From Muscowy to Russia.

Chapter 1: The dawn of an era (1419 to 1440)


On New Year's Day, in the year of our Lord 1419, Vasily I awoke knowing that this day marked the dawn of a new era for Muscovy.

This small nation--consisting of the provinces of Moskva, Vologda, and Nizhgorod--was surrounded by vast empires and smaller nations that would soon all be fighting for supremacy. Vasily I knew that Muscowy would have to make itself a contender, or risk perishing in the contest.

To the north was ambitious Sudzal; like Muscowy also a vassal of the Golden Horde. To the east and southeast was the far-reaching empire of the Golden Horde itself. To the south and southwest was powerful Lithuania. To the west was small but strong Novgorod. ...and, to the northwest, was expansionistic Sweden. Muscowy was right in the middle of it all.

Vasily I set his plans into motion with immediate effect. Muscowy's status of vassal of the Golden Horde was terminated, crashing the tiny nation's stability. Its miniscule army was thrown at the southern neighbors of Ryazan. Ryazan fought back immediately, sending its army to Moskva where it defeated Muscowy's second regiment. As the creation of a new regiment neared completion, the forces Muscowy had deployed to Ryazan returned to Moskva. The timing was perfect and the new regiment and the returning regiment combined to knock Ryazan's army out of contention. Next, they turned their sights back on Ryazan, and the province became a part of Muscowy in June of 1419.

At the same time, wars were breaking out all around Muscowy. Three days later after Muscowy's forces engaged Ryazan, Denmark and Sweden declared war on Novgorod, and Pskov and Sudzal and Tver joined a year later. Novgorod could not hold on for long, offering Arkhangelks to Pskov.

In December of 1420, Muscowy looked to further expand and declared war on its western neighbor Tver. Tver returned all its forces from Novgorod and threw one regiment after another at Muscowy, but Muscowy alway prevailed.

Muscowy's front expanded as an angry Golden Horde declared war in early 1421. Fortunately, the war with Tver did not last long, with the province being annexed by Muscowy in the summer. Now all its efforts could be concentrated on the Golden Horde. Ryazan was liberated from the invading forces, and then Muscowy went on the offensive by besieging Tambow, Vorones, and Kazan. After all three provinces came under Muscowy's control, a peace agreement was negotiated that saw Vorones annexed by Muscowy. Surely more provinces could have been taken, but Vasily I was worried about not damaging the nation's reputation too much.

Novgorod suffered heavy losses in its contest with Denmark and Sweden, and it had to sacrifice Kola, Karelia, Ingermanland, and Kexholm to Sweden in the summer of 1422.

Two years later, in 1424, Vasily I looked to strengthen Muscowy's position by entering a military alliance with Sudzal and gradually built a relationship through gifts, trying to ensure that Sudzal would target other provinces for conquering.

Vasily I's reign came to an end on February 7, 1425, when his son Vasily II took over a flourishing Muscovy. Vasily I had helped to lay the groundwork for Moscowy's success with his ambition and vision. Vasily II's time as ruler of Muscowy proved to be uneventful, however, as Yuri IV prevailed in the civil war of 1433 and displaced Vasily II as ruler of Muscowy. Vasily II would return in 1434, however.

Pskov had been unrelenting in its war with Novgorod, and the conflict between the two nations would rage on for over a decade. Novgorod finally got the upper hand and sacked Pskov, annexing Pskov in 1434.

Tension was on the rise again. The Golden Horde sent Vasily II a warning in early 1435, letting the leader of Muscowy know that they would not tolerate Muscowy attacking any neighboring nations. Sudzal had not received any such warning apparently, as a declaration of war was made against Novgorod soon thereafter. Muscowy's military alliance with Sudzal dictated that Muscowy also declare war on Novgorod, and Vasily II promptly went to work by besieging newly acquired Pskov before meeting up with Sudzal in Novgorod. Two years passed before Novgorod gave up and freed Arkhangelsk to Sudzal and Pskov to Muscowy.

Some time of non-action followed again. Vasily II sent his merchants to Novgorod to compete for trade, and he promoted bailiffs in Muscowy's newest acquisitions to help boost Muscowy's income. A plague made things difficult in 1440 by dropping Muscowy's stability and population. Good news came within a few months, however, as Vasily II had been successful in having Muscowy enter a royal marriage with Sudzal and then in having Sudzal become Muscowy's vassal.

Within 21 years Muscowy had expanded by conquering and annexing Ryazan, Tver, Vorones, and Pskov, and by vassalizing Sudzal and its new province of Arkhangelsk. ...but this would only be the tip of the iceberg...

Thank you for the interest. The next installment will cover a greater span of time, so it might take me until tomorror or Friday to type it all up. However, it will feature Lithuania and the role of badboy points.

In regards to the "Computer nations," I was referring to nations whose shields are displayed when you start a new game. If my memory is correct, the default nations for the Grand Campaign are France, Castille, England, Ottoman Empire, Byzantium, China, Novgorod, and Austria. Because I read somewhere that the events for only the eight listed countries are activated, I decided to replace the default countries with some of Muscowy's neighbors. Perhaps this information was inaccurate, but even then I chose Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Prussia--and now that I remember it, also Novgorod and Serbia--in order to use the ledger to compare their progress. I used the ledger graphs to see who all I had selected, and I suppose that Novgorod and Serbia weren't part of the graphs because [SPOILER ALERT] those countries do not exist anymore [/SPOILER ALERT]

Finally 1520 has passed, which marks the end of the second chapter. Expect the continuation of the story either tomorrow or Friday. There has been plenty of action to share with you.

Muscowy had come from very humble beginnings. As early as 1419 it consisted of only two meek provinces and a colony: Moskva, Nizhgorod, and Vologda. In merely 21 years the rulers of proud Muscowy had managed to more than double the size through the conquests of Pksov, Ryazan, Tver, Vorones. Moreover, Vasaly II had further increased the income potential through the vassalization of Suzdal.

Soon the war drums were pounding yet again. Lithuania, Pommern, and Prussia joined forces in a war against Poland in 1442.

Within a year Muscowy would itself be pulled into another conflict when Novgorod declared war on Suzdal. A strong force marched into Novgorod and besieged the provinces, but a secondary unit from Olonets first pushed Vasaly II’s forces out of Novgorod and then defeated the armies of Muscowy in Moskva itself. Vasaly II attempted to negotiate a peace deal with Novgorod but the offer was ignored. As fate would have it, this turned out to be the better outcome for Muscowy. A fresh batch of soldiers arrived in Moskva and was successful in driving out the invaders from Novgorod. Then the regiment struck Novgorod at home. Muscowy besieged Novgorod for a second time in 1446 and captured the province within months. Finally, in 1448, while Suzdal was still busily gathering its forces in preparation for a long-awaited counter-attack, the forces from Muscowy moved into Olonets.

Immediately, the Teutonic Order declared war on Muscowy. Lithuania, Pommern, and Prussia, which had invited the Teutonic Order into their alliance, followed suit.

Olonets could not hold out for long, fortunately, and fell within a few weeks of the Teutonic Order’s declaration of war. Instead of annexing Olonets, however, Vasily II decided to make all of Novgorod a vassal of Muscowy instead, hoping to build over time a relationship with his neighbors. Novgorod would be halved, however, and Olonets lost, when Sweden briefly fought with Novgorod and annexed Olonets.

With four different nations—mighty Lithuania among them—having declared war on Muscowy, Vasily II hastily offered a peace plan to the Teutonic Order. Like with Novgorod before, the proposal was ignored. Then Vasily II offered a peace plan to Lithuania at least, but the result was the same. Only once the armies of Muscowy liberated Pskov from the Teutonic Order and sacked Livland would a peace deal be agreed upon in 1449.

The action continued two years later, when Vasily II wanted to annex the newly created nation of Kazan, which had broken free from the Golden Horde just a few months earlier. A rebellion in Tambow saw that province cede from the Golden Horde as well, but instead of forming an independent nation the populace of Tambow decided to have its province become a part of Kazan. Vasily II sent troops to both Kazan and Tambow. The latter fell almost immediately, but it took another year for the forces of Muscowy to take control of Kazan. Without any other options left, Kazan reluctantly agreed to become a vassal of Muscowy.

A fight between two of Muscowy’s vassals broke out in 1454, when Suzdal initiated a war against Kazan. The military alliance between Muscowy and Suzdal dictated that Muscowy also declare war on its newest vassal, but Vasily II decided it would be better to simply dishonor the alliance and to let Suzdal follow its course, because he hoped that any land Suzdal were to capture would eventually become a part of Muscowy anyway. Kazan had little chance and was completely under the control of Suzdal within two years. The two sides negotiated a peace offer that transferred ownership of Tambow to Suzdal.

Meanwhile, fighting raged on south of Muscowy, with Cuman and the Golden Horde fighting for control of the provinces near and around the Black Sea. Aragon and Genoa would enter the fight against Cuman later on. The conflict became a tangled web eventually, as six or more other nations joined the fight. Cuman finally accepted a peace deal that gave Volgograd to the Golden Horde. The other participants, however, especially Aragon and Genoa, decided to keep fighting.

Vasaly II hoped to keep a good relationship with Kazan, Novgorod, and Suzdal. His plan was to create a military alliance between Muscowy and the three vassals. Besides perhaps improving the relationship between the four nations, the creation of the alliance was also to serve as a preparatory step in Vasily II’s plan to annex his vassals. To his delight, both Novgorod and Suzdal accepted the offer. Kazan, however, wanted nothing to do with it.

The good feelings would not last for long and the alliance would begin to fracture within a few years. In customary faction, Suzdal sought to expand itself by declaring war in 1460, with the Golden Horde being its latest victim. Vasily II, sharing Suzdal’s sentiment, happily fulfilled Muscowy’s obligation to the alliance by also declaring war. Novgorod, on the other hand, decided to break away from the alliance. Furthermore, the gift Vasily II presented to Novgorod recently were met complete indifference. These were offenses for which Novgorod would pay heavily in due time.

Muscowy’s forces rushed into Samara, wiping away any resistance and besieging the province. The order to take Samara would be the last Vasily II would ever give as ruler of Muscowy. On Mary 28, 1462, Ivan III rose to the throne. Immediately he gave the order to widen Muscowy’s attack and to take Uralsk. Meanwhile, Suzdal attacked Saratow and Ufa. After much pleading by the Golden Horde, Ivan III submitted a generous peace offer to the Golden Horde that would leave Samara and Uralsk intact. Suzdal, however, was greedier, and in its peace deal with the Golden Horde it demanded Saratow and Ufa. The Golden Horde accepted.

With a score to settle, Ivan III turned his attention to Novgorod. Muscowy’s vassal had shown repeated ingratitude towards their lord’s gifts, and Novgorod had shown a lack of respect by dishonoring its alliance to Muscowy and Suzdal. Many times Novgorod had served as a punching bag for its neighbors. It would have that fate once again. Ivan III shocked everyone by canceling Muscowy’s vassalization of Novgorod, and then further by, worse, declaring war on the former vassal. The army speared into Novgorod, resisting one defensive maneuver after another, and finally taking conrol in September of 1464. Novgorod, completely defeated and unable to respond, agreed to its full annexation. Soon thereafter, the Pomjestija Reform took place, reaffirming Moskva’s position as the capital province and moving the local center of trade that Novgorod once possessed.

There was no end in sight for the chaotic nature of the region, and the tranquility it briefly enjoyed was shattered once again. Lithuania was impressed by Muscowy’s fortunes, but at the same time, the recklessness of Muscowy’s foreign policy left the Lithuanian crown both angered and afraid. In April of 1466, Ivan III received a declaration of war from his neighbors. Ironically, this would would only serve to further whetten Muscowy’s insatiable appetite for domination. Muscowy’s forces quickly attacked Tula before driving invading Lithuanian forces out of Vorones and then besieging Kursk. Mosyr and Smolensk were the next targets, as the various regiments of Muscowy’s army descended upon Lithuania like a hungry pack of piranhas. Wilikia and Belarus followed. Lithuania made a few half-hearted attempts to defend itself, but strangely it kept its strongest army away from the battles. Kursk and Wilikia soon feel to Muscowy’s forces, and Tula followed a little bit thereafter. Lithuania put forth a peace proposal that also offered Kursk and Tula to Muscowy. Instead of continuing the war and sacking more of Lithuania’s provinces, Ivan III showed his generosity by accepting the offer. A power shift occurred in that moment. Lithuania was no longer the dominant force.

Ivan III felt it was necessary for Muscowy to take a break from its constant conquests, and to focus instead on further developing its economy and technology. Therefore, when Suzdal declared war on Kazan yet again, Ivan III declined to take part in the conflict. Kazan and Suzdal warred for a short while, and Suzdal eventually took control over Tambow again, which had previously rebelled and ceded from Suzdal.

Nothing happened for a while. Ivan III was busily developing Muscowy, Suzdal took a break from its expansionistic wars, and even Lithuania and Poland stopped fighting each other. Muscowy and Suzdal entered yet another military alliance, and Ivan III tried to better his country’s relationships with Kazan and Suzdal some more. A close bond began to form between the two neighbors of Muscowy and Suzdal, but Kazan greeted Ivan III’s efforts little better than Novgorod had done. Finally, on the historic day of December 22, 1473, Suzdal happiliy agreed to lose its status as vassal and to become a permanent part of Muscowy. As a result, Arkhangelsk, Vladimir, Tambow, Saratow, and Ufa, all joined Muscowy’s realm.

The period of inactivity continued. A few plagues and several uprisings hit Muscowy here and there, but these problems were nothing that the flourishing kingdom could not handle. In 1478, Muscowy welcomed yet another province to the realm when Volgograd rebelled and decided to defect from the Golden Horde and instead subject itself to Ivan III’s rule. Though Muscowy was very aggressive in pursuing its ambition to expand its terrotiroy, Ivan III’s nation was nothing like the Horde. Muscowy had a policy of not terrorizing the general populace of provinces it invaded and of only fighting those forces that put up a resistance. This approach surely made Muscowy more honorable than the barbarian Horde, and, along with its prosperity and military might, made Muscowy a welcomed ruler for any and all. …or so Ivan III thought. Still hoping to romance Kazan, he kept showering the vassal with one gift after another over the years, but Kazan’s reception to Ivan III’s generosity remained as cold as ever. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon.

Kazan left Ivan III’s mind for a while as his attention turned to Sweden and its holding of territory considered to be a part of Muscowy’s national provinces. These included the likes of Olonets, Kexholm, Karelia, and Kola. Muscowy declared war on Sweden in 1479 with the intention of taking back the provinces that were rightfully Muscowy’s. Ingermanland, Nyland, and Olonets were the first to be besieged. Sweden made a valiant effort, driving out the first wave of attackers and then taking the fight to Muscowy. Soon Muscowy turned the tables again, driving out the Swedish attackers and then pushing back into Swedish territory. After some more fighting, Olonets and Ingermanland fell, and Nyland and Kexholm came close. Finally, with troop strength and resources dwindling, Ivan III felt it to be better to take what he could instead of fighting for more. A peace agreement was signed in 1482, and Ingermanland and Olonets became a part of Muscowy.

Now Ivan III focused again on developing Muscowy internally. Trade was flourishing, the provinces of Olonets and Arkhangelsk were expanding, and the technology was improving. However, the one area in which Ivan III continued to fail was in romancing Kazan. Perhaps it was Kazan’s religion or the way Muscowy and Suzdal had toyed with the province in the past. Regardless of the reason, Ivan III was determined that if Kazan would not join Muscowy voluntarily, he would annex them by force much the same way he had done with Novgorod years earlier. Kazan fought back by attacking Vladimir and Ufa, but the counter-attack was quickly contained and Kazan fell in 1490, being annexed by Muscowy.

The Subednik Laws were introduced in 1494. Then, in 1495, only 13 years after the first war against Sweden came to a close, Ivan III invaded his neighbors once again with the purpose of winning back the remaining national provinces under Swedish control. Nyland, Kexholm, and Karelia were the first to come under siege. Sweden responded slowly, due to many of its forces being away to fight Norway. Then Muscowy forces pushed on towards Finland and Österbotten. Next came Tavastland, which fell rather quickly. Kexholm was the next province to be sacked. One uprising after another, and one defense effort after another, was crushed. Nyland fell, followed by Finland. Finally, after five long years of war, Sweden agreed to a peace deal in 1500. Kexholm, Karelia, Savolaks, and Kola came under Muscowy’s control. Ivan III had been successful in reclaiming all of the provinces for which he had hoped.

The cycle of peace and war continued on. Ivan III returned to improving Muscowy, and his focus at this time was on reducing the revolt risk of some of the provinces by converting the populace to the Orthodox religion. This, along with a meteor sighting, sparked a few rebellions, the worse coming in Kazan. In the northwestern provinces, rebels were hopping from one colony to another, thereby quickly taking control of a number of provinces. All of these uprisings were contained rather quickly, however, and the missionaries even proved to be successful with their conversions in some cases.





In early 1505, Kalmuk rebelled against the Golden Horde and then followed Volgograd in switching the allegiance to Muscowy. A few months later, the glorious reign of Ivan III came to an end when Vasily III ascended to the thrown.

His competence as ruler and his quality as a successor came to be witnessed almost immediately. Within a year he took advantage of Lithuania’s being weakened by a prolonged war with Poland, and he declared war on Lithuania in August of 1506. Lithuania tried to conquer by sending a large regiment to meet the invading forces in Smolensk. Muscowy’s forces in Smolensk absorbed the blow well and then tore apart the incoming Lithuanian troops. After this initial strike, Lithuania had great difficulties gathering enough resources to fight a two-front war, and it provided little in the way of resistance thereafter. The armies from Muscowy split and targeted Welikia, Mozyr, Smolensk, and Belgorod, while a separate unit invated the southern province of Azorov. Uprisings occurred throughout Muscowy but were quickly suppressed. Azorov was guarded by a small defensive force that was wiped out immediately, and the province fell within a few weeks. Smolensk and Belgorod could not hold out for long either. Poltava and Ukraina were next in line for besiegement, while half the regiment from Azorov moved through Muscowy to merge with a small attacking force in Chernigov. Mozyr fell next, with its captors then moving on to Volyn. Small defensive forces spawned here and there, but they were unable to respond to the force and speed with which Muscowy overwhelmed the Lithuanian provinces. The armies of Muscowy spread through Lithuania like a firestorm, and realizing that there was no way to win, Lithuania offered Azorov, Belgorod, Mozyr, and Smolensk to Muscowy. Vasily III reluctantly agreed, knowing that his reputation could be tarnished more than necessary if he demanded more provinces.

For many years, Vasily III did little more than to fulfill his administrative duties. More provinces were improved, more heretics were converted, more rebellions were squashed, and more research was done. Occasionally he had to settle disputes and worry about plagues. As always, wars raged all around, especially with the Ottoman Empire and in the eastern plains, but Vasily III paid little attention to it all.

As 1518 approached, Vasily III’s mind returned to conquest. His advisors and he started to plan for what would be proud Muscowy’s last conflict. The ruler’s aim was to expand his kingdom to the east and to the south, further into what remained of the Golden Horde. Finally, the declaration of war came on April 18, 1518. Nogai and Sibir joined the fight on the side of the Golden Horde. Bogutjar, sandwiched between Belgorod and Ufa, was the first province for Muscowy to invade. A blitzkrieg into Samara, Uralsk, and Astrakhan followed. Literally within days, the push continued into Orenburg and the capital province of Kouban. Astrakhan, Uralsk, and then Bogutjar and Kouban fell within a few months. Wave after wave of regiments from all three enemies descended upon the besieging forces of Muscowy, and with the exception of a minor victory here and there, all were defeated. The invaders then sacked Orenburg before moving into Irgiz and Kurgan deep in the territory of the Golden Horde and Nogai. Georgia, which was now owned by Nogai, followed. Unable to take any more punishment, the Golden Horde allowed its land holdings to be cut in half by agreeing to the peace negotiations and giving up Bogutjar, Samara, and Uralsk.

In his short tenure as ruler of Muscowy, Vasily III proudly followed in the foot steps of his predecessors and expanded the glory and power of Muscowy. All in all, the last 78 years had generally been extremely fruitful. …and in the last 100 years, Muscowy had come from its humble beginnings and three meek provinces to a flourishing and ever-expanding empire of 30 provinces.

Thus far, playing this has been great fun. I have to confess, however, that while writing about the experience I came to realize that it was probably less interesting than it seemed at the time. Basically, as was noted in the story, the same cycle repeats itself over and over again. First, I declare war. Then, after enough provinces have come under my control, I negotiate a peace deal in which two to four provinces are annexed by Muscowy. Then I reroute the income back into technology development and wait a while for my badboy rating to drop and for the provinces to develop somewhat. Next, the money starts to go into the treasury again and a build-up of troops occurs. Finally, all the steps repeat themselves.

Granted this is exactly in what the nations around me constantly engage, and so I do not think it is out of line for me to be concentrating on expansion most of the time. Furthermore, with plenty of permanent casus belli to go around and my tarnished image, the nations around me are not that interested in the development of diplomatic relationships anyway.

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I did not have a chance to further the game until yesterday, when I finally advanced another 70 years or so. Quite a bit happened during that time, including the conquering of several more provinces, the absorption of Lithuania by Poland, numerous attacks by the Ottoman Empire, and some troubles with badboy points. Mother Russia came out much stronger as a result. There are also now lots of national provinces in the east waiting to be conquered.

Unfortunately, I have not gotten much time to write more about the story. However, another war with Sweden saw us claim more of their land, and then we did go east to claim some of what is ours. In fact, Sibir has been reduced to one province. I was horrified to see how much badboy points we accumulated in the process--over 35--and puzzled that nobody was interested in attacking us anymore--in fact, Sweden tried to lure us into their military alliance. This all despite having released numerous provinces as vassals. Granted, we did diplo-annex most of them again over time. In addition to our military conquest, we have also been very successful in colonizing parts of the territory above Sibir and in the corridor between Russia and China. Our two conquistadors have made many discoveries, and then our relationship with China allowed us to get China to share their discoveries and reveal large chunks of the map.

Well, I will certainly try to elaborate by adding chapters to the story. ...but now that Crusader Kings arrived today, there might be somewhat of a wait ahead <wink>.