Paris Temps

[Borys]

OOC

The French are just strange. They send submarines to the middle of a battle and get angry when they are sunk.

Read about Roosevelt.
Borys

[Ithekro]

Which one?

[Borys]

OOC
The 1933-45 one.

[maddox]

Paris June 29, early morning.

Premier Paixhans, minister Dupuytren, we have caught  the NS pirate Launceton.  Unfortunatly, she's caught in a "non disclosed" Iberian port.

Yes capitain Lafrage , thank you for the info. Dismissed.

So, what are the concequences minister?

We can't openly demand the extradiction from the Iberians. If they give in , they will lose the "friendly relations" with the NS . If we demand to harshly, it gives tensions in Europe we don't want.
So, send the commander of Launceton the following message, or something in that vein.

Glorious France invites you, for a courtesy call in the port of Brest.
The escort, to avoid problems with overzealous Dutch warships, will be available at your most convinient time.

To the NS embassy in the Iberian Empire.

From the offices of Minister Capet
As temporary messure to keep the New Swiss shipping safe in the French patroled Atlantic, we would like to invite the warship Launceton for a short visit to Brest. Were in the same protection program, a series of NS merchants are waiting for an escort.

That sounds good, get our propaganda cabinet to polish the messages for diplomatic consumption.
And send a train wagonload of the Moet et Chandon champagne  to the Iberian monarch, for the inconvenience suffered.

[miketr]

This is all OOC as Iberia hasn't received any message other than a large amount of champagne; however, the info on how Iberia views things is easily come by.

1)  Once a ship accepts internment that's it she doesn't leave port again during the conflict.  The logic being a ship accepts internment instead of possible destruction in combat thus preserving the vessel and crew till after the conflict.

2)  By her name I assume the ship in question is the NSS Launceston, a Launceston Class Cruiser of 5,000 tons standard displacement.  As such she is clearly not a pirate, if her crew has acted contrary to the rules of war that is something else again. 

To prevent the Launceston from leaving port on her own she would have been disarmed (ammo removed), defueled outside of enough for heating (its cold in the S Atlantic) and a armed guarded placed on her moorings.  She could slip out but she wouldn't get very far and not without at least the threat of using deadly force.  Something I doubt NS would be happy to the Iberian responce to.

[Desertfox]

I really can't understand the French. First they get the ship interned and then invite it to a 'frendly' visit to Brest. That and the fact that L can't move means I'll have to ignore the 'offer'.

[Borys]

1st Law of Diplomacy - Nobody Understands the French

[Carthaginian]

Remember... the rich never make sense to anyone but themseves. ;)

[Ithekro]

Capitain Lafrage seems to not convey information very well.  The only reason a Swiss ship would be willing to be interned in an Iberian port would be if it were caught there by "enemy" or "hostile neutrals".  In this case, French warships are present just outside Iberian South Atlantic waters.  They might not be the most powerful ships in the French navy, but it is two to one and the Swiss ship seems to be low of 8" shells.  Fighting with 4" against 6.4" shells seems unlikely.

[swamphen]

1st Law of Diplomacy - Nobody Understands the French

"And the Second Law of Diplomacy," intones Ambassador Takeda as he pets his white cat, "is that Nobody Wants To Understand the French."

[maddox]

Tricomalee, naval fleet base.

Commodore, we got another requist for a transfer. This time from Captain Delance.

Captain Delance? That's the 3th time he asks for a transfer.Tell him he'll get his transfer when he can keep his ship in 1 piece. I dread the cost every time if he goes out to sea. 

Oh shit, don't tell me it's that time again? What was his last assigment, escorting an Iberian convoy?

Yes commodore, it's that time again.  Luckely the yard already made an assesment on the damage this time. Nothing worse than a caved in hull plate at the forward locker.  But it's again his ship.  And to be frank Sir, it's not only his ship, Captain Andalé has the same problems keeping his ship in one piece.
Every time those UKN build sloops encounter weather stronger than a breeze, we see damages expected when ships go into a hurricane, or meet New Swiss. Only Captain Gironde seems to be able to drive Fleurus trough all the weathergods can trow at him.
I recommend listening to the yard people, and at least keep the Fleurus II class ships in port untill the issues are resolved.

I know that already, but I cannot keep the escort groups in port with the current workload we got from Paris.

Commodore, again we have 2 Fleurus II's at the slips for repair. The 3 others are at sea, and we can expect at least 1 returning with damage.

[maddox]

Le Monde  28 august 1908


" France, the industrial worldleader, the social welfare state example to the world.  Is this paradise on earth? Or is there a snake in the grass?
Cities arise around the factories, The steel mills , The Chemical plants. All for progress and in service of the people. Or not?
The plant owners , caring as they do, have erected modern houses, neatly placed along straight roads. Each with its own garden, making it possible for the people to revel in their own piece of nature.
Almost an idyllic scene, were it not for the houses build in flaming red brick, to grey and fade already, covered in an endless pall of smoke and fumes.
The sweet smell of wilting flowers being overpowered by smokestacks belching out noxious vapors. The leafless trees in the small muddy gardens having their roots in foul smelling muck.
Factory workers, earning money to buy their wishes in factory shops, adding more profit the owners of it all. The lure of cheap pastis causing them often to squander their hard-won gains that should have fed their families.

No, the modernisation, the progress of France isn't a good thing for its people. Only the happy few benefit from it. Our politicians and their masters the industrialists are sucking out the life out of the people, giving them poisoned dreams and in one go, destroyed nature.

We accuse Paixhans, and his croony Capet of enriching themselfs by supporting the industry, and they, the industrialists, enrich themselfs  with pain and suffering. In France, it's by the dreary visions of progress. Elsewere in the world its war and destruction.

(ooc, some of the more observant readers will recognize this piece of drivel, as it was posted exactly 7 years ago, only names are changed-lazy editors)

[Borys]

OOC
Nobody expects the Evil! People at such newspapers to be particularly inventive ....

[Borys]

August 1908
Linienschiff Kapitaen Fernseher, the Habsburg Naval Attache, in a letter to the Marineamt of the Kriegsministerium:
"Your Excellency, I have observed a shift in French attitude. Befre, the Body Politik was content to throw State Funds at the riff-raff, to appease them and prevent rioting. I now sense a greater resolve, a stiffer backbone to French official attitude. There are rumours of raising new army corps (about which I assume my illustrious collegue, the Military Attache, will inform his superiors in better detail than I can) and - a worrisome novelty - talk of increasing the navy. The military spending is epxected to create jobs and the yobs are sent a message - work or starve. Maybe the Political Branch will consider discrete funding to left wing French politicians, the "tribunes of the Poeple", as these idiots have been of greatest utility to us.

[maddox]

September 1 1908

Minister Capet at the pulpit.

Messieurs, with the Pacific war to a conclusion, we will have to review the options.

My cabinet has done this prognoses.

1) With the attempt to reopen Diplomatical relations with the New Swiss we have openly learned that this country hasn't changed a bit.

2) Non of the signatories of the Mithlond Peace is happy with the outcome. 
It seems that our reaction of the potential sale of the NEI to New Swiss has provoced an averse reaction.
-DKB went very silent
-New Swiss is crowing victory.
-Japan is consolidating the 2 disputed islands.
-The Netherlands, with all the info we get, in a state of chaos.
-The Habsburgers are themselfs, and have left the Pacific theatre as an influence.
-And the Middle Kingdom. Prince Pu-Lun assures us that the stance of the Middle Kingdom hasn't changed.

3) On the sideline, our diplomatical contact with The Iberian Empire is improving. But far from what we see as desirable. On 1 thing we agree. The Kra Canal is a potential and strong treath to the Dutch East Indies.
On the other hand, it would give as well France as the Iberians a second option to get shipping to The Philipines as well to South Indochina.
But it will be a Mulerta to the Middle Kingdom if New Swiss squats over it. Our diplomatical connections to the kingdom of Siam are not useable to gain foothold. Maybe that the Iberians want to work on this angle.

Gran Colombia, Envoy Jardan assures us that Gran Colombia, still weary of Glorious France, after the idiocies Palpaté has committed, is less inclined to resort to harsh messures against France. Nor is Gran Colombia extatic with the New Swiss Victory crowing.

Rohan, still itself. Noble, selfassured and trying to be  the benevolent "dad" to everybody.