Tadeusz Czyzewski

His Excellency Tadeusz Czyzewski Тадеуш Чжевський
Czyzewski in 1920
5th President of Narozalica
In office December 5, 1913 – January 19, 1921
Prime Minister	Denys Dorosh Vladislav Pudovkin Kyrylo Cheban
Preceded by	Pyotr Petrovich
Succeeded by	Vladislav Pudovkin
6th and 8th Prime Minister of Narozalica
In office January 19, 1906 – March 4, 1910
President	Maksym Ilchenko
Preceded by	Ivan Zayets
Succeeded by	Vladislav Pudovkin
In office August 26, 1912 – December 5, 1913
President	Pyotr Petrovich
Preceded by	Vladislav Pudovkin
Succeeded by	Denys Dorosh
Personal details
Born	Tadeusz Czyzewski (1878-01-03)January 3, 1878 Tarcław, Miersa Governorate, Narozalica
Died	May 14, 1949(1949-05-14) (aged 71) Krada, West Miersa
Citizenship	Narozalica
Nationality	Miersan
Political party	Independent
Spouse	Olena Rydenko (m. 1901)
Children	5
Education	University of Samistopol

Tadeusz Czyzewski (/tʃ'ʒɛfski:/, Narodyn: Тадеуш Чжевський; Tadeush Chzhevs'kyy, 3 January 1878 – 14 May 1949; aged 71) was a Miersan-born Narozalic politician and stateman who served as the 5th President of Narozalica between 1913 and 1921, as well as the 6th and 8th Prime Minister of Narozalica between 1906 and 1910, and again between 1912 and 1913. The last of Narozalica's independent presidents, Czyzewski ideologically called himself a "conservative socialist", however his views have been categorised into paternalistic conservatism in the modern-day. To this day, Czyzewski is the only left-wing president in Narozalica's history.

Born into an aristocratic Miersan hussar family in 1878, Czyzewski's economic status saw him accepted into the University of Samistopol in 1897, where he studied economics and graduated in 1900. He originally became an accountant in Samistopol for two years before entering politics in 1902. A successful econometrician within Narozalica, his speeches, manifestos and policies gained him recognition within Narozalica's political elite, and Czyzewski saw increased praise of his work as he quickly rose up Narozalica's political ladder, before being appointed as Maksym Ilchenko's only Prime Minister in 1906. Under Ilchenko, Czyzewski attempted to bring forward his left-wing policies, believing the aristocracy had moral and social obligations to support the nation's poorer populace, especially within the cities. Ilchenko, however, disapproved of these policies and refused to give them his assent, with their agreements coming mainly on their social policies and foriegn affairs. Ilchenko resigned in 1910 and was succeeded by Pyotr Petrovich, who had previously served as President. Czyzewski served briefly as Petrovich's second prime minister between 1912 and 1913, before he succeeded Petrovich after he resigned due to his inability to quickly respond to the Great Collapse.

Czyzewski's early presidency and policies were popular among the urban peasantry, who were suffering from rapidly increasing poverty in light of the Collapse. Czyzewski planned for an increasing amount of government-backed industry in the cities, seeing much of the peasantry working industrial factory jobs backed and paid for by the government. The policy was successful initially, but by 1917, around the height of the subsequent economic depression that followed the Collapse, the government could no longer feasibly continue to fund the working peasantry without suffering severe economic drawbacks. Due to this, Czyzewski was forced to close down some of the factories he had opened and make thousands of workers redundant. The quick change made Czyzewski extremely unpopular within the urban centres - his main support group - as well as losing much of the backing of his supporters, with Pudovkin stepping down from his prime minister role in 1920. Faced with little other option, Czyzewski resigned in 1921 and was succeeded by the more hardline Vladislav Pudovkin. After his political career, Czyzewski campaigned against the growing threat of war and later against Narozalic involvement in the Great War. After the war, Czyzewski was a vocal opponent of the Godfredson Plan, and supported Miersan reunification, however his influence was limited mainly to talks and lectures in universities across West Miersa. Czyzewski died at his house in Krada in 1949, aged 71.

Czyzewski is a controversial figure both within and outside of Narozalica. His supporters say he was influential in mitigating the damage the Great Collapse had on Narozalica, which was less than many of its eastern Euclean counterparts, and paved the way for Narozalica's modern mixed-market economy. However he is also criticised for the last four years of his presidency, which saw sharp increases in unemployment and large amounts of inflation in the economy, and is also criticised by more right-wing politicians for his socialistic policies, which they claim tarnished much of the economy before Pudovkin's presidency and the war.

Early life and career

Tadeusz Czyzewski was born on January 3, 1878 in the city of Tarcław, a mid-sized rural city in the Miersan Governorate of Narozalica. Czyzewski's family were influential aristocratic land owners in the region, and traced their lineage back to the Miersan hussars, who were extremely influential in historic Miersan geopolitics. Czyzewski was baptised at Tarcław Cathedral on January 10, a week after his birth, and grew up following the Episemialist Church. His father, Lukasz Pafnucy Czyzewski (1854–1919) and mother Michalina Hedwiga Czyzewski (née Ignatowska; 1861–1933) were both prominent aristocrats in Miersa, with the Czyzewski family having a history of land ownership in the region dating back to the mid-17th century. Czyzewski spent most of his childhood growing up in Tarcław in the Wojnicz House, a large manor his father owned. He was homeschooled for the first few years of his life, primarily by his mother, before they moved to Samistopol when Czyzewski was 10. In Samistopol, he attended grammar school for six years before becoming one of the Miersan governor's many assistants aged 16. Czyzewski dropped his job at 19 to pursue his education, and was accepted into the University of Samistopol in 1897 to study economics. Noted for his passion, Czyzewski graduated in 1900.

He quickly picked up work at an accountancy firm based in the city, processing taxes and dealing with the money of many upper-class citizens of Narozalica. He also began econometrics as a side-job and a hobby, before quitting his accountancy job in early 1902 to pursue econometrics full time. Now in his mid-20s, Czyzewski's work in econometrics saw him enter Narozalica's political landscape in late 1902. His proficiency in speaking and his work allowed him to quickly earn promotions within the system before Maksym Ilchenko appointed him as his Prime Minister in 1906.

A realist painting of Czyzewski during his first term as Prime Minister, 1907

First prime minister term (1906–1910)

Czyzewski's first term as Prime Minister under Maksym Ilchenko saw him undertake a variety of economic reforms in an attempt to boost the already stagnating economy that had been left by the recent death of Eduard Olsov, whose old-fashioned policies saw little modernisation or reform to the economy for over forty years. As an economist, he pushed for the Narozalic zolota to adopt the widespread gold standard to put more confidence in the zolota and attract foreign capital and investment from overseas. Czyzewski's reforms were successful and saw the zolota increase in value and confidence in the Narozalic economy grow. Coinciding with these reforms, he also decided to increase the circulation of banknotes in favour of gold and silver coins, which were costly, time-consuming and expensive to produce. Czyzewski put forward designs for new zolota banknotes in 1907, which Ilchenko approved of, and by 1909 they were being printed and in circulation by the Bank of Narozalica. His reforms made him popular with many top economists, notably gaining the backing of Narozalic State Finance Minister Yakiv Semenenko for the presidency later on.

He also sought to improve travel connections and logistical connections to central Euclea, with his experiences of growing up in Miersa contributing to his awareness of the problem. More rail and sea links were set up to the cities of Paltamo and Koskunen in Velzemia, as well as Kadar and Żobrodź in Miersa, Tsivebi in Vedmed and Maljubav in Minilov. Along with this, he wants to expand links to the rest of Euclea, but only got as far as establishing a single line from Maljubav to Arciluco in the Kingdom of Amathia. His rail policies connected the central Euclean states to Narozalica, and were popular in their respective areas, but the investment put into the rail links and the lack of economic output they produced formed the basis of much criticism levied at Czyzewski for the construction of lines. Opposing politicians accused Czyzewski of ethnic bias, with previous Prime Minister Ivan Zayets remarking that Czyzewski was acting "in the best interests of Miersa, not the best interests of Narozalica".

Despite criticism, Czyzewski was generally lauded for his commitments in connecting central Euclea with Narozalica, something that had been a logistical problem for the country for a long time, particularly coming to light during the War of the Triple Alliance. Czyzewski regularly cited the war's failures as one of the prime reasons that large-scale connections to the easternmost reaches of the nation were needed, with the distance from the capital of Samistopol and the nation's nearest eastern border with Sunrosia around 1,000 kilometres away, around a week and a half on foot, which greatly affected Narozalica's ability to quickly respond to eastern threats until Czyzewski's rail plans were implemented.

Presidency (1913–1921)

Domestic policies

Farmers' strikes

Under Czyzewski's policies, farmer's wives were routinely threatened to force farmers into giving up surplus produce

The Great Collapse saw an increasing amount of rural farmers choose to adopt a subsistence farming lifestyle for themselves and their families. The so called "farmers' strikes", as Czyzewski routinely referred them as, were detrimental to Narozalica's domestic food supplies, especially within rural western cities as well as its central Euclean holdings. In the March of 1914, Czyzewski mandated and approved the creation of specialised policing units that were to inspect the estates and lands of farmers to prevent the hoarding of food and livestock. Families were permitted roughly 1500 calories per person, with the inspectors carrying a list of calorific values of common farm produce, as well as around 4000 to 5000 calories extra as spare food due to "exceptional circumstances". Farmers were asked to contribute all produce they had directly to the state, with various foodbanks and food depositories being opened in the cities and run by the military and supplied by excess farm produce.

Czyzewski's plan was disastrous, with many farmers rejecting the government's demands and refusing to hand over the excess produce to authorities. Police were permitted to use force on the farmers who refused, leading to increased violence between authorities and farmers, many of whom owned guns, and saw many policeman killed. Czyzewski attempted to begin seizing land from farmers in 1915, but this policy backfired massively as his presidency began losing the confidence of much of the rural populace. Czyzewski's policies regarding farmers are often seen as the beginning of the significance of Narozalica's rural demographic, who heavily influenced Czyzewski's downfall and later resignation.

Miners' strikes

Miners going on strike across the country also significantly hindered Czyzewski's implemented policies to combat the Great Collapse. The lack of a constant production of raw materials severely affected the ability for the factories set up to provide occupation to workers made redundant by the Collapse to operate as normal, and the strikes saw a domino effect that resulted in an estimated 10–15% of state-backed factory workers laid off and made redundant again due to a lack of materials to continue running with. Czyzewski criticised the striking of miners more than he did any other, and accused them of trying to dismantle the entire system that was keeping many workers afloat in the cities.

Czyzewski also stirred discontent within factory workers affected by the strikes, and utilised the division in the labour rights movement to his own political advantage, and saw considerable success with it, with the miners effectively shunned from the labour movement and providing a massive rivet in the effectiveness of the advocates in organising a unified resistance to the labour laws of Narozalica.

Stanislav Husak was an influential early-20th century socialist whose work inspired the Great Strike

Emergence of socialism

Coinciding with the increase in rural farmer resistance and the strikes of miners throughout Narozalica, as well as generally poor workers conditions and rights, the emergence of socialism in Narozalica rose rapidly during Czyzewski's presidency. Influenced primarily by the works of Narozalic economist and philosopher Yuri Nemtsov, who had died in exile in Heuthenberg, Azmara, during his first term as Prime Minister in 1907, poor and disgruntled workers in Narozalica were becoming increasingly demanding of change of the fundamentals of the Narozalic labour system. In the Great Strike of 1914, a strike which included farmers as well as several other essential workers throughout the country, workers outlined demands including the creation of a well-funded welfare system, guarantees of workers right, the legal right to strike, and the legal right to unionise. Czyzewski, despite self-identifying as a socialist, although that was an inaccurate claim in practise, was hesitant to grant these rights to the striking workers all at once. Citing economic circumstances as well as the current recession, one of the worst Narozalica had seen in its history, Czyzewski denied the strikers the rights they demanded, and remarked that he was in no position to negotiate with the strikers or budge on any of the policies.

Czyzewski's response disconnected him from a considerable amount of his supporters, who had advocated for his presidency under the pretense of the implementation of socialist reformations within the country. It was followed by an increase in the number of strikers, and on April 14, 1914, an estimated 20,000 strikers flooded the streets and squares of Samistopol to protest his response. With a large amount of the country's workforce on strike, its factories ground to a halt and news of the strike as well as Czyzewski's response quickly spreading throughout Narozalica, Czyzewski decided "out of necessity" to impose force on the workers in an attempt to return the status quo of the early days of the Strike. On April 30, the Narozalic Army stormed Olsov Square in central Samistopol, which was packed with strikers and protesters, and opened fire on the crowd to disperse it and send a message to the strikers. The action drew widespread condemnation from much of Euclea and saw Czyzewski's popularity with the general populace plummet, although he remained favourable with the higher-class aristocracy, who supported his hardline stance on the matter.

Olsov Square in 1914

Working conditions in Narozalica's cities remained awful and poverty kept increasing in almost all of Narozalica's largest cities, especially with more rural residents migrating to the cities with the hope of finding some sort of work. Czyzewski, aligning with his paternalistic conservative beliefs, encouraging the rich aristocracy to contribute to slightly relieving the labour shortage by employing the urban poor in their estates and lands, and also investing in methods to slightly relieve poverty within the cities, but few ever heeded these requests and Czyzewski never followed them up with any authority.

Foreign policy

Asterias

For his entire political career whilst he was an office, Czyzewski was critical of continued involvement of Gaullica in the Asterias, although this was largely because it was a part of the world Narozalica could not match them in, especially with the independence of Chistovodia in the 1860s. Despite the lack of opportunity, Czyzewski made it publicly known Narozalica was willing and able to support independence movements in the Asterias. With the election of the Parti Populaire in Gaullica in 1919, Czyzewski used growing discontent to influence and support Cassien dominionhood under the Gaullican Empire in 1920, later encouraging their divergence from Gaullica by saying they "should think for themselves, not for Verlois". Compared to other presidents of his time, Czyzewski was more active in Asterian geopolitics and dedicated more money to the Asterias than his predecessors.

Czyzewski was also controversially a supporter of Adelmar I's rule of Maracao during the early 20th century - believing Adelmar's monarchy to be preferable to an "outright rogue state" he thought would be established with growing communist discontent being spurred on by Chistovodia after its recent revolution. Czyzewski also supported the normalisation of relations with Halland after various scuffles and conflicts that dotted the late 19th century between the two regional powers. Czyzewski and the government of Halland aligned in many aspects of Asterian geopolitics throughout the early 20th century - particularly Cassien independence - with Czyzewski being the first Narozalic president to make an official state visit to Halland in 1918.

Coius

Czyzewski was a supporter of military retention of the two Narozalic holdings in Coius - Kassar (now Satyapur, Subarna) and Sanday in Lainan, both of which housed significant populations, in excess of one million people, and were prime economic holdings of the Empire that served as its gateway to trade in Coius. Czyzewski introduced policy that increased restriction and scrutinised entry of Coians into mainland Narozalica, believing that securing jobs for the mainland population was more important in light of the Great Collapse. He did, however, grant funding to the relevant colonial authorities in the cities to help spur on industrialisation and attempt to decrease unemployment rates through state-sponsored programs similar to those he had implemented in Narozalica. Czyzewski was also active in attempting to sponsor and fund independence movements in the colonies of the Euclean powers, particularly in Etruria's and Gaullica's vast holdings on the continent. He also politically supported the Republic of Senria in the Senrian Revolution, again putting Narozalica at odds with Gaullica in the leadup to the Great War.

He was also critical of rising Xiaodongese power, and criticised the eastern Eucleans for "a series of let-offs" regarding the treaties they had imposed on Xiaodong, which mandated the leasing of coastal cities as well as full trade power in the region. The expanding Xiaodongese Empire of the early 20th century, which vassalised Tinza and Lainan, was used by Czyzewski both domestically and internationally to criticise the Euclean powers' "mishandling" of the large Coian state, accusing their treaties of allowing the Empire to gain extreme amounts of influence in southern Coius, consistently threatening Euclean holdings in the area. Due to his policy towards Xiaodong and his opinion of their influence, Czyzewski's tenure saw Narozalica's legation quarter of Keisi become increasingly manned and militarised.

Eastern Euclea

Czyzewski's policies and attitudes towards eastern Euclea mostly aligned with his contemporaries of the Volatile Decades, exercising non-direct confrontations to attempt to gain influence over the states of eastern Euclea, many of whom had globally-spanning empires. Czyzewski was aware that any open conflict with one of the eastern Eucleans would be detrimental to Narozalica's economy and its overseas territories, particularly now that the Great Collapse was setting in. He preferred to normalise relations with the influential states independent of eastern Euclea, particularly Halland and Poliania, whom he routinely attempted to begin good relations with. Czyzewski campaigned against and refused to authorise any involvement in the Airdale War between the Kingdom of Estmere and the Sunrosian Monarchy in 1918, believing it to be against the country's interests entirely, while also weakening Narozalica's eastern Euclean rivals. The war saw Sunrosia's military liabilities made public and Estmere's military power again established, however massive losses on both sides also contributed to the Great Collapse, something Czyzewski criticised the "brazen" Sunrosia for allowing.

When the Parti Populaire under Rafael Duclerque were elected into power in 1919, subsequently evolving the state into Functionalist Gaullica. Czyzewski criticised Duclerque for his reluctance to officially abolish the monarchy but did extend commendations on effective ending the rule of Albert III in 1920, when he was exiled to Cassier against the advice of Narozalica. Czyzewski invited Duclerque to Samistopol in the November of 1920 to discuss future relations between the two states after Albert III's fleeing of the country. At the meeting between the two, Czyzewski attempted to negotiate the abolition of Gaullica's monarchy with Duclerque, and promised the normalisation of relations and a possible military alliance in the future to consolidate the two countries' rule over west and east Euclea. Duclerque was hesitant to make such quick and large strides in Gaullica's political development, fearing the loss of his administration's confidence in the general populace if he were to go forward with its abolition. Furthermore, Duclerque became increasingly interested and attracted to Poliania following the entry of its own functionalist government to power in 1920. Ultimately, the visit concluded little and the subsequently fallout over having the Gaullican head-of-state over to negotiate an alliance contributed to Czyzewski's later resignation in March 1921.

Poliania

Czyzewski with Polianian Minister-President Ventsislav Vrančev in 1919

Unlike many previous presidents, Czyzewski wanted to foster increased ties with Poliania given Narozalica's effective diplomatic isolation in Euclea. In 1915, Czyzewski oversaw initial positive diplomatic exchanges between Poliania for the first time in recent history. Due to Eduard Olsov's noted and public opposition to Poliania and the Polianian monarchy, Czyzewski understood the initial skepticism that would arise from Narozalica suddenly pursuing ties, and as a precautionary measure Poliania began warming to the idea of an alliance with Gaullica, with Czyzewski sought to contain. In 1919, Czyzewski became the first Narozalic president to make an official state visit to Poliania when he met with Minister-President Ventsislav Vrančev in Pripek in late October. The two exchanged diplomatic concerns regarding the situation of western Euclean, with Czyzewski expressing explicit concern regarding the status of Poliania's borderlands, taken from Narozalica during the War of the Triple Alliance and subsequent First Narozalic Civil War.

These relations were cut short, however, by the 1920 election results in Poliania, which saw the functionalist Patriot Movement win power in the country. With a Polianian–Gaullican alliance now a serious risk for Narozalica, Czyzewski's summit with Duclerque was called, however when it failed to amount of any significant diplomatic development, Poliania used it to shuffle in the idea of an alliance, securing it by the end of 1920. Czyzewski's failure to contain Poliania from allying with Narozalica's largest rival also contributed to Czyzewski's resignation in 1921.

Ideology

Czyzewski famously identified himself as a "conservative socialist", and has many well-documented talks and speeches referring to himself as such. Czyzewski is perhaps most famously remembered for his uncharacteristically left-wing economic policies, brought about mainly by the effects of the Great Collapse but existing as his ideology since his first term as Ilchenko's Prime Minister. He also described himself as socially conservative, and limited the ability of Coians to emigrate to mainland Narozalica from the country's holdings in the region, particularly Kassar and Sanday, a policy introduced by his predecessor. Despite his ethnic background, he was also a staunch advocate of Miersan unionism with Narozalica during the existence of the Miersa Governorate.

In the modern-day, Czyzewski's beliefs and ideology have been grouped into paternalistic conservatism, and has been described as one of the founders and first influential politicians to practise the ideology in Narozalica. In Narozalica, he is considered the country's only ever left-wing President, despite being considered right-wing by much of the world's standards. After his presidency, Czyzewski was anti-war and supported the normalisation of relations with eastern Euclea, particularly with Gaullica, and also supported Miersan reunification after the war, one of the most influential supporters of the cause.