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unmerged(53033)

Recruit
Jan 19, 2006
9
0
Hello everyone! As my first post on this great forum, I have decided to start an AAR on Bohemia. It's no suprise that there are only two incomplete aar's on this fine country. A revolter of Austria, surronded by hostile German states eager to snatch it's land, Bohemia is in a precarious postion. I enjoy challenges though, so prepare for a wild ride full of danger and suspense. Well, maybe haha.

here's some ground rules I've set up for myself:

I'm using the latest version of VIP .04b
the only cheat that I used was neville so that I could use America to release Bohemia. This is so it fits in with my story.
I modded the liberal party to have full citizenship and added the german cultures to fit in with the story.
I will sell techs for money, but never more then 10k for 2 techs.
I will not take any chinese provinces.


My goals
1. be number one in industry
2. be a world power, dare i say, the world power
3. and one additional goal which I will not mention here. I don't want to spoil the plot. :p

Bohemia-Moravia: Industrial Powerhouse

czechpic1.jpg

Bohemia 1800?-In the town of České Budějovice, Pavel Kulick, a low level Clerk, lived in a quaint house with his young wife and children. Pavel became very succesful and moved the family to Prague. Five years after the move Pavel, his wife, and four of their five children were dead. The only surviving Kulick was Jan, the oldest of Pavel’s children. He disappeared 4 days after his last sibling died and nothing is known of his childhood.

America, 1824- Jan Kulick reappears as a prominent factory owner in Virginia. Jan was a brilliant administrator, and was gifted in manipulating or, as he called it, convincing people. He was so good at manipulating that those he controlled would believe that they were the ones in charge! He quickly rose in politics, and became a member of the House of Representatives in 1835. While there he developed a close friendship with James K. Polk. When Polk became president, Jan was at his side. While he never had an official position in the government, he played a major role in the administration. It was Jan Kulick who actually convinced the British to accept the American demands for "All of Oregon", bringing the boundaries of the United States up to the 54' Parallel. It was Jan Kulick, not Nicholas Trist, who engineered the "Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo". Jan's motivation for keeping such a low profile is not entirely clear, but this author believes it has something to do with his main goal.

1845- As revolt spread across Europe, Jan saw a chance for the freedom of the Czech people. He convinced Polk to support Bohemia in a revolt financially and by putting pressure on the Austrian government to make concessions. Polk granted Jan's request, but with two conditions. First, Jan had to go secretly, no one besides the American President and key members of the executive branch could know of the mission. Second, Jan had to raise most of the funds himself for the purchase of weapons and other supplies. Both conditions were acceptable to Jan and in the summer of '45 he headed to Europe to start his mission. By this point, Jan was in his forties and had considerable wealth and experience at getting what he desired. It was known that he controlled 5 major factories in Virginia and 3 in California. These holdings could easily put him in the ranks of the richest men in the world, but certainly there was not enough to wage a war against Austria. Jan would have to seek help from other wealthy individuals and countries, which is exactly what he did. The names of the men and countries that helped him are unkown.

In October of 1848 Jan began finalized the preperations for the revolt. On January 1st, 1849 Bohemia-Moravia declared independence and set up a Democratic government and a man named Damek Jezek was elected president. The Austrian response was.....
 
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Are you playing the Grand Campaign because it seems that you start from 1849?? If so what have you been doing for the past 13 years?
 
prussiablue said:
Are you playing the Grand Campaign because it seems that you start from 1849?? If so what have you been doing for the past 13 years?

Yes, I'm playing the grand campaign. I didn't feel like editing the file to make bohemia revolt in 1836. (granted I did edit other things in the same file...lol) For the past 13 years I played as USA. That's why i talked about Jan involved with the "54' 40 or fight" and "the treaty of guadelupe hildago" and polk. i then used neville to get the provinces for bohemia from austria, then released it, and edited away the sat. status. The intro is a bit week, i'll change the format a bit in future posts to make it more understandable. :)
 
Chapter One: "Humble" Beginnings
January 2nd, 1849-7:00
Jezek​


He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand in a vain attempt to stop the troublesome allergies. "Go to the hot springs...” he recalled his wife telling him, God rest her soul. He glanced around the car with his good eye, wondering how many seated in there would live to see out this year. So many had already died, but for the most part his people had been spared. There was his Cousin that had been killed, but that was his own fault. The war in Hungary was none of their concern; well it was, but only to keep the Austrians off their back. What will happen if...

"Whoa!"

The young aide spilled his drink as he staggered down the aisle, and now the sofa reeked of beer.

"My apologies Mister Jezek," the aide slurred.

As irritated as the president truly was, he responded, "It's alright Martinek, we're all on edge. The train station is coming up, see to it that my bags are packed"

"Yes sir"

"Kulick should be there, or at the very least one of his agents," Jezek muttered to himself.

They, whoever they are supposed to be, neglected to tell the new president where exactly he was to go once he arrived in Prague. Jezek hated being in the dark. While his name meant hedgehog, he was the exact opposite of that cowardly, nocturnal animal. Jezek was in his late fifties and stood an inch or two over five feet with a large gut and balding scalp. He had what used to be two bright blue eyes, but now his left had become cloudy leaving only one. It was said that before the partial blindness Jezek could burn a hole through a man just by looking at him. Beneath his eyes sat a pug-ish nose, large chapped lips, and a double chin. He would certainly win the award for most unsightly head of state, if such an award were made. However, what Jezek lacked in appearance he made up for in sheer determination. His resolve is what had gotten him where he was in the world. Granted, his family wealth had aided some, but he had increased that inheritance by two-fold with shrewd investing. Now he was going to lead the youngest country in Europe into the second half of the 19th century.

The train came to a stop at Hlavni Nadrazi, the station in Prague, and the passengers disembarked like a stream of Black coats and top hats towards the street and the taxis. On an island in the midst of what was becoming a sea of gentlemen and ladies, a tall man in a Grey military frock coat and red military dress pants grabbed Jezek by the shoulder and pulled him out of the torrent. Removing his hat and bowing slightly, the Major addressed the president.

"Your Excellency, we have arranged for a taxi to take you to the presidential residence where your advisors await you."

"Is Kulick with them?" Queried the weary man with the blind eye.

"He's away on business and will return in the evening."

"Ah! We came so early with the express purpose of seeing him!" whined the president's impetuous young aide.

"Silence Martinek..." growled Jezek, "Take us to the home, Major."

"Yes, your Excellency"

Upon arriving at the large and illustrious residence, Jezek was led to his office where his four advisors sat. On the large desk in the center of the room lay a sealed envelope. The Secretary of Defense, in an obviously German accent, said "Sir, das brief ist from Herr Kulick, He wanted you to read it before we discuss any of our...business."

Upon opening the envelope, Jezek slid out the letter and unfolded it. The letter was written in English in one of the most deliberate hands.

Honorable Mr. Jezek,


The Czech people are standing at a threshold. When we look at our past we see hundreds of years of oppression under harsh tyrants, both foreign and domestic. We see thousands of lives lost needlessly for what? For a few square kilometers of land? For a few hundred coins to fill our rulers coffers even more? Starving children and widows lie in the streets of our past, as well as in our present. I did not work for this revolution to get revenge on our old masters in Vienna. I hoped to create a revolution for justice and liberty for the people of this land. I do not like to be blunt Mr. Jezek, but I’m afraid in this case I will have to be. The Germans in Vienna are our enemies, but the Germans in our land should be our friends. I'm not going to pretend I'm an idealist that believes in the brotherhood of mankind, I'm a realist. The Germans have a lot to offer us, and we have a lot to offer them. It would be more productive if we worked together in this adventure. I have invested too much time and money in this project to see it destroyed because of petty ethnic conflicts. Germans, and any other group that decides to come to our country, shall have equal rights to the Czechs.

I apologize for the curtness of my letter; I have quite a few tasks in front of me right now. I promise you I will be available this evening to discuss any concerns you may have as well as policies I would like to see.

Jan Kulick


"He seems to be under the impression that he's the president!" gasped Martinek.

"Well, I wouldn't say that my dear boy," responded Jezek "He holds more power then a president."

At that moment a courier rushed in.

"Sir, Mr. President, sir! I have urgent news to report!"

"What is it? Are the Austrians attacking? Where is our army?"

"No sir! The Austrians are not attacking; it appears that they have neither the motivation nor the manpower to deal with us sir. General Novak would like to inform you that the army is ready in case they do attack, but we will be greatly outnumbered. He requests that you send him reinforcements. Here is a map of known Austrian positions."

The courier handed the President a satchel.

The secretary of defense spoke up before the president could.

"We have no men to reinforce the General with. Our entire army consists of 2 divisions of 10 000 men each. That's all!"

"That won't do, now will it?" commented the president "go back to General Novak and tell him that he has to make do with what he has for now. Tomorrow morning I will have more detailed orders for him, but I just arrived here 2 hours ago and have yet to find even the lavatory."

"Yes Sir!" and with that the courier was out the door and on his way back to the army.

Jezek looked around the room at each of his advisors, the cycloptic glare just as piercing as ever.

"Well, well" he said after he took out the map and examined it for a brief time, "take a look at that."

Jezek handed the map to the Secretary of Defense.

"It appears Austria is too occupied with the Hungarians to deal with us. This is very fortunate, very fortunate indeed."

czechpic2.jpg
 
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This is interesting. You are right - not much done on Bohemia that was long lasting. The narrative elements of the story are quite good as well. This one is one to watch.

And welcome to the forum! :D
 
excellent start! ! ! ! :) i look forward to more! :cool:
 
Welcome to the forums. Glad you made your first post on Victoria. :)

For Bohemia, Prussia is a big, scary, blue blob. Have fun!

I will be watching this one carefully.
 
Chapter Two: Blood and Steel
January 2nd, 1849- 22:00 hours
Damek Jezek​

The cigar smoke formed wispy clouds around Jezek's head as he reclined in the brown leather chair behind his desk. He had spent the day moving in his personal possessions to make the large room more to his liking. On the wall to the right of the door hung a painting of his late wife right next to a large map of central Europe. He had received many gifts from friends, political allies, and men desperate for government jobs. The most elaborate gifts had been a carriage, a gold encrusted clock, and a decorative, yet functional, flintlock pistol. Jezek loaded the pistol and kept it in the top left drawer of his desk, "just in case."

After Jezek had set up the room he held a meeting with his advisors to get to know them. He knew only Secretary of Treasury Prazan personally; they had done business together in the past. Prazan had been a wealthy banker in Prague for thirty-five years and had been an out spoken proponent for liberal reform. The other three secretaries Jezek knew from their reputations. Secretary of State Mrazek, the other Czech in the cabinet, was a middle aged career politician from Jablonec nad Nisou in northern Bohemia. Known for his good looks, sharp wit and charming personality, Mrazek was the perfect diplomat. Jezek would need him to sooth the tempers that were sure to arise in the coming days. The outspoken Mr. Neumann, Secretary of Defense, was born in Zwickau, Saxony. He was from a long line of military men, but had dropped out of the military academy to become a lawyer. Cold and calculated, Neumann seemed the ideal choice for his current position. The final member of the cabinet, Attorney General Schmidt, was the son of a woman of ill-repute who had moved to Prague from somewhere in Bavaria. Schmidt was a brilliant lawyer, debatably the best in Bohemia despite being the age of 29. Rumor has it he is a communist and a close friend of Kulick. "I will have to watch him closely," Jezek thought to himself.

As the cabinet meeting ended and the men headed towards the door, it opened from the outside and two men stepped in. The first man to enter was tall and lanky, clothed in a brown suit of the quality that one would often see on a middle-class clerk. "My God, he's got to be around two meters tall, Prazan!" Jezek whispered to his friend. The giant had dark brown hair which had begun to show signs of graying, yet none of receding. His face and strikingly green eyes had a sort of cheerful or joyful aura that was difficult for Jezek to comprehend, let alone describe.

"Jan! Wie geht es ihnen?” Schmidt exclaimed, confirming one of the rumors.

"I'm doing well, my friend" responded Kulick in a soothing tenor voice, "but we will have to catch up later, I must talk to your boss now."

Schmidt smiled, bowed and left the room followed by the other three secretaries.

"Good evening, Damek. I trust you got my letter?" Kulick addressed the president.

"Yes, I did Mr. Kulick. I found...”

"Your Excellency can call me Jan, if you wish" interrupted Kulick, "and I do not desire to discuss the letter at all. It is one point which I demand to be in our constitution if I am to invest in this endeavour. If the Germans are not given equal rights, I will withdraw my substantial aide and you will be left alone and poorly funded against the fury of the Austrians. Do you understand?"

The sudden darkening of Kulick's composition and tone had caught Jezek off guard and all he could say was, "I understand Jan, it will be as you wish."

"Good, good. Now, I have several matters I want to bring up with you about the course of our country." Kulick said as he pulled a folder out of his briefcase.

"Now, as you know, our country is rich in two things: Coal and Iron"

Kulick pointed at the the first map he laid on the table.

czechpic3.jpg


He then pulled out a ledger.

"We currently have two factories in our country, one cloth and one steel. I want the focus of this administration to be on expanding them, building additional factories, and building railroads. For the time being of course."

Jezek was at this point uncharacteristically nervous. "He's just trying to make us his own personal company" He thought to himself.

"Sounds like a good plan, but what about our military? What about foreign policy? What about our laws? You know we have yet to fully codify our laws, don't you?", The president asked Kulick.

"Schmidt will work closely with parliament to build our legal system, and I am confident that Neumann can handle the military perpetrations. As far as foreign policy is concerned, we will focus on befriending the Prussians first, then the Russians. By doing this we can call in their aide when Austria attacks and do some contract research for them to get additional capital.", Kulick responded.

Jezek felt a little better. Kulick's voice had a pacifying effect on all of the president's fears.

"Additionally, I think it would be beneficial to expand our borders..."
 
Ah, the trials and tribulations of setting up a new country. One thing is for sure - no coal shortage for you. ;)
 
Czechfury said:
..."Additionally, I think it would be beneficial to expand our borders..."
well, you border enough countries to be selective! ! ! ! :D

OH, i hear that Bavaria has really good beer! ( hint, hint! ) :cool: