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Go big or go home when it comes to war!!!
Someone should have told Chris that... and probably told me too...
aw.. this looks like next update could either be very fun.. or rather troublesome.
heres to hoping its fun!!
(and littered with lots of Frenchies and Spaniards dead
Well, it is going to involve massive warfare, that much is sure
I hope Denmark is still willing to back its king. France and Castille will be your hardest foes yet; especially with France stretching so far north.
Best of luck in the coming years, as I really think you may need it,
(If you don't, can I have it back? I may need it at a later point.
The people still back Chris, but he is going to need a lot more than popular support to pull this one.
Your luck is most welcome.
Ah, the war I asked for, you sure listen well to your readers' desires, Salik!
Anything to accomodate your excellent wishes, sir
Thank you to all who voted for this humble AAR in the ACA's. Coming in second, one vote shy of winning, is an honour concidering all the great history book AARs that grace this forum.
Also, an update might be on its way... Soonish...
Also, an update might be on its way... Soonish...
Chapter XXXIII: Knowing when to stop
Coat of arms of the House of Gyldenstierne
Coat of arms of the House of Gyldenstierne
The Danish occupation of Oldenburg started on the 29th of October 1644, when the first Danish forces crossed the river Wesser and soon laid siege to the city of Oldenburg. Soon thereafter, however, French support arrived and in the beginning of December, a battered and demoralized army retreated back across the frozen river to the vicinity of Bremen. Here the tired and cold men clashed with the Brunswickian force sieging said city. The battle of Bremen turned into a rout, as the already beaten army completely disintegrated before the German steel. A mere two months into the war, things were already looking bleak for Christian III.
The king was in charge of a larger army stationed in Ruppin, and lead a successful attack on the Brunswickian forces, chasing them into the kingdom of Brunswick, but was soon cut off from support by a French army, that once again laid siege to Bremen. Through a long march in the bitterly cold winter, the king reached Ruppin with a decimated army in late February 1645. Even though minor victories were won throughout the war, the pattern described above was the general trend. The following maps describe the slow, but assured defeat better than words.
Most of these advances were made by French and Brunswickian forces, grinding down the Danish resistance, but the armies of the Castilian emperor were not idle either. The large Danish crown lands around Dansborg, the modern Mississippi-delta, were overrun by Castilian forces from the colonies surrounding the area. By 1647, only the swampy Haraldsminde region and the city of Skt. Knud Konge remained under Danish control, but since both of them were isolated by occupied territory, this control was only theoretical. Only in Vinland did the fortunes of war smile upon the Danes, as the French part of Vor Frue Island was occupied and a large number of French trading vessels were captured. Regrettably, this was all of very minor significance.
As the frontier moved closer and closer to the Eider, the boundary of the kingdom, tensions grew in Copenhagen and elsewhere. A meteor was sighted. A two headed calf was born outside Roskilde. In the spring, Tryggevælde Å overflowed, damaging the city of Odense and drowning two children.
In May 1646, French forces crossed the Eider and after a series of skirmishes, also the Kongeå and into Jylland. Even though Christian demanded the drafting of new regiments from all over Sweden and Norway, the war was clearly lost, and it was necessary to settle for whatever could be saved by negotiation.
Through the clever diplomacy of Peder Griffenfeld, a very generous treaty was agreed upon. Christian III denounced the claim on the title Count of Oldenburg on behalf of himself and all his successors, and the entire Dansborg area was surrendered to Castile, thereby ensuring their hegemony in that part of the New World. Compared to the amount of land occupied by foreign forces, and the considerable dislike towards the Danish crown expressed by both Louis XVII of France and August II of Brunswick, this treaty was better than expected, and heightened the esteem of Griffenfeld in the general public. In the eyes of the nobility, however, the peace was humiliating, and several plots to overturn the power of Griffenfeld were laid in manorhouses througout the kingdom.
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I have just read the entire thing in one (and a half) sitting and I must say I find it a very well-put and well-written piece of work. The think I enjoyed the most was your attention to society and political culture rather than just external affairs, something which many writers often forget to tend to. I even got to like the distinct yellow colour of the text by the time I reached the 1600's. Consider me definitely subscribed.
Consider me definitely subscribed.
The public feels one way, the nobility the other way.... That can't be good... haha
That sure was a huge defeat. You were probably lucky you had a decent fleet covering the straits to Sjaelland and Sweden, otherwise they would just have steamed on.
Certainly not as mild a peace as the one enjoyed after Wallenstein's escapades in our timeline, but still... as long as the foul German doesn't get his ugly feet permanently over the Eider, I'm kinda satisfied.
Yes, the French are definitely showing their most unpleasant side here
I have just read the entire thing in one (and a half) sitting and I must say I find it a very well-put and well-written piece of work. The think I enjoyed the most was your attention to society and political culture rather than just external affairs, something which many writers often forget to tend to. I even got to like the distinct yellow colour of the text by the time I reached the 1600's.
Thank you for your praise, I am glad you enjoyed it. And welcome on board!
The public feels one way, the nobility the other way.... That can't be good... haha
It's not the first time this has happened during the course of the AAR. And it is unlikely to be the last.
Apart from GB, I have the largest fleet in the world, which really helped a lot here. I omitted the fact, that I blocakeded all of France's Atlantic ports, mostly to emphasise how oneside this whole war really was.
Defeat?
How big was Braunschweig?
Three provinces. But backed by Hesse and Wurttemberg.
... and France and Castile.
This was a very mild peace, I only lost most of the Mississippi-area, which was small, unfortified cities. Considering that all of my German possessions, most of the Baltic and one third of the Danish corelands were occupied by Imperial and French troops, this was a very, very favourable outcome.
damned France.. doesn't she know when to keep her nose out of other, more worthy, countries business?
Hopefully this most recent war doesn't predict the fate of the Danes as a whole..
Hopefully this most recent war doesn't predict the fate of the Danes as a whole..
Sorry to hear that Castille has your colonies, but it could have been worse. Maybe expand eastwards to build up a powerbase to tackle France?
Well... I guess that depends on what you mean by fate...
Sorry to hear that Castille has your colonies, but it could have been worse. Maybe expand eastwards to build up a powerbase to tackle France?
It could indeed have been worse. In general, I think the borders to the East will remain stable, but who knows what the future will bring
Chapter XXXIV: The Land Is Built By The Law
Coat of arms of the House of Gyldenstierne
Coat of arms of the House of Gyldenstierne
After the catastrophic Oldenburg war, the administration was pacified for months. The nobles were dissenting and questioning every new policy coming from Frederiksborg, even though it was obvious that a lot of reconstruction had to be done. The navy was still one of the strongest in the world, but the army had been heavily decimated by the war, and the duchies were still recovering from the occupation. Meanwhile, the unfinished legal reforms made reconstruction even more troublesome. While the king held great powers, and Griffenfeld knew how to use those powers, the lack of a common law still meant huge inefficiency in the administration.
Work on a unified law for the entire realm had begun in the early 1630’ies, but had been delayed by the death of Christopher III. While his brother Christian had not been against this work, he had focused the administration on other things, chief amongst them the heavy colonization of the Dansborg area, which had subsequently been lost in the Oldenburg war. The war had put a complete halt to all reforms, and after the war, royal authority was lower than it had been for ages. The lack of an army meant, that many local nobles simply neglected their duties to crown, knowing that doing so was unlikely to have any consequences. The public secret, that Griffenfeld was the real power behind the throne, and that the reforms were mostly his work, only made the nobles more reluctant to follow orders from Copenhagen. In a recurring theme of the 17th century, the power of the king was only as strong as the loyalty of the nobles. Even though the local administration throughout the land had to some extent been filled with burghers, the nobles could still stymie most initiatives.
Seeing Denmark weakened, the prince elector of Brandenburg saw his chance to regain some of the power held by his ancestors. As some readers might remember, Brandenburg was practically split between Denmark and Poland in The Second Baltic War, and had never recovered from this defeat. However, with a weak Denmark, the prince elector hoped to be able to gain access to the Baltic through conquering Pomerania, and in the fall of 1649, launched an attack Vorpommern. The parallels to 1524 are many, most notably the complete lack of planning and hugely inflated self confidence with which Brandenburg singlehandedly chose to attack a local superpower. Within two month Danish armies had been relocated from Estland and Sweden, and stood in Berlin, where the prince elector was forced to kneel before Christian III, giving up the province of Potsdam and swearing never to attack Denmark again. This ceremony was a de facto recognition of Christian III as lord of Brandenburg, but the city of Berlin and surrounding areas stayed within the Holy Roman Empire, unlike other Danish vassals.
This victory gave the king and Griffenfeld the upper hand. The most stubborn nobles were the ones in Pomerania and Magdeburg, but with a large royal army stationed nearby, their willingness to cooperate quickly increased. Still, the grand project of a unified law for the entire realm had to be put aside, as there was too much opposition within Sweden and Norway. Although the Kongelov clearly stated the kings right to pass laws, the nobility still insisted on adhering to the conditions of the Stockholm and Bergen Treaties, by which customary law was to be upheld under Danish rule.
The outcome was three laws for the kingdom, Danske Lov, Svenske Lov and Norske Lov. These were mainly collections of old laws, but were extended to be one law for each of the three countries. In the duchies the project of a common law was all but abandoned, even though updated laws were made for each of the duchies and free cities.
Even though this was a major retreat from the great project of one unified law for the entire realm, the reforms still meant a huge increase in efficiency. To a great extent, the new legal provinces coincided with the areas already governed by statholders, viceroys who took care of everyday business and executed the king’s power in his absence, and having one law for each province made the local administrations much more efficient. Furthermore, the provincial laws were not all that different. Each had its own local considerations, but the general outline, and most importantly the penal code, was common for all. To this day a few parts of Danske Lov are still in effect, since they have become so archaic as to be irrelevant. One of the more popularized of these paragraphs is, that if the performing bear of travelling juggler runs loose and kills another man’s cattle, then the owner of the cattle is not entitled to reimbursement, since the bear is a wild animal, of which such a thing is to be expected.
With some of the foreign prestige restored and a more quiet situation at home, Christian III soon began planning new wars. The kingdom of Poland had grown exceedingly large since the days of the Triple Alliance, at one point stretching into Siberia and sharing a border with Ming China. But the Polish luck was waning under pressure from the Ottoman Empire, and the northern parts of the country seemed up for grabs to anyone who had the necessary manpower and the right position, both of which Christian believed himself to have. So against the advice of Griffenfeld, the king once again prepared for war.
So long as Poland isn't using Siberia as a corridor to pull Ming's troops through to Denmark, you ought to be ok.
Just make sure that Poland is busy with the Turks, otherwise their entire forces will be against you.
Just make sure that Poland is busy with the Turks, otherwise their entire forces will be against you.
Attacking Poland might lead to weakening them so much that the Ottomans take advantage and grab large parts of the Balkans.