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The reign of Maria-Teresa: from Coronation(1740) to Alliance with Spain(1760)

As mentioned before, the first year of her reign was marked with victory over Ottoman Empire, which ended the twelve year long conflict with the infidel. The dozen years of warfare left the country with little territorial gains (since conquest was not the reason Austria went in war) and lacking in technology. England and Sweden had such lead on the Empire that their rulers never hesitated to fight the Catholics - even if they were beaten time after time. The country needed rest and the Empress was determined to provide Austria with it.

Habsburgs did not come to power by sword or diplomacy. They married to power. This was especially true in the 15th century. Maria-Teresa was going to make it true in the 18th.

Since Austria was in peace for the time being, all attention turned to Austrian vassal - Hellas - which continued it's struggle against the Turk. Serbia too had its share of publicity when it annexed Muslim Bulgaria in October of 1741.

Hungarians rebelled against their Polish overlords, calling on Maria-Teresa to intervene and take the crown of Hungary. The Empress refused. If she would ever rule Hungary, it would not be because of some rebels. Soon the revolt was crushed and Hungary re-annexed by Poles.

In January of 1743 Hellas made peace with the Ottoman aggressors, receiving Macedonia and Smyrna. Even in London they celebrated this victory over the infidel. Hellas was invited in Austrian alliance.

In December of 1743 Muscowy declared war on the Empire, eager to avenge the loss of Bremen and with a goal of taking Bujak for themselves. The Empress was slightly amused - she had no plans to keep Bujak for herself. However, Russians needed to be taught a lesson. Several Muscowite armies that landed in Northen Germany and the Netherlands were annihilated and Muscowy sued for peace offering 100,000 ducats in war indemnities. Instead, Maria-Teresa offered them Bujak on a condition that Russians would defend it against the future Muslim invasions as if their future depended on it. Muscowy accepted the offer.

During 1740's England and Spain continued their conquests in Americas. The Ottomans advanced in Eastern Africa, struggling to compensate themselves for land losses in Europe.

In 1750 Maria-Teresa once again confirmed her title of the Defender of the Catholic Faith. Pope rejoiced, the rest of the world ignored the event - Habsburg family held the title for centuries, losing it only twice and not for a long time neither.

In 1751 the growing animosity between Kingdom of France and heretic Duchy of Provence caused the Empress to make an exception to her policy of promoting peace. The power behind Provence was England, which reigned victorious over the seas and refused Austrian merchants the right to trade in her trading centers. In February of 1751 Austria went to a war against England and Sweden and Portugal and Provence and Venice, calling on her French and Breton allies for aid.

This was not the most successful war for the Empire. Needless to say, the Imperial armies ruled the battlefield, annihilating within the first months the armies of Provence and besieging all Provence cities. However, the need to fight off English raids in both Italy and Northen Germany stretched Austrian lands forces to much, which enabled Venice to invade Istria and remain in the province almost to the end of the war.

Combined fleets of England and Portugal blocked the ports of Rumelia and soon the province was occupied by Portuguese after the defenders crushed the allied armies three times in a row and perished to a man in the fourth battle. Again, Maria-Teresa had no plans to keep Rumelia. However, this loss was rather upsetting.

Series of revolts once again shook the Empire. The most troubling was the revolt in Sardinia, since English warships prevented Imperial navy from sailing out of Genoa. Several naval battles were fought in the Ligurian sea - with victory gained by one side or the other. In the end, Austrian victories were short-lived. As soon as the navy would try to take an army on board and leave for Sardinia, English ships would appear and chase Austrian ships back to the port.

Several conversions were attempted at the time. Bern converted and so did Friesen, while the Saxons refused and killed the inquisitors. More rebellions demanded more troops to handle them.

In February of 1753 Provence ceded Languedoc and Dauphine. Provence itself would soon become the last bastion of heretics in Western Europe.

Under pressure, French ended its twenty year long campaign against Iroquios. Soon it accepted peace with England as well, paying 150,000 in war indemnities. This act, at times of war, was compared to treason. France would pay for it dearly as soon as the English would leave the continent.

In April of 1753 the Ottomans declared war on the Empire, influenced by English gold, no doubt. English province of Gascogne just fell to Austrian troops and England was still unreachable behind the Channell. The rebels in Sardinia were safe too, no small thanks to Enhlish navy. English armies were gaining an upper hand over the forces of Hellas. There was no choice left, but to send the bulk of Imperial forces to the Aegean and hope to settle the score with England and their Ottoman puppet there.

The campaign was successful from the start. Austrian armies pushed English and Ottomans from Macedonia and advanced to Smyrna, where the lifted the siege of the city. At the same time Swedes attacked in Pomerania and landed in Istria. Imperials quickly repelled the northen invasion, but the south proved to be more problematic.

In 1754 Sardinian declared independence from Astria.

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The Austrians continued to battle the Ottomans, while Portuguese were bribed to quit the war with Rumelia. Albania was occupied and so was Antalya. Hellas was soon rewarded for its efforts with Anatolia. In December of 1755 the Ottomans ceded Albania to the Empire, which was soon granted independence. Turks had no land left in Europe except for Thrace, which was surrounded on all sides by Serbs, Greeks and Portuguese.

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In 1757, after major naval buildup and several naval victories in the Ligurian sea, Austria was able to force England to cede Gascogne. The war was over and Sardinia was left unpunished - for three years the Imperial navy was not able to penetrate the lines of the English warships and white peace with Sardinia was the only option on the negotiation table.

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Next two years saw the Empress return to the policy of peaceful expansion. Quick occupation of France did not take any time whatsoever and in January of 1758 France agreed to surrender without firing a shot. While annexing the country proved to be easy, numerous rebellions that fired up in the French countryside proved to be more dangerous than expected.

Brittany soon agreed to become Austrian vassal and Spain replaced France in the Astrian alliance.

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Ah those pictures remind me of Christmas :D Strange that the infidels dared to attack you but lucky for you, looking forward to next update:)
 
Sardinia must be brought back into the fold of the empire. They cannot be allowed to continue their independence. Sets a bad precedent for others.
 
Lol france finally got swallowed by the white blob :(

What was the ottoman empire on? To declare war on you again ;)
 
BRAVEn, I don't know where do we find so much hatred toward France within ourselves :D? Surely, we can all be friends :rolleyes:

Judge, Merry Xmax :) You're right, Turks are mad. Read my thoughts about it below.

Amric, I concur :) Shall be done as soon as I get my hands on the game.

TreizeV, France did not get swallowed - they "joined our glorious realm"... hm... I guess there's no difference after all :D

Turks... I think it was a combination of Turkish frustration with Austria (suprise, suprise, our relations are -200), me helding Turkish core provinces, me being finally a neighbour (Rumelia would not defect since it was under Portuguese occupation) and me being under attack from England. AI looks around, sees Rumelia occupied, sees Hellas losing to England and decides to give it a shot... Poor sobs.

As for England, I feel like Napoleon already. Here I have a land empire - there they have a naval empire. All I need is to land troops in London. So far, I could have wished for the moon and get the same results. But the things will change... they always do :cool:
 
The reign of Maria-Teresa: 1760-1780

The Empire continued to suffer under peasant uprisings. Serfdom that worked so well for the state for hundreds of years was quickly losing its appeal even to the nobles. The Empress addressed the issue in two steps, freeing the serfs completely, in the same time increasing innovativeness and centralization.

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Sardinia send a fleet to the Caribbean, attempting to conquer the Aztec empire. Needless to say, it could not accomplish what mighty Spain failed to do earlier.

A period of peace and stability stimulated some progress in Austrian economy. Techology wise, Austria was still far behind England, but managed to catch up with Spain.

In 1772 Brittany was incorporated in the Empire of the West. Only Provence in France, Venice and Sardinia in Italy and Hannover in Germany refused to acknowledge the Empress as their suzerain.

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In 1773 Maria-Teresa further altered the Imperial policy by announcing that she has no need for casus beli as long as she believes the war is just and righteous. Two just wars were declared - first on Hanover (1773-75) and second on Sardinia (1775-77). Both were incorporated into the Empire. Provence and Venice were much tougher targets as both of them belonged to English alliance.

Needless to say, this did not stop Maria-Teresa for long. In 1778 she declared war on England. This time her strategy was to capture Tunisia and deprive the English from this strategically important base, thus giving the control of the Mediterranean to the Imperial Navy.

In the same time, Provence was to experience the same punishement as was delivered to Hannover and Sardinia. Venice might lose a province or two to Hellas. Or so it was planned.

In the beginning the Imperial navy performed with mixed results... The sunk ships count, however, was heavily in Austrian favor... However, once Portuguese and English had time to bring the bulk of their naval forces to the region, Austrians again got bottled up in Sardinia.

Austrian colonial possessions in Americas (inherited with annexation of France: Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam, Adrionak and Bas St-Laurent) were soon lost to the triumphant colonial forces of England. On the good side, Provence accepted annexation in 1779 and Venice was captured in 1780. This was not the end of the war, but this was the end of Maria-Teresa, who got quite old and weak by this time and was ready to part with this world for good.
 
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The reign of Josef II: 1780-1790

The timing of Maria-Teresa's death was rather unlucky. When Josef II came to power the Empire was fighting a war that it could not win. The fact that it could not lose it neither was of no consequence. After the annexation of Provence and capture of Venice Imperial forces had no chance to hurt their enemy. England still ruled the seas and the Imperial navy lost too many battles to ignore this fact.

Ruling the seas allowed England to select the battlefields on land as well. Far superior to Austria in naval technology, England was also a leader in land technology - the fact that could be easily forgotten, since Austrian numerical superiority canceled it easily. However, once English attacked Hellas, which was far away from the Empire and Austrian support was rather limited, Brittish soldiers showed their worth in defeating several Austrian armies, led by one of the best Austrian generals of the time.

For Spain the war in the colonies as good as lost. In 1781 it ceded Moron to Portugal, Atlixco to England, Guadeloupe to England, Uruguay to Portugal, The Canary Islands to England, Tampico to England, Parana to England, Everglades to England, Mazatlan to England, Nicaragua to England & Estramadura to Portugal. Soon after numerous Spanish provinces in the Central America rebelled and joined either English or Aztects.

Having lost the initiative in Greece and with no hope of capturing Tunisia, Josef II hurried to make peace also, especially since Poland entered the war in the end of 1782 on the side of Austrian foes. In 1783 Adrional and Bas St-Laurent were offered to England in exchange for peace. Since England was also suffering heavy casualties, the Parliament agreed to put an end to this war.

The outcome was once again a stalemate. The Empire received Provence, while English cemented their position in North America... or so they though until the Americans declared their independence several months later. Within weeks a new country grew to a size of Britain.

In 1784 the state of La Plata declared independence from Spain. The world has entered the age of revolutions. Spanish response was rather mild. It forced La Plata to cede half of its lands and acknowledge itself a vassal to the Spanish crown. Spain was growing weak and the Emperor considered annexing it to put his ally out of its misery.

In 1785 brief war with Muscowy and Denmark ended in a month after Imperial army captured Jutland. Muscowy paid tribute after the first defeat in Pomerania.

The rest of Josef's reign was spent in trying to modernize the Austrian army and building a shipyard in Amsterdam. The new scenario was developed for future war with England. Instead of trying to defeat the enemy in the Mediterranea, the Imperial forces would gamble on reaching England via the Channell and bringing the war to the enemy's homes. Josef II was convinced this was the only way to defeat Austrian arch-enemy. The Emperor might have been right, but he certainly was wrong in assuming he would be the one to test this theory. He died in 1790, leaving the throne to Leopold II.
 
Good news: played until 1820 and I have one hell of an update for you ! But first, let us take a moment... No matter how strange does it sound (or maybe not so strange for those of you who know me ;)), BUT... this is... the first... ever... time when I played EU2 (or EU for that matter)... from start to finish.

I am grinning from ear to ear...

:D:D:D

I will write a speach later :) - once the aar is truly finished. For now, I wiping the sweat off, patting myself on the back and heading to bed.
 
“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way”. Santa Claus is coming to Europe big time I see. Interesting that the English is leader in both land and naval, not every day I see that in my games. Looking forward to next update:D
 
I know I have not commented much during this AAR, but I just had to say something when I realized that this story will soon be coming to an end.

The Habsburgs have forged a mighty nation, any chance we might also be able to see a Map of the New world as well?

Looking forward to the final update, congradulations on Finishing!
 
Judge, here is the next update... Although I was wrong about it being the last one :)

Machiavellian, thank you, and yes, there will be screenshots of the New World.
 
The reign of Leopold II: 1790-1792

He comes to power, accepts Austrian and Imperial crowns, wins a short war with Muscowy and proceeds to die two years later. Short, boring reign. What a waste of a life!

Muscowy is becoming more than an annoyance. It declares a war, pays tribute as soon as her ally - Denmark - loses the hold on Jylland, says 'sorry' and then declares another war five years down the road. This issue has to be addressed by the next Emperor.

His name is Franz II. It will not be France that will shake up Europe in the course of the next thirty years, but Franz of Austria. The era of Franz Wars is about to begin and the Europe is awaiting it with tremble. Both Austrian allies and foes prepare for the last large conflict that will decide the future of the world. Shall Austria defeat her archenemy - the Empire of England - or shall it fail and slowly disentigrate as it lags behind her Protestant foes in both land and naval technology?
 
Screenshots for the reigns of Josef II and Leopold II:

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United States of America

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Spanish Main after the last disastrous war with England


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The Empire of the West after the death of Leopold II.
 
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The reign of Franz II: from Coronation (1792) to the Forging of the Great Alliance(1806)

He was the last in the line of the great Emperors that had to fight for the right to rule all of the Western Europe. He inherited a large and yet very weak empire. He left it with no significant foes in Europe and Americas. His reign is often called the era of Franz Wars. In truth, there was but one war worth of mentioning - an ongoing struggle with England that ended in Austrian victory...

In 1792, after the last fiasco in Greece, the independence of Croatia did not seem as good of an idea as it was centuries ago. The constant need to move troops close to Thrace dictated the necessity of having the shorter supply lines. And so, Croatia was invited in Austrian alliance and annexed a year later.

In 1799 Muscowite Czar declared yet another war on the Emperor. Franz was quick to recognize the influence of England behind those seemingly suicidal actions and set out to win the heart of Czar Paul... if impossible, Franz was determined to have another Czar on the throne of Muscowy. One that would be more sympathetic to Vienna.

This was not as easy as he planned, but by the end of the war (1803) a new Czar ruled Russia (rumours had it he had to kill his own father to gain throne) and soon Muscowy joined Austrian alliance, which was cemented by a royal marriage between two empires.

In January of 1803 the empire of Spain suffered yet another humiliating defeat... this time in the hands of barbarians. It was forced to cede four provinces to Aztecs and Navaho... Unprecedented step back for European expansion in the region. Franz could not bear to see the suffering of the Spanish people any longer. Clearly, Bourbons were not doing a good job of running the country. The time has come for Habsburgs to bring the crown of Spain back to the family.

In October of 1803 Spain became part of the Empire of the West. Habsburg come back was welcomed throughout the country, although not as much in the colonies.

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The Empire of the West in Europe

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Imperial possessions in Caribbean immedeately after the annexation of Spain

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Imperial possessions in Argentina immideately after the annexation of Spain... Incas are still independent and now practice a mild form of Protestant(!) religion

The colonies were pretty much left open for English attack. Most of Spain's two hundreed thousands cavalry only army was positioned in Iberia - the last defeat and the loss of Estramadura had the former rulers worry too much about the homeland security. Franz was not too eager to protect the colonies neither. This became evident with the release of three more vassals in the Americas: the Empire of Columbia, Haiti and Mexico. Still, some colonization attempts were made in the Lesser Antillas.

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Columbia, Mexico and Haiti are granted independence

In order to secure the Americas and gain an ally against England, the United States were too invited into the Austrian alliance. They gladly joined months after Muscowy accepted the similar offer. As English alliance included Sweden and Poland, the Emperor was hoping that Russians would prove helpful against both of the above-mentioned countries.

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The reign of Franz II: the Great War (1806-1820)

At 1806 two alliances stood face to face, ready to settle their scores once and for all and decide who shall dominate Europe and the world for centuries to come.

On one side there was Austrian Empire of the West, supported by Muscowy, Hellas and United States of America. On the other English empire and her allies Sweden, Poland, Portugal, Venice and Siebenburgen.

At May 28, 1806 the state of war was declared between these two alliances.

England was in for a big suprise. Unknown to even the allies of the Emperor, Franz made an alliance with pirates of the Caribbean who found shelter in the ports of the Austrian new vassal - Haiti. These newly found allies sailed across the ocean and bloacked the ports of England, while Imperial navy (50 warships and around 10 transports) sailed between them, carring 60,000-string army to the shores of Kent. In the same time, Austrian colonies received the protection of the pirates as well.


"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Jamaican Sea!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Florida Straits!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Lesser Antillas!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Venezuelan Sea!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Belize Bay!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Mosquitos Coast!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in The Channel!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Land's End!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Dogger Bank!"
"May 28, 1806 : Pirate Fleet sighted in Tyne!"


The invasion army of England was commanded by Schwarzenberg, an able commander of the same breed as Eugene of Savoy, Wallenstein and Papenheim. Erzherzog Karl commanded the invasion armies in Spain. Mostly cavalry, they were supposed to knock out Portugal early in war to give Imperial navy a break. English navy was a threat by itself, there was no need to strengthen it with Portuguese fleets.

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The first two years of war went like two days. Austrians were victorious in England, while English dictated the terms in the colonies. United States, however, proved to be a big help, occupying all English possessions in North America.

Portugal did not stand a chance against Prince Karl - in September of 1807 Austria accepted peace with this country, receiving Oporto, Algarve and Estramadura. Hellas, on the other hand, did not stand a chance against English, accepting the humiliating peace a week earlier. Smyrna was given to English and Anatolia to Portugal. However, as both of the provinces still remained in Christian hands, the Emperor was not going to grieve about this for long.

Muscowy did no fare well in the north, having to cede Karelia and Savolaks to Sweden in December.

Poland was too receiving receiving a lesson in humility. In June of 1808 they accepted peace with Austria, losing Krakow, Magyar, Pest, Carpathia and Banat. However, Austria still had claims on other Polish provinces - the plans to partition Poland were old and often discussed between ambassadors from Vienna and Moscow.

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Meanwhile, Venice was put under siege and many English cities as well as London. Austrian army, so successful in the initial stages of the war, was bogged down in England. The English empire had enough time to prepare their island for the possible invasion from the mainland - most of its cities were well defended (large fortresses), while London was the most fortified city in the world (maximum fortress). Still, one by one, English provinces fell to Imperial army.

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In Mediterranean English navy sailed unopposed. Sardinia was soon captured by English and so was Matla. Wellington landed in Corsica and soon brought the island under control. Then his luck ran out. Imperial navy returned from the Channell with vengeance. Many English ships were sunk in the Ligurian sea that also served as a graveyard for many Austrian vessels sunk there by English during the previous centuries.

First, Austrians landed in Tunisia and soon deprived English from this important base. Then, they went on to re-capture Malta and Sardinia. Corsica, however, was a different story. Three times Erzherzog Karl landed on the island with an army three times more numerous than Wellington's. Three times he was defeated and had to retreat with enormous losses... His prestige suffered, but not his morale and determination.

The fourth invasion spelled death to the brilliant English general. Soon Corsica was back under Austrian control.

In 1814 a large rebellion broke out in Germany, where German Protestants decided it was their chance to throw off Catholic yoke and join their English brothers in this 'holy' war. English peasantry too rebelled under Austrian occupation. Both rebellions were suppressed rather quickly.

In 1815 Austria again declared war on Poland. Sweden and Portugal - both already at peace with Austria - rejoined the war. Portugal did not last long, accepting the white peace a month later. Sweden lasted a little longer, accepting the white peace about the same time as Venice did. The latter's fortresses could very well match English fortesses in size and numerous garrisons on numerous islands made the Emperor feel uneasy about continuing the campaign against the republic. He tipped his hat to Venice's determination to stay independent, smiled, said 'another time' and let this one fish off his hook.

Schwarzenberg was killed at the walls of London in 1817. Nothing, however, could stop Austrians from capturing the city a year later.

At the same time, Poland again suffered defeat after defeat at the hands of skillful Austrian generals. In September of 1817 it had to cede yet another list of provinces: Maros, Podlasia, Galicia and Ruthenia.

On June 15, 1818 England finally accepted defeat and agreed to become the vassal of the Austrian Empire of the West. Several English colonies in Central America immedeately decided to switch
sides and join our glorious realm.

A month later a war was declared on Poland. Seeing that in the near future the country would be completely overan by Russians, the Emperor was thinking about making himself a new friend in the east, one that might aid him against Russian ambitions, if the need arises.

The war lasted until December 23, 1819 and ended with siege of Poltava coming to a successful end. Poland was forced to cede Ukraine and Poltava and a day after the Duchy of Ukraine proclaimed its independence as an Austrian vassal. Sweden accepted white peace, while Venice and Portugal did not even bother to aid Poland at all.

The Great War was finally over.
 
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What an explosive ending ! A world war :D

Nice to see Austria got soo big, now to see if i can do the same with france :rolleyes:
 
Pablo Sanchez, I would expect Sweden to be among the three strongest, but you're right, it would still be far behind Austria and Muscowy.

TreizeV, thank you. I am sure it would not be hard for you to repeat this conquest with France. Just don't impose any rules on yourself :D and don't get into fruitless wars with Turkey.

Well, I thought I would have time today for the final screenshots, but alas, it is not to be and I have no desire to write an aftermath without them. So, tomorrow it is.
 
Nice finish. What is left in the world. Austria, Russia, perhaps the United States?
 
US is quite big and yes, I have a screenshot of them :) Asia and India are almost untouched by Europeans, however, which might be a good thing (no introduction of guns, etc). So, realistically, Austria, Russia, Sweden and US.
 
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