A HISTORY OF THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE
Part 4: The New Alliance (1571-1621)
On November 13th, 1571, the Hanseatic League becomes the newest member of the Swedish Alliance, which previously consisted of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Georgia. When we enter the alliance, it is at war with Denmark; we are, however, not required to declare war on the Danes again.
Sweden seems to be the most active alliance member in the war; their army relentlessly sieges Skåne and Denmark's Norwegian provinces, and their navy patrols the Sund to intercept any Danish troop transports from Copenhagen. Elsewhere, Russia continues to manhandle Poland; the two countries fight another short war, where Russia gains territory.
The war between Sweden and Denmark comes to an end in April 1575, when Denmark signs Skåne, Østlandet, and 250 ducats away to Sweden. At the same time, the Hanseatic Council has agreed to dispatch merchants to Novgorod, where competition with Russia is fierce; our merchants manage to establish a short-lived monopoly there, but in the end, the Council decides that trade in that center is not worth the travel and commission fees.
Only a few months after the Swedish-Danish peace treaty, Denmark is in war again, this time against their former allies, the untrustworthy Russians. Poland is forced to fight on the Western front for a change, as Austria and Hungary declare war. In the late 1570s, wars rage all around us, but the Hansa manages to stay out of harms way; instead our main problem is inflation, which has reached 20%, and not even the brand new state bank, established in 1578, can do anything to fight it. However, in 1579, inflation ceases to be our main worry.
The First Alliance War (1579-1581)
France declares war on our ally, the Netherlands, on October 3rd, 1579, and all members of the Swedish Alliance answer the Dutch call for help. French allies Scotland, the Papal States, and Morocco intervene on their behalf, but their newest ally, Brandenburg, decides to drop out of the alliance.
We send our main siege army to the French Eastern Pommerania at once; they arrive in the province in January 1580, defeat the small defending army and commence siege operations. Meanwhile, large battles take place in the Low Countries, and the Dutch army seems to have the upper hand; they have managed to drive out the French defenders from Calais, and the province is under siege from early 1580 on.
With the Dutch and Swedish navies patrolling the Sund and the coasts of Bremen and Holland, the French are unable to send reinforcements to Eastern Pommerania, and the fortifications start to weaken in December 1580. The garrison holds out through the winter, but finally surrenders on May 8th, 1581; however, the French refuse to give it to us in a separate peace treaty. Elsewhere, the Netherlands have taken control of Calais and Picardie, and are now trying to conquer Paris. Paris falls in early May; the Dutch as the temporary alliance leaders take Calais and Picardie, and leave their allies with nothing, a fact that irritates the Council to no end. Despite this, we agree to a royal marriage with the Netherlands on the following year.
The Second Alliance War (1584-1585)
The Council had joined the Swedish Alliance to guarantee peace and survival, but the next alliance war starts after only three years of peace. Sweden declares war on Russia on February 1st, 1584, and all alliance members intervene. The Russian allies, Tuscany, Milan, and the Knights of St. John, also enter the war.
The war proves to be fateful to Georgia, as the numerically superior Russian troops storm the capital and annex the nation on September 12th. Sweden makes progress near their borders, taking control of Ingermanland in December, but for some unfathomable reason they agree to a status quo peace on April 18th, 1585. The Hanseatic Council is baffled; generosity is a good thing, but this goes way beyond ‘generous' and well in to the territory of ‘stupid'. The Swedes are good fighters, but apparently their diplomatic and business instincts leave much room for improvement.
During the brief war, a group of private businessmen and bankers showed their appreciation of the way the Hanseatic League is governed by building an Academy of Arts in Lübeck. The Academy will surely become the brightest beacon of both the sciences and the arts in the Northern part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Third Alliance War (1586-1588)
Only months after making peace with Russia, Sweden declares war on Denmark on January 6th, 1586. All members of the Swedish alliance again answer the call to arms; Denmark is unallied. In March, a Hanseatic siege force reaches Sjælland, and after a small battle outside Copenhagen, starts a siege; the Danish main army is busy sieging Østlandet in Sweden.
On December 10th, 1586 Copenhagen surrenders, and Denmark offers us a status quo peace. The Council chooses not to accept, but the Danes are unwilling to pay a ransom for their capital. In March 1588, the Danes conquer Østlandet, but a large Swedish army force is already on its way to liberate the province. Sweden wins the battle for the province decisively in June, but the Danish makeshift garrison is determined to defend the fortress until reinforcements arrive.
However, reinforcements do not seem to be on their way; a Dutch army force defeats the fleeing danes in Trøndelag, and can plunder the Danish Norwegian provinces with impunity. When Østlandet is about to fall in January 1588, the Council sends another peace proposal to the Danes: for a ransom of 250 ducats, they can have their capital back and establish a cease fire with the Hansa. The Danes sign the treaty, but cheat on their payments; we only get 150 ducats, but the Council decides to overlook that for now.
The war between Sweden and Denmark comes to an end on September 20th, 1590, when Denmark gives Trøndelag to Sweden in a peace treaty. In the same year, Poland ends a war against Russia in a victory, and takes back Welikia. The Council is more interested in the fact that the Hansa now has a thriving new colony in Delaware, where Hanseatic settlers live peacefully side by side with a local indian tribe.
While the Hansa enjoys a short period of peace, wars are fought both near and afar: in June 1592, Austria conquers Bohemia, and in September of the same year, Spain annexes the heathen nation of Incas in the New World. On May 10th,1594 Prussia, a former vassal of Poland, declaring war on their old masters. The Council ignores this, and is again more interested in colonial affairs: the natives in Delaware have converted to Christianity and joined the Hanseatic settlers in the region, and in the town New Saxony in Delaware, new homes are built to house our new subjects.
The provinces North of Delaware are controlled by the English, who also have colonies in the region. Our spies take advantage of this fact, and manage to steal their world maps in early 1594; the English have apparently sailed all over the Earth, and have an extensive knowledge of the seven seas. They have also discovered an indian nation, the Iroquois, whose borders are close to our North American territories.
The Fourth Alliance War (1594-1595)
Sweden, unhappy with their previous peace treaty with Russia, declares war on the unallied Russians on October 3rd, 1594. Swedish allies Hansa and the Netherlands support the war, and the Netherlands even sends a small fleet to the Baltic to assist the Swedes. Large naval battles take place in the region during the spring of 1595, and in May, a Swedish army force sieges Ingermanland; at the same time, Poland, which is also at war with Russia, annexes Eastern Prussia.
The Swedes again end the war prematurely, and with a non-optimal peace treaty; they agree to a status quo peace with Russia on October 18th, 1595, when the fall of Ingermanland was only a matter of weeks. The Council convenes in secrecy to discuss the behavior of Sweden, and many barons agree that the Hansa should take lead in this alliance; the Swedes are obviously not up to the task. Poland, however, is, as they again win back territory from Russia later in 1595.
The Fifth Alliance War (1595-1596)
France declares war on the Netherlands on December 11th, 1595, and both Sweden and the Hansa intervene to defend their allies. A Hanseatic siege force is ordered to Eastern Prussia, which they reach in February 1596; however, they have hardly made a dent to the local fortifications when Dutch victories near Paris force the French to accept a peace treaty on September 14th and pay an indemnity to the Swedish Alliance.
The Sixth Alliance War (1597-1599)
Russia declares war on Denmark in late 1595, and attacks the Danish province Pskov in the middle of Russian territory. Sweden sees this as a good opportunity to punish their old foes and former masters, and declares war on Denmark on May 21st, 1597. Our siege force stationed in Western Pommerania is ordered to march to Sjælland once more, and they reach the province in September. The Danes defend their capital through the winter, but are forced to surrender on April 30th, 1598, a few weeks after Sweden takes control of Vestfold, the last Danish province in Norway. Denmark now controls only one province, the Baltic island of Gotland, and even that is under siege by a joint force of Russians and Dutch. The Danish defenders know they are fighting not only for their own lives but also for the future of their nation, and they make heroic resistance.
When the province falls and the Russians take control of the island in early August, 1599, Sweden decides to end the war August 8th by taking Finnmark and Vestfold from Denmark, and forcing them to pay 250 ducats to the Swedish alliance. The Russians, however, seem to be intent on destroying the Danes; a Russian siege force arrives to Sjælland in October, and they conquer the province rapidly after storming the fortifications with waves and waves of lightly armed peasant soldiers. On November 7th, 1599, the Danish king is taken prisoner, and Denmark is annexed by Russia.
After an almost uninterrupted series of alliance wars, it looks like the Hanseatic League's wishes for a long period of peace finally come true in the new century. The Council shifts its attention to colonizing, but in 1603, our allies call for us again.
The Seventh Alliance War (1603)
Sweden declares war on Russia on May 19th, 1603, and again the Hansa and the Netherlands intervene. Our siege army again marches to Sjælland but again, the war ends prematurely; the Swedes sign a status quo peace treaty with Russia on August 25th, for no apparent reason.
In January 1604, the Council signs a mercenary leader, Colonel Landau, to assist in colonzing the New World. Colonel Landau has apparently gained some fame as an adventurer and conquistador. He is immediately given a small expeditionary force of 3000 men, and they are shipped to the New World as soon as we manage to build ships for the project.
The Eighth Alliance War (1605-1606)
Spain, the former master of the Low Countries, declares war on the Netherlands on October 25th, 1605. Both the Hansa and Sweden intervene on behalf of the Dutch. We move troops to our Western shores to guard against possible seaborne assaults by Spain, but their troops never find their way to our heartland. Instead, a small Spanish expeditionary force burns our trading post in Penobscot in May 1606. About a month later, on June 13th, 1606, the Netherlands pay 250 ducats to end the war.
In the summer of 1606 we again have peace, but the Council is seriously concerned about the series of wars we have been dragged into because of our alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands. Some barons want out of the alliance, as they maintain that it has only brought us trouble; however, some others remind them that we have no knowledge of what might have happened to us without the alliance. While it is true that we have been forced to join unnecessary and profitless wars, nobody knows how many attacks we have been spared of, thanks to our powerful friends. The Hanseatic Council is sharply divided on the subject, and in April 1608, the arguments escalate to a full-blown political crisis. However, the alliance supporters form the majority, and therefore we again intervene when Sweden asks us for support in yet another war.
The Ninth Alliance War (1609-1610)
Sweden declares war on Russia on July 21st, 1609, and once more the Hanseatic army sieges Sjælland. Swedes make progress in Karelia, and this time they do not agree to an immediate peace. Sjælland falls in April 1610, but the Russians do not give it to us in a separate peace; they even refuse to pay a ransom. The Hanseatic Council now has to contend with the role of a spectator, as the Swedes and the Russians fight in Karelia and Ingermanland. The Swedes are again victorious on the battlefields, but this time they even manage to agree to a sensible peace treaty. Sweden gains Far Karelia on December 16th, 1610, and the Hanseatic Council is not amused: again, we fought in a war, but have no profits to show for it.
In 1611, the Catholic Church issues something called the Edict of Tolerance, which does not interest us much. It is surely yet another ploy by Papists to regain supremacy in the Christian world. The Hanseatic Council has much more pressing issues to contend with: the Russians control the old Hanseatic city of Visby in Gotland, and the only thing that kept us from attacking that province in the last alliance war was the lack of a proper transport fleet. Therefore, the Council issues orders to all coastal provinces in the Baltic to build more warships. They also order our colonial expedition forces to purge the provinces of Powhattan and Appalachia from hostile natives, thus paving way for our merchants.
The Tenth Alliance War (1614-1616)
After three and a half years of peace, the Hansa is dragged to war once again. This time we find ourselves in war against the French alliance; France declares war on the Netherlands on May 2nd, 1614, and on both sides, alliances are activeated. France attacks Western Pommerania in the Summer of 1614, but is soon beaten back, and in September, our colonial forces burn French trading posts in the New World.
All during the war, we allow Swedish troops to pass through our territory, and they take advantage of this and siege Eastern Pommerania in 1615. The Dutch send a large siege force to Paris, and after a series of humiliating naval defeats, Scotland pays an indemnity to the alliance in exchange for a cease fire in January 1616. Paris is forced to surrender in December, and on Christmas Day, 1616, they pay 250 ducats to the Swedish alliance in exchange for peace.
In 1618, we have yet another colonial town in the new world, in Powhattan. The Council now orders our colonial towns to start drafting infantrymen, and Powhattan even equips a small artillery regiment; our goal is to secure our foothold in the New World by conquering the territories of the Iroquois nation. However, before we are ready to attack the heathens, our alliance drags us to yet another conflict.
The Eleventh Alliance War (1618-1620)
Sweden declares war on Russia on November 24th, 1618, and again, all Swedish allies intervene – including our most recent ally, Granada, which declared independence from Spain in the spring. Our siege force is once again sent to Sjælland, where they start a siege in January 1619. The Russians, knowing full well that by now we know all the weaknesses of the Sjælland fortifications, offer a separate peace, which we refuse.
Sweden again makes progress on the Eastern front, and on March 8th, 1619, Sjælland surrenders, but the Russians are unwilling to give it to us or even pay a ransom for the province. The Council considers sending troops to Gotland, but eventually decides not to; the Russian fleet patrolling the Baltic may be somewhat antiquated, but they have an overwhelming numerical superiority compared to us. Therefore, the Council is again forced to watch, as the Swedes bumble their way to yet another inconceivable peace treaty: they pay a 250 ducat indemnity to the Russians on July 6th, 1620, for no apparent reason. A couple of weeks later, Spain annexes Granada.
In 1621, after years and years of bickering, the Hanseatic Council dissolves itself in favor of a new, more centralized authority, called the Regency. With this change, the supreme authority now rests on one person, as is the custom everywhere in the modern world. As their last action, the Council members announce their hope that the new, more unified government will bring the Hanseatic League more wealth and power. In the last 50 years, the expansion of the Hansa has stalled in Europe, and even our new territories in the New World are not enough to make up for it. The newly appointed Regent has a long way to go, if he wants to restore the Hanseatic League to its historic glory. One of the first questions he has to deal with is our alliance: is the protection provided by the Dutch and Swedish armies really worth the costs of a nearly constant state of war?
Part 4: The New Alliance (1571-1621)
On November 13th, 1571, the Hanseatic League becomes the newest member of the Swedish Alliance, which previously consisted of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Georgia. When we enter the alliance, it is at war with Denmark; we are, however, not required to declare war on the Danes again.
Sweden seems to be the most active alliance member in the war; their army relentlessly sieges Skåne and Denmark's Norwegian provinces, and their navy patrols the Sund to intercept any Danish troop transports from Copenhagen. Elsewhere, Russia continues to manhandle Poland; the two countries fight another short war, where Russia gains territory.
The war between Sweden and Denmark comes to an end in April 1575, when Denmark signs Skåne, Østlandet, and 250 ducats away to Sweden. At the same time, the Hanseatic Council has agreed to dispatch merchants to Novgorod, where competition with Russia is fierce; our merchants manage to establish a short-lived monopoly there, but in the end, the Council decides that trade in that center is not worth the travel and commission fees.
Only a few months after the Swedish-Danish peace treaty, Denmark is in war again, this time against their former allies, the untrustworthy Russians. Poland is forced to fight on the Western front for a change, as Austria and Hungary declare war. In the late 1570s, wars rage all around us, but the Hansa manages to stay out of harms way; instead our main problem is inflation, which has reached 20%, and not even the brand new state bank, established in 1578, can do anything to fight it. However, in 1579, inflation ceases to be our main worry.
The First Alliance War (1579-1581)
France declares war on our ally, the Netherlands, on October 3rd, 1579, and all members of the Swedish Alliance answer the Dutch call for help. French allies Scotland, the Papal States, and Morocco intervene on their behalf, but their newest ally, Brandenburg, decides to drop out of the alliance.
We send our main siege army to the French Eastern Pommerania at once; they arrive in the province in January 1580, defeat the small defending army and commence siege operations. Meanwhile, large battles take place in the Low Countries, and the Dutch army seems to have the upper hand; they have managed to drive out the French defenders from Calais, and the province is under siege from early 1580 on.
With the Dutch and Swedish navies patrolling the Sund and the coasts of Bremen and Holland, the French are unable to send reinforcements to Eastern Pommerania, and the fortifications start to weaken in December 1580. The garrison holds out through the winter, but finally surrenders on May 8th, 1581; however, the French refuse to give it to us in a separate peace treaty. Elsewhere, the Netherlands have taken control of Calais and Picardie, and are now trying to conquer Paris. Paris falls in early May; the Dutch as the temporary alliance leaders take Calais and Picardie, and leave their allies with nothing, a fact that irritates the Council to no end. Despite this, we agree to a royal marriage with the Netherlands on the following year.
The Second Alliance War (1584-1585)
The Council had joined the Swedish Alliance to guarantee peace and survival, but the next alliance war starts after only three years of peace. Sweden declares war on Russia on February 1st, 1584, and all alliance members intervene. The Russian allies, Tuscany, Milan, and the Knights of St. John, also enter the war.
The war proves to be fateful to Georgia, as the numerically superior Russian troops storm the capital and annex the nation on September 12th. Sweden makes progress near their borders, taking control of Ingermanland in December, but for some unfathomable reason they agree to a status quo peace on April 18th, 1585. The Hanseatic Council is baffled; generosity is a good thing, but this goes way beyond ‘generous' and well in to the territory of ‘stupid'. The Swedes are good fighters, but apparently their diplomatic and business instincts leave much room for improvement.
During the brief war, a group of private businessmen and bankers showed their appreciation of the way the Hanseatic League is governed by building an Academy of Arts in Lübeck. The Academy will surely become the brightest beacon of both the sciences and the arts in the Northern part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Third Alliance War (1586-1588)
Only months after making peace with Russia, Sweden declares war on Denmark on January 6th, 1586. All members of the Swedish alliance again answer the call to arms; Denmark is unallied. In March, a Hanseatic siege force reaches Sjælland, and after a small battle outside Copenhagen, starts a siege; the Danish main army is busy sieging Østlandet in Sweden.
On December 10th, 1586 Copenhagen surrenders, and Denmark offers us a status quo peace. The Council chooses not to accept, but the Danes are unwilling to pay a ransom for their capital. In March 1588, the Danes conquer Østlandet, but a large Swedish army force is already on its way to liberate the province. Sweden wins the battle for the province decisively in June, but the Danish makeshift garrison is determined to defend the fortress until reinforcements arrive.
However, reinforcements do not seem to be on their way; a Dutch army force defeats the fleeing danes in Trøndelag, and can plunder the Danish Norwegian provinces with impunity. When Østlandet is about to fall in January 1588, the Council sends another peace proposal to the Danes: for a ransom of 250 ducats, they can have their capital back and establish a cease fire with the Hansa. The Danes sign the treaty, but cheat on their payments; we only get 150 ducats, but the Council decides to overlook that for now.
The war between Sweden and Denmark comes to an end on September 20th, 1590, when Denmark gives Trøndelag to Sweden in a peace treaty. In the same year, Poland ends a war against Russia in a victory, and takes back Welikia. The Council is more interested in the fact that the Hansa now has a thriving new colony in Delaware, where Hanseatic settlers live peacefully side by side with a local indian tribe.
While the Hansa enjoys a short period of peace, wars are fought both near and afar: in June 1592, Austria conquers Bohemia, and in September of the same year, Spain annexes the heathen nation of Incas in the New World. On May 10th,1594 Prussia, a former vassal of Poland, declaring war on their old masters. The Council ignores this, and is again more interested in colonial affairs: the natives in Delaware have converted to Christianity and joined the Hanseatic settlers in the region, and in the town New Saxony in Delaware, new homes are built to house our new subjects.
The provinces North of Delaware are controlled by the English, who also have colonies in the region. Our spies take advantage of this fact, and manage to steal their world maps in early 1594; the English have apparently sailed all over the Earth, and have an extensive knowledge of the seven seas. They have also discovered an indian nation, the Iroquois, whose borders are close to our North American territories.
The Fourth Alliance War (1594-1595)
Sweden, unhappy with their previous peace treaty with Russia, declares war on the unallied Russians on October 3rd, 1594. Swedish allies Hansa and the Netherlands support the war, and the Netherlands even sends a small fleet to the Baltic to assist the Swedes. Large naval battles take place in the region during the spring of 1595, and in May, a Swedish army force sieges Ingermanland; at the same time, Poland, which is also at war with Russia, annexes Eastern Prussia.
The Swedes again end the war prematurely, and with a non-optimal peace treaty; they agree to a status quo peace with Russia on October 18th, 1595, when the fall of Ingermanland was only a matter of weeks. The Council convenes in secrecy to discuss the behavior of Sweden, and many barons agree that the Hansa should take lead in this alliance; the Swedes are obviously not up to the task. Poland, however, is, as they again win back territory from Russia later in 1595.
The Fifth Alliance War (1595-1596)
France declares war on the Netherlands on December 11th, 1595, and both Sweden and the Hansa intervene to defend their allies. A Hanseatic siege force is ordered to Eastern Prussia, which they reach in February 1596; however, they have hardly made a dent to the local fortifications when Dutch victories near Paris force the French to accept a peace treaty on September 14th and pay an indemnity to the Swedish Alliance.
The Sixth Alliance War (1597-1599)
Russia declares war on Denmark in late 1595, and attacks the Danish province Pskov in the middle of Russian territory. Sweden sees this as a good opportunity to punish their old foes and former masters, and declares war on Denmark on May 21st, 1597. Our siege force stationed in Western Pommerania is ordered to march to Sjælland once more, and they reach the province in September. The Danes defend their capital through the winter, but are forced to surrender on April 30th, 1598, a few weeks after Sweden takes control of Vestfold, the last Danish province in Norway. Denmark now controls only one province, the Baltic island of Gotland, and even that is under siege by a joint force of Russians and Dutch. The Danish defenders know they are fighting not only for their own lives but also for the future of their nation, and they make heroic resistance.
When the province falls and the Russians take control of the island in early August, 1599, Sweden decides to end the war August 8th by taking Finnmark and Vestfold from Denmark, and forcing them to pay 250 ducats to the Swedish alliance. The Russians, however, seem to be intent on destroying the Danes; a Russian siege force arrives to Sjælland in October, and they conquer the province rapidly after storming the fortifications with waves and waves of lightly armed peasant soldiers. On November 7th, 1599, the Danish king is taken prisoner, and Denmark is annexed by Russia.
After an almost uninterrupted series of alliance wars, it looks like the Hanseatic League's wishes for a long period of peace finally come true in the new century. The Council shifts its attention to colonizing, but in 1603, our allies call for us again.
The Seventh Alliance War (1603)
Sweden declares war on Russia on May 19th, 1603, and again the Hansa and the Netherlands intervene. Our siege army again marches to Sjælland but again, the war ends prematurely; the Swedes sign a status quo peace treaty with Russia on August 25th, for no apparent reason.
In January 1604, the Council signs a mercenary leader, Colonel Landau, to assist in colonzing the New World. Colonel Landau has apparently gained some fame as an adventurer and conquistador. He is immediately given a small expeditionary force of 3000 men, and they are shipped to the New World as soon as we manage to build ships for the project.
The Eighth Alliance War (1605-1606)
Spain, the former master of the Low Countries, declares war on the Netherlands on October 25th, 1605. Both the Hansa and Sweden intervene on behalf of the Dutch. We move troops to our Western shores to guard against possible seaborne assaults by Spain, but their troops never find their way to our heartland. Instead, a small Spanish expeditionary force burns our trading post in Penobscot in May 1606. About a month later, on June 13th, 1606, the Netherlands pay 250 ducats to end the war.
In the summer of 1606 we again have peace, but the Council is seriously concerned about the series of wars we have been dragged into because of our alliance with Sweden and the Netherlands. Some barons want out of the alliance, as they maintain that it has only brought us trouble; however, some others remind them that we have no knowledge of what might have happened to us without the alliance. While it is true that we have been forced to join unnecessary and profitless wars, nobody knows how many attacks we have been spared of, thanks to our powerful friends. The Hanseatic Council is sharply divided on the subject, and in April 1608, the arguments escalate to a full-blown political crisis. However, the alliance supporters form the majority, and therefore we again intervene when Sweden asks us for support in yet another war.
The Ninth Alliance War (1609-1610)
Sweden declares war on Russia on July 21st, 1609, and once more the Hanseatic army sieges Sjælland. Swedes make progress in Karelia, and this time they do not agree to an immediate peace. Sjælland falls in April 1610, but the Russians do not give it to us in a separate peace; they even refuse to pay a ransom. The Hanseatic Council now has to contend with the role of a spectator, as the Swedes and the Russians fight in Karelia and Ingermanland. The Swedes are again victorious on the battlefields, but this time they even manage to agree to a sensible peace treaty. Sweden gains Far Karelia on December 16th, 1610, and the Hanseatic Council is not amused: again, we fought in a war, but have no profits to show for it.
In 1611, the Catholic Church issues something called the Edict of Tolerance, which does not interest us much. It is surely yet another ploy by Papists to regain supremacy in the Christian world. The Hanseatic Council has much more pressing issues to contend with: the Russians control the old Hanseatic city of Visby in Gotland, and the only thing that kept us from attacking that province in the last alliance war was the lack of a proper transport fleet. Therefore, the Council issues orders to all coastal provinces in the Baltic to build more warships. They also order our colonial expedition forces to purge the provinces of Powhattan and Appalachia from hostile natives, thus paving way for our merchants.
The Tenth Alliance War (1614-1616)
After three and a half years of peace, the Hansa is dragged to war once again. This time we find ourselves in war against the French alliance; France declares war on the Netherlands on May 2nd, 1614, and on both sides, alliances are activeated. France attacks Western Pommerania in the Summer of 1614, but is soon beaten back, and in September, our colonial forces burn French trading posts in the New World.
All during the war, we allow Swedish troops to pass through our territory, and they take advantage of this and siege Eastern Pommerania in 1615. The Dutch send a large siege force to Paris, and after a series of humiliating naval defeats, Scotland pays an indemnity to the alliance in exchange for a cease fire in January 1616. Paris is forced to surrender in December, and on Christmas Day, 1616, they pay 250 ducats to the Swedish alliance in exchange for peace.
In 1618, we have yet another colonial town in the new world, in Powhattan. The Council now orders our colonial towns to start drafting infantrymen, and Powhattan even equips a small artillery regiment; our goal is to secure our foothold in the New World by conquering the territories of the Iroquois nation. However, before we are ready to attack the heathens, our alliance drags us to yet another conflict.
The Eleventh Alliance War (1618-1620)
Sweden declares war on Russia on November 24th, 1618, and again, all Swedish allies intervene – including our most recent ally, Granada, which declared independence from Spain in the spring. Our siege force is once again sent to Sjælland, where they start a siege in January 1619. The Russians, knowing full well that by now we know all the weaknesses of the Sjælland fortifications, offer a separate peace, which we refuse.
Sweden again makes progress on the Eastern front, and on March 8th, 1619, Sjælland surrenders, but the Russians are unwilling to give it to us or even pay a ransom for the province. The Council considers sending troops to Gotland, but eventually decides not to; the Russian fleet patrolling the Baltic may be somewhat antiquated, but they have an overwhelming numerical superiority compared to us. Therefore, the Council is again forced to watch, as the Swedes bumble their way to yet another inconceivable peace treaty: they pay a 250 ducat indemnity to the Russians on July 6th, 1620, for no apparent reason. A couple of weeks later, Spain annexes Granada.
In 1621, after years and years of bickering, the Hanseatic Council dissolves itself in favor of a new, more centralized authority, called the Regency. With this change, the supreme authority now rests on one person, as is the custom everywhere in the modern world. As their last action, the Council members announce their hope that the new, more unified government will bring the Hanseatic League more wealth and power. In the last 50 years, the expansion of the Hansa has stalled in Europe, and even our new territories in the New World are not enough to make up for it. The newly appointed Regent has a long way to go, if he wants to restore the Hanseatic League to its historic glory. One of the first questions he has to deal with is our alliance: is the protection provided by the Dutch and Swedish armies really worth the costs of a nearly constant state of war?
