“When you first start playing chess and you become a half-decent chess-player you always try to go for the opponent's queen first. It makes sense, the queen is the most dangerous piece of all, and if the queen is not immediately for the taking, you go for the rook, the bishop, the knight. It is first when you understand that none of those pieces really matter, that the only piece of your opponent's that truly matters is the king, that is when you start to become a
good chess-player.
“The world of politics is full of half-decent chess-players. Ambitious men who seek to swell their ranks, and get everyone to vote for them and their party, fifty percent or more. They need to win everywhere, it seems. To paint the assemblies in their own colours. But what use is commanding the greatest minority if the majority is still against you? And what use is a landslide if it's only fleeting? It is not the politicians who won the greatest victories at the polls that we remember, but the politicians who implemented their programs.
Power, not majorities, is what matters.”
– Artur Christian Andersen,
Reflections on Parliamentary Democracy, 1939.
The Days of Valdemar Vågmäster[1]:
1914-1922: Sigurd Meissner (Liberal leading Liberal majority government)
1922-1925: Anton Svinhufvud (Unionist leading Unionist-Labour-Radical composition majority government)
1925-1927: Sigurd Meissner (Liberal leading Liberal minority government)
1927-1928: Svante Vikander (Liberal leading Liberal minority government)
1928-1930: Anton Svinhufvud (Unionist leading Unionist-Labour-Radical composition majority government)
1930-1931: Artur Christian Andersen (Radical leading Radical minority government)
1931-1932: Svante Vikander (Liberal leading Liberal-Radical composition majority government)
1932-1934: Artur Christian Andersen (Radical leading Radical minority government)
1934-1936: Patrik Lagercrantz (Unionist leading Unionist-Skeptical composition minority government)
1936-1937: Bernhard Crafoord (Skeptical leading Skeptical minority government)
1937-1939: Gunnar Berglund (Liberal leading Liberal-Radical minority government)
1939-1940: Christoffer Kjeldahl (Radical leading Radical minority government)
1940-1952: Thorsager Brandstrup (Labour leading Labour-Radical majority government, then Labour minority government, then Labour majority government, then Labour minority government)
[1] The Nordic Emperor Valdemar I, who reigned 1919-1947, has become known popularly as
Valdemar Vågmäster after
vågmästare, an old title referring to an engineer or craftsman tasked with making sure that scales were accurate (the word translates as "master of scales"). As the Nordic Empire's political landscape was experiencing nigh constant realignment owing to the entry into the Unionsdag of the Nordic Labour Party in the early 20th century and the introduction of a uniform system of proportional representation in 1923, the Emperor often had to be consulted and invited to mediate cabinet disputes and constructing government compositions that could survive votes of no confidence, hence becoming called a "scale master" as he was the one who had to make sure the political balance was maintained. Note that this political definition of vågmästare i actually at odds to the two other definitions of vågmästare in politics that exist in OTL Swedish politics.
Very basic idea of where the different political parties stand:
View attachment 4355
To give more exposition to the parties in the Nordic Empire, I provide this timeline of the parties and how they relate to one another. Errr... Yeah, this is what happens when you draw the graphic
before you draw the scale... Years in the mid-1880s seems to have been much longer than the ones in the 1870s and 1890s...
EDIT: As a comment on just how much this period of Nordic history is still being formed in my head, I just had to retcon the last two dates on the timeline so that the National Liberals return to the Liberal fold in 1895, giving us a sufficient window of time for the Third Defenestration of Prague, the start of the War of the Bohemian Revolution, and the Skeptical Niels Preben Bille-Brahe successfully getting the Liberal Asbjørn Abraham Sønderheim thrown out of office for a second time so can he can govern with the
Preparedness Ministry together with the Unionists and some other minor parties not shown in the graph above.
Some important dates:
1867: Nordic Empire is founded, first general elections held. Nicolas Andersen of Radikale Højre appointed Chancery President, leading the
Friends of the Union Ministry (composition of Radikale Højre, Hats, Unionist Caps, and Norwegian Unionists).
1872: The Hats, Unionist Caps, and Norwegian Unionists formally merge into the Unionist Party.
1874: The Swedish Skepticals and the Danish Gamle Højre merge to form the Nordic Skeptical Party.
1876: Nicolas Andersen retires at the age of 71. The Unionists take over the Chancery Presidency in the
Friends of the Union Ministry.
1878: The
Andvare Scandal shakes the
Friends of the Union Ministry something terrible, resulting in the resignations of (in chronological order) the Treasury President, the Bergmeister of Linde and Ramsberg, the Commerce President, the Minister of State for Mountains (who commits suicide), and finally the Chancery President himself. The
Friends of the Union Ministry survives, but relations between Radikale Højre and the Unionists are strained.
1879: Radikale Højre leaves the government, signalling the end of the
Friends of the Union Ministry. The Unionists continue on their own. The Caps, Venstre, and the Finnish Agrarians merge to become the Liberal Party.
1881: The Liberal Landslide. Asbjørn Abraham Sønderheim becomes the first Liberal and first Norwegian Chancery President.
1887: Asbjørn Abraham Sønderheim calls a general election to settle the issue of national insurance. In the parliamentary confusion that follows due to many Norwegian Liberal deputies bolting the party, the Dane Niels Preben Bille-Brahe is able to form a minority government capable of surviving a vote of no confidence and get its budget through the Unionsdag. Niels Preben Bille-Brahe becomes first Skeptical Chancery President.
1889: Niels Preben Bille-Brahe falls on the issue of Privatization of the Nordic India Companies. Asbjørn Abraham Snderheim returns to power.
1891: The Nordic Labour Party is founded as the
Malmö Radical-Workingmen's Association just prior to the 1891 election to get the dock worker Hakon Kirstein elected for one of Malmö's borough seats.
1893: The Third Defenstration of Prague and the War of the Bohemian Revolution breaks out. Austrian, Bavarian, and Prussian intervention produces a confusing three-sided war in Germany. Though the Nordic Empire (and the League of Lyksborg) remains neutral, Sønderheim's government falls over the issue of conscription in peacetime. Niels Preben Bille-Brahe returns to power, leading
Preparedness Ministry with the Unionists and minor parties.
1896: The
Preparedness Ministry survives a general election. At the age of 87, Sønderheim retires from public life.
1897: End of the War of the Bohemian Revolution. The Nordic Empire never got involved. Niels Preben Bille-Brahe retires from public life at the age of 78.
1898: Fall of the
Preparedness Ministry. Liberals return to power.
1900: Reformist Unionists, Radikale Højre, and Radical Liberals merge to form the Radical Party.