History of Brandenburg, Video Collection (VHS or DVD available)

Episode 1: Putting Herself on the Map

The year is fourtheen hundred ninety-two. A time when barons ruled the many small states of the land formerly known as the Holy Roman Empire. These states greatly varied in size. Many where like the city of Colonge. It was strong enough to control the land surrounding its walls in all directions, but only for a few miles. Its government did not have to power or resources to inforce its laws any further. Most of the german states were like this. States like Austria and Bohemia were rare. These states had stronger monarchs and millitaries. They controlled much more than just one city and some farm land. Able to enforce its laws for days of travel outside its capital. While still weak compared to the likes of France or Spain, they were the major players in this area.

Then there was Brandenburg. One of the handful of states stuck right in the middle. It neighbored states both big and small. Perilous is the road of nations like Brandenburg. It could not expect to remain free long if the nations resources were not increased. To do this means war with neighbors to gain land. On one side, Brandenburg bordered small nations that were ripe for the taking. On the other side, Brandenburg bordered large nations that also wanted to expand, maybe even by taking land from Brandenburg herself.

Brandenburg was left with one choice: defeat the small nations inorder to compete, but do it at a rate that would not upset the great powers of the world. To draw unwanted attention would be a certain doom for such a weak nation.

Pommern War (1492-1493)
It is this attitude that made the Pommern War inevitible. Colonel Velten marched the Brandenburg Army to the border just south of the province of Vor Pommern, and on January 14th a formal declaration of war was followed by twenty five thousand germans marching across the border. Colonel Velten arrived at the city of Stralsund a few days later, meet by only a small garrison of five thousand soldiers maning the walls. Velten was a mastermind of his time, an expert of knowing where to be and when. He knew that time was short, as Pommern was also being attacked by the Polish to the east, so he chose to have his men fight their way into the city. And fight bravely they did. Within days, Velten was in the city having already captured and beheaded the ruling governor, the King of Pommern's own royal cousin, on grounds he was a traitor to all germans. Velten wasted no time and marched his army east to the capital, Stettin.

Colonel Velten arrived at Stettin with over twenty thousand troops, having lost less than five thousand in the assualt of Stralsund. It was here, in Stettin, where Velten suffured his ownly defeat on the battlefield. He had ordered his men to assualt the castle once again. Just when the walls had been breeched, a hidden army counter-attacked the Brandenburg troops. Velten lost over four thousand men before ordering a retreat. He was very reluctant to leave the city still standing, but he knew his return would be more successfull.

In early 1493, Colonel Velten again sets out from Berlin to Stettin. This time he orders his troops to dig-in. The brave men siege the city, fighting off winter and starvation. On July 2nd, 1493, Stettin raises its white flag of surrender on terms the King of Pommern gives up the city of Stralsund and the surrounding lands, but is able to keep his own city of Stettin (and his head on his shoulders). Velten returns to Berlin a conquering hero. He commanded the Brandenburg Army in its first victorious war in centuries. For the time being, the country was at peace, pleased with its new lands.


Mecklenburg War (1496-1498)
Colonel Velten is at the border. This was the message the lord of the free city of Lupeck recieved a day before the ambassador arrived. The ambassador said one thing before departins, "His gracious majesty of Brandenburg declares all people of Mecklenburg, including the city of Lupeck, no longer free, as they are now his subjects." Hours after the departure of the ambassador, Colonel Velten engaged the enemy on the plains of Mecklenburg. In the half decade of peace for Brandenburg, Velten had increased his knowledge of warfare, and was now more like the legendary general we know him to be than ever before. His nine thousand infantry men and ten thousand calvary men rolled over the pittyfull army of Mecklenburg. The entire Mecklenburg army was destroyed in the battle of Lupeck. Without a standing army to defend it, Lupeck was soon sieged by Colonel Velten and his loyal troops.

Mecklenburg's sister state, Bremen, was not pleased by this and declared war on the people of Brandenburg. Velten did not take the bate, instead he kept up his siege of Lupeck. He wanted to fight on his terms and was determined to be inside the walls of Lupeck by the time the Bremen relief army arrived. On January, 27th, 1497, Velten breeches the walls of Lupeck. One month later his men successfully defend the city from its high walls in the battle of free Mecklenburg. Having lost his city and seen the Bremen army scattered and decimated, the former lord of Lupeck knees down before Colonel Velten and pleadges alligence to the King of Brandenburg.

Velten barely wastes a moment to say "we accept." He marches his army north, to repay Bremen for its troubles. Velten's army now numbers seven thousand infantry and nine thousand calvary, almost twice the size of the remnants of Bremen's army. Velten meets the opposing officer in the battle of Bremen Shores and flanks with his calvary along the beach to crush the Bremen army. Less than two thousand soldiers make it away with their lives, having no choice but to flee to Lupeck while Velten sieges Bremen proper. With the help of his new navy (formerly the navy of Mecklenburg), Velten sieges the port city till its civilians are eating thier pets. The king of Bremen refuses to surrunder and is overthrown by his own people, who then quickly raise the white flag. Colonel Velten walks into the city under the terms of unconditional surrunder.

Within a week the peace terms are worked out. The king of Bremen is dead and Bremen needs a new monarch. The king of Brandenburg marries his most successful and loyal subject to the daughter of the dead king: Colonel Velten. By mid 1498, Velten is sworn in as King of Bremen, a puppet king who then swears faulty to the nation of Brandenburg. "Our two nations shall be as one, Brandenburg the parent and Bremen the child." he was quoted to have said. The king of Brandenburg then quickly promotes Field Marshall Casimir to head of the land forces, for there was another war going on.



North German War(1498-1500)
In the ladder part of the year 1497 Brandenburg joined forces with Poland,Lithuania, and Hungary to create the Central European Alliance. It was said to have been "a necessary joining to combat the evil of the Austro-Bohemian alliance that also included many small german states." With the current aggressive tactics of both Poland and Brandenburg, this union caused much stress to the other nations of central europe. Holstein was the first to act apon its fears. Claiming it was "trying to preserve the balance of power in central europe," Holstein and its ally Pommern declared war on their neighbor, Brandenburg.

This put the two small german states in a war against the allies. Only one thing looked promising: the Brandenburg army was sieging Bremen and would be tided up for months. Holstein and Pommern planed a joint attack against the city of Lupeck, trying to gain its high walls and hold off any trying to retake it, just as Velten had done. The one thing these two nations do not consider was the speed of Polish cavalry. Before the Pommern army could reach Lupeck it was forced to return to Stettin to fight off the coming invasion. Down the hills came the Polish horsemen, a total surprise to the Pommerns. The Poles fought bravely and won the day, capturing the Pommern army and killing any who refused surrunder. By the time the Holstein army reached Mecklenburg its ally, Pommern, had already been wiped off the face of the earth, its lands now Polish lands.

Field Marshall Casimir was eager to prove his worth. Just a day after swearing faulty to both the king of Brandenburg and the king of Bremen, he was on the march. His goal: arrive in Lupeck before the city fell to the enemy. He pushed his army to the point of breaking. The traveled the land and forged the river in quicker time than was thought possible. Casimir arrived on the plains of Mecklenburg while the Holstein army was still trying to get in the city. Casimir demanded an all out charge of his seventeen thousand man army. They met head on with nine thousand soldiers from Holstein. The brave german warriors drove into the ranks of Holstein with such force it rattled the earth. The battle of Lupeck Plains lasted only two hours. The soldiers of Holstein were forced backwards where they meet the walls of Lupeck and the waiting garrisoned that maned the walls. So many dead bodies littered the grounds infront of those walls it took weeks to remove them all. Afterwards, one soldier was quoted as saying the Holstein army was "caught between a rock and a hard place."

When the sun rose on the next day, Casimir took all bodies still able to fight north, to Holstein. The king had ordered that the traitors be taught a lesson, and Casimir was the one to do the teaching. His army sieged Hamburg for months till the walls crumbled around the city and his forces were able to simply walk right in. On June 1st, 1500, Casimir singed the peace treaty for the king that acknowledged Hamburg and the entire area of Holstein as part of the Brandenburg Kingdom, ending the North German War.



In eight years, under the guidance of military genusis like Velten and Casimir, Brandenburg was able to change from being a small german state with many large enemies to a nation quickly on the rise. In other words, Brandenburg was able to put herself on the map as a major player in european affairs. Did she do this to quickly??? annexing two nations and gaining another province in a peace treaty and vassalizing Bremen is a lot of work in eight years. How can she possibly expect to not drawn unwanted attention from Austria or Bohemia??? Are the relations of Brandenburg and Poland strong enough to keep the central alliance together??? Or is there really somedislike between the allies now that the North German War is over???? All these questions and more will be answered in our next episode coming out soon.

(OCC: brandenburg is now a 6 province nations {Brandenburg, Magdenburg, Kurstin, Vor Pommern, Holstein, Mecklenburg} with one vassale {Bremen}. She has a rather bad reputation, an army of 23K soldiers, a navy of 4 warships and 5 transports, and 318 ducats in the bank)

one last thing:was anyone able to read all of my babble without skipping it???????
o yeah....and sorry about no pictures....im still working on that

Episode II: Birth of an Empire

Episode II: Birth of an Empire

In the last episode, we left of in a time when the great nation of Brandenburg was fighting to earn itself a place on the map. Through wisely fought wars and careful diplomacy, the nation was about to not only survive, but to grow in power at an alarming rate. The rise of the nation of Brandenburg was so fast that the other nations of europe began to not only notice its movements, they began to fear her. One Austrian monarch is remembered to have said "the sun set on a small state of germans and rose the next morning to shine its light on a grand new empire."

As the last decade of the 15th century brought newfound strength to this mighty nation, so did the first few of the 16th century. There were two different times of Brandenburg expansion in the early 16th century, one when Brandenburg was the victim of other nations fear and envy, the other, the second time of growth, Brandenburg was the aggressor.

In the first few years of the 1500's, the nations of Europe were deeply involved in a game of deplomacy. The main two rivals: Austria, the old king of central Europe; and Brandenburg, the new kid on the block. These two rivals were in opposing alliances, in a deep struggle over the dominance of the rich lands of Germany. Brandenburg's strongest, but most unstable, ally was Poland. It was the power of these two nations, combined with that of Hungary, that kept the united armies of Austria and Bohemia from sweeping across central Europe. Tensions grew tight from 1500 to 1504. It was then, in the late part of 1504, that all of Europe could see the tides of war coming.

In early 1502 the king of Bremen, Velten the Faithfull, died suddenly. Before a new king could be elected and sworn to the flag of Brandenburg, a rebelious noble, Lord Huckwald, rose the peasantry into rebellion, hoping to overtake the city before the army of Brandenburg could arrive. Field Marshall Casimir was quick to react. Without orders from the king, he marched his men to Bremen, and under cover of darkness lay siege to the city. There, he starved the citizenry untill they cast out Lord Huckwald and the most loyal of his followers. Huckwald was taken into capture and sent to the royal castle of Berlin, never to be seen again. After Huckwald's disposal, Casimir could see that the situation in Bremen was to unstable for another "puppet king" to rule. On his second day inside the city, Casimir declared Bremen under full control by kingdom of Brandenburg. He said, "Our people shall be as one, they shall live together, fight wars together, and die together. Any who feel otherwise shall be branded traitors to their liege lord and share the same fate as Huckwald's followers." The scattered remains of those who had followed Huckwald had been cast around the city, parts as large as torsos and as small as toes littered the streets. This was much of the reason the people of Bremen were so willing to comply.

In early 1504, a message arrived to the royal court of Brandenburg. It read, "The people of Analt have thrown off their oppressor and desire the use of the Army of Brandenburg in order to insure our freedom. In return, we plegde full loyalty to the crown of Brandeburg." The nation was more than happy to comply. Once the army marched in, the small state of Saxony was to preoccupied with war with Bohemia to try and retake its lost state. Seeing as Saxony was annexed by Bohemia later that year, any attempt probly would of ended in failure.

Mid 1504, The nations of central Europe have a private meeting. They gather to discuse the growing power of the great central allinace. Many nations send diplomats to this meeting, among them:Austria, the strongest nation present; Bohemia; Venice, host of the meeting; Munster; Kleves; England; and Hungary, the unloyal ally of Brandenburg. The meeting was really a gathering of two alliances: the Austrian alliance of Austria and Bohemia; and the small alliance of Kleves, Munster, and Venice. Hungary was there to represent the central alliance. There is this acutaly footage of the last day of what we like to call "the unholy convention" and here iswhat we have of it.
Munster: Brandenburg is an evil to us all. Their nation now borders mine, and their eyes glance our way.
Kleves: the diplomat from Munster is correct. We of Kleves also share a border with Brandenburg, and their troops grow by the day.
Austria: What do you propose we do about this meance?
Munster: They must be stopped. Immediately.
Austria: And does the diplomat from Kleves feel the same?
Kleves: Yes. The people of Kleves have long been free and just. Our armies are now ready for the fight. Why not bring the war to Brandenburg before they bring it to the people of Kleves.
Austria: So then it is settled.
Venice: Yes, we are aggreed. The message shall be, Venice will no longer tolerate the actions of the heathens to the north, and all who attended this meeting will join in our fight. Excluding the Hungarians of course.
Hungary: Hungary shall take no part in a war of epick proportions. My king has told me the millitary is not ready to handle such an alliance. He also feels that those of Brandenburg brought this apon themselve and that Hungarians should not die because of the greed of Brandenburg. I shall ride straigth for Poland, and then on to Lithuanina to counsol with their kings. They shall see the wisdom in our choice and follow our lead, that I am sure of.

Febuary 1505-Venice declares War
The second German War (1505-1510)
The unholy allaince joins the side of Venice in their war against Brandenburg, while the central alliance crumbles, leaving Brandenburg alone to defend its realm. When the king of Brandenburg heard of this betrayal he was heard to exclaim "May the Polish sit on their point helmets and bleed to death out of their ass."

The evil alliance was almost as unstable as the former central allaince, and this is what saved Brandenburg. While the Austrian and Bohemian forces delayed, those of Munster and Kleves amassed in the west. There was originally planned a joint attack-one from the west by Kleves and Munster, and one from the south by Bohemia and Austria. The large army of Austria was to tie up the Brandenburg army while the smaller forces of Kleves and Munster ran rampage through the nation and its cities. Field Marshall Casimir gathered his forces in the newest province of Analt, ready for an attack on from either direction. in mid ausust he recieved an intercepted message from the kings of Austria and Bohemia. It read "I have decided to pull back my Austrian troops. Without my support, I advise no Bohemian millitary action. Word is France is after the neitherlands. My armies move into those regions as you read this. A two front war could cost many lives for Austria, valuable men needed to defend against France. Let those of Munster and Kleves defend themselves."

Having read this, Casimir marched his armies straight into the lands of Hannover, a province of Munster. Outnumberin their smaller army greater than 2 to 1, Casimir crushed the combined armies of Munster and Kleves in one great Battle of Lower Hannover. He then split his men in order to siege all the lands of Kleves and Munster at once. He didnt know if the actual French scare would materliaze, and wanted the war over before Austrian amries returned. By 1510, the second great german war ended in total victory for Brandenburg. Kleves was forced to give up its lands of Hessen, while Munster, seen to Brandenburg as the creator of the war, was allowed only peace after swearing faulty to the crown of Brandenburg and giving up the lands of Hannover.


Brandenburg felt very betrayed by its former allies. After a short time of peace, Brandenburg sought to show the world exactly how powerfull it was. In 1523, the forces of Brandenburg crossed the border into Poland, her former ally. Field Marshall Casimir once again fought bravely and defeated the Poles in Ponzan, Danzig, and marched all the way to the Polish capital of Karkow. Once Casimir controlled the ruling city, the Poles gracefully accpet peace with Brandenburg, giving up the lands of Hinterpommern, Ponzan, and Danzig. It was a very short, but very successful war for the german nation.

The peace treaty was singed and read as follows
"We of Poland accept the harsh terms set by the nation of Brandenburg. We are reluctent to give up our lands, but see no other way. We hereby sing this offer of cease fire and acknolwedge the Brandenburg Empire as ruler of our former lands."

After this day Austria was not the only Empire inside the Holy Roman Empire. It had a rival, as powerfull and rich as she was. Could peace really last with two powerfull empires so near each other??? Were the peasants inside the Brandenburg Empire really as happy as the king said they were??? Words of religous distress were coming out of the cities and farmlands of the north. Could the catholic king keep his people under control for much longer??? As these questions, and more, will be answered in our next episode. Thank you and good night.

(OOC: Brandenburg now contains 13 provinces and has 2 vassels {oldenburg, munster}. reputation has been a consitant rather bad. Austria has annexed Hungary and vassiziled Bohemia and is currently at war with a great French alliance.)

and an ending note: I tried to write this episode in a little different style than the first one to make it a little more enjoyable. I hope it worked and really thank anyone who took time out to read all my babble...it sure has been fun playing and writing it.

thanks castellon, your money is always good with us

Episode III: The Great Protestan Empire

Episode III deals with the greatest time in the history of the Brandenburg Empire. Just a few years after we left off, the end of episode II, Brandenburg accepts the lands of Oldenburg and Munster into her empire under the notion of "One King of all german protestants." Before, tensions were bad between the two catholic powers of the Holy Roman Empire, Austria and Brandenburg. Now, with Brandenburg declaring the rule of the pope unholy, the other powers of the world pressured Austria to regain its dominance over the Holy Roman Empire. The nations of Spain and France said they were busy with issuses in the new world. Austria was left alone defend the old world against this growing religous unrest.

Hearing word of this catholic anger, Brandenburg diplomats were sent out to gain support for the newly created empire. The last free dutch kingdom, Friesland, quickly joined the cause, even pledging total faulty to the great empire. the norsefolk of Denmark were next to see the wise ways of the protestants. With their conversion also came a formal signing of alliance with Brandenburg and Friesland.

With the creation of this new Protestant Alliance, there were three major forces of central europe. Austria, alone in its ways but still very powerfull; then there was the northern alliance between Bohemia, Sweden, and Poland-Lithuania; and the new Protestant Alliance of Brandenburg, Denmark, and Friesland. This left the backwards orthodox country of Russia out in the cold to fend for themselves. When the northern alliance declared war on Russia, and once polish calvary were closing on moscow, diplomats came to the castle of Brandenburg with the message,"declare war on the Northern Alliance and Russia would join forces with Brandenburg to create a great anti-catholic alliance." The king of Brandenburg was very entrigued by the possiblities and at once told his allies of their new found friend. Russian diplomats left after two days at the castle, and the next day the anti-catholic alliance declared war on poland-lithuania and her allies.

Austria could sense its influence shrinking. The hapsburgs of Spain were beside themselves with anger. They needed peacefull european borders so they could focus their efforts on converting the heatens in the new lands. Message was sent out from Madrid to the Holy Roman Emperor saying "Control your lands in the east or lose our support forever." This caused great unrest in the court of Austria. Without Spanish support how could they hope to control the neitherlands with the greedy powers of France and Brandenburg so near? Word then arrived of the great war and the formation of the anti-catholic alliance. Austria was desperate and needed something to show the western powers that it still had a rightful claim as the superpower of the east. With word of Brandenburg armies inside the border of Poland, came a reply of "Austria declares war on the infedels of the north, may you all die and root in eternal damnation."

This new enemy put Brandenburg right in the middle of a three front war. Troops were invading in the west from the Austrian-netherlands. Troops were coming in from the south, the combined forces of Bohemia and troops from the Austrian mainlands. All this while Brandenburg armies were far east, carving up the lands of Poland-Lithuania. The german soldiers had defeat the polish in almost every battle, but there were still to many of them left for them not to be a concern. If Brandenburg removed its armies from the east, Polish troop would have time to regroup and possibly make a strike into the backside of Brandenburg troops heading west. The great generals of the germans decided more efforts must be put on polish. A quick, effective strike would knock them out of the war, while Friesland and Denmark held off the Austrians to the west. Reinforcements to the armies of the east were cut off. Those troops were now need in the south to hold up the border against sixty thousand invading Bohemians and Austrians. These men were greatly outnumbered, but if they could hold on to the armies of the east were finished with the polish then they would have the advantage. It would all come down to how the armies of the east faired in their assualt on greater poland.

The assualt went better than planed. Once the capital feel, the interior of poland was weakly fortified and easy pickings for such a well trained army. The Russians turned the tied of their war and expelled Poland from her homeland. Within three months of the polish assualt, Brandenburg and Russian armies meet with the poles to discuss peace. It was decided no land would be taken, but Poland was required to pay Russia for her aggresions and also forced to make Bohemia, her ally, pull its forces out of german lands.

The war in the west was a hard fought bloody war. Austrian amries attempted again and again to take the lands of Friesland, but the dutch would not give a mile of land to the invaders. One after another, each attack was repulsed. There warcry of "Defend our homeland from the oppressors of our brethern" was taken up by even the Danish relief forces that arrived a few months into the war. With the arival of the Danish army, Austria gave up in its attempt to destroy one of its enemies and began to focus on german lands. Word had spread of a polish defeat and peace treaty and Austria knew its advantage of surprise was lost without even one victory to show for it. Spain would not be happy.

The war in the south was going bad. Bohemians and germans had been at a standstill till the Austrians arrived. It had been a war of position between the armies of Brandenburg and Bohemia. At first Bohemia was on the defence and had settled in till the german armies were in total rout. Then, when reinforcements arrived, the german armies dug in for the stand off. The army of Brandenburg had just fended off the Bohemians for the thrid time and were laying down to rest when the banners of Austria came fly up the hill. Exhuasted from constant fighting, the german armies were forced to retreat from the provicne of Erz and back to the capital. There they dug in, waiting to face another assualt. The defending army was happy to see the retreating flags of Bohemia, but once they were out of the fight the Austrians became desperate. Day after day, austrian armies attacked the capital, losing many men but seeming to have an endless suplly. It was the second day of the thrid week of the second month of the siege and assualt when the armies of the east arrived to lift the siege. Austrians were massacured and routed in a matter of hours, opening the way to the west for the german armies.

The gernals marched their soldiers west and into the battle once again. Austrian armies were caught between the germans on one side and the dutch and danish on the other side. It was a hopeless situation the even napolean himself could not of hoped to win. Austrians were once again defeated and routed. german armies sieged castles all over the austrian-netherlands and even provinces in mainland austria. Austria was forced to wave the white flag of surrender.

The peace talks of paris were harsh on Austria. The involved parties where France, the host; Brandenburg, the defender; Austria, the defeated aggressor; and then the rebel leaders of the lands of Luxemburg, Cologne, and Barbant. The three rebel armies had help the germans take over lands from the austrians, so they were afforded much respect at the conference table. It was decided that Austria would have to give up its lands of Flanders and Zeeland, giving more dutch the freedom of religion. Also, the rebel bands were also granted freedom from austria and allowed to make their own choices. The lands of Luxemburg became an independent nation while those of Barbant and Cologne chose to enter into the French realm of protection. France had also desired Luxemburg into its realm, but german diplomats were hard at work stopping this from happening. It caused much tension between the two nations at the conference. Austria left with Artios its only remaining lands in the netherlands. Russia, upset by not being invited to the conference, cancelled the anti-catholic alliance, saying the germans cared only for their own cause.

Word was then set out from the west. "We of the west welcome the empire of Brandenburg into our realms, for as they are truely strongest of the east, and with her new lands, strecth far into western european territories. Austria is no longer dominant ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. That title shall be passed on to the land of Spain. Spain, along with the assitance of the small nation of Austria, shall insure the rule of the pope is law throughout the grand Roman Empire.

(OOC: the Brandenburg empire now strechtes from flanders to prussia, with one vassel[friesland] and trading post and colonies in north america and africa. Brandenburg leads the world in land tech and has many monopolies. The future is bright but just as i ended the last session France and her allies declared war, but i will save that for episode IV.)

thanks for the replies and support guys!

the napolean referrence was made because the style is written as a present day documentory move as if the pictures were flashing before your eyes as the narrator speaks. Im sure the actual screen shots would help enforce this theme, and with the help of shawng1 it may become possible.

thanks to all who have taken time to read this (even if it has been parts here and there) especially castellon, shawng1, and PQ varus.

episode IV is in the making and perdicted to hit store shelves just as scheduled.

first attempt

well ok, with the help of shawng1 i think i have managed to figure it out. here goes what i hope to be a picture of the mainland Brandenburg Empire up to date (i think it may come out a little fuzzy, but remember it was my first attempt)

that should come close to expressing how happy i am that it actually worked. thanks shawng1