The Weissersteiner Civil War was bloody, and it didn’t happen overnight. Years of the increasingly volatile political and royal intrigue within the Empire, mixed in with conspiracy and treason, brewed the way for a storm over the head of the Weissersteiner Empire.
This thread will be mostly about the political intrigue within the Weissersteiner Empire before the Civil War.
Imperial Palace in Kaiserslicht
Kaiserslicht
January 1, 1935
09:32 AM
Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm II looks over the imperial capital from the balcony of the palace, the city he redesigned into something that would’ve made his great-grandfather and the first Kaiser ,Wilhelm I, proud.
However, he knew things are not as smooth as they seem. 120 years of its existence had seen tremendous shift in the politics and culture of Weisserstein. The Houses are divided. Some want more power to the Imperial Throne, seeing it as a unifying force, while others want to decentralize the state further, giving autonomy to the various dynasties ruling the land.
Inside the room alongside him are two of his five children: Crown Prince Ludwig Wilhelm and Prince Julius Wilhem.
“The more we divide ourselves, the more we’ll end up like the Sunlandic confederation.” says Crown Prince Ludwig Wilhelm, “and we know how that’ll end, we would be so decentralized to the point every city and village may just act at their own accords without a care or respect for the Imperial Throne! We can’t let this happen, father! We can’t let the Empire devolve into anarchy!”
“I understand your concerns, but these are intricate times. The House of Wulff is becoming more and more vocal, and they are a major dynasty within our realm. We have to be careful regarding any of our actions.” the Kaiser warned. He knows 120 years of Weisserstein’s existence may just come crashing down with a minor noble dispute.
“Exactly, father, they are becoming so vocal to the point of treason!” Ludwig exclaimed, “we have to do something! We have the support of the House of Glücksburg, the House of Al-Khalid, and the House of Wittelsbach; the House of Jena and the House of Rudolph remain neutral; and the House of Zuckerberg and the House of Stauffenberg seems more loyal to the throne than they portray themselves in the Diet. So why can’t we take action?”
“Again, this is a delicate matter, my son. If we stoop as low as the Wulffs, then we’re no better than them. We have to be rational and try to find a peaceful solution to this conflict.” the Kaiser answered.
“I agree that we should take action, but I also agree we need to find a peaceful solution to this conflict. Things won’t end good if we jump the gun. And remember, we’re also on the receiving end if the Empire collapses.” says Prince Julius, second son of the Kaiser. “Like what father said, we should be very careful in taking action on this delicate matter, but we should also do something before the situation gets out of our hand.”
“And what exactly do you propose?” asks Ludwig.
“For now, we try our best to keep the Houses together. But keep an eye on the Wulffs. We don’t know what their endgame plan is.” Julius responds.
The Kaiser and the Crown Prince agrees to the proposal made by Prince Julius.
a storm is brewing, and if they don’t trudge the storm carefully, they might be taken by it.
Residence of the House of Wulff
Wulffenstadt
January 1, 1935
09:59 AM
“What Houses are on our side?” asks Gabriel von Wulffenstadt, the current head of the House of Wulff and King of Vereden.
“None, actually. The influential Houses like Glücksburg, Al-Khalid, and Wittelsbach are far from being on our side, and the minor Houses of Jena, Rudolph, Stauffenberg, and Zuckerberg don’t have any power anyways, so their influence barely matters.” Says Prince Karl. “But that’s going to change. Sooner or later the Lichtenburg-Hohenzollerns would do something so stupid the other Houses will turn against them.”
Gabriel was confused, “how come? How would you know?”
“Ludwig, the current Crown Prince, is a man of action. While it’ll be bad for us, it also gives us a unique opportunity.” Karl explained, “his action-first attitude will get him branded as a warmonger, tyrant, oppressor, then the other Houses will turn their backs on him.”
“And what if the other Houses back him and his tyranny?” asks Prince Heinrich, the third child and second son of King Gabriel, as he storms into the conversation.
“I didn’t remember you being invited into this meeting-”
“You didn’t answer my question, brother, what if the other Houses back him?”
“No sane noble would back such tyranny. That’s borderline impossible. The other Houses may be loyal but they’re not up with the idea of Lichtenburg-Hohenzollerns taking over complete control. Besides, why would you of all people care?”
“Well, for one, my family is trying to drag itself into a war here! If I just sit silent then I’m no better. Besides, you’re one to talk considering you have been fueling the fire yourself. You’re a warmonger as much as Ludwig is.”
“Well you’re no better than Julius. Always worrying about petty details. The only difference is that, at least in the eyes of the other Houses, Julius is a man of respect.”
"It’s not me worrying to much, it’s more of you worrying to little! You really think you could get away with this? You do realize you’re dragging yourself, and by extension the Wulffic name, down the drain, right? Not to mention how what you are conspiring now could be considered treason, making all the other Houses immediately against us, right? " Heinrich asks.
“Sounds like someone’s being a stone head. How about you leave the adults to discuss important matter, eh?” Karl condescends.
Heinrich nods carefully before throwing a piece of jumbled up paper at Karl. Karl stood up, not accepting this blatant act of disrespect, and clenches his fist, ready to strike at Heinrich. The two went into a fistfight, with the old and aging Gabriel unable to do anything but watch as his children duke it out. The guards came in to separate the two princes before any further damage could happen.
Private Residence of Karl von Wulff
Wulffenstadt
January 1, 1935
14:52 PM
In his small living room, Karl looks back to the fight he had hours ago with his brother.
"That scum! Doesn’t he know that I would be the next head of the House of Wulff?! How dare he! Throwing paper at me like that?! Like, does he even know who he is talking to?! The next great head of the House of Wulff, that’s who!*
As Karl calms down from his bantering, a servant knocks on his door.
“Yes?”
The servant opens the door.
“Your highness, a certain Philo Stumpf is here to see you.”
Karl thinks for a while. Before telling the servant to let him in.
Philo was escorted into the room by the servant. As he comforted himself into the living room seat, Karl orders his servant to get the two some drink.
“Philo, good to see you”
“Karl, long time no see, how have you been?”
“Haha, you’ve got a lot to catch up to, my fried, but I’ll tell you more about it once our drinks have arrived.”
As the servant brings in the drinks, Karl gave the servant the signal that he wants to be left alone. The two discusses their predicament once the servant had left.
“As you probably know I am in quite the situation as of this moment. I feel like the window for me to retake the throne is shrinking further and further. But less on that, why are you here?”
“Nothing much, just have a bit of news.”
“What news?”
“I’ve been able to convince some people in the government to support your claim to the throne. However unfortunately none are of important positions.”
“Damn it! And how of the chances of me usurping the throne?”
“Besides the borderline impossible task of doing such a thing, the people still sees Friedrich Wilhelm II as the legitimate Emperor, so you taking it from him would be problematic. There’s also the fact that even if the Kaiser dies, his children are seen as more legitimate in the eyes of both the public and the government.”
“Hmm…”
Karl looks worried. His claim to the throne isn’t legal by any form of even the most backward feudal laws he could find. None of his ancestors were able to get to the Imperial Throne, so by law he has no claim over it.
“However, with regards to those whom now support us, they have paramilitaries that we could… utilize”
“Paramilitaries?”
“We can’t count on the Reichswehr for protection, so making our own army would be a good start.”
“But how are we going to keep this hidden?”
“For now, you could leave that to me. I’ll organize the paramilitaries in secret, and that’s all you’d need to know.”
“Very well, then”
The two finish their drinks before Philo said his goodbyes to Karl. Leaving with an important mission: creating an army for Kaiser Karl that could rival the Imperial Army.
An impossible task? Perhaps. A suicide mission? Definitely. Will that deter Philo from completing his mission? No.
Private Residence of Philo Stumpf
Linnefurt
January 3, 1935
23:49 PM
The residence of Philo Stumpf was filled tonight with backers of the Wulffic claim to the throne. While his house is far from a large, fancy mansion, it was more than enough for its current job.
The meeting is held by Philo as well as delegations from several different pro-Wulffic parties. They range from liberal-monarchists, absolutists, anti-Lichtenburg-Hohenzollernists, constitutionalists, and far right nationalists.
The first bloc is the liberal-constitutionalists, who wanted to lessen the power of the Kaiser and give more power to elected establishments like the Reichstag, giving more executive power to the Chancellery, and protect democracy. This bloc views the current powers of the Kaiser as dangerous and overreacting. They do not have large amounts of forces, however their liberal views would perhaps prove itself useful in international diplomacy with more liberal countries. Nevertheless, their skeleton crew of a paramilitary force is their “Security Service”, a meager force of about 11,000 men.
The second bloc is the antithesis, the absolutists wants all power to be given back to the upper class and nobility. This bloc believes that the Kaiser’s power should be absolute, and views democracy as a threat as they believe “non-educated” people who do not know anything could change the very course of the nation through a simple vote. They also view the Kaiser and the House of Lichtenburg-Hohenzollern’s compromises with democracy made them unfit for such an absolutist noble hierarchy. Unlike the liberal-constitutionalists, this bloc has a powerful militia under their command. The powerful New Imperial Army, a force of around 26,000 soldiers, and the Free Corps, a force of at least 42,000 men, making the combined force of the second bloc at 68,000 men.
The third bloc is an interesting ally. Considered a foe by the previous two blocs, the powerful far-right Straßrists, itself an offshoot of Gianlucian Frankism. In a suprise move to the other blocs, and to Philo himself, the Straßrists agreed to cooperate with the other blocs if it meant it could project authority and power. They have demands that would need sorting out between them and the other blocs, but for now, lip services would do. Like the absolutists, this bloc has a powerful paramilitary militia behind them, known colloquially as the Blackshirts. A force of almost 52,500 militiamen.
In total, the combined forces of this new army makes up about 131,500 soldiers. While in no way able to defeat the Imperial Army, it would be enough to kickstart a much larger snowball.
Philo needed more men, but his already large tent of different ideologies are not exactly open for even more diversity. This meant that he’d have to work with what he has for now.