The House of Habsburg 1679-1701
October 1679: Recruitment "A Passing Fad" Says French Court
With tensions high after king Louis XIV's "Perpetual State of War" speech, the Austro-Italian court is heartened by continued French claims of peaceful intentions.
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October 1680: Yet Another French Victory Despite Bad Odds
In yet another battle with equivalent leadership and technology, the French shows themselves superior in the luck department. After a year of battles following the French invasion, this is becoming dreadfully predictable.
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January 1681: Peace In Our Time, With Honour
Though widely critized by contemporary sources for cutting his losses, history vindicated king Leopold I of Austria-Italia's decision to hand over Artois and Franche-Comte.
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May 1682: Ottomans Invade Venice -
Leopold I Kills Even More Muslims
Nowhere near recovered from the losses of the French war of 1679-81, Leopold I nevertheless sends Austro-Italian armies into Hungary when the Sultan of Constantinople invades Venice, a faithless and worthless vassal of Austria-Italia for many decades.
Quickly taking the heavily fortified city of Presburg, the Austrian armies do not possess the force to press the attack - but they possess the strength to hold Presburg.
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March 1686: Death of a Salesman
With the loss of its Mediterranean islands to the Turk, Venice is but a shadow of its old self. Fearing for its very life, the old merchant republic finally joins Austria-Italia as a principality.
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May 1686: Poland Professes Purpose of Plundering Prussia -
King of Austria-Italia Not Amused
Following the defeat at the hands of the French and the war against the Ottomans, the Austro-Italian armies have regrouped, though they are still stretched in their many commitments. The Polish invasion of Brandenburg, the faithful vassal of Austria-Italia, despite warnings to the contrary, gives the Austrian forces a chance to prove their worth in a target-rich environment.
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January 1689: Poland Depopulated - Krakow War Reparations
Despite considerable incompetence displayed by the Austro-Italian and Brandenburgian forces and the losses of such eminent generals as Von Starhemberg (4/3/4/3), Poland is being brought to its knees. The Polish king apologises for his invasion of Brandenburg and peace is agreed on. Krakow, the old capital of Poland, is turned over to Leopold I as war reparations. He promises to return it in the future, when the Poles have relearned civilized behaviour.
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January 1691: France Still At Peace
In according with his "Perpetual State of War" policies, king Louis XIV of France celebrated the tenth year of peace after his victory over Austria-Italia. "The policy is still in effect, of course, but when I laid claim to everything on my side of the Rhine and vowed to fight and take it all in a perpetual war, I did not intend to fight anybody whom the Spanish Emperor might actually lift a finger to defend. Goes without saying, really. Care for a lollipop?"
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June 1697: Spain Implements "Cutting Edge" Approach to Diplomacy
In a stunning debacle of diplomatic ineptitude, the kingdom of Spain began cutting any and all ties with the great powers of the world, without any words of explanation given or diplomacy undertaken. Mystifying all of Europe, this turned out to be the Bourbon faction of the Spanish Nobles' idea of diplomacy. That says a lot about the Bourbons, really.
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February 1700: France Invades the HRE - Spanish Emperor Applauds!
With the unjustified invasion of Baden by France, February 5th, 1700, the Holy Roman Empire is at war again. The Elector of Baden is naturally surprised, as he was a French ally until December 10th, 1699, when Louis XIV dumped him. But he is not alone. Taking the world by surprise, the ailing Holy Roman Emperor Carlos II, has allied with France 27 days before the attack, and now publicly applauds the French invasion, because, as he publicly states,
"the emperor is surprisingly allied to farnceatm".
King Louis XIV is unapologetic: "I told you so in 1676, but arranging these things takes time" - truly a man with superior vision. The world watches, stunned, as France and the Palatinate invade Baden, while Spain watches from the shadows.
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September 1700: The Empire Strikes Back!
Following the death of Carlos II, the Bourbons behind the throne manage finally manage to place their lickspittle on it. Abject revulsion, terror, and desparation sweeps the Holy Roman Empire, and the remaining electors stampede to vote the crown back in Habsburg hands, where it belongs. Leopold I is Holy Roman Emperor and his empire is imperiled.
Despite being grossly outnumbered, he declares war on France, hoping that the Elector of Brandenburg will follow his lead in saving the Empire. Initial battles, unfortunately, turn out much like those of the war of 1680, and the Emperor is heard loudly cursing the RNG (which apart from miserable combat results in 1680, 1686, and 1700,
also failed 12 our of 14 conversion attempts, 1680-1700, with 6 at 28%-30% and 8 at 50%-51%
)
- England loudly proclaims neutrality in this purely continental matter
- The Netherlands expresses dismay, and safely shielded behind the Austrian front line, cheers on the Imperial Stormtroopers
- Poland raises the issue of Krakow, which is returned to Poland for much needed money
- The Turk is amused by the Christian's antics and is likely to support whomever seems weakest at any given moment
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1701: The Man Who Would Be King Points to Prussia as Source of Crown
The Elector of Brandenburg, having proven himself a staunch ally of the Habsburgs, petitions the Emperor to grant him the kingship of Prussia. The following is the answer of Leopold I.
...The King of Austria-Italia, Leopold I, thinks the Elector of Brandenburg is slightly overreaching himself. Nevertheless, as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he must think of the greater good of the Empire, rather than his personal interests, and he grants recognitioning of the Elector as the rightful King of the new Kingdom of Prussia, whereby the Emperor means the territories of Brandenburg and the province of Prussia. As all men know, none can be king save with the blessing of the Emperor: That blessing is given.
With greater status comes greater responsibilities, and as the new King of Prussia grows into his strength, he must look to forego many of the benefits that accrued to him when he was but a prince, for it is not well for a king to be too beholden to another monarch.
As a sign of his favour, the Emperor grants the King of Prussia the right to carry the small black eagle, signaling devoting to the Imperial cause. The King of Prussia is also appointed Sword of the North with the responsibility of guarding the Northern German states of the HRE from all foreign aggressors. Moreover, for the betrayal of the HRE by the Rhinepfalz Palatinate, the Emperor lays upon the Sword of the North the task of defeating the Palatinate, humbling the prince's armies, and, if necessary, to make a clean sweep of the religious deviants in the name of the Lord our savior.
Thus say Leopold I, Archduke of Austria, King of Italia and of Bohemia, Lord of the Sands, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
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1701: Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures...
The Emperor issues fair warning that, despite his peaceful disposition and liberal world view, steps will be taken to dismantle the de-facto Bourbon hegemony, which was brought about by the unconscionable manipulations of King Lous XIV of France, unless the king of the Franks stops his reckless expansionism.
As such, to bring peace to the west, on the suggestion of the Imperial Prince (honourary) Eugen of Savoy, and with the grudging acceptance of the king of Austria-Italia, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire is willing to offer peace in the west on the following conditions:
- That Brabrant and Luxembourg are immediately ceded to the Crown of France from Austria-Italia
- That Savoie and Piedmonte are immediately ceded to the Crown of Austria-Italia from France
- That France is awarded Lorraine from Baden, no more, and no less
- That France signs a separate peace with the Imperial forces of Austria-Italia and Brandenburg
- That France relinquishes any and all claims on Austrian Flandern and Dutch Zeeland
Though Imperial forces are outnumbered almost two to one, let no one doubt their resolve to carry through even unto the bittersweet end, should France desire war rather than peace on these favourable terms.
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1701: Imperial vs Bourbon manpower, 1701
Code:
[color=white][font=courier new]
Manp/year base Manp/year (DP) Current Armysize Support Limit
Brandenburg 32.00K 33K 102K 105K
Habsburgs 69.75K 100K 282K 296K
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[color=gold]Imperial 101.75K 133K 384K 401K[/color]
France 81.00K 85K 320K 301K
Spain 50.50K 50K 340K 339K
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[color=skyblue]Bourbon 131.50K 135K 660K 640K[/color]
[/font][/color]
As can be seen, the Bourbons are ahead in every single category relevant to manpower and the size and number of armies fielded. Only the fact that the Bourbon troops are of universally high quality brings the actual manpower to approximately the same size for both sides, though the Bourbons have a slight edge. (Which will increase by about 5.0 as soon as France makes peace with Baden for Alsace and Lorraine)
Note: Note to the mathematically inept or incurably pedantic. If the only number you are interested in is the maximum size of the manpower pool, rather than these numbers that actually explain the state of the nation manpower-wise, just multiply the manp/year (DP) figures by two, as the maximum size of the manpower pool is twice the yearly manpower gain adjusted by dp settings