The Grand Duchy of Laurenburg presents:A FINAL BEQUEST TO THE CITIZENS AND REGION OF KAISERREICH
20:00, July 31st, AD MMXXII
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To my fellow citizens of the Nationstates Region of KAISERREICH, of past, present, or future:
As of July 2022, my nation, Laurenburg, has been (with at least two brief interruptions) a resident of this region for about a month shy of five years. In the wake of events the events of recent months and days, I have decided to make this statement about both my experiences in KAISERREICH, and my perspective on how this region was, is, ought to be, and will be.
It has become apparent to me that the greatest challenge most regions on Nationststes face in improving and expanding themselves is in recruiting new nations and convincing them to become active members. Indeed, the most critical time for any region to get right is a new nation's very first few days and weeks in the region, it is then when the interest and motivation must be initiated and developed so that newcomers can find a region that they can believe in. Introductions are always crucial, but in a game where a change of allegiances is as easy as the push of a button, getting it right and keeping the momentum rolling, matters all the more. It is here where I believe KAISERREICH has, throughout the vast majority of my time here, failed most egregiously, and I recommend all who seek to improve the region to focus uniformly and indivisibly on improving this component of the regional experience, as difficult as it may be.
Unfortunately, I cannot say that my personal experiences can provide any guidance in addressing this challenge. Aside from some passing curiosity about the aesthetic of Imperial Germany, I can hardly remember any specific reason I chose to join Kaiserreich, of all regions. I simply discovered Nationstates one odd spring schoolday and forgot about it for several months, so when I had some free time in the summer, I created a new nation, one that would represent a sort of country I could develop a vision of and theme around. Too anxious to try to join one of these crowded “Pacific” founder regions, I decided to join KR, for no particular reason. I had received a recruitment TG that notified me of the region's existence months earlier, but I had deleted it long before I decided that I would go there. In all honesty, exactly why I have wanted to stay here is almost as much of a mystery as why I came in the first place. That’s not to say that I don’t have some ideas, however.
For those who are new, or unfamiliar with the intricacies of this region around this time in the region's long history, I feel a comprehensive account of my experiences in this region may be useful, for historical record and to understand my beliefs. The KR I joined in 2017 was a far different place than what it is now. Perhaps most shockingly considering the recent revelations, it took me several months of quiet lingering and moderate participation to become a known member of the region. But as I grew more and more familiar, I was fascinated with what I found: an energetic culture, shockingly complex history, and lore, and truly vibrant regional discussion on all sorts of topics. KR, at its best, was a vibrant, active, proud, yet still, goofy little community, wrapped in a charmingly melodramatic pseudo-Imperial-German aesthetic. All of this was not reliant on any of the ever-changing regional government institutions but on an unexpectedly eclectic group of individual residents. Some stood out as talented and hardworking, others bombastic and idiosyncratic, and still others, just as funny and friendly cornerstones of conversation and community. Nations like this have come and gone throughout all of my time here, but it was undeniably at its strongest in my first few years. Through the eyes of a common citizen, old KR was a great place for a chat, a quick (usually unsuccessful) raid, or fun historical RP almost always set in the late 19th or early 20th centuries.
KR's characteristic oddball spirit also extended to KR’s interregional affairs. From the very start, KR has been chronically outside of, if not directly opposed to, the greater NS “community” built around GCRs and the WA. Much like in its internal affairs, KR developed endlessly complex interregional relations with a similarly eclectic slate of outcast or fringe regions. It also helped that, relative to many of its peer outcasts, KR was genuinely a significant power, with both developed prestige and a big enough player base to maintain it.
To its credit, KR has always rewarded patience and consistency. Through consistent participation and tenure, I gradually rose within the region. It was in this process that, over time, I began to learn about the region’s complex history and internal politics. I came to appreciate Kaiserreich’s most fascinating attribute: its uncanny longevity amid extreme political instability. Since its creation in 2015, this region has faced regular schisms, power struggles, and internal conflicts, often with tremendously destructive results, but somehow, some way, comes out, shaken, battered, often horribly weakened, but always alive. Foreign forces have also found it a hobby to quarrel with KR, but they too have almost all been outlasted, with all of KR’s old rivals, including Angvar, FEMDOM Nation, The Wolf Clan, and even the original CAIN, passing into history as Kaiserreich doggedly marches onward. Naturally, the constant presence of our Kaiser and regional founder, Scansinia, plays a key role in this, but it is the community of nations, as small and scattered as they so often are, that keep the region's torch held high. Still, I have wondered, is Kaiserreich itself hurt by this constant internal conflict? Once, not so long ago I would have considered this obvious, but today, I would say otherwise.
By the end of my second year in the region, KR had entered a general decline in activity and regional health that it has never completely made back, but the region remained alive and well. Internal politicking, as always, remained a fixture, with officers rotating in and out of various positions, jockeying for power. As the region's recruitment and management issues became more and more apparent, institutions like the KOI and Junta rose, promising drastic change, only to burn out, fade away, or both. New institutions were drafted and implemented by proud reformers, only to be refined and reforged by a new batch of reformers a few years later. Still, as I joined the nobility and the Reichstag, Kaiserreich's legislature composed of selected active citizens promoted to the nobility, the perpetual cycle of reform and political challenge helped provide something to do, making up for the decline in conversation and RP quality that had drawn me into the region. The new Vedigothic Imperium helped keep KR engaged with interregional affairs, replacing KR’s close relationship with the UCR as points of engagement for more than upper diplomats. did provide some welcome activity and life at first. It also brought KR into cooperation with Montealba for the first time, initiating the long and complex history between the regions. If inhabiting the region as a citizen was becoming more boring, at least it remained interesting as a noble.
Around the same time, a few opportunistic members of the greater NSGP community seeking to build a name for themselves within their closed political circles, capitalized on KR's longstanding association with right-wing politics to portray the region as a fascistic hive of thinly-veiled Nazis. La Navasse rallied the uninformed masses behind this false notion, before Lenlyvit decided to urse make an example of us, striking this region with a Liberation in March of 2018. I will not pretend this region's record is spotless, as some checkered individuals have risen to high positions in the regional leadership. Still, all who have been a part of this region know and recognize what this region is not, and never was, the fascistic haven so many still perceive it as today. Even now, the idea of such a complex, unquantifiable region of KR being essentialized into something so ridiculous bothers me. The memory of the great injustice that was that liberation lingered most consciously in my mind as I chose to linger in this region for so long. After what the region had been for me, I just could not let that cloudy monument to ignorance and apathy stuck next to our region’s name be the end of this region. Fortunately, at this stage, I think it’s safe to say that KR has outlived that challenge, even if the common perception of KR lapses back to apathy.
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Eventually, I gained a ministerial position and rose to possess the highest office in the region, short of the Kaiser’s own, the Imperial Chancellery. However, it's important to note that I ascended to and maintained the Chancellory by default, not by specific merit. Before my election, I had served as head of the Reichswehr, an old, once-esteemed Raiding/Defending body predating the establishment of KR itself. Facing massive defender attention and poor participation, I found the job to be a futile one, only securing a handful of small victories over my year of leadership of the organization. However, I held few explicit political convictions and ideological motivations publically and had refused to join myself with any of my ambitious or controversial peers through the Imperial houses, or any of the various political factions, excluding my own KPRP early on. By and large, I was tolerable to all and had garnered myself enough tenure and respect to be an acceptable candidate.
I believe that, having been elected, I possessed a mandate, a responsibility to this region to take advantage of what strengths I had to improve the state of the region that had selected me. At that time, I saw myself in a uniquely respected and nonpartisan position that could allow me to bring the region together, maintain stability and prevent the schisms that had so long wreaked it while, by governing by consensus, turning the region’s focus on internal development. I aimed to redress the falsehoods embodied in the liberation and help KR become the vibrant home of RP and exciting government play that had brought me into the region. It is for that reason that, apart from the anti-liberation PR campaign, I decided to dedicate myself to domestic affairs, while interregional relations were managed through the Imperium, an interregional organization that I could not gain any significant voice in.
I cannot say that my strategy succeeded in reversing the trends facing the region. After an initial PR success in removing KR from the Civil defence siren, the region fell back into stagnation, while the drama and activity of most government officials shifted to the Imperium and attempts to expand KR’s influence abroad, even as the region itself lay stagnant and neglected. Unfortunately, even the eventual arrival and ascension of new membership failed to significantly spur activity domestically, as new RPs routinely failed to get off the ground due to low interest and enthusiasm from participants and management alike. When a surge of newcomers arrived in early 2020, they, disenchanted with the regimented and controlled nature of KR’s managed regional RP, established a separate RP region to goof off on their own, The Neighborhood. In retrospect, was clear that, to the newcomers, KR had lost the energy and fun that had once drawn so many citizens in. With other commitments increasingly drawing my attention away from KR, the region puttered along in a relatively stagnant state for about a year. Considering this, I would never consider myself a successful Chancellor. Competent? Perhaps. But on my own, I could not reverse this region’s downward trajectory.
To make up for over a year of wheel-spinning and decline preceding my tenure, Kaiserreich had turned to interregional affairs, one other region in particular. It is impossible to talk or even try to understand the condition of Kaiserreich during my time as Chancellor without discussing Montealba, a region fundamentally intertwined in both Kaiserreich's recent history and present state. The relationship between dates back to Montealba's precessors, Driselbia and Krumpelberg, but only began in earnest around the start of 2019. My introduction to the place came in December of 2018, I and other members of KR were invited to participate in an RP exchange program with the small new region. Ties between KR and Montealba quickly grew from there. By welcoming Montealbans back into the region through KR's interregional organization, The Vedigothic Imperium, our region experienced a sudden and much-needed surge in competent activity and leadership, especially in the key cultural fields. By the time I became Chancellor in the summer of 2019, Montealbans had established themselves as important members of KR's active population, possessing seats in the Reichstag. Still, as always, the more engrained Montealbans became in KR’s political affairs, the barrier between Kaiserreich and Montealba, Kaiserreicher and Montealban, became less and less clear. This was not helped by the fact that the Montealbans were especially involved in KR’s RP and cultural spheres, which I now realize are, and always have been the focal point of interaction with new members and the heart of a good, long-lasting NS region. This was not lost on new citizens, who frequently got along very well with the Montealbans. In contrast, some old guard members of KR began to be aggravated by the cultural and political shift that the Montealban influence brought, and complemented by some ambitious citizens, feeling sidelined and jealous, reacted with hostility to the Montealban presence. Indeed, the KR nativist movement of 2019 had genuine grassroots support among some of the common, non-noble citizenry, a trait not shared with later imitation movements. I opted not to pick a clear side and threaten the unity of our region, hoping to keep the situation stable and my opportunities open by staying in the good graces of all. I have little doubt this helped me become Chancellor, and the added responsibility of being the region's highest citizen and (ideally) a model for newer citizens only kept me more firmly in the middle ground. Regardless of my intentions, a cycle of reinforcing antagonism between nativists and Montealbans eventually led to the first major crisis between our two regions, in early July 2019. Roughly a month into my Chancellorship, Montealba formally "Declared Independence" from the VI, pulling out of the treaty and cutting formal relations with KR, citing the disrespect and inequitable treatment they saw from KR under the arrangement. Although we were disappointed by this, I respectfully accepted their decision, and certainly think they were within their rights to do this. The Imperium was, by design, centered around Kaiserreich as the senior partner, it had a privileged position in the alliance. This withdrawal was not a light or impulsive decision either, as leading Montealbans clearly saw value in their relationship with Kaiserreich. Trigori, longtime leader of Montealba, had even asked the Reichstag to manifest the original purpose of the Imperium as an expanded replacement for Kaiserreich, creating a new, unified region for KR and all agreeing members, including their own. He had become so trusted within our region that he had been elected Chancellor, and it was his resignation amid the surge in nativist activity that had left the position vacant for my election. I suppose this all also raises the question of the Montealbans' true motivations for engaging with us in the first place, a matter that I am hardly in a position to guess at.
This breakup, it seems, did not last long, as soon, Montealba and KR reconciled. While not formally holding ministries or votes in the Reichstag, Montealbans were welcomed to augment KR's lack of active citizens in an arrangement soon to be formalized as the "Greater Empire." This put me, as Chancellor, in a peculiar position where, for a large portion of my tenure, much of the active workforce of the region I managed, were not indisputably members of the region I supposedly governed. Interregional relations between Kaiserreich and Montealba continued to be conducted through other channels as I focused on internal matters. Many members of KR's active population had, by this time become very friendly with the Montealbans, and relations were close enough that talk of unification arose once again, eventually leading to the second crisis of relations between KR and Montealba. Winfallow, a nation whose user had become an ardent Montealban while retaining a vote in the Reichstag due to long involvement with KR, proposed a vote to unite the two regions. After the voting window elapsed, Winfallow controversially declared the measure passed, which I overturned on my interpretation of a legislative technicality that I thought had been long accepted as precedent. Winfallow both refused to accept our count as legitimate and released the disputed results to Montealba, who were outraged at what they saw as our overturning of a clearly and democratically passing vote. This led to both a messy Volkstribunal trial and Winfallow's brief impeachment, damaging relations between our regions more and supporting the Montealban narrative that they were treated unfairly by Kaiserreichers. making them more derisive and outspoken about what they, often quite fairly, saw as our shortcomings in leadership and fairness.
Regarding my role in this situation, it was clear to me that Winfallow was, at the absolute minimum, pushing the limit of the written law to hasten the measure's approval, and following both. As Chancellor, I saw it as my duty to ensure that such a key vote was carried out properly under KR's legislative procedure, especially because such a motion would eventually lead to the end of my position, so acted to ensure that such a controversial action could not be taken while there was not a clear and universal consensus that it was the desire of the region as a group.
Although some Montealbans quit KR in protest of the decision, (as well as Winfallow and some extremely pro-Montealba Kaiserreichers), this break did not last long. They soon returned and became more essential to the region than ever. Trigori, Nova Hrodsk, and other Montealbans prominent in KR soon were granted KR nobility, ministry positions, and voting rights, further complicating my role as Chancellor now that some of my ministers weren't even members of the region I was governing. We made an effort to spur organic growth, and, to give credit where due, were usually supported in our efforts by the Montealbans. Through the Imperial Diet and the expansion of the Tribune position, we attempted to expand KR’s most exciting remaining element, political gameplay, to the common people, finally overcoming the elitist and paranoid culture of many of the older nobles. In terms of pure nation count, the region expanded over this time, but despite the numerical success, the crucial process of integrating new arrivals as active, long-term citizens remained a challenge. Only a handful truly emerged, while slightly older nations of the previous generation, colored by their interactions with the Montealbans during the earlier Imperium era, rose to higher positions of power, bringing our regions closer to the highest levels. Things looked stable, at least, as my term ended in March 2021, I did not wish to run again as Chancellor, but with no other willing or qualified candidates, I decided to sign up for another six months, through the spring and summer of 2021. Summer was supposed to be the quiet season of NS, a great time to let the newcomers gain some experience and leave the region in a stronger place than I found it, an unambiguously good legacy. Much like my plans upon entering the Chancellory, these optimistic notions did not proceed as I had envisioned. No, the exact opposite had to pass.
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The Greater Empire arrangement that governed our regional relations at the time was both poorly defined and, especially in the eyes of certain Kaiserreichers, a continuation of the Imperium as a fundamentally unequal relationship between the two regions. The Montealbans continued to feel disrespected, if not disregarded, by the government of KR, so, just a month after my reelection, presented us with yet another ultimatum. They declared their dissatisfaction with the current situation, and offered Kaiserreich three paths to proceed with their region: agree to merge, completely break off relations, or accept a new, "co-equal alliance" formalizing a more defined and equal relationship between the two regions. The Reichstag voted to proceed with a new alliance, and so the Treaty of Rissky-Brod was passed and signed on May 31st, 2021. A closer union of cooperation between the two regions, the new arrangement also included a third, central region serving as common territory and a potential future home. It was all inspired in aesthetics and structure by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a clever union of KR's imperial german and Montealba's quintessentially I did not play a significant role in drafting the treaty (The Montealbans wrote almost all, if not the entirety of it) but welcomed it just as my fellow nobles did, with the hope that it would boost KR’s activity and propel the growing region to new heights as I began to think of my position here after my tenure as Chancellor. I wonder why the old guard of Nativists, or Scansinia, for that matter, did not oppose it more strongly. Was it pure desperation that led KR to grow closer and closer to Montealba a third time? Perhaps, although, I suspect the old imperialist idea of annexing smaller regions into some greater Kaiserreich sphere, still held sway, it was clear by that point that the balance of power between KR and Montealba and the distinct cultural differences between the regions would never allow such a thing. Regardless, the treaty was implemented, and the two regions grew more formally integrated than ever before.
Over the next few weeks, Montealbans rejoined Kaiserreich's government and institutions, but the flow also ran the other way. Most prominent Kaiserreichers of the generation following mine including Baltishe, Palractus and Crestos made new nations in Montealba, often spending more and more time in their discord server and even taking roles within their government. Facing little to no nativism there, they integrated as dual citizens quickly and seamlessly. For the first time, to me, it truly seemed like Montealba and Kaiserreich were beginning to unite in practice, and my duties as chancellor began to diminish. Still, I tried to do what I saw as best for my region in this rapidly changing situation. Now fully appreciating their importance, I promoted the integration of RP and cultural affairs, seeking Montealban expertise in growing KR, while I tried to focus on PR, greeting newcomers, and scouting around for support for a last-ditch Liberation repeal attempt, anticipating that KR would soon be abandoned as an active region. Still, just like before, certain “nativists” in the highest echelons of KR’s government began to show their displeasure with the direction the region was heading, founding empty nativist political parties to promote newcomers and disregarding the treaty as Montealbans grew more engrained in KR’s society than ever before. Matters truly began to escalate when high-ranking government officials, with the quiet support of the Kaiser, began to flagrantly disregard the terms of Rissky-Brod. The Montealbans, who had a longstanding disdain for most of these officials, amplified their signature obnoxiously facetious and incendiary behavior on the RMB and both the main and Reichstag Discord servers. This cycle of disrespect continued until Scheinenland, proposed that KR withdraw from R-B on the 26th of June, As a large portion of the lower nobility and several ministers were broadly pro-Montealba, the Reichstag voted to remain. Still, the whole event only increased the antagonism between the Montealbans and Nativists in the coming days. This led to the chaotic events of July 3rd, 2021, (7/3/21), by far the most important day of my tenure as Chancellor.
The crisis started with a “coup from above,” where a very small group of nativist upper government officials, spearheaded by Scheinenland, forcibly and undemocratically pulled KR from the Montealban union by kicking Montealbans out of regional government and institutions and cutting all ties with Montealba. Citizens friendly to the Montealbans, as well as the many nobles who had voted for the union, called upon the Kaiser and me to arrest the putschists, while the Montealbans began antagonizing the putschists and Kaiser Scansinia with taunting and spam on the RMB and Discord. Still, as I became aware of the unfolding chaos, it was quickly becoming apparent that Scansinia was inactive, leaving me as the highest active official in the region. As I briefly attempted to mediate between the two groups, asking the putschists to stand down and the Montealbans to cease their jeering and taunting. But I soon accepted that this was no normal political crisis and that this region, my region, was tearing itself apart before my own eyes, more toxically and destructively than ever before. Both sides lobbied me for my support, the pro-Montealbans needing my support to have a majority of the Imperial Council (The High Ministers, Chancellor, Archduke, and Kaiser), while the putschists needed me, as the only person with admin power over ministers, to restore order on the Discord and eject the Pro-Montealban elements from the Reichstag. I knew that my decision could be crucial, but I found the choice a challenging one to make. On one hand, as Chancellor, I believed I represented Kaiserreich, not Montealba, and feared completely losing my position and respect I had spent so many years trying to cultivate and maintain by backing the Pro Montealban faction. Still, standing by the government would be an endorsement of a coup that was blatantly illegal and undemocratic. Many of the pro-Montealban nobles were also acquaintances who I greatly respected as both leading members of the region and individuals, who had helped give the region a bit of that 2017 fun it had so long been lacking. In that respect, the true choice that faced me became clear: sacrificing any agency in the future of the region that I, as Chancellor, held the responsibility of leading, or abandoning so many of those induviduals who had made the region into the place I cared about.
As I struggled to make up my mind on the matter, desperately searching for a way to keep the people and place of KR from diverging so radically, the situation only further deteriorated. The putschists grew aggravated at my inaction while the pro-Monts, realizing that KR as a region is likely lost without my leverage, became more and more caustic and disrespectful in their conduct in the discord. Regardless, my time to decide soon ran out. It was the actions of Palractus and Tomisburg, the two most prominent Pro-Montealban ministers, and Cartorian Empire, a former nativist turned rabid Pro-Montealban with a longstanding disdain for Scheinenland, that pushed me to recognize the illegal purge. With the Union essentially dead and justice for the putschists appearing unlikely, they used their admin powers (Cartoria having been granted them through either the authority of the other pro-Montealban ministers or a clerical error) to devastate Kaiserreich’s main discord server, destroying most of the channels and literal years of regional history, among several other key regional documents and dispatches. Dismayed at such acts of senseless vandalism and destruction of a space where all three of them had found so much, I could no longer hope for reconciliation. To the relief of the putchists, I banned them from the server and region and denounced their actions, throwing my lot in with the rump nativist government of the Putchists.
There were three main ringleaders of the nativist coup, who, together with the myself, inherited domination of the reion's political scene. First among them was Scheinenland, a nation whose character and interests are certainly familiar to almost all reading this. Still, for the sake of posterity, He is a very, very old Kaiserreicher with a long history of activity marked by reoccurring controversy, frequent banishment and subsequent returns, and leadership of, if not complete control of, powerful regional espionage and security organs accountable only to Kaiser Scansinia. The second was Volksleben, our intelligent and hardworking Minister of the Interior, whose bureaucratic and authoritarian tendencies in regional government supplemented his outspoken Leninism contrasted with the Montealbans broadly more liberal approach to both. Third was Indo-malaysia, was, like Schein, another older noble served as KR's Minister of Foreign Affairs due to his good standing within the NSGP community, although he was more involved in the management of his own region, the Order of the Southern North. As Indo quickly became inactive, the region fell under the near complete control of Schein and Volks, who, despite their political differences, both felt a desire to remake KR as a more authoritarian and ideologically driven region, seeking to crack down hard on various liberties to weed out Montealban-type ideas. Naturally, I fully expected the fury in reaction to such a destructive event would allow the two of them to transform Kaiserreich into an authoritarian police state. I suppose that is just another region I couldn't bring myself to leave such a shadow of a region. I knew I was the only one who had the slightest chance of reining in their excesses, so wanted to ensure my region rode the rest of the term it elected me for with hope for a brighter future. After all, if I didn’t stay, what would Kaiserreich become? A tiny, fascistic, paranoid rogue region of NS, any remaining fun squeezed out of it before its remaining leaders, themselves so different in their vision for its future, turn on each other in disgust. Exactly what those pompous NSGP nations who wrote and passed that liberation thought we were this whole time. It was a horrible thought.
I suppose that could have been my subconscious goal throughout the entirety of my chancellorship. Keep Kaiserreich from becoming the place everyone said it was supposed to be. So in those last few months of my tenure, I leveraged my summer free time to do myself what we, as a group, had failed to do: give new nations a reason to stay. I developed a new RP department and RP management system from the ground up, with a regularly updated map, a defined time system, In-depth moderation, with battles and diplomacy alike described in historical detail to inspire the participants and reward well-written posts, and regular, researched news updates with fully modded NPC events to play off to keep the few RPers engaged. All, created, operated, and refined by me, alone. Massive numbers of recruitment TGs were sent (For the record, I never financed a single one), so many new nations did arrive, most of which have not stayed. As expected, my RP engaged several of them, and the region began to recover, if only a little. Soon, I enlisted promising new nations to help moderate the map. I taught them my system and tried to impart the same effort and attention to detail I endeavored to give to my work. As I grew tired of the micromanagement, and my time, both as Chancellor and to mod began to dry up, I knew new leadership would be needed to keep my progress alive. Unfortunately, my designated successor to the RP position, The great imperial celtic empire, had to become inactive mere months after joining due to time constraints, leaving me looking for someone to fill in my interim role. Eventually, that day came, and I stepped down as Chancellor in favor of Volksleben, who had proven himself a hardworking individual with a strong vision for the future of KR, and focused on closing out RP affairs, and taking a backseat in KR, now only a noble and a soldier in the RW.
So, what can I say about my performance? Did I leave KR stronger than when I took up the position? Perhaps not, but considering the alternative, It could be said that I did a fine job keeping it from ruin, at least for the time. Still, the fact remains that my Kaiserreich of 2019-2021 never sniffed the high watermarks of 2017 and 2018 in engagement, activity, and power for more than a few moments. Of the roughly dozen new citizens I engaged with my final RP effort, exactly one, current Chancellor Big Germania, remains active in KR today. The fact remains that we have wallowed in omnipresent stagnation, with no lasting, long-term gains to be counted. Perhaps I was a competent Chancellor, but I certainly was not successful at anything less than keeping the region on life support. Kaiserreich lives on, the cockroach that it has been, but does not thrive anymore.
Now, I bring you to the present. In the span of the last few months, Kaiserreich, as a region, has declined to a nadir I never would have imagined it would ever reach so quickly. The signs began to show soon after I stepped down, as the region's active population immediately began to shrink, not due to retirement, but gradual, organic emigration. New Drakia, longtime Archduke and a staple of the region since its earliest days, left of his own accord to found United Archducal States, a region of his own that became that soon forged ties with Montealba, becoming something of a club of ex-Kaiserreichers who left amid 7/3/21. Others who had stuck around, including Huben, Pruthuania, and my longtime generational peer within the region, Estonland, joined him there. Even The new texan republic of dallas, a regional fixture almost as constant as the Kaiser himself, left after the UAS merged with Montealba to form a new, currently active region, Monbalaur.
As Chancellor, Volksleben remained energetic, attempting to apply his socialist ideals to the nationalistic and monarchistic culture of KR, opposing significant legal and administrative reforms, all of which either got caught up in political debate or failed to be implemented to any significant results. Following the sudden outbreak of genuine and devastating military conflict, Volksleben’s activity understandably reduced in early 2022. He also began engaging in heated debates on the regional discord defending his controversial political views, eventually causing significant PR issues following apologetic statements on certain historical atrocities. The debacle caused an equally messy trial on which I was a judge. We eventually settled on removing his Chancellorship, a decision I standby as both a practical damage-mitigation measure, removing him from such a visible position, and justified by the word of the law as it existed at that time. However, Scheinenland evidently did not see this as sufficient action, and proposed a motion to ban “socialism” outright in the region as “anti-imperial.” Despite my vocal protests, the motion passed into law, supported by several newly promoted young nobles. Putting aside the obvious legal problems and political liberties violations with such a blanket ban on such a poorly defined subject as “socialism”, the operation also justifiably angered several socialist members of the Reichstag, who felt singled out by the legislation, along with the socialist-aligned regions Volks had worked to build ties with during his time as Chancellor. And like that, Volksleben and New hansa, two high ministers integral to the region's success, were driven from Kaiserreich, exacerbating our participation to critically low levels. It was an entirely predictable reaction, and it quickly became apparent that this was an intentional move by Scheinenland and other newly appointed nobles with anticommunist beliefs to drive Volksleben out of the region.
I’m sure you all are well aware of what followed this. Just a few days ago the newly elected Chancellor, Aurels, one of several active young nobles to have arrived in the region following my departure as Chancellor, revealed themself to be a foreign agent, having succeeded in their stated goals: exposing the region's true lack of effective security measures, while forcing Volksleben and Scheinenland from power. Days ago, two other new nobles, Minister of the Reichswehr Neustuhlenburg (supposedly of the socialist-aligned interregional "Fünfte Rote Brigade"), and Das great pruessa (probably originating from Monbalaur) also revealed themselves to be foreign plants.
The gravity of these revelations cannot be understated. KR, as a region, was already in the digits in active citizens, weeks ago, and the revelation that such a massive portion of our active population is foreign plants reveals the extent of the failure not only of our supposed “Security Director” to accomplish the single thing that they were supposed to do, but our genuinely important regional institutions, the RP, the cultural affairs, and just general conversation, to attract any significant quantity of competent and committed recruitment.
As a brief aside, I must address what the Members of Monbalaur who have almost certainly managed at least one of these infiltrations. What exactly have these stunts accomplish for your region? Do you truly wish to see KR finally destroyed from the inside? This region has proven that unprompted, it has no interest in you and your people, yet by doing this, you show that the state of KR remains rent-free in your consciousness. Furthermore, by exploiting, you only play into the narratives of Scheinenland who will pull the region further into his security state. Considering the number of former Kaiserreichers in your region, I would argue that in your current state, you have succeeded in creating the region that KR and Montealba could have been if one of the several merger attempts had not been obstructed. Even if you only do this out of the juvenile amusement of pushing this old, crippled region closer to a sad end, I implore you to find a better use of your time, for yourself and your region. Perhaps working on establishing cordial relations with a new, different region, not on the verge of imminent extinction could be worthwhile? Merely a thought.
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Now that the situation has been laid bare, Kaiserreichers, I would think it as important to understand our most tenured and active government leader, esteemed Security Director Scheinenland, aims to address the ceaseless stagnation and unparalleled weakness this region faces. Of course, there is only one way he knows how to deal with any challenge on NS: Use the regional "security" apparatus of his creation to even more closely monitor the region, squeezing out those who he deems to hold “anti-Imperial” ideas. Push and prod at, if not blatantly disregard, laws and treaties, until, through legislation in a time of genuine or manufactured crisis, he convinces the region to let his security agency discard any pretense of popular or legal accountability. Assume more personal power to regulate and micromanage more regional activities, to keep everyone and everything in line with his vision of KR. In summary, his solution to Kaiserreich's problems is, has been, and will always be, the same. All power to himself. The proof? Lying in the voting chambers of the Reichstag, struck down by only the very thinnest of margins. Proposing to fold the “vacant” Ministry of the Interior, which he emptied just a few short weeks ago, into his KOI. To draft the few remaining citizens of this region into that very body to ensure it can do its job. And of course, the classic Scheinenland move: make his RND an extra-ministerial body, reporting to the Imperial Council, accountable only to one, Scansinia himself. Of course, I'm actually talking about the GRSD here, but the KOI, RND, and GRSD were all crafted by him during different times in Kaiserreich's history, to play the same role he wishes the GRSD to assume today. To paraphrase a certain 80s sci-fi film: Hey, we've seen this one, it’s a classic!
This was all in the wake of Volksleben and New Hansa’s departure, before the recent revelations about the true identities of some of our region’s most promising young nobles, but Schein is back at it, taking advantage of a desperate situation created by his own failure as a security officer to grab for more power. Just today, he proposed, once again, to reestablish his "compromised" GRSD with operational independence and without ministerial accountability, while granting it the remaining duties of an abolished MOI, that is granting and managing citizenship to new members.
Let's review here: not only did this organization that he was so enthusiastic to give so much of a role in building this region back up fail in its primary mission in allowing multiple foreign agents in the uppermost echelons of power, but it was with these agents that Scheinenland himself conspired to drive Volksleben, his main remaining political opponent, from the region, so that he could assume more personal control over its future. That’s the Schein solution at work, fellow Kaiserreichers. Oust the “Anti-Imperial” individual working to build a KR a little different than the one you have in mind, then use the chaos and paranoia to gain the power to "fix" everything the way you and only you want it done.
This brings me back to a question posed earlier. Do I think that KR’s political instability negatively impacted the region? I certainly did when I was Chancellor. No internally generated political turmoil in the same vein as Phoenix Rising or even the Junta occurred during my tenure as Chancellor. Part of that could have been a result of the stagnation of the age, but no one ever really seemed to dislike me enough to try to remove me from power, at least to my knowledge. Still, the fact is that stability, in the long term, has done nothing for this place. It made people apathetic and disengaged, drowsily wandering ever forward, awaiting the moment of final sleep. Rather, I find that there is something about this region’s characteristic instability, the soap opera antics of all the ambitious individuals jockeying for power that, in an abstract sense, represented success. It kept things interesting and exhilarating, stretching the gameplay of regional government to its absolute limit while setting KR apart from the political machines that so often dominate GCRs. It also proved that KR, as an online space, had genuine value and meaning, and was truly worth fighting for. Considering that, I look back on my old perspective with a bit of disappointment considering what it may have cost my region across my long (the longest in KR history, aside from Copernika if you count his time as Konsul) tenure as Imperial Chancellor, despite the excitement the Montealbans brought.
Still, that’s not to imply that I believe that political conflict and instability can only be a good sign for a region. It’s just a certain sort that’s bad: schism and separation, that which divides the region apart and drives groups of active members, out, weakens regional diversity and institutions. I can only imagine the level of energy and activity in the region before the Phoenix Rising, when half of the region’s earliest generation and most of the active government departed in opposition to Scansinia, only a few months before my arrival into the vibrant KR of 2017. This is the great lesson I have taken from the Montealban crises. Time and time again, Kaiserreich invited an outside group, the same, in to solve its own recruitment problem, only for a small faction with the support of higher government power to toss all of the others out and shut that door. Every time, the majority, who either supported or tolerated the newcomers and saw for them a place in the new KR, met these other people from this other region doing so much good for theirs, so when a few frustrated “nativists” impulsively force the helpful newcomers out, it makes sense that they would consider following the newcomers back to the place they have built for themselves. It is through that loss of home-generated talent, not through the continual addition and subtraction of the same cast of outsiders, that this region has crippled itself. So many in the regional government of the time, including, to a certain extent, myself, just wanted a quick fix to serious structural issues, but instead of seriously looking themselves in the mirror and putting in the time and renewing their commitment to regional institutions and sensible governance. There isn't anything wrong with that in itself, but to then throw a tantrum and reject your "solution" outright the second you are called to give a little and realize that it could never turn out as painless and easy as you expected it to be, THREE SEPARATE TIMES... that is what has doomed this region, as a coherent group of nations, to its impending demise. The Nativists of KR were the immune system of a sick man attacking his liver transplant: misguided, at the most generous, lethal, at the very worst.
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But the nativism of KR was only the beginning. The beginning of the isolationsism, the paranoia, the totalitarian quest for political homogeneity. These ideas that threaten to snuff out the light of a renewed community, are not tied down in stodgy nostalgia for past leaders and glory, but sprung from the vision of a new generation of Kaiserreichers free from the weight of five years of stagnation and failure. offering an organic conception of what our great empire could be and represent.
This is why I call upon those few new nations of KAISERREICH, specifically Chancellor Big Germania, RW Minister Free To Live, Cultural Minister The league of lezha, Hogasarani, and Grand-joseon to do what is necessary to save their region from the very worst of its crises. I call upon you to draft and pass, with solidarity and unanimity, a motion relieving Scheinenland from all positions of power, if not outright, immediate, and permanent banjection from the region. If you are not in the Reichstag, Lobby the Kaiser and nobles, as this is a matter of the utmost importance. Scheinenland has proven, time and time again, to be a malign influence, willing to backhandedly scheme, flagrantly disregard the rule of law and regional institutions, and single out other groups within the region, all to centralize power upon himself. What he does with power is also clear: push out all who disagree with his conception of what KAISERREICH ought to be. All the while, he fails in his duties to support the region's internal development and, as we have seen, keep the highest levels of regional authority and esteem from becoming completely and utterly comprimised. The historical record of his deeds is lengthy and clear, ask any old Kaiserreicher now departed from this region and they will surely detail even more memories of machinations not mentioned in the official histories. It matters little what you cite: the illegal nativist coup, conspiracy, discrimination, even incompetence. But, by looking at all of his misdeeds together and inferring the broader motivations around them, his greatest crime becomes clear for all to see: FASCISM, adapted to the realities of Nationstates as a browser game. As much as it pains me to admit, as long as Scheinenland remains in government, KAISERREICH's opponents in NSGP will have at least a grain of truth to their claims.
You cannot afford to be lenient in your punishment. He is desperate for power and will, in time, gain it if he remains in the region. In the past, we were lenient on him when he was caught in his disregard for the law, deciding to utilize his genuine gift with art and design by barring him from involvement in security institutions and giving the Ministry of Culture to manage instead. Today, you can see much well that "punishment" ended up disciplining him.
Now, If you, as a group, envision a Schein-style spookocracy as the best future for your region, so be it. I a decision made by due consensus cannot be denied as a part of a region's natural course. But do not let an old nation like him lead this place forward. He is proven good, and the proof, seen in his individual actions and the region you see before you today, is not flattering. He may be active and leading right now, but Schein's past is peppered with initiatives and measures to develop the region, quickly launched cast to the side after they fail to yield immediate results. Take his recent economic venture as an example. He has attempted to launch regional economies many times in the past, but none, after failing to gain all that much immediate traction in a challenged region abandoned, were developed, improved or promoted. No, all were shut down, often following legal troubles or simple boredom. His regional leadership, too, is time-tested in its insufficiency. Look to the fate of Krasnaya, his old pet region he created before declaring away from Kaiserreich's imperial sphere ala Montealba, to see the future that awaits KR under his governance.
We know that Scheinenland, in the long term, will bring nothing but stagnation and destruction. If you can choose and build the region you, as the chosen newcomers want, the scraggle of old weeds clinging to life in a dry and empty lot could transform from a place of ugliness and decay to one of opportunity, for new gardeners to plant a beautiful new garden in.
I direct this message to the people not only because KR needs them to act to have a chance at survival, but because I do not trust the Kaiser to heed my necessary advice. For as long as I have been here, he has been content to watch from the sidelines as his region routinely tears itself apart, only indirectly weighing on the scales when the region teeters in a direction he opposes. Naturally, he’s well within his rights to do such a thing. It is his region after all, so I must address him.
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To the Nation of Scansinia, Founder and Kaiser of KAISERREICH, your region’s future has, and always will rest with you in the end. You bear as much responsibility for what goes on here, the life and death of this region, as you seek to give yourself. Over the past seven years, this online space’s role within your life has no doubt changed as much as your life has. I do not know how what you see this place as, a plaything, a hobby, a legacy, a curiosity, a social experiment, a power trip, a work of art… and it is not my, nor anyone else’s place to know. But in this crucial moment of crisis, I urge you to reflect on what KAISERREICH was, has been, is, and ought to be, not only to you but to all those fellow humans that have passed through, whose lives have, in the grandest scheme of things, so ephemerally intersected with it. What path have you been leading it down these last few years, and where will that path end up?
I will not request any other action of you but know that I do not expect you to heed my message or change your course. What I will tell you is what I believe, and what I will do. KAISERREICH, as it exists today, both saddens and ashames me, and I fully expect it to degenerate to a state that will disappoint me even more every passing day. I cannot reasonably expect the Kaiserreich I hope can be will ever materialize. Finally, I believe that Kaiserreich, as a region will, in the end, fall short of my hopes and face its end very soon.
Of course, I can never be sure of anything. History certainly does not support my last belief. Perhaps KR’s great blessing and curse will save it once more, the ambitions of the individual written into stone, eroding as the region totters on into the future. But I will not bet on it. An NS Region, in its greatest form, is more than a simple webpage, and a region can die long before that webpage where it existed does.
Having told you what I believe, now, I will tell you what I will do: I am resigning all my positions, titles, and positions held in Kaiserreich. My nobility, my military rank, my RS seat, my citizenship, all of it, effective immediately. I will vacate my nation from the region soon after, and my discord account from all of the official KR-related discord servers I am currently a member of. I do not seek criminal charges in this act, but if you choose to levy them, I will not object. I, like Schein, am an old man, and a thoroughly known quantity, the results of which I have laid plain above. For two years, an eternity of NS time, I had my chance to lead this place forward, and the outcome of my efforts speaks for itself. This region needs the new and fresh to lead this region onward. To them I humbly offer them lessons and advice, both in my deeds and in my words, should they elect to keep it, a final bequest to the region that has given me more than I ever deserved to get out of it.
Still, if my departure bothers or disappoints you in any way, take solace in knowing that while I leave Kaiserreich, Kaiserreich will not so easily leave me. Precisely because I never had any clear reason for being here, but have hung around and spent so much time here, I still feel a certain unjustifiable affinity for this immaterial place, despite how much it has degraded. It's almost like one feels for a place where they grew up. Whether they like it or not, it is a part of them. Even after its impending demise, KAISERREICH, at least the KAISERREICH of 2017 and 2018, will always be my Nationstates homeland. Wherever I go on this weird little site, that place, your place, will always be where this nation, and the user behind it, became what they are. Isn’t that neat to know?
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The old and known hold nothing but those visions that have led to the present. Only in the new and unproven can hope for a truly different future be found.
https://youtu.be/pXXkDe2XvHU
