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The Directory meets
Five men and a few selected top officials sat in a dimly lit room. Five men of which each controlled an aspect of the far-flung but fragile empire, each of them was comparable to a king in power, each of them was determined to pursue their own agenda. After the fall of Robespierre and the defeat of in the war of Ottoman Agression, the Directory had been changed. It’s role was expanded while the representatives of the National Assembly lost much of their influence. This centralization of power did not, however, result in the death of the representative system, as the men spoke their words where written down and as the meeting began a silent representative of the assembly followed by a constitutional Judge entered the room. The two represented the law, a thing the French took very seriously. But even if this had not been the case it is entirely logical that the Judicial and Legislative branch would demanded the right to keep tabs on the now much more powerful executive one.
In theory, each of the five directors was an expert on his field, “the best man for the job”. The practice, as is often in idealistic systems, was different, they where primarily powerful politicians, but despite this, the minimal standard of expertise needed, and the ethos of technocratic thought which existed in France was what many believed was the central part of the nations progress during that time.
Utilitarianism, developed by the philospher, political economist and member of the National Assembly very John Stewart Mill, was very a very popular concept and was held in great regard. Individualism seemed to have found another counterpart who could counteract its many potential flaws, the old adversary of tyranny seemed outdated and foolish compared to the concern for the “greater good” that permeated France. A rule of experts existed in theory, what we would from today’s perspective called technocracy tempered by popular representation. The governor of the bank of France, who was also, quite unusually the finance minister, began to speak:
-“In past years we have achieved financial stability despite the vast shipments of gold we have had to deliver to other nations. The gold sufficit left by Robespierre has proved to be very useful in making profitable investments. The construction of the Versailles palace in New France has been paid, as have several other trades… the growth of the economy combined with several reductions in bureaucratic expenses has allowed us to breathe more easily in past years. However, despite favorable market conditions, growth has been sluggish. Also, the rate of inflation has after a brief drop due to reduced government expenditure, begun to rise once more, it is in containable levels but we need to keep an eye on it. There is a very real possibility of a economic crisis if we do not see very good economic growth or some reduced… how shall I put this?…. Add to this the scale of some of the recent attacks…Well, suffice it to say that I fear that some of my esteemed colleagues have begun to spend our funds far too liberally. We are living beyond our means, if this continues France will have to go into debt once more…”
He was interrupted by the minister of defense general Ferdinand Foch, an older with a white mustache:
-“Sir do tell us of what use is coin if it is not spent? Especially if it is spent in order to prevent further such atrocities. ”
His pricing blue eyes seemed to deliver a layer of subtext to the Governor
The chairman took a handkerchief to wipe the drops of sweat on his forehead:
-”Northern France can be so frightfully hot this time of year, can we get some of those electric powered fans I have observed being unpacked in the upper floors down here? Now I would remind….
The minister of sciences and arts, know by his secondary title of provost, couldn’t help himself but to speak out of turn: -”Ah yes, the high humidity and temperature are to be expected chairman, this peninsula was in its natural state, covered by jungle after all… as to the electric fans, this city has not yet been electrified, since there are no nearby rivers or windy areas the fans will have to wait until the construction of a power plant to become more than a case of government inefficiency. I am always surprised by such “bright ideas”, bureaucrats seem to be devoid of logic.”
The governor seemed slightly disoriented by the interruptions:-”Yes off course, such inefficiencies are most regrettable. And yes capital not being invested is dead capital, but to quote a renowned Russian economist: “You can not plow fields with canon.” Anything that is invested into the military is lost to the economy.”
As Foch was about to retort, the minister of development and colonial affairs spoke: -“If I may, I am certain we can continue this discussion… once I have given my report. Now all of you have received my full 700 page report, I will only summaries it here to save us all some time. We, the directory have been successful, in organizing the construction of many private and state owned factories in practically all of our cities. This combined with the repairs to the levees that sustained damage during the war, the construction of railroads and even the beginnings of slow electrification means that our dear homeland has industrialized, I have read from some reports that the majority of the population are no longer farmers but factory workers. Our colonies have seen some moderate development, and may in the coming years undergo the same process, albeit much more slowly. It is regrettable that we must spend this on defense when we are very much in need of development.”
General Foch took the opportunity to speak: -“You must admit, military contractors have been a key part of developing the infrastructure from the very beginning. We now have at our disposal the greatest military-industrial complex this nation has ever seen. ”
-”Contractors have their drawbacks.” said the bank governor ” just look at the Sid’s Sushi corporation. Sure its support will be profitable once the government has the chance to sell some its stocks on the stock exchange, which may I remind you is one of the many financial projects that have run into trouble and are overdue. But it als…
-”I tought more of Meier when he was a board game designer.” said the minister of defense. ”I prefer local companies in operating in each city independently. These corporations are a liability if you ask me, we need to keep them supplied with plentiful and cheap resource to prevent them from causing more damage with their monopolistic practices than they do good. Protecting our hold over these resources will become harder and harder. And since our nation is facing a grave military threat at the moment we can’t really guarantee this.
The governor said: ”As sure as I am General that you prefer smaller state dependant companies that need the government to coordinate them to produce arms you must see that the intermitting of the state with such companies could result in much the same organizational problems that are presented by corporations… but I am not really here to talk about that. I would like to hear what military intelligence has come up with regarding the terrorist attacks. They have in combination with sabotages and financial warfare destroyed five towns and several improvements. My initial estimate is that it has cost us well over 100 gpt in income! These acts can’t be allowed to continue, if they are we may be in deep trouble by the end of the year.”
-”Not only that but a supply fleet has been sunk by pirates off our coast. Its loss is a big blow to the colonies. Colonies, that, as some have pointed out, are vital to keep us supplied with resources our economy needs.” Said the minister of colonial affairs and development.
The defense minister spoke quietly with the foreign relations minister, then turned around and said: “Very well, my ministry has worked closely with the foreign ministry which is directly subservient to all of us in the Directory. So you know that I can not even if I wanted to, misrepresent our situation in any way. I also want to remind you that you approved partial military mobilization of our industry immediately after these attacks not on my advice, but on that of the foreign minister who had reason to belive France was perceived as weak. More frightfully the number of our hired privateers, which serve as our eyes and ears on the seas of the world, have been revealed by Holland. This combined with pirate attacks on our shipping and terrorist attacks on our homeland, as well as the dozens of turns long military build up of the Ottoman Emprie, leads us to believe they are planning an invasion. Our nation faces a repeat of the First Ottoman war of agression.”
The room feel completely silent for several long minutes.
-”Can we defend ourselves? Are our navy and army strong enough?” asked the minister of development
-“I don’t know. Ottoman forces have always been considerable and ever since the last war in which they attacked us, the Dutch government has been supplying arms to them in ever greater quantities. Our best intelligence points to the deliver of more than 5 destroyers in just the last 10 turns.”
-“Mon Dieu! Do we have enough gold to upgrade our ships in a hurry?”
-“No more than two, maybe three.”
-“That’s not all, they have more modern infantry than us and….”
-“Their technology is superior. Gentlemen don’t be fooled by the recent marvelous improvements in areas like Medicine and Physics French science has made, we do not have advanced weapons technology. We are being outpaced by all the other Eastern nations. We need to divert more funds to research into fields that could potential provide us with better weapons.” the Provoset surprised by the sudden attention he commanded continued ”May I also remind you that much of the more advanced technology relies on a steady supply of oil. Which we are currently importing at a high price from Mongolia. All the Mongols need to do is decide they need the oil for their own security or that they would prefer us not having it and close the tap then our position becomes very precarius. Some of you have read the global geological survey that I, the general and our chief diplomat commissioned. As you know Holland has received an oil well from the Ottomans. In exchange they are likely providing them with the advanced arms shipments the general noted intelligence indicates. It does not take a genius to see that we may be faced with a invasion from two fronts.”
-The provost is quite right. I propose that we fully mobilize our economy for war. We must vote on this... Now.
After merely an hour’s recess for deliberations, they met again, with one vote they changed the course of a nation. A state which had previously produced only a few defensive units, became in a matter of months the largest producer of military hardware on the face of Terra. This came at a sharp cost however... as France built up her armies and navies, to try and scramble together a defense in the 10 turn window the invasion was predicted to occur, her economic development halted.
The vote passed with 4 in favor and one abstaining.
******
5 turns later the invasion fleet was spotted, as one more of the French ships was sunk, the Directory met to discus a last, desperate gamble to protect themselves. Since the last attack a state of war technically existed. But the Ottomans denied the charges hoping to stall long enough for their transports to be loaded and escorted to the old world.
One of the earliest French "fast destroyers", Le Triomphant, that survived long into the war. Her class was one of three operated during the war. The second class was the "heavy destroyer" and the third class being the "reconisance destoryer".
The desperate measure relied on the French navy. It was a makeshift fleet of destroyers, galleons, frigates and the few remaining privateers, it sailed East carrying conscripted infantry and machine gunners. It would be the largest naval invasion in history. But only if it was successful in taking some Ottoman territory, forcing the menacing enemy fleet to sail back to New Holland. Otherwise it would be eclipsed in mere weeks by Ottoman army swarming from two fronts subjecting the helpless people of France to the iron fist of their tyranny once more.
There was a strong desire to liberate the oppressed French people of Rennes and Bordeaux but what really prompted the Directory to vote unanimously was the estimate that if the Mongols cut their supply of oil and the Ottomans attacked, Paris would be lost in 8 and Orleans in 11 turns. The future of France would be determined by what would happened on D-day of operation Liberté.
Five men and a few selected top officials sat in a dimly lit room. Five men of which each controlled an aspect of the far-flung but fragile empire, each of them was comparable to a king in power, each of them was determined to pursue their own agenda. After the fall of Robespierre and the defeat of in the war of Ottoman Agression, the Directory had been changed. It’s role was expanded while the representatives of the National Assembly lost much of their influence. This centralization of power did not, however, result in the death of the representative system, as the men spoke their words where written down and as the meeting began a silent representative of the assembly followed by a constitutional Judge entered the room. The two represented the law, a thing the French took very seriously. But even if this had not been the case it is entirely logical that the Judicial and Legislative branch would demanded the right to keep tabs on the now much more powerful executive one.
In theory, each of the five directors was an expert on his field, “the best man for the job”. The practice, as is often in idealistic systems, was different, they where primarily powerful politicians, but despite this, the minimal standard of expertise needed, and the ethos of technocratic thought which existed in France was what many believed was the central part of the nations progress during that time.
Utilitarianism, developed by the philospher, political economist and member of the National Assembly very John Stewart Mill, was very a very popular concept and was held in great regard. Individualism seemed to have found another counterpart who could counteract its many potential flaws, the old adversary of tyranny seemed outdated and foolish compared to the concern for the “greater good” that permeated France. A rule of experts existed in theory, what we would from today’s perspective called technocracy tempered by popular representation. The governor of the bank of France, who was also, quite unusually the finance minister, began to speak:
-“In past years we have achieved financial stability despite the vast shipments of gold we have had to deliver to other nations. The gold sufficit left by Robespierre has proved to be very useful in making profitable investments. The construction of the Versailles palace in New France has been paid, as have several other trades… the growth of the economy combined with several reductions in bureaucratic expenses has allowed us to breathe more easily in past years. However, despite favorable market conditions, growth has been sluggish. Also, the rate of inflation has after a brief drop due to reduced government expenditure, begun to rise once more, it is in containable levels but we need to keep an eye on it. There is a very real possibility of a economic crisis if we do not see very good economic growth or some reduced… how shall I put this?…. Add to this the scale of some of the recent attacks…Well, suffice it to say that I fear that some of my esteemed colleagues have begun to spend our funds far too liberally. We are living beyond our means, if this continues France will have to go into debt once more…”
He was interrupted by the minister of defense general Ferdinand Foch, an older with a white mustache:
-“Sir do tell us of what use is coin if it is not spent? Especially if it is spent in order to prevent further such atrocities. ”
His pricing blue eyes seemed to deliver a layer of subtext to the Governor
The chairman took a handkerchief to wipe the drops of sweat on his forehead:
-”Northern France can be so frightfully hot this time of year, can we get some of those electric powered fans I have observed being unpacked in the upper floors down here? Now I would remind….
The minister of sciences and arts, know by his secondary title of provost, couldn’t help himself but to speak out of turn: -”Ah yes, the high humidity and temperature are to be expected chairman, this peninsula was in its natural state, covered by jungle after all… as to the electric fans, this city has not yet been electrified, since there are no nearby rivers or windy areas the fans will have to wait until the construction of a power plant to become more than a case of government inefficiency. I am always surprised by such “bright ideas”, bureaucrats seem to be devoid of logic.”
The governor seemed slightly disoriented by the interruptions:-”Yes off course, such inefficiencies are most regrettable. And yes capital not being invested is dead capital, but to quote a renowned Russian economist: “You can not plow fields with canon.” Anything that is invested into the military is lost to the economy.”
As Foch was about to retort, the minister of development and colonial affairs spoke: -“If I may, I am certain we can continue this discussion… once I have given my report. Now all of you have received my full 700 page report, I will only summaries it here to save us all some time. We, the directory have been successful, in organizing the construction of many private and state owned factories in practically all of our cities. This combined with the repairs to the levees that sustained damage during the war, the construction of railroads and even the beginnings of slow electrification means that our dear homeland has industrialized, I have read from some reports that the majority of the population are no longer farmers but factory workers. Our colonies have seen some moderate development, and may in the coming years undergo the same process, albeit much more slowly. It is regrettable that we must spend this on defense when we are very much in need of development.”
General Foch took the opportunity to speak: -“You must admit, military contractors have been a key part of developing the infrastructure from the very beginning. We now have at our disposal the greatest military-industrial complex this nation has ever seen. ”
-”Contractors have their drawbacks.” said the bank governor ” just look at the Sid’s Sushi corporation. Sure its support will be profitable once the government has the chance to sell some its stocks on the stock exchange, which may I remind you is one of the many financial projects that have run into trouble and are overdue. But it als…
-”I tought more of Meier when he was a board game designer.” said the minister of defense. ”I prefer local companies in operating in each city independently. These corporations are a liability if you ask me, we need to keep them supplied with plentiful and cheap resource to prevent them from causing more damage with their monopolistic practices than they do good. Protecting our hold over these resources will become harder and harder. And since our nation is facing a grave military threat at the moment we can’t really guarantee this.
The governor said: ”As sure as I am General that you prefer smaller state dependant companies that need the government to coordinate them to produce arms you must see that the intermitting of the state with such companies could result in much the same organizational problems that are presented by corporations… but I am not really here to talk about that. I would like to hear what military intelligence has come up with regarding the terrorist attacks. They have in combination with sabotages and financial warfare destroyed five towns and several improvements. My initial estimate is that it has cost us well over 100 gpt in income! These acts can’t be allowed to continue, if they are we may be in deep trouble by the end of the year.”
-”Not only that but a supply fleet has been sunk by pirates off our coast. Its loss is a big blow to the colonies. Colonies, that, as some have pointed out, are vital to keep us supplied with resources our economy needs.” Said the minister of colonial affairs and development.
The defense minister spoke quietly with the foreign relations minister, then turned around and said: “Very well, my ministry has worked closely with the foreign ministry which is directly subservient to all of us in the Directory. So you know that I can not even if I wanted to, misrepresent our situation in any way. I also want to remind you that you approved partial military mobilization of our industry immediately after these attacks not on my advice, but on that of the foreign minister who had reason to belive France was perceived as weak. More frightfully the number of our hired privateers, which serve as our eyes and ears on the seas of the world, have been revealed by Holland. This combined with pirate attacks on our shipping and terrorist attacks on our homeland, as well as the dozens of turns long military build up of the Ottoman Emprie, leads us to believe they are planning an invasion. Our nation faces a repeat of the First Ottoman war of agression.”
The room feel completely silent for several long minutes.
-”Can we defend ourselves? Are our navy and army strong enough?” asked the minister of development
-“I don’t know. Ottoman forces have always been considerable and ever since the last war in which they attacked us, the Dutch government has been supplying arms to them in ever greater quantities. Our best intelligence points to the deliver of more than 5 destroyers in just the last 10 turns.”
-“Mon Dieu! Do we have enough gold to upgrade our ships in a hurry?”
-“No more than two, maybe three.”
-“That’s not all, they have more modern infantry than us and….”
-“Their technology is superior. Gentlemen don’t be fooled by the recent marvelous improvements in areas like Medicine and Physics French science has made, we do not have advanced weapons technology. We are being outpaced by all the other Eastern nations. We need to divert more funds to research into fields that could potential provide us with better weapons.” the Provoset surprised by the sudden attention he commanded continued ”May I also remind you that much of the more advanced technology relies on a steady supply of oil. Which we are currently importing at a high price from Mongolia. All the Mongols need to do is decide they need the oil for their own security or that they would prefer us not having it and close the tap then our position becomes very precarius. Some of you have read the global geological survey that I, the general and our chief diplomat commissioned. As you know Holland has received an oil well from the Ottomans. In exchange they are likely providing them with the advanced arms shipments the general noted intelligence indicates. It does not take a genius to see that we may be faced with a invasion from two fronts.”
-The provost is quite right. I propose that we fully mobilize our economy for war. We must vote on this... Now.
After merely an hour’s recess for deliberations, they met again, with one vote they changed the course of a nation. A state which had previously produced only a few defensive units, became in a matter of months the largest producer of military hardware on the face of Terra. This came at a sharp cost however... as France built up her armies and navies, to try and scramble together a defense in the 10 turn window the invasion was predicted to occur, her economic development halted.
The vote passed with 4 in favor and one abstaining.
******
5 turns later the invasion fleet was spotted, as one more of the French ships was sunk, the Directory met to discus a last, desperate gamble to protect themselves. Since the last attack a state of war technically existed. But the Ottomans denied the charges hoping to stall long enough for their transports to be loaded and escorted to the old world.
One of the earliest French "fast destroyers", Le Triomphant, that survived long into the war. Her class was one of three operated during the war. The second class was the "heavy destroyer" and the third class being the "reconisance destoryer".
The desperate measure relied on the French navy. It was a makeshift fleet of destroyers, galleons, frigates and the few remaining privateers, it sailed East carrying conscripted infantry and machine gunners. It would be the largest naval invasion in history. But only if it was successful in taking some Ottoman territory, forcing the menacing enemy fleet to sail back to New Holland. Otherwise it would be eclipsed in mere weeks by Ottoman army swarming from two fronts subjecting the helpless people of France to the iron fist of their tyranny once more.
There was a strong desire to liberate the oppressed French people of Rennes and Bordeaux but what really prompted the Directory to vote unanimously was the estimate that if the Mongols cut their supply of oil and the Ottomans attacked, Paris would be lost in 8 and Orleans in 11 turns. The future of France would be determined by what would happened on D-day of operation Liberté.
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