From Sea to Sea

[Ulyanov]

Hello, and welcome to my first Victoria AAR!

Before I start, I'd like to tell you about my motivations for this AAR, what my goals are, what writing style I'm going to use, and so on.

As the title of my AAR suggests, I am going to write an AAR playing as Canada. As some you might know, I am dangerously obsessed with the functioning of- and knowhows surrounding the subject of migration in this wonderfully complex game of Victoria. Since I wrote my short guide conserning immigration to Argentina (see signature), I've learned even some more, and I spend my mental life constantly wondering how to "exploit" this as much as possible. It usually keeps me awake at night... I have played many games were I experiment with different factors (such as political settings, social settings, revolutions, taxes, etc.) in order to find the right formula. I've been quite succesful in getting "loads" of immigrants, and South America has usually been my laboratory. But then, when the 1850s arrive (when all emigrants from Europe decides to leave for USA), I stop and think "now what?". I don't find expanding borders into surrounding countries especially tempting as South America is very sparcely populated. I like industrialising and doing politically micromanaging much more than doing wars, so waging a war for the war itself is not for me. Wars are just something I have to do in order to grab land from countries holding my national provinces, or to get free from the shackles of an evil opressor. You can figure out for yourself that it's a lot of waiting and speeding up time for me after the immigration-flow has stopped for good. This is why my choice fell on Canada. It has all the opportunities I need in order to enjoy myself - also later in the game.


Canada:
- Immigration-friendly parties
- High level of starting technologies
- Good literacy
- Have legitimate reasons to eventually go to war on master and/or neighbours
- Expantion possibilities

Writing Style:
I've never have the time to do the research, nor the interest to write a good narrative story. So when it comes to writing style, it will be an explaining style where I thoroughly give you my reasons for the decisions I make. Please bear in mind that I am a complete novice when it comes to military tactics! This is probably where I want to seek help from my readers. I will also make this a picture-intensive AAR as I think the combination of pictures and text is good for explaining game-functions. I'll also try to use colours, broad text and headlines extensively.

Goals:
I'm not quite sure what is realistic, but I'm going to go for a heavy industrialised Canada here. Being number one will probably not be plausible for a medium-sized country, but we'll try to get very high on the industry-list by 1920. My first goal will off course be to lure as many immigrants into the net as possible in the early years. I will not expand beyond my core provinces. When this is said, I will off course try to get all the core provinces from Great Britain and end my dominion status. Hopefully, I'll have somewhere between 20 and 30 million people in Canada by the end of the game. I will also strive for the top spot in prestige points. Again: I have no abitions when it comes to military power, that is, beyond the absolute necessary. NO EXPLOITS ALLOWED! (like buying Taiwan from China). Also, I will not allow myself to reload a game, but if all goes terribly wrong I could do so, but we'll make sure that doesn't happen.

Version:
Vanilla 1,04 Victoria. No mods, no "Ricky".

So, now I hope some of you found this forthcoming AAR interesting, that you subscribe, and that we'll have a pleasant time together discussing my Canada's ill- or wellbeing as time goes by.

Thank you!
Ulyanov

[The Great Duck]

Good Luck!

[Jape]

Interesting premise, and I've read your guide, I must say I'm soewhat obsessed by migration in-game particularly the USA ineviable domination thanks to a never ending stream of fresh labour!

Good luck

[Ulyanov]

Thank you both! I'll bring the first update later this evening. But now, I'm going to eat a pizza!

[Ulyanov]

Update I

Ok, for this first update, I'll present the starting situation for Canada. Just released as a satellite (dominion) of UK, the political situation looks like this:



Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a two-party system. The national value is 'order'. The Liberal Party governs at the moment, and that's the way we'll try to keep it in order to attract immigrants. The key is to increase plurality as much as possible. Liberal political reforms will also help increase plurality, and that's why I have decided to allow all trade unions and newspapers. At the moment, I'll leave the social settings as they are. The first move for Canada is a deal with The United Kingdom:



Previous experience tells me that a state which attracts immigrants, will receive immigrants to all its provinces approximately evenly distributed. The pace and amount in which immigrants flow into a single province is the same no matter how many provinces the actual state has. In other words: If a province receives 100.000 immigrants over a period of five years, a 3-province state will get 300.000 immigrants in total, while a 8-province state will get 800.000 immigrants in total over the mentioned five years. My trump-card is thus the state of Québec which contains the most provinces. This is why I have conducted the above trade. Amos have no claims on it at the moment. The reason why I wanted to get a hold of Timmins in Ontario, is to prevent UK from claiming Northern Ontario. This trade reduced population in Canada from 2,460 000 to 2,119 000.

As for the budget:


As you can see, there is no need for increasing taxes here. Education is set at max funding (literacy is at 55%), while crime fighting gets lowest priority. Canada starts out with 20 machine parts... yay! This means I don't have to research interchangeable parts just yet. We'll go for cultural techs in the beginning. This will boost some prestige points later, as well as the road to all the important plurality-increasing techs and inventions will be shorter. It's crucial to get the invention Ideological Thought as soon as possible. This will trigger the inventions Constitutionalism - Social Conscience which increases plurality by 25%. With the machine parts I'll build some factories in Québec and a claim on Amos in the near future.

Stay tuned for more updates!

[Ulyanov]

Update II

Time to get started!

First thing to do is to grant Québec statehood and build some factories here. Canada already has Lumber Mill and Cement Factory in Ontario. In Québec I decide to build Glass Factory (cost: 4 machine parts) and Liquor Distillery (cost: 4 machine parts). This way I can get good use for all the grain my RGO's are producing. I'm also considering to build a Canned Food Factory, but I know this isn't as effective as other factories early in the game. A Fabric Factory (cost: 2 machine parts) is also built which is kept closed to make sure there will be slots available for migrant workers. Opressed workers from the old world is already pouring in in numbers:


Note: this is before I have any plurality at all!

As mentioned, Cultural Techs is my main focus in the beginning. This means Canada will research Romanticism, Idealism and Positivism before Ideological Thought. On November 16, 1838, this effort puts Canada on the world map as a new invention is "discovered":

Neokantian Idealism:
"Kants transcendental idealism had meant that the world can only be understood through categories, or ideal concepts that are immanent in us, and empirically. This is sometimes called weak empiricism. The neokantian idealist, however, departed very far from Kant and more or less went back to a more classical idealism though interpreted in a kantian language referring to categories in their analyses of the world."
* Canada receives 75 prestige points, and becomes the world's most prestigeous country for a few months.

As the population steadily increased, I was starting to worry about unexpected revolts. I suddenly became aware of having no division, nor any manpower. Therefore, a POP of some 15 000 Franco Canadians were promoted to soldiers in Sherbrooke in order to restore law and order if any insurgency should appear. While I was consentrating on security policies, those filthy britons were stealing land right before my eyes:



Ideological Thought was disovered by april 1840, and important cultural "inventions" was rapidly changing the Canadian people's views on human rights... and such:

May 25, 1840 - Individualism:
"Individualism is the belief in the importance of the individual and the virtue of self-reliance and personal independence. This doctrine also states that the government should not interfere in commercial affairs."

July 28, 1840 - Constitutionalism:
"Constitutionalism is a constitutional system of government, usually with a written constitution. It advocates that all actions taken by the government must be in accordance with constitutional principles."

October 18, 1841 - Social Conscience:
"Social Conscience is motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a societies as well as individuals thoughts and actions."

February 15, 1842 - Rationalism:
"Rationalism is the theological doctrine that human reason rather than divine revelation establishes religious truth. This doctrine states that knowledge is acquired by reason without resort to experience."

April 30, 1842 - Secularization:
"Secularization is the activity of changing something like art or education so it is no longer under the control or influence of religion. This doctrine also proposes the transfer of property from ecclesiastical to civil possession."

Total effects:
* Plurality changed by 25%
* Consciousness for capitalists modified by 5
* Consciousness for clerks modified by 5
* Consciousness for craftsmen modified by 5
* Ideology for 25% of POPs set to liberal



In the middle of all this, the Liberal Party won the first Canadian election on August 2, 1840. By May 1843, I figure out I should provide my population with some national healthcare. This social reform is set to "low", and poor taxes must be turned up to 49,22% to help fund the welfare state. (Healthcare is the most important social reform, in my opinion, as it increases population growth.) The Liberal Party wins the election once more May 2, 1845. By June 1845, four more cultural techs have been researched: Realism, Empiricism, Functionalism and the all important State & Government. From now on I'll consentrate on industrial technology.

August 17, 1845: Canada trades its last atlantic province of Bathurst for United Kingdom's claim on Amos. Canada's prestige increases from 99 to 166 when the four remaining colonies are claimed for Québec:



Québec now consist of 13 provinces. I'm looking forward to even more massive flow of immigrants to Canada, especially when the liberal revolution triggers in Germany. As you can see, Ft Chimo has increased its population to an astonishing 258 000. If I remember correctly, it was 4 000 when I started. The four new provinces have only got populations of 12 000, 8 000, 12 000 and 28 000 at the moment, but this will soon change!

[Quirinus308]

This is quite interesting. I don't often play games outside of Europe, so I look forward to see how an AAR with these goals develops. I am really amazed about the 20 mp's.

Good luck.
Q

[Quirinus308]

One quick question, why didn't you change suffarage

[Ulyanov]

Originally Posted by Quirinus308

One quick question, why didn't you change suffarage

This is because labourers and farmers are fundamentally conservative voters. In the beginning they are the most numerous group of POPs in the population. They can become liberal if you piss them off, but then you'd have to remove voting rights, press rights, right to organize, public meetings, etc. in order to increase their militancy. They would have to be taxed heavily (like 100%) and imposed maxed-out tariffs. All this might eventually bring them about to vote liberal and/or socialist, but this is anyhow something that would take many years, at least 5.

In other words: if farmers and labourers have all rights and get all their needs, they will always vote conservative. Thus universal suffrage would bring a conservative party into power = lower plurality and no immigrants. There you go!

[Ulyanov]

Originally Posted by Quirinus308

I am really amazed about the 20 mp's.

This is the free bonus you get as a newly released dominion of United Kingdom.

[RGB]

Interesting How-To format.

Immigration always gave me trouble, actually.

[The Great Duck]

Me too.

[Ulyanov]

Originally Posted by RGB

Interesting How-To format.

Immigration always gave me trouble, actually.

Me too.

I can tell you why: The high plurality liberal parties provide (especially from the inventions as shown in update II), and the liberal political reforms were everybody are granted modern day freedoms, gives increased consciousness and militancy. The poorest POPs, which are farmers and labourers, will be more aware of what rights they should have. They will very soon become pissed off of not having the right to vote, and start demanding all kinds of social reforms.

One follow the other, you can't satisfy every need.
*As explained above, you will always get in trouble due to the fact that you have to only let the rich vote in order to receive immigrants at all: Clerks vote liberal, farmers/labourers conservative - you need a liberal party in power.
* Liberal parties almost always have "laissez faire" as economic policy = you can't grant social reforms to your demanding RGO-workers. Fortunately for me, Canada has a superparty in The Liberal Party, as they rely on "interventionism" as economic policy.
* Effect: You will get a terribly militant lower class! In previous games, I have had trouble with socialist and communist rebels later in the game, but experience says you won't get many immigrants after 1854 (Republican Party in USA) anyway, so I'll probably grant universal suffrage by then.

There is one solution to the problem without messing with political and social settings though. You could decrease consciousness by promoting clergymen. Lower consciousness would mean lower militancy and less demanding population. But hey, lower consciousness means slower growth of plurality! This isn't an easy equation...

Thank you for appreciating my "how-to" format as you call it.

[Maximilliano]

Interesting game so far, and i always love a good canada AAR... i'll be watching

[Ulyanov]

Update III

This is a quickie!

As time went by in the early 40s, I started to worry about the very sparse amount of clerks who found their way to the new world. I guess they don't arrive in numbers before the liberal revolution triggers in Europe (which is 1845 at its earliest)... But when the revolution finally came, they also had had enough of European aristocracy, and went searching for a better life in Canada:



I also figured out I should build another Lumber Mill as my RGOs produce abundant amounts of timber.

After having researched State & Government, some "inventions" triggers during the year of 1846:

January 16, 1846 - Meritocracy is chosen over Aristocracy:
Birth and blood had always been an unbearable limit for the ambitions of the bourgeoisie. For them, logically, men with talents and merits should be promoted. However, the privileges of the old aristocracy keep the commoners into inferior stratas, as only nobility of birth and tradition would be the sole determinent of the fittest of men.
* No effect (for the time being...).

April 21, 1846 - Anti-Clericalism is chosen over Clericalism:
The elites had, for centuries, allied with the clergy for maintaining social order by the belief in God and His church. A spread of the ideas inherited from the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution boosted, both among the liberals and the socialists, the thought that both the State and society had to be freed from the yoke of religion.
* Dominant issue for 25% of the population is now atheism.

April 29, 1846 - Bureaucracy is chosen over Nepotism:
Civil services, always seeking maximum effeciency, progressively tried to free themselves from political control. They began to set their own sets of regulations and hire their own staff. In other countries, however, civil servants were chosen among political supporters and allies. By use of patronage the administration was thus kept into line.
* No effect (for the time being...).

August 17, 1846 - Establishment is chosen over Populism:
For gaining power, the would-be politician would usually try to obtain the support of people already well-established in the elite. It was the easiest road for climbing the power ladder, but a minority of them, mostly coming from a more liberal bourgeoisie, bet instead on the support from the uneducated masses, excluded from the political scene.
* Ideology is now more important than separate issues. <--- It gives more predictable elections, I prefer it that way rather than having the opportunity to influence them during the election campaign.

As the population continously increases, and I haven't researched enough industry- and business techs, the social reforms are starting to take a toll on my economy. In 1847, I decide to cut all safety regulations. I will also cut down on unemployment subsidies when I can afford the investement.

When I'm getting closer to 1850, more and more people keep coming - and in even greater numbers! As you can see, even small POPs of capitalists have found their way to the Canadian realm (Yipeee!):



And last, but not least, I have a couple of questions for you guys :
Recently, I found out that my relations with USA is at rock bottom, some -198. I'm a bit afraid of them, so I've started sucking up to them by sending money. But they won't attack as long as I'm a sattelite of UK, will they? I hope not... And! If I decide to go to war on UK sometime soon, will I be able to get a military alliance with USA during the war if our relations are at +200? It would have been nice to not fight the war alone.

Thanks in advance!

[Maximilliano]

i would invest in some good relations with France and Russia and try and ally with them during the war... From what i can remember, the British AI will focus largely on Europe, specifically the Crimea and Normandy, leaving you more or less free to pick up the rest of BNA and maybe Jamaica (really nice sulpher colony). Only after that would i suck up to the US, in my opinion i would give London the least amount of oppurtunites to trounce the US so early on. After all the States really only pick up military-wise after th ACW. I would also say its fair to edit the save file so that the US is also trying to befriend you (unless they lose the ACW). Just my 2 cents

[hasskugel]

I think you should try to grab the Oregon territory. It's silly to restrict yourself to what Canada managed to attain in the real world when you're starting fresh from 1836!

[RGB]

Definitely Oregon, and maybe Alaska

[Ulyanov]

Originally Posted by Maximilliano

I would also say its fair to edit the save file so that the US is also trying to befriend you (unless they lose the ACW). Just my 2 cents

Well, editing any files is out of the question, but USA have actually decided I would make a good partner. After I received a random event which gave +100 relations with USA (which lifted our relations to -20 or so), they have begun to improve relations with me.

For all:
I'm not an expansionist, so just to grab all core provinces is more than enough for me. My main concern is how to survive an independence-war with UK. Hopefully, they won't pay so much attention to me, as they will on Europe.

[Olaus Petrus]

Interesting AAR. I haven't ever played as Canada so this will be nice one to follow. Personally to weaken the potential threat of USA I would try to help CSA when war starts and take few provinces from USA. Having both USA and CSA around would make it easier for you to become leading nation of the North America.