In the German Reich, there were two legislative bodies within Parliant, much like in the United States and its own legislative branch. And like the United States these two bodies were chosen based upon two distinctive factors.
Within the German Empire, the lower branch of Parliant was elected via popular vote by the citizens of the Empire. While in the higher of the two branches, that being Parliant, the Bundesrat and its mbers were chosen by the regional governnts of every State within the Empire.
This was actually similar to how the United States senate functioned originally and even still at this ti. It would only be a year from now, in 1913, where US Senators were elected via popular both at the booth by citizens.
A change that would never manifest in the German Reich, or at least within Bruno's past life, and hopefully never. After retiring from the military as a tried and true veteran of both the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, and the later Franco-Prussian War of 1871, and having earned both classes of the Iron cross, as well as a Pour Le rite no less.
Bruno's father who shared the sa na as his youngest son had easily climbed the ranks of German politics, first having been elected and served with distinction within the Reichstag for a number of years, before eventually being appointed by the Kingdom of Prussia to the Reichstag.
It was, of course a surprise to his fellow mbers of parliant that he rather suddenly decided to retire. And in doing so, Bruno's father was being granted a massive farewell party. Of course Bruno himself, as well as his family were invited to attend the event, as well as all of his siblings and their families as well.
One could never truly underestimate the grandeur of the parties thrown by the nobility of European Kingdoms and empires.
And this retirent party was no exception. Having been thrown by the Kaiser himself, which was rather unusual, but when one understood it was a ans of showing respect to an aging mber of the Bundesrat whose service to the country could not be underestimated, one naturally understood why this was the case.
Bruno, as always was far from a social butterfly, paying pleasantries where need be, but otherwise trying his best to be a fly on the wall. Heidi was his gregarious half who managed to convince people that her husband was far less nacing than he seed.
And while Bruno was definitely more of an introvert than he was a social butterfly. What really made him behave so anti-socially at these venues was the fact that he just really hated the fakeness which the nobility in this era seed to personify.
It was one thing where back in the day the nobility had an obligation to rally troops and lead them into battle. Such was the nature of the feudal responsibilities of which many of these houses had such a prestigious and ancient lineage.
But it had been centuries since feudalism ended, and without the obligation to protect and serve the people as their noble masters, the descendants of the knights and warlords of the ancient era had beco a bunch of pampered and prissy wastrels.
Leeches whose sole claim to fa was being the tenth grandson of so valiant warrior whose feat in battle had gained him his lands and title to be shared among his family line until the end of ti.
Few n gained their nobility through blood and iron these days, and those who did were generally among the lower nobility, not privy to such an extravagant gathering hosted by the Kaiser himself.
Among those present, only a handful were like Bruno's family, having earned their noble status in the past century through gallant action on the battlefield. And having continued the martial tradition of military service since.
Yet those were the n Bruno tended to congregate among. This was despite the fact that he was considered far more important than them. For Bruno, it was hard to listen to the pompous boasts of n who had never seen the cruelty of a battlefield yet spoke of their ancestor's achievents as if he had slain a dragon in single combat without staining his gilded cloak.
How would you explain to a man who had been raised with a golden spoon in his mouth, and silk diapers that his ancestor's "chivalric" legend was one of blood and guts? Rather than the fantastical way in which he spoke about it?
Moreover, how would a man who had not only spilled the blood of other n, but shed his own in the trenches possibly tolerate such buffoonery without having an instinctive urge to slap the ever living shit out of the dullard who dared espouse such drivel?
Hence why Bruno stood in the corner of the room, with the few other n wearing modern military uniforms, of which whose ranks were significantly lower than his, while smoking a cigarette in one hand, and having a stiff drink in another.
Was it intimidating to have Bruno among their ranks? Not at all, several of these n Bruno had served with, among them were his brothers Kurt and Ludwig, as well as several other officers who fought beneath his command in Russia and who had continued their military service after the war ca to an end.
In fact, their rather dark sense of humor, and loud intoxicated voices carried over, as these n caught up, reminiscing about things that made the more coddled noblen's skin crawl. One of the n spoke of Bruno as if he were the grim reaper.
Yet he did so in a way that sounded as if they were old friends reconnecting in the afterlife. All the while he spoke of the ti Bruno walked through the trenches outside Tsaritsyn, clubbing communists over the head with his sharpened entrenching tool.
"I swear to God, I'm not lying. You had not yet arrived in the Volga theater yet! This man literally just walked through the trenches with a spade in one hand and a pistol in the other. Smacking guys over the head with his entrenching tool and they just dropped over dead as if they had been touched by death himself!
I was about to get stabbed by so Bolshevik piece of shit's bayonet when the next thing I see is the cold and murderous gaze of our brave commander as he raised his shovel I the air above the stupid commie's head. Poor son of a bitch didn't even know that death was right behind him, boring a hole through the back of his head with the most hate filled gaze I have ever seen in my life."
Bruno had a particularly grim and stoic reputation among the German nobility, and this officer's loud boasts did not help in that regard. Bruno however shocked those who did not know him personally as he broke out into a chuckle and shook his head, with an almost nastolgic smile on his face as he did so.
"I rember that. Fucking idiot genuinely thought he was going to take the life of one of my officers right in front of . Well, he sure learned his lesson didn't he? A rather permanent one I might say, if I were so bold..."
The only one among the group of veterans from the volunteer force once known as the Iron Division who was not laughing was Kurt, who was the leader of the combat dics within the unit. He shook his head and blew out a plu of smoke as he called his brothers and comrades sick in the head for laughing about such a traumatic event.
"You fuckers are disturbed, you know that? I still have nightmares about the poor sons of bitches I had to stitch up in that assault. Luckily, we killed all the Marxist swine responsible for all that death or else I would never be able to sleep at night..."
Bruno couldn't help but pat his older brother on the back, and make light of the whole situation, as he pointed out the dals on all of their chests, so of which were German in origin, a dal created specifically for the Iron Division's actions in the war.
And others were granted to them by the Tsar, who awarded thousands of Bruno's volunteer soldiers with distinctive honors for the roles they each played in saving the House of Romanov and the Russian Empire as a whole.
"Hey it was all worth it at the end of the day, right? I an, a soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon, right?"
All the n knew that Bruno was quoting Napoleon when he said those last words, and rather facetiously so. The n laughed at Bruno's comnts, as they were all too aware of the price that had been paid by them all for the sake of a piece of steel and a slightly dyed piece of cloth.
That is, until they saw who stood behind Bruno, and they all instantly shut their mouths and bowed their heads. Bruno imdiately knew by the way his comrades were acting that he had put his foot in his mouth right in front of soone important, and if he had to guess it was none other than the Kaiser himself.
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