NationStates Jolt Archive

The Brussels Inquisitor

King Leopold II has decided to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian Parliament. He was sustaining debt from the harvest of rubber which was starting to see some use but was not satisfying his debt. King Leopold alerted the Parliament and agreed to aloow them to annex the Congo Free State if they paid off his debts. After a heated debate and a quite wonderful argument for annexing the Congo by PM Guy Verhofstadt the Parliament agreed and is now administering the colony. They hope that the recent invention of the automobile and mass production will create a need for rubber that will supplement the costs of running The colony.

On a much grimmer note the Parliament has found signs of abuse by our monarch unto the peoples of the Congo Free State. They believe that in his quest for a profit he overlooked the well being of the natives and exploited them to scrounge up a profit.The Parliament is now discussing the ramifications of this abuse and how to punish King Leopold II. The current proposition is for a fine of 5 million Francs to be payed to the Parliament and increase the Defense budget.

King Leopold II and PM Guy Verhofstadt announced today that they would enact conscription to help quell some of the uprisings in the Congo. The age to be accepted is 16. the conscripts will undergo one month of training and will be in service for 6 years. The conscript will then have the oppurtunity to choose to become a career soldier or go back to civilian life. King Leopold said "If we wish to continue control of this now profitable colony we must fight. Conscription is only a means of maintaining an army with enough manpower to control the Congo so that we can extract a profit." Civil rights activists were outraged by this and demand that King Leopold allow a civillian board oversee the treatment of the natives.

Riding on the crest of the conscription wave is imperialism. Many people believe that the armys will be used to creat new colonies elsewhere in the world and make Belgium an empire. Those who oppose this idea say that no colony could be taken as Germany, Great Britain, and France hold many colonies and they have left very few places open for conquest.

Current numbers for the military have risen after the enaction of conscription. The former military had a mere 100,000 men in service while after conscription the reorganized military will have 260,000 men in service.

A bill on the Parliament floor regarding the nilitarys organization is being debated and a vote will be taken soon. The bill says that quote "200,000 men shall be in the Belgian Army. this number includes logistics personnel and will be split up into 10 Divisions of 20,000. Each Division will be split up into 10 Brigades of 2,000 and each Brigade into 10 Squads of 200. There will be 5 Infantry Divisions, 4 Artillery Divisions, and 1 Commando Division...The Belgian Navy will consist of 60,000 men on 2 Battleships, 4 Destroyers, and 16 Cruisers. Construction of these shiups will begin immediately after the passing of this bill." As you can see our military will be strong and organized.

King Leopold II has also began the construction of a new branch of the École Royale Militaire in Ostend to create officers for the Navy and he has moved the original École Royale Militaire to Brussels which creates officers for the Infantry and Artillery Divisions. Another branch to teach the Commandos is proposed to be built in Charleroi.

The Parliament has passed the Military Organization Bill or MOB and has begun construction on the new Navy. Sailors are being trained at the new École Royale Militaire in Ostend and are looking forward to thier new ships.

The École Royale Militaire branch being built in Charleroi to train officers for the Commando Division is nearing completion and th epatrons are happy to see the fruit of thier donations.

Duke William IV has announced that he will meet with with King Leopold II to discuss the proposed alliance. Duke William IV of Luxembourg has recently acended the throne after the death of his father. One of the issues he will face is th rioting that is going on in the streets of Luxembourg. We have found out that the workers are mad about working conditions and the rumor that Duke William IV wishes to annex Luxembourg to Belgium after a short 30 years of seperation.

King Leopold II has announced his support of Duke William IV and will send the 9th Commando Brigade to help surpress the riots in Luxembourg. They will assist the Police in containing and surpressing the rioting. The Brigade is lead by Leftenit Colonel Charlerey who has 22 years experience. He hopes that the rioters can be dealt with swiftly and that this does not escalate into a civil war.

The 9th Commando Brigade fought valiantly along with Luxembourg Police forces against the rioting disenters. In the end the riots were quelled but only after a bloody conflict. LC Charlerey said "The attack was necessary as they were throwing stones and attacking our forces. It was the only way." Casualties have not been released but numbers for the 9th Commando Brigade were rumored to be in the high 70's while rioter casualties were reported to be in the 1,000's.