time when they are in the process of turning the palaces into museums is somewhat ironic given the historical context of feudalism and the subsequent urbanization.
Because, if seen in a very simplified manner, first the Kaiser granted land to his vassals in exchange for wealth to build the emperors residences in growing cities and now, it seems the Kaiser is giving away those residences in exchange for land.
Because, if seen in a very simplified manner, first the Kaiser granted land to his vassals in exchange for wealth to build the emperors residences in growing cities and now, it seems the Kaiser is giving away those residences in exchange for land.