The HAARd Way - Friesland AAR

[Sybot]

A

How many men do you think you have lost?

I went from 102K to 2K manpower in the course of the war, and manpower increase per month is 4K, so total losses over two and a half years were 220K men. Austria must have lost a similar number overall, if not more considering I outright destroyed more of their armies.

[History_Buff]

A. Portugal has given you a black eye too many times it is time to revenge yourself on them and show them who is top dog in the Americas.

[Duke of Awesome]

A finish off India!

[JDMS]

A. Eliminate Portugese competition!

[morningSIDEr]

I'll buck the trend and vote for C.

[Mehow_pwn]

What mod is this?

[Sybot]

Mehow_pwn: It's a mod filled with minor changes and additions that I found while browsing randomly. Everything relating to Greater Friesland was added by me though. I can dig up the link or upload my version if you want.

Portugal takes it (or rather I take it from Portugal). I know Africa is another popular one, so I'll try to get around to them at some point. It's just the area is a lot more challenging to control now that Pagans don't get insta-annexed and culture converted.

Chapter Thirty Six: California Here We Come

With the frontier with Austria secure and the latest line of forts being built along it, the attention of the Councils turned abroad. The conquest of the Austrian and Aragonese lands in India had made Greater Friesland the undisputed master of western India, but there was still one European enclave left.



The Portuguese territory of Calicut was the target that most interested them, but it was currently occupied by a contingent of locals as part of an ongoing dispute they were having with Portugal. Taking it would have to wait.

Instead, the British lands in the region called Baja California by the Portuguese were the goal. They were recently established, and so there little standing in the way of Frisian troops marching in and taking the region for themselves.



With no allies of consequence, the British were effectively fighting alone against the well-oiled colonial machine of the Frisian Empire. Their other allies dropped out of the war one after another as soon as it became clear that the Frisian navy would blockade them.

After putting up little in the way of resistance and having lost their Californian territory, the British surrendered.



The island of Tierra del Fuego was taken in the peace treaty along with the lands in California. It appeared that this location was the primary staging point for British colonists travelling up the west coast of the Americas, so taking it would prevent further colonisation in the California region.

Britain’s colonial empire was as far flung as Friesland’s but they didn’t have the economy, nor military to properly support territory so widespread.



This showed itself when a massive revolt of islanders in the Philippines resulted in them turning over their lands to another local nation as they didn’t want to be ruled by someone half a world away. (Interesting results from the new colonial system. Perhaps nations for each African/East Indies culture that doesn’t have one should be added.)

The Portuguese war with the Indians had ended, but at the same time so had the truce with Austria. There was some concern that Austria might attack while Frisian forces were focused on the colonial effort. Luckily a distraction emerged.



Lithuania got into yet another war with its more powerful neighbour. While it would almost certainly be an Austrian victory, the cabinet was confident the Lithuanians could put up enough of a fight to keep them away from Friesland while the war was on.

War was declared on Portugal, and the Armies of Texas and Illinois moved into Mexico. In some ways the Portuguese move overseas actually made their situation worse, as their capital was now in easy reach of Frisian armies.



Any land that could be easily grabbed was, and the armies marched straight for the capital. In Europe, Portugal’s allies Sweden and Luneburg were blockaded and forced to make minor concessions respectively.

Once again, Frisian colonial forces proved their worth. It seemed that this time however the bulk of the Portuguese armies were in Peru after finishing off the Inca which might explain the ease of this victory.



As well as Calicut, the Portuguese lands on the island of Java and the long-contested island of Unamakik off the coast of Acadia were taken.

Sibraht I was the husband of the daughter of the Duke of Ansbach, having forged a close friendship with the man during his time on the Noble’s Council. It was a marriage of love more than politics, and he had never expected anything major to come of it.



It came to the surprise of many then, that when the Duke of Ansbach died without a male heir he deliberately left the Duchy under Sibraht’s direct control in his will. (Seriously, an inheritance without a PU...)

The war in the east ended the only way it could, with a complete defeat for Lithuania.



They were forced to grant independence to the Poles and Ruthenians. With half their Empire suddenly gone and half of what was left suddenly isolated and feeling rebellious there was no denying that the power that had once held back Russia was gone from the upper tier of politics for good.

A period of quiet followed as Frisian conquests overseas were consolidated. Even Europe found a few years of peace with the only warfare being Siena’s continued consolidation of the Italian peninsular. The once small city-state had somehow managed to emerge from the constant conflicts that plagued the region and emerge ahead of Milan as the strongest Italian nation. Their loyalty to the Pope in Rome was effectively all that was keeping them from declaring themselves rulers of all Italy.

While peace reigned in Europe, war began to return to the colonies.



Espionage once again became a major issue, with new uprisings being incited by spies seemingly every other month. For now the source of the attacks was managing to maintain their secrecy, but sooner or later they would have to slip up.

A while ago Burgundy had vassalized an elector, the Duchy of Baden. Now they had fully absorbed them and a new elector had to be selected. The choice was very surprising.



Apparently there were some in the Imperial bureaucracy that supported the idea of Friesland as Emperor and had incredible pull with Emperor Albrecht. By allowing his rival amongst the electors he effectively gave Friesland a lock on the next election, barring another Siemen-style diplomatic disaster.

The expansion of Frisian holdings in the East Indies had seen a number of smaller companies start up in an attempt to exploit the valuable trade goods to be found there. This was taking money away from the official government-backed company.



To fix this, the smaller companies were barred from competing with the Oost-Indische Compagnie. To compensate for this obviously mercantile move, economic regulations were loosened in other parts of the economy.

After much trouble and many dead rebels, the source of the majority of the funding for the rebels was found. France apparently continued to have a death wish as it antagonized its much larger neighbour. Seeking compensation, the Frisian army entered their country.



The French treasury was emptied by the Frisian troops entering Paris, and the chance was also taken to end any claims they had to the lands that had once been part of their Kingdom.

There was another motive for declaring war on the French. Somehow the British were still able to supply expeditions up the west coast despite the loss of Tierra del Fuego and they had pushed further into California.



When they came to the defence of France, Frisian forces fixed that.

At some point in the recent shipbuilding programs, the Frisian navy had surpassed its British counterpart. An almost complete blockade of the British Isles was instituted, and finding themselves starved of funding to keep what was left of their Empire alive, the British surrendered.



Some of the natives of India that Britain had conquered were freed, for later Frisian consumption of course, and some further comparatively minor concessions were gained.

In the aftermath of the war, there was significant paperwork that had to be dealt with regarding relations with the two new Christian Indian states. At that time, the cabinet saw fit to place in front of the tired Sibraht a proposal to establish an official constitution to the country.



In this document the Common’s Council was to be elected by all common men, those who were wealthy enough to actually matter to the country of course, and the King would no longer have any power to disband the Councils even in the case of an emergency. Shortly after that, with their new powers they were able to push forward further amendments that officially separated the powers of the King, the Noble’s Council and the Common’s Council. With the weight of public opinion behind the cabinet as the appointed monarch was still viewed with some suspicion, the aristocracy dared not oppose the measures for fear of a civil war.

A new political era was emerging for the new century, but the threat of another incredibly destructive and brutal war with Austria always lay around the corner and despite the defeat of France spies continued to plague the overseas territories. Greater Friesland still had a long way to go before it truly stood at the top.

To be continued...

I’m close to Gov 33, which means another idea slot. Sorry it’s not a particularly interesting choice today, but there isn’t much going on at the moment.

Option A: Smithian Economics.
Option B: Scientific Revolution.
Option C: Your choice. I haven’t got any idea I’m really interested in for the third option, so feel free to nominate one and if enough people pick it might get in. For reference my current NIs are National Trade Policy, National Bank, QFTNW, Colonial Ventures, Battlefield Commissions and Cabinet.

[Beamed]

No contest for A.

[Duke of Awesome]

i agree A

[JDMS]

Great work. And I think you should go with A.

[Sybot]

Smithian Economics, just as I expected.

Chapter Thirty Seven: German Consolidation

The lands of Hessen and Westfalen were now fully acknowledged as part of Friesland, meaning that there was no motions from within the Empire for Friesland let go of this unlawfully held territory. This meant that there was some more breathing room regarding the country’s reputation.



Using this, the Duchy of Cleves was annexed completely and without much protest.

Greater Friesland wasn’t the only nation consolidating its hold on its home region. Siena had just conducted another major war against Milan, this time landing a decisive victory against its northern rival.



It seemed that nothing could stop this unexpected powerhouse.

Elsewhere, the Lithuanians had invaded and vassalized the Duchy of Danzig. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but Danzig was an elector that had been supporting Friesland and so allowing it to be taken like this could not be allowed.



Using the excuse of freeing the oppressed Prussians in Warmia, Friesland attacked.

The Lithuanians put up some fight, but with half of their army in their Black Sea territory they didn’t stand much chance against the well-organised Frisians.



Danzig was freed and Warmia returned to Germanic hands. The province was then turned over to its rightful owners, for a small price of course.

In India, one of the larger regional powers made a play to seize the lands of the newly freed people of Nepal. Obviously Friesland couldn’t sit by and let its new allies fall, especially if there was the chance of grabbing some land.



Against European armies the Indians melted away and were forced to cede some land to expand Frisian India.

The annexation of Cleves had created an interesting sentiment amongst the ministers of the Frisian Cabinet. There was a desire to ‘tidy up’ the border with the culturally German regions and so great efforts were being made to search for Frisian claims to those lands.



One such claim was Nassau, which was declared a true part of Friesland as it had once been part of the Duchy of Hesse which had later been annexed.

War was declared to secure the territory for Friesland, and it didn’t last very long.



The region was conquered and Mainz and its allies were forced to pay compensation for wrongfully holding Frisian land.

As those efforts continued, it became apparent that Friesland wasn’t the only nation seeking to consolidate the minor powers that filled Central Germany.



Austria declared war once again with the intention of increasing its hold on the Frisian lands of central and north Germany, but particularly the province of Ansbach. The situation was far worse that in the previous war, as despite Burgundy coming to Friesland’s aid the Austrians still had a far larger army.

The war got off to a reasonable start, with Frisian forces engaging and defeating Austria’s initial incursions into northern Germany.



They were quickly forced back by larger Austrian movements and beyond that even larger concentrations of Austrians were marching into Ansbach and Austria. If these regions fell, it could lead to the enemy swarming straight into the lightly defended Flanders. Something would have to be done quickly.

Luckily, the Austrian numbers made them overconfident and in their rush to crush Friesland and Burgundy they overextended and suffered significant losses from attrition and counterattacks.



Eventually, their people were in enough of an uproar to make them accept some minor political concessions for peace. What the brief war had made clear was that Friesland’s present army was not nearly enough to face against the Emperor when he was at full strength. To remedy this, another massive expansion was instituted that saw two full-size armies built in Europe. The Army of Holstein was resurrected and representing the French speaking lands was the Army of Wallonia.

However, during the confusion of the war the Emperor had been able to undo the work of the Frisian-friendly bureaucrats in his administration.



Burgundy had been removed from the list of electors and replaced with Austrian-friendly Corsica. With this and the division that still remained in the Protestant electors, it seemed that Austria would be able to hold onto the title that gave it its enormous numerical advantage. It seemed ironic that the opposite situation had been what propelled Hendrik II to the position a century earlier.

In domestic issues, a new set of ideas put forward by British economist Adam Smith were spreading through Friesland and boosting its economic output.



The ideas were given official backing by the government to ensure that as much profit as possible was gleaned from them.

Colonialism in Africa was still around, unlike America where there were no natives left t oconquer. Firstly, a force was deployed from the Frisian Kongo to secure the rich gold mines of Mutapa.



Despite having the technology to actually fortify their lands, the locals were still no match for well trained and disciplined Frisian forces. All of their coastal regions were seized to ensure that ultimately Friesland would be the one to complete the conquest.

On the west coast, there was some desire amongst the colonial administration to take the Benin coast from Oyo, as expansion opportunities in the area were slipping away as Navarra, Castille and Aragon all made their way further inland.



Oyo effectively fought alone, as its ally Navarra was stuck in a war with Aragon and Portugal and so couldn’t come to its aid.

France was also an ally of Oyo, but it was in an even worse position than Navarra. It had made yet another attempt at retaking the land in southern France it had once owned, but this time Britain came to deal with the failures in Paris.



Even more land in the north was taken by the British. Confined to a narrow strip of land with Paris in the centre, it seemed the final end of the Kingdom of France was at hand.

Austria’s consolidation efforts continued despite not being able to take anything from Friesland.



Franken was taken and Thuringia, for the longest time the most powerful nation in central Germany, was shattered. The only question left was who would be one to pick up the pieces.

Moving quickly, Frisian diplomats laid claim to the Duchy of Hesse, claiming that as the Duchy had previously been absorbed into Greater Friesland the land rightfully belonged to them. (5th Boundary Dispute of this update, really lucky to get them in such convenient places. Other locations were Caux, Zimbabwe and Slesvig (rejected))



However, this would bring in Austria as the Hessian’s liberators. It was time for the inevitable showdown to resume.

To be continued...

With another war with Austria looming on the horizon, what plans does Friesland have should they ultimately achieve victory over their archrival? (Note that I might be able to do more than one of these if I can get a high enough warscore)

Option A: Just secure dominance over Germany by forcing them to reduce their sphere of influence and taking all the small German states into the Frisian sphere.
Option B: Get independence for many of the nations currently occupied by Austria, such as Bosnia and Transylvania.
Option C: Conquer the Austrian lands in Northern Germany for Friesland. (Possibly very expensive in infamy, with 5 per province with No CB and 0.25 per year for unlawfully holding HRE lands.)

And also a special vote, regarding a motion put forward by the same ministers who put forward Option C above. Should Friesland leave the Holy Roman Empire? (Austria’s gaming of the elector system has opened my mind to this possibilty, although I am aware of the hypocrisy given that exactly the same thing happened before but for Friesland)

Yes. The Austrians seem to have a lock on the Imperial Crown so there’s nothing to gain from staying and as the richest nation in the world Friesland has no real need of the defence of the Emperor. It would also allow the seizure of Imperial territory with much less cost in infamy.
No. The Empire has been a part of Frisian politics since the beginning. Leaving it now would mean that any chance of reconciliation between Friesland and Austria would be gone, as they would have to respond with war to any further Frisian attempts to consolidate Germany.

World Update: 1721



The map will be coming every 25 years from now until the end.

[sjones25]

I say A and don't leave the empire. You could force Thurgenia or Corsica to become your vassal, then you'd be the next emperor. Austria doesn't have a lock on it yet.

[Rabid]

A/B (whichever one you can realistically accomplish) and you must stay within the Empire!

[Sybot]

I forgot about vassalising. Well, Luneburg is actually the only option for that as its the only one of the other electors that I have a CB on (nationalism). I forgot to mention it in the update but Thuringia got kicked out of the electors after Austria tore it to bits. That probably swings things in favour of the no option.

[sjones25]

Oh, I forgot about Luneburg. Vassalizing them would make sense from a role-playing perspective as well.

[morningSIDEr]

Option B and remain part of the Empire.

[Duke of Awesome]

option A and stay in the empire

[Tjena Med Laxen]

A, remain Imperial.

[History_Buff]

Option C. I think that should be it for Frisian conquests though, he will control North Germany and that will be enough. I am hoping to win some converts to my idea here, since I am in minority. That would be the best. I also think that people are forgetting that C and B are not necessarily mutually exclusive. He could take North Germany and then start forcing the release of the south. So I think you should go for a combination of the two. A sounds good, but it does not include any new territory for him and there for is not much of an increase in power as someone else could very easily get them out of the Frisian sphere of influence and he could be dragged into a war because of them much more easily. Also, they could always leave your sphere. Not to mention that it will be thousands dead without much gain. As for leaving the empire, you should do everything in your power to get the crown back and if that does not work, then leave. Also, as long as he stays in the empire, Austria is getting a manpower bonus from his lands. If he leaves, he deprives them of the bonuses that come from his land.

[JDMS]

Option B, and remain in the Empire. If you're able to vassalize Luneburg, you'll have three votes, right? Austria doesn't have complete control yet.