1476-1483: Maximilian's revenge & the ascencion of the Austrian Empire
"The Authority of the Habsburg knows no bound, its armies are invincible and Austria is destined to inherit the earth. To deny ourself this birthright would be a crime against humanity, for it is the will of God."
-Friedrich V, overheard in Rome in May 1483
The war was officially started on December 9, war with Brabant and Brittany on one hand, and France, Spain, Aragon, Tuscany and Portugal on the other. How Austria was going to handle all of them was anyone's guess, though the allies of Austria had a total of some 140000 mens that could surely do some damage to the French and their allies. Maximilian first moved into Zeeland with his 23000 soldiers, setting the siege on the province. In the meantime, the army in brandenburg, some 15000 soldiers, deployed toward Brabant, while the army of Lombardia, of 23000 soldiers as well, moved to Franchecomté to prepare for an invasion of France. In April, Brabant counter-attacked with all its troops on Zeeland. However the entrenched army of Maximilian utherly destroyed the 15000 opponents with little or no casualty. By May, those two additional armies had reached Lorraine and Brabant respectively, setting siege to both provinces while reiforcements were being raised in Wurtemberg and Holland.
The initial phase of the war went well: The Pope had occupied Firenze in September 1477, Savoy took Lyonnais in November while Brabant and Lorraine fell to our troops by Christmas. Those two armies advanced on Artois and Nivernais, unopposed in both locations. Seeing the initial success of Austria, both Spain and Portugal opted out of the war. Zeeland fell on January, and the Holland Regiment under Colonel Schruder advanced on Flanders, intent on engaging the Castilian army stationed there before sieging the province. The army was successful and the Geldre Regiment, in Holland, moved south to reinforce the army sieging Artois, as the French had a sizeable army in Ile de France. Lyonnais fell back to France, but the Austrian coalition seemed otherwise unstoppable, its armies rampaging accross France.
The twin armies in Artois successfully held against the French counter-attack, and in June 1478, both Nivernais and Artois had fallen to Austria. The French were unable to stop the Austrian advance, but still, no decisive victory had been scored: The only French armies encountered so far were second-grade armies of no more than 15000 mens. With 30000 soldiers in Ile de France, the French could still turn the tide. To prevent any French counter-attack to set back the invasion, the armies in Artois and Nivernais were both ordered to move on Ile de France to engage them, hoping to disperse the French army to allow them to take over Northern France unopposed. The initial battle was engaged by Colonel B"hmen leading the Imperial Guards. Colonel B"hmen's tactics were impeccable, and allowed the 16000 mens under his command to overrun and severely weaken the French army until Colonel Bornow arrived one week later to finish surrounding the French garrison, destroying the defenders utherly. Both armies suffered a total of 7000 casualties, and had stopped the French threat in the north, making the rest of the conquest an easy task.
The French were already offering concessions for peace, though the offer made absolutely no sense: Picardie and Vendée were offered, neither of which were under occupation and which were hardly interesting to the the twin rulers of Austria. With the fall of Flandern in October, Brabant was brought to its knees and forced to cede Zeeland, Flandern and some 75 ducats. Those who remained in the war were France, Castile and Tuscany. The army in Flandern moved north to crush the rebels in Zeeland, then move back south toward Champagne. However, the French had assembled some 32000 soldiers there, and Maximilian thought wiser to stop in Artois. When he saw the French move toward Ile de France to lift the siege, his army followed there too, engaging with a small French army in February, destroying them. The real conflict came by the beginning of March where the rest of the French army, some 23000 soldiers, engaging the Austrian host, some 37000 soldiers after another skirmish, and was crushed utherly once again. Some 13000 soldiers two months later nearly managed to lift the siege, but nothing could be done: The Austrian army was too powerful.
With the seizure of Ile de France on June 1479, the french were desperate for a treaty. But the Austrians, sensing the advantage over the foe they had long feared, decided to press their advantage to the fullest. The army in Ile de France split in half, moving on both Picardia and Champagne, crushing both defensive garrison and sieging those provinces while the remainder of the backup army in Artois was ordered to move back in Austria to join up with the Wurtemberg garrison for now. Taking an opportunity to fill its treasury, Friedrich ordered war taxes raised: The war was practically won, but there was no reason not to raise taxes to pay for the initial expenses. Those idiotic nobles took advantage of Austria's war taxes to demand more power, 'Old Right that had been denied' as they so calmly claimed. But Friedrich had another idea: He had those nobles seized and imprisoned, which caused great instability inside Austria, though the nobles stopped complaining.
Picardie fell by December, and the Imperial Guard marched south on Orleanais, crushing the small French garrison and besieging the province. Champagne was occupied in June '80, and the French were growing pretty desperate by now: the full northern half of their country was under occupation or under siege. But this success did not sate Maximilian's appetite, who continued to wage this war, with the benediction of Friedrich, who was quite happy with his results. The siege of Bourgogne began, within range of 15000 French soldiers in Lyonnais. But the French had admitted defeat, and never once did they lift the finger to stop the siege, not even as reiforcements from the successful siege in Orleans moved into Bourgogne. If they did not move soon, the south of France would soon suffer the same fate as the north. With the fall of Bourgogne before the end of the year, France was about to capitulate. However, the coming of winter cut the Austrian supply lines as they moved into Lyonnais to destroy the French army and were repulsed back into Bourgogne.
The English during this time, had been plotting their revenge. Hearing of the Austrian defeat near Lyon, of the rebellion in Vorpommern and of the Castilian siege in Zeeland, they decided it was time to strike. With a ragtag alliance of Prussia and Byzantium, they declared war in January 1481, catching the Austrians by surprise. Additional cavalry were raised in Steiermark to add onto the Istrian regiment, the one which had moved from Wurtemberg in the past months, and preparations were made for an invasion of Byzantium. In the meantime, the Brandenburg army moved on Vorpommern to quell the rebels before preparing an attack on Hinterpommern and then Prussia. An army of some 23000 mens was raised as well in Holland, preparing for the destruction of the Castilian and French besiegers and then dealing with the English.
Just as the French were about to mount a counter-attack to crush the fleeing Austrian host in the south, the unexpected Duke of Hannover finally joined in the war by attacking the French garrison in Lyonnais and destroying it, setting the siege. This allowed the Imperial Guard to recover and made Maximilian extremely happy, who quickly arranged for state gifts to be sent to every vassal of the Habsburg in the Northern League to thank them for their support while he began the siege of Auvergne. March saw the first aggression of Byzantium, an attack that was very Byzantine: Unable to attack directly, they sponsored a peasant revolt in Istria. The revolt was quickly put down, but no less did some damage to the Imperial Marines. In April, saw more "good" news: Lithuania and Denmark declared war on Savoy, briging Austria into yet another war.
The Adriatic Squadron, loaded with 28000 soldiers, set sail for Byzantium, replenishing in Albania along the way: An Hungarian province. Meanwhile, the siege of Hinterpommern had been started, while the Castilian army in Zeeland was crushed. The army then proceeded to geldre, sieging the province. Auvergne fell in November, while the Imperial Marines were preparing to disembark in an inoccupied shore near Constantinople. It was the turn of Lyonnais to be besieged, and the Imperial Marines engaged the Byzantine army, showing them why Austria had practically found the campaign of France a walk in the park: The entire Byzantine army was destroyed within the course of 3 nights, without any loss to the Imperial Marines, who had quickly proceeded to surround Constantinople before any attempt could be made to raise a relief army, besieging the capital.
The year 1482 was no less troubled. It started with Poland's entrance in the English alliance, adding another foe to Austria's long list. To compensate, Friedrich met with Louis XI, and reached an agreement: In exchange for peace, France would become a vassal and pay 150 ducats. The news shocked the world: The most powerful free King of Christianity had become a vassal of Austria! Done with the French and able to move freely through their lands, the army in Southern France was ordered onto Guyenne, to annoy the English. The following month, Hinterpommern fell to the troops of Austria, and this first victory against England quickly eroded their ally support: Lithuania, Poland and Denmark all settled for status quo.
The war in the north wasn't going particularly easy: While Hinterpommern had been occupied, the remaining could not successfully break the rebels of Brandenburg, and Poland was besieging Kustrin. However, Friedrich would not give up: He personally oversaw the creation of a 16000 strong army in Austria, in preparation of the battle against Poland. The rebels successfully seized Brandenburg, but the army in Vorpommern did not give up and mounted a charge on the province, to recapture it. But the attack would result in a failure, as more peasants charged up in the streets as the local rebel army was about to be defeated. At the same time, in September, Constantinople fell to the Imperial Marines. The Emperor gave orders to his troops to secure the capital and the surrounding lands, and to wait on his orders.
Kustrin would soon fall to the Polish troops, as the Austrians managed to destroy their army in Baden and siege both that province and Brandenburg itself. With the fall of Geldre in April 1483, Friedrich was able to obtain his peace: The English-Polish coalition agreed to a cease-fire, England giving 150 ducats to Austria while both turned a blind eye as Byzantium was annexed. Austria was now in a strange position: The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Pope and the King of France all bowed before the Austrian dynasty, who had just annexed the Empire of Byzantium. After paying a visit to his vassals, Friedrich went to Rome to pursue his agenda: In a special ceremony performed by the Pope, Friedrich was crowned Emperor of Christianity. Friedrich's first decree was to make the Holy Roman Empire into a German Kingdom. This coronation and Friedrich's pretense to rule all christendom would have many consequences in the years to come. This would be the turning point that would affect the rest of the 15th and most of the 16th century as well.
