1424-1425 : Venetian Africa is born
In January 1424, the doge raised land maintainance, in preparation for the war with Morocco. The governor of Ifni reported that the Moroccan fleet had been spotted. In it there were 7 carracks and 4 cogs. The Venice admirals drew a plan to catch it in the Meditteranean, where the Venice navy, composed mainly of galleys, would be at an advantage.
The Moroccan fleet was on its way into the Mediterranean, the fools were at war with the Mameluks. The Venice fleet positioned itself in the Gulf of Almeria, waiting for the Moroccan fleet.
Venice's troops landed in Tlemcen, still held by Algerian rebels, but which was bound to fall any day. The Moroccan fleet delayed so one galley was positioned in the Straits of Gibraltar to keep track of Moroccan movements.
On the 4th of March, as both fleets were in the Gulf of Almeria, war was declared on Morocco. The allies were called to arms as well, so that they would be busy and not think about starting other weird wars.
And the Moroccan and Venetian fleet engaged in the Gulf of Almeria. Obviously, war taxes were immediately raised.
All our allies dutifully entered the war. The army that managed to land in Tlemcen marched into Melilla. It turned out that we didn't need to worry about Morocco's carracks, because Castilla's fleet soon joined the fray.
But there was something we did not think about, the defeated Moroccan fleet retreated in Melilla. It would have been better to catch it far from Morocco.
The crusade benefits kicked in. We choose Nice as a gathering point for the troops meant for Morocco. We created two fleets, so that one will patrol the Gulf of Almeria and the other would retrieve troops from Nice. But the fleets needed to be repaired too.
Venetian and Moroccan troops engaged in Melilla while Castilla sieged Atlas.
The battle was easily won.
Foolishly, Morocco's fleet ventured into the Gulf of Almeria and was again engaged by the combined Venetian-Castillan fleet. They lost and retired - again. This time to Toubkhal.
Meanwhile the Moroccan penetrated into Tlemcen.
In September 1424, a loan was repaid. There was only one left. Inflation was meanwhile at 5.8%.
In October, we laid siege to Toubkhal.
The Moroccan carracks were engaged in the Staits of Gibraltar
In November 1424, the doge moved the slider towards free trade, as expected of a merchant republic.
We learn that there are no short wars. We win another naval battle in the Straits of Gibraltar, for the first time we lose a ship.
In January 1425 began the siege in Safi.
In the Coast of Morroco the Castillian and the Moroccan fleets engaged. We soon joined.
There was a revolt in Krain.
On the 7th April of 1425 Melilla fell while all of Morocco was under siege.
A gift was sent to Hungary, to help them rebuild an army and to improve relations. The revolters in Krain were defeated, with huge losses.
They were routed in Görz, as the doge joined the army and using his maneuvering skills had caught up with them. Some troops were retreated from Morocco, as there were not really much to be feared there and opportunities in Europe may have arisen.
In June 1425, Fez and Fuig fell - to the Castillian. In July, Safi and Toubhkal fell. The Moroccan fleet had to leave Toubkhal and was engaged in the Coast of Morocco.
The Doge arrived in Sus and ordered an assault, because he was tired of the war. But it failed. Meanwhile, Castille and Golden Horde made peace.
Two Carracks were captured in the Battle of Coast of Morocco, but a galley was lost. The Doge wondered whether this was a sign of God and he should try to get more provinces from Morocco,
but the provinces Toubkhal and Safi seemed very poor to him.
.
In November 1425, Castille made peace with Morocco. As fresh trops arrived into Sus, another assault was ordered, and the province was taken.
Morocco was desperate and was ready to make an incredibly good deal for us. He would cede Toubkhal, Safi and Sus. The infamy cost for three provinces would be 3.0 . While the provinces did not seem very rich, they had strategic value. And Tangiers did deliver some good tariffs. Capturing 2 carracks from Morocco seemed also a sign of god that the deal should be accepted.
But the doge wanted to burn some prestige first, because he standed to get 24 prestige from the deal and he already had 87.
It was about time to extend Venice's sphere of influence. Mantua, Ferrara and Naples were incorporated into Venice's sphere of influence.
An so it was. On the 10th of November 1425, the deal was accepted. A new entity, called Venetian Africa, was born. It included the provinces of Toubhkal, Sus, Sufi, Tangiers and Ifni in Morocco.
Some days later. Algiers declared war on Morocco, but that did not interest us.
The Doge requested a statistics of incomes worldwide. Venice had still the third highest income, but the gap with Castille was closing. And noticed that Burgundy was at war with England and raising war taxes.
He wanted to know also how much was the gain from tariffs in Africa. The African provinces seemed ok.
But it was obvious that it was a pain for Venice to maintain both and army and a navy that could defend a budding empire. Expanding into Italy became all the more necessary and the Doge was pleased that now it was "Likely" that Castille would join Venice in a war against Milan. Regrettably Hungary was still busy with the Golden Horde and had a pretty small army, so it was decided to wait for the war weariness to wear off.
The year 1425 ended
