Re: Kingdom of Great Britain

[Kilani]

In the spirit of cooperation, the Spanish ambassador informs the British that an expedition will be going up the Rio de San Rocque in 1786 and that geographical and scientific details of the expedition, should it prove successful, will be shared in order to better chart the new border region and provide an overview of the area.

[Galveston Bay]

In February 1786, while under treatment with poultice to draw out the evil humors that are causing his insanity, the King has a major seizure and passes out. He is placed in bed at the spa he is being kept at in CHeltenham, but during the night he awakens and in a paranoid delusion, escapes by slipping out a window and he makes his way to the river, where he has a seizure and drowns while attempting to swim it.

It is not until the next morning that the frantic searchers find him.   Luckily, no civilians were aware of who he was and his body was quietly ushered back to the spa.  Within 24 hours the Regent and Prime Minister is notified, and the public is informed that King George III has died from a sudden illness.  

The King leaves 12 surviving children, a grieving wife, and a saddened nation behind.

Meanwhile, the issue of succession is now suddenly important again and Parliament is forced to meet to decide the situation.

Prince George, the current Regent, and his next brother, Prince Frederick have previously turned down the throne.   Both are married to unsuitable brides, in the case of George, to a Catholic, and Frederick is in a marriage that has produced no issue and seems unlikely to.  The next brother who had previously been picked for the throne is married to a commoner (and suitable only in that she is not Catholic as she is an actress, and thus considered a fallen woman).  However, except for his marrying such a woman, Prince William is considered of good character and served honorably and well in the Royal Navy during the Falklands War.  

Therefore the 1786 Act of Succession is passed
Prince George steps down as Regent, becoming the Prince of Hanover and assumes his role as Governor General of Hanover.  He moves to Hanover in the spring of 1786.

Prince Frederick is named Duke of Albany, steps down from his roles with the military and is sent to Quebec as Governor General (basically in training to become Lord Lieutenant of North America after Washington completes his term).  He spends most of his time as a staff officer to the Duke of Manhatten in New York City.   There he strongly urges the Americans to create a military college at West Point, and a Naval Academy at Newport (Rhode Island) for the training of officers.

Prince William is crowned William IV, King of Great Britain, Ireland and North America on March 21, 1786.   His children from Dorothy (who receives the title of Princess Consort) are excluded from the succession, although do count as nobles (with the rank of the eldest as Duke of Clarence, the rest are considered Honorable in terms of rank).  Should the Princess Consort predecease him and he remarry or they divorce, then Parliament will revisit the issue if future children should come about.

Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, becomes Prince of Wales.  He is in military school in Germany (in Hesse), and is allowed to remain there, as his training is considered important.  He has not yet married.

Princess Augusta and Princess Elizabeth are as yet too young to marry, but Sophia is named Duchess of York.  Elizabeth becomes Duchess of Waterford, thus the first Duchess in Ireland.  

Prince Augustus becomes Duke of Cumberland, although is too young as yet to serve in any capacity.  He however is sent to Hesse to join his brother in military school.

Prince Augustus Frederick becomes Duke of Sussex, although is still a child.  His brother Prince Aldophus is Duke of Cumberland.  Both have an interest in naval service.  Their younger sister Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, is also a child.  

the three younger children... Sophia, Octavius, and Alfred have already died,, but the baby, Princess Amelia, who is 3 years old, remains with her mother Queen Charlotte, as do Princess Augusta, Elizabeth and Prince Augustus Frederick and Prince Aldophus.  The Queen and her younger children move to Windsor Castle to live quietly while the Queen and children mourn their beloved husband and father.

At the request of Queen Charlotte, there is no state funeral, although she does attend the Coronation in May 1786 of her son William.

[Kilani]

His Most Catholic Majesty, Charles III, pens a note to be presented to the new King William by the Spanish ambassador with his condolences for the loss of his father and his hopes for the new era of understanding between their two nations that only so recently began to be ushered in at the end of his late father's rule.

[Galveston Bay]

Spring 1786
A new crisis in the Netherlands is developing, and it meets with considerable disinterest in Britain.  Few view the creation of a Dutch Republic as a notable threat, considering it has been one before, and many note that Parliament running the country at the expense of Royal Power is just what has happened in Britain itself.    

However, the possibility of a Prussian or French intervention is of concern, and both Prussia and France are urged not to embroil themselves into the situation in the Netherlands, as it is not in the best interests of Britain for a foreign power to control the Netherlands.   Or at least that is what Pitt and others in Parliament think.  But no one is eager to go to war, as peace has allowed for a balanced budget for a decade, and gradual improvements in the Navy as well as a great deal of exploration.  

Parliament would rather focus on colonizing Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest rather than fight wars on the continent of Europe if any way can be found to avoid that.

[Galveston Bay]

With relations better with France and Spain than in almost a century, peace is viewed as likely to continue. Money is spent on 2 trading posts in the Pacific Northwest, settler colonies in Tasmania and Australia, and a trading post and fort in New Zealand to place firm claims on new British territories.

1787 Budget
Income: 94.6
Debt Service (national debt is 600 points) 1% Interest 6 points, repayment 17, extra repayment 2
total debt service 25 points
military maintenance: 41.1
subtotal 66.1 points
28.5 points available

Naval construction:
FF1 Nottingham, Durham, Worcester, Somerset, Cheshire, Cumbria, Flintshire, Carmarthen, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Donegal, Wexford, Claire, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Nassau, Jamaica, Barbuda, Grenada
30 points, 5 years total, 10% discount for having a PC, drops to 27 points
Year 1 of 5, 6 points (construction stretched out as a jobs measure). 1 ship each at Liverpool, Hull, Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Glasgow, Waterford, Galway, Edinburgh, Londonderry, remaining 9 ships at London Naval Factory
Year 2 of 5, 5.5 points (10.9 of 27)

23 points available
Settler Colony Sydney Australia and Hobart, Tasmania 3 Points (year 2 of 2)
purchase of Dutch Rights to Oceania 3 points
trading posts Seattle, Vancouver, (Pacific Northwest) 6 points
trading post and fort Auckland, New Zealand 5 points

Army expansion: fortress at Tangiers (4 points)
Naval expansion: shipyard at Tangiers (year 1 of 10, 2.5 points)
subtotal 6.5 points 10% discount becomes 5.9 points
gifts to Sultan of Morocco .1
military buildup 6 points
subtotal 23 points

[Galveston Bay]

London January 1787
Rumors hit the newspapers that the British East India Company and Dutch East India Company are in merger talks.

[Galveston Bay]

The collapse of the Dutch financial sector, along with the likelihood of full scale civil war and already invasion engulfing the Dutch and now with unrest in the Austrian Netherlands, the British Government is forced to consider that a military threat may exist.

The Royal Navy is ordered to prepare for war (against whom is uncertain), and the British and Irish Armies are also ordered to prepare for the possibility of hostilities (again against whom is uncertain).   The Royals in military school in Hesse are ordered home by the Crown, and Prince George, Elector of Hanover, is ordered to prepare his army for war if it comes to it (although no one is optimistic about their chances fighting either the Prussians or potentially the French or Austrians).  

The Americans are sent information regarding the current state of affairs in Europe and asked to prepare for the possibility of problems in the Dutch Caribbean and the potential need to act there.  

The British Government takes out a loan of 106 points, and interest for these bonds will be at 2% for 30 years.  

A part of this bond issue is for the army, the rest as a contigency in case the Fleet has to fight.   (National Debt goes up 106 points).  Ground work for the need legislation to raise taxes is also prepared in case war does come about. A formal state of emergency is declared in Britain, Ireland and the British Crown Colonies.  

In Britain and Ireland, the Army begins mobilizing and enlarging the armies of Britain and Ireland.

14 Garrison Brigades: Belfast, Sligo, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Londonderry, Galway, Waterford, Dover, Aberdeen, Exeter, London, Glasgow, Aldershot are moved to Aldershot to form the British Expeditionary Force and mobilized to form an Expeditionary Army of 3 Infantry Divisions, 1 Cavalry Division, 1 cavalry division, 1 artillery battalion, 1 support train, plus 2 engineer brigades. (13 points) Major General Sir Charles Grey commanding

at the depots, a second Expeditionary Army is raised and once it completes mobilization and training, it will assemble at the Depot at Dublin.  It will have 3 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division, 1artillery battalion, 1 support train, plus 2 extra infantry brigades for separate deployment.  (31 points) Major General Alexander Leslie commanding in Ireland, with 2 brigades under the command of Major General William Howe

The Royal Hanover Army is mobilized (funded by the British Government)
Royal Hanoverian army is 12 garrison brigades, and becomes 3 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division, 1 artillery battalion, 1 support train. (13 points) Major General Wilhelm von Freytag commanding

(Total 13 plus 13 plus 31 = 87 points w 10% discount, becomes 78.3 points

Navy mobilization will require another 27.45 points if required. In the meantime those funds remain in reserve.

[Galveston Bay]

Summer 1787
The apparent mobilization of the Spanish Fleet causes the British Government to release funds and mobilize the Royal Navy.

An additional 5 points are borrowed to fund movement of an expeditionary army overseas (3 Points), and recruit 2 regiments of Infantry

[Ottoman]

By 1789,

Britain will gain a new FC in London to represent the flight of Dutch capital and bankers fleeing Holland.

[Galveston Bay]

Britain finds itself the refuge for Dutch and Flemish exiles and in a secret agreement with Spain and a defacto one with Prussia and France, essentially partitions the former Dutch overseas empire

https://commonwealthe20.rpg-board.net/t206-prussian-invasion-of-the-netherlands#2546

nearly 2 centuries of Anglo Dutch competition in empire building comes to an end

[Ottoman]

Records updates

Admirals Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen and Johan Zoutman offer their services to the Royal Navy or Colonial Royal Navy
A majority of the Dutch Republicans opt for immigration to the Cape Colony, and half the Flemish join them.  26,000 Dutch and 5,000 Flemish settlers opt to move to British North America(most of them settled in New York  and Pennsylvania area )

So roughly 50,000 Dutch and 5,000 Flemish settlers go to Cape Colony

By 1788 Cape Colony

A massive immigration waves hits the colony putting a strain on local resources to support new immigrants. To the annoyance of the local Boers population their kinsmen were more liberal and not conservative in their views..

Cape Colony:26,000 Cape Dutch aka Boers,50,000 Dutch Republicans, 5,000 Flemish( 80,000 Europeans in total) and 30,000 slaves
Port: 1 (Cape Town)
City: Port Elizabeth* Find a Dutch sounding name= .5 points- will produce income starting 1790
3 shipping units assigned to Capetown for 1.5 points

VOC assets now British in Cape Colony
1 Fort at Capetown, opts to stay and settle in Cape Colony
1 Garrison unit opts to return home to Holland, and disbands
1 Infantry Division compose of Dutch Republican soldiers enlist as Kings Foreign Legion, base in Capetown

East Indies holdings- Current state will be assume to British until French discussions are determined
Port: 2  (Batavia, Trincomalee)
Resources: 2 (2 Ceylon)
Trade Income: 3 (2 East Indies Trade, 1 China Trade)
Trade Posts: 9 (Surabaya, Makassar, Ambon, Banten, Tidore, Ternate, Malacca, Dejima, Fort York)
Commercial Fleet: 6

Status of East Indies VOC army
5 Fort: Makassar, Batavia, Trincomalee, Malacca, Fort York( 2500 Active) for .5point * opt to stay in service*
4 Garrison Brigade(5,000 Sepoy, 5,000 active Dutch )-Makassar, Batavia, Trincomalee, Malacca for .4 points*
1 Garrison brigade at Batavia opts to return home in Holland, prior to going home there was 2 garrison brigades at Batavia

Dutch West Indies

Population: 85,000( 70% slaves,30% Whites)

WIC Forces
2 Fort: St Maartin, St Eustatius( 1000 Dutch) for .2 points*
Dutch garrison at Aruba, Curacao, Fort Zeelandia, and Bonaire hear news of Spanish take over and opt to return to Holland

Trading post at St Maartin, St Eustatius, Godomey, Elmina Castle for 1 points

Meanwhile the 5,000 Dutch settlers and 2,000 slaves on ABC islands and Suriname opt to move to British Colony of Florida and settle in Mobile area.
Where they create a new settlement call City of Mobile Bay, with 5,000 Dutch settlers and 2,000 slaves.
City: Mobile Bay for .5 points, will start producing income in 1790.

Status of the Dutch Exile fleet, now awaiting Royal Navy review

5 2nd Rate Battleships (BB2)( De Zeven Provinciën, Vrijheid, Beschermer,Eendracht , Brutus)
8 Frigates(Batavier, Goes, Brakel, Cerberus, Verwagting, Zevenwolden, Zeeland, Oostergo) plus

8 Frigates that were assigned to VOC East Indies(Makassar, Batavia, Trincomalee, Malacca, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Groningen, Banten)* 2 Frigates were lost at sea in a storm or ran aground( Frigates-Tidore, Ternate)
8 Brigs that were assigned to WIC area* 2 Brigs were lost at Sea during a Storm, so the number went from 10 to 8*

[Galveston Bay]

Budget 1788
available income: 124.85
National Debt:
111 points at 2% for 30 years (Dutch Partition bonds) interest 2.22 points, principal 3.7 points
total 5.92 points
standard bonds 582 at 1%, interest 5.8, principal 22 points
total 27.8 points
total debt service: 33.72 points

available after debt service: 91.13
military budget: 63
support for Hanover military (keep it as a mobilized expeditionary army) 5.5 points
total 68.5 points
available: 22.85 points

Payment to Prince of Orange / Dutch 10 points
trading posts at Miami (South Florida) 3 points
initiate contact with Sultan of Brunei 6 points
initiate contact with Satsuma in Okinawa 2.85 points (includes gifts and a voyage by the Southern Fleet to Okinawa and back)
transportation costs moving various Dutch around 1 point (Renting 2 shipping units for year)

[Galveston Bay]

Winter 1788
The leading men in the British Caribbean are asked to send representatives from each colony to meet in Nassau to discuss creating a Dominion in the British Caribbean (Dominion of the Antilles). This meeting will occur in the Fall of 1788, after hurricane and Yellow Fever season are over.

A Lord Lieutenant will be appointed at that time, and it will be either be General Guy Carleton or Admiral Rodney

[Ottoman]

Early 1788, the fight against the slave trade...

On the anti slave trade front.. Pitt, who had long been supportive of abolition, introduced the preparatory motion himself, and ordered a Privy Council investigation into the slave trade, followed by a House of Commons review.


With the publication of the Privy Council report in March 1788 and following months of planning, Wilberforce commenced his parliamentary campaign. On 15 March 1788, he made his first major speech on the subject of abolition in the House of Commons, in which he reasoned that the trade was morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice. Drawing on Thomas Clarkson's mass of evidence, he described in detail the appalling conditions in which slaves travelled from Africa in the middle passage, and argued that abolishing the trade would also bring an improvement to the conditions of existing slaves in the West Indies, including the new Dutch colonies. He moved 12 resolutions condemning the slave trade, but made no reference to the abolition of slavery itself, instead dwelling on the potential for reproduction in the existing slave population should the trade be abolished.With the tide running against them, the opponents of abolition delayed the vote by proposing that the House of Commons hear its own evidence, and Wilberforce, in a move that has subsequently been criticised for prolonging the slave trade, reluctantly agreed.The hearings were not completed by the end of the parliamentary session, and were deferred until the following year.

However,Wilberforce health takes a hit in April 1788, he was taken ill with a probable stress-related condition, now thought to be ulcerative colitis. It was several months before he was able to resume work, and he spent time convalescing at Bath and Cambridge. His regular bouts of gastrointestinal illnesses precipitated the use of moderate quantities of opium, which proved effective in alleviating his condition, and which he continued to use for the rest of his life.

OOC: Modify the wiki article to adjust for timelines and others changes for color.

[Galveston Bay]

In the Midlands, the Iron industry, with more and more demand from the textile industry for steam engines and other machinery as well as demand from the Navy, takes off

(PC at Leeds replacing craft center in 1789)

[Ottoman]

In the Midlands, the Iron industry, with more and more demand from the textile industry for steam engines and other machinery as well as demand from the Navy, takes off

(PC at Leeds replacing craft center in 1789)

Clarification on PC rule

A craft center is replaced and resource is replaced as well....so pick the resource at 1 Manchester. That will go away as well by 1789.

[Galveston Bay]

A struggle in Parliament 1788
The measure to create the Dominion of the British Antilles is met with strong opposition by Pitt and Wilberforce and others on their side, while the London Society of West India Planters and Merchants (and 74 members of Parliament) are for it. However, the measure to grant a parliament for the Dominion of the British Antilles is defeated 248-174, as Pitt is forced to shelf reform of the Rotten Boroughs to get it defeated.

The Dominion of the British Antilles is thus created, but its status remains similar to that of the Dominion of British India. A military command with the civilian government remaining that of colonies and direct rule by Britain. For now there will be no home rule in the British Caribbean with the exception of the Virgin Islands and its Dutch colonies now under British control

This will turn out of be an important decision in the future....

[Galveston Bay]

Budget 1789
in 1788, the BB2 America is lost after it goes aground and is wrecked off Jamaica on a reef, the FF1 Bideford is lost to fire, and the Brig Beaver is lost at sea somewhere between Bombay and Capetown, 5 new BB2 Commonwealth, Protector, Dominion, Hercules, Union added to Navy

Income 128.1 points
National Debt:
667.3 (both debt series) are combined into new bond series of 25 years at 2%
(this extends the old debt but offers higher interest, and shortens the newer debt payout at the same interest rate)
Principal payment: 27
Interest: 13.5
total debt payment 40.5 points

available 87.6 points
Military budget: 57 points
available 30 points
Subsidy Hanover Army remaining mobilized 5.5 points
financial support to Western North American Plains Indians 4.5 point (to allow passage overland along Oregon Trail to British Pacific Northwest)
Trading Post Honolulu and assistance to king kamehameha 5 points
Explore, chart and establish trading posts at Suva (Fiji) and Pago Pago (Samoa) 10 points
Establish trading post Tacoma (Washington) 3 points
Adoption of Greenwich Mean Time as base line for Longitude 2 points

[Ottoman]

Mid 1789,

Exiled Corsican nationalist Pasquale Paoli watch events in France with great interest, he is at gathering with radical exiles from Holland and Flanders exchanging ideas on revolutions. However he careful to be not as associated with radicals, as he many friends in British royal court. For now he is lobbying for Britain to help him and his friends should the time come to free homeland...

[Galveston Bay]

Budget 1790
The colonies of Upper Canada and East Florida join the Dominion of North America (as does their income).

Income 124.85 points
National Debt:
650.3 (both debt series) are combined into new bond series of 25 years at 2%
(this extends the old debt but offers higher interest, and shortens the newer debt payout at the same interest rate)
Principal payment: 27.3
Interest: 13.5
total debt payment 40.8 points

available 80 points
Military budget: 57 points
available 23 points
Subsidy Hanover Army remaining mobilized 5.5 points
financial support to Western North American Plains Indians 4.5 points (to allow passage overland along Oregon Trail to British Pacific Northwest)
Trading Post Honolulu and assistance to king kamehameha (paid for in 1788, available in 1790)
Explore, chart and establish trading posts at Suva (Fiji) and Pago Pago (Samoa) (paid for in 1788, available in 1790)
colony East London South Africa (5 points) designated for Irish settlers, includes free transportation for many of the initial settlers who are drawn from Irish debtors
trading post Port Shepstone South Africa (3 points) to trade with Bantu peoples (future Zulu)
trading post Durban South Africa (3 points) to trade with Bantu peoples (future Zulu)
subsidies for immigration of Dutch, Flemish, and Icelandic refugees / exiles to Capetown colony or Newfoundland or Falkland Islands

[Galveston Bay]

1790
In London, the King and soon thereafter, many in court, take to wearing Buffalo robes during the winter season, as they are very warm and repel water nicely. Buffalo hide moccasins also appear on the Kings feet during the winter and he praises their comfort and warmth.

Meanwhile the Beaver hat remains as popular as ever both for civilian and military attire

[Galveston Bay]

at the end of the year the Royal Navy adds 20 frigates
FF1 Nottingham, Durham, Worcester, Somerset, Cheshire, Cumbria, Flintshire, Carmarthen, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Donegal, Wexford, Claire, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Nassau, Jamaica, Barbuda, Grenada

to the fleet, (8000 men, maintenance increases by 4 points)

This ships will be initially assigned to Western Approaches Fleet operating out of Bristol as they complete working up and training

[Galveston Bay]

Budget 1791
The colonies of Upper Canada and East Florida join the Dominion of North America (as does their income).

Income 126.1 plus 4 point one time payment from Ceylon
National Debt:
623 (25 years at 2%)
Principal payment: 13.5
Interest: 13.5
total debt payment 27 points
Military budget: 100 points\
available 3 points
trading post Pretoria (South Africa) 3 points

10 points borrowed at 2% (due in 24 years)
Subsidy Hanover Army remaining mobilized 5.5 points
financial support to Western North American Plains Indians 4.5 points (to allow passage overland along Oregon Trail to British Pacific Northwest)

National Debt going into 1792 will be 619.5 points

[Galveston Bay]

Budget 1792
The colonies of Upper Canada and East Florida join the Dominion of North America (as does their income).

Income 133.5
National Debt:
619.5 (25 years at 2%)
Principal payment: 14.5
Interest: 13.5
total debt payment 28 points
Military budget: 81 points
available 24.5

support to North American Plains Indians to ensure safe passage to Oregon 4.5 points
available 20 points
upgrade Fortress Tangiers to fortified area (year 1 of 2) 4 points
upgrade Fortress Medway to fortified area (Thames defenses) (year 1 of 2) 4 points
fortresses at Plymouth, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Bristol, Dublin, Belfast (year 1 of 2) 12 points
(adjustment of 15% discount) 17 points total
3 points gifts to Burmese princes toward establishing trading post at Rangoon

[Galveston Bay]

1792
Britain and Ireland and the associated dominions are at peace in 1792, but concerns about events in France and the Austrian Netherlands means that money for defenses still remain a high priority.

The Navy in particular wants funds to upgrade the defenses of its major ports and facilities, particularly at home which have been allowed to fall into complete disrepair or are inadequate in the case of the Thames.

Seeing an opportunity for jobs creation, Parliament accepts the recommendation.

Meanwhile in the East, the British continue toward the goal of expanding their trade and access

[Sponsored content]