The Gate to the East: Byzantium Rising

[Legosim]

I am having another go at a Ricky Greece/Byzantium AAR. I gave up on the first game, because I just was not happy with the route the AAR was taking, and I well just wanted to have it look overall more professional, expecially media-wise. I'm not sure what path this AAR will take, probably a mix of a plot along character lines, and some history book in there too. Well, thanks for stopping by. I'll make the opening post a bit more fruffy later. Also, this AAR will feature probably some rather PG-13 rated language, because of the battle scenes I intend to add. If this is an issue, just shoot me a PM and I can censor or w/e.

For your enjoyment, ease of use, and other fun stuff, the table of contents is directly below in the next post. It includes general updates, census reports, and direct links to any maps I've used in the AAR so far.

Thanks for reading! Comments and criticism is greatly appreciated.

[Legosim]

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chapter List:

Prolouge

Prolouge (cont.)

The Formation of the Modern Greek State

The Beginning of an Era

The Second Oriental Crisis and Beginnings of Greek Expansion

Viva La Revolución!

I Love Big Brother

Antebellum Antics

The First Crimean War (Part 1)

The First Crimean War (Part 2)

The First Crimean War (Part 3)

Aftermath

Peace, Love, and Happyn- Nah. Nevermind.

Bismark's War

A King's Dream

Plans for the Future

Mediterranean Sun

The King's Diaries

The Transylvanian War

A Little Breathing Room

The Second Crimean War (Part 1)

From Athens with Love

The Second Crimean War (Part 2)

The Treaty of Warsaw and the Imperial Government

Onward!

Peace and Prosperity

Census Reports:

1841

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

Map Database:

Europe (1836)

Treaty of London (1841)

Sultanate of Oman (1845)

First Crimean War Belligerent Nations (1853)

Kingdom of Greece (1860)

Treaty of Calcutta (1864)

German Politics after the War (1867)

Italian Politics after the War (1867)

Europe (1867)

Europe (1871)

Treaty of Alexandria (1872)

The World (1879)

The United Kingdom of Greater Austria after the Treaty of Munich (1882)

Federal Subjects of the Imperial Government (1883)

[Legosim]

July 8, 2039

Corporal Geórgios Karamanlís crouched low behind the rock wall, gripping his rifle. Sensing he was relatively safe for the moment, he spared himself three breaths to look around him. It was a pathetic sight. All around him, the smoking ruins where the once proud buildings of Athens once stood. It seems as if just recently life had been normal too. Funny how things can change so fast. All he wanted to be was a lawyer.

*BOOM*

Geórgios covered his face with his arm just quick enough for a good amount of spraying dirt to hit his elbow. He felt a force pull him backward, knocking him off his crouching position. He straightened his kevlar helmet and looked up to see his good friend and superior officer Captain Konstantinos Samaras sitting scrunched up behind the low wall, trying to shove a clip into his rifle.

“Keep down, the bastards have some heavy hitters over there,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Wonderful. Mortars. All we bloody needed.” Geórgios thought to himself, then added out loud; “Thankyah sir. Don’t know where I would be without you.”

“Dead, you idiot.”

“You don’t have to be so dry about it Konsta.”

The distinctive sound of gunfire, followed by 6.68mm bullets hitting the brick wall they where hiding behind only made the situation only more undesirable, and ended any more thoughts of idle chitchat. Geórgios crouched lower. Samaras took the opportunity to put the barrel of his gun over the wall and spray some rather inaccurate shots in the general direction the fire was coming from.

“If we don’t get out of here fast, that mortar is going to shred us. I’m gonna’ cover you. Go. NOW!

Geórgios bolted from the relative safety of the brick wall and ran pell-mell to the slightly higher amount of relative safety a nearby half-destroyed café offered, almost tripping over the body of a dead Turkish soldier, who as it happened, Geórgios saw die rather recently. It was disgusting he though. That man shouldn’t have died here, defending this city. He should have given his life for his homeland. Samaras came running through the café door seconds later, one hand holding his rifle, the other, his helmet, breaking Geórgios’ train of thought.

“So, you’re the strategist here, what do you want to do. My vote goes for ridding us of that mortar problem.”

“Obviously. Just stay low and follow me, they’re about 50 meters north of here, in a bomb crater. With any luck we can catch the bastards from behind.”

“Age before beauty.”

Samaras sighed. “You are never going to get proper military etiquette are you fool.”

“Nope.”

The pair moved silently out the back of the bombed out café and into the back ally behind the building, crouching or crawling their way the 50 or so meters to the foxhole where the mortar team had entrenched themselves. The constant patter of automatic gunfire could be heard almost constantly throughout the distance. By this time it looked like any EU armor had been destroyed, and the fight for the city had become a completely hand to hand, house to house, grueling infantry fight.

There they where, four of them, crouched deep in their bomb crater and sand bag foxhole, all focused intently on their deadly work, loading and firing 100mm mortar rounds, trying to destroy as much as Geórgios’ beloved city as possible. Samaras squatted down, motioning Geórgios to follow. Both men readied their rifles, and when the captains’ hand signal countdown reached zero, they opened fire with their 5.56mm assault rifles, killing all four enemy soldiers in a single burst. Now, with them out of immediate danger, (as all enemy position in this area had been cleared by 3rd Squad, Beta Company, of which Geórgios was the only survivor) Geórgios thought himself safe to ask the question.

“You came from headquarters?”

“Yeah, what’s left of it.”

“Oh shit, what happened?”

“Lapse in the defense perimeter I think. Type-97 got through. Plastered the command tent, and the good Colonel along with it.”

“Good God. You obviously got out ok.”

“Was running out to come find you boys and girls. Seems I was too late. Was about 200 or so meters out when that tank came rolling along.”

“Christ. Yeah we had a hell of a fight here. The Turks and Bulgarians sure helped, compliments to the home countries.”

“About that.”

“What?”

“When I was in with all the paper-pushers up at HQ, the Colonel was receiving a message from regional command in Kosovo. Sofia surrendered about six hours ago. Istanbul a bit after, and as of 1340 today, Skopje no longer exists. Seems the Macedonians where a bit too feisty for our eastern friends.”

“Dear God no…”

“Yup…20kt.”

“Jesus Christ…”

And that’s when both soldiers’ helmet com’s started beeping. Someone very high up was calling them.

~~~

Not the normal Vicky time-frame, but I will get there in time. Don't worry. Thanks for reading, critique always welcome!

[Legosim]

July 8, 2039

The call had been for any Union forces in their area to converge on the Institute. Getting near it, it looked like there was hope. An entire company of Leopard 2A6 tanks, bearing the symbol of the Compass Rose where hunkered down in front of the once majestic building. It looks like they had just missed a decent battle. A burnt out hulk of a BMP-4 was laying half-flipped over about 80 meters from the front entrance. Too close for comfort much. The building itself looked like it had taken quite a few direct hits from EC artillery. Just as the rest of the city. This damned war was a crime. He had heard stories of the famous libraries and universities in Ankara, Jerusalem, and Cairo had all been completely destroyed. All those books, all that art. All those cultural treasures. Gone. It was pathetic. Human civilization at it’s best.

Then, for the thousandth time that day, an explosion interrupted Geórgios’ thoughts.

The unmistakable screech of the second Type-76 anti-armor missile tearing through the air was heard milliseconds later. The projectile impacted straight on the turret of the farthest tank away from them. It had to be at least 200 meters away, and the explosion still knocked Geórgios flat on his back, and whited out his vision. He felt a gruff hand pull him backwards behind one of the half blown out pillars lining the Institute’s main entrance.

“The bastard’s saved my life twice in an hour. Christ…” Geórgios thought to himself.

Over the sound of Stinger missiles being launched at the attacking helicoptors, (and the always constant clatter of automatic gunfire) Geórgios could hear Samaras’ voice through his helmet com.

“Cmon you idiot, help!”

Geórgios straightened his helmet and fired a six round burst around the pillar, which was returned by twice as many bullets being tossed back at him. Granite chips flew all around him.

That unmistakable screeching noise rang out three more times, followed by three fabulous explosions across the plaza.

“Shit, they got the Avengers!” came ringing over the com.

There where now over 240 Union soldiers scattered around the Institute’s main plaza at the total mercy of eight very, very angry hunter-killer helos. They where sitting ducks, and Geórgios knew it.

Samaras, being the most senior officer left in his small corner of the plaza ordered all the men and women he could get in contact to get their butts into the institute, which had a basement. No use staying out and the open and getting shot like a rat, when you can get shot like a rat in a cellar. Unfortunately, not many troops heard him over the sound of the last few Union armored vehicles in the plaza being turned into hot molten slag.
The Captain pointed at the door and screamed for Geórgios to get his ass through the Institute’s main doorway, and just go down as many stairs as God would offer him. No argument coming from the good corporal. Not even a witty comment.

Samaras fired off three more shots from his rifle, and swung his legs over the low granite wall in between the pillars. The two partners ran up the large flight of stairs, dodging a hail of bullets as they went. The once vast glass doors where completely shattered, offering a rather large portal to jump through into the not so safe main hall of the institute. About five seconds after the two young men got through what was left of the doors an entire volley of unguided rockets hit the building. The resulting force started to completely collapsed the old granite structure.

“Run man run!” Konsta shouted as the building started to collapse around them. They headed for the nearest flight of stairs, going down them four or five at a time. The managed to get down three flights of stairs before the entire super structure failed, and the walls of the stairway began to collapse around them. The Captain grabbed Geórgios by the scruff of the neck and threw him into an open doorway, and jumped on top of him, just as the entire stairwell failed, and collapsed. Covered in dust, and his ears ringing, Geórgios looked up to see two scientists shining flashlights in their eyes.

“Are you two all right?” asked the one on the left, a rather scruffy looking man with a very unattractive tie hanging loosely and unkempt around his neck.

Konstantinos looked up also, and replied; “Yeah we are I think, but…the city ain’t.”

The first scientist replied again, after helping the two battered soldiers up. “We’ve been watching, the forces in the plaza where the last ones left. The city belongs to the EC. There’s no stopping the bastards.”

“Jesus…who are you people anyway, I thought all citizens where evacuated days ago.” Geórgios asked.

“They where, we stayed behind, because we couldn’t let them capture this technology intact, even if we had to destroy it. My name is Dr. Pentrikou by the way, professor of theoretical physics here at the Institute; this is my assistant, Alexander. And, dare I say you two may just be what we need.”

The Doctor nodded to Alexander, who ran off down the hall. He beckoned to the two young men to follow.

“You see, as ill prepared as the Union was, and is to fight this war, some of us knew it was inevitable. Those of us…also knew there was no way we could win it, even with the entire Free World on our side. The coalition is just too powerful, numerically, and technologically. Some of us here at the university realized this after the Mecca Crisis six years ago. We’ve been working on this project ever since.”

“Well what is it?” Samaras asked.

They party entered a room, where Alexander was hard at work over a rather large dark grayish ring, with antennae sticking out all over it, making notes on a clipboard. Pentrikou spun around on his heels and threw his arms in the air.

“Behold gentlemen…time travel!”

“You’re joking.” Was all Geórgios could muster. The good captain just stood there blinking.

“Not at all. This stupid, pointless war can be traced back to one thing, the rise of totalitarianism in Iran over sixty years ago. This one event was was the final nail in the coffin for this war to happen. I know, it’s hard to grasp, but pl-”

What was left of the building suddenly shook, like an earthquake was hitting. The remaining EC soldiers above their heads must know something was down here. Another boom sounded, then another.

“Quick! There isn’t much time! You must go! The device is powered up and ready to go. Hurry!”

The captain was still rather stunned. Geórgios spoke; “Aren’t you coming with us?”

Alexander spoke up finally; “We can’t, the ring requires two operators. You two will have to go on your own!”

Another boom, another earthquake.

The Doctor looked up from his console, and the metallic ring begin to glow a purplish-red hue. He looked at the two comrades in arms, and spoke quickly. “Through that ring, it’s 1825, in the midst of the Greek revolution, when our modern nation is founded. You must change history, stabilize the near east! That is where the trouble started! Now go! Save the future!” The old man got up and frantically waved his hands toward the glowing portal.

Two huge explosions could be heard above, with some of the cement ceiling of the lab coming crashing down around them.

Kamaras, shuck himself, and readied his weapon. He looked at the two scientists, their hands on the controls.

Alexander looked up at the captain and spoke. “Good luck.”

The doctor smiled, and added; “And God go with you.”

~~~

Whoever's read this, I promise the next update won't be prolouge-ish and will start the gameplay updates, including lots of pictures, screenies, maps, etc.

[Red_Communist]

Another one. o.o

Oh well, this one looks better.

Also, you should start planning a Victoria II AAR!

[Legosim]

Another one. o.o

Oh well, this one looks better.

Also, you should start planning a Victoria II AAR!

Actually, I am, I wanted to finally finish a decent AAR though before it came out. I'm just hoping I can get past 1850 without realizing that I couldn't go anywhere with the story, and realize that my media (which I think is VERY important) looked like crap. Meh. Thanks for the reply though.

[Legosim]

Excerpt from The Byzantine Empire in the Victoria Era: 1836-1936 by Prof. Charles Whitsford:

To understand the roots of the modern Greek state, and the eventual rise of a reformed Byzantine Empire, we must look at the closing days of the Greek Revolution of 1821-1830. Originally, a protocol was drawn up by chief Greek diplomat, Ioannas Kapadistrias, and submitted to the nations of France and Great Britain. This document called for an independent nation, with it's northern border spanning between the towns of Arta and Volos, and including most of the minor Aegean islands, and possibly Crete. This proposal, while accepted by France and Britain, they insisted on altering it. The northern Greek border was moved southward, and the two western nations favored a plan that would include Greece not becoming a fully sovereign nation, but an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire. This outraged almost all Greeks, and was fundamentally opposed by Kapadistrias in Poros, who called the clause "unacceptable". Because of his agreement to go along with a document that would for all intents and purposes "doom Greeks to another 500 years of slavery", Kapadistrias was assassinated by a radical while heading to church in Athens. The loss of the powerful statesmen was a significant blow to the Greeks' cause, as Kapadistrias had been a major force in keeping the fragile alliance of Greek families from imploding in on itself, and as expected, this alliance began to immediately falter only days after Kapadistrias' funeral. Unfortunately for the Greeks, there wasn't much they could do diplomatically to halt the Poros Protocol, as the revolution was in danger of cracking at the seems, and no central diplomatic figure could be found to fight on the Greeks' behalf. Shortly after, French, British, Russian, and Greek diplomats met in London on March 22, 1829 to finalize the protocol and to present it to the Ottoman ambassador in Britain.

Initially, the Turks where hostile to the protocol, even though it was favorable to their interests. They considered the loss of most of the Aegean islands, especially Crete to be unacceptable (even though they would still technically control the islands, as Greece would be in practice nothing more than a vassal). Also, Sultan Abdülmecid I knew that the Greek alliance was on the brink of collapsing in on itself, and was confident that the great powers of Europe would give in an retreat once the backbone of the revolution fell to shambles. Ironically, it was the act that aimed to force the Ottoman to accept a treaty that would doom the Greeks to nothing more than satellite status, that ultimately saved their sovereignty. In response to the Ottoman refusal to accept the London Protocol, Russia made it known that they would not accept anything less than the proposed plan. Seeing himself surrounded and out of options, Abdül relented, and decided to sign the treaty.

However, the Russian interference, and their ability to relatively easily scare the Ottomans into signing the treaty sent shock-waves through Britain and France, causing a split between the two western nations and the Empire of Russia. The fear that a vassal nation of the Turks would be easily swayed into the Russian sphere of influence almost as soon as British and French troops left the region was enough for the two countries to reevaluate the Poros Protocol, considering if a fully sovereign and independent Greece would be better for the west's interests in the region. Diplomats of the five participating parties where invited to London to discus a new round of protocols for the creation of and independent Greece.

However, this time, the Greeks came prepared to bargain their way to an acceptable treaty. The head of the Greek diplomatic party was the 28 year old Geórgios Karamanlís, a young and energetic political genius, and Kapadistrias' former assistant. None of the great powers where truly happy with the idea of an independent, strong willed Greek nation, but Karamanlís was able to play the two Western powers and the Eastern one against each other to negotiate the best settlement for final independence. Karamanlís was able to secure Greek control over the entire Aegean archipelago [1], save the islands of Crete, Rhodes, and Samos, return the northern border back to the Arta-Volos line, along with a mutual guarantee of the new nation's independence from the British, French, and Russian Empires.

The final task for the convention in London was to find a suitable ruler for the new nation. The first candidate proposed was Leopold, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the future King of Belgium. He however, was unimpressed with the new nation, (mostly it's overall poverty), and refused the offer. The talks hit a temporary standstill when the July Revolution rocked France, and their diplomatic party was recalled, along with a change in governmental leadership in Britain. The talks resumed when Karamanlís privately contacted the new British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, about the possibility of offering the throne to the Bavarian prince, Otto of Wittelsbach. Palmerston agreed, and after visit to Otto by the crafty Greek politician, the young prince (then only 16 years old) agreed to the offer, on the conditions that he would be allowed to take out a 60,000,000 franc loan from France help develop his new nation.

Otto, Prince of Bavaria, who would become the first, and last King of Greece

On July 21, 1832, representatives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Kingdom of France, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the new Kingdom of Greece, met in the Ottoman capital to ratify the London Protocols. The Treaty of Constantinople guaranteed the borders set out in the London Protocols, and secured another £2.4 million loan. The modern Greek state was born.

Map of Europe, c. 1836

---

[1] Because of the back story of the...story, I took some liberties with some stuff. Because of Karamanlís having knowledge of the entire process of the formation of the country, he was able to get more Aegean isles than his counterparts where in OTL. This is represented with the addition of Greece owning one more province at the start of the game. Cheating? Yea, I guess, but I get like another 20,000 farmers giving me fruit. THe economy is saved!

[Legosim]

Christopher Patterson got up from his desk as his students filed through his classroom door.

"Aight, I'm going to go with the assumption that the first thing you did when you got home was do your assignment?

Patterson took note that not one of the students spoke, although some of them continued to look at him like he was a lunatic. Just a normal second day in school. Oh well. Moving on.

"Right-o. Well, in that case we need to go over it again. We're doing a section in the book every day so you need to sink up. Right down to business in this class. You all have your books, so read, children, reeeeeeeead. Anyway we must keep moving along. Section I in the chapter is talking about the opening moves of Otto's reign as King of Greece."

The teacher flicked on the overhead projector, throwing the light of a truly magnificent PowerPoint across the SmartBoard in the front of the room.

"One of the most important things about the functioning of the early government of Greece was that it was very German-dominated. However, one very crafty politician Geórgios Karamanlís, who was originally the one who convinced Otto to accept the throne during the London Conference, was able to secure himself a post as adviser to the young king. Otto, throughout the two years he waited to become King officially, became closer to Mr. Karamanlís, as he saw the regency council a threat to his power. However, Karamanlís proved to be genius in getting the council to bend to his wishes, which won him support from Otto.

After Otto reached the age of Majority in 1834, he took over the rule of Greece from his regency council. His father, Ludwig I of Bavaria wanted to call back the three German politicians, but Karamanlís was able to convince the good King to ask his father to keep the men around, as albeit they bickered endlessly, they where very good at their jobs. [1]

Because, in this era, as in throughout most of history Religion was much more important to the average person than it is nowadays. Otto was Catholic, and his new country was not. Most Greeks saw this as an insult, and it turned out that around 80% of the population did not believe Otto had the right to rule, and form a dynasty without being a member of the Greek Orthodox church. [2] About a year and a half after officially assuming the crown, Karamanlís was able to convince Otto that in order to rule effectively, he needed to convert. This was not popular with his father, the Three Bavarian Buddies, or Otto himself, but he relented after his bride-to-be, Amalia of Oldenburg, sided with Karamanlís. On December 20th, 1836, Otto converted to Orthodoxy, and was married in an Orthodox ceremony in Athens the next day, to wild cheers by the people. [3]

Next on the docket of things wrong with Greece in the 1830's we have the economy."

"You know from taking Global last year that historically, Greece has been one of the richest places in the world, and is to this day. Unfortunately, in 1830, after 500 years of being pillaged by the Ottoman Turks, Greece was a poor, poor backwards place. The map in the slide shows the main natural resources if you will of the lower Balkan peninsula. Territory highlighted in yellow represents territory controlled by Greece. As you can see, there isn't much but fruit plantations and wheat and cotton farms dotting the countryside. The only profitable thing being exported out of Greece was the sulphur from the mine on the island of Naxos, which was needed to make saltpeter for gun powder and explosives. Highly sought after commodity, but not enough to de-stagnate the Greek economy. Besides, the 60 million franc loan kept Otto trying to stay on the good side of all the major powers, to keep the flow of money into the nation. Our good friend Karamanlís came up with a solution that would be applied for a good portion of Otto's reign, but we'll get into that later. If you haven't realized it yet, this guy was a genius."

"Last but not least we have the military. If you could call it that. The Hellenic Army and Navy where leftovers from the Greek War of Independence, and where in no way capable of fighting a modern war. Otto however did realize that the military would have to be rebuilt and organized for there to be any future for Greece. Otto decided, after the suggestion of Karamanlís, to send two of the "celebrities" of the Revolution to Bavaria to observe modern military tactics. These two men, who had been responsible for most of the military victories during the war, where Generals Theodoros Kolokotronis, and Konstantos Samaras. When the returned in late 1835, Kolokotronis received full command of the army, which numbered ten thousand regular soldiers. Samaras was given direct command over the two western divisions, while Kolokotronis took direct command over the eastern two. The navy, if you could call it that, was also given to former captain Philipos Alexiou to whip into a relatively effective fighting force, which he did rather well."

The familiar triple chime signaling the end of fifth period rang through the dark room, and the thirteen students began to gather their things.

"Tomorrow, section II, read it! And I mean it!"

-----

[1] OTL, all three men where recalled one by one by Ludwig due to conflicts of personality and the fact they did more damage then good, spending more time trying to gain the King's favor, or ticking him off than running the country. When they worked together however, they where very good at their job. They where also assholes.

[2] Again, OTL. Otto and Amalia never converted to Greek Orthodoxy, staying Catholic, which ticked a lot of Greeks off. The marriage also took place in Munich, not in Athens as ITTL.

[3] Throughout Otto's relatively brief reign, one of the main things he struggled with was religion. Due to his never producing an heir, and his constant conflict with the Orthodox church, he became vastly unpopular with the populace, whom many of thought Otto had no right to rule or form a dynasty without complying with the above-mentioned requirements. This was one of the many reasons he was ousted in 1862.

[Legosim]

Excerpt from The Byzantine Empire in the Victoria Era: 1836-1936 by Prof. Charles Whitsford:

Unfortunately, (or fortunately) for Greece, the first decade of her existence was one to be remembered. Because of the "hot" nature of the decade, one of Otto's primary goals was to increase relations, and remain close to all three major great powers, specifically Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. The reason for the political shift towards Russia was for mostly geopolitical reasons, being the Russian Empire had a hostile relationship with the most likely future enemy of the Greek state, the Ottoman Empire. This relationship bore fruit, when Russia invited Greece into a formal military alliance in 1837.

Nicholas I, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias;
King of Poland; Grand Duke of Finland.
r. 1825-1855

The 1830's also saw one of the largest clash of personalities in modern Greek history, between Geórgios Karamanlis and Josef Ludwig von Armensburg, over who had more influence over the young king. Armensburg, an expert on financial matters, who favored small amounts of spending, and a "Germanized" government, was of the opinion that Otto should do nothing more than try to keep the nation afloat economically. Karamanlis wished to expand the armed forces (especially the navy), along with the "Hellenization" of the government. The first major clash between the two men happened over the military budget in early 1837. Otto sided with Karamanlis, ordering a universal training regime for all sailors and officers in the navy be put into place. Otto, however agreed with his German adviser that for now, most major governmental positions should remain in the "capable" hands of his Bavarian underlings. Later that year, Otto again sided with Karamanlis in the decision to purchase another squadron of clipper transports, but announced this would be the last military expansion the country would go under for some time.

The 1830's also saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution tae hold in Greece. On Septemver 22, 1837, a domestically designed steam engine was tested for the first time, pumping water out of the sulfur mines on the island of Naxos. This invention helped the efficiency of the mines, and allowed for a sufficient increase in sulfur export. This development, along with the opening of the Athens Stock Exchange in May of 1839 made up the core of Greek economic development in Greece's second decade of existence.

Otto's true test of leadership however would come with the Second Oriental Crisis. Because of past military and diplomatic successes against the Ottoman Empire, Mohammad Ali Pasha of Egypt moved to officially declare independence, with the backing of France. [1] A convention met in London in 1839, composed of delegates from the UK, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, offering Ali and his heirs permenent control over Egypt and the Levant, assuming he agree to retreat from Syria, Crete, Cyprus, and remain officially part of the Empire. He declined.

Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha, Khedive of Egypt and the Sudan.
r. 1805-1848

Two weeks later, on October 27, 1838, Ali officially declared independence from the Ottoman Empire (with full diplomatic support from France), and the young Sultan, Abdülmecid I declared war. Only thee days later, Karl von Abel was shot while riding in his carriage to church by an anarchist, John Poupotonidis. The assassin initially escaped, causing Armensburg to convince Otto the killer was an agent of Egypt. After Poupotonidis was captured and interrogated, this hypothesis proved false, but the idea that Egypt was trying to cause turmoil in the Greek government caught on with the general populace like wild-fire, and they clamored for action. The Greek people saw this as an opportunity to capture Egyptian controlled Crete and Cyprus, thus freeing more oppressed fellow Greeks, and this served as the major caucus-beli for Otto's declaration of war on Egypt on December 5, 1838.

The Greek battle plan at the start of the war. The recent naval expansion plan had proven it's worth, as the Greek navy was able to provide adequate transport for two divisions at a time.

Simultaniously in April 1839, the Army of Thessely (two divisions), under the command of General Kolokotronis landed in Crete, while two more divisions, under the young Samaris marched through Egypt's undefended border in the Sudan. Crete was declared secure by the middle of June, along with the southern Egyptian province of Massaua by early July. The northern force suffered no casualties, while the desert was taking it's toll on Samaris' forces in the south.

On June 27th, the Army of Thessely landed on the undefended isle of Cyprus. All Egyptian forces on the island had been transported to Syria, where there had been a bloody stalemate for over six months. A week later, Karamanlis began to push slowly up the coast of the Red Sea towards Cairo, seizing supplies where he could. Unfortunatly for the Greeks, the support promised to the Egyptians had come, in the form of the French Navy. There was no way for the 20,000 men under the command of Theodoros Kolokotronis to get from Cyprus to Alexandria, the designated landing point, with the Hellenic Navy bottled up in port.

However, the French where unable to provide ground support to their Egyptian allies, so the fronts in Libya and Syria stayed stagnant. There where no more troops left to defend Cairo, except Ali's personal guard. By the time the Khedive realized it, Samaras' forces had reached the city, and set up twelve six pound cannons pointed directly at Ali's palace. Samaras ordered his 13,800 remaining infantry to surround the city, and begin a slow march to the middle. The overwhelming numbers and firepower caused most of Ali's personal guard to lay down their weapons. Only 54 Greek soldiers where killed in combat, before the city was declared secure on September 5th, 1840. The news of the fall of Cairo shocked the Egyptian troops in the Levant, causing a massive blow to morale. Many assumed he had been taken prisoner, and lay down their arms, when in reality, Ali was still held up in his palace with over one hundred remaining guards. This lull in the fighting spirit was one of the major reasons for the collapse of the Egyptian forces in Syria. With enemies advancing on all fronts, and his capital city occupied, Ali saw the writing on the wall, and sued for peace on November 18th.

Again, a convention was convened in London, with representatives from Great Britain, France, Russia, Greece, and the Ottoman Empire attending, to decide the future of Egypt. Otto sent Karamanlis back to London, where he had first succeeded eleven years before. An agreement was reached on March 6th 1841, and was signed the next day by all participants.

The Treaty of London contained the following provisions:

• Egypt would remain part of the Ottoman Empire, but Ali and his descendants would retain the right to rule Egypt and the Sudan as viceroys of the Ottoman Sultan.
• Muhammad Ali would renounce any claims to the lands of the Hejaz, the Levant, Syria, Crete, or Cyprus.
• The Ottoman Empire would directly annex all Egyptian territory up to the Sinai Peninsula, along with a strip of land on the Libyan border.
• The Kingdom of Greece would acquire the islands of Crete and Cyprus, along with the province of Massaua in southern Sudan.
• Egypt would limit the size of it's army to 18,000 men, and will agree to Ottoman oversight and advisers placed on all Egyptian vessels.
• Great Britain agreed to hold a general plebiscite among the residents of the Ionian Islands, concerning their continued status as a dependent of the British Empire, or be annexed by the Kingdom of Greece.

The territorial changes outlined in the Treaty of London, 1841.

The Treaty of London was the beginning of a trend that continued through the Victorian Era for Greece, which was expansion. Also, because of the closeness of the diplomatic relations between Greece and Russia in the years leading up to the conflict, Great Britain basically attempted to bribe Otto back into their camp via the plebiscite in the Ionian Isles. Eighty-eight percent of the population voted to be annexed into Greece, which offered Otto (and Karamanlis) an important victory on the home front. [2] The war in the Orient also did something else for Otto, besides more than double the population of his nation, and skyrocket his popularity with the populace. It offered hope to a nation that had thought of themselves as nothing more than the figurative dirt on the shoes of Europe. It also showed that Greece, although still small, could exert it's power, and would stop at nothing to make The Great Idea a reality.

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[1] In OTL, France offered their support to Ali, which was the reason he hesitated in accepting the original terms offered by the first London Convention. However, in this game, France complied with their alliance with Egypt when the war broke out, instead of backing down like they did historically.

[2] Ahistorical. The United States of the Ionian Islands was transferred to Greek control via the Treaty of London on 29 March 1864, mainly to solidify George I's rule over Greece.

[volksmarschall]

I can't believe I've missed this until now, absolutely fantastic! Blah... just because Otto is 16 doesn't mean there should be a regency. And I wonder what you're going to do next/will be able to do next with Eritrea under you control. Certainly Egypt could become a tempting target and then the Ottomans will have you on both sides of their empire - something that is a plus for you.

Excellent work! I'll be reading from here on out.

[Legosim]

I can't believe I've missed this until now, absolutely fantastic! Blah... just because Otto is 16 doesn't mean there should be a regency. And I wonder what you're going to do next/will be able to do next with Eritrea under you control. Certainly Egypt could become a tempting target and then the Ottomans will have you on both sides of their empire - something that is a plus for you.

Excellent work! I'll be reading from here on out.

I'm pathetic, I almost had a heart attack when I saw that someone commented.

Thanks a bunch! For Otto, I'm going historical wise, he had a regency council when he first came to Greece. I took Eritrea because iirc, gold should pop up there sometime in the near future, which is better then the Opium available in the ME...I don't want to invade Oman proper.

And yes, I have many plans for Egypt...thanks again for the kind words!

[Beamed]

Let's have another update.

[coz1]

Excellent, Legosim! It takes a lot for me to get interested in a Byzantium AAR and yet, you've succeeded. I don't comment as much as I'd like these days but I just wanted to say what a great start you've got here. As I said...excellent!

[Legosim]

Final report from the first decennial census [1] that took place in 1841 on Otto's orders:

Population:




Literacy Level:

1835: ~25%
1841: 27.6%

General Population Trends

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[1] Well...it was supposed to happen in 1840. But I was at war. Meh. I'm planning on having one quick census update each decade, expanding as time goes on and more issues pop up.

[2] Thank you Sir. Onni.

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I know...not really a gameplay update, but I wanted to get a quick update in. I'll try to have another actual update online either later tonight, or tomorrow.

[Enewald]

So Crete and Cyprus have more than half of your population?

[4th Dimension]

Go Greece, and good luck from your northern brothers Montenegro and Serbia.
And when are we going to go and roast some Turks together?

And don't trust any word those Brits and French say.

[Legosim]

So Crete and Cyprus have more than half of your population?

Crete, Cyprus, Ionian Islands, and Eritrea, yeah.

Go Greece, and good luck from your northern brothers Montenegro and Serbia.
And when are we going to go and roast some Turks together?

And don't trust any word those Brits and French say.

My Brothers and sisters will be freed from Turkish domination don't worry.

Thanks for the comments everyone, I'll try to have next update online by the end of the day.

[Bob Ilyani]

This AAR is a good read. I like it.

What are your plans for the rest of the Ottoman-controlled Balkans?

[Legosim]

This AAR is a good read. I like it.

What are your plans for the rest of the Ottoman-controlled Balkans?

All shall be revealed in time. Although to put it cryptically, Ima gonna nomnomz dem Balkanz.

[Onni_Manni]

[2] "Specifics" is pretty lame title for this section, any suggestions?

How about composition of the population of Greece?
Or General trends in Greek population?