1429-1440: Defender of the Empire and the Christianity
Albert V, Austria's Archduke, sat down on his throne thinking. The past 10 years had been good to him, but still his most conveited goal: the crown of the Empire, eluded him. He knew of no way to unseat the current Emperor without destroying the relations with Hungary, one of Austria's closest friend, and knew any overt move would not only ruin the relations with his neighbor, but spark a war and ruin his respectable reputation. No, he would have to play the waiting game again, consolidating his hold on the Empire until he could finally sit on the Imperial Throne. Albert V was a patient man, and carefully waited for the time that would inevitably come to pass. In the meantime, he would have to develop his nation and prestige. The latest news were not to his liking however: Hoping to help Byzantium out of its current troubles, Albert offered them a generous loan of 200 ducats at 1% interest over 6 years, but the Byzantine Emperor, Ioannes VIII felt that he didn't need anyone's help, though maybe he really was afraid to be unable to pay back the loan.
On January 5, a major war got started in the Balkans, something which Albert's spies had warned him about some time ago, though Albert was still surprised by the large coalition that had been built, and slightly afraid... for good reasons... His powerful neighbor, the King of Hungary, had plotted with the King of Poland to both get rid of their enemies together. The King of Hungary, supported by his allies Croatia, Siebenburgen and Luxembourg(Still can't figure that one out) declared war on Serbia, intending on finishing the war he made against them earlier. Serbia was supported in the war by its neighbors Wallachia and Moldavia. Two days later, Poland declared war on Moldavia and its alliance, supported in the war by Lithuania and Bohemia. That these two giant coalitions had found a common ground worried Albert V greatly and to prevent any potential trouble in the future, immediately set to negociate with Poland, arranging a Royal Marriage by the beginning of February.
It made no doubt to anyone in the European power circles that the sheer weight of Poland and Hungary would be enough to break this alliance down, and that the three Balkan states would probably end up being swallowed entire by the giants. Initially, this seemed a dire prospect. But after some thoughts, Albert V smiled. He had a treaty of military access through Hungary, and if they swallowed Serbia, he could walk straight into Ottoman territory should he so desire. Additionally, the three states were misguided Orthodoxes at best, and their disappearance might make the conversion of the Balkans to the Catholic faith easier. Perhaps this war would serve him after all...
By May 1429, the merchants of Austria had made great progress as more experienced merchants settled the booming Vienna(Trade level to 2). Many merchants petitioned the Archduke and offered him the prospect of turning Austria into a colonial power by creating trading outpost accross the world, like Portugal and Castile were attempting to do. The Archduke only smiled at the proposition, knowing fully well that Austria had just gained sea access and still had no navy, and that any thoughts of colonial expansion was fantasy at best, but still, he told the merchants that should any opportunity to settle unknown lands presented itself, he would let them know.
Two months later, a surprising notice reached the Archduke: Poland had pulled out of the war with the Serbian alliance in exchange of 5 ducats. Was their ruler crazy, or did he just want to lock Hungary into a tougher war than it expected? Albert didn't knew, but he smiled seeing that perhaps Hungary wouldn't gain as much, and would have to spend more energy to it. He still hoped, however, that they would annex Serbia once and for all. This would make things so much easier for him. At the end of the year, it all became clearer to Albert: Bohemia declared war on Hungary, followed into the war by Poland and Lithuania. Poland had tricked Hungary into a false sense of security, as it was planning with its allies to destroy him. Albert would have to keep an eye on Wladyslaw II Jagiello, for it was apparent that he was more cunning that he seemed at first.
How could Albert allow Hungary to fall like this though? Despite his own ambitions to be crowned the Emperor, he held its ruler in high regards and Hungary had always been a true friend to Austria. No, allowing the Hussites, who had shown their heresy, and the King of Poland to seperate Hungary between themselves was out of the question: Albert had to step his foot in. He sent a generous loan to the King of Hungary, 250 ducats at 1% for 5 years, knowing full well that this might be enough to turn the war in Hungary's favor. Furthermore, seeing how Burgundy still was at war with 4 nations, and hearing reports that some of his neighbors were considering to exact revenge again, he proclaimed a public garantee over their lands, giving him a perfect reason to intervene should anyone try to destroy the Western Shield of the Empire. Byzantium had just repaid the loan given to them earlier, and Albert was pleased to see that they were still in a good financial position despite the Turks controlling Constantinople.
Ironically, in March, Burgundy lost some territory: Franche Comté was transfered to Savoy, Austria's vassal. Albert laughed at the thought that the ruler he defeated and made his vassal to protect Burgundy had succeeded in expending at its depent and that he would now be gaining tribute from those very lands. Burgundy's frontier once against moved in August, as Munster was given Zeeland in exchange for peace, and Burgundy annexed Brabant. The following month, some of Austria's influencial nobles came to petition the Archduke for more social status. Knowing that reinforcing the noble's privileges would look good abroad, and wouldn't cause any adverse effects to the progressive centralization of the state, Albert agreed.
The wars accross Europe continued raging. Two wars worried him most: the war waged by Sweden, which had annexed Mecklenburg and seemed to be about to annex Bremen as well, indeed it would be annexed in March 1431. This seemed strange in the light that both were vassals of its liege, Denmark. Of greater importance was The Hungarian War. Despite the loan granted to the King of Hungary, Poland occupied Carpathia and Odenburg, while Presburg and Ruthenia were under siege by Bohemia and Poland respectively. Still, Hungary was gaining in the Balkans: Wallachia had been made a vassal, and Serbia seemed about to fall to their army. HOwever the prospect of seeing Poland gaining a border with Austria was not a pretty one. Albert was in for quite a surprise when he heard that Serbia became a vassal of Ragusa: Hungary's new alliance member that had taken control of the siege there. The Hungarian war seemed was becoming more and more of a desperate situation, and Albert still had no valid reason to interfere. It bothered him greatly, as another loan would imperil the finance of Austria as Albert was beginning to worry about whether Hungary could ever repay him...
Still, by November 1431, Albert received a great news: For the first time since he ordered to make Austria into a major trading power, his merchants had made a major breakthrough: Indeed, they had became the most influencial traders in Veneto, above the Republic of Venice itself! How long this would stay remained to be seen... Indeed, it would not be for long, as Venice made a purge the following month, which caused a major setback in commerce. Better news would reach him in March 1432 however, as the Ottomans conceded peace with Byzantium in exchange for a monetary concession. Byzantium had been saved. Furthermore, Lithuania had pulled out of the war with Hungary for 50 ducats, which was a good thing too. Albert occupied his time by furthering his commercial interests, notably by signing a trade agreement with Burgundy and the Mameluks, with whose lands he was hoping to trade for a long time. In August, Naples foolishly declared war on Tuscany and its allies Genoa, the Duchy of Athens and Siena, without any allies of its own. Albert predicted its annexation into one of the Italian powers in the next two or three years. Finally, in October, Serbia was annexed into Croatia. Hungary seemed to be getting back a bit at the Polish alliance with the help of its allies: having stopped their progression into its territory.
In the meantime, Albert occupied his time in diplomatic endeavous, improving his relations with his allies and vassals. In 1433, Bosnia was rallied under the Hungarian banner, and started supporting it in its war, which was a good news. Anything that would prevent Poland from gaining more ground was a good news. The Ottoman were losing no time: After being unable to seize Thrace they now were fighting for control of the Duchy of Athens and Tuscany-held Albania. Both were occupied already and it was just a matter of time before the Ottomans defeated the Italian alliance, or so it seemed. In January 1434, two great news were reported to the Archduke: Firstly, Poland was forced to withdraw of the war with Hungary. Despite the fact that it was occupying some lands in Hungary, its loses to attrition and the war exhaustion must have been unbearable, for peace was signed for a mere 36 ducats. Bohemia still posed a threat to Hungary, however without the support of Poland, it would probably be defeated soon. Furthermore, important merchants and nobles alike, gladdened by the good rule of the Archduke, came before him and presented him with a gift of 100 ducats, adding to Austria's already impressive treasury. What the Archduke would do with such a sum, a goodly 918 ducats, was left to speculation.
The Iberian powers arround this time seemed to be interested in expanding in the Lower Countries and Northern Germany, for some reason. Indeed, Portugal had taken possession of Oldenburg, and Castile made Gelre its vassal. Albert's made a tour of his vassals and allies. His trip was only partly successful. While he succeeded in slightly improving relations with Savoy and Wurtemberg, relations with Bavaria were worsened as they refused to become his vassal, and the Swiss still resented his rule, even though he had been fair to them so far. His next diplomatic trip, at the start of the year January 1435 would prove much more fruitful: He meeted with the Pope and explained him that all of those wars accross Europe weakened Christianity and that the rampant aggression of some European lords as well as the Ottomans had to be stopped, and that he seeked his blessings to stop this carnage. Bearing a massive offering of some 1000 ducats to the church, Albert V became the first Defender of the Catholic Faith, given the Pope's blessings to police the Christian world and prevent abuse of power by the nobles. Finally Albert would be able to prevent foreign lords from destroying the Empire more directly... This new title greatly improved the prestige of House Habsburg and its Archduke, and the relations through the entire catholic world improved... nearly accross the entire world. For it is said that Castile, England and Sweden saw that as a direct challenge to their power and took it as a personal insult. Furthermore, Venice and Helvetia still hadn't forgotten their previous conflict with Austria and took the announcement as a mean for the Archduke to consolidate his power over lands that he conquered. But baring those exceptions, most of Europe acclaimed the new Defender of the Catholic Faith and supported his willingness to support the status quo and prevent the advance of the Turks. With Hungary's repayment of the loan the following month, Albert started the reconstruction of the Austrian army, and even the creation of a small navy.
In August, the Hungarian war finally ended, and Hungary paid dearly. Bohemia seized Carpathia, Odenburg and Presburg. Albert V, despite the fact he didn't like the fact of seeing the Hussites gain more power, knew he had gained much by Hungary's defeat: With Hungary diminished, only one European lord would be able to lead the Empire, and it would be him. Soon enough he took, soon enough I shall have my crown. In fact, this was so clear to anyone, that Bavaria accepted his protection and became his vassals the following month. The following year, he made a tour with his vassals, giving Austria's better maps to Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Baden, and offering them to Savoy, who for some reason refused. Albert has no clue why they refused his clearly better map, but he did not insisted. He also went to Helvetia to try to smoothen the relation, but his results were meager. It was so clear that it helped so little that, within the next three months, two revolts happened in Shwitz, though there had been as little as 3 since it was originally conquered. Trying to stop the situation, Albert traveled again to Helvetia to discuss with their leaders. The results were meager again, but still it had improved the understanding between the two governments. When he came back, he was greeted by his Master Architect, who unfolded for him plans of a larger fortress, similar in shape and purpose to the Venetian fortress captured in Istria, which had defied the understanding of Austrian engineers for years(Land tech to 2). The castle in Vienna would be redesigned to follow the new model at the start of 1437.
In April 1437, Sweden broke off the vassalage it had with Denmark. Albert thought this was only a matter of time, as Denmark had proven that it would not step in to stop Sweden from killing one of its vassals, and the Swedish ruler only grew more ambitious. Sweden then stated the end of the Kalmar Union, and Norway was absorbed into Denmark proper. The two nations remained allied for now, however it was believed that this would not last long either. And then for the first time since Albert became the Sole Defender of the Catholic Faith, someone would test his resolve: For in September 1437, The Palatinat along with its allies Mainz, Lorraine and Cologne declared war on tiny Luxembourg(and incidentally its Hungarian allies, who had no way to help). Albert V, intending to uphold his vows to protect Christianity from opportunistic aggression, Albert declared war on The Palatinat immediately, though he was saddened by declaring war on such a true friend. Seeing how Austria policed its own, their entire alliance dishonored the treaty, and its former ally, the Palatinat, even granted military access to the Archduke for the purpose of marching on Mainz. The impact of this instant war, even though Cologne decided to rejoin the alliance of Mainz against Austria, granted Albert V's goal: On December 10, 1437, he was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
The siege in Pfalz had been started for 5 months already when the first battle occured: Having been driven out of Luxembourg by their army, they fell back on Pfalz where they were crushed. As the siege proceeded, Albert wondered how he could possibly march on Cologne next. Cologne had some 30000 soldiers waiting in their capital, and Albert's 10000 strong army in Pfalz just wouldn't do. In fact, he doubted that the entire Austrian army could take on them in their defensive position. Albert would have to watch and see, letting them commit a mistake first... In April, the Palatinat army moved back on Pfalz and succeeded in driving our army out of there, at which point Albert ordered the 24000 garrison in Shwitz to start marching on Pfalz. They wouldn't be allowed to win this war. Elsewhere in Northern Germany, a coalition was testing the new Emperor's resolve as they declared war on small Pommern, intending to swallow it all. Albert ordered to start mustering an army in northern Austria, and waited to see if he could intervene. The attack on Pfalz was a success, and the Palatinat defeated badly. The army which had taken refuge in Kleves was ordered to march back to Ostmarch, to join the building army there. And in July, he declared war on Magdeburg which was assaulting Pommern. Once again, Magdeburg's allies failed him and refused to take arms against their elected emperor who was just policing his domain. Albert would restore order to the Empire, and none would stop him.
He was soon defied by other lords: the King of Poland and the King of Denmark, who all started wars of their own. Knowing fully well he could not police everyone, Albert rationalized his non-interventionism by the fact they were lords outside the Empire and that their excuses for war were legitimate. Indeed, Denmark was fighting Sweden, which was normal and suited the Archduke perfectly. The King of Poland on the other hand waged a war on the Teutonic Alliance, which pleased him less but he knew Poland had his casus belli. And so, Albert V proceeded to continue waging his war, preparing the invasion of Brandenburg. However, the Archduke would not see the conclusion of the war, for he caught a strange sickness that would not be cured and kept on increasing in strenght. As he was passing away, one last news was brought to him: Byzantium, which he had long sought to defend, had joined Catholicism. On January 1, his heir, Ladislav Postumus was crowned Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor is dead! Long live the Emperor!
Ladislav Postumus, while a better diplomat and administrator than his predecessor, was an average ruler in military affairs. Knowing this, his first decision was to give the aristocracy full power in military affairs, which had the added effect of giving him a reputation boost: treating your nobles well was always a good idea(Aristocracy +1). The newly crowned Ladislav summoned his Council to know the precise situation Austria was in. Two major problems had to be resolved: Firstly, Austria's army was rather small. Secondly, the income was worst. The 18000 strong Imperial Guard in Ostmarch was sent to march through Bohemia to attack Brandenburg. The Emperor was totally clueless as to the disposition of Brandenburg's armies: his spies mysteriously disappeared recently; but he took his chance. His bet initially paid up, for his army reached their capital right as they raised a new army of some 15000 soldiers, which was promptly dispersed in the wilderness again. The survivors totalled less than 7000 soldiers, which left Brandenburg with 14000 soldiers dispersed throughout his provinces, while the Imperial Guard, still totalling some 14000 soldiers itself, laid siege to its capital. In April, Cologne came seeking a white peace. With no battles having been engaged between the two realms, and Ladislaw knowing Cologne possessed an army of some 32000 strong in its capital, he signed peace knowing he would not be able to attack them and win. After two successive battles to retake their capital, the Imperial Guard reported less than 1000 deads, and Brandenburg was down to 9000 soldiers. A third battle forced the army to retreat, however the loses for Brandenburg were heavy, as additional regiments were moving in from the south.
By September 12 1439, a peace was made with Cologne after the capture of their capital. Their vassalage was assured and they paid their entire treasury: some 160 ducats which greatly helped to fill the nearly emptied treasury. Afterwards, the 16000 strong K.u.K Army from Cologne was ordered to march on Brandenberg and help to finish them. In the meantime, the fleeing Imperial Guard and a cavalry regiment joined each other in Kustrin and began the siege. As the Austrian army from Cologne reached Brandenburg, a series of short but decisive battles were waged over the next three months to decide the faith of Brandenburg. Fighting back well, the Brandenburg army proved no match for the Austrian elite regiment. Without any army left to defend its home, two of its three provinces under siege and the other under rebel control, Brandenburg had been defeated and it was just a matter of time. They knew it too, and tried to negociate their way out, but it was too late.
Shwitz rebels at home were proving a problem however. While an army was being built to deal with the problem, Shwitz was seized and the rebels moved down to Tirol. The unexpected happened when those 2000 infantry recruits single-handedly destroyed an army of 7500 rebels from their province and moved to Shwitz to begin the siege. The Archduke, impressed with the deed of bravery, immediately promoted the leader of those young rebels, Karlstadt, to the rank of Colonel and even made him Baron of a small fief in Tirol. Kustrin being seize in July 1440, the Imperial Guard was recalled home while the siege of the capital pursued. In December, the capital fell and troops were recalled from Brandenburg before peace was discussed. However, an unexpected surprise would await the Archduke. Apparently, Colonel Leoben of the K.u.K. army took it on his own to negociate with the new rebel government to gain Austria the province of Kustrin. Ladislav Postumus was boiling. He had lost face for seizing lands which were not rightfully his during a policing action, and canceling the treaty now would result in an even greater loss of face. Colonel Leoben would have to be dealt with...
