Union of Britain/Paths

This article concerns gameplay, and as such does not need to conform to the "Perspective" and "Tone" sections of Our Rules and Our Style Guide. In other words, it does not cover in-game lore and may include information about events after January 1st 1936.

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Starting Situation ENG — Starting Situation

TUC Congress Tree ENG — Political/TUC Congress Tree

1936 finds the Union of Britain, a federation of 11 provinces, holding a national Congress of Trade Unions. It is in medias res as the focus is already in progress at game start. Union members from all across the country will meet in London to decide on the political future of not only the country but its political institutions as well.

Much like other Syndicalist states, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) elects a Chairman of the body, who also serves as the Union's Head of State. The Chairmanship is currently held by Thomas Mann but, if rumors are held to be true, won’t be for too much longer as he intends to retire. The Chairman's Second-in-Command is the Deputy Chairman, Oswald Mosley, while the General-Secretary of the TUC is Arthur Horner.

1936 TUC[]

The Congress is held over a number of days while the focus is active, and will focus on three policies: economic, internal, and military.

There are three main factions of the ruling Labor Party in the Trade Union that will complete for influence:

The totalist Maximists who support centralization of the government with more power to the Chairman.
The syndicalist Federationists, made up of the followers of Arthur Horner and Sylvia Pankhurst, who both support the staus quo.
The radical socialist Autonomists who support devolution to the highest degree.

To win a majority, a faction only needs to have their policy chosen in two of the three votes. If each party manages to get one vote each, it will mean a deadlock.

1936 TUC Outcomes[]

If a Party faction had gained a majority, on the last day of the Congress Chairman Mann will announce his immediate resignation just days before all TUC election ballots were counted. A non-partisan Executive Committee will take over temporarily until a winner is declared in the elections. At that time, a faction with a majority will get to elect its leader the new Chairman:

The Autonomists win a majority: Leader Niclas y Glais (real name Thomas Evan Nicholas) will be elected Chairman, and open up his branch of the focus tree, starting with 'Home Rule.'
The Maximists win a majority: Leader Oswald Mosley will be elected Chairman, and open up his branch of the focus tree, starting with 'The Central Intelligence Committee.'
The Federationists, led by Arthur Horner, and Sylvia Pankhurst, win a majority. The winners must decide which of them will get elected Chairman – or Chairwoman, and will open up the middle, 'Embrace the Status Quo' focus tree branch. There is no special content for this path.

If no faction was able to get a majority, Thomas Mann will not resign and will instead stay on as Chairman as a compromise candidate. Mann may choose to keep the Federationist-Maximist coalition going and retain Mosley as his Deputy, or strike a deal with the Autonomists and appoint Glais as the Deputy. In either case, this will open up the middle, 'Embrace the Status Quo' focus tree branch. There is no special content for this path. (Note that Mann will pass away in March 1941 and will be succeed by Arthur Horner, and Horner will retain the Deputy Mann had chosen).

Autonomist Victory[]

Autonomist Content ENG — Autonomist Content

The Autonomists, and in particular leader Glais, promote a restructuring of the TUC and/or devolution to newly created TUCs for Scotland and Wales. Glais will, before the war, make an enormous political decision that will take effect after the war with Germany. He can either choose to:

Move the capital of the Union: to get away from the centralization and bureaucracy that the ancient city of London suffers from, a new, smaller city needs to become the capital of the Union, one in the heart of the country that will guarantee representation for all. That city is Birmingham.
Dissolve the national TUC: Having long outlived its purpose and has come to represent centralist repression, a new TUC for England will be created in place of the national TUC and will sit at the People’s Palace (the historic Crystal Palace)

After the war with Germany, whether the Third Internationale won or a Second Peace with Honor was signed, Glais can put his plan into action.

If the capital was moved, the Union of Britain will release Scotland and Wales as puppets to be headed by their own Chairman of their own TUCs. Glais will be elected the new Chairman of the Welsh TUC, while Willie Gallacher the Chairman in Scotland. The Union of Britain’s Chairman of the TUC will be replaced by a Central Committee, no longer headed by one but instead become a communal presidency to be elected by the Union’s regional TUCs.
If the TUC was dissolved, Scotland and Wales will gain their independence under their own TUCs, headed by Gallacher and Glais, respectively, but the Union of Britain will be dissolved and replaced by the Union of England. Ebenezer Edwards of the Federationists will become the Chairman of the English TUC.

Maximist Victory[]

Maximist Event Chain Tree ENG — Maximist Content and Revolution Event Chain Tree

If the Maximists and Oswald Mosley take control, he will push for a revolution across the Union to cement Maximist rule, but waiting for the right time to strike. Like the Sorelians in the Commune of France, Mosley will push through an unconstitutional change to merge the offices of Chairman of the TUC and General-Secretary of the TUC into one central position, the Grand Protector of the Union of Britain.

Afterwards, Mosely will take a stand and declare a Maximist Revolution across the Union. There are three avenues to victory for him, stemming from the ‘Revolution’ focus:

Go the 'legal' way.
Arrest our enemies!
Declare martial law!

Go the 'legal' way: The Maximist majority will try and pass the ‘Law for Enabling Control’ which will give quasi-dictatorial powers to the government. It is not a forgone conclusion that it will pass and it will stall in debate. Eric Blair or Oswald Mosley will have a chance to speak on the bill’s behalf.

Blair speaking will see the bill passed while Mosley only has half a chance for it to pass or be defeated.

Arrest our enemies!: Mosley can simply send the army in and arrest all his political enemies and those who might obstruct the Revolution, but it may not be possible to get all of them.

Not all enemies will be arrested and some will stay holed up in their homes. The army can just fire on the holdouts, or convince them to give up.

Firing on them will see any remaining ones give up and the Revolution secure.
Talking to them will only have a half a chance of them giving up, while half a chance of them eluding capture, being tipped off beforehand. With the opposition on the lose the Revolution will not come to pass.

Declare martial law!: Mosley can use the army and go all out and just declare a state of martial law in the face of a supposed counter-revolutionary threat. It is not guaranteed that this show of force will work exactly as resistance from the people and even army units must be taken into account.

There is a half chance that supposedly loyal army units will turn on Mosley and, with help of the TUC opposition, overthrow the Maximists and proclaim Arthur Horner the interim Chairman.
If instead resistance was met, the army can just fire on them, or convince them to give up.
- Firing on them will see them give up and the Revolution secure.
- Talking to them will only have a half a chance of them giving up, while half a chance of the army organizing a counter-coup.

Extraordinary Congress of the Trade Unions[]

Post-War TUC Outcomes ENG — Post-2WK Trade Union Congress Outcomes

After the war with Germany has settled, whether that be in the form of a Second Peace with Honor or a Third Interntionale victory, an Extraordinary Congress of the Trade Unions can be held. The first item on the agenda will be the Chairmanship election. The candidates will change based on who occupies the office at the time:

If Mosley is Chairman, even with a successful Revolution (the election will still be held), Mosley can be re-elected and will officially declare himself Chairman-for-Life, Liberal Maximist John Strachey with the help of Eric Blair can oust Mosley, or Pankhurst and her faction can win in a shock vote
- Five months after Mosley officially declares himself Chairman-for-Life, Eric Blair will stage a populist coup against Mosley and take over, ruling with the Actionist faction of the Labour Party. Mosley can get wind of the coup and shut it down before he is ousted.
If Pankhurst was Chairwoman, either the Mosley can be elected, or Pankhurst can be reelected, or she may make way for her Deputy Ellen Wilkinson.
If Glais was Chairman and stepped down in place of a Central Committee, Mosley can be elected sole Chairman (and a month later will move to annex Wales and Scotland), Horner can be elected sole Chairman, or Glais’ communal Central Committee can be kept in place.
If Horner (not in the case of a counter-coup) or Edwards is Chairman (or if Mann did not die yet in office), Horner/Edwards (and Mann) can be re-elected, or Clement Attlee, Ellen Wilkinson, or Mosley succeed him.
If Horner was brought to power through the counter-coup against Mosley, Horner can be officially elected Chairman, but may also give way to Attlee or Wilkinson. The Maximists can still be elected as well but since Mosley was taken out of power, John Strachey will stand in for him.

After the Chairman is voted on, the TUC will vote for a number of Department heads, official titled ‘Commissary for…’. These include the Exchequer, Foreign Affairs, Home, and Military Intelligence, whose candidates may change based on how the 2WK ended, and who ended up as Chairman.