Austria Est Imperia Orbis Universalis

[Tem_Probe]

1498-1510: Maximillian's Ambition: The League of Cambrai

Now that peace was secured with England, Maximillian focussed on improving his own domain, regularly appointing judges to oversee the judicial system of the Austrian dominion and calm civil unrest while also heavily funding the military development of Austria, rapidly catching up with the rest of Europe. In April 1498, Louis XIII rose to the throne of France and like his predecessor, pledged his loyalty to the Emperor. By this point, the relations between France and Austria had worsened to a mutual hate, and Maximillian decided the change of monarch was a good time as any to end the feud started by the dispute over Brittany. He reestablished contact with his western vassal and the relations slowly improved. Seeing the relations between France and Austria improving again, Aragon reacted by declaring war on them, bringing the whole Iberian peninsula in a conflict against France. It was suspected that this conflict was meant as a challenge to Maximillian's status as Emperor of Christianity, but the challenge was not stated openly, and Maximillian wisely decided to wait for further news of the war before making any move.

As rumors of the Patriarch of Constantinople stirring up trouble again, Maximillian appointed a trusted officer at the start of the year 1499, Von Frundsberg, as General of the armies of Constantinople, giving him 17000 soldiers under his command, a number that would be augmented over the course of the year to make the Patriarch understand he would not allow Constantinople to revolt against his rule again. The following year would see the appointment of Ferdinand as Lt. General of the armies of Pommern, and the reinforcement of the garrisons in Pommern and Calais. The investments in the military were already paying back: Developments of better catapults and other advanced siege equipment now allowed the Austrian army to directly assault a fortress(Land technology to 4 & 5). But more work had to be done: Already the french had began using gunpowder in battle. In July, in an attempt to bring France and Austria closer together again, the League of Cambrai was concluded as an alliance against Venice which had become threatening in Italy, having moved over 50000 soldiers under the command of Nicolo Pitigliani on the borders of the Papal domains.

So the Army of Italy, located in Istria, was recalled to Wien, where it would be heavily reinforced in the coming years, to prepare for a conflict against Venice. War was finally declared on December 23 1502, and the initiative was left to Venice, as Maximillian patiently waited until it would commit a critical mistake. The Venetian first moved on Istria with a small army, setting the siege. Their main army quickly turned arround to wage multiple battles against Siena, Savoy and the Papal States, which had all rushed to attack Mantua and Venice. Casualties on both sides mounted heavily, as the 44000 soldier strong Army of Italy sneaked behind in Istria and destroyed the Venetian army there. With Venice's army amputated by half, Tuscany decided to betray the League of Cambray, and independently declared war on Siena.

In a bold move, the Army of Italy attacked Venice, which was defended by 28000 Venetian soldiers. The Venetian suffered strong casualties, nearly half their army, however they managed to hold back no less and repulsed the first charge. Sensing Venice's impending peril, the Knights wisely decided to settle for a white peace in October. Georgia would follow on January 1504. Meanwhile, Maximillian had recalled Ferdinand from the northern territory to lead the attack on Tuscany and Venice. With Veneto controlled by Helvetia by now, siege were laid to Dalmatia and Mantua, while Ferdinand lead his army on Firenze. Wartaxes were raised to cover the funds for additional galleys for the Mediterannean sea. Seing César Borgia already commanded the siege in Firenze and that helvetia signed a peace with Venice, he headed back to Veneto to lead the siege, as the Venetian attempted a miserable landing near Constantinople, a battle already lost for them before it was attempted.

The year turned with Mantua under occupation. The Imperial Navy was recalled from Constantinople to lead the Austrian armies in an attack on the Venetian islands. The navy reached Corfu first in October 1505, where it engaged and severely damaged a Venetian navy. The Venetians, admittedly, had better naval weaponry, but the size of the Austrian navy had won the day. The first landing on Corfu was a failure, and so the navy retreated back to Austrian lands to gain more soldiers. It was also arround this time that Maximillian began focussing on improving the training of his armies (Quality +1). He wanted his soldiers to be the best soldiers in Europe, even if that took decades to achieve. Vast funds were also allocated to develop the Austrian navy, both in the Mediterannean, and in the Netherlands.

By October 1506, the Pope had occupied both Venice and Dalmatia. It made Maximillian of a bad mood knowing the Pope stole his sieges, but as long as those territories were not occupied by the Venetians, it was a good thing. The second assault on the Corfu island began on January 1507, and the Venetian garrison was caught in a trap as two different armies landed on two different section of the island. With this assault, Maximillian began a tour of his vassals once again, to close the bridges that had been cut by lack of contact in the past few years. The landing on Crete took place in September, and the local garrison was no match for Austrian troops.

Arround 1508, the Fuggers, a proeminent Austrian company run by the Fuggers quickly rose in the Austrian society by becoming the personal bankers of the Habsburg. Perhaps finally Austria would be able to achieve the mercantile proeminence dreamed of by four generations of Habsburg. It was Maximillian's sincerest hope, and certainly fit well with the war against the mercantile republic of Venice. In March, Austria finally developped its first Artillery (Land Technology to 7) and Austria's land technology surpassed all others in Europe... except France, which had developped the first arquebus. Maximillian ordered cannons to be given to the armies deployed in Istria, Constantinople, Holland and Calais and to continue investing in the military technology until Austria was the premier power in Europe.

Having recently signed peace with the Pope, Venice recovered the control of Veneto and Dalmatia. With Austria's technological edge however, they would not be under their control for long: By the end of 1508, both provinces had been assaulted and captured by the Austrian armies, with relatively little loses. Those artillery really did their job well. Corfu likewise fell in March 1509, as the Austrian navy was on its way to Ionia to inflict a final defeat upon Venice. The first Austrian arquebuses were developped in June, and Maximillian's effort to bridge the technological gap with France was nearly complete. The Austrian disembarked on Ionia by the end of the month and promptly seized the fortress. With an assault ordered on Crete, Venice lost its last fortress in September, though the assault was costly as the army lacked the efficient artilleries that had made the assaults of Veneto, Dalmatia and Ionia an easy operation. With the peace being signed in October, Venice was a broken power: Its treasury was empty, and all that remained of the former colonial nation was the small stretch of land surrounding the city of Venice. What was initially a grand victory for Maximillian turned into a bitter trap: The destruction of Venice would result in the creation of the anti-Habsburg league.

 

[Bismarck]

Tem_Probe,

You just keep delivering the goods... Bravo!

Oh, and on your earlier server question... if you can get your individual file sizes down to under 60k, you can always get an account at baypal.com, which is designed for remote linking.

M

 

[Tem_Probe]

1509-1510: The formation of the anti-Habsburg league

"Emperor Maximillian I of Austria has decided that the Habsburg were destined to rule Christianity, and has worked incessantly, just as his predecessors did, to greatly extend his personal lands at the expense of fellow christians and even those of his vassals, regardless of any claims to said lands. With the destruction of the Republic of Venice, he has once again proven that he cannot be trusted, and that he will not stop until he has subjugated all of Europe. It is the duty of all nations to denounce the power-hungry Maximillian, and to join each other once and for all into a crusade to destroy the Habsburg power-base in Europe. I formally declare that I no longer recognizes the tyrant Maximillian as my liege, and that I shall declare war on Austria. I invite all true christians to stand up with me and oppose this madmen before he uses his hold over the Catholic church to conquer us all.

Louix XIII,
King of France"

The anti-Habsburg league was created almost immediately after the fall of Venice to oppose the Emperor in his bid to conquer or submit all of Christianity. Eager for an opportunity to throw off the influence of Austria, the King of France used the destruction of Venice as a pretext to declare his independence and war on Austria. Within three months of the declaration of independence, he was followed into the conflict by Austria's northern vassals: Munster, Magdeburg, Hannover and Cologne who also took the opportunity to declare their freedom. Seeing the Habsburg empire collapse, the other Monarchs of Europe, eager for an opportunity to finally destroy the threat that they saw in the Habsburg Empire, followed them into war. Notably, the King of Spain, Aragon, Portugal, England, Hungary, Poland and Sweden were the first to oppose the Habsburg. They would not be the only one to stand up against him, as they quickly rallied Prussia, the Teutonic Order, Brabant, Bosnia, Ragusa, Croatia, Scotland, Eire, Cyprus and Genoa. With the exception of Denmark, Lithuania and Bohemia; every major christian power in Europe had rallied the anti-Habsburg league.

Only Austria's allies: The Pope, Savoy, Helvetia and Siena had remained loyal to the Emperor. Maximillian's only assets in this war was knowing the Pope supported him, and that his armies were on par with the best of Europe. Whether that would be enough to fight off all of Europe at once was another story. In Wien, the Emperor was nervously making plans to stand off the invasion. It was clear that if Austria remained on the defensive, it would lose the war, and lose it bitterly. And so Maximillian decided that the only way to win this war was to fight a few enemies at a time, to fight those who were the most dangerous or the most easy to beat initially, so as to progressively weed out his opponents. Austria would also need to call on every available soldiers it could recruit. Above anything else, the Habsburg would need to keep their unwavering faith in their destiny.

 

[Tem_Probe]

1510-1519: Maximillian's nightmare

A summary of the military and naval readiness of Austria on January 2nd 1510:

*6000 Infantry, 5500 Cavalry and 10 Artillery led by Lt. General Ferdinand in Dalmatia
*8000 Infantry, 13000 Cavalry and 10 Artillery led by Colonel Krems in Holland
*5000 Infantry led by Colonel Marizell in Mantua
*7000 Infantry, 5500 Cavalry and 10 Artillery led by Colonel Kapfenberg in Ionia
*2000 Infantry, 9500 Cavalry led by Colonel Villach in Corfu
*15000 Infantry, 10000 Cavalry and 10 Artillery led by General von Frundsberg in Constantinople
*5500 Infantry, 5000 Cavalry led by Colonel Monfalcone on Crete
*11000 Infantry, 14000 Cavalry and 10 Artillery led by Colonel Klausenberg in Calais
*28 Warships, 2 Transports led by Commodore Klausenburg in the port of Holland
*17 Galley led by Commodore Pfilstein in the port at Constantinople

Seizing the initial confusion in the coordination of the anti-Habsburg league and the superiority of his soldiers, Maximillian decided to strike immediately. Austria had the best equipped and largest army in Europe and it could prove enough to defeat the coalition even if most of its armies were tied up on islands in the Mediterannean sea or at Constantinople. But Austria had to act fast: Already did Brabant and Munster teamed up together to bring 44000 men to the siege in Zeeland. Maximillian sent the orders to Austria's most prominent officers to explain their role in this conflict. Colonel Klausenberg was to march on Picardie and fight off France before it got up from its knees. Colonel Krems was ordered to subjugate Friesland and the northern german states one by one, and to take special care to seize their navies, so they might be used against England and Sweden; two major naval powers. Lt. General Ferdinand was ordered to attack Ragusa, and then proceed to subjugate the small surrounding states: Bosnia, Croatia, etc... Finally, Colonel Marizell was ordered to round up a larger army and then begin the siege of Genoa.

Within the first three months of the year, Ragusa and Friesland were both captured easily, as the Austrian armies used their superior technology to make quick work of the fortifications. The initial assault on the fortress at Picardie however was a great defeat, as Colonel Klausenberg forgot that the French were the only European power on par with Austria in the military field, and made an unprepared assault on a fortress protected by artillery units. Likewise, Brabant quickly captured the province of Zeeland as Saxony took control of Brandenburg. In May, it was the turn of Brittany to join its liege, France, in the revolt against the Habsburg dynasty. Two massive armies, one English army in Oldenburg, and a French one in Picardie, were both defeated during pitched battles as the Austrian officers worked tirelessly to keep the Austrian empire from collapsing under the pressure of the coalition. Friesland was annexed in July, giving Austria 9000 additional soldiers to fight on the northern front, though their navy could not be seized. With this victory, the Ottomans decided it was time to claim Constantinople from the crumbling Empire and declared war. Theirs would be a mistake, as von Frundsberg was no ordinary general. Being given direct control to supervise the military activities of the region, von Frundsberg immediately moved on Smyrna while Colonel Kapfenberg deployed to Hellas.

In the north however, things were not looking well. The French had made another attack on Picardie and practically destroyed the army under Colonel Klausenberg, who fled with some 6000 soldiers back to Calais. Additionally, many of the German states and the Spaniards had adapted to the Austrian techniques and most of them now used artillery, if not musquets. Wartaxes were raised to give Austria a fighting chance. By the end of 1510, Kustrin and Zeeland had been captured by Brabant and Saxony respectively, while the Austrians had captured Oldenburg, Smyrna and Hellas. Sieges were being made on Genoa, Hannover, Macedonia and Anatolia. With the start of the year, the funds were quickly allocated to raising troops, notably in Calais and Dalmatia, to prepare the offensive in both regions. Ragusa was also annexed, giving Austria some 5000 soldiers to fight in the region. Anatolia was seized and von Frundsberg turned arround and met with a large coalition army of Turks, Portuguese and Genoese troops in Constantinople. He met them as each of them were trying to breach into Constantinople first, and used their division to destroy them almost instantly before proceeding to move on to Rumelia.

Once Rumelia was reached, he engaged the Turkish army there and quickly drove them from the field of battle, before taking on the fortress with little or no loses. He offered the Turks a truce, but the Turks were determined to win this war, and he had to proceed north into Dobrudja. Meanwhile, Ferdinand was assembling his troops in Dalmatia and moved on Bosnia, engaging some 31000 soldiers there and defeating them after a pitched battle. Macedonia was captured in July 1511 and the army under Kapfenberg moved south onto Morea, beating the turks along the way. In the north, Colonel Kremms had seen his siege in Hannover temporarily lifted. He did not give up however, and in September, moved back to besiege it. Meanwhile, Colonel Klausenberg in Calais had sneaked past Brabant-occupied Flandern to siege Brabant itself, hoping to cut their supply of fresh troops before liberating the Netherlands from their occupation. Also, Vorpommern had fallen to Saxony, which placed Saxony in a position where it occupied all the Habsburg land it could possibly reach. Maximillian decided not to give it any thought, and refused to negociate anything with Saxony until the war was over.

In the south, not all was well however: Genoa did not give up on trying to break the siege of its capital, Croatia and Hungary had both began moving against the Austrian coast and England had secured a landing ground in Emilia. Furthermore, Aragon and England were busying themselves to attack Savoy, which had seen its army considerably weakened by now, even though it had captured Artois in northern France. The Ottomans however seemed helpless. They lost control of Dobrudja in October, even though they were trying to siege Constantinople again, with the help of Spain this time. They finally conceded defeat in January 1512, giving Macedonia, Smyrna and Hellas to the Austrians. Maximillian now had secured enough lands arround Constantinople not to be afraid to lose it to rebels. Von Frundsberg first moved to defeat the Spaniards at Constantinople, and then joined with the armies under Colonel Kapfenberg as both armies had been severely weakened during the Ottoman campaign. Ferdinand was forced to retreat from Bosnia however, as his army was on the verge of annihilation as the Bosnians kept coming back at him.

New musters were made in Dalmatia, to reinforce Ferdinand, in Macedonia, to reinforce von Frundsberg, and in Friesland, to reinforce Colonel Krems who had his siege of Hannover lifted once again. With the capture of Genoa in May, Genoa began negociating with Austria, and ceded its possessions in Kaffa, Corsica and its trading post in Damman. The trading post in Damman however, would provoke a war with the Mameluks and Oman over its control. Many battles with England were fought arround Genoa, as the English occupied both Piemonte and Emilia and the austrian armies were fighting to free both provinces. Arround Constantinople however, Spain reinforced its positions by sending Prospero Colona to fight in Macedonia, and von Frundsberg had to retreat for his life. Hungary had taken Ragusa and Croatia had taken Istria. Austria was reduced to waiting until it had enough troops again to fight back. However, as the war was beginning to last, many white peaces were signed with nations that had not fought against Austria: Crimea, Cologne and Cyprus quickly retreated out of the coalition. Tuscany however, joined in January 1513. Maximillian would succeed to convince Brabant and Hannover to move out of the war, however.

Peace with Munster would follow in March, as Ferdinand and von Frundsberg were engaged in courageously combating to save their lives. Ferdinand was killed in Steiermark during the month of April, as he was trying to raise another army to return to the field of battle. Meanwhile, von Frundsberg barely managed to escape alive, as the Austrian fleet carried him on his way to Cyprus. The minor powers of the coalition were slowly retreating out, with Brittany this time in May. Many other nations wished to get out of this war, notably Croatia, Hungary, Spain and Saxony; though they all demanded some territorial concessions that Maximillian was unwilling to grant. The disintegration of the coalition was continuing, with Magdeburg pulling out in October, however the situation of Austria was no better: Its economic situation was devastated by the war and the rebellion of its vassal, and it could barely support its armies, let alone raise new ones. Furthermore, internal troubles with the Austrian nobles began to worsen, threatening the stability of the state.

Yet Maximillian did not give up: He continued his military campaign, his generals successfully capturing Artois and Geldre in 1514. Additionally, he negociated for Portugal to stop the campaign. Prussia would soon follow, as well as England, who paid a goodly sum for peace, allowing Maximillian to muster more armies. The disintegration of the rest of the coalition would soon follow: By paying 75 ducats, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia all retreated out of the war, allowing Austria to recover its coastal possessions in Istria, Ragusa and Steiermark. The Teutonic Order and Scotland likewise pulled out of the war without any concessions which left Austria at war with only France, Spain, Aragon, Saxony, Tuscany and the shiite alliance which was too far away to bother with. And so von Frundsberg left his refuge on Crete to come back arround Constantinople and take Smyrna from the rebels and Macedonia from Spain. Smyrna was captured rapidly, Macedonia would need a siege.

Aragon was likewise bought at the end of May 1515, as rebels were beginning to sprout up arround Austria and Maximillian wished for peace to stabilize his realm while it was still time. Corsica was likewise freed up to prevent the rebels from tearing it totally from Austria, who couldn't possibly hold it. Likewise, peace with France was bought in September. Peace with the shiite alliance and with Tuscany was also signed, leaving Austria at war with Spain and Saxony. Those two would be hard to make peace with, as they both held some Austrian ground and Maximillian was not ready to secede a give a province that was his to a foreigner as that would open the door to more loses later. Unfortunately, the end of the war was not in sight, as Corsica declared itself free of the Austrian vassalage and waged war. Peace with Saxony was finally obtained in January 1516, giving them military access and a few ducats. And Macedonia was taken back, though Spain refused to have peace without Zeeland, and war waged on. A few more months, Maximillian was hoping, a few more months... But the war was not over...

For by the midyear, the Golden Horde and its ally Ak Koyunly declared war. And soon, it was the turn of Venice and its allies: Hannover, Magdeburg, Georgia and the Knights. And soon, the artisans of the anti-Habsburg league would find another tool to bring down Austria: A malicious religious schism affecting most of northern Germany, Southern England and Scandinavia. The Protestants, as they called themselves, were in clear opposition to the Habsburg, and because of this, refused to answer to the Pope. Religious war loomed over Europe as Maximillian was progressively losing more and more the control of his empire. And once again, the hardships of war hit Austria, with the Ottoman once again looking for a conflict. Another severe blow to the Habsburg came in July, from the very heart of the Protestantism: Denmark, who declared themselves Sole Defender of the Catholic Faith. Likewise, Genoa(and its allies, England, Prussia and the Teutonic Order) declared war in August, over its lost colonies, just as the Austrian troops were capturing Venice.

Likewise, the Sultan of Crimea declared war in January 1518. Maximillian decided to make a peace settlement with Venice immediately, and asked for cold hard cash so as to fund the war effort while taking Venice's alliance out of the war. However, Cyprus soon joined the war against Austria, which prompted Maximillian to make peace with Corsica, to try to cool things down. Zeeland was taken back, and immediately did the Austrian armies march on Geldre, destroying an English army there and assaulting it successfully. It was at this moment that Maximillian gave the order to invade England proper, even though Munster and Kleves had just declared war again. Peace was signed with the Ottomans, and as the invasion army in England was crushed on the coast, peace was also signed with England for a hundred ducats or so. Likewise, the Golden Horde agreed to a white peace in January. What was frightening however, was the rapid pace at which Maximillian was getting revolt reports. Things were looking bad. It is said that the stress of loosing control is what killed Maximillian, who passed out at the end of January 1519, being replaced as Emperor by Karl V. With Denmark declaring war in March, it looked like as if Austria was about to endure a century-long war.

 

[unmerged(8576)]

You seem to be doing quite well building an empire for yourself, though it´s an unusual strategy for Austria, I usually utilize my diplomacy skills to the max.

Keep on writing.

 

[Tem_Probe]

Bismarck: Thanks for your comments Doubt that will work for me though, since most of my screenshots are about 250k in size.

Oleg: You are right, Austria normally needs to make much use of its formidable diplomatic machine. And that was my plan, for a while. But then the government of Brandenburg fell in 1441 and I got my first badboy. And then the conquest of Milan 10 years later, which I just had to do, since if I recall correctly it was a vassal of Genoa. And with the diplomatic annexation of Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and then the annexation of Brandenberg, I practically sealed my diplomatic fate. And now I'm stuck with so much badboy, it would take me the whole game to repair if I could just have some peace(but with this much badboy, they won't let me ). But no biggie, soon I'll have pretty much all of Central Europe

 

[Tem_Probe]

The emblem of the Habsburg

 

[Truchses]

I caught up with your posts now, and I was impressed that Austria could get so mighty just in one century. Sorry that you lost so much now, but it is also impressive that you withstood all those DoWs.

This is a little late now, but I want you explain something:

The dynasty of Luxemburg inherited Bohemia and Hungary and were elected as King of Germany and HRE. One son, Wenzel, got Bohemia and these titles from his father. So he was King of Bohemia, King of Germany, HRE. His brother Sigismund became King of Hungary.

Wenzel had got deposed and Sigismund wared against him with help of Albrecht III and his son Albrecht IV, Dukes of Austria (and only the Duchy of Austria, not the other Duchies). Both died fast at young age.

I don't know what happened to Wenzel, maybe he died in the battle with Sigismund. But later Sigismund was the last of the Luxemburg Dynasty and he owned Luxemburg, Bohemia, Hungary. This is a personal union, represented in the game with RM and alliance beween this three countries.

The uncles of Albrecht V of the Ernestine line of the Habsburgs owned Styria, Carinthia, Tyrolia, Krain, the Forelands (in Würtemberg, Baden, Elsaß, Helvetia, Schweiz), and some other smaller parts in Istria. They warred against each other over the lands and the tutelage of Albrecht V, until Sigismund intervened.

Sigismund was in 1411 elected and crowned as german king. So he was King of Hungary, King of Bohemia and King of Germany (including Bohemia), but not yet HRE. Albrecht V took over and pursued the Luxemburg politics, and Sigismund pledged his two month old daughter Elisabeth to Albrecht V (14 years). They married in 1421.

There was no HRE until 1433 when Sigismund got nominated and crowned as HRE by the pope.

So you see, you did not need to worry how to become HRE and even contemplating to fight Hungary. Sigismund had already chosen Albrecht in his youngest years to be his son in law, successor as King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, and plotted even in the electorate of Germany his succession as King of Germany, what was vital to be nominated by the pope as HRE. The relation between Sigismund and Albrecht were the best and never questioned.

 

[Truchses]

I never got a map, nor the emblem. Any chance to get them somehow?

 

[Tem_Probe]

You bring up an interesting point of view and valid points Truchses. I've always considered myself knowledgeable in history, but I'm far from as knowing as many on this forum. I sometimes do some research, but the right info doesn't always pop up. Considering the evolution of Austria by now though, I'm lucky that I can rightly claim it is fiction

As far as the Oops! images, there's one way to get them. First, right click on the image, and follow the link in properties(or view image, it works too). Once that is done, you have to reload the image, and it will show up properly. Its a bit annoying I recon, but so far this is the best place to upload images to.

 

[Truchses]

Either way, I only get the oops gif.

 

[Tem_Probe]

Truchses, once you follow the link, you'll also only get the oops, but if you reload, you should see it fine.

 

[Truchses]

Even with reload I get only this link:
http://dingo.care-mail.com/errors/bad_referer.gif

 

[Alerias]

I have exactly the same problem with you as Austria, my favorite GC nation... BB makes things very difficult unless you want to artificially sctrech the conquest of central europe on 250 years.

Thing is, yes, its possible to win BB wars but then everyone hates you and its never as satisfying as before, diplomacy gone, the game doesnt cut it anymore. I believe BB was done poorly and punishes both good gameplay and bad gameplay. Diplo annex imo should not be so harshly punished; If Austria manages to convince all HRE states to unite under her without violence, I dont think she deserves the world united against her.

But things being what they are, how do you guys usually control that? Just vasalise not annex is an option, but vassalisation in EU/Eu2 isnt quite satisfying for me, since you dont control your vassal's exterior politics as imo you should (ie, single diplomatical entity). Going really slow is possible but frustrating... I'm not one who attacks nations without casus bellis or turbo-annex; Id like some recognition for that. I want a way to bismark my way to European supremacy. Any tips on what ways im missing that might allow to do that?

By the way, EXCELLENT reports.

 

[Tem_Probe]

1519-1527: Inheritance matters

The war was looking bad for Austria. Karl went through numerous reports of rebellions, provinces being captured, and so on. And also, Austria was at war with many powers whom all seemed to want more war. Karl had to get Austria back on track, and winning battles would not solve the problem. No, the only possible victory Austria could achieve was on the diplomatic field. Austria needed peace, any way it could have it, and Karl began negociating. A smooth talker, he achieved a result that, in September 1519, would shock the world. After signing a peace with the Spaniards, he immediately concluded a wedding between their heiress, Joan the mad, and Philip of the Habsburg. This not only resulted in insuring peace with the Iberian peninsula, but also resulted in vast gold flowing into the pockets of Austria from Spain, both as a dowry and as a result of their vassalage agreement. The question remained, however: Would this union last, or would Spain eventually throw off the Austrian rule as had done the King of France upon the creation of the anti-Habsburg league? It remained to be seen, but now, Karl V seemed in a good position.

Immediately after this treaty was signed resulted in peace with the Teutonic Order. In January, Milan broke off from Austria as the rebellion had been effective for too long. But Karl's diplomatic success were effective in securing peace with Munster, Genoa, Denmark, Crimea and Cyprus. Brittany likewise followed in March. Milan was retaken in October, and all that remained was Portugal and Aragon. After two battles versus Aragon, Portugal finally gave up, and Austria was finally at peace again. Austria was at peace, but it was a devastated country. For one, the economic shape of the realm was terrible: The traders of Austria had been nearly driven out of every center of trade; numerous provinces had been plundered regularly; and the tributes paid by Spain did not compensate the tributes paid by France, Munster, Hannover, Magdeburg and Cologne before the war started. While Austria had also gained some provinces, most of them were Orthodox. Additionally, a new splinter faith had formed, severely weakening the authority of Austria in Europe. Lastly, its armies, totalling nearly 200000 mens at the start of the war had been reduced to some 60000 mens by now. Supposedly, Austria had won this war. In reality, it came out of it a beaten country.

Funnily, the heavy funds spent on land technology brought nothing useful during the war. Now, just as it was existing it, an improved fortress design had been made, and the soldiers were getting more and more used to fighting with their muskets, resulting in better effect(Land technology to 11). Likewise, Austria's greatest leader, General von Frundsberg, died just after the war, in a successful assault to take back Crete from the rebels. Austria also would not enjoy the fruits of peace for long. A mere year after the peace treaty with Portugal was signed, once again France declared war on Austria, together with the Palatinat. The nasty surprise came with Bohemia joining the French alliance soon after, and thus entering the war on their side. Troops were raised in Wien to deal with this new threat. However, the threat wouldn't remain long: Bohemia would back off the war in October after their scout army noticed the recruits training in the Austrian capital. Their retreat from the war would also prompt the peace with the Count Palatine, who had supported France thus far.

On the diplomatic side, Karl V would receive troubling news from Spain. It seemed Carlos I had made it a condition of the inheritence of Felipe(I.e: Philip of the Habsburg) that the Austrian and Spanish dynasty remained seperate despite the familial ties, and that the Spanish throne would not be subservient to the Habsburg interests in Vienna. This caused great resentment in Karl, who had engineered this wedding with the idea in mind to unite the Spanish and Austrian thrones, like Austria had inherited the throne of Burgundy with the wedding of Maximillian. But Karl had his hands tied, hardly having the ressources to force a concession from the Spaniards. So he let the matter lie for now, and continued planning the war with France.

France had brought a large army of some 40000 soldiers to besiege Savoy. Karl wished to use Savoy territory as a jumppoint to invade Southern France, but this army was blocking his way. Troops began amassing in Helvetia. In the north, after a failed attempt to take Artois, the siege had begun anew with some new reinforcements. Seeing how the Helvets and Savoyards did not wish to launch an attack on the french army in Savoy, Karl decided to instead deploy his army to Bourgogne through Franchecomté. Artois fell in November, and so the army moved on to besiege Ile de France while a smaller army followed to siege Picardie. And France began fighting back.

Multiple armies began moving on Bourgogne and Ile de France, engaging the Austrian troops in battle, constantly. The siege in Bourgogne was broken and its army forced to retreat to Franchecomté, but the Austrian army in Paris held on, refusing to give up the chance to take the French capital. But the french massed armies in Champagne and Nivernais, and launched an attack just as Paris was about to be taken, forcing the Austrian army to retreat back to the Netherlands to regroup and crushing the army in Picardie. The Austrians recruited a new army to prepare a counterattack, and as the French began besieging Artois to take it back, the Austrian regiment in Franchecomté sneaked behind their lines to crush a minor army in Nivernais and set the siege. But the French would not take back Artois, being defeating after a long and cruel battle with the Austrian army.

Nivernais was taken in April, and as the Austrian army moved back to crush a revolt in the Netherlands, the French moved back on Artois. Meanwhile, the Austrian army south advanced on Champagne and began a siege. But the French launched a quick assault on the fortress of Artois and took it back, at which point Karl decided to sign a peace, receiving some gold as compensations, gold which was quickly invested in appointing officers arround the realm, particularly in the Venetian and Ottoman conquests. Karl also received his first religious victory, as the misguided heretics in Wurtemberg were converted back to Catholicism.

And on the faithful day of August 29, Karl V finally rose to the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia. Austria was now a monster of a nation, stretching from the Baltic sea to Constantinople in one straight line. Austria practically owned Central Europe, and Karl's ambition to unite Christianity seemed to become very possible, if he could live long enough... The massive armies he inherited burdened Austria greatly however, and he had to give orders to disband over a hundred artillery units, as the maintenance was unbearable. But Europe, sleeping Europe, would not sleep long on its two ears, as the consequences of the Bohemian-Hungarian inheritance would make the very continent shake from the subsequent blood spill.

 

[Carolus Rex]

I sense ur BB rising.

When the going gets tough.....

I do hope the French can do something to make ur conquering harder.

 

[Tem_Probe]

Truchses: Well I don't know what to tell you... once you follow the link and reload, it should work, it does so for many and (as far as I know) for most people as well.

Alerias: Yes, this is my current problem. Badboy is getting insane by now. The best way to gain land with getting little badboy is to actually be called into war by one of your allies, or being declared war on; but this isn't always an option. Once you've become strong enough, you can usually withstand badboy wars(though you have to watch for war attrition), but the problem is essentially to survive through the phase where you go between the part where you just reached high enough of a badboy(usually dishonorable scum will do the job) to jumpkick you into a worldwar, and the part where you are actually strong enough to take on anything anyone sends at you. I haven't reached state 2 yet, and frankly, I don't think I'll like this war, even though I withstood the last one.

Carolus Rex: My badboy rising? Na, who would have though that... I'm just hated throughout the entire world right now, that's all. And yeah, the French will likely be darn annoying. But I'm more worried about the small german states and the scandinavians right now... They all have 20-50k soldiers with technology(11), which gives them way more troops together than I actually have on my own. Not to mention that if those Scandinavians really begin to meddle, it will get messy. Hanging on to the Netherlands will be a pain as well.

 

[Tem_Probe]

A bunch of updates coming up in the next few days. I just played roughly 40 years from the last update, and I will say that the first half of those 40 years involved a lot of headache for this player.

 

[unmerged(10548)]

IMO, "badboy" isn't really about your "honorabilty"; that's just the convenient excuse. It's really about the established powers trying to smack down any unusually sucessful upstart which is in serious danger of upsetting the status quo. It's why historically, Germany never united until Brandenburg-Prussia somehow became strong enough to fight two great powers in rapid sucession. Or, for a more period-specific example, the endless coalition wars againt Louis XIV.

 

[Tem_Probe]

1527-1532: The subjugation of Germany begins

By the start of the year 1527, a coalition had assembled against Austria, as threatening as the last one. The initial opposants included some muslim nations(Ottomans Empire, the Golden Horde, Crimea and Ak Koyunlu); the independent Italian powers(Genoa, Venice, Corsica and Tuscany); the independent German and dutch states(Hannover, Magdeburg, Brabant, Cologne, Kleves, Munster, Prussia, the Teutonic Order); France and the British Isles(England, Eire, Scotland); Scandinavia(Sweden and Denmark); the eastern block of Poland-Lithuania; as well as the Knights, Cyprus and Georgia. Interestingly enough, the coalition seemed to have been built by the german and italian minors, with the other realms jumping in as they perceived an opportunity.

Despite its large military and economical ressource, Austria was not really ready for this war. Its military was large but in need of reform, lacking cavalry and hardly up to fight all of Europe. Additionally, the vast territory gained by Hungary and Bohemia provided large quantities of men, but were full of heretics and lacked the proper infrastructure which led to unrest and poor taxation. It was decided that, instead of charging blindly into battle, Austria would pick the battles worth fighting, and attempt to prevent the devastation of its army, something which would likely ensue if the whole might of Europe was brought against it.

The initial months of the war would be costly for Austria in casualties. Some 12000 soldiers in Pfalz were wiped out by the troops of Kleves. The invasion of Moldavia was a success, but the Turks led an army against them, which nearly drove out the Austrian army and resulted in 10000 casualties. The attack on Venice was a success and the Venetian army promptly defeated. Likewise, Moldavia was quickly taken during an assault, with minimal loss of life. The army in Moldavia retreated back to Austrian territory to recruit a few new soldiers before resuming the march. Meanwhile, the troops in Smyrna advance on Anatolia and those in Thrace moved north on Rumelia.

The assaults on Krakow failed, costing Austria many valuable soldiers for little gain. The Austrian navy was valiently fighting off hostile navies off the coast of Holland, though it was eventually defeated by a coalition of Denmark, England, Eire and Magdeburg. The land invasion of Magdeburg was a success, so was the invasion of Oldenburg. The coalition was being quite aggressive however: already Pfalz, Anhalt, Brandenburg and Wurtemberg were under siege, while most of northern Austria had been plundered bare by the Polish raiders. Both Anatolia and Rumelia were captured by the Austrian armies, and the army in Rumelia moved north on Dobrudja to continue the offensive, while the other army turned arround and refused to proceed further, while another army was moving down all the way from Hungary and onto Morea.

Anhalt was lost to Hannover and Brandenburg was taken by Magdeburg, and as the counterattack on Brandenburg was repelled, Kleves occupied Pfalz. The assault on Dobrudja was a success, and the army proceeded onto Moldavia to engage the Turk sultan and attempt to break his siege of the province. The yearly funds raised by the wartaxes greatly relieved Austria, and were used to greatly strenghten the army in Shwitz and raise a new one in Salzburg, as well as begin to develop the infrastructure of the Bohemian territories; Karl knew the war was to be long, and these infrastructure would serve the realm in the long run. The battle against the turks in Moldavia was a success, and the army proceeded to follow them to Bujak, to both crush the turks and finish off Moldavia. Meanwhile, Morea had fallen to the Austrian armies and the Austrian armies in Vorpommern proceeded to Mecklenburg. The capital of Poland finally fell and the army proceeded to Wielkostolska.

In March 1528, it was Portugal's turn to enter the coalition, propelling the Iberian alliance into the conflict. That Spain would so easily betray its kin made Karl mad, and he swore to crush Spain as soon as he could. And so were Bujak, Oldenburg, Magdeburg, Wielkostoska and Venice were taken in a matter of days after this declaration of war. Thus Moldavia opted out of the war giving Bujak and some 50 ducats. A counterattack on Oldenburg was repelled, and the army there moved back to Friesen to add some new recruits to its contingents. Meanwhile, two armies were proceeding on Mecklenburg, where a siege was broken, and on Hannover; with the purpose of finally crushing this german power. Meanwhile another army had proceeded on Jedisan - a territory held by the Knights - and began sieging the province while Poznan was under siege as well. The enemies were still making progress however - as Zeeland fell to Brabant in July.

Bulgaria was placed under occupation, as Munster was attacked and besieged. The Ottoman finally gave up peace, and Austria received Bulgaria, Rumelia and Dobrudja in the process. What annoyed the emperor was the presence of Muslims in both Bulgaria and Rumelia... they would need to be converted. The siege in hannover was broken by the end of November, as Austria raised wartaxes again, and improved the training methods of its armies(Quality +1). Venice was annexed one month after and as Mecklenburg fell, the army there proceeded to move to Hannover again, while in the south, the army occupying Venice moved onto Genoa. The siege of Munster was broken, and the retreating army barely made their way back to Friesen after having been ambushed by English soldiers in Oldenburg.

With the start of the year, massive ressources were poured into raising an army in Friesen, some reinforcements for the Polish troops and Karl ordered to start converting Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the siege of Baden started, while the army previously raised in Salzburg broke the siege of Mainz by Poland-Lithuania and proceeded to besiege Hessen. Also an attack was launched on Brandenburg with the intent of taking the province back. Soon after the fall of Baden to Austria, Hannover accepted peace and granted both Mecklenburg and Oldenburg to Austria. As Poland annexed helvetia, the army in baden proceeded south to take the province back. The contingent in Hannover moved on Bremen, engaged the Danish soldiers and began the siege of the province, as news reached back Austria that Flanders had fallen to Brabant.

The attack on Helvetia was successful, but too many loses were reported to successfully besiege the fortress. Reinforcements began mustering in Shwitz. Both Hessen and Poznan were taken after successful assaults, and peace was signed with Poland in exchange for Baden and Hessen. The advance of Brabant was stopped in Holland, its army sent fleeing with its tail between its legs, and the army then turned arround and moved on Oldenburg to break the Danish siege. After repulsing a massive Prussian attack in brandenburg, the siege received the help of the troops formerly allocated on the Polish front. The battle against Denmark in Oldenburg turned awry however, as some 40000 English soldiers led by Brandon joined with the Danish troops already led by a competent officer, and destroyed the Austrian garrison. Bid mid-november 1529, Austria had its army reduced by one-half comparatively to the start of the war. They were winning and were still the number 1 military power in Europe... but for how long?

Kleves was besieged by the Austrian army as the Austrians were preparing for a campaign against Lithuania from the south. Troops were raised in Dobrudja for this purpose, as well as in Bohemia to reinforce the north from the onslaught of the Danish and English armies. With the rest of the yearly income, the infrastructure in Bohemia was developped again, and the conversion of Rumelia was started. With a little effort, the empire could rid itself of the muslims within its lands soon enough. With the month of February, Crimea and Corsica moved out of the war, as the knew they could not really participate in the coalition in any coherent way. Likewise, peace were negociated with England and France successfully, bringing the powers to status quo.

The Austrian army in the north marched to besiege Holstein, and troops were raised in Oldenburg to deal with the rebels in Hungary and the Balkans. With the capture of Kleves in March, Kleves moved back to engage our army and attempt to liberate its land, but its attempt was futile. The Austrian armies marched on Alsace and Krementjug, engaging the Lithuanians and besieging both provinces. Lombardia fell to Genoa, and Holstein was captured in June; which resulted in peace with Magdeburg, with Austria receiving Holstein and its treasury as compensation. Confident, the army moved north and began the siege of Jylland. The siege of Alsace was broken by Lithuania, but Genoa was unable to break the siege of its capital. Prussia took Brandenburg, as Krementjug was seized by the Austrian army; which proceeded to continue its offense in south Lithuania. And in October 1530, several nations were taken out of the war as peace was signed with four alliance leaders: Portugal, Scotland, Ak Koyunly and Prussia. Brittany nonetheless entered the coalition at the end of the year, at a a moment where Karl had nearly completed the subjugation of the Germany.

Sweden was the first country to openly embrace Protestantism as a way of life. An open defiance to the Habsburg's christianity, but one that Karl could do nothing about. Other nations would follow her lead in the coming years to escape the Habsburg's influence. With the beginning of the year 1531, the massive funds that were brought in by the wartaxes... about 1000 ducats, were mostly invested in converting protestants accross the empire and beginning to develop the infrastructure of Hungary to keep up with the rest of Austria. Karl had made it his duty to eradicate the heretics in his lands as much as he could to promote civil stability. Peace treaties would quickly follow in the next few months. White peace with Tuscany. Peace with the Knights in exchange for Jedisan. White peace with Cyprus. White peace with Denmark. Annexation of Munster. With peace with Cologne. White peace with Brittany and finally the annexation of Kleves on January 23rd 1533, which marked the end of the war. Karl had, by now, given up the idea of the European conquest during his reign, and planned instead to work on stabilizing his realm, for as long as the European nations would allow him. But Austria was not about to catch its breath.