Austria, A Rising Colonial Power of the 1st Order

Thanks !

thanks for all the great responses, and I need to ask something else.

Since the case could be made that IF Austria had had any interest in colonies, a la Spain (which they knoew because of close relations with them), and the fact they have tons of generals during the timeframe...

Would people mind if instead of "cheesily" stealing maps (which does not work very well anymore anyway., that I add 1 Explorer Company & 1 Mercenary/Conquistadore Company to Austria. Without it, it is doomed to fail, and yet, it is sort of cheating...

Let me know , and I'll do it.

Honestly, I just cannot see without those 2 things, how I can make this AAR work

Thanks
jean

Introduction: Austria's STAVKA/Royal Council, December 9th , 1491

The Rise (or Fall of Austrian Hegemony in Europe):
Location:
Tyrol Alpenheim Royal Fortress
STAVKA/Royal Council, December 9th , 1491
Present: Future King Maximilian I, and the Shadow Council

Our Objectives will be to:

1- Participate in the "Outre-Mer", or OverSeas Colonial expansions , as our Spanish friends have and have a powerful presence.

2- Possibly Reform the Catholic church in our Realm (i.e. Game terms = Become Protestant( likely) or Reformed (unlikely).

3- Become a Naval Power on the order of France, but slightly
subservient to our Land Aspirations.

4- Create a Centralized, Commercial state in the Centre of Europe, a bulwark against Muslim encroachment. game Terms= Centralized 10, Free Trade = 4 or less.

This will necessitate a STRONG Italian presence, as a base in the Med for our Fleet(s) will be capital.

5- Create the most powerful Military machine in europe, and check French & Spanish aspirations in europe, and "Outre-Mer" ("OverSeas")
Game terms= Quality --> 10, Land 10 ?

6- Keep, Fortify & possibly expand our Flanders area of territories into some of the richest territories in Europe.

January 1492:

We decide to expand our Alliances, and add Hungary to the Austria, Bohemia axis in Central Europe.

During the Year, Brandenburg & Saxony are added to our Alliance. We miss Bavaria, since they join with another axis before we can visit them (" No Diplomats")
[Note: Austria starts out very weak with 100 Ducats, and "0" in everything, incl. diplomats.]

Our objective will be eventually to vassalize and absorb these territories into our Realm.
(But a lot can happen till then, especially the Turks and losses in relations)

In addition, we have several choices for the Home of the Fleet we want to build. We can go North to the Baltic, with the help of our Brandenburg & Saxon friends (Hint Hint)

We make the decision not to do this, as we will be far in the exploration department especially since we wish to discover African territories first.

We can go Med in 2x main areas....

A- Traditionally, Venice offers the most direct approach, with Istria providing a superb fleet anchorage
We will definitively keep them in mind...

B- Another area presents itself if Austria moves toward Milan, and it's rich province. Milan is a territory with much French influence and ambition. Since France will be, at least for a time the Austrian Arch-enemy, it makes senses to attempt to stop french expansion in this area, and attempt to prevent French hegemony in Italy (something we want for ourselves)

In addition, Once Milan is annexed, a strike towards the papal States will leave us with... Romagna & Marche , a port and another BLOCKING territory versus Venice this time.

Once these conquests are done, it will be easier to prevent (but not airtight) French & Venetian influence in Italy..

And we will get our Port which we so badly need...

In addition, Genoa could be considered a prime target in about 50 years with the conquest of Corsica (a NAVAL Eqt island base) and Genoa itself, one of the best and richest natural fortress provinces in Europe.

We will need to strike at the Papal States before 1510 at the latest, so as not to leave too many years before Spain manages to grab all the worthwhile territories in the New World.

Diplomatically, we will build a strong Central Europe coalition, with a possibility of moving into Central Germany (mostly to prevent French Ambitions there), but the thrust (we hope) of our efforts will be in the Italian/Mediterranean areas.

They are rich, have some natural defenses like mountains, and we can attempt to create Boundaries that will prevent some expansion by our enemies.

In any case, it must be said that FRANCE will be the biggest headache we will have, especially in keeping our low-countries rich possessions. We do not have the strength to keep France in check there, and we can be overwhelmed relatively easily against their
monstrous armies. We are very fearful of France, and hope that other Coalitions can keep them in check in some ways.

We know the clash will come, and we will have to hit them where they are not, and wage a war of mobility in the low countries, and a defensive war in Milan/Italy.

That's the Grand Plan for Austrian hegemony in Europe.

We hope it will not be a stillborn baby, but we are confident we at least have a chance...

Let's go !
Jean

1492-1496.. The War for Milan / Helvetia

January 1492:

We decide to expand our Alliances, and add Hungary to the Austria, Bohemia axis
in Central Europe.

During the Year, Brandenburg & Saxony are added to our Alliance. We miss
Bavaria, since they join with another axis before we can visit them (" No Diplomats")

We have an alliance with Bohemia, and we decide to add Hungary to our mix.
We could have decided to use our CB on Hungary, and get our shield provinces
later, but we will attempt a close relationship and eventual annexation in the
1600's.
During the Year, we add Brandenburg & Saxony as Allies to our Alliance/Axis.
This will give us a strong german presence in the Baltics, and "neutralize"
them later as our friends.
Portugal rejects our alliance overtures, which is too bad; we wanted
a colonial counterweight to Spain/England.. A small setback
A Royal Marriage (RM) is set to kleves and us.

We decide to adopt a Religious Policy of Max Tolerance to Catholics,
Moderate to Orthodox & Maximum Negative to Muslims. No Tolerance to them

We decide upon a Land-based Policy vs Naval at this time, and our Stability falls to +2.

We send merchans to Flanders & France, to limited success.

In Steinmark, we improve Tax Collection.

In other news, Dulkadir is fully annexed by the nasty Otomans. This will bear watching.
Lorraine is annexed by the Palatinat; as you will see, their success is short lived.

Our Arch-enemy France DOW's Lorraine, the Palatinat, with Brittany, Savoy & the Papal
states joining in for the fun.

Naples, and therefore Spain DOW the Papal States, and embroil the French alliance in another
War at the same time... We take note of these developments....

Eire had declared independance, and settles peace with England by giving
Munster & some ducats for peace; for now, they survive ....

1493... The Austrian-Milanese War

In March, we DOW Milan, and Helvetia, being allied to Milan, comes in the war.
We do NOT ask any of our allie to help, trying to minimize losses due to
attrition (especially in Helvetia)

Our Main army leaves Tyrol and destroys the Milanese Army of 9000 men with
minimal casualties. Later, 3000 new recruits are destroyed as well.
We siege Milan's Fortress and ignore helvetia for now...

By August, the walls of Milan are at 0

Unfortunately, the 20,000 man Swiss/helvetia army attacks our small 5000
man garrison in Franche Comte, and defeats them; we lose 2000 mean before the
retreat can be sounded. 18,000 surviving swiss siege Franche comte

By November, walls are at -7
On Nov 20th, Milan falls to our Main Army.

We go for broke, and expand the war, and go for Schyw province, in the Alps

By December, our stability has improved to "0"

Diplomatically:

** Sign aTrade Agreement with England.
** Wallachia is Fully annexed by Moldavia. In August, the Ottomans declare
war, and bring P-Lithuania into a war.
** Holy Roman Empire (HRE) selects Austria ( probably for last ime, ever )

1494.. The War continues....

Diplomatically:

** Venice DOW's ragusa.
** Royal Marriages set with England, Spain, Scotland, again Portugal refuses.

By sieging Schwyz, the sige of Franche Comte, which was going well for the
swiss, is lifted...

Army Battles & Attrition take their toll

1- 20,000 Helvetians arribe in Chwyz after a long walk. They lose 4000
to attrition, but 4000 new reinforcements arrive to help them.

2- 1st Battle, we kill 7000 helvetians, & they receive another 3000 as reinforcemnts
We lose 8000 in the battle, along with attrition (mostly this).

By July 28th, the Walls of Schwyz are at -5.

3- By October, a 2nd Battle, we win, and the Helvetians lose 8000 men; we lose 4000 to (mostly)
attrition in the rugged Alps.

Walls = -7

Oct 27th, Schwyz falls to us...

We march for Bern, and a 3rd battle is joined; we destroy another 5000
Helvetians, and lose only 1000 this time.

The reason we won all 3x Battles had to do with Cavalry Superiority
and the Shock effect of the Cavalry on our enemies.

By December 30th, the Walls of Bern are at "0"

1495... The war will end soon...

Stability now at +1...

On January 30th, the lat 5000 Helvetians of their army are destroyed, and we lose
a final 2000 in the Bern Siege force.

By March, Bern's walls are at -4.

By August, Bern falls and we set the Peace:

1- Helvetia hands over Schwyz province to Austria, a new "Alpen Fortress"
territory, to go with our Tyrol province. 100 Ducats war Reparations.

They will allow Military access to our armies, so Franche Comte is NOT
unconnected anymore.

Also, they are vassalized by us... Three(3) months later, they join our
alliance of nations.

2- Milan is summarily annexed, as part of our Austrian Realm. The hit to
our Eupean popularity is severe, but unavoidable. Milan is very rich, and
we have kept them out of French hands/Influence.

It will also form the Shield/Bulwark of our Italian presence, for Mobilization
and blocking presence for our future plans.

Diplomatically:

** Portugal refuses EM again..
** Poland, Scotland, Saxony, Brandenburg & Denmark sign RM's

The French & Papal States are still embroiled in various wars, especially versus
Spain...

If that was not enough, Tuscany, Modena, genoa & the Knights DOW the French-led
alliance as well in early 1496.

Tax Collectors are appointed in :

Flanders, Saltzburg & Austria, Artois, Luxembourg & Brabant


Diplomatically:

** Tunisia is demolished by the Mamelukes and gives up tripolitania
Access & must change to Shiite religion.
** Trade Agreements signed with Brandenburg & Denmark.
** In October, the Papal States settle with Naples for 123 Ducats.
** Sweden DOW's Muscovy/Ryazan/Pskov & DEnmark (bad, bad move...)
** Poland, Lithuania & Moldavia DOW the Teutonic Knights (ouch...)


By 1496, we are at this point:

Victory Points: 169
Stability +3 (not for long....)
Our Income is 34.8/Month, also not for long...
our Manpower is now at 23,000 Soldiers
11,000 new troops are raised to replenish losses

And Armies in Flanders, Schyz, Lombardia for future strikes against our
enemies....


Coming UP, the Lightning War vs the French Alliance.
Our Destiny at Sea awaits us !


===================================

I Hope you like it, as I am not as good a writer as a lot of people here..

Let me know what you think, like/dislike ?

I cannot post Screenshots, as I do not know how..

Jean

Note

Please note that for those who are disappointed thta I resorted to adding a

Explorer Company in the 1510's
Conquistador Detachment in the 1520's

That I find it extremely unrealistic that a country such as Austria , with such numbers of generals of usually good quantity, that
if the Austrian Emperor had started an arms race for colonies
at the same time, that no explorer/conquistadors/soldiers of fortunes would have come forward ?

Not likely, in the rich lands of the Condottiere, in the rich and violent italian lands, where war flourished, and also veterans from the wars against the Ottoman.

Actually, lots of the same conditions as Spain's veterans of the ReConquista, with even more of a Naval flavor, as med Fleets were numerous and involved in continous actions against pirates, ottomans and each others.

Finally, Austria was one of the only countries with Gold in 1 of it's provinces, and that could have been of interest to mercenaries/condottieres/soldiers of fortune like the Spanish Conquistadores.

That's my point of view
Jean

The WAr between Austria, alone, versus the French Colossus.

The WAr between Austria, alone, versus the French Colossus.

=============================================
Coming UP, the Lightning War vs the French Alliance.
Our Destiny at Sea awaits us !

January 1496:

On February 1496, We Declare War (Gulp!) against the powerful French Alliance.
We fear the French Armies like Death itself as France has close to 100,000+ men under arms
at least at this time... Mostly concentrated in the Parisian Area..

Again , we do not ask our allies for help, a decision we MIGHT regret but we are
saving their forces for (possibly) the Ottomans [Defensive war] or another event.
Also, losses due to Attrition will be minimized.

Why did we strike ?

France is involved in multiple wars, especially with Spain in the South, and the Papal
states, our major victim, only has 15,000 men left after a ruinous war with Naples.

We either have to attack Venice for the Istrian Ports or grab Marche/Romagna
for ourselves. WE NEED that PORT.

Since we are trying for Venetian support/Possible alliances in the future, we decide the
Papal States make a better "target of aggression".

After Declaring War, our Main Home Strike Force, the K.u.K. Armee, with 28,000 men
strikes for Romagna, and a date with Destiny against 15,000 Papal troops

The Battle for Romagna is settled: TOTAL VICTORY !

We destroy all 15,000 Papal troops with minimal losses
& we siege Romagna.

The French are on the move, and capture Franche Comte with 60,000 men in 2 months. Yikes !
they offer peace for Franche Comte, but we refuse.
We intend to have a guerilla war with france, and strike at areas that they will not expect.
Even 120,000 men cannot be everywhere at once... Gulp!

Diplomatically, some successes as BOTh Brittany & later savoy offer a Status
Quo peace, which we accept rapidly. Now, France has limited areas to strike at us, them
being the Franche Comte and unfortunately, the low contries...

But Italy & our Central Europe Realm is beyond their reach.

We Decide to hit a small 3000 man force in Picardie, France and attempt to destroy them,
to attempt our objective of "hitting where the enemy is weaker". Toe to Toe vs France will
make us lose badly, they are much, much stronger than us.

While we destroy 3000 French in Picardie, Artois, one of our provinces in the low
countries is sieged by the Main French Army; we are vert pleased with this as
Artois does not have much in the way of foodstuffs, and the main french Army loses 21,000
men in 3 months to attrition; this is more than our whole low countries army...

The swiss/helvetia army swings through Bern and hits Franche Comte, our territory that fell
into french hands at the start of the war. Another strike at Picardie destroys 1000 newly recruited
french troops.

By September, we are at Stability +1 & Romagna & Marche have their walls = +1.

Massive battles in Picardie happen, as the french manage to bring us to battle; our local commander
had stayed in Picardie as it was about to fall in a siege... A mistake as it happens

The Battle of Picardie degenerates in a 2 month long fight, where the 1st wave loses 15,000
men (we lose 3000), then we destroy another 3000 in the 2nd wave and finally, our morale broken
we lose 10,000 and our force retreats in disorder to Flanders. Our Low countries army has been
devastated, but the french continue to lose 5-7000 troops every month in Flanders.

We start rebuilding our Forces in Flanders, adding to the 9000 survivors of the disastrous
Picardie Campaign; please note that at all times, the french army loses much more troops in almost
every encounter with our Austrian Army; unfortunately, they have so much more than us, and are richer.

January - 1497:

Flanders force hits Picardie again , and destroy 2000 Cavalry, and makes the other 3000 retreat in disorder
to Paris. We follow the retreating French to Caux, to attempt to bring them to further battle & hopefully destroy them
In any case, Picardie is too dangerous for our last mobile army in the area.

Artois Attrition: 7000 more, with winter in that province. The 6000 more in February, and
another 7000 in March... Ouch !.. Only 28,000 troops are left in Artois, as their Fortress Assault
failed

We receive intelligence from our spies that the French Army in the field, once over 110,000
men across France is down to very low levels (less than 40,000).
Also, the Spaniards are sieging 1 or 2 provinces in the south, unopposed. It seems the whole French
army is in the field against us, and leaving the Spaniards to do as they please.

On March 13th, Romagna in Italy falls, and a portion of the sieging army moves to Marche, to help out
and bring that siege to conclusion.

April 1st 1497, a wonderful news is received. The siege of Artois, that which has bled the french army white
has been lifted ! After losing a further 3000, the newly reinforced 28,000 man army moves south..
This army is led by Gen. La Palice, and we are happy to see him go... (Walls were at -6 in artois when they left)
This army redeploys to the south, and comprises 40,000 men by the time it gets there..

Caux raid develops into siege, as we do not retreat , for now.. Note: We had destroyed the 3000
surviving Cavalry that we followed there.

On May9th, Franche Comte, OUR territory falls back into our hands. We executed the French sympathizers there
and now, NO Austrian territories are in French hands, as we are sieging Caux ourselves.

By June, Caux Walls = -5. Picardie is at +1 (new raised army in low countries), Lorraine is at +3 (Franche Comte
army has moved there..(, and Marche, in Italy is at -5.

On August 2nd, Caux falls to us ! Marche is still in Papal hands, a long time..

On September 7th, we engage the French army at the Lorraine siege, and a massive battle develops
where 12,000 french lie dead, while we lose 4000 of our own.

We are doomed, as 28,000 french, under La Palice, are coming as a 2nd wave in Lorraine; we cannot escape
as they will reach us before we can get away. Our Diplomats attempt to ask the french for peace
hoping that they are unaware of Gen La Palice's whereabouts, and by some miracle, they accept PEACE for CAUX !

Massive celebration in the streets of our Realm, as we have held off for over 2 years once, if not the strongest armies
in Europe, and inflicted massive casualties to them; we even gained Caux, an unexpected bonus as
the city of Rouen is ours now, and we get a Channel Port as well.

We now have a free hand to deal with the Papal states, and get our Mediterranean port (hopefully).

In October, an independant strike force of 7000 men, moving through Tuscany, destroys 5000
Papal Troops in Rome. Another 3000 Papal troops arrive, and we kill 1000 of them before they retreat to
Marche, where they are finally destroyed by our siege force.

Tuscany has moved 12,000+ troops to Marche, helping us with the siege as well, but eating the land bare
(attrition hits us as well, grrrr..)

1498:

Spain settles with France in January, and gets 305D for it's troubles.. A very nice
Royal Payoff, and we did ALL the heavy lifting with the French army. This is not a good war
for the Crown of France.

On April 13th, Marche falls to us, and we move on a portion of our forces to Roma, to
hopefully conclude the war.

The Palatinat settles with France, and France receives Alsace for its troubles.
Roma sieges continue, and the whole year passes without further ado..

1499:

Our Ally, Brandenburg declared wars vs the small city states of northern Germany. A big victory
is achieved when the COT Meckleburg, falls and is fully annexed by our Ally.
Brandenburg star is rising, and will be much more richer by it's acquisition

On March 29th, Rome finally falls to our forces, but the peace process with the Pope is
extremely difficult, as they refuse to listen to reason.. they refuse vassalization several times

In September, the weakened Palatinat is annexed by Hessen.

Rome still refuses peace with us, in spite of the fact that they completely conquered and
all their allies have abandoned them to our tender mercies.

1500

The League of Cambrai treaty is signed by Austria, and we decide to abandon our Good relations with Venice
to sacrifice them to improving relations with France, the Papal States, and Tuscany...
(+150 with France, Papal States & Tuscany)

Our relations are now at -40 or so for France, +80 with the Papal states (and they are still
conquered by us as well ), and +200 with Tuscany ! warmest friends here..

We go on a diplomatic offensive, and secure Royal Marriages (RM's) with France, Tuscany, and get
access AND Trade agreements signed with Hungary and Tuscany.

[Note: This great event is wonderful for getting the french colossus off our backs after a war with them !]

1501

Our Brandenburg ally, the strongest force in Northern Germany now fully annexes Holstein, to add it as it's
5th territory, near Meckleburg.

We are technically at war with their enemies, but we send no troops, having been bled badly
by the french.

Diplomatically:

** Saxony gives us Military Access.
** Hungary declined a Trade Agreement with us
** Papal States reject a RM with us but also join our side in the League of Cambrai and
Relations are bumped up tp +101.

We drop our Army Maintenance to 50%, to go on a non-wartime footing.

1502

A large change in our society happens, and our Monarch Maximillian Centralizes the state even further
investing the Crown with more powers over our unruly nobles. Stability down to +2 however.

We also take a 200K Ducat Loan, to use our main war chest and build a Center of the Arts in the Austrian
Capital, to placate on a longer term, our "brought to heel" Noble Class.
Expense is huge, [869,000 Ducats], but over the next 400 years, will pay for itself handsomely
at the rate of 12,000 Ducats/Yearly. [Note: And stability +5 per month as well]...

Caux revolts, and is put down by our army

Some short term alliances are formed in Germany, such as Wurtzburg, Hessen
Kleves, Hannover & munster. A strong alliance is formed between Wurtzemburg & Bavaria.

We reach Land Technology 7 in our Realm, and we can now build new cannons.
We reach Naval Technology 4 as well, so we can build Transports as well.

Diplomatically:

** Spain pays 171,000 Ducats to the Papal States for peace, We can only assume the pope threatened excommunication
to the Spanish Crown, as their lands are still in our hands, having refused peace over 10 times already.
** A RM with Hannover, +58 Rel.
** +8D to helvetia, +32 Rel.
** RM with Savoy, -21 Rel
** RM with Modena, -25 Rel.
** +28D England , Rel +80
** Spain's Alliance comprises: Scotland, Spain, Naples & Portugal.

Finally, France obviously adopts an anti-venice approach for the League of Cambrai Treaty and
Relations between Austria and them reach a new high = + 116 !

1503 - 1504

Land Technology - 8 is reached.

Diplomatic:

** Trade Agreement with Portugal (Excellent, as we want a presence in Tago)
** Relations with Tuscany have reached +200, and we are very good friends.
** Genoa Relations are at -24
** Pommern RM
** Baden leaves small states alliance , and joins... France Alliance.
*8 More good news for France, Brittany is ANNEXED and now France is one
contiguous realm in western Europe, apart from 2 exceptions; Calais, in the
hands of the English, and Caux/Franche Comte in our hands...
We feel vulnerable, even with our good relations.
** Brandenburg, Bohemia sign a treaty of Military Access.
We can reach Denmark from Italy at this time, even when we will NOT be the HRE
We will be able to strike North-South as we wish..
*8 Finally, for our future exploration efforts, we sign a Treaty of Access
with... Portugal ! If needed, we will be able to use their port facilities for
resupply. This is great news....

By June, our Stability is at +3, and the realm is fat & content.

Fine Arts Academy completed in Austrian Capital in June 1504.

We appoint Tax Collectors in: Franche Comte, Marche, Tyrol, Caux..
These are the last in our Realm, and now ALL of the Austrian Realm
have enabled this tax reform for the state.

War Results:

** Mamelukes lose to Nubia, and hands over Nile, Quattara & Sinai provinces
** Ragusa is annexed by Venice, after a long mountain war.

Commerce: We manage to establish many merchant companies in various COT's and the trade
funds are starting to roll in; we have 5x merchants or thereabouts in Paris, Flanders, Meckleburg
Novgorod/Moscovy, and starting to built that up in Tago & the spaniard one.

The Future: 1505 and later...

That's it for today, and a period of peace is coming, and an age of exploration as well.
Due to our damaged reputation (BB= 10), we will lay low as a realm for a while, and attempt
a MASSIVE program of Fortifications in the Austrian Realm.

If we cannot have massive armies like other states, we will fortify our realm as much as possible and
make attritional losses to our enemies a real problem.

It will take over a years income to build up the fortress of 1 province, but we will
swallow this, and build up.

This will liberate our forces (hopefully) to become more mobile, leaving our provinces defended
by Level 2 Small Fortresses. "Anchor" provinces will become the faceplate where the enemy
will crush themselves on, while our mobile anvils will siege their lands (hopefully, not as well fortified)

Since we will not attempt to compete in size of our armies, but on Quality, we will concentrate
on Diplomatic matters, improving relations with our friends, for some eventual annexations/ vassalages.

Finally, a call goes out to the world's adventurers, soldiers of fortunes, condottiere, and other
soldiers to form the first explorer and conquistador companies... The treasures of the new world await,
and the french, English , Spaniards and Portuguese have a fair advance on us.
We need the commerce, trade goods, lands and colonies of our catholic brothers, and we want to destroy Venice's
commerce with the east as well.

peace with Pope

Not yet .. LOL

It took some years, but theyever accepted vassalization and we tried for 2-3 years. No dice.

Coming in Next Installment..

As for pics, I find it too complicated to do, and besides, have no space to put them on.

Too bad, as I have some nice ones.

It would be nice if these boards supported inserting small JPG's without having to host them on a outside provider.

Sorry, but I will try to find a way

Jean

The Peace before the Storm, Part I

Austrian AAR Part III: The Peace of Rouen, Part I.
the Rebuilding of teh Great State of Austria, before a war of aggression....

1504 (End to 1512)

To settle peace, the Poless pay 250,000 Ducats to the Ottoman Empire.

1505:

The Teutonic Order settle peace with Denmark, handing over Kurland, a COT(!)
to them. Denmark wins big, in it's Eastern War.

Also, Spain Annexed Naples, they now have a strong foothold in Italy. I hope
Rome & the Papal States are not their target.

Land Technology 9 is reached.

A Diplomatic Offensive:

1- RM with Prussia, Teutonic Order, Poland & Wurtemburg + Wurtzburg
2- Russian refused RM (-20 Rel)

Fortification Effort:

Artois receives a Level 2 Small Fortress. (203,000 Ducats)
Franche Comte receives the same. (same)

1506:

Treasure : 311D ---> 505

Fortification Effort:

Lombardia [Milan] receives a Level 2 Small Fortress. (203,000 Ducats)

A Philosopher comes before the king and our advisors counsel prison. We refuse and
we set him free. Our Stability suffers (-2) but we aew know as a more Innovative
and open-minded society (Innovativeness =1)

Rome gets the St-Peters Basilica built at no cost to the Crown there; We eye
their territory hungrily....

We receive 200,000 Ducats as state gift, the spend 250,000 to Upgrade our Army to
a more Offensive stance(off =1) and of better Quality (+1)...

We manage to convince England to offer us Military access to their Realm.

As for RM's , Oldenburg accepted and Eire refused.

1507 Treasurey = 279 D to 424.

The Treaty of Tordesillas is formed, and Portugal & Spain share teh New World
among them. We will NOT honor this, but we know the Pope hates us and did it in part to
spite us.

In February, our Stability is back to =2.

We receive a excellent minister for the year, and all settings are up to +3 across the board.

Diplomatic:

** RM's with Hessen, &
** Trade Agreements with Hungary, Saxony & Bohemia, all our allies.

1508: Treasury: 401 to 566. Monthly Income: 56.1/Month
During the Year we reach Stab +3 & Land Technology - 10

Diplomatic:

** RM with Munster. (Rel +91)
** Cologne Refused (Rel +34), Then Baden & Cologne again.
** Military Access: Hannover
** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to helvetia, our erstwhile enemy, now vassal (Rel +62)
Twice ! Rel = +86

We Decide to let the Fuggers manage our Finances, and the following changes
happen to our Realm: 1- Loansize = 500
2- Cost 100,000 Ducats to handle it over
3- Merchant Influx of +6
4- Inflation -5%, so we now have 0% Inflation.
Spain also does the same, on their side.

Realm Improvements:

** Caux receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress.

1509: Treasury: 452 . Monthly Income: 56.5/Month
Manpower Pool: 22
During the Year we reach Naval Technology - 5

Diplomatic:

** Gelre Refused . Then Muscovy, again.
** Military Access: Munster , Oldenburg & a Great Victory, Portugal !
Since we plan on operating Overseas, we needed a base of operations closer than Caux in France
for our Exploring Fleets. We will be able to use Portuguese Ports of Call to replenish
our forces. A Great Victory Indeed for our Diplomacy.

** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to helvetia, (Rel +113)

** Another Diplomatic Victory as Toscany, a somewhat powerful Italian Minor
of 2x provinces, joins our alliance.

We are now 7x Realms allied together in a Central European alliance;
Austria (Leader), Hungary, Bohemia, Tuscany, Helvetia , saxony and the
powerful and rich Brandenburgers (5x Province Minor).

Realm Improvements:

** Caux receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress.

Revolts:

Romagna revolts twice, we lose 5,000 men total, and we raise 4000 new men there
to replace losses.

1510: Treasury: 599

The East Indies Exploration & Commercial House is formed in Holland, integrating our dutch
friends from the old Burgundy Empire, to explorer, colonize and plunder the OverSeas World.
Their Charter will allow them to use Royal Austrian Navy Ships, and requisition Army Manpower
as needed, for conquest and native suppression.

Diplomatic:

** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to helvetia, (Rel +133)
** A Cataclysmic war starts between the French Alliance, and England (all alone).

The casualties are enormous, with France losing 1.5 to 2 to 1 but managing to make much progress.
Calais is sieged, then falls in some 6 months; Attrition for the sieging army is at least over 14,000
men lost, but it falls in december.

Then Kent is sieged by a landing force of french in the channel. Large Naval battles occur
between the 2x greatest fleets in europe.

Realm Improvements:

** OstMarch, our Northmost central province receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress.
** Our Ally Helvetia, using peobably some of our tribute, builds a small fortress
of their own.

1511: Treasury: 630G

The East Indies Exploration & Commercial House starts exploring and is making
progress exploring the Central Atalntic area, and the Acores.

Other Discoveries include The Bay of Fundy, Massachussets & Chesapeake Bay's
and the Acores ! Our exhausted fleet docks there, and replenishes supplies.

Diplomatic:

** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to helvetia, (Rel +154)
** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to Saxony, (Rel +151)
** Diplomatic Letter (11G) to Bohemia, (Rel +119)
** Wurtemburg, Wurtzburg, gives us Military Access
** Baden refused a RM, again....

French/England war continues...
for the future though, England joins the Spanish/Portuguese/Scotland alliance.
For now, things look grim, as Kent hasl already fallen, and Wessex as well, on top of Calais
Then, a miracle as a french 19,000 man army is destroyed by 25,000 english, and Kent is besieged
After Kent falls to the english, Wessex is besieged by the english.
several raiding forces of french are destroyed by the prowling 3-5000 man armies
all over the english countryside.

Realm Improvements:

** Luxembourg, a low country, receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress.

Revolts:

Lombardia & Marche revolt but we put it down in time... We lose 3000 men
to both rebellions.

1512: Treasury: 350D ---> 560D

We adopt a Quality Policy, our Stab is at +2, but our troop quality will
be +1.

A Tax Reform happens, and Romagna gets +1 to it's tax vbalue.

Diplomatic:

** 2x Diplomatic Letter (8G) to helvetia, (Rel +200)
** 2x Diplomatic Letter (8G) to Saxony, (Rel +190)
** Diplomatic Letter (11G) to Bohemia, (Rel +142)
** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to Brandenburg, (Rel +142)
** We sign a Trade Agreement with the Ottoman Empire. Why not ?

French/England war continues...
for the future though, England joins the Spanish/Portuguese/Scotland alliance.
For now, things look grim, as Kent hasl already fallen, and Wessex as well, on top of Calais
Then, a miracle as a french 19,000 man army is destroyed by 25,000 english, and Kent is besieged
After Kent falls to the english, Wessex is besieged by the english.
several raiding forces of french are destroyed by the prowling 3-5000 man armies
all over the english countryside.

Realm Improvements:

** Schwyz, our 2nd Mountain Fortress province receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress.
We hope if war comes, that the enemy will hurt their teeth on the most rugged terrain imaginable
the fabled Alps and the swiss fortresses.

Coming up, as our historian ran out of time, the rest of the peaceful inter-regnum, before
the Great Austrian-French War, Part II !..

Coming up, an update in 1-2 days, and then the New War !

A Quick Update....

Peace of Rouen; Part II

1513: Treasury: 322d --> 521D
Stability reaches +3.
Manpower: 20 now (quality Pool rejects many applicants)
Land Technology-11 reached, which will enable level 3 Fortifications once we have the funds.

If we have not mentionned it alredy, we gained Marche & Romagna from the Papal states
and some War reparations... The Papal States are only 1 now, the rich, populous state
of Rome..

Diplomatic:

** Diplomatic Letter (11G) to Bohemia, (Rel +157)
** Diplomatic Letter (18G) to Brandenburg, (Rel +147)
** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to Saxony, (Rel +198)

Ottoman Empire DOW's the Mamelukes.

French/England war continues...
** Wessex falls back into the hands of the english. Only Calais remains..
** French Army now ver large (125,000+ men) but cannot land in england due to losing Sea
Battles with the French.
** England settles for 75,000 ducats to Papal States for peace.

Realm Improvements:

** Tyrol, receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress. Another Alpine
nightmare, for our enemies.

Revolts:

In Ostmarch, we side with 1 family, so a revolt happens there spontanously
and is crushed; we lose 1000 troops.

Discoveries:

** We discover Roanoke, a rich, unclaimed province. In quick order, Chesapeake
and Santee are dicovered as well, although Santee has a English TP there.
Traders are sent to Roanoke & Chesapeake (60-65% Succ./8-9G each) and they succeed
in setting up a presence there.

Roanoke as the HONOR of being our FIRST OverSeas presence, as Austrai lands
a small presence in the New World.

1514:

Diplomatic:

** Diplomatic Letter (18G) to Brandenburg, (Rel +171)
** RM to Baden refused, what a surprise.
** Kleves & Pommern & Prussia gives us Military Access.
** In other areas, Saxony cancels their vassalization with Bohemia; we are glad...
although maybe we should not be...

The Spaniards settle with the Aztecs and receive 3x good provinces:
Michoagan, Jalisco & Tampico.. This will provide them with great bases
for further conquests.

French/England war continues...

Realm Improvements:

** Marche, our southernmost province, bordering our enemy the Papal states and Spain
receives a new Small (Level 2) Fortress. Cost = 204,000 Ducats.

Discoveries:

Massachussets is dicovered, but an attemp at a TP is unsuccessfull (70% Succ./8G)
Another try afterward is also failed.

1515: Treasury: 247d --> 438D
Naval Technology- 6 reached,

Diplomatic:

** Military access in Scotland now.

French/England war continues...
** Calais falls back into the hands of the english. the lines are back EXACTLY as they
were years ago, except for the massace of over 200,000 men on both sides.

Prussia receives 200,000 Ducats in reparations from Poland..

Revolts:

In Schwyz, a revolt occurs and is hard to put down. Casualties: 2000 men.

1516: Treasury: 441d --> 611D
We reach Infrastructure Technology - 3

Diplomatic:

** Incredible news: Tuscany, our friend (Rel +200) becomes our vassal
and we gain a powerful 2-province minor in an area of large interest to us, Italy.
We are developping an overwelming presence in Italy, and only Emilia
and the Papal states (With Genoa in between) either being our enemies our outside
of our alliances.
And of course, our secret nemesis, Spain with Naples & Sicily.

** At the same time, Savoy become a Vassal of France, proof that eventual
annexation of this area is fortcoming. The French monster is hard to stop...

** Good news: Genoa & the Ottoman Empire DOW the French Alliance
comprising [Baden, Gelre, the Papal States rump & Savoy of course]

** Diplomatic Letter (10G) to Bohemia, (Rel +183D)
** Diplomatic Letter (18G) to Brandenburg, (Rel +195)
** Diplomatic Letter (8G) to Saxony, (Rel +170)
** A Diplomatic insult gives us a Casus Belli with Bavaria for 5 years..
They are our next target, unless something unforeseen happens (which it did actually,
the same year)

French/England war continues...

Realm Improvements:

** We raise 2000 new troops in Caux.

Colonization:

** We send 100 brave colonists to Chesapeake (with 62% chance success/at a cost
of 62,000 ducats).
** On the 3rd try, 10 Traders manage to install a TP in Massachussets.

On July 24th 1516, Helvetia, our ally and friend hands a declaration of
War to Savoy, and hence drags all of us into a War with the French Alliance.
While we do not know what will happen to us and the alliance, we expect that
Helvetia, with 7000 troops only in Bern, might not fare so well against Baden
close by with 35,000 men, France with 100,000 + and Savoy with 28,000 men.
We will do what we can, but we will not defend Bern against it's enemies
due to the massive attrition problems of the Swiss Alps..

We will attempt a lightning war, before France can overwelm us; we are
relatively well-prepared for war with at least 4x major armies of 25-40,000 men
in key swing provinces;

Franche-Comte, Caux, Marche (vs Papal states) and Schwyz, to threaten Baden
and another approach to Alsace/Lorraine.

We were getting ready Strategically, to declare war on the Bavarian alliance
of small german states, to acquire the rich province of Ansbach [24D/12D, an iron-
producing province of 36,000 souls placed like a dagger in our Realm.
We even had a Casus Belli, for the diplomatic insult they gave us earlier..
Events will change all this, and make this Plan moot...

Coming up, the 2nd Austrian-French War...