• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Maybe you can create a People's Popish Republic where you can send Poplitical dissidents? :p If I were the Pope, I'd be tempted to take back Avignon and Riga, maybe even start a Unified Diocese in North America (St. Pierre and Miquelon would be a perfect choice!).
 
Maybe you can create a People's Popish Republic where you can send Poplitical dissidents? :p If I were the Pope, I'd be tempted to take back Avignon and Riga, maybe even start a Unified Diocese in North America (St. Pierre and Miquelon would be a perfect choice!).

Take back Riga..? From what times Pope owned the capital of Latvia (I know Latvia didn't exist back then, but Latvia has mostly been part of Russian Empire)? HMMM?
 
Take back Riga..? From what times Pope owned the capital of Latvia (I know Latvia didn't exist back then, but Latvia has mostly been part of Russian Empire)? HMMM?

The knights of the sword or The Livonian Order controlled Riga and the surrounding country around 1230-1550. They were a branch of the Teutonic Order thus as close to Papal territory as you can get :)
 
Chapter 3: Long Live Popism! (1848-1859)

The Pope now thought it was time to take a well earned holiday. However this plan was put on hold as the liberals in The Papal State were threatening the very foundation of the Popes rule. He tried everything to satisfy their desire for political reforms but nothing helped. In the end the depopulation of Rome itself forced the Pope to take drastic actions. He gave his people the right to vote!
Fortunately for the Pope this was enough to quell the reform desire as he would never have given away his divine right to appoint the ruling party. On November 12th 1848 the form of government changed.

80newgov.jpg


In the following year all the news papers were writing that The Papal revolution had ended. The Pope sitting in his dining room scratched his head at breakfast wondering what revolution they were talking about. Had he mistaken something? There had never been an armed rebellion nor any indications of one. The worst that had happened were the emigration of his people.

80whatrevolution.jpg


Over the next year the last reforms in Voting Franchise and System were adopted and by January 1850 the political reforms of The Papal State were as follows.

1850reforms.jpg


The year after in 1851 the idea of Big Game Hunts began to circle around among the rich strata in The Papal State. The Pope saw no reason why not to welcome this new sport.

80biggamehunt.jpg


On the first hunt all they found was a colony of singing lemurs and a lone elephant which was shot, this giant trophy was stuffed and shipped home to the Pope. He put on display, for his people to see. They nicknamed it the “Popaphant”.

During these peaceful years the administration were raised to 80%. Mechanical Production was introduced in 1849 and the research department went on to looking into Realism as the Pope wanted more prestige for himself and The Papal State. He did however wonder a bit about if the world was not real enough or what this Realism thing was? In 1852 the research was done and the Pope was happy.

80realism.jpg


The Pope, most interested in his newly discovered Realism, let the department choose what new subject was most important. They picked Early Railroads. At the same time the industry saw a new expansion.

1852factories.jpg


The alcohol industry in Lazio was expanded, in Papal Emilia a Steel Factory was built to provide the needed steel for the ever increasing expansion of the rail network. The wood industry in Romagna grew with construction of a Furniture and Luxury Furniture Factory. The last because with Madagascar under Papal rule tropical wood was now in abundance in the little country.

The Pope controlling most aspects of the industry had led to increasing concern among the capitalists.
The Pope explained the idea behind his disposition. It was still possible for the capitalists to build factories on their own; they had built most of the new railroads in the country, he reminded them. However they did not listen and called his divine actions mad.

90popism.jpg


“Mad you say, This is Popism!” the Pope yelled, ending the conversation for good. However to keep the capitalists happy he did later introduce Market Structure to increase the competitiveness of the factories.

War broke out between France and Prussia in 1854, a war that did not go as the Pope had hoped, as the result of the war was a strengthening of France.

1855europe.jpg


The Pope, worried about the strength of the protector of Sardinia-Piedmont, began to look for new areas to conquer and his divine eyes fell on his neighbor Two Sicilies. First he had to expand his army therefore new regiments were recruited, mostly African. The Navy increased with three new warships, two old British Frigates and a Man'o'war.

armytech.jpg


The armys condition had not kept up with time and the Pope decided to introduce some more professionalism. Forts were also built in Rome, Perugia and Ancona along the border of Two Sicilies.

August 29th 1859 peace ended. It was once again time to Pope some land.

80twoswar.jpg
 
Last edited:
Singing lemurs and a “Popaphant” :D

Thank you for chapter 3! Very amusing and well done.
You still need 2 more chapters till the 15th for the contest, keep on writing :)
 
Hey dear readers :)
Chapter 4 has been taking a little longer to make than i had anticipated. The chapter has been little more than half done since monday which means I have spent the last couple of days battling to get the pictures of the war with Two Sicilies the way I want them. It looks like that has happened now and I hope im able to update tomorrow evening (around this time).
 
Cant wait to read your next update! :)

EDIT: Chapter 3 edit on 04-11-2010 granted for spelling corrections
 
Last edited:
Chapter 4: Doing it Pope style (1859-1861)

The Pope declared war on Two Sicilies on the August 26th 1859. While his exact reason remain unclear it is certain that three factors played a large role in the choice of target. First, it was one of two large neighbors, the other being Sardinia-Piedmont. Unlike Sardinia-Piedmont which was protected by the French, Two Sicilies only had one ally Greece, a minor country which was also allied to the Pope. Second, the conquest of a neighbor of this size would definitely secure The Papal State as the dominating power on the Italian Peninsula. Third, the Pope really wanted to have the La Cosa Nostra under his rule, and he had heard they had some secret recipes on wine and liquor, the conquest of Sicily was a must!

During the war on January 1st 1860 the research department began researching Empiricism they got a breakthrough rather fast and finished the cultural achievement on the 12th of January.

80empiricism.jpg


Hereafter Clean Coal was researched to improve the self sufficiency of Iron from Papal Emilia and Coal from Madagascar.

The war went as follows:
The troops at the start of the war was deployed on the border while the enemy army mostly resided in Naples. The Pope had appointed three of his best generals as leaders of his armies. Ottaviani, Caraga and Anfora the latter of which was appointed leader of the Papal Army and thus had the responsibility for the outcome of the war.

initialsetup.jpg


However Two Sicilies immediately mobilized bringing lots of irregulars into the war. The Pope wanting to spare the lives of his people forbade the very thought of mobilization. “If the standing army is not enough why do we have it?” he asked his generals.

Two Sicilies made the first move, the Popes Armies gathered at Perugia on the order of the generals as they thought this was the goal of the enemy. However they received intelligence that the enemy had been cheeky enough to march directly towards Rome. The Papal Army reached Rome first and set up some sporadic defenses. This was to be the first battle of the war as well as the largest under Papal rule.

battleofrome1complete.jpg


The army Two Sicilies had been split up and retreated towards Gaeta and Aquila with the Papal Army in pursuit of the latter. In Aquila they caught up in what was later named the slaughter of the bloody hills.

battleofaquilacomplete.jpg


The few survivors from the battle retreated to old defensive positions in Foggia. The Popes forces attacked immediately as they reached the positions as they knew enemy reinforcements were on the way. The enemy was routed and the defensive positions taken. Anfora the commanding Papal general set his troops to reinforce the positions and by the time the reinforcements arrived the Papal army was ready. After being thrown back and losing many men the army of Two Sicilies retreated, regrouped and then launched another attack which was also thrown back. Anfora took the chance when the enemy army regrouped and sent his most exhausted army back to Rome through another and safer route to recover from the first months of war. These three battles of Foggia happened during the cold winter season from 4 December 1859 to the 15 January 1860.

80threebattlesoffoggiac.jpg

(right click -> view picture for full size)

The main army of Two Sicilies was now in full retreat and Anfora and his army was right on its tail. The enemy was first defeated in the battle of Bari and later routed in Brindisi. The main Papal force was now a very long way from home.

battleofbaricomplete.jpg


What remained of the enemy was now the two armies sieging Ancona and Perugia, of which the main part were irregulars. Anfora sent his army on the march of their life, back towards Rome.
Before they arrived Ancona surrendered after 6 months of siege and the enemy once again tried to attack the divine city of Rome however the rested troops gave the needed resistance until Anfora could provide the much needed backup with the main army.

secondbattleofromecompl.jpg


The enemy was thrown back and regrouped in Perugia which was soon to become a battleground. As Perugia fell to the enemy Anfora gathered every Papal soldier and sent them to crush the enemy once and for all. 33.000 Papal troops against 28.000 of our deluded South Italian brothers. The Battle ended in a massacre, bodies and horses lying dead everywhere and the blood, rivers of blood. The Papal troops had never seen the like and they started to lose morale and in the end they broke ranks and fled towards the south.

fleek.jpg


Anfora and his staff first regained control of the fleeing masses after they had reached Bari. After a brief rest they were turned around and once again started marching north towards the remaining enemy forces.
The results of the battle was never verified, Two Sicilies claimed victory because the Papal troops had fled, and the Pope claimed victory because the main part of the slain were from Two Sicilies. The historians argue about the exact casualties however most agree that the papal forces lost about 4.000 soldiers against 28.000 from Two Sicilies.

The war was now over. Two Sicilies had only a minor of their original force left and they were exhausted and weak. Anfora saw this and sent some of his army to begin the siege of Two Sicilies while the rest attacked the largest of the remaining enemy armies at Gaeta. The battle was won and the enemy retreated to Aquila. Anfora remained on the defeated army's tail as he had received information about that Two Sicilies tried to gather their remaining troops in Aquila. He arrived before the armies had gathered and attacked and routed the first army. He then laid an ambush for the second army which was also routed.

endingbattlecomplete.jpg


The army of Two Sicilies was defeated and the siege of Two Sicilies began.

The Pope seeing how Two Sicilies were completely defeated expanded the war to include Sicilian Sicily as he had planned, he wanted the La Cosa Nostra and he got them.
February 20th 1861 the war ended when Puglia and Sicily got Poped and the Pope could now add Don to the list of his many titles.

europe1861.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ricox - Oops, I guess it wasn't really 'owned' by the Pope; for some reason, I'd figured it was like Avignon, a place of refuge for the Pope( and occasionally the Antipope) but apparently it was mostly Livonian/Teutonic Order land. :blush: My bad!

Nice Job (oh, I kill me) increasing your Pope-ulation! I'm not very comfortable with that Austria, though. Also, thanks for showing the troop movements as you do; it helps players like me, who are eternally craving better strategy (and bungling it every time, ehehe) learn via osmosis. :)
 
Ricox - Oops, I guess it wasn't really 'owned' by the Pope; for some reason, I'd figured it was like Avignon, a place of refuge for the Pope( and occasionally the Antipope) but apparently it was mostly Livonian/Teutonic Order land. :eek:o My bad!

Nice Job (oh, I kill me) increasing your Pope-ulation! I'm not very comfortable with that Austria, though. Also, thanks for showing the troop movements as you do; it helps players like me, who are eternally craving better strategy (and bungling it every time, ehehe) learn via osmosis. :)
 
As communitarian said watch out for the mean Austrians next door, they might get the wrong idea with all your prestige and want a peace of the pie:eek:

Austrians mean? oh come on we are peacefull pepole :D

Thank you for chapter 4, excellent update, keep up the good work! :)
One more chapter and you are set for the contest!
 
I hope to see a new update soon, times running out for the contest :)
 
I hope to see a new update soon, times running out for the contest :)

Had a busy weekend however i finished chapter 5 late yesterday evening so it will be up sometime today. Hope to get a couple of more chapters finished before the deadline.
 
Had a busy weekend however i finished chapter 5 late yesterday evening so it will be up sometime today. Hope to get a couple of more chapters finished before the deadline.

Awesome! Cant wait to see who gets poped next :)
 
Chapter 5: A Popes boredom (1861-1879)

The large increase of South Italians in the Papal State following the popeing of Puglia and Sicily led the Pope to decrease the military spending to 60%. Furthermore administration and education was revised and both ended around 70-80%. This was done to incourage signups for the positions as it was greatly needed. Especially in Madagascar.

During the peace a lot of new discoveries were made on the 9th of May 1861 Clean Coal was discovered. One and a half year later on September 5th 1862 Positivism followed.

80positivism.jpg


The Pope however did not understand this Positivism thing, he believed that his mood couldnt get much better and that it had been so since the war.
But it was soon to get worse. As the days got longer, he would sit bored in his study with no war or conquest to plan.

While the Pope was both bored and lonely, the research department kept themselves well and busy:

  • September 10th 1864: Interchangable Parts was discovered to improve the factories.
  • April 19th 1867: Impressionism followed due to the Popes hunger for prestige.

As there had been no results from april 1867 to the January 1st 1870 a new head researcher was appointed and he soon got a breakthrough

  • January 17th 1870: Analytic Philosophy, a quick breakthrough for the new head researcher which improved the general performance of the research department.
  • November 30th 1870: The Practical Steam Engine was taken into use for the first time.
  • May 24th 1872: Inorganic Chemistry.
  • November 13th 1873: Functionalism.
  • October 31th 1875: Biologism was made available to improve the education of his people.
  • April 17th 1877: Iron Railroads were discovered as the rail netword needed to be expanded.

Outside of the dark and smelly rooms of the research department quite a bit happened over the two decades. Things that the researchers did not know anything about and cared about even less.
May 16th 1865 as lightning from a clear sky a mob in Cairo burned the Papal Embassy to the ground. The Pope was outraged, "You cant assault property of god!" he yelled. Secretly thinking that a little war would be good to freshen things up.

northegypt.jpg


The Declaration of war fell an hour after the news of the Embassy burning had reached Rome. The armies were outfitted for the desert and the firste army shipped out on the May 22th 1865 with Anfora once again as the leading commander.
Anforas army landed on the Egypt shore of Dumyat and was attacked before they could regroup properly. During the battle Anfora got his men regrouped and attacked hard on the enemy's right flank. This caused them to retreat. Anfora followed the enemy to Suez where they defeated them once more. It ended in the battle of Ras Gharib.

egyptbattles.jpg

(right click -> view picture for full size)

The heathen army of Egypt was no more now and the infidels had learned not to anger the Pope.

October 14th 1865 the same day as the Egyptian Army was defeated, the unthinkable happened.

80navybattlelost.jpg


Due to no real naval threat untill now the Admirals had not even thought that the Eqyptian Navy could pose a threat. The loss of the navy really depressed the Pope, he was now the laughing stock among the great powers and even the incompetent leaders of the secondary powers mocked him. However what was lost could be rebuild and what was not yet lost had to be saved. The Army was stranded in Egypt but began etablising control of the country while the Papal Whafts was producing ships as fast as possible. As soon as the new navy was finished two more armies were shipped to Egypt.
Complete control of the country was soon establised and peace restored. "This will serve as a warning" The Pope declared from a stand in the heart of Cairo. "The next time we wont leave without proper compensation, mark my words!"
The war had not turned out as the fresh breeze he had hoped. The Pope was irritated. Why had this war not come at a later date, he had already made plans and the goodwill of the world was not unlimited regarding the popeing of other countries even if they were heathens. He was however set in stone that one day he would return to truely avenge the burning of that which belonged to God, by taking the land he did not dare take today.

During the siege of Egypt in 1866 the Pope equipped an expedition to find the source of the Nile. Due to the ongoing war the expedition was heavily guarded and was under a false flag. One of the captured flags from the Poping of Modena was used, "This will fool those uncivs they probably do not know that Modena does not exist anymore" the Pope thought to himself.

80nilesource.jpg


In 1869 some time after the war had ended a delegation from Switzerland arrived in Rome to summon the Pope to Geneva in order to participate in a summit wishing to create some rules of warfare. The Pope happily attended as being a spokesman for this new convention would show the world the power of the Pope and amend the humiliation from having his fleet destroyed by Egypt. Another and not outspoken reason for the Pope to speak for the rules of war was that he thought it would highten the fighting spirit of his soldiers.

80geneva.jpg


On February the 3rd the Geneva Convention was a reality as well as the Popes seal on the document.

Hereafter the Pope began to focus on expanding his influence in the rest of the world and on October 9th 1872 the Papal Sphere was expanded to also include Peru and Argentina besides Koreas and Sokoto.

80soi2.jpg


During these peaceful years the socialists in 1874 aquired seats in the upperhouse for the first time. The Pope did not know what to make of this.

80socialists.jpg


They could help this country of god become an even better paradise on earth however he had a nagging feeling that they wanted to take his silverware and give it away to the paperboy, or even worse his golden scepter! "We have to keep an eye on these people" he told the Popaphant which was standing in his dining room to keep him company during the long lonely suppers.

The Pope had now waited for nearly 20 years but now his boredom was soon to end. During the last two decades the international reputation of the Papal States had been improve to the best the Pope could remember. He was ready to act and his country too was ready. His favorite general, Anfora, had unfortunately retired, but new and competent generals had taken his place.

fourgenerals.jpg


The moment was ripe, it was time to include the last of his Italian brothers under Papal rule and on August 2nd 1879 the enevitable war was declared.

80warts2.jpg


The boredom the Pope had suffered these many years disappeared like mist before the rising sun. His mind was clear and his will set, "It is Popeing time!" he yelled.
 
Thank you for Chapter 5, very nice one, was an interresting read.
You are set for the contest with that, altough i hope you will give many more updates after this :)

You lost your fleet to egyptians... Who would have thought they could be a naval problem?
Maybe they hired some berber pirates ;)
At least the rest of the war went smooth.

It will be interresting if the sicilies will put up much of a fight, i personally doubt it.
Looking forward to your next update :)