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Budoucnost Marslava
Topic Started: Jan 4 2015, 10:14 AM (130 Views)
Alberto
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Resident Italian
Prague, in the evening

The Grand Duke did not sit on a throne for his audiences. This habit had long been foregone by the Marslavan dukes, and the throne was left to take dust. The new Marslava was this too.

Otokar Ist was the type of sovereign who rose too early to work. An austere person, he refrained from the luxury of other courts, and did not impose any kind of etiquette to his visitors. One visitor, his first minister and friend Vladislav Clementis, sat in front of him. He talked as a friend, and was concerned for the good of Marslava.

"Our state is based on a delicate balance between the parliament and the sovereign. The parliament expresses the will of the people and nominates the parliament, but the sovereign commands the state and wields the power to veto the acts of any state body - including the parliament.

The balance is a delicate one, which has worked until now. But will not work forever."

"I have done all to keep this balance, Vladislav. I have never interfered with the activities of Parliament" replied the Grand Duke. He saw where the Prime Minister was going, and this was to be an unpleasant conversations for both.

"This system has worked because you are moderate and wise. You have always respected the people's will, even when the communists won the elections. But your successor will surely not be as wise as you - he may want to come back to the old ways. And the old ways have brought us only instability, wars and defeats.

The only viable solution - and a part of you knows this all too well - is that Marslava becomes a full constitutional monarchy, where the sovereign acts only as garant of the constitutional system"

"Where he reigns but does not rule" commented the Grand Duke, with angst.

"Exactly" replied Vladislav "only under a parliamentary democracy can Marslava be stable. You have made the choice to let democracy work in our country and Marslava has never been more powerful and prosperous. But, as long as there will be no parliamentary supremacy, these conquests will be reversible and Marslava may be plunged back into chaos"

"Are you doubting of my judgement?" Otokar of the Premyslids now felt irritation. He had initiated a policy of moderation and openness toward the people that was contested by his family, despised by the aristocracy, and not appreciated by the parliament.

"No, but there are many who would gladly end the liberty enjoyed by our people. If you were to die now, you would be succeeded by your son under the regency of your wife, who is no lover of democracy. Even worse, the Slavniks may grab power - as may do the Podebrady, the Czernin, the von Lichnowski - and all of them (perhaps with the exception of the latter) are headed by people who hate all what the Parliament stands for"

"What do you advise me to do, Vladislav?" said the Grand Duke, full of dignitas. His irritation was gone: he understood his friend's position and saw the merits in it. But, still, he could not agree with it.

"Make a decree by which you renounce to your power of veto and the Parliament full control over the state's organs. Become the guarantor of the Constitution that you already are and bind your successors to maintain the liberty and prosperity of Marslava" concluded the Prime Minister "if you did this, you would be remembered as a truly great sovereign"

"You are asking me to foresake all the powers that I hold, and to endanger the future of the monarchy. This is something that I never agree to. Your sense of state always pushes you to exagerate, Vladislav" replied Otokar, the last sentence was ironical and was made with a smile.

The Prime Minister took a more serious expression "Otokar, for as long as will last the war against Austria, the Parliament and all political parties will stand united with you. But, once the war will be won, the Parliament will ask you formally to bind your successors to the constitution. My advice is that you precede them, and avert a possible reason for conflict"

At that point the conversation was interrupted by Maria Karageorgieva, the Grand-Duchess of Marslava. She had a hot temper, her blood always boiling with impatience. Along with her conservative ideas, this made her hate and despise the measured and liberal prime minister. On his side, Vladislav Clementis had always wondered why the moderate and calm Grand Duke had taken as wife a woman with such a hot blood.

Maria, with an imperious tone which was very different from her normally soothed voice, interrupted the Prime Minister as he was continuing.
"Retire Vladislav, my husband has not seen his family today"

The Prime Minister obeyed, leaving place to the anger of the Grand Duchess.

"You should not listen to that man" she said with indignation "you would be crazy to abandon all, to put in danger our dinasty for the sake of his stupid ideas. You are the sovereign of Marslava, and Marslava has been ruled by a Grand Duke since times immemorial... do not disrupt this rightful order of things"

"Do not give the state to the parliament, to these commoners! Once they will have the state, they will want to have a republic, and there will be nothing you - or we - can do. Think at our future, at me, at Dusan, at your future grandchildren"

The Grand Duchess made passionate case against reform, but she did not need to convince Otokar. On his side, the Grand Duke believed that the current regime as the ideal - and that Marslava needed to have a sovereign who could take things in his hand in case of emergency.

Yet, there were greater dangers toward the monarchy than the parliament's demands for reform. Other forces, that were kept dormant by a common enemy (Austria) and by Marslava's economic prosperity, lurked and waited for their moment.

Edited by Alberto, Jan 4 2015, 10:31 AM.
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Alberto
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Prague, the Ducal Palace

The Privy Council is the organ tasked with devising the country's overall policy. It is composed by the Grand Duke, the members of the government, by the leaders of the opposition parties, and by the commanders of Ducal Guard, the Army, the Air Force, the MSIS. Under the Marslavan Constitution, it is the Privy Council that takes over in time of emergency. That is but a consequence of the notion of Sacred Union (posvátný unie in Czech). And these were times of emergency.

General von Schwarzenberg, leader of the army, was exposing the situation in the Balkans. Bleak and hopeless. Austria had won in all fronts. Bosnia and Croatia were under its heel, and Serbia had fallen. A popular rebellion was reportedly under way in northern Bosnia, in the surroundings of Banja Luka. However, it was difficult to establish exactly its success.

- On the other hand – stated General von Schwarzenberg – we have reports on the internal situation in Austria, which is more and more worrying. I will now leave the floor to Colonel Heker of the MSIS. - A short man, whose civilian clothes contrasted with the general's many decorations got up.

- We are seeing an interesting situation in the Balkans – he started off, cynically – Austria has pacified a majority of the Balkans, but yet the killings have not subsided. Quite on the contrary, they have increased. This month, we have seen a spike of deportations. Our planes have photographed large swathes of Vojvodina that have been emptied -

- Where have they been deported ? - Asked a minister

- Work camps, mainly located in Bosnia, where they are used in exhausting and dangerous work. But more importantly – he continued - the Austrian Empire is experiencing a transition. From an aristocratic empire, it is quickly transforming itself in a totalitarian state. The rise of the Adlerites, the reinforcement of a political police, the killings, all point towards a more aggressive enemy -

- What do you think can be done about it? - asked the Grand Duke to Lord Slavnik, his foreign minister. Very little, or nothing, he thought in the meantime.

- We are evaluating all possibilities right now – answered the foreign minister – action must be undertaken through ICON and on our own. I am very skeptical about the inquiry commission sent to investigate in Croatia -

- Our sources – interrupted Colonel Heker – indicate collusion between the Austrian and the Baltic German members of that commission -

- There is however - Lord Slavnik – an ICON international court, and an office of a special prosecutor for this type of crimes. We could try to activate this procedure, and bring Austria before the international high court. As of now, our jurists are seeing whether Austria would be under those bodies' jurisdiction -

- I am skeptical – replied the Grand Duke – as far as I know Austria has accepted no third party dispute settlement... -

- There is another thing – added Lord Slavnik – Poland. We should get our hand over its resources and its manpower before somebody else does – Vladislav Clementis, the Prime Minister, looked at him with disapproval.

Poland.... annexing Poland is the obsession of Marslavan nationalists. Let's annex Poland they said, let's help our Slavic brothers, unify them and destroy the German barbarians....

Brno, in the evening

A small group of revolutionaries had gathered in a modest flat in Brno's outskirts. They all sat around an old man, a ill, resolute and heartless revolutionary.

- The Austrian disease has crossed over here – said the old man. The patch he wore on his left eye made him recognizable to all. He was Rudolf Slansky, the head of the most extremist facion of Marslava's Communist Party. To his disciples, he was known as the Grandfather of our Revolution.
- This state of exception under which we have been living has undermined this whole democracy – in pronouncing that word he made a grimace of disgust – notice that more and more power has gone to the Privy Council, that the Parliament has not gathered since four months, and no one seems to bother-

- Marslavans are talking less and less of democracy and more and more of slavic brotherhood and war – continued the old man – and this is a good thing. It means that they are ready for our revolution, we just have to give an initial shock. This regime has become as weak as Austria's government at the time when the Habsburg have taken power -

And then the man grinned. He pictured this shock in his min; he felt that it was inevitable. Pavel, he said, approaching one of his disciples – How is our plan unfolding?-

Pavel raised his head. He was a studious, serious and tedious young man, who took pride in his precision. Of all of Grandfather's disciples he wast the most trusted.

- Parsifal is well – he replied – soon he will be ready to take on the Holy Grail -
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Alberto
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Parsifal, a beautiful nickname for a poor sod.

Parsifal is Vitus, a twenty years something loner. He came from a poor background, received very little education, was engaged very early in petty thefts and other crimes. Arrested few times, he had always been released - he was not considered dangerous enough. He was a short, stocked type, with a large front and good-natured eyes.

Yet, Parsifal, or Vitus, had found during the last year a reason to live for. The "Dom", the house. The House was his new family, a group of militants who fought for the Greater Marslava. They believed in Slavic unity, and that Marslava was for the Slavs only. The Dom advocated the expulsion of all Marslavan citizens of German ethnicity, and the immediate invasion of Austria.

The Dom longed for war and saw the Grand Duke's policy of restraint as cowardice. Through its cowardice, the governmenthad lost the war in the Balkans - without not even fighting it! The nationalist militants thought with anger at the recent events - if only they could finally fight, and destroy the German ogre!

Vitus was particularly vehement and passionate. He was the first to come to the circle and the last to leave it. Militancy had brought order in his life: he had stopped with crime and had found a proper job. He had done so because the head of the Dom had ordered him to do so. Pavel, the head of the Dom, had taken him in sympathy.

Pavel was a silent and stern man, but he looked out for the militants. He was with them when they left out in the night to deliver the "Panslavist political gospel" (which often resulted in beatings of communist, liberal, social-democrat activists). He also took care of them by giving them an education. Every day, the militants were to read and to understand the writings of Masaryk, Herlitzka, Gradev, and other great patriotic writers.

Whereas Vitus/Parsifal read them diligently, what he favoured was the military training he received. Pavel had seen his potential and had taken him in sympathy. And trained him personally - beyond the military training that all members of Dom received, he trained Parsifal in sharpshooting. Parsifal/Vitus had a special mission.

And he was ready to give his life in order to accomplish it.

Austro-Marslavan Border

Everyday someone tried to run from Austria to Marslava. Those who tried were usually slavs, poor people who had lost everything during the war or feared the Austrian army's reprisals. They were mostly apolitical. In some cases, families of gypsies tried to cross. Others were communists, and there were also homosexual who fled the death camps.

They very rarely succeed. And not because Marslava repelled them, but rather because the Austrians shot them while trying. According to certain voices, the Austrian RSD had infiltrated the smugglers' networks which "helped" those desperate individuals to cross. Other voices went as far as arguing that the Austrian RSD itself attracted people who might wish to flee and organize their flight - so that they could capture and execute them more easily.

Nearly every night, from the Austrian side, one could hear the noise of gunshots and explosions (the Austrian side of the border was mined). The noise was heard not only by soldiers at the border but also by the towns' households.... usual Marslavans who gathered after a day of work to eat supper and heard these noises of death.

This night was particularly noisy. And the gunshots were very close, spelling that someone had got far in his flight. Then, all stopped, and silence fell again. Was it because the runner had made it to Marslava or because the Austrians had killed their target?
Edited by Alberto, Dec 5 2015, 05:13 AM.
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