The main thing is to make history, not to write it - A Prussian AAR

[Wannabe Tatar]

PART I: The beginning

It all started on the 25th of August, 1830, when the people of Brussels rebelled against Dutch rule. Under the leadership of Prince Frederick the Dutch Army was unsuccessful in retaking Brussels from the rebels. By the end of September a provisional government was formed and in the beginning of October Belgium declared her independence from the Netherlands.

Almost a year later the Dutch king, Willem I, sent his army, under the leadership of the Dutch princes, to retake Belgium by force. The successful ‘Ten days campaign’ saw the defeat of the Belgians at Hasselt and Leuven. Only the appearance of French forces could stop the Dutch advance in Belgium. The successful campaign put the Dutch in a favourable negotiation position, but reluctantly Willem I continued the war.

The European powers, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, were divided by the Belgian cry for independence. When France, under the July Monarchy, declared her support for an independent Belgium, the other powers declared their support for the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Russia, Austria, Prussia and even Britain support the Dutch king in fear of the annexation of an independent Belgium by France. However, all proved not willing or able to support the king by force.

It wasn’t until 1836 when the conflict saw large scale actions again. The Dutch threw all their forces to the west, capturing Ghent, Brugge, Antwerpen and besieging Tournai. With the apparent successes, the Dutch king refused to sign the Treaty of London, which would grant independence to Belgium. Britain, now supporting Belgium, and France sent troops to support Belgium, and in response Prussia and Austria fully supported the Netherlands and declared war upon Belgium, France and Britain.

Belgium conflict in July

[Fiftypence]

All out European war right from the start. This should be good.

[Wannabe Tatar]

Part II: Opening stage of the war.

Due to the 15 years of peace and stability in Europe, none of the powers involved in the Belgian conflict, were fully prepared for war. The opening stage of the war favoured the ‘allies’ as the French and Belgians had troops near the Prussian borders, while Prussian troops were stationed in Berlin and the Baltic coast.

The French were quick to advance towards Saarbrücken, Arlon and Luxembourg, while Prussian forces liberated Líege from the Belgians and marched towards Namur. By end May Prussian forces engaged the French forces near Arlon and subsequently defeated them, averting the fall of Luxembourg to France, however when the liberation of Luxembourg commenced, French forces had liberated Arlon, Saarbrücken and were besieging Krueznach and Aachen.

The Belgian conflict, mid 1836

By the end of October the 160,000 mobilized men had reached the Rheinland and engaged French troops near Saarbrücken and Aachen. Meanwhile in Luxembourg 20,000 Prussian troops were engaged in a battle against 56,000 French troops. The liberation of Saarbrücken enabled the Prussian to sent reinforcements to Luxembourg to ensure a Prussian victory. Meanwhile in Belgium, the Dutch advance had been halted and pushed back. The fall of Charleroi to the Prussians created some diversion for the Dutch, but they stood no chance against the British troops.

Start of the occupation of Wallonia, end 1836

The Netherlands finally signed peace with Belgium, losing Breda and Arlon to Belgium. Prussia by this time started to invade Belgium with larger numbers, which resulted in the fall of Arlon and Namur. The Belgians had defeated Prussian troops in Charleroi, their success, however, would last for a short time. By the end of 1836, large parts of Wallonia were occupied by Prussia, and Belgium appeared to be close to collapse.

[Rensslaer]

As you can imagine, I'm ALWAYS in the mood for a good Prussian AAR!

I sure hope you have access through those pesky German principalities! Otherwise this is going to be very difficult.

A VERY interesting start to a Prussian campaign!

Rensslaer

[Wannabe Tatar]

Originally Posted by Rensslaer

As you can imagine, I'm ALWAYS in the mood for a good Prussian AAR!

I sure hope you have access through those pesky German principalities! Otherwise this is going to be very difficult.

A VERY interesting start to a Prussian campaign!

Rensslaer

And you're correct on your assumption that I've got military acces through those lands, other wise there would be just 2 division in the entire Rheinland. To make another Prussian AAR, you've to be originial, and I've not seen one where there was an all out European war.

@Fiftypence: I hope it will be good, it certainly is something different.

[Novea]

Originally Posted by Wannabe Tatar

And you're correct on your assumption that I've got military acces through those lands, other wise there would be just 2 division in the entire Rheinland. To make another Prussian AAR, you've to be originial, and I've not seen one where there was an all out European war.

@Fiftypence: I hope it will be good, it certainly is something different.

The most original Prussian AAR twist I can think of is one after the fall of Prussia: you could try packing off all your troops into some distant colony during the Austria- Prussia war and allow the fall of prussia to trigger . Then reunite Germany , and destroy Austria !

[Walter Model]

If you want to make your game hard, then make realistic amounts of troops, so that means NO 50 division army like in your persian AAR

[Maximilliano]

wooo another Wannabe Tatar AAR! i'll be watching

[soonerborn0524]

Doing great so far.

[CatKnight]

Hm...interesting beginning. Did you modify the setup at all to trigger your war, or does Belgium/Britain/France start allied?

[Nikolai]

Another WT aar! I'm all sucked in.

[DukeLeo]

Originally Posted by Nikolai

Another WT aar! I'm all sucked in.

I kniow how you feel, I reckon he has a hypno-toad forcing all who look at is AARs to beocme addicted

[Corbett]

Originally Posted by CatKnight

Hm...interesting beginning. Did you modify the setup at all to trigger your war, or does Belgium/Britain/France start allied?

It's an event. The Netherlands can choose whether to grant Belgium autonomy, and one of three things happens:

1) The Netherlands grants Belgium autonomy. The war ends, Belgium gets the rest of Wallonia and Arlon in Luxembourg.

2) The Netherlands grants Belgium semi-autonomy. Same as 1) above, but Belgium is a Dutch satellite.

3) The Netherlands says no. Various countries (Austria, Prussia, France, the UK) then get to choose who they support, and a big war occurs between those parties. Clearly, the Dutch went with #3.

[Wenis]

I am really eager to see where this one goes.

[Wannabe Tatar]

Novea Every possible twist can happen. Hell, I can even lose Pommern to Denmark if I want. We'll see what happens, I'll play to have a challenge, so it's mostly based on goals I'll set for myself.

Walter Model Not the amount is important, but rather the way you fight. Most likely I'll try to fight 1:1 in the number of divisions, but I won't limit myself by just keeping 100 divisions, when France has 400 divisions.

Maximilliano Thank you, and welcome on board! Hope you'll enjoy it.

soonerborn0524 Unfortunately the Dutch peaced out early

CatKnight As Corbett points out there is an event sequence to allow that, but I slightly modified it, so the AI would take the options. Although for some reason France would remain neutral, so had to edit that too.

Nikolai Thank you for the compliment!

DukeLeo Yeah, that must be it.

Corbett Indeed, but slightly modified. Actually, the French would stay neutral for some weird reason, which I'm not sure about.

Wenis So am I.

[KuzuX]

You're writing history!!! :thereshouldbemoresmileys:

[Duke of Wellington]

Great start WT. As always your AAR is of the highest quality and I'll be reading.

[Wannabe Tatar]

Part III: Success in Belgium

By January 1837 Prussian troops already occupied a large part of Wallonia and were just 45 kilometres away from Brussels. When Tournai had fallen to the advancing Prussian troops, Belgium was virtually defeated, but Leopold I refused to secede the rich lands of Wallonia to the Prussians. And by July 1837, Prussian troops reached the outskirts of Brussels. Heavy fighting ensued in the streets of the surrounding villages, with moderate successes for both sides.

Unfortunately for the Prussians, Luxembourg fell to the French, and immediately troops had to liberate the Dutch city from French occupation. With the odds slightly favouring the French, a battle of nearly 2 months followed, seeing the French being pushed out of Luxembourg. At the same time of the French defeat, Dutch diplomats agreed on returning to the status quo with the French.

The Battle of Luxembourg

Fighting continued in Brussels, but by September the Prussians were forced to retreat. Despite the loss for Prussia, the battle had destroyed several British expeditionary forces and caused heavy losses upon the Belgian troops. King Leopold I saw no other choice as to cave in to Prussian demands; seceding Wallonia to Prussia.

Wallonia has fallen

By the end of the year, 20,000 cavalry troops under the leadership of Lt. General Brandenburg, marched towards Lille, or Rijssel for the Dutch, in hope to liberate it and release pressure from the troops in Saarbrücken. Furthermore it would bring Prussian troops closer to Paris. However, before Lille fell to the Prussian cavalry, French troops engaged the troops just outside Lille. A 5 day battle ensued, which saw the Prussians defeated and retreating to Tournai. Meanwhile in Lille and Cambrai the French started to prepare for a counter attack on the Wallonian city of Tournai. On the second day of Christmas, 26th of December 1837, 90,000 French troops approached Tournai and were met by 75,000 Prussian troops.

[Wenis]

Good idea for this AAR (I like AAR's that take part possible history). Keep putting pressure on the French. Do you plan on returning Wallonia to the Dutch, keep it, or make a puppet state?

[Duke of Wellington]

Looks as if you will be able to press on into France soon.