First of all I am very aware that the Italian participation in the Austro-Prussian war above seems very brief and "tacked on". Largely because it is brief and tacked on. Originally I was going to leave it at that, it wasn't a particularly interesting war, but I've since decided to expand on this in a mini-update someday this week. So expect something around Wednesday.
Incidentially, I hope that everyone is reading these comments
after the update and that I'm not spoiling anything.
In other news I'm delighted to report that my shameless plugs have had their desired effect. You are now reading the official
Q3 2007 Favourite History-Book AAR (Victoria). This seems like a fitting time to thank all my readers for their interest and feedback. Whether you voted for the AAR or not (traitors!
) its been your patronage that has kept me writing and I am extremely grateful for that. There, that wasn't too gushy, was it?
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J. Passepartout: Well the end point is coming into sight and I'm sure that many readers have already figured out how it will occur. I'll not give any hints away though.... except to note that Pius IX became Pope on the same date he did historically.
Kaeso: I've actually been thinking about both. Unfortunately N Africa is currently divided between France and the Ottomans (the latter being surprisingly strong in this game) and the Papal finances are not exactly conductive to massive industrialisation. We'll see how it goes but for now I'm happy to just explore the internal tensions of the new Italy.
CCA: A communist Pope? You'll know that something like that is in the works if I suddenly start talking about the "Soviet of Cardinals" or the "International Collective Church"
stnylan: Its a bit of both foreign and domestic content at the moment. I'm not sure if this is likely to change with the Papacy suddenly becoming a major European Power. The next major update will probably focus on the latter but then foreign affairs do have a habit of intruding.
Lordban:
On the foreign scene, Italy's and the Papacy's star must shine brighter than ever. And it'd be amusing to read Marxist pamphlets from such a timeline, showing the world just how religion is nothing but another dangerous Imperialism that has to be fought much like the Capitalists
Well that's one area that I'm hesitant to venture into. I think I've only put words into someone's mouth so far in this AAR. I don't know whether its cowardice or not but I just prefer to rely on historical characters using historical quotes.
This is particularly true when talking about Marx. In his role as journalist Marx was a 19th C contemporary who wrote about most major world events, including the unification of Italy. I can only imagine his response to Papal Italy (
). Most of his journalistic output is highly readable and I'd very much recommend it to anyone with an interest in the period.
But I can't see how the Curia and the Popes could decide to let go all their power now that they've unified Italy by force.
Indeed, absolute power and all that. I hope I've adequately conveyed this reluctance to impart power in the update above.
RGB: Thanks. you're right in that the next real challenge for the Vatican is securing its power at home. The rest of this AAR will really be, as indeed the entire AAR has been, dominated by this theme.
coz1: Funnily enough, as you mention the religious aspect, I've not really given the Pope's religious role all that much weight so far. Thinking back, I've primarily thought of him as a political figure, albeit one who emphasises morality. I suppose that this is fairly historical - when SP occupied Rome in 1870, Pius did his usual excommunication trick and pleaded with Italian Catholics to support him. None was forthcoming and so the Papacy passed from the temporal realm.
But that's me just wondering aloud. Lombardy and Venice were very nice additions that contribute signficantly to my industrial score. Even if emigration has blighted my factories...
Kapi: Thanks for taking the time to catch up with the story. I don't get the Iran reference but its still good to have you with us