Re: Blood and Iron-Chapter 919: The King of Alemannia
Two weeks passed... And the results were in. Within Belgium, the referendum saw a massive voter turnout. With 83% of the vote favoring integration with the German Reich as a federative kingdom.
The voter turnout was lower in the Netherlands, but even so, there was a 64% of the voter base casting a ballot in favor of integration.
On June 6th, 1944, Queen Wilhelmina abdicated her throne, and her daughter Princess Juliana assumed the throne and declared the Netherlands dissolved as a sovereign and political entity.
Belgium and the Netherlands were reforged into the Kingdom of Lower-Lorraine, with Albert and the Belgian Branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha being named its Kings.
The Dutch House of Orange-Nassau was officially mediatized with Princess Juliana being given the official title of Grand Duchess of Holland. A house subservient to the Kings of Lower-Lorraine.
The standing militaries of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Dutch Republic were immediately integrated into the Reichsheer, and placed under assessment and re-training to determine their status in the Imperial German Armed Forces.
With the establishment of the Kingdom of Lower-Lorraine, German financing, manpower, and law enforcement flooded the region.
To rebuild what had been claimed by entropy, to bail out those new citizens facing a state of destitution and to suppress criminal/political extremist elements that had been operating freely in the formerly sovereign territories.
The effect wasn’t immediate, but within months the locals noticed their quality of life rapidly improve.
Germany’s borders had shifted permanently to the west. Reclaiming lands that had been lost since 1648. And establishing closer ties to their errant cousins who had drifted for far too long.
Bruno sat in the Chancellery toasting with the Kaiser to their victory. One not played on the battlefield, but through intrigue and economics.
Wilhelm II shook his head in disbelief as he sipped from his beverage.
"I can hardly believe it... After so many years of your planning, plotting, and only God knows what else, Lower-Lorraine had finally returned to the Reich."
Bruno smirked and shook his head while taking a drink of his own. His voice equally stunned.
"It is rather hard to believe. That the day has finally come. Only a year into office, and we have already finalized what has been in the works for decades. Of course... this leaves only one area left to regain control over...."
Their eyes both drifted to globe that sat proudly in a dedicated corner of his office. Lighting placed upon it in a way that naturally drew the eye.
The globe was large and magnificent, hand crafted and painted by the most skilled artisans. And it had recently been repainted to reflect the change in Europe’s borders.
Bruno stood up and approached the globe, drawing his fingers across its freshly dried paint. His hands stopping at the borders of the Swiss Confederation. Something Wilhelm watched while sipping silently from his drink.
"This is it... I expect within a year... perhaps two at the latest. Alemannia will return to the German Reich..."
The Kaiser’s brow twitched slightly when he heard the term that Bruno had used, his voice heightening to a minor degree.
"Alemannia? I thought we were calling it Helvetia?"
Bruno scoffed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he spun the globe in place.
"That is correct, the former regions known as Switzerland will be incorporated as the Grand Duchy of Helvetia. However..."
Bruno crossed his fingers from the position where Switzerland sat on the globe into his domain of the Grand Principality of Tyrol. His voice following its movement.
"I do believe that the Grand Duchy of Helvetia should unite with the Grand Principality of Tyrol and create the Kingdom of Helvetia... The alpine fortress that protects the German Realm from its southern neighbors. Wouldn’t you agree, Your Majesty?"
Kaiser Wilhelm II smirked and shook his head, placing his cup on the desk. He gaze drifted over to Bruno, as the man sighed heavily.
"I was wondering how I could possibly reward you further than what you have already earned in this life. But I suppose the man who single handedly saw the unification of the Greater German Reich deserves the title of King. If not, who else could possibly?"
Bruno walked back to his seat and sat down. Pouring himself and the Kaiser another drink while Wilhelm made a toast.
"To Bruno von Zehntner, First of his name! King of Alemannia, Grand Prince of Tyrol, Protector of the Alpine Marshes, Reichsmarschall, and Chancellor of the German Reich. Considering you were born the ninth son of a Prussian Junker, this is quite the list of accolades. Bismarck is surely rolling in his grave.""
Bruno walked back to his seat and sat down. Pouring himself and the Kaiser another drink.
"I believe that is wholly inappropriate Your Majesty..."
The Kaiser’s brow raised silently as Bruno continued to lecture him.
"Bismarck’s dreams of a little Reich were appropriate for his era. He desired Prussian dominance and for a loose confederation of fractured German states to come together in that era. This was necessary. But the Weltkriegs have changed the world we live in. Our enemies are broken, our equals are none. The time to restore the Greater German Reich is upon us."
Kaiser Wilhelm II nodded his head in agreement.
"That is true... My words were a bit too cruel. As much as Bismarck and I had our disagreements. His work was instrumental in getting the Reich restored. But you, my friend. Have done what no other man could. You took what Bismarck started and forged it into something greater. Long live the King of Alemannia..."
Bruno raised his glass slightly again in another toast, this one silent and solemn. The two of them continued to drink and celebrate their recent victory and that which had still yet to come to fruition.
By the next morning, things would be as normal as they were before. And the German Reich would continue to march into the future.
