Infotext

Deutsches Reich 1871- Infotext

DR1871 v1.4
Deutsches Reich 1871 is a six-player Diplomacy variant designed by Ingolf
Emmert.

The map of DR1871 shows the borders of the "Deutsche Reich" (green area) and
its direct neighbours (bright beige area) in 1871. The division in
territories is based on the borders of the different "national" kingdoms,
dukedoms and principalities.

The adjacent contries are neutral thus there are no supply centers to conquer
but they give infantries and cavalries the permission to cross their
countries.

For a better playability some kingdoms and dukedoms are subdivided into
further provinces. The best example for this is the division of Prussia.

Special features:
- DR1871 has no water-areas, so there is no need of fleets.
- Instead of fleets, the cavalry-units are added.
- Some areas are brown coloured. In these areas no actions take place.
- The island of "R¸gen" (rug) is reachable by infantries and cavalries.

Special units:
- infantry: (Realpolitik-unit=army) (A)
The infantry-units have the normal options of orders and movements.
Regard to use the abbrevation (A) and the symbol in the building-phase.
- cavalry: (Realpolitik-unit=fleet) (F)
The cavalry-units have a two-field movement. They can¥t reach the adjacent
countries of a territory (comparable with the knight at chess)!
Example: A cavalry in Berlin can move to "R¸gen" (rug) but not to
"Westpommern" (wpo). Further a convoy-order as known for fleets is
impossible! Regard to use the abbrevation (F) and the fleet symbol in the
building-phase.

Winning conditions:
The victory criterion in DR1871 is to own 17 of the 32 supply centers.

Historical background:
German history up to 1871!
At the end of the eighteenth century and up to 1814, Germany was under power
of Napoleon's French empire. Napoleon was defeated in the battle of Leipzig
by a coalition of the kingdomes Russia, Prussia, Britain and Austria.
At the Congress of Vienna the German Confederation was created,
which was placed under the administrative power of Austria.

In the following periods the liberals in Germany founded the National
Assembly, which aimed to unify Germany as a liberal, constitutional state.
In May of 1848, The National Assembly (or the Frankfurt Assembly) was
convoked in Frankfurt to prepare for this "unification". After
disagreements between Prussia and Austria, Prussia decided to try to unify
Germany under their "kleindeutsche" plan, which included all of the German
states except Austria, under Prussian control. In 1848, the Assembly
finished the constitution, and appointed King Frederick William IV as the
first emperor of constitutional Germany (kleindeutesches Reich), but he
refused that and the National Assembly failed.

In 1862, Otto von Bismarck became the Prussian chancellor. Bismarck knew that
to reach his aim of a united Germany under Prussian control, he had to get
the German sovereigns to stand with him and to stop other countries from
forming a coalition against Prussia.

In 1863, Denmark tried to take away the autocracy of the two northernmost
German states, Schleswig and Holstein. Bismarck announced that this was
completely unacceptable to the German Confederation, and together Prussia
and Austria went to war with Denmark. Denmark's armies were defeated, Prussia
took Schleswig, and Austria took Holstein. To provoke Austria into declaring
war on Prussia, Bismarck ordered his troops to the Austrian state of
Holstein. At the German War in 1866, the South German states joined Austria
to fight against the Prussian army, believing that Austria was the defender
of their independence, but however, Bismarck's military forces won the war
again.

What Bismarck now needed was a patriotic war against France to unite the
South and North German states. The disagreements between France and Prussia
on the Spanish succession to the throne were taken as an occasion to provoke
a Franco-Prussian war. On July 19, 1870, Napoleon III of France declared war
on Prussia. Combined with the South and North German states, Prussia defeated
the French army. The French were forced to cede Alsace and Lorraine to
Germany.

The Franco-Prussian war gave Bismarck the support he needed to unify Germany.
After the war, he won the consent of the German princes to unite Germany
(excluding Austria) under the Prussian king as German Emperor. On January 18,
1871, in Versailles, the king proclaimed the "Deutsche Reich". William I
became emperor, and Otto von Bismarck became chancellor.

A new German constitution was written. The upper chamber (Bundesrat) and the
king held power over the lower, popular elected chamber (Reichstag). The
Bundesrat itself contained sixty-one members and this is what you are playing
for: the majority in the Bundesrat!!!

So, have fun with this variant!!! A feedback is very welcome!!!

mailto: emmert@graue-substanz.net