Brandenburg: A Red Eagle DocumentARRy

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Hi all. First time AAR here.

First I'll lay out the concept and then I'll tack on the disclaimers.

Concept:

I've enjoyed Paradox games from the time that HOI 1 arrived. As I acquired new titles, HOI1, HOI2, EUIII, and then Vicky I began to feel a need to write an AAR that would begin as early as I could and trace the life of a nation from 1453 thru WWII. I wasn't really sure how to write it though, until I recently saw a documentary called Russia: Land of the Czars on the History Channel. I believe the director of the documentary did a nice job capturing the essence of the history of Russia by relating the story in the context of the successive rulers of the region. In doing so, the historical fact received a human flavor that left me with a decent-- if generalized-- sense of what it means to be Russian.

After seeing that, I realized I could write an AAR in which I describe the events and the evolution of the State inside a narrative about the successive rulers of that State. In a sense, I will assume the role of historian and relay an objective telling of the evolution of Brandenburg by narrating the intent and psyche of it's rulers and the rulers of nations surrounding it. I hope to carry this narrative through the course of a full game of EUIII, Victoria: Revolutions (as Prussia), and finally through Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday (as Germany.)

I will not use any conversion between the games, so I will have to fill in the spaces with a description as to why each game starts relative to where the last game ended. But I have a long way to go before I get there and I'll deal with that when it happens.

The intent is to enrich the gaming experience for myself. I hope that by the time I get to HOI:2 and launch Operation Barbarossa, my over-active imagination will swell my senses full of excitement and naustalgia as my tank divisions tear across land that I've previously fought for control of as Brandenburg and Prussia against the Poles, the Lithuanians, and the Muscovites.

I hope that you can enjoy the ride as much as I.

Disclaimers:

I am not a historian. I am a history buff. My strengths (if you can call them strengths) are WWI and WWII, as I go back in time it gets weaker. If I butcher what seem to be claims that I understand anything about history I apologize, but that won't really be my intent anyway. The intent is to just write a story (a documentary really) with in-game pictures , that may add depth and flavor to how and why things, in-game, happen.

Finally, the pics and the accuracy of the story will not begin until 1467. I did not decide to write this AAR until then, so I have nothing but my memory about what has occurred up to this point. I'll be filling in a lot of blanks from 1453 to 1467 in the first chapter and plan to include more technical and precise information from that point forward.

Maybe I finish this, maybe not. Most of all I plan to have fun. When and if the fun stops, so will I.

Enjoy!

 

[coz1]

Good luck. I have a special fondness for Brandenburg, as you might expect.

 

[Acanthus]

Good luck! Don't piss off Saxony.

 

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Special thanks first to Paradox whose commitment to deep, detail driven games makes this possible.

And of course to the Magna Mundi team who add so much flavor.

Chapter 1: Frederich II 1453-1455 Brandenburg after The Fall of Constantinople​

Brandenburg, 1440.

Frederich II der Eiserne, or Frederich II "the Iron," receives the title Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from his father, Frederich I. Frederich II, was the second Hohenzollern ruler of a region in Europe that would become the core of modern Germany and the second in a line of members of House Hohenzollern that would rule the region until the early 20th century.

The first 13 years of Frederich II's reign witnessed the remarkable growth of the Ottoman Empire and the fall of Constantinople. With that great cities fall, the last chapter of the aged Roman empire closed.

(Here's where I break from historical accuracy and my own documentary begins...)

The Muslim incursions into the Balkans disturbed Frederich deeply. Yet he recognized that the growing pressure of unchecked Ottoman aggression after the fall of Constantinople placed the current Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in a compromised position.

By May of 1453, Frederich's Brandenburg enjoyed a position of influence amoung the member states of the Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor, Ladislas Postumus of Austria, enjoyed almost unanimous support among the Electors due to his determination to uphold the land rights and traditions of the nobility and otherwise maintaining the status-quo. The importance of this, Postumus perceived, became more important as the pressure to Austria-- and the Empire's-- South Eastern borders grew. In order to maintain stability--and any semblance of unity-- in the Empire, Postumus discarded his own personal desires for direct power in exchange for the continued support of the current voting members of the Electorate: Bohemia, Brandenburg, Cologne, Mainz, Munster, The Palatinate, and Saxony.

Of these, the Emperor looked to Brandenburg and Bohemia to protect the Eastern Empire from Polish aggression. And all the while news trickled in that the people of Moscow were continuing to consolidate power in the furthest reaches of Eastern Europe.

But by far the most pressing, and sour, prospect Emperor Postumus faced was the growing threat of Muslim invasion from the Ottomans. In order to extend his influence among the central eastern Electors of Saxony, Brandenburg, and Bohemia, the Emperor allied his home country of Austria with the Saxons in an attempt to keep Bohemia and Brandenburg in check.

Frederich II, understanding the intent of the Emperor, also allied himself with Saxony, but for very different reasons. The Prince-elector of Brandenburg was, too, a capable administrator and diplomat and was well aware of the danger posed to the Holy Roman Empire-- and the entire Christian world-- by the growing influence of the Ottomans. But that did not mean that the times called for safety or inaction. Frederich had learned well from his father that times of growing concern for the Empire as whole could present equally attractive opportunites for expanding influence and power. What the Prince pondered upon was not whether he should devote his life to expanding the influence of Brandenburg and it's Hohenzollern line, but how.

Recognizing--like the Emperor-- the threat from Poland, and also realizing that the Bohemian Prince Vladislav I Pohrobek was a brash and outspoken intentioner of gaining influence within the Empire, Frederich needed allies. But allies could become cumbersome as well and Frederich had no intention of allying Brandenburg and it's strong military tradition as a bodyguard for the Baltic merchant margraves only to find it's prestige and reputation at stake when one of the smaller, underpowered merchants decided to poke larger powers such as Denmark or Sweden in the eye. While Brandenburg's proud military ideals certainly bolstered the morale of knights and levied footsoldiers alike, Frederich II recognized that further work was required to bolster the Prince's domain from within. His father had taught him to stabilize the country from within, to bind the serfs to the fields to stabilize production and reduce-- shatter if necessary-- any thought of rebellion.

So the Prince-elector of Brandenburg would wait. In 1453 Frederich decided to ally himself with his cousin, Frederich II of Saxony, as well as with Prince Heinrich of Brunswick and Georg I of Anhalt as a deterrent to the Poles and the Bohemians. Looking within his family, Frederich II arranged for the marriage of daughters and nieces to the Royal lines of Brunswick, Anhalt, Luneburg and Mecklenburg in a move to claim influence over the Royal court of those nations if the opportunity presented itself. Feeling confident that the alliance with Saxony coupled with a mutual respect with the Austrian Emperor was enough to defer any imminent threat, Frederich was content to be patient and to garner his strength.

He would not have to wait long.

For reasons too exhaustive to document here, war erupted among member states on the borders of Brandenburg in winter, 1454. Prince Heinrich of Brunswick sent an army of 3000 men into Anhalt in an attempt to expand his own influence in the region. Having signed seperate alliance agreements with Anhalt and Brunswick in the previous Autumn of 1453, Frederich II was now presented with a unique opportunity. Two of his allies were at war and he had free reign to choose which side to support at little risk to himself. Neither Brunswick nor Anhalt carried any alliances of any import, and so Frederich II seized the opportunity at once. The army, built up in previous months to roughly 7000 men, 2000 of which were cavalry, were ordered from Brandenburg to Altmark while the Prince decided which way to strike. Fearing a loss of prestige and reputation for backing the wrong side, Frederich's diplomats soon learned that the aggression was from Brunswick. And so, on March 2nd 1455, Frederich ordered his army--with himself at the lead-- across the Elbe and into Hannover.

It did not take long for Frederich's army to rout the armies of Brunswick and 6 short months later Frederich led an assault on Hannover that brought to an end the short War of Brunswick Aggression.

The cost for King Heinrich was high. Frederich II "the Iron" demanded and received agreement for creating a vassalage whereupon the coffers of Hannover were promptly emptied and their contents transferred to the Prince's vaults.

Early in 1456, Frederich II found himself in a favorable position. Only months removed from seizing it's first vassal, Brandenburg enjoyed a slight increase in income. Coupled with the influx of ducats from the Treaty of Hannover, the financial picture in Brandenburg never looked so strong.

On the home front, the aristocratic nobility enjoyed the Prince-elector's support for free labor. And while the autocratic Frederich II "the Iron" did not tolerate any dispute over his authority, he ruled in a surprisingly decentralized manner. Nobles were free to bind their serfs to the fields as though they were subjects on mini-kingdoms. Mercantilism was favored over free trade. And beneath it all, at the very foundation of the ideals of the Prince's Court, militarism and the army were regarded as almost a "state within a state." Aided by Stefan Kreytz, a genius tactician and dedicated quartermaster, Frederich II had proven his ability as a commander in the fields of Hannover.

For all of the enormous potential of Brandenburg's position at the start of 1456, Frederich recognized that the margrave would be unable to unlock that potential until more stability and growth from within could be gained coupled with a furthering of his own agenda in the Imperial Court.

And then there was the Pope. Pope Pius II accentuated the already common practice of providing land and financial incentive to those nobles who would enroll in the churches rank and file. Albeit a dominating figure--Frederich II, a pious man himself, recognized the limitations of his power so long as he would be kept constantly in check by the Church and the Emperor. His formal complaints against the Throne of St. Peter were ignored and relations soured between the Papal States and Brandenburg.

As he pondered how best to unlock the shackles that held him in check, a completely unforeseen turn of events shook the man to his very essence...and would cost him his life. In March of 1456 Saxony, Frederich's ally to the south, declared war on Brandenburg's newly acquired vassal: Brunswick.

Upon petitioning the Emperor of Austria and the HRE for assistance in settling the dispute and receiving no response, Frederich found himself in an inconceivable position.

To defend Brunswick meant war with Saxony, his strongest ally, and likely war with Saxony's ally Austria--war with the Emperor himself!!--an almost certain catastrophe. But to allow the Saxons to unseat his vassal in such a flagrant manner so soon after the Treaty would mean irreparable damage to Brandenburg's will to protect what was rightfully her's.

As for the Saxon's, inflated by the backing of the Emperor into a belief that Brandenburg would back down, it seemed inconceivable that Frederich II could rush to the vassal's defense.

On April 2nd 1456, Frederich-- realizing his fate likely meant either crushing defeat against the combined armies of Saxony and Austria, or an equally crushing experience of backing down and becoming the ruler of a spineless lot-- declared war on Saxony.

Brandenburg would escape with it's vassal, but not it's Prince.

 

[coz1]

Ominous tidings, but certainly Friedrich is not a man to be trifled with after this bold act, nor are his successors, one hopes by the telling of it thus far.

Great start. Can't wait for those screenies.

 

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Very good. Brandenburg holds a close place in my heart, it was the nation I learned to play EU III on. I would love to be able to see you re create what I did, namely by the late 1600s control all of the original HRE, Burgundy, Poland, and Crimea, with a large colonial empire with France as a vassal.

 

[Capibara]

Go Brandenburg!

 

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great stAARt! :d