Dios, Patria, Rey - A Carlist Spain AAR

[Tommy4ever]

Photobucket bandwith exceeded.
I'll follow this anyway.

I'm trying to sort things

Currently uploading images onto a new account whilst deleting from the old.

Give me like 10 mins and the new update's pics will be up again.


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EDIT: Latest update back up

I'm going to try to delete a few pics from my old account (has worked in the past to end the bandwidth problem) but if that doesn't work I shall manually re-upload all the pics in this AAR . If anyone wants to read the Austria one .... then I guess tough luck

[aldriq]

Finally I can comment! Royal Mail lost my boxed copy of Vicky 2 (how unvictorian!) and I ended up having to buy it in the high street...

Great AAR, and interesting premise - who knows, maybe 50 years of Carlos in the 19th century would have properly consolidated the country and saved it from a civil war and 50 years of Franco in the 20th... or maybe not - you could equally argue that if the liberals had been a bit more competent things would have been very different. I might try a full-on liberal Spain at some point

[Tommy4ever]

OK, crisis averted.

Here's the current situation: all pictures except for those on the first two updates of the second page are now on a new account and are threfore guarunteed survival.

I have no idea why the pics on the first two updates of the second page stayed up but so long as they continue to do so I'm not going to bother to change anything. So be warned they may be liable to fail.

[Stuyvesant]

Poor Ottomans. I'm always a sucker for them in the Victorian age. Still, their decline opens the door wide for Spain to claim yet more influence in Africa.

[Chaz44]

I like the province world map that clearly defines your possesions, though it is some decades in the future do you have designs on the french lands over the pyrennes(sp?)
This AAR forum will pick-up after all V2 is still only a new-born

[Nikolai]

You should grab the Holy Land. Deus Vult, you know.

[Tommy4ever]

Spain - 1843-1850

The 1840s was a period of great prosperity for Spain. The national finances flourished the slow process of industrialisation continued and Spain’s international standing improved.

In the budget of June 1843 Spain took a great leap forward. National debt was slashed from £70,000 to £43,000 whilst tariffs were reduced from 30% to 5%. Couple with this all taxes fell by 5%. The most immediate beneficiaries of the new budget were Spain’s factories. Whilst the steel mills and cement factories were already profitable the significant decrease in the price of imported coal greatly increased these profits. Elsewhere borderline industries reliant upon foreign imports (such as CMSC artillery factory in Madrid) went from marginally unprofitable and subsidised by the government to profit making industries in their own right.



During the middle of the decade a series of revolutionary technological advances in the field of mining allowed Spain to dramatically increase its rather paltry coal production and more importantly make it one of the world’s leading exporters of iron ore.



Throughout the decade more factories opened. In 1844 a group of entrepreneurs opened a fertiliser factory in Badajoz (Extremadura) however the decision was quickly revealed to be a poor one as within a month of opening the owners had been forced to call upon government assistance. In 1846 tariffs were reduced to 0 as the government’s coffers continued to overflow with wealth. In 1846 the government steel mill in Madrid was expanded whilst the following year the state also expanded the textile industries in Barcelona. In 1849 Spain was declared debt free as the last of the government’s creditors at home and abroad were repaid.



The period also saw a revolution in transport as Spain’s archaic system of roads was supplemented by a new rail network. It is important to note that until 1848 all of Spain’s railroads had been constructed by private firms. The state only intervened to begin the construction of railroads in Andalucía and Catalonia.



This period of peaceful prosperity was only interrupted by war during a short was with Oman between January 1847 and March 1848. Between 1844 and 1846 Portugal and fought Oman and expanded Mozambique Northwards whilst seizing the Isle Zanzibar. Spain’s Portuguese Allies had informed Spain of the weakness of Oman and encouraged them to take advantage of it themselves. This led to the short and rather bloodless conquest of Mogadishu and Lamu.

The Rest of the World – 1843-1850



Whilst Spain enjoyed a peaceful decade the rest of the world remained a very violent.

Asia

In the Far East the British conquered the Burmese territories that had only recently been taken by from Siam whilst the Russians continued to expand their influence in Central Asia.

Germany



In the Bruderkrieg of 1841 Austria had lost control of Moravia to Prussia. In the Moravian War of 1847-1850 they won it back. Unlike their previous war with Prussia this one started brightly as the Prussians faced heavy defeats in Moravia and Silesia. To the West the Bavarian army crushed a troupe of North German armies near Frankfurt. The Prussians never recovered from these early losses and as the war ground onwards they were unable to force the Austrians out of Silesia or the Bavarians out of Hessen. In 1850 they were forced to return Moravia to Austria.

The Ottoman Empire



The Armenian War (1844-1849) is often seen as a rather pointless conflict. The proud Russian Empire invaded the ailing Ottoman Empire in 1844 with the grand aim of freeing all the Christian peoples under Turkish rule. The ‘Sick Man of Europe’ was supposed to come tumbling down under the irresistible force of the Russian liberators. The conflict did not turn out that way.

In the Balkans the Russians were unable to cross the Danube River and were thus forced to abandon hopes of either relieving the pro-Russian Slavic peoples or claiming Constantinople. Therefore the Russians were forced to launch their attacks through Christian Armenia. Hopes of breaking through into Anatolia were ended after a series of crushing Russian defeats however Russian troops were able to break through into Kurdistan and Iraq beyond. After the Russians occupied Basra in 1849 the frustrated Tsar signed a peace treaty with the Ottoman Sultan in which Armenia was annexed by Russia. Many of the Orthodox Slavs in the European portion of the Ottoman Empire rebelled during the war in hopes of Russian liberation; their abandonment was regarded as a deep betrayal. Russia would never enjoy the same standing amongst the Balkan Slavs.

North America



Through the 1840s tensions between the Northern Free States and the Southern Slave States in the United States of America had left the two halves of the country totally polarised. There had been many attempts to find a compromise to the situation (most notably the proposed American plans to invade Spanish ruled Cuba and Puerto Rico in order to establish more slave states) but all attempts had failed. The growing strength of the abolitionists meant the Southern way of life could not continue if the USA remained United.



On January 3rd 1850, after the abolitionist Republican President Abraham Lincoln took office, a series of Southern States banded together to create a new nation – the Confederate States of America. Soon afterwards the North went to war in order to preserve the Union, beginning the American Civil War.

[Enewald]

I so wish my V2 would work...

No debts?
Did you tax everyone poor?

[Tommy4ever]

I so wish my V2 would work...

No debts?
Did you tax everyone poor?

I swapped around what sort of tax systems I used quite alot. I try to keep all taxes the same. In this game I usually kept middle class at the minimum whilst adjusting both the rich and poor taxes up or down a few percent according to my treasury situation.

In this game its just way to easy to run a surplus (by 1900 I'm making 600 a day in profit )

[Fiftypence]

Good update, Spain seems to be developing nicely.

[hoi2geek]

Why not liberate the Philippines and all of the Celtic Nations as vassals to your Carlist empire?

[Stuyvesant]

As Fiftypence says, Spain appears to be developing nicely. What did you gain by taking those two provinces from Oman? Are they worth much, or did you gain prestige, or did you simply take them because you could?

[aldriq]

I guess you'll be using those new gains to start some colonial expansion in East Africa?

[dinofs]

Now that Spain has recovered, she can look outwards again. To Portugal, perhaps?

[TekcoR]

Now that Spain has recovered, she can look outwards again. To Portugal, perhaps?

Today Portugal! Tomorrow the world!

[Tommy4ever]

Spain and the World in 1850



By 1850 Spain’s standing in the world had improved tremendously since Carlos V’s ascension to the Spanish throne. With a solid, if unimpressive, industrial base, the world’s third most powerful military and renewed prestige among the World’s major powers (largely due to successful wars and Spanish politicking) Spain had secured her position among the European elite.

Just as Spain had attempted to rejuvenate its position through industrial growth the Ottoman Empire had done likewise. Indeed in Western Anatolia and in Thrace the Turks had created a substantial concentration of heavy industries however whilst Spain’s industrial program was complimented by an adventurous foreign policy and military modernisation the Ottoman Empire had failed to provide the resources to firmly secure its position as a great power. By 1850 Mexico was already snapping at the heels of the Turks, eager to claim a position among the Great Powers.

Elsewhere Prussia, after briefly reaching impressive heights following the Bruderkrieg of 1841, had stagnated. Still reeling from defeat in the Moravian War (1847-1850) the once vaunted Prussian military was no longer as feared as it once was whilst Prussia’s industrial sector had actually contracted since 1838.

The United Kingdom had suffered through some hard times during this 1840s as over the course of 2 major recessions during that decade Britain lost a total of 8% of its economy, the industrial sector was worst hit (many British firms were forced out of business by foreign competition) and had contracted by an incredible 17% since 1838.

France and Austria were two countries who had taken advantage of and indeed contributed towards Britain’s industrial crisis. Between 1838 and 1850 the French industrial sector had grown to 4 and a half times its previous size whilst from the same starting point in 1838 Austrian industry more than doubled. Whilst both countries enjoyed successful economic improvement during this period the fortunes of their militaries was very different. Two major wars with Prussia left the Austrian Army in tatters whilst a lack of government funding had prevented modernisation whilst at the same time France had greatly strengthened her army and navy.

The Russian economic miracle between 1838 and 1850 had been a truly awe inspiring success. In 1838 Russia, much like Spain, had no major industries in her cities. Again like Spain the Russian government had invested heavily in the creation of an industrial sector. However this is where the two programs end their similarities, whilst Spain’s program brought moderate success Russia had created the 3rd largest industrial sector on earth (narrowly behind leaders Britain and France). Russia was now the world’s leading producer of steel and lumber whilst her vodka distilleries exported to the entire world. Militarily Russia’s army remained formidable although outdated whilst Russian influence was fast expanding in central Asia and the Balkans.

The final Great Power to note is the United States. America’s statistics in 1850 were rather unreliable as the country had only just entered Civil War. Industrial growth had been almost entirely focussed in the North but the important thing was the fact that there had been growth.




Taking a closer look at Spain’s industry it was clear that there was room for expansion. The simple problem was the lack of migration from the countryside to the cities, especially in areas outside of the industrial heartlands of Castile-Leon and Castilla la Neuva. The largest and most successful industries in the country by far were the steel mills and cement factories of these two key regions. That being said in recent years the textile industries in Barcelona had started to expand rapidly and the fabric making firms were securing good profits.



Spain still had a long way to go to catch up with the world’s true superpowers (France, Britain and Russia) but the progress made between 1838 and 1850 was encouraging enough to convince many that Spain could once more join the top rank of the world’s Great Powers.

[Enewald]

now, where could you expand, using brute force?

[Tommy4ever]

Spain – 1850-1855

In the last years of Carlos V’s reign Spanish international standing increased significantly as she restored influence to the Americas and fought wars in Asia.



One of the main problems faced by Spain during this period was the 4 Years’ War in Cuba. The war began in 1849 after a large section of the Creoles population rose up in revolt against the Spanish state across the invaluable island. There are several reasons for the war, amongst them harsh Spanish treatment of the island and encouragement for revolution from Mexico are very important. However the main reason was demographic change. Before Carlos’ ascension the locally born Creoles had been the dominant class, ruling over the island without interference. However from during the 1840s a massive wave of immigration from the Spanish mainland changed things forever. By 1849 20% of the country was made up of Spanish born Peninsulares. These Peninsulares were favoured by the government for jobs of administration and service in the military whilst the injection of wealth from the Spanish mainland had led to the process of the Creoles being demoted to a middle class between the Afro-Caribbean Slave population and the ruling Peninsulares. The Iberian born immigrants took over the farms of the Creoles and their sugar mills, the increase in the value of the more luxurious properties meant the Creoles could no longer afford them. The revolt was seen as a way to end this trend and restore the Creoles to their former position of power.



What followed was a long and bloody guerrilla war between the government army and the Creole militia (alongside large numbers of Slaves who fought with the Creoles, often against their will). At this stage aside from the farm owners the majority of Peninsulares still lived in the major cities such as Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara and Havana. Within the cities the Peninsulares would remain safe but beyond them they were at risk of murder by the Cuban ‘patriots’. It is estimated that during the most active phase of the conflict, (1849-1851) when the countryside was all but abandoned to the Creoles, between 10,000 and 16,000 Peninsulares were murdered.



In 1851 Governor-General Arsenio Mertinez y Antion devised the strategy that would eventually lead to the defeat of the rebels. The militias were supported and supplied by the Creole villages that were dotted across Cuba. As there was no way of knowing which villagers supported the rebels and which did not the Governor-General decided to transplant whole villages to camps around the main cities. This brutal tactic was internationally condemned, especially by the USA who might have gone to war if they had not been engaged against the Confederacy. In the end the Reconcentrado Policy was an unmitigated success. Within a year the rebels were on the verge of defeat.



The last major action of the war occurred in 1852 at a time when the Spanish victory was almost complete, as the rebels had been forced into the mountainous highlands. The filibustering expedition of Narciso Lopez was highly publicised in America but ended in embarrassing failure and Lopez’s execution. The Venezuelan born American mercenary had recruited an army of several hundred Cuban exiles in New York and then sailed to Cuba to conquer the country for the USA. With one week of his arrival the Spanish army had crushed Lopez’s force and he had attempted to flee towards the mountains where the Creoles militia still hung on. On route Lopez was captured and executed, during this low point in Spanish-American relations Lopez’s bullet riddled body was sent back to New York alongside and angry letter from the Governor-General. In early 1853 the rebels finally surrender, the 4 Year’s War had claimed around 130,000 lives on all sides from both sides, including civilian casualties.



Between October 1850 and May 1851 Spain and Portugal fought a short war with the Netherlands. The Dutch went to war with the aim of annexing Portuguese Timor. The war was a total disaster for the Dutch as their army sent to invade Timor was badly beaten by the Portuguese garrison and closer to home their navy was mauled just 12 miles North-West of Amsterdam. The victorious Spanish fleet then set up a blockade across the entire Dutch mainland preventing all sea trade. So after a short conflict the Dutch agreed to peace.



This first half of the 1850s saw Spain take the lead in naval innovation. In 1850 Spanish engineers presented plans to Carlos for a new breed of warship. Steam powered and protected by either iron or steel plating these ‘ironclad’ warships would secure Spain’s maritime power for decades to come. New shipyards were constructed in Barcelona in 1850 and Valencia in 1853 whilst work on a grand new fleet began in 1852. The last of the new fleet was completed in the first weeks of 1855.



Since the acquisitions of Spanish colonies in East Africa and the annexation of Morocco the Spanish Imperialist lobby had grown in strength. The desire to expand the Empire had led planners to Indochina and the Empire of Annam. Recently engorged with the conquest of Siamese lands the rich lands of Indochina were now protected by a badly overstretched Empire. On December 12th 1851 War was declared and some 24,000 Spanish soldiers began their invasion.



The Annamese military was of little use against the modern Spanish army and they faced heavy defeats at Hue and near Saigon during the early days of the war. From then on the Annamese troops would concentrate on containing the Spanish advance rather than fighting to push them back.



Despite the best efforts of the Imperial army Annam was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty on March 27th 1854. A new Spanish colony was created whilst Annam was forced to release Cambodia from its vassal ties to Hanoi.



Using the tool of the Madrid Pact Spain greatly expanded her influence during the early 1850s. Spanish influence returned to the American mainland in rather underwhelming style in 1852 as the Continent’s smallest nation, Uruguay, signed the Madrid Pact. The following year following the Council of Montevideo in which the Heads of 9 Latin American states met with representatives from Spain Ecuador, Peru, Chile and the United States of Central America all joined together to simultaneously sign the Madrid Pact. Access to the Spanish led internal market of the Madrid Pact coupled with the influence of the Spanish military and the chance for Latin American unity proved too much of a temptation for many Latin American states. Bolivia had decided against joining the Pact in 1853 but following a disastrous war with Brazil, the French supported bully of South America, Bolivia joined in 1854. Meanwhile in Egypt in 1855 Spain secured a much fuller level of dominion. The decline of Ottoman influence in the region had only heated up the battle between France and Spain for control of Egypt yet it was Spain that secured the precious country. A series of treaties were signed in 1855 that turned Egypt over to total economic and political domination by Spain; a permanent Spanish garrison was left in Egypt, Spaniards saturated Egypt’s government and the Egyptian economy was turned over to Spanish economic interests.



On March 10th 1855 Carlos V (1788-1855) died. He had ruled for 17 years between 1838 and 1855 and had successfully rejuvenated Spain. The Spanish economy had been turned around, her international influence was greater than it had been for decades and Carlos had begun the construction of a new Spanish Empire with the annexations of lands in East Africa, Morocco and Indochina. The great reactionary King had ruled as a harsh but loving father of the Spanish nation, for those who were opposed to the regime Spain was a terrible place to live but for the majority living conditions had improved noticeably over the course of Carlos’ stable 17 year reign.

[Enewald]

Is this not against the treaty of tordesillas?

[hoi2geek]

Are you going to consider my ideas to create Carlist vassals for the Philippines and the Celtic Nations?