DjMangus: I’m happy you like my AAR. I’ve actually fought a couple of large wars with Sweden in the past, but you are right that I’ve fought those powers overall less compared to most others in Europe.
Duke of Awesome: Thanks!
JDMS: Well, I needed to come up with a reason to have Frederickan Infantry when Prussia doesn’t even exist.
History_Buff: Good analysis, although this late in the game I’m not too concerned about grabbing large chunks of territory. The location of allies will definitely make an impact post 1821 though, just wait and see.
morningSIDEr: Of course I probably don’t
need allies, but it makes things more interesting.
Lord Strange: Swapping colonial lands is a good idea, I’ll see if I can work that into later narrative. Thank you for the award as well, I’ll wear it proudly.
sjones25: It’s always interesting to see normally minor nations join the big leagues. I’m still not sure exactly how Siena managed it though. They went from a few provinces to dominating the peninsular out of nowhere, while I was able to keep track of Navarra’s growth.
Thanks all for voting! Siena and Sweden have the most votes, so I’ll aim for those first.
Chapter Forty One: Dragged into It
Ten miles west of Berlin, March 1745
The cannons’ thunderous report filled the air once again, and another volley of shells tore up a storm of mud and flesh in the shallow hillside in front of them. The hail of attacks continued, keeping the ones attempting to hold the hillside suppressed and disorganised while the foot soldiers advanced up it.
Frederick, now titled Duke-in-exile of Brandenburg upon his defection to Greater Friesland, watched the unfolding carnage from the top of his horse with disinterest. The outcome of this battle wasn’t in any doubt, and it had been reduced to simple mop-up. Not that this sector even mattered; General Elsinga was engaging the bulk of the Austrian forces to the south-east leaving him in command of a portion of the Army of Holstein to clear the road to Berlin.
The turning point in this conflict had been subtle, but decisive. Where there had once been an ocean of men in blue coats in precise formations laying withering fire upon their enemies, there were now a scattering of far-understrength regiments that struggled to maintain anything remotely resembling a coherent battle line. The cannon fire was only making that worse, and it gave ample room for the Frisian soldiers to advance and close the gap between them. Austria simply hadn’t the staying power for an all out conflict with their rivals.
“My lord,” spoke a lightly equipped rider who approached the commander and his escort, “the 3rd Lubeck regiment has crested the hill. The Austrian right flank appears to be surrendering completely.”
“Accept it and secure them, these men were only placed here to slow us down and were fully expected to die. We will show mercy for their bravery,” Frederick replied and the rider nodded before turning his horse to deliver the message to the commander on the far left flank. As he left Frederick noted the morale of the Austrian forces collapsing, probably as a result of the news of the surrender of their right flank spreading down the line. Frisian soldiers were now halfway up the hill and actually accelerating in their advance as the Austrian discipline utterly melted away.
“Where to now, General?” one of his subordinates asked.
It was true that they had two targets they could turn to. Berlin was the old capital of the region and Frederick’s home, but there was another more inviting target nearby. The city of Postdam had been selected to be the centre of the Austrian administration in Brandenburg, or North Austria as some in Europe were beginning to call it. The city was firmly Austrian and growing at a rate that would see it surpass Berlin within a century. Along with the Pommeranian coast and the Polish border it was one of the main concentrations of Austrians in the region. If he could raze the city and drive them out then maybe...
“We’re going to Berlin. Let’s go.” He shook off the thoughts of reclaiming Brandenburg by himself and without permission. No matter how much he had pleaded with the Frisian Noble’s Council they had refused to acknowledge the liberation of his homeland as a goal in the war. He accepted the strategic reasons for that, as limiting Austria’s control over the remaining small German states was a much more valuable victory than taking these now-culturally-divided lands. Nonetheless it still pained him, and he had vowed to find another way to see the Austrians driven from this place no matter how long it took.
Six months later
Frederick’s plan was simple. Friesland’s reluctance to take Brandenburg and the surrounding areas was that it lacked any real claim to the region. After spending some time looking at the cultural disposition of the Empire, Frederick realised a way to acquire the claim required to take the lands and severely weaken Austria in the process. (Austrian and Frisian/Flemish lands highlighted)
A unified Kingdom Of Germany would be able to lay claim to all the lands of Germany, although those already culturally Frisian would probably be exempt from that if they were the ones to create it. With those claims in hand, Austria could be swept aside and the majority of its lands seized. He enthusiastically proposed his plan to the Noble’s Council, but it was shot down as they had no intention of adding legitimacy to the ideas of uniting amongst the currently weak and easy to control German states. The plans were filed away, perhaps waiting for more a suitable time for their ideas to come to fruition.
In the diplomatic aftermath of the war with Austria, it was becoming more and more clear that Friesland was becoming isolated in the international scene. Once a loyal ally, Burgundy now saw its northern neighbour as a bitter rival for domination of northern France. To fix this, the Noble’s Council met to discuss options for new allies.
First and foremost, they had to clear out the present list of allies. If they perceived as having many nations at their backs already then many others wouldn’t be very interested in joining them. Although it was problematic to renounce promises of support to small nations it had to be done. All the allies except Denmark as a long time close ally, Venice as an important financial ally, and the Frisian vassals had their support pulled back. Soon afterwards diplomatic talks opened up with Sweden and Siena, those two nations having been picked as major powers that did not have any major conflicts of interest with Greater Friesland.
As expected, Burgundy was able to come back from the trouble it was having in its war with the various minor French powers and finally delivered total defeats to them.
Large regions of southern France were conquered, and Paris itself now lay in Burgundian hands. The French king was captured and imprisoned before he could flee, and without an heir the throne of what was left of the French kingdom passed into the hands of the elected Prince of Navarra.
With the role of monarch becoming more and more of a ceremonial role, there was plenty of time for Hendrik III to indulge in some of the baser pleasures in life. Despite urging from the nobility to marry of foreign princess for political reasons he insisted on staying in the life of a bachelor so that he did not have to stick with any one woman. This began to backfire on him as he became known throughout foreign courts as a target for women wanting to get up in the world.
He was constantly pestered with marriage proposals from noblewomen as far away as Africa. Of course, he turned each and every one down but it was only a matter of time before this ended badly. (This is part of an interesting event chain I’ve never seen before. Either give up the useful ‘bachelor’ modifier (+2% prestige, -0.5 infamy) or risk a 50/50 chance of losing your king. The problem is this event in the set fires ridiculously often, even if you have a Regency Council.)
Large amounts of money and resources were being poured into the diplomatic efforts, and they finally bore fruit in Italy.
Frisian weapons were being used so frequently in the war with Milan, that Siena was willing to accept them as full war partners. This was especially useful for the Sienese as they were presently unable to reach Milan’s colonies.
Upon joining in the war, Frisian forces deployed to the Bahamas and the Indian Ocean and easily secured the remaining free Milanese lands.
The city of Parma was annexed by Siena, and for its support Friesland took the Indian Ocean island of Mahe.
Even as the Noble’s Council were patting themselves on the back for securing a useful ally, news came that Siena was continuing its march through Italy.
This time they incurred the wrath of Burgundy, making this a fight that Friesland would have to take part in to ensure their new ally did not suffer at the hands of the rulers of France. Several Frisian armies were deployed south to meet the advancing Burgundians head on, while the Army of Koln was sent into Baden, the leader of the coalition defending Genoa.
Burgundy deployed the majority of its forces against Friesland, but that wasn’t enough. They were up against troops hardened in combat against the Austrian Blue Coats and so the line broke apart within days of the arrival of the Frisian armies.
Frisian soldiers continued straight into the heart of Burgundy and the other Genoan allies. There were many among them wondering if conquering Dijon would become the new conquering Paris now that the latter was losing importance.
With the Burgundians that made up the bulk of the allies forces shattered, the Sienese and Frisian forces were able to force harsh peace terms.
Genoa was forced to give up the city of Nice, while Baden was made to pay reparations and give up its alliances with the various nations that might stand in the way of Siena’s rampage. Of course, the trouble didn’t end there as they were the alliance leader and so Siena was still in the war against them. They were later forced to released the Palatinate as an independent Duchy, although it didn’t remain so for long as it was immediately inducted into the Frisian political sphere.
Hendrik’s constant playboy behaviour finally caught up to him shortly after the end of the war.
A spurned lover stabbed him and then killed herself after being rejected and he died before anyone could reach his bedroom. The Noble’s Council met and agreed to pass the throne to Hendrik’s two year old nephew Wiebe to continue consolidating power over the country to themselves. (But still the events come. Accept this marriage or 50% chance of [Regency Council] dying! Eventually I just accept one to shut them up.)
The first crisis of the toddler’s time as Holy Roman Emperor came up almost immediately when a rebellion in Milan saw them convert to a heretical religion.
Or at least that’s what the Imperial bureaucrats complain about. Actually Milan simply converted to a minor sect of the Church of Burgundy which was almost indistinguishable from the normal following, leaving many wondering what the big deal was (Seriously. Must be a bug of some kind)
Peace reigned for a few years, as Siena consolidated its gains and the Noble’s Council worked to prevent any wars of adventure either in Europe of abroad in case Austria tried anything. Their view was finally vindicated when Austria made their move.
The Duchy of Danzig was invaded by both Austria and Poland (twice!), and Greater Friesland scrambled its forces to its defence. While the Duchy itself had very large forts guarding it, it was still isolated from the rest of the minor German states and so it would be a very long while before reinforcements could arrive. They were written off almost immediately so that Frisian forces could engage the Austrians properly instead of having to rush to their aid.
The problem was that the majority of Frisian forces were out of position, with only a couple of armies sitting on the Austrian border. The Army of Oldenburg was sent to skirmish with the small Austrian advance elements to thin out their numbers a little before the main battle lines met. Unfortunately, they weren’t fast enough to slip away from the ones right behind them.
The offending army was wiped out, but losing a whole army so early on in the war was not a good sign. One valuable item of interest came out of the battle, which was the appearance of General Ripperda. His brilliant leadership commanding one of the smaller units lead to the total destruction of the Austrian force with only minimal Frisian casualties. He was immediately promoted to the rank of a full general, even though his family could not be tracked down to check if he had noble heritage as was usually required to reach that rank.
With the Empire once again caught up in a war between its two most powerful members, many nations were eager to take advantage of that. However they all knew that Friesland was not one to be messed with in colonial wars, and so only one nation was desperate enough for a victory to actually follow through on that.
Even with the war in Europe, Frisian forces were more than capable of holding off the Castillian attempt to conquer the Panama region. After a few skirmishes in South America and South-East Asia, the Iberians agreed to a plain ceasefire.
Despite being cut off, Danzig was actually proving incredibly useful in holding off the Austrian advance by drawing away significant numbers of men to lay siege to the massive fortress in Warmia.
The frontline in northern Germany wasn’t nearly as much of a meat grinder as it had been in previous wars, as the Austrians simply didn’t have the numbers to match up to the local Frisian forces. General Ripperda was able to defeat invading Austrian armies one after another and soon the frontline began to move backwards into Brandenburg.
Elsewhere, France finally disappeared from the map as Navarra took full control of the nation.
It was questionable whether they could hold onto the isolated lands with Burgundy eyeing them hungrily, but it confirmed once and for all that the idea of France was dead and gone.
Ripperda’s advance into Brandenburg had caused the Austrian king to move north with his main army to counterattack and buy his forces in Danzig more time to conquer to fortress they were still having trouble with. However, almost immediately after his forces had left their posts in Ansbach and Bavaria the local Frisian forces were able to take advantage of it.
With the southern front open and Frisians pouring into the heart of Austria the Austrian king realised he wouldn’t be able to achieve his aims and sued for peace. He offered to renounce his claims to some of the lands of Central Germany as well as Transylvania. Not wanting this war to drag on and more to get ideas like Castille, the Noble’s Council accepted.
With Austria out of the way, Poland was a walkover and they were forced to give up the Imperial province of Mazovia. As reparations for the war, Danzig was subsequently given control of the land.
While Friesland’s place in Europe seemed assured, not all was well in the colonies.
The inhabitants of the lands around Maracaibo and Caracas were seeking independence. Why it was called Venezuela wasn’t entirely clear, as that hadn’t been used as a name for the region since Friesland had conquered it from Britain and Castille. Perhaps the rebels wanted to distance themselves from the official moniker of Frisian Panama in the creation of their new nation and focused on the name used by the old Iberian colonists.
Before much interest could be put on dealing with these rebels, the situation in Europe once again flared up.
Siena was after what remained of Genoa, and it looked like they were going to drag Friesland into yet again. Perhaps allying with the young and battle-eager nation was not such a smart idea.
To be continued...
One of the colonials’ main complaints is that Friesland is considering abolishing slavery, at the urging of some of the more liberal members of its society. The colonies use large numbers of slaves to work on their plantations and an official declaration of the government’s policy on this could have a major impact, even if the political effects are not felt until decades down the line.
Option A: Abolish. Enacts the abolish slavery decision. No other immediate effects.
Option B: Don’t abolish. Will not enact the abolish slavery decision until at least 1800. No other immediate effects.