The Rise of the Hohenzollerens

Albrect Achilles quickly allied himself with Lithuania and Genoa on August 7th 1471 and declared war on Pommern, the Tuetonic Order and Bremen on December 2nd 1473. The war draged on for over three years, with the fortune of battle ebbing back and forth like the tide. Finally on February 3rd 1477 the southern wall of the fortress gaurding Hinterpommern collapsed due to the work of expert sappers, and the city was taken, the nation annexed. However war with Bremen and the Tuetonic order dragged on two more years ending in stalemate on May 15, 1479.

Due to the long conflict the restless peasantry revolted, only to be crushed by the Elector's battlehardened armies. The rest of Albrects reign was spent rebuilding the army and paying off his many loans. The only thing that intrest that occured was a comet that was sighted on September 25th 1482. Albrect Achilles died had a stroke and passed away on MArch 25th 1486, leaving the throne to his son Johan Cicero.

Johan Cicero negotiated a trade agreement with Novograd on May 18th 1486 and prepared for war with Bremen. On July 1st Spain declared itself the defendar of the Catholic faith. Quite an arrogant move for a nation that had been unable to defeat Granada time and time again. On June 14th 1491 Johan declare war on Bremen which was between alliances. It's armies were swiftly beaten and chased into the city were they eventual starved to death. The city opened it's doors to Johan on May 3rd 1492, yet the stubborn Elector of Bremen refused to sign the papers agreeing to annexation until June 6th. Much persuasion was used to gain that signature that can not be listed in a tome that could be read by children.

On August 30th 1493 the first non Hapsburg was elected Holy Roman Emperor since the Hohenzollerns had come to power. This would have been welcome by Johan for the Hohenzollerns had long chaffed under the arrogance of the Austrians, but this election was absolutely absurd. Isabel and Ferdinand of Spain had been elected! They held no land in the HRE, yet they had used the wealth of newly united Spain to bribe all the Electors.
It was intolerable, but Spain was to far away for Johan to do anything about it. On July 26th 1496 Johan married off his eldest daughter to the King of Denmark. On January 17th 1498 a Saint preformed a miracle in Kustrin, curing an entire village stricken with the plauge! However a year later on January 19th 1499 Johan died after a druken night of revelry and feasting, his gut bursting open as a result of his gluttony.

Joachim I Nestor inherited the throne and prepared the land for war with the Saxons. He invaded on June 5th 1505 and shattered all the resistance that came against him. He lay siege to Dresden and Anhalt. When Anhalt fell and the end was near for Dresden the Elector of Saxony consented to Joachim's terms and ceded Anhalt and it's valuable Wine refineries to Brandenburg on Aptil 13th 1507. In the spring of 1509 Joachim married his younger sister to the King of Lithuania and allied himself with Denmark. The next six years were spent rebuilding the army paying off the loans taken out to finance the war with Saxony.

On April 8th news of the treaty of Tordesillas reached the court at Berlin and Joachim Nestor was thrown into a fury. He had to be physicly restrained by his own men to stop him from defenestrating the Papal ambasador. Joachim determined to ignore this decree and colonize the new world as soon as any bold exploreers offered to serve the Electorate of Brandenburg.

On January 25th 1516 the crown of the Holy Roman Empire passed back into German hands as Maximilian I of Austria was elected. However Maximillian took advantage of this new title to declare war on Brandenburg. Austria marched it's troops acroos Bohemia and invaded Brandenburg at Anhalt, several times they were thrown back across the border by the might of Brandenburg. With their armies in taters Austria agreed to pay an indemnity of 175,000 gold pieces August 10 of 1518. Maximilian began to plot his revenge immediatly but he mysteriously died on January 27th 1519, apparently mauled to death by his own hunting dogs. His son Karl V inherited the throne of Austria and the that of the Holy Roman Empire.

On January 1st of that same year Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church. That document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials. It began the reformation. Joachim secretly approved, anything that weaken the Pope was fine by him. However he wisely chose to keep this opinion secret untill the majority of his citizens agreed with him. The last thing Brandenburg needed was a religous war. He fully tolerated those of the Catholic and Protestant faiths.

On June 7th 1522 Joachim Nestor allied Brandenburg with Lithuania and Poland and joined their war with Austria and her many allies. As war raged throughout Central and Northern Europe, Lutherism spread as people looked to God for an answer to their suffering. On September 26th 1523 Bohemia changed it's state religon to Lutheren (protestant). The war ended on June 26 1526. Gerle, it's armies slaughtered and walls torn down, was annexed. Portugal was forced to pay an indemnity of 196,000 gold pieces. A white peace was concluded with Austria. A seprate war with France whose begins are now lost in the shroudes of history was also ended at this time with 50,000 gold pieces as was the war with Milan on December 1st of that year.

Lucky indeed that the war with Austria ended when it did for on August 19th 1526 disaster struck! Austria inherited the Kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, making it the most powerfull empire in Christendom. Joachim Nestor was helpless to stop it, all he could do that religous conflicts between Luthern Bohemia and Catholic Austria would tear the empire to pieces.

Luthernism continued it's march through Germany and Scandanavi. On February 2nd 1530 Sweeden converted as did Oldenburg on October 1st of 1532.

Joachim Nestor recognized that Brandenburg was swiftly falling behind Austria in tactics and weaponry, so his eyes fell on the great weapons manufactories of Oldenburg. Brandenburg had to have them if it ever hoped to catch up. For this reason and perhaps a touch of magalomania, Joachim Nestor declared war on Oldenburg on October 25th 1532. Oldenburg's armies were bludgeoned into submission and their citadel taken on June 26th 1533. And so that nation was annexed into Bradenburg and it's weapons manufactories put into her service.

On September 9th 1533 Denmark converted toLuthernism, as did England and Saxony on January 27th and February 1st of 1534 respectivly. Indeed by this time many of Brandenburg's provinces had converted, yet the state was not ready to convert at this time, and so this issue was left to his heir Joachim II Hektor, who inherited on JUly 23rd 1535.

Joachim Hektor was a man who lived in interesting times. On January 3rd 1536 Austria declared war upon Brandenburg. The might of Austria was unrivaled in all the world and she surrounded Brandenburg like a vise, for not only had she recently gained a border with Brandenburg with the inheritence of Bohemia, she had gained a western border decades earlier with the inheritence of the Dutch lands of Burgandy. Joachim's armies were driven from the field of battle, Berlin, Anhalt laid seige and Gerle sacked. When Saxony declared war on Octovber 6th 1536, Joachim realized the war with Austria could not be won, and the next day he ceded Austria the province of Gerle.

Joacchim Hektor rallied his diminished but battlehardened armies and lead them into Saxony where he destroyed the cream of the Saxon nobilty. By the 30th of April in the year of the Lord 1537 Dresden was his and so was Saxony and it's great arms manufactories, equal in every way to Oldenburg's.

Joachim Hektor spent the next three years were spent rebuilding the army and stabalizing his finances. Then on the 3rd of January 1541 Joachim made official what had been true for years in fact, that the Electorate of Brandenburg was a Lutheren kingdom.

As soon as the ceasfire with Austria ended in October 1541 the Austrians declared war once again, vowing to convert the heritcs by force, yet in the yearss since the last war Brandenburg had grown strong. On January 1st 1542 Brandenburg allied itself with France and Sotland and it became clear that neither combat could gain a clear advantage and on November 14th 1542 the war ended a stalemate.

I don't know how.
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On May 14th 1547 Wurtemburg followed Brandenburg's enlightened path and converted to the path of Luther. However Christendom had grown even more fractured for two years before on July 21st John Calvin established his own protestant church. No provinces of Brandenburg converted to Calvanism for which Joachim Hektor was thankfull, for although he looked upon Calvanists as much closer to the truth of the living word then Catholics, it was much more likely he would come into possesion of Catholic lands, and the less religons to deal with the better.

In the years following the defeat of Austria by Brandenburg and France, that country was riven by revolts, both religous and nnationalistic. By the year 1550 the states of Bavaria, Baden and Hungary declared their independence, and the province of Ruthenia defected to Poland.

On January 26th 1553 Joachim Hektor was dismayed to learn that reactionary forces had seized controll of the British crown and converted that nation back to Catholism. From 1542 to 1553 Joachim rebuilt the Brandenburg's military and struggled to put the nation's finances back on sound footing, for the Austrian-Saxon war had driven Brandenburg into bankruptcy and inflation had soared to nearly 60%. He also concluded an alliance with the Scots. They were Catholic, but Joachim was desprate for allies and they were the best that he could find, the House of Hohenzollern was reviled as worse then dishonorable scum throughout the length and breadth of Christendom.

On October 7th 1553 Austria declared war on Brandenburg, having finaly crushed the rebels and reannexed Hungary and Baden. Yet their efforts were for not, the armies of Brandenburgbeat every Austrian force that came against them. Silesia & Erz was sacked and Friezen & Wurtemburg were besieged. These victories were a direct result of the military genius of the Crown Prince Johan George who had risen to command in the peacefull year of 1544. In light of this thrashing Austria was forced to cede Silesia to Brandenburg. The reason they got off so lightly was that this war had forced the Hohenzollerens deeply into debt and they had suffered to many casulties to carry on the war much longer. The fact that Austria was laying siege to take back Silesia decided the issue in the mind of Joachim Hektor.

Joachim Hektor was pleased to note that the Tuetonic order converted to Protestantism on the 12th of February 1556

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The Hohenzollerns were historicly Lutherens who hoped that reconcilliation would come between the churches of Luther and Calvin, and they all disliked the Catholic church by varying degrees, even Fredrick the Great, an agnostic/atheist disliked the Catholic church more then any other churches. Therefore in the religion tolerence bars will be so ordered. First Protestant (Luthernen), Reformed Protestant (Calvanist), Catholic, Orthodox, Islam, etc. This will not changed no matter how many Catholic provinces I conquer. If I conquer enough Orthodox provinces they will vault ahead of Catholisism. I personally have nothing against Catholics, my father is one, as is his family.
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The year 1556 had several other interesting foriegn developments occured. Ferdinand I of Austria was elected Holy Roman Emperor. However Austrian power took a great hit when Fellipe II rose to the Spanish throne and inherited Austria's Dutch lands. This pleased Joachim Nestor greatly fo it ment that the next war with Austria would only have one front. He also knew that Spain could not possibly hold this land indefinitly for they could not hold their own country together. Although they had evicted the Moors from Gibralta they still held the territory of Granada. Howewer this was not a concern for the Spanish government, since the nations of Catalunya (sp), Aragon, and Navara had secced from Spain in the last century, and Portugal had gained control of a province on Spain's northeastern coast.

In light of this weakness on January 3rd 1558 Joachim Nestor declared war on the Spanish as they tried to quell several Dutch revolts. The Crown Prince personal lead the cream of Brandenburg into the province of Friesen were he suprised and annihilated a Spanish army that was doing battle with Dutch rebels. The fortress guarding that port city fell to Johan in a text book siege on December 18th of 1558. During the next year Johan defeated another Spanish army in Holand then some more Dutch rabbble in the province of Geldre which he besiegesd. There was much hope in Berlin that Johan would manage to tear at lest half of the Neatherlands from Spain, but it was not to be. In November 1559 Austria once more declared war on Brandenburg. The Crown Prince left enough men in Gerle to continue the siege and then marched off to join the other armies of Brandenburg in battle with the hated Austrians. On February 2nd 1560 Johan's father negotiated a peace with Spain that ceded the Calvanist duchy of Friesen to Brandenburg. On May 1st 1560 the morale of the armies of Brandenburg were much lifted by the news that pro Protestant forces had overthown the reactionary Catholic government that had siezed controll of Britian in 1553. This inspired the Luutherens of Brandenburg to fight that much harder against the now demoralized Catholics of Austria. Johan decisivly defeated an Austrian army 22 miles south of Dresden, and crossed the border into Erz which he besieged, forcing the Austrians to capitulate and pay a 16,000 gold piece indemnity. In these last three wars, two with Austria and one with Spain, Johan Georg had proven himself to be the greates general the House Hohenzolleren and Brandenburg had ever seen, and he had not yet even inherited the throne. It was obvious that he was destined for great things.

Johan's victories against Spain had mortally wounded their Dutch ambitions and on April 1st of 1563 the Netherlands declared their independence. Fearfull of our growing power Kleves, Denmark, and Poland declared war on Brandenburg on July 12th 1563. The armies of Denmark and Poland were driven off and battle seasawed against heir respective borders. The Crown Prince Johan Georg lead an army into Munster and sending the army of Kleves reeling back into their home provinces. The walls of Munster were breached by Spring and johan marched his men into Kleves. He swept away with contemptous ease, the remenents of Kleve's once proud army and laid siege to the capital. On April 24th 1564 Kleve's was forced to cede the province of Munster to Brandenburg and to pay an indemnity of 60,000 gold pieces.

However peace was not to last long. On July 27th 1564 Maximillian II of Austria inherited the throne and was elected to Holy Roman Emperor. On July 12th 1565 Genoa declared war on Brandenburg, no doubt on the orders of their ally Austria. This war was a stalemate. While the army command by the Crown Prince met success, the other armies met defeat. However they did well enough to force Austria to pay a war indemnity of 20,000 gold pieces on January 18th 1566. The king Joachim ended the war with Genoa by paying them a 50,000 gold piece indemnity. The only naval forces Brandenburg possessed were those they recieved when annexing nations on the coast. Much to small to stop the amphibious landings of Genoa. Nor could Brandenburg afford to build a larger navy, for the wars with the Kleves and Genoa alliances of the 1560s once again drove Brandenburg into bankruptcy. Thus was the situation when Johan Georg Hohenzolloern inherited the throne of the Electorate of Brandenburg on January 17th 1571.

I have several screenshots of the year 1630, I will try to set them up when this AAR gets that far.
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Johan's reign was reign racked by battle and he was immediatly confronted with another war with Austria, has the Hapsburg's forces once more crossed into Silisea and Saxony on March 29th 1571. If the Austrians thought that having to rule the enire nation would distract Johan from the battlefield, they were sadly mistaken. Austrian's armies were driven from Brandenburg and uttrely crushed by Johan on their home territory of Erz. Then begann the lonngest siege that Johan would ever conduct lastinng from May 29th 1571 to February 1st 1573. When the town's mayor finally capitulated due to rampant disease and famine the Hapsburg's acknowledged they were once more beaten and ceded that catholic province vowing revenge.

During the war the Council of Trent had ended on October 30th 1571 and the counter-reformation begun. Austria had little time to dabble in religion as it fought for it's life versus Brandenburg, yet when the war ended it converted to reformed Catholisisim.
This discencerting news on the religous front was countered by the conversion of Hessen to Calvanisim on July 1st of 1573.

On January 1st 1574 Johan Georg took himself a Prussian wife, only to have his wedding rudely interrupted by a declaration of war by Savoy. That war was ended before it could begin with the payment of 50,000 gold pieces to Savoy; Brandenburg was simply not ready for conflict at this time. It would take several years to rebuild the army and the treasury from the damage they took in the last conflict. During this period of reconstruction the army's arbuques were replaced with muskets, putting them finally on par with the weapons of the Austrian army, Brandenburg's tactics and long been superior.

Events in France came to a head on January 1st 1577 as the Hugenots declared independence from France, and several fanaticly Catholic states seceeded to oppose them and the central government. A viscous three way civil war broke in a country that had been riven for the past two decades by rebellions inspired by religous strife. Brittany and Lorraine took advantage of the turmoil to declare independence, as Flanders and Savoy encroached on French lands.

On March 12th 1578 the Austrian's once more declared war on Brandenburg, and once more Johan brushed away their feebel attmepts of invasions as a horse would a fly biting at it's flanks. Their armies were beaten, their morale shattered and their fortresses torn down, Austria gave up on April 1st of 1579 and ceded Brandenburg the Luthern people of the Sudetenland and paid war indemnity of 50,000 gold pieces.

Johan didn't have long to revel in his good fortune rebuild his force though, fo the 1580s would be a decade of war and chaos that was unprecedented in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. The records of that time are spotty at best for many libraries and archives burned in the fires of armies driven by religous fervor. And after the wars the combatants themselves wrote no more of it, desiring to stricken the horror from their minds. The wars began on January 4th 1581 and stretched unbroken deep into 1588 were they just trailed off into nothing, no one really rembering the exact day that they ended. During that time Johan valiantly battled alone against several different hostile alliances. As soon as war with one alliance was winding down another would enter the fray. The most powerfull of these were lead by Austria, Sweeden, Hessen, and Wurzburg in the order that the alliances entered the war. Battles were fought and seiges lad in nearly every province of central Europe. Brandenburg lost over 90,000 men and once more went bankrupt. Austria ceded the Luthern province of Wurzburg to Brandenburg, but it was of little solace to a people who had lost so much, and pesant revolts raged for nearly two years throught Brandenburg, as they did through most of the Holy Roman Empire. The only thing that came out of this war better was Johan Georg's reputation for military genius, he had not lost a single battle in the entire conflict and had held together a nation beset by powerfull enemies from all sides.

Peace would not last long, for the Catholic kings of Christendom were only to eager to plunge the world in war once. On April 5h 1591 Genoa and it's ally Poland declared war on Brandenburg, and they were followed by Austria and it's allies Bavaria and Kleves on May 1st 1591. Holding forces kept the Poles at bay while Johan wheeled the brunt of Brandenburg's strength to deal with Austria. The Hapsburg's were crushed even more quickly then usual and they setteled for a white peace on June 9th 1591. Johan than marched all of Brandenburg's might against the hapless Poles, leaving only small garisons on the coast to discourage genoa from attempting to land. Over 40,000 Poles were slain in battle and by August 14th 1593 Pozan, Wiekopolska, and Danzig had fallen. Johan was determined to cripple Poland forever but when Hessen, England and Prussia declared war he was forced to make peace on August 19th for only Wiekopolska.

It was to much. The strain of 13 years of war had stretched Brandenburg to it's limit and it finally snapped. English armies landed in the west and Prussian armies poured in from the east. The English sacked Freisen and the Prussian's Weikolpolska. Johan was able to stop the invaders from spreading but he was not able to evict them, he was to busy laying seige to Mainz and then Hessen. On November 16th 1594 Johan ceded Wiekolpolska to Prussia and on January 29th 1595 he ceded Freisen to England. This was somewhat offset by the complete capitulation of Hessen on Christmas day of 1596. Mainz was ceded to Brandenburg and Hessen vassalized. The lands of Hesse were so depopulated by the war they would not raise a single military unit for another twenty five years. Austria which had declared war in June of 1596 and rampaged through southern Brandenburg has the war with Hessen wound down. On February 15th 1597 Johan was forced to buy peace with an indemnity of 150,000 gold pieces. This payment drove the nation bankrupt for the fourth time in August 1597.

On January 13th 1598 the Great Elector Johan Georg Hohenzollern died. He had won every battle he had personally lead since he took command has Crown Prince 54 years ago, and had greatly expanded the lands of Brandenburg. He had converted the nation to Lutherenisim and in his latter years had fended off numerous Catholic invasions. His handaling of the nations finances were not so skilled however and two Bankruptcies occured under his reign, leaving his heir with an inflation rate of 128%. The future of Brandenburg without Johan Georg looked bleak, the Holy Roman Empire was dark with the blood of a lost generation and none could see the light.

Like nearly all Electors since the founding of the Hohenzolleren line, Johan's successor Joachim Freidich was thrown into battle immediatly. The spring of the year 1600 saw the armies of Bavaria and Denmark strike deep into Brandenburg, attempting to link into a pincer movement that would cut the nation in half. The Bavarian's sacked Wurzburg, but were unable to advance further. Joachim rallied the country around him and led them against the Danes who were defeated in Mecklenburg and utterly crushed in Jutland all their cities on the continent, including the capatial was laid siege. On January 9th 1602 Joachim ceded the province of Wurzburg to the Bavarians. While this cut the province of Mainz from the rest of Brndenburg, except for the passage through the vassal Hessen this was more then balanced when Denmark was forced to cede Holstien and their maps of the New World and Western Africa to Brandenburg. They were rather incomplete and only showed bits of the coast. Joachim could see several colonies of England, France Denmark, Venice, and amazingly Ragusa. Although he yearned to spread the banner of Brandenburg across the New World Joachim knew were the nation's intrests truly lied, and that was in the Holy Roman Empire.

After this war Joachim began to rigoursly prepare for the next round of combat. On September 1st of 1604 a royal marriage was made with Hellas, and then a month later an alliance was struck. On Jaunary 18th 1605 Joachim joined Brandenburg into the Evangelical Union which was formed protect the Protestant states of Christendom from the depravations of the Catholics.
Joachim was thus stuned when fellow member Sweden declared war on Brandenburg just five months later. Joachim's armies drove the Sedes into the sea and on July 11th 1606 forced them to pay a 75,000 gold piece indemnity. Joachim Freidrick's reign was short however. He had inherited the throne as an old man and was tourin Erz when an outbreak of the plauge occured in November of 1606, that killed one in every seven people there. He recovered from the plauge but was gravely weakened and only lived untill July 25th 1608. Little did he know that under his son Brnadenburg would become the most powerfull state in Christendom.

Less then a year after being crowned Elector of Brandenburg, Johann Sigismund inherited the Electorate of Kleves from his Grand-Uncle on the 25th of March 1609. Not only did he inherit the land and the army, which consisted of 19,414 infantry and 2,128 cavalry, but the people's loyalty not only of Kleves but that of their former subjects in Munster.
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CB shields added to Kleves and Munster
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Having paid of all outstanding loans and having rebuilt the army Johann loaned Scotland 94,000 gold pieces at an intrest of 10% over a period of three years to finance their war against the English on March 7th 1611. Later on April 9th of that year the alliance with Hellas was renewed, it having fallen apart during the war with the Swedes. This time it also included Albania, this was a great achievment for the Elector for it presented the Austrians with a southern front if they dared declare war on Brandenburg again.

Austria was not the land hatching plans against Brandenburg however. Genoa and Poland declared war on June 13th 1611, and Albania came to her allies aid. A stalemate developed on the eastern front with Poland but the war was won in the spring of 1612 when the Genoese fleet landed their expedicenary force into the bogs Hinterpommern by mistake where they were slaughtered to the last man. Thus Genoa was forced to pay a war indemnity of 138,000 gold pieces. Not all was well in Brandenburg though, for in February a plauge had struck down every 17th man in the province of Munster. Peace was not yet at hanf though for on April 30th 1612, Sardinia and Austria declared war on Brandenburg, followed quickly by Denmark. These wars were largly stalemates. On January 1st peace was secured with Sardinia and her ally Austria for the cost of 50,000 gold ppieces. How far House Hapsburg had fallen to follow the orders of such a pitiful Kingdom.

The Scots repaid their loan in April of 1614 and the war with Denamrk endend on October the 13th of that year for the cost of a mere 16,000 gold pieces. Then on November 1st 1615 Johann had the good fortune to inherit the Kingdom of Prussia via his Grandmother, the Prussian princess who had married Johan Georg. Johann Sigismund inherited the provinces of Prussia and Wielkopolska, along with 8,000 infantry and a valid claim on the province of Memel which was held by the Swedes.
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CB shields added to Prussia and Memel
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This inheritence was a direct threat to the Kingdom of Poland for it seperated the provinces of Pozan and Danzig from the rest of the country. Therefore they spent the next two yrars marshaling their forces and declared war on Brandenburg on April 18th 1617. Their preparations availed them not. Entire Polish armies in Pozan and Danzig were destroyed, Pozan and Krakow were sacked, while Danzig and the capital and Mosovia were besieged. On January 8th 1619 the Polish King swallowed his pride and bequethed the province of Pozan to Brandenburg. The war with Genoa was ended on May 3rd of that year with the gift of 26,000 gold pieces to the great merchant guilds of that city.
Johann Sigismund died a deeply contented man on December 28th 1619 with the land at peace.

Georg Wilheim inherited a state that ruled all of northern Germany. Austria and Bavaria blocked expnsion to the south and south east of the Holy Roman Empire. The only place to grow was the south west, so Georg Whillem personaly took command of the army stationed in Mainz which consisted of 19,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. This left him in a rather bad position when Sweeden declared war on Brandenburg on January 11th of 1620, barely two weeks after his coranation. This did not make a differnce in the outcome of the war however, for upon the commencement of hostilities 8,000 Prussians marched into Memel and creamed the 2,000 men force that the Swedes had garrisoned there. By August the loyal citizens of Memel betrayed their Swedish oppressors and opened the gate to the Prussians. On the 14th the King of Sweden signed a treaty apoligizing for his unprevoked attack and ceded Brandenburg the province of Memel.

The next two years were a time of peace and rebuilding. A loan was paid down in September of 1621, the army reformed in January 1622, and a bourgoise petition granted in November of that year. Abroad France continued to be chipped at by Flanders, Savoy and Brittany, while being riven by internal revolts.

The storm of war comes once more on March 8th 1623 when Bavaria declared war on Brandenburg. This war was over by the third of May, with the defeat of Baavarian armies in Mainz and Wurzburg. Georg Wilheim ended the war when he noticed Austrian armies massing on his borders. Sure enough on May 14th 1623 Austria declared war. It was a disaster for her. On July 27th Whillem stormed the walls of Baden, sacking the city, while in the Sudetenland nearly 75,000 Brandenburgers routed 52,000 Austrians, killing or capturing over three fourths of them. The remaining 55,000 Brandenburgers set out for Vienna and on the 25th of September 1623 the Austrians ceded Brandenburg Baden.


Flush with success Georg Wilheim declared war on Strassburg, an Austrian vassel on March 11th 1625. The campaign was a cakewalk, the city was being besieged by 6,000 rebels who were completed annhiliated before the walls of the city which fell on October 9th 1626 and was annexed. Unfortunatly while Whillem was besieging Strassburg, Sweeden and Wurtzburg had declared war on Brandenburg on October 16th 1625. Wurtzburg was besieged and sacked by Wutrtzburg while Brandenburg besieged Sweedish Courland. Baden was sacked by Wurtzburg, but they were soon chased off and a counterseige began. Nevertheless on January 3rd 1626 Whillem paid off the Sweeds with 175,000 gold coins so that he could continue his siege of Strasburg in peace.

The capture of Starsburg provided Georg Wilheim with maps of the entire African coast, the Near East and the Eastern Ind. Georg Wilheim was stuned at the breadth of Ragusa's colonial possessions. They held land in India, Western and East Africa, the Carribean, and Greenland! That such a pathetic excuse for a nation could controll a vast colonial empire greatly preturbed the Elector of Brandenburg who held no colonial territory.

On Jaunary 6th 1627, Brandenburg once more allied itself to Hellas, which had diploannexed Albania. Exactly three months later in April, Georg Wilheim invaded France. On May10th Franche Comte fell, on June 26th Nivernas fell, and on Augugst 23 a French army was defeated in Artois. Thirteen days latter on the 26th of August the French ceded Brandenburg the province of Franche Comte.

The war with France had been cut short when on August 5th Catalyuna, Portugal, Denmark and England declared war on Brandenburg. Battles raged across Denmark and Northwestern Germany, but this war was a sttalemate that dragged untill April 2nd 1628 when 28,000 gold pieces were paid to Catalyuna for peace. The only good thing that had happened duriing this war was the reformation of the navy in the January of 1628. By this point in time Brandenburg was hated throughout the entire world!

Georg Wilheim spent the next year rebuilding the army and forging powerfull alliances. On September 1st 1629 there was doublee royal marriage tying Brandenburg to Sweden and Norway, with whom he allied himself to in the next month, along with the German state of Wurttemberg.

On November 1st 1629 Georg Wilheim honored his alliance with Sweeden and declared war on the rebvel Tvers, while setting his eyes on France and the military education of his son. On January 3rd 1630 the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilheim was placed in command of 36,168 men in Anhalt.
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That's as far as I've gotten, I will try to put up some screenshots. What do you think so far?