Thank you! And I want you to know that Quebec plays a large and interesting role in the times to come!
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Thank you! And I want you to know that Quebec plays a large and interesting role in the times to come!
Yes!
Since I'm writing my final right now I'll just provide a spoiler for the setting of the next update:
Paris, France, 1767. National Assembly first special session on modern tactics and how they might be used to retake the Kingdom of Quebec. The session will be chaired by Legislator de Tocqueville and will feature testimony from General LaFayette and Lieutenant Renault de Villeneuve, and will focus on light infantry during the Fronde
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Oh yeah!!!! If you want to to do me a favor, make Emile Grenier, sieur de Robillard a separatist leader 
Oh yeah!!!! If you want to to do me a favor, make Emile Grenier, sieur de Robillard a separatist leader
I'm going to be honest, I don't know who he is! And there seem to be few english language articles on him; could you provide one?
Sorry guys for the long wait for an update: my old computer finally passed (at 5 years, that must be like 90 computer years or something), so I'm going through the process of getting EU3 up to date. I do fear, however, that I won't be able to get my savegame right (there are a lot of weird things which went on with my savegame, from a partitioned China to a near-unified Italy to a superpowered Scandinavia to the Netherlands colonizing the Southwestern US). I'm almost tempted to switch over to EU4 after I finish the Fronde, but I know that EU4 isn't anywhere near as realistic as the Christmas Momod yet (not that weird stuff doesn't happen obviously, but all of the things that've happened so far are believable). Furthermore EU4 doesn't simulate parliaments which get pretty important in the late game.
Either way, Villeneuve's presentation on the use of Skirmishers in the War of Unification is going to come out within the week
Either way, Villeneuve's presentation on the use of Skirmishers in the War of Unification is going to come out within the week
What is the link of your mod? I'm tempted to make a last EU3 game before going EU4...and learning CK2 and Vic 2
So what is the mod, is it for Divine Wind?
So what is the mod, is it for Divine Wind?
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It's the Christmas momod and the link is on Frankfuck's sig. It is for Divine Wind and it's probably the pinnacle of play for EU3
Psst, it's not for Divine Wind (it's for Heir to the Throne).
(Oh Christ he's totally right)
Yeah but the issue isn't so much having to recreate my savegame but that I'm also thinking of moving in a new direction during and after the Fronde, using more 'primary' sources (like writing journal entries of an envoy instead of writing omnisciently about France's diplomacy). I think this is a better tack to take, because I think that any 'apolitical' take on the Enlightenment and the French Revolution would leave something missing. I just don't know if I should switch forums while doing that switch, and I am far more loyal to the Christmas momod than I am to EU4 and any of its mods so far (not that the mods are bad it's just an early phase).
Excerpt from the War Committee hearing on the Uses of Light Infantry, on the 16th of May, 1767
The National Parliament of France
Standing Head of the Military Reform Committee, First Minister Louis Roussin, Duc de Tocqueville, Marquis de Rhine, Comte de la Saint-Teraut: All rise for the entry of General Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and his aide de camp, Lieutenant Colonel Renault de Sauvon Comte de Villeneuve. I would like to remind my fellow legislators that the young Renault de Villeneuve is not the first of his family to grace the halls of the Louvre. It is true, Lieutenant Colonel, that you count Armand de Villenueve, the Marshal of the army of Charles VII and Louis XI, among your ancestors?
Lieutenant Colonel Renault de Sauvon, Comte de Villeneuve: It is true, sir.
De Tocqueville: And you men bring testimony regarding steps towards modernizing our army today, correct?
General Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette: Yes sir, we have come to present a two part analysis: my aide de camp has brought forth the work he did on his thesis in what I suppose is now called the National Academy, on the uses of skirmishers in the Fronde and the War of Unification. I will present more up to date work compiled from my experience in the American War of Independence and the Quebecois War of Severance.
Later painting of Villeneuve in the Heroic Style, painted after the Battle of Trieste
De Tocqueville: Yes, and we are all very pleased to have a pair of war heroes here with us today. May I ask what the relevance is in work originating from a century ago? Surely the Severists did not develop their methods from the Dutch model?
de Villeneuve: No sir, the Quebecois developed both of the methods I will go over--(stutters) th-that is, they developed both tactical and strategic skirmishing organically, but the Quebecois Imperial Army’s tactics most closely resemble the tactics of both the early Dutch Army and, at times, the Armee de Royale when it was led by Louis XIII during the Aristocratic Fronde. Furthermore, when I was in the Royal Army Academy, Colonel Maurice de Bonaparte was one of my teachers and showed a great deal of knowledge in this subject--which suggests that the victories that the Empire of Quebec has achieved in her current war against the American Republic, including their victories in the Battle of New York and New Amsterdam, in which the Imperial Army displayed degrees of maneuverability thought impossible by a professional army in broken terrain, has to do with more than their organic development--
De Tocqueville: Yes, and I am sure that this will all be brought up in the general’s presentation. Now on to my next preliminary question: Do you think that the development of such tactics and strategies could help us retake the Quebec colony?
de Villeneuve: ...well, Premier, the logistical distances between us and the Empire are vast, and even if an invasion were launched from Acadia I doubt that we could supply more than 20,000 men in the field. My work is more pointed towards the development of a skirmishing force towards European purpos--
de Lafayette: Premier, I can assure you that if we were to utilize the knowledge presented here, we could easily field a full corps and retake the colonies.
de Tocqueville: Excellent. Now, Lieutenant Colonel, commence when ready.
de Villeneuve: My analysis begins with the declaration of war during the War of Unification. Because while it is perceived that the Dutch were merely reacting to French weakness, there was a more specific target in the War: the Duchy of Luxembourg. Long a Bourbon stronghold, the sudden death of several members of the Luxemburger ducal family due to plague led to the possibility that the Duchy could be inherited by Jean de Valois, the heir to the Dutch Valois family. This brought Luxembourg into the war and led to a panic in the French Army. Any Dutch invasion was assumed to come through Flandres, which was thus highly garrisoned and defended by eight star fortresses. However, the Dutch commander D’Arnhem sent more than half of his forces to Luxembourg, which merely had a Late Medieval fortress and a standing army of 5,000 men.
The early maneuvers of the Flandres campaign in the War of Unification. D’Arnhem splits his army in two and moves the larger portion, along with the majority of his light cavalry and infantry as well as his cannon, towards Luxembourg. This triggers a response by de Telliers, who moves his whole army to Luxembourg to invest the fortress. The remaining 20,000 Dutch infantry lay siege to Bruges, soon to be supported by the other Dutch Corps
So, it’s obvious that this move toward Luxembourg triggered a sense of panic in the French Commander de Tellier. A captured Luxembourg would allow the Dutch to strike directly into French Champagne, and most importantly into the deeply Huguenot Alsace. De Tellier responded by moving the whole of his army to Luxembourg, which he managed to do only a month after the siege on the city began. D’Arnhem, who was now facing a larger force, elected to move back, thus beginning the Luxembourg campaign.
de Tocqueville: And, forgive me, I'm not terribly aware of the period, but the army of Henri II's time was quite small, was it not?
de Villeneuve: Yes and no. In garrisons, Flandres had an army of 18,000 at the time as well as numerous cannon emplacements. But with regards to a standing army, de Tellier's whole force was only 24,000 strong, and largely unreformed from the days of Louis XII. Of the 14 cannons de Tellier had in his force, 8 were old seige guns which could only be used on the battlefield to little effect, 2 were short-ranged guns which dated to the early 17th century, and only 4 of de Telliers guns were contemporary field guns which could be redeployed with any level of ease. This meant that while de Tellier could move strategically with some ease, he had to move very conservatively while he was close to d'Arnhem's force.
de Tocqueville: And while you have put a great deal of focus on d'Arnhem's light infantry in your report, it is true that the French had very little light infantry, correct?
de Villeneuve: No, and in fact the French still relied a great deal on pike infantry at the time, another factor which limited de Tellier's mobility.
de Tocqueville: Continue on, to the campaign of Luxembourg.
de Villeneuve: Ah yes. So as I noted, when d'Arnhem was faced with de Tellier's larger force, he elected to break the seige and move back to the northern part of the Duchy of Luxembourg. De Tellier decided to make Luxembourg city (with its four major roads his base of operations for a potential offensive into Dutch Liege, combining his forces with the Luxemburger Ducal Army. However, D'Arnhem chose not to retreat further back into the Netherlands, knowing that he had the advantage of mobility. At first de Tellier attempted to use brute force against the Dutch, marching directly against the enemy, where they met at Bastogne.
Michel le Tellier. The Luxembourg campaign would mark the end of his career, and would marr the career of his son until the late 1670s
The Battle of Bastogne was a collosal failure for the French, both due to the ineptitude of de Tellier, and due to the French army's failure to kept apace with technological and tactical advances. Almost immediately, de Tellier's short range guns were destroyed by counter fire, and the Tercio square formations were decimated by fire from d'Arnhem's field guns and his skirmishers. The Battle of Bastogne was one of the few times that light infantry was used in a skirmishing role in the 17th century, and the dispersed, musket weilding force was able to commit decisive casualties upon the French. In a panic, de Tellier ordered that his heavy cavalry charge directly into the Dutch lines, a move that led to the total destruction of the 2nd Bruges and 1st Dijon companies. Only three hours into the battle, de Tellier signalled a retreat back to Luxembourg. The Battle of Bastogne led to the deaths of 2,000 French cavalry and the majority of de Tellier's heavy cavalry, the deaths of 4,000 infantry, and the loss of 5 of de Tellier's cannons.
de Tocqueville: So why did d'Arnhem not deliver the finishing blow immediately?
de Villeneuve: Well, despite the massive losses on the French side, the Dutch still lost a great many men, mostly from his line infantry and heavy cavalry groups. So d'Arnhem instead chose to starve the French indirectly. He split off all of his light infantry and light cavalry groups, and sent them on combined anti-scouting and enveopment duties around the Luxemburger capital. De Tellier did not have enough replenished companies to defeat the surrounding Dutch forces, and the light infantry were so capable in their anti-scouting duties that de Tellier lost most of his light infantry trying to discern the location of the main Dutch force. And without knowing the location of the main Dutch force, de Tellier wasn't able to leave the capital. Within two weeks the Luxemburger capital was totally unsupplied. And two months after the Luxembourg Campaign was started, de Tellier surrendered the whole of his 30,000 man army to the Dutch. This without a major seige being started and without any battles beyond the battle of Bastogne.
The whole of the Luxembourg campaign
de Tocqueville: This was one of the first major surrenders in the history of modern warfare, yes?
de Villeneuve: Yes, it was the beginning of period of manuever warfare aimed towards forcing the enemy to surrender, but such massive surrenders of troops were not uncommon during the Wars of the Schism, between Thuringia-Saxony, Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Netherlands. Such a large surrender was rare, but it did happen.
de Tocqueville: And if light infantry was such a powerful weapon, why is it that they were not used after the War of Unification?
de Villeneuve: The Jagers were discontinued during the Dutch Provincial War. When Jean de Valois dissolved the Dutch Parliament and declared the Netherlands to be a Monarchy, the Jagers rose in rebellion against him, and quickly took over the city of Maastrict (the city where they were stationed). From Maastrict, the Jaegers were able to force a revolt in Antwerp, and from there a general revolt occurred between the former Brabantese provinces and Jean de Valois' power base in the northern Netherlands, which lasted for 4 years. After then, light infantry was considered too dangerous a tool to be put to use: their knowledge of the land and military abilities made them a Praetorian force in the principalities which made use of them (most notably the Ottoman Empire).
_met_storm_verovert%2C_den_29_july_des_jaars_1579_(Jan_Luyken%2C_1679).jpg)
The Maastrict Massacre ended the Dutch Provincial War in 1675, and was the beginning of the end of the Dutch Golden Age
de Tocqueville: So you think that the tactics of the jaegers can be used in our Republic without them becoming a praetorian force?
de Villeneuve: Yes. Despite the Jaegers being seen as disloyal, they displayed an amazing degree of loyality to their Republican form of government, and a similar corps of skirmishers taught both in light infantry tactics and in the virtues of our Republic would be a helpful enemy against our foes. In fact, I believe that they could also be used to lead rebellions elsewhere.
de Tocqueville: Monseiur Colonel, I remind you that while we are a Republic that does not make the monarchies of Europe necessarily a foe. We will take your views into consideration, and move the hearing on to the testimony of General Lafayette. Now, Marquis de la Fayette, you...
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Right? What do these aristocratic upstarts think they are? Well born aristocrats? Huff huff!
Also I'd like to say that after like an hour of playing Momod and a couple of hours of playing through the Revolution in EU4 that I'm sticking with EU3. It's tough a tough choice but EU4 just can't even come close to simulating the kind of political turmoil that's going to happen.
Absolutley magnificent update as usual Merrick. Below is me nitpicking.
In no way do I have any right to tell you how to write, but this sentence looks odd too me. "Support" or "Supply" or "put" should replace the first "Field"
Yes it does. If they are as conservative and reactionary as they were in reality.
In no way do I have any right to tell you how to write, but this sentence looks odd too me. "Support" or "Supply" or "put" should replace the first "Field"
Yeah the 'field more than X in the field' looked weird to me too, I'll edit it now.
And the 1st Republic is considerable more...moderate at first than the Jacobin republic was (which I tried to hint at with their use of aristocratic honorifics).
And the 1st Republic is considerable more...moderate at first than the Jacobin republic was (which I tried to hint at with their use of aristocratic honorifics).
Another brilliant update Merrick!
I've nominated you as the very deserving WritAAR of the Week, congratulations!
I've nominated you as the very deserving WritAAR of the Week, congratulations!
My god!! Thanks to this I'm going to put off rewriting my cover letter in order to bring you guys the next entry!
The War of Unification in the South, and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy
While the War of Unification played a great part in the history of the Netherlands and of France, in the end the war had its greatest impact in Italy. Modena, which had been an ally to Paris for a century, had long been drifting away from the French kingdom. This was partially due to power politics: with Spain kicked out of Sicily and Milan, France was one of Modena/s last rivals to Italian hegemony. French support for the Kingdom of Naples during the War of Abruzzi was the last straw, and after 1629 Modena started looking for other allies.
But the geopolitical shift was not the only factor in Modena's move away from France. Florence remained one of the great sites of French diplomacy, with the most senior French ambassadors sent to the provinces of Modena. Without a major shift in Modenan politics it's likely that French could have retained all of Italy within her sphere of influence for decades longer. Power alone is not enough to stimulate a change: first the shift in power must be percieved, which means a shift in perspectives and politics. Modena's shift away from France would not have occurred without the return of the Medici family to Italian politics.
A family painting of Governor Cosimo II de Medici, along with his wife Maria Maddalena and their eldest son, Ferdinando
The Medici had been the ruling family of Florence through most of the 15th century, using the wealth derived from the Medici bank to fund massive artistic and architectural projects, as well as buying off several competing families. They were deposed during the 1493 coup, which formed the Republic of Florence, and when the Republic of Florence formed one of the founding states of the Italian League the Medici were exiled from Italy. Over the 16th century the Medici expanded their bank and became one of the major financiers of the Hapbsurg Empire, rivaling the Fuggers for influence and power. It was only in 1623 that the Medici were allowed back into Italy, a part of the Despotate's moves towards the Hapsburg Empire.
In 1635, Cosimo II de Medici was a minor magistrate in the Modenan bureaucracy. He made a name for himself when he arranged a deal with the Holy Roman Emperor Francis IV to split Milan and Venice between Modena and Austria. The Italian Wars, between the Spanish Hapsburgs, their northern Italian allies and the Austrian Hapsburgs and Modena, began the split between the Hapsburg families and Spain's decline as a major power. It also reignited Modenan desires for unification. The Unita Faction, which had been forced underground when the Modenan Duchy took over the Italian League, resurged with a vengence, demanding the destruction of the Modenan bureaucracy and the formation of a republic which would expand over all of northern Italy. This faction found its hero in the form of Cosimo, who had resigned his position in the bureaucracy to lead Modena's forces in the Italian Wars.
Modena's borders in 1643. Note that Ancona had been integrated into the Modenan Despotate, and that the French Free County of Parma was now totally isolated
General Cosimo de Medici spent the next four years building support for himself within the Italian Senate (the only thing approximating a central government in Italy), the army, and in the Modenan people. He found that he had the most loyal followers in the newly conquered territories of Milan, Verona, Sardinia, and Apulia. While he also had formed a substantial following in Florence and Siena, they tended to be pure republicans rather than supporters of a personal dictatorship or even a monarchy which Cosimo desired. Beyond building support, Cosimo built greater and greater links with the Holy Roman Empire, gaining Italian trading rights over the Adriatic and free movement between Verona and Venice.
In 1648 Cosimo came to Vienna with a contentious proposition: the Italian crown in exchange for Italian friendship. This suggestion came up against multiple problems. Firstly and foremostly, recreating the Italian Kingdom would put the Holy Roman Empire in direct conflict with the Papacy. Secondly, the title of the Kingdom of Italy had not existed for nearly six centuries, and forming a new kingdom within the Empire might legitize Bavarian, Prussian, and Saxon-Thuringian desires for their own crowns. Lastly, such a move would likely further incense the Spanish Regency Council, which was already orienting towards France.
Inspired by Henri II's massive program of artistic patronage, Cosimo established himself as one of the major patrons of Italian high baroque art. These paintings, which combined the classical subjects of French neo-classicalism and the detail of earlier baroque paintings, formed the beginning of the artistic consensus of the later 17th century, a consensus which would evolve into Rococo art
In the end it took a massive bribe for Francis IV to agree to the eventual reformation of the Kingdom of Italy. Using his links in the Medici Bank and several favors with other members of the Medici family, Cosimo II was able to arrange a loan of four million ducats to support the Hapsburgs in their war against the Ottoman Empire. With Hapsburg support gained, Cosimo traveled to Sardinia, where he petitioned the Sardinian senate to resurrect the Sardinian crown and bestow it upon him. This once again required a substantial moving of funds (this time to build a major port in the Sardinian capitol of Cagilari), but with that done, Cosimo had a royal title, and traveled back to Italy to begin his insurrection against the Modenan bureaucracy.
The Italian Royal War was short; over two thirds of the army defected to Cosimo's side and he was supported by militias from the peripheral provinces. The major section of the war was spent in protracted seiges against the loyalist cities (particularly Bologne, Modena, and Pisa)and in a desperate guerrilla warfare in the countryside. Fortunately for Cosimo, the majority of the Italian elite seige corps had defected to him and so he was able to break the the loyalist forces after two years of civil war. And so, in 1650, soon after the French defeat at Luxembourg, Cosimo was crowned Cosimo I, King of Sardinia and lord of all the Modenan lands.
Cosimo I de Medici's first royal portrait, depicting him as ruler of the world (the globe in his hand) and as a fierce warrior (with his sword prominently displayed)
This was not enough. With the French distracted and weakened, Cosimo knew he now had a chance to make a move towards attaining the crown of all of northern Italy, a chance he could not help but take. Savoy, Parma, and the Papacy were all allied with France, and Cosimo announced his acceptance of the Dutch call to arms with a simueltaneous attack against all three states. The weakened armies of the combined free Italian states could barely stand against the combined might of the Kingdom of Sardinia, especially given the outdated fortresses guarding Torino and Parma. Parma fell in the fall of 1651, and a short winter allowed the forces of Cosimo to take Torino and Roma in the spring of 1652. Each would be annexed, though the Papacy would be allowed to administer a small section of Rome as the 'Vatican City' as per Cosimo's agreement with the Austrian Hapsburgs. And so in the late spring of 1652, and at the beginning of the Fronde, Cosimo moved his forces across the Alps into southern France.
The Campaign in Southern France. Darker colors indicate earlier points of occupation, dashed lines indicate partially occupied areas at the end of the war
The Kingdom of Italy in 1660. Note that Corsica isn't in the picture but is controlled by Italy, it's apparently really hard to get quality maps of pre-unification Italy