The Heirs of Caesars: Habsburg AAR

Amric, I think we are talking about two different things: I am not afraid of losing cb, I am afraid of losing cb shields, which will give me 0% rebellion risk once I reconquer the provinces.

Judge, thank you.


Voting results so far:

A - 2
B - 2
C - 1
D - 0

I haven't cast one yet.

The reign of Friederich V and Maximilian I: 1477-1493

The inheritance of Burgundy and conquests in Mediterranean enlarged the Habsburg domain beyond imaginable. Their lands now stretched from the Northern Sea to the shores of Africa and ruling such a decentralized state was a management nightmare. The Emperor quickly found a solution - he made his son Maximilian a co-ruler and concentrated his efforts on consolidating the gains in Italy. Maximilian moved his residence to the Netherlands where he ruled with the help of his wife Mary of Burgundy. He commanded some 27,000 troops and even had a small fleet of 3 warships and 1 transport.

Meanwhile, while Austria was busy fighting Aragon, France made a huge leap forward and in a series of wars conquered most of geographical France. England still had Normandy, Caux, Poitou and Gascogne, but constant rebellions did not make her position in France any stronger. After all, French had already invaded Kent in the previous war and the Channell was no longer an obstacle for their navy. True, French only had asked for Calais, but it did not mean they would be satisfied with the status quo for long.

In 1479 Brittany revolted against Scots for the fourth time. Scotland was abandoned by her Iberian allies (Spain, Aragon and Portugal) and managed to hold on only to Bretagne province. Brittany was again vassalized, but then French claimed the duchy theirs and annexed it few years later.

Norwegians were the fifth (after France, England, Denmark and Poland) foreign power to invade the Empire. In the fall of 1479 they annexed Friesland and fought an indecisive war with English. Lorraine, which too used to belong to Spanish alliance, left it after Brittany's crisis, and was welcomed with open arms to the Emperor's camp. This came right after Friederich successfully negotiated the incorporation of Bavaria into Habsburg domain. The Prince of Bavaria lost his son in Italy and, having no heirs, chose to name his suzerain an heir instead of watch his lands explode in a civil war. Some 40,000 troops were disbanded, but even then the Imperial army numbered some 80,000 men (around 15,000 cavalry). The combined Northern and Mediterranea fleets consisted of 8 warships, 8 galleys and 1 transport.

French kept on expanding and annexed Eire in 1481. Norway conquered Holstein, but was forced to cede it to Bremen. A series of wars errupted in northern Germany, but no provinces changed hands except for Palatinate conquering Cologne.

In 1485 France started another war with England in an attempt to rid all French lands of English influence once and for all. French enjoyed the support of Bremen, Hanover and Saxony (all in theory Austrian vassals), while English called on Munster, Kleves and Palatinate (again, all vassals to Friederich as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire). It seemed like both countries were shamlessly using Friederich's subjects to pursue their own ambitions. Munster was annexed by Hanover soon, for which Austrians shed no tears as it used to fight on the same side as Aragon in war of 1462-1477.

It was impossible for Friederich and Maximilian to stand out of the conflict. For once, the war was fought on the Imperial soil. Then again, France ruled over two provinces that Maximilian claimed through marriage to Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. They were Artois and French Comte. Friederich too had long wanted to punish France for conquering Savoy - which belonged to the Empire until 1451. French victory over England would be sad news for Empire too - being so decentralized and unorganized, the Empire had no need for a strong neighbour like France.

The war was inevitable and the formal declaration was delivered to Paris on July 27, 1485.



All Habsburg allies - Wurtemburg, Milan, Genoa and Lorraine - joined the call of the Emperor. At first all French allies dishonored their obligations, but then Bremen and Hanover were pursuaded to join the war on the French side.

Friederich had some 35,000 men ready for invasion in Piemonte. They crossed the border unopposed in two directions - one army entered Savoy, another went on covering all southern French provinces to make it impossible for Louis XI to raise troops there.

Maximilian invaded France from the north and very soon found himself in control of Calais and Picardie. Avoiding large French armies, which at the start of war were either in Normany or on the right bank of Rhine, he proceeded to defeat smaller French armies and, with help from English, laid siege to Paris.

Gelre joined the anti-French coalition in early 1486 and served as distraction for couple of French armies. Wurtemburg and Milan both send troops to besiege Artois, while Genoa sent an expedition to French Ireland. Friederich and Maximilian felt confident the war would be over in six months.



Then Milan declared war on Mantua. With no forces left back in the east, Austrians were unable to aid their vassal. Wurtemburg and Genoa offered help, but in August of 1486 Naples declared war on Genoa. Wurtemburg army failed to defeat capture Mantua on time and in September of 1486 Milan was sacked by combined armies of Mantua and Venice. Few days later the city-state was annexed by the former.

Friederich was mad at himself for thinking Milan would hold out longer. Now, when the situation in the southern France was under control, he managed to send 7,000 cavalry back east and ordered 10,000 infantry recruited in Austria. Meanwhile, Paris was captured by English and so was Champage. England preferred not to ask for land and settle for gold. Once the settlement was reached, Paris was besieged anew by Imperial forces, while Lorraine invaded Champagne.

By 1488 Austrians fought numerous battles with Mantua - having won some and lost others. Bremen invaded the province of Wurzburg, while Hanover occupied Alsace. Naples captured Rome, but fortunately Genoa agreed to part with 50,000 ducats to make peace in the south. Outside of this war, Isabel and Ferdinand of Castille and Aragon decided to rule together and unite their kingdoms. Newly found kingdom - Spain - ruled all of Iberia, except for the kingdom of Portugal.

In May of 1489 the war with Mantua was over. The enemy managed to capture Tirol and Romagna, but not for long. Milan was liberated too and Mantua sacked. In exchange for peace, the city was forced to cede Milan and pay 100,000 ducats.

Meanwhile, France had presented scores of peace proposals, offering six or seven provinces each time. If accepted, this kind of peace would bring only trouble to Austria in future. All Friederich and Maximilian wanted was French-Comte and Savoy for Austria, Artois for Wurtemburg and Champagne for Lorraine. French kept refusing and, in order to force it out of them, Austrians had to conquer all of France. The plan looked easy enough on paper (since Imperial forces already controlled 90% of France at the time), but French had different ideas. Numerous rebellions prolonged the conquest for yet another couple of years, while peasants in Bavaria and Milan contributed their share of trouble as well.

In 1491 French bought Genoa off with the province of Connaught and Wurtemburg accepted peace in exchange for Artois.

In July of 1493 Austrian goal seemed so close when rebels in Ile-de-France massacred Austrian garrison in Paris. In took another two months to re-conquer the city. By August 4th all of France was in Austrian hands. The peace was made with French ceding Champagne, Savoy and French Comte and paying 400,000 in war indemnities. Friederich did not have enough time to celebrate the victory - he died 17 days later. On August 21st Maximilian became a sole ruler of Austria. The same day the Electors of the Holy Roman Empire gave Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain the Imperial crown.



NOTE: Habsburg banners all over France.

Elsewhere in Europe: the Ottomans managed to conquer Bulgaria, but received quite a beating from Serbia and Bosnia. Moldova lost two provinces to Hungary and Croatia. Muscowy annexed Suzdal, Novgorod and conquered deep into the lands of Teutonic Order. North Africa was divided between Algiers and Tunisia.



The loss of Imperial crown was a high price to pay for two Imperial provinces. What Friederich and Maximilian did not take into account when going at war with France is that the rest of the Electors might not like the idea of Habsburgs grabbing province after province within and outside the Empire's borders. Failure to compensate their patience in the past was the main reason Maximilian did not get the Imperial crown. The warrior-emperor Friederich V is dead, and his son will have to turn to diplomacy to gain back the throne.

The reign of Maximilian I: 1493-1519

The massive outbreak of rebellions celebrated the start of Maximilian's independent rule. Some 80,000 rebels challenged his divine right to rule over the lands of Milan, Sicily and Bavaria. It took new Archduke about four years to put the rebellions down - some of the rebel armies included disbanded veteran companies, which were not new to warfare.

In the end, Maximilian decided to appease some of the rebels and granted independence to Milan. After all, the only reason for Austrian conquest of the city was to liberate it from Mantuans.

In February of 1497 the last rebel army was annihilated in Messina. City-state of Milan joined Austrian alliance.

Meanwhile at France... Spain and England created a new alliance aimed to keep furious Franks at bay. A war soon followed: still weak from a previous war with Austria, France failed to defend its southern border against well-conducted Spanish invasion. At the end French ceded Gyuenne and paid 50,000 in war indemnities.

In the east Bosnia annexed Serbia, but soon had to cede it to the Ottomans. A few years later Bosnia was annexed by Croatia.

An able military commander rose through ranks to command Army of Italy - his name was Georg von Frundsberg and his was as skilled at siege as he was on the battlefield.

In January of 1500 gratefull people of Milan came to their senses and recognized Austria as a loyal friend and not an opportunistic aggressor. They figured there was little difference in between their own rulers and Austrian and called on Habsburgs to rule their city. Considering their fiasco with Mantua few years ago, it was certainly safer for them this way.

Muscowites came out a winner after series of wars with Teutonic Order and Sweden. In the early 1500's Muscowy expanded far into Finland and Estonia and soon gave a sound trashing to Lithuania with the latter ceding three provinces to the Russain Bear.



In 1502 France declared war on England. Spain did not have stomach for another fight and bailed out as soon as French offered little cash. England ended up paying for French humiliation in the hands of Imperial armies (first Austrian and later Spanish), ceding all of their possessions in France except Gascogne.



In 1505 Maximilian decided to put von Frundsberg's skills to a test and declared war on Venice. The prize was a city of Mantua, recently annexed by the merchant republic. By conquering this city the Archduke was hoping to thank Milanese for joining his empire.

Naples joined on the side of Venice and fought a series of battles in Genoese-controlled Marches. Wurtemburg has chosen this very moment to declare war on Helvetia - another vassal of Austrian Archdukes.

In the spring of 1506 Austrian armies entered Venice and by September the Doge was begging for peace, offering Mantua and 106,000 ducats. The offer was accepted.

Meanwhile, north of Alps, Swiss fought bravely, taking several cities and defending numerous allied armies. In the end Wurtemburg had too much and paid to get out of the war. Swiss, naturally, declared that Maximilian failed them as their overlord and they do not consider themselves his vassals any longer.

Back in Spain Ferdinand again took revenge on Habsburg family by poisoning Philip, son of Maximilian and husband of Mary, Ferdinand's and Isabella's daughter in 1506. As his own son died several years before, Philip was an heir to the Spanish throne and Ferdinand was not prepared to his mortal enemy's grandson on it. Luckily, Karl, Ferdinand's and Maximilian's grandson, survived and was raised in the Austrian Netherlands.

In 1508 France declared war on Lorraine. Maximilian responded with an attack that overan southern France and ended up in the successful siege of Paris. The casualties were high on both sides, but French were definitely the ones with a taste of defeat on their lips. Lorraine managed to capture Nivernais, but soon lost it to French. Seeing no profit in fighting any further, the Elector of Lorraine made peace, demanding two provinces for his Austrian suzerain.

Unsure whether an acquisition of two non-Imperial provinces would bring his family much good in the long run, Maximilian decided to grant them independence, in an apparent effort to bring to life the Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne and Lyonnais). A distant relative of Mary, Philippe IV *was crowned Duke of Burgundy, thus effectively put Burgundy under Austrian protection. The Duchy soon joined Austrian military alliance with Lorraine, Wurtemburg and Genoa.

In 1512 Genoa declared war on Golden Horde. The campaigned against the heathens was to be launched from Genoese bases in Crimea, but every crusade that did not have Jerusalem as its goal was of no interest to Maximilian.

In the end of 1512 France again declared war on England, but this time Spanish were prepared to fight for their ally. After series of setbacks and retreats they managed to push the enemy back and occupy southern part of the country. By 1517 France was ceding Limousin, Auvergne and Cévennes to Spain.



A year earlier Ferdinand of Spain died from old age and Karl, grandson of Maximilian, became Carlos I of Spain. Maximilian rejoiced and even forgave the young king from stealing the Imperial throne. Three years later, preparing to part this world, Maximilian named Karl his successor.

Important things that first went unnoticed: in 1517 Martin Luther began to preach his own perverted version of Christianity. Calling Pope "the Austrian puppet", he argued that Church should be reformed and, at least, made independent from any state. Many northern provinces of the Empire grew to accept the teachings for a variety of reasons - mostly political. The only province within Austria was Wurzburg and Maximilian granted the Inquisition additional priviliges to deal with this problem.

Less important, French Irish subjects rose in rebellion and defected to Genoa.

Judge, thank you, your comment was even more dear to me because it was the only one I slowed down my expansion in this update, but it should pick up somewhat very soon.

Amric, typo's corrected If Venice still exists in 1706 then I am certainly not doing my job right.

Anibal, glad you liked it - and I am not finished with Italy yet

I am though running into problems. My bb is 0, but the need to improve relations with neighbors interferes with the need to expand... Sad dilemma, I still want to make an emperor after Karl V dies, but if I have to restrain myself I will die from boredom!

Anyway, I played till 1540 and now am trying to figure out how to set Hungary free (not all of it, but not just 3 provinces either). Will let you know when I am done with it.

The reign of Karl V: 1519-1556

Born and raised in the Austrian Netherlands, he was already a King of Spain and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire when Maximilian's death's made him a ruler of Austria. The title of Archduke hardly seems appropriate for the master of such a large domain, but Austria was still a part of the Empire and could not officially be called a kingdom.

Right in the beginning of his reign Karl had to make a very important decision. The ruler of Spain, southern France, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Americas, he had to choose a capital. Two countries, two capitals - Spain and Austria, Madrid and Vienna - fought hard to earn this privilege. In the end, Karl selected the city of his grandfather from the father's side - Vienna. A fitting place for the Emperor, although Spanish troops enjoyed the privilege of moving freely through the Empire, not Austrian.

The main threat to Karl's power defined itself very soon in a form of the heretic teachings of Martin Luther. In 1520 Habsburh dynasty controlled directly and indirectly about half of Europe and Pope was elected by cardinals only with permission Vienna. Many Kings and Princes of the North objected to being subjects of the Church controlled by another state. Needless to say, they embraced Protestant Faith for the sole reason that it opposed Catholic Church.

Karl selected two different policies for Spain and Austria to deal with this problem. United Spain hardly needed any help to keep itself together. Inquisition ruled supreme there and, in fact, it was necessary to practice a strict form of Catholicism in order to impress the heathens of the New World.

Austria, on the other hand, was just a part, rather large part, but still only a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In order to keep Imperial crown in Habsburg family it was necessary to show a certain level of tolerance - even if Pope in Austrian-held Rome objected to it. Thus, very tolerant attitude was adapted in Austria, although inquisition still tried it's hand in converting existing Protestant provinces there. In order to appease Pope Karl declared himself on behalf of Austria the Sole Defender of the Catholic Faith.

One by one countries of the North converted to Protestant. Karl suffered from not being able to wage war on all of them at once. But he recognized that the key to success in the war against heresy is to enable Austria to conquer the rest of the Empire and thus the armies of the Catholicism never moved north during his lifetime. Spain even allied with Protestant England in hope to restore her to the One True Faith. The only move from Austria to counter the Protestant Faith expansion was to diplomatically annex Wurtemburg in 1521 - the fear that this small Principality would switch camps was all too real. As the part of the deal Austria gained three Imperial provinces: Wurtemburg itself, Baden and Artois.

In 1522 Genose became Austrian vassals.

In 1526 the art of patience exercised by the Emperor and financed by a powerful Fugger banking family again paid off. Bohemia decided to accept Habsburhs as hereditary kings after death of King Lajos. Unfortunately, Silesia and Moravia were still owned by Hungary, where Janos Zapolya just accepted the crown.



Suleyman I of the Ottomans was on the move again. His previous campaign against Karaman did not bring the results he expected and he decided to try his luck in the Balkans against Croatia. After quick and brutal campaign Croatia agreed to cede Dalmatia and Bosnia.

Numerous attempts of converiosn in Wurtemburg failed, but when time came to convert Bohemians the results were suprising. Two-thirds of them converted without resistance - their trust in the Catholic Church being restored after seeing no aggression toward the Northen Electors from the Emperor and Pope.

In 1530 Genoa again declared war on the Golden Horde. The whole steppe went to to war against the small maritime republic. The result was a draw. Genoese defeated the nomads on water. Nomads failed to capture anything but Kerch and Kaffa.

Several minor wars were fought in the North. Few provicnes switched hands. Austria was busy with diplomatic moves aimed to warm up the relations between herself and the rest of the Electors.

In 1540 King of Hungary died with an heir and the overtures were made to Karl to accept Hungary as the part of his Austrian domain. The Emperor did not want to deal with Hungarian problems though - as they were numerous and big - but went for a compromise instead. Austria accepted Oldenburg, Presburg, Moravia and Silesia, released Hungary as a vassal state, accepted the country into its military alliance and promised to protect it against any foe, be it the Ottomans or Poles.

In the same time Suleyman finished his last campaign against Karaman, annexing the rival Sultanate.

The news were coming from Spain that spoke of grand battles with heathen empires in Americas. Karl, for obvious reasons, did not hurry to give his Austrian subjects the maps to those locations.

In September of 1541, in an attempt to round up Austrian eastern border, Karl declared war on Croatia. The campaign lasted six months. Croatia agreed to cede Krain and become Austrian vassal.



In 1545 Lorraine became Austrian vassal.

In 1546, in an apparent effort to stop useless wars of Genoa and Golden Horde, the city-state was offered annextion and, not suprisingly, Genoa selected a peaceful way of joining the Empire. Genoese possession include, besides Corsica and Marches, two provinces in Ireland and two in Crimea. Eire was immideately set up as a vassal (did not do it much good, as it was soon annexed by Scotland) and Kerch and Kaffa were left without governing bodies in hope the populace would figure out what's best for them. Genoese large naval force joined Austrian fleets in Ligurian and Northen seas.

In 1548 the Imperial Parliament gathered at Ausburg to decide the future of Protestant heresy. Expressing support for Catholic Faith Karl hoped to intimidate Protestant Princes into abandoning the heresy. He failed miserably and relations with Princes grew colder. The series of small wars followed in which Catholic Hessen conquered Mainz from Protestant Palatinate. However, when seven years later the Parliament gathered again at Ausburg, Karl deemed it wise to allow the Princes to choose their own religion.

Throughout the years Austria maintained its status as the leader in military land technology. Karl also made sure that he transformed the country from religious narrow-minded duchy to innovative tolerant empire.

The rest of Karl's reign was spent in advancing both of the countries in the military field as well as improving Austrian relations with her neighbours. The last years so him move away from the affairs of the state and give the reigns of power to his son Phillip II in Spain and his brother Ferdinand of Austria. The last spent rivers of gold on bribibg the Electors (some say the sum exceeded 800,000 ducats) and when Karl V abdicated in October 1556 Ferdinand I of Austria, not Phillip II of Spain was elected the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Amric, I am still rather limited - there are rules I set for myself and I intend to follow them. I like the part about 'THE presence' ...

The reign of Ferdinand I: 1556-1564

Younger brothers who inherit their older brothers, as a rule, don't rule for long. Ferdinand was not an exception. However, he was a competent Emperor, and his death caused his subjects a lot of grief, for he was not only respected, but also loved.

Ferdinand made a career as a general in the Imperial army under his brother Karl V. When latter abdicated, Ferdinand inherited Austria and with it the Imperial crown. Some rumors said that Austrian gold in this case mattered more than Karl's influence. Whatever may be the reason, Ferdinand ruled the Empire and, which was of the equal importance, Ferdinand inherited the Netherlands. Born in the Austrian Netherlands, Karl could not imagine the country under the Spanish rule - be it the rule of his own son Phillip.

Phillip said 'Si, padre' and grew to hate his uncle. The Dutch rejoiced for Austrians were famous was their tolerance of different religions - even though the Emperors were known as the Defenders of Faith. Consequently, the revolts that threatened to break out in the Low Countries never came and Ferdinand's reign proved to start one of the most peaceful periods in Austrian history.

Again, 'peaceful' is a relative term. In 1558 Sicilians and people of Romagna and Krain took to the field, defying the tolerant policies of the Emperor toward the heretics in the North. Sicilians took Messina, but failed to defeat the Imperial army in the open field. The other two rebellios armies were annihilated much earlier.

Some time before people of Kerch decided to join the sultanate of Ak Koyunlu, while people of Kaffa joined the Duchy of Lithuania. The Empire was not tied in the affairs of Crimea anymore.

In 1560, afraid his armies might get rusty, Ferdinand asked himself whether he should try to flex the Empire's muscles and try to get Friesen from Hanover. The Habsburg family claimed the province their own for a long time - it is a wonder they did not attempt to capture it until now.

The commander of the Imperial invasion forces was Prince Franz-Josef. He attacked with his 40,000-strong army in the west, while another 30,000-strong force moved through Saxony to attack Hanover from the east. Hannover was supported by Bremen, which launched a successful attack on Zeeland, and Norway, which spent the whole war trying to capture Ulster.

The war was fought all over northern Germany. The armies of Hannover were beaten time after time, and later the armies of Bremen tasted their share of defeat. At first, Imperial generals exercised great caution, but victory after victory helped their confidence to grow. They attacked the enemy in the most fortified places and carried the day nevertheless. By 1563 Hannover was overan and even the late help from Saxony could not save the Electorate from destruction.



Bremen was first on the Ferdinand's list. In July of 1564 the city was forced to cede Holstein, to pay 75,000 ducats and to denounce the Protestant Faith. A few days later Hannover lost Friesen, Munster, Oldenburg and Magdeburg to Austria. The triumph of the Imperial army was complete, but diplomatically the victory created a roadblock for further Austrian expansion in the north as Spain decided to join Hannover's alliance with Bremen, Saxony and Norway. Phillip II was still craving the Imperial crown.



The lion that was Ferdinand did not get his chance to fight the fox that was Phillip. The Emperor died nine days after the Hannover's surrender. His place was taken by his son Maximilian II.

Few numbers: during his reign the Imperial army peaked at some 100,000 infantry, 60,000 cavalry and 80 cannons. Imperial fleet numbered 11 warships, 29 galleys and 13 transports.

Ok, I looked at the number of people who wanted to leave the Netherlands in Austrian hands, added my vote and received a majority. I also managed to raise Austrian innovativeness to +9 and consequently the Netherlands never revolted.

I played many games as Spain and always did my share of fighting the Dutch. I pacified them numerous number of times. I never suspected there was a peaceful solution. I confess - I am an idiot. But I am glad the game continues to suprise me. And now, when I don't have those annoying rebels to worry about, I might actually enjoy my rather peaceful style of the game... I leave it at that.

Nice white blob, now how overused is this?

Yes, thank you, I am still writing, if this is what you mean You can rely on more material soon.

MAlexander06, thank you, and yes, rules is what makes this game interesting for me to play

Kelly Hrdina, funny, Austria was always my favorite among majors - main reason being I don't feel the need to colonize.

Machiavellian, you're a prophet my next update will show the further decline and humiliation of France (I swear I did not have anything to do with this... well, at least I am not taking any French provinces for myself ), but as far as Scotland goes... well, hm, well...


I was going to write an update today, but got too involved in work. Expect one tomorrow morning, I only need to write the last paragraph for it and upload screenies.

Again, thank you all for reading and replying.