The Cantons United: A Swiss EU3 AAR

[Greedo]

Table of Contents:
1. The Cantons Unite
2. The Taming of the Pope
3. The Swiss War of Pope Defence
4. Peace and Pretenders
5. The Swiss Peninsula
6. Alliances and Emperors

This is my first AAR ever, after reading tons of them. I've chosen Switzerland because I am Swiss myself! In fact, I took the picture here of Chateau de Chillion myself. My goal is to live the country as a country. It does not have a unified goal unless the leaders vote for it. Each leader may bring a different goal to the table, depending on how much they want to stand out; and how much they want to be re-elected.

All settings are unchanged from the defaults. I installed the game then started the AAR. This AAR will always be using the newest released stable patch for HttT. That means that gameplay may switch sometime in between, but this is realistic as countries do not stay stagnant during 400 years; especially not these 400 years.

Just a note that Switzerland wasn't neutral until Napoleon conquered it and then the Congress of Vienna declared it Neutral in 1815. It is doubtful that Switzerland will be declared neutral again in 1815, because I plan to not follow Switzerland's historic path. Also, since Switzerland in the game doesn't have the dozens of different cantons that would have played an important part in 1399, the first order of business of the Tagsatzung will be to unite them into two provinces, hence the name of the AAR

This will be written as a history/narrative.

Thank-you for reading! Enjoy!

[Kapt Torbjorn]

Don't think I've ever seen a Swiss AAR, should be interesting!

[Greedo]

After years and years of wars amongst themselves, the cantons of Switzerland started to form alliances and treaties. A major point came with the union of three rural communities in 1291, and many more soon started to create alliances with each other. The area began to be known as “Die Eidgenossenschaft”, or the Swiss Confederacy. Switzerland was a republic, meaning that the citizens had a voice and there was no monarch. Switzerland was not always the neutral country it is today. In fact, the Swiss engaged in many wars, including this one with Savoy. Switzerland was ruled by a council called the Tagsatzung in 1399, without a person to call head of state.



October 14, 1399:



Ah Switzerland! A fresh breath of mountain air flows through the Tagsatzung. The gathering of people looks around and smiles, knowing that their country is loved and honoured around the world. Well, at least to those that know of it. With a prestige rating of 0, the Tagsatzung is looking for any possible way to increase the popularity of Switzerland. Of course, as usual, at precisely 11:00 am, they cast a nasty glance to the east at those Austrians and another west at those Burgundians. Hmph.

Today, the Tagsatzung takes a look at what the papers are saying about the land.



That sounds about right except… Decentralised? This does not sit well with the Tagsatzung. They take this news as proof that the people are forgetting that Switzerland is a unified country now. They want to be heard, after all. They quickly pass the “Two Canton Confederacy for the People Act of 1399”, integrating the dozens of cantons into two major provinces, Bern and Schwyz. Little do they know that this will change the course of history forever.



Wait a second. What’s this? Austrians? Or even worse, a revolting army?



It is worse! On the same day that the act is passed, a small army of four thousand peasants rises up in the new province of Schwyz to oppose the act. With the Swiss army of only 2000 infantry, they stand little chance against this new menace. All 200 or so members of the Tagsatzung decide to sleep on it. Maybe those filthy rebels will decide to go home. The cows won’t milk themselves!

October 15, 1399

The members wake up and the answer immediately springs to Hansi Hansliberg. Alliance! He spreads the joyous proposal to all the other members with messengers, messenger pigeons, and messenger St. Bernards. The members quickly run to the Tagsatzung and vote on forming an alliance with someone. The bill passes unanimously. Suddenly, they realize that they don’t actually know who to form an alliance with. Since there is no proper leader to the Tagsatzung, the members quickly write down nations on slips of paper and then allow Hansi Hansliberg to pull one out of a hat.



“Burgundy!?” cry many voices amongst the crowd, “But they’re insufferable! Not only that, they’re… French!”

“Eh, what’s wrong with that?” comes another cry from the French part of the Tagsatzung. The German part had forgotten that there was a French part. They quickly apologized. Wait, no. They turned up their noses to the French, standing by their words. They weren’t going to let some Valais-ers push them into getting into this alliance.

Sensing a commotion in the making after hearing an Italian yell something about taxes as they usually do, Hansli quickly slipped out the back to avoid getting his other eye blackened. On the front step, he walked right into the mailman. The mailman dropped two letters onto the ground.



Hansli quickly ran back into the depths of chaos in the building, waving the two letters. He tripped on the step and fell, squishing the bar of Gruyere cheese that was his lunch. He yelled furiously, “Huere schiesdräck nona mal! Hei land tonner blitz u donner!” He paused, then yelled, “Look! We don’t have to search for alliances! They come to us!”

The fighting quickly subsided and the members stared at him. “But, who would want to do that?”

“Er… Tuscany and Ferrera!”

“Who the Appenzell are they!?”

“I… I think they’re Italian?”

“Then why don’t we just ally with Milan? At least we border them.”

“Er… Good point. Why not just all of us? Together? A great big Swiss – Italian Alliance?”

There were murmurs of approval throughout the stands. The French didn’t care, the Italians were excited, and the Germans were just glad that Burgundy wasn’t being considered anymore. It was settled. A letter requesting the Alliance of Milan was quickly sent out and the others were accepted.

A day after, on October 16, 1399, the Swiss-Milan, Swiss-Ferreran, and Swiss-Tuscan Pacts were all passed simultaneously. Switzerland sent a letter to Milan requesting aid against the rebels.



With the most immediate problems settled, the Tagsatzung decided to build up Switzerland’s army to an acceptable size. Who knew, maybe the Italians wanted to wage wars with Switzerland’s assistance. Or maybe Milan wouldn’t help against the rebels.

The Tagsatzung met again two days later, on October 18th. They missed the 17th because they were too busy partying after having agreed on the resolutions. With the drunkness, they forgot entirely about the whole Burgundy business and came to the Tagsatzung to forge a new plan so that it would appear that they are doing something. Hansi, the de facto leader after his great strategy played out perfectly, was selected to throw a dart at a map of Europe. It landed squarely on Savoy. The members of the Tagsatzung stood up and said, “That is it! Savoy! We must strike them down again. Let us go forth and create a port for this nation! Besides, the beaches are supposed to be beautiful.”



So the Tagsatzung proceeded to follow the original plan: build up its army.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strangely, the mission to make an ally with Burgundy was completed right after I made the triple alliance. I accidently clicked ok too fast for a screenshot, but it doesn’t really matter. I won’t be updating every day of the game for now, and focus more on the big picture!

[Greedo]

Don't think I've ever seen a Swiss AAR, should be interesting!

I believe I saw one a while back, but I was glad to see there weren't any on the front page. Or if there were, I missed them!

[Dafool]

Die Schweiz is an interesting nation to play. You're sandwiched between some of the biggest players in Europe. Also, I realize that Swiss German is tough to read(for me at least), but it adds a nice touch.

[Greedo]

Die Schweiz is an interesting nation to play. You're sandwiched between some of the biggest players in Europe. Also, I realize that Swiss German is tough to read(for me at least), but it adds a nice touch.

Mind you, I probably spelled it wrong. There is some sort of way to spell it I believe, but the Swiss themselves just use High German when writing.

Edit: Sorry, I'll gather up replies to replies in a single post next time. Forgot about that!

[Zim38]

Good luck. Switzerland is a fun country to play.

[Vladislav]

Wow, Switzerland has pretty awesome sliders.

[Greedo]

June 19, 1400

More than half a year has passed since the Tagsatzung decided to create the Swiss-Italian Alliance. However, the call for help against the rebels went unheeded. Luckily, the plan to build up its own army meant that Switzerland was ready to fight the rebels itself. With the former 2000 man infantry army bolstered with a unit of 1000 cavalrymen, the Armee von Bern led the charge straight into the heart of the peasant militia. And not a moment too soon, for the peasants were just besieging the walls of Schwyz’s capital, Schwyz.



The loss of 945 men was grave for Switzerland, especially considering that the rebels only lost 228. But one of the men in the infantry regiment from Schwyz itself, Jörg Überbüller, lopped off the head of the peasant mayor the peasants had instituted before he was pierced by three arrows himself. The peasants quickly dispersed and went back to their farms.

With the defeat of the rebels, a lull came over Switzerland. It was peaceful again and people started to get accustomed to the two new super-cantons instead of having a canton for every other burg and castle. With the protection from the Italian states and an increase of trust for the Tagsatzung, Switzerland’s stability was at an all-time high.



Still, the people were getting antsy, with all of the wars going on around them. On September 2, 1400, the Italians decided to declare war on France and some of its vassals. An opportunity for war had presented itself to Switzerland. It appeared that France was fighting a war with not only most of Italy, but Bohemia as well. It could be a hard battle, but the rewards seemed to outweight the risks.





The question of whether or not to enter the war was hard to answer with no defined head of state. The Tagsatzung decided on that day that there would be an election soon to have such a man. Until then, no wars would be declared. Switzerland would only join on wars if their allies specifically asked them to.



With the peace and quiet afforded by having everyone around them preoccupied by wars, Switzerland decided to focus on itself and enact some land reforms on the province of Bern to speed up production.



A few months later, on February 8, 1401, Switzerland received news that their small ally, Ferrara, had been attacked by none other than the pope. The pope had many allies on the Italian province. The Tagsatzung carefully weighed its options before coming to a decision.



The Tagsatzung knew what it was like to be a small nation. Some of the members had led cantons themselves before the unification. They quickly sent a messenger to Ferrara with the news that they were joining the war. One came back almost immediately, proclaiming that Switzerland would be the leaders of this war.



Switzerland decided to send its 3000 man army to fight in the Papal province of Romagna. They also recruited another 1000 cavalry to watch the home front. However, when they arrived, they discovered that Ferrara had many allies. In fact, the Papal State’s allies had forsaken it and left the two province nation to fend for itself. The Battle of Romagna was a bloodless victory for the Swiss forces. In fact, the 13000 versus 2500 man battle was more of a slaughter than a fight.



The Swiss came to the castle in Romagna to discover that the Ferrarans were just on the verge of destroying the last walls. In fact, the Ferrarans were already planting flags in the ground proclaiming Romagna as their own. The Swiss army, though leaderless, was not devoid of common sense. They knew that they wanted to get at least something out of this war. So they quickly set course for Rome itself. On the way, they met up with the retreating army led by the Pope himself. The Battle of Firenze was easily won by the Swiss, although 66 good men died.



In Siena, the Swiss found the last remnants of the Pope’s army. There wasn’t even a fight; the army just gave up and allowed themselves to be taken as prisoners.



When the Swiss arrived in Rome, they discovered the Milanese already laying siege to the walls. A 5000 man army was present already, and Switzerland increased it by around 3000 more. Rome would soon fall again.



In August, an unsurprising letter came from a messenger to the Tagsatzung and the Swiss army. Ferrara had decided to take Romagna as its own and leave the war. They sent their gratitude to the Swiss. They may not have needed them, but it’s the gesture that counts.



The days of the siege started growing into months. The Tagsatzung was getting worried as news started to become slim. One day, a herald arrived at the door of the Bundeshaus. They quickly rushed him in to hear his news.



“MONTENEGRO!?” spat Lüdli Hobbelkopf, “What in Appenzell do we care about Montenegro!?”

The herald was quickly punted out of the Bundeshaus and sent back home.

Finally, on February 2, 1402, almost exactly a year after the war started, it was over. A herald arrived with the wonderful news that Rome had fallen. It had taken 286 days, but as a wise man once said, “One does not simply walk into Roma.”



Moving quickly before the Milanese decided to claim Roma as their own, Switzerland declared that they were placing it under their protection as the Papal States, to protect the head of Catholicism. Although the church and Switzerland had had its differences, Switzerland did not want to see the chaos in Europe if the Papal States suddenly ceased to be. Besides, they would provide a cut of their taxes to the Swiss.



With the first war in a long time finished, the armies marched home to jubilant applause. Some of the people were slightly bemused with the vassalization of the Papal States, but no one questioned it. Some nations eyed the Swiss warily, fearing that they were looking to gain power with the church. Others remembered Switzerland’s recent anonymity with it and saw Switzerland’s vassalization as a legitimate act of protection. Either way, this will undoubtedly lead to conflict in the future. Elections are being prepared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That was a turn of events I didn’t see coming… Switzerland protecting the Papal States! Since the 1500s, it’s been the other way around actually, with Swiss mercenaries protecting them. Fun to see the roles reversed. I do hope the elections come around soon. It will provide for more interesting dialogue.

[Dafool]

Definitely a weird way for things to turn out. That's for sure. Well, at least you'll not need to worry about excommunications for a while.

[dinofs]

The Swiss will now really protect Rome.

[Greedo]

@Dafool: Yes indeed. Actually, that gives me an idea for casus bellis, since I have the best relations with the Pope than anyone else right now.
@dinofs: Yes they will, as you will see in this next post
As a side note, I had no idea when I wrote “elections are being prepared” that someone would really take power in the next screenshot. I had not played to this point yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On March 31, 1402, the elections were held and the Tagsatzung voted in André Gasenzer as the new Syndic. The Syndic would represent Switzerland on the world stage and play a large role in government affairs, although he did not have as much power as a monarch. He was also the Supreme Commander of the Military. André was not a great leader, that much was certain. He was elected only for his popularity among the Swiss people. He presented himself as a man that appealed to both the low class and the high class, a hard worker with style. In actuality, he was terrible with money and couldn’t lead the military well. However, his stylish hat was always a great asset for diplomatic confrontations.



André sent a letter to the Papal States, informing them of his election. Soon after, he received a letter not from the Pope, but from Urbino. It read:

“Dear Mr. Gasenzer,
Your stinkin’ lot have no business in Italy. The Pope belongs to us now, ya hear? Now bug off and take that fancy hat o’yerz with yeh.
Sincerely,
Urbino”

André was furious. He quickly sent a few spies to see what was going on. Sure enough, Urbino had taken control of the city of Rome.



He was prepared to take action. Not only were the Papal States under his protection, but he did not like how the king or duke or whatever of Urbino signed his letter with the nation’s name. That was just silly and would not do. André decided he would take the fight in his own hands and lead his army into the Rome to take it back. He renamed the Swiss army the Gasenzer Regiment and proclaimed himself its General.



But the problem was, André couldn’t just declare war on Urbino without angering the rest of the world and the Swiss citizens. They had just come back from another war in Italy and would be sceptical if another happened. He couldn’t for the life of him think of a reason to enter it. He stumbled on this problem for over a year. Then on September 4, 1403, a man called Nicolas Heberlin von Zweibrücken suggested that Switzerland form an alliance with the Papal States and use that as a reason to enter a war.



The idea was greeted with great applause by the Tagsatzung. So much in fact, that when the elections rolled around in October, not even André’s fancy hat could stop Nicolas from being voted in as the new Syndic.





Despite Nicolas being less adept at leading an army of any kind than André, he relished the idea of war. He quickly made himself the new general of the renamed Hiberlin Regiment.



Afterwards, he declared war on Urbino, using the Alliance with the Papal States as an excuse.



The declaration of war prompted the Swiss Tagsatzung to quickly change its goals from having a larger army than Savoy to accumulating money. Perhaps the war would give a chance to stockpile some wealth.





The declaration of war on Urbino divided the Italian allies of Switzerland. Ferrera had some harsh words in their letter, while Milan merely stated that they were too preoccupied with their own wars to enter yet another. Tuscany, on the other hand, agreed to send its troops to the aid of Switzerland in its conquest.



Right after breaking its alliance with Switzerland, Milan quickly asked to rejoin. Switzerland understood that they couldn’t join the war because of their own problems. Besides, without Milan, Switzerland had a larger chance of more rewards for itself. They agreed to enter into the alliance again, but warned Milan that they might do the same to them one day. The Palatinate also sent an offer for an alliance, and Switzerland accepted as well. They had guaranteed Switzerland’s independence a few months previously, so they surely meant well with their alliance.



The Swiss troops led by Heberlin were already positioned in Ferrara when war was declared. They moved in on the only province of Urbino, Ancona, quickly. The result was a bloody massacre. Urbino’s infantry was cornered in a keep and refused to surrender, so the Swiss had no choice but to fire a constant stream of arrows into the doorway. No one survived, including their leader, the King of Urbino. 60 Swiss men died in the attack, most of them from Heberlin’s axe-waving. He was a very, very poor leader.



However poor he was at war, he always saw a chance to increase taxes and revenue for the state. He decided to use the war as an excuse this time.



His regiment then split up, the infantry staying behind to take Ancona, and the cavalry going in to siege Roma again.



Again, Hiberlin wasn’t the best leader in a war, but to his credit, he still managed to increase revenues in his own state. From the forefront of the Roma siege, he passed a Land Reform act, giving Schwyz better land to produce on while also increasing its tax value.



The siege of Ancona was won in 94 days, mostly because Hiberlin had gone to siege Roma and wasn’t close enough to Ancona to mess up the siege.



Urbino quickly requested peace to give Switzerland 7 measly ducats. Hiberlin laughed and declined.



Finally, the siege of Roma was won after 243 days. Switzerland had yet again conquered the previously unconquerable. They had won a total victory over Urbino.



Hiberlin’s cavalry quickly regrouped with the infantry in Ancona. The nation of Urbino was now leaderless. Hiberlin smiled gleefully as he realized yet another opportunity to increase taxes: increase the size of Switzerland! His poor diplomatic skills failed to give him the sense that annexing Urbino would be frowned upon by the rest of the world. And thus, Ancona became a province of Switzerland.





Hiberlin also made it part of the Holy Roman Empire.



It would take a while for the citizens of Urbino to get used to being under the control of the Swiss, especially since the population of Ancona greatly outnumbered that of Schwyz and Bern combined. However, Hiberlin guessed that everyone would recognize Ancona as part of Switzerland in about 50 years or so. Perhaps then they could build boats, too, and conquer some great vacation spots…

[Errante]

Nice update I really enjoy your writing style. Subscribed!

[Rizulica]

Switzerland has now officially beaten the World Champion!

I knew I shouldn't have trusted the Netherlands to win, Slovakia would've done better!

[Qorten]

Greedo, when you check the 'This is AARland!'-sticky in the General Discussions forum you'll notice a rule stating there's a maximum of 20 pictures/screenshots per post. Keep that in mind when you next update. Also, no two updates within minutes of eachother.

[blsteen]

Interesting that the Swiss now have a vacation spot

[Greedo]

@Errante: Thanks!

@Rizulica: I guess that means that although Spain won the World Cup, Switzerland is the best team in the tournament..? Haha. Maybe in 2014.

@Qorten: Oh dear, I went two over the limit by accident. I'll keep that limit in mind then.

As for the two posts within a few minutes, I was organizing them as two topics. I'd written both a while ago and wanted to post them both. I can't find a rule anywhere saying that it's not allowed.

I didn't even know that thread existed, nor the forum because I followed the link to the EUIII AARs from the EUIII forums. Now that I'm looking at it, I notice that it states that:

2. All new initiatives must be run past the Moderators first. (Includes Interactive AARs)

So is my AAR still fine or should I PM a moderator now?

@blsteen: Indeed.

[Qorten]

@Qorten: Oh dear, I went two over the limit by accident. I'll keep that limit in mind then.

As for the two posts within a few minutes, I was organizing them as two topics. I'd written both a while ago and wanted to post them both. I can't find a rule anywhere saying that it's not allowed.

I didn't even know that thread existed, nor the forum because I followed the link to the EUIII AARs from the EUIII forums. Now that I'm looking at it, I notice that it states that:



So is my AAR still fine or should I PM a moderator now?

Your AAR is perfectly fine, as long as you keep to the twenty screenies limit.

[Greedo]

Your AAR is perfectly fine, as long as you keep to the twenty screenies limit.

Thank-you for the guidance and advice then! =)

Edited to note that I'm NOT just taking it as advice but as a rule.

[Greedo]

Not long after the Swiss War of Pope Defence, Bavaria declared war on the Swiss ally, the Palatinate.



The Swiss heavily considered going in. For one, they had hated it when the Italians had bailed out on them in Swiss War of Pope Defence. Also, they could gain some territory from Baden and expand Switzerland’s size. On the other hand, scouts reported that Baden had an army of around 20,000 infantry. This was a greatly exaggerated number, but it was enough for the Tagsatzung to call off the war. So the alliance between the Swiss and the Palatinate was broken, and Switzerland lost some of its prestige in the eyes of other nations. No big loss. A passing Burgundian was heard remarking that the Swiss were “cowardly lunkheads”. When word got to Hiberlin he shouted that the Swiss would redeem their credibility and began a heavy training regimen for the troops.

One nation that viewed the falling out between the Palatinate and Switzerland as a blessing was Mantua. The king was so excited he sent Switzerland 15 letters asking for an alliance. One made its way to Hiberlin, who was busy marching with the army. He looked it over and said, “Mantua!? What in the world would an alliance with them bring us? They can hardly keep their own economy going… No, this is some sort of trick.” And that was that.

On January 2, 1407, the Swiss treasury finally accumulated 100 ducats, reaching its goal. They celebrated by having a cleaning party. The Swiss treasury was a very boring place. However, in the cleaning party, they discovered 10 more ducats and so they indulged in a bottle of juice to share amongst the 50 members. It was a wild night.



With Switzerland financially stable, the Tagsatzung decided to improve its foreign relations. They decided to improve relations with their former ally, Ferrara. The Tagsatzung granted them military access through Switzerland, which could be advantageous if they wanted to fight Austria or Burgundy. This was unlikely, but Ferrara appreciated the gesture anyways.



On March 1, 1407, the Papal States suddenly spoke up against a Swiss philosopher, Emile Emmentaler. He was questioning whether the Pope was relevant and if the Swiss should not just annex the province as their own. The Papal States demanded the man be hung for the heresy. The Swiss people, however, jumped to his defence. They themselves had been questioning the pope’s relevance in the modern world. The Tagsatzung voted in the people’s favour and Emile was able to continue his writings.

Then, on April 12, tragedy struck.



Nicolas Hiberlin had been leading his troops on a routine march of Ancona. As mentioned before, he was not a man of war. Yet he insisted, and it would be his downfall. Hiberlin was marching in front of the Swiss Army when he tripped and fell on his own sword. He would have survived, had he not pulled it out and tried to walk to help. He also would have survived if he had reached the help, but alas, he fell on it again. Since then, the soldiers of Switzerland marched with their swords securely in their scabbards unless in battle so that they did not pull a “Hiberlin Manoeuvre” themselves.



In Hiberlin’s place, Charles Honegger von Oldenburg was elected as the new Syndic. He did not have the administrative intelligence that Hiberlin had had, but as a veteran of both of past Swiss wars and of a few other conflicts, he was at home on the battlefield. He also possessed the ability to communicate with other nations. His diplomatic skills quickly gained Switzerland a new ally with Sicily. Sicily seemed like the perfect ally. On an island, they were unlikely to be attacked, and yet they could easily land troops to help Switzerland in any of its wars on the Italian peninsula.

A year passed without much interesting, except that Ancona was made a major trade station for the Genoese Trade League. This increased the amount of people passing through and thus the taxes gained rose by roughly 10%. However, on June 8, 1408, a group of 6000 men rose up in the province of Bern.



With the Swiss army in Ancona, they quickly seized control of the capital city of Switzerland. A man called Nicolas Grüneisen proclaimed himself the new Syndic and demanded the beheading of Honegger. He proclaimed that Honegger had been placed into power on fraudulent votes, and had paid off many members of the Tagsatzung to vote for him. Luckily for Honegger, he was able to sneak out of Bern before he was captured.



Honegger sent a messenger to the army stationed in Ancona and they rushed home as fast as they could. Honegger moved out to meet them, but they must have taken different roads for the army reached Bern before meeting up with Honegger. Thus, he could not lend his leadership to the army and they lost against the uprising.



On their retreat, they came upon a distraught looking Honegger. He yelled at them with such charisma that they were inspired to fight again, this time with Syndic Honegger at their helm. They drove forward and defeated the uprising easily. Grüneisen was thrown in the stockades of Bern under the highest security detail until he was sent to the gallows himself.



With the peace resumed, Honegger checked the mailbox in front of the Tagsatzunghaus and found a letter from the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the King of Bohemia. He was happy with Switzerland’s success in promoting the Empire’s power in Italy and had thus decided to give Switzerland the role of an elector. Honegger was humbled. He was also cunning. Since the ballots were anonymous, he voted for Switzerland.



With peace re-established, Switzerland as an elector in the Empire, and a great Syndic at the helm, the Swiss felt unstoppable. Honegger even introduced the idea of having a Bureaucracy to improve efficiency in the state. It did in the short run, but eventually, the various steps of the bureaucracy proved to decrease efficiency. It did raise taxes, though, and that’s what mattered for the government.