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.