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Ahura Mazda: Nope... still don't follow :(

English Patriot: Yes, those are nice events at the start, really gave me a boost

comagoosie: As Ahura Mazda says, they usually get WP, but to win that and gain New Mexico is an odd occurence. I had only ever seen it once before.

Capibara: And you don't feel that your judgement might be even slightly clouded? :p

likk9922: Hmm, if they are revving up, it seems more like a Rover revving than an F1 ;)

Auray: Sorry, i have nothing else to do :p

stnylan: just keeping my head down an waiting to see what comes my way

DarthJF: If you learn anything, i will be chuffed!

The Wookiee: Yes...quite...*ahem* :D

PrawnStar: Ah ha, clever man. Indeed, Luxembourg would help, as it produces Iron and has several North German POPs (and some French ones too) which would make it very productive and may well sort out my problem. However, from a role-playing perspective, it is impossible. Luxembourg was, after all, what caused so many of the scuffles between Prussia and France. So if i had bought it, in real life, France would have whined and then invaded, something which i would not like.

short update coming sometime tonight
 
robou said:
Capibara: And you don't feel that your judgement might be even slightly clouded? :p

Not at all, I'm being completely logical and I'm rationalizing every single thought, now crush those Texans! :D :p
 
1836: The 'Kraków Two-Step'

The King had spent a long time waiting for his chance to destory the Hapsburg grasp over Germany, and he certainly felt that he was in the strong position that Prussia had lacked for so long. Not since the time of Fredrick the Great had Prussia ever tried to stand up to the Hapsburgs, simply because they were too powerful. But as discussed before, Hapsburg power was waning, and as the situation in Spain required Hapsburg support, their tresuary was not as full as it once had been.

However, as a member of the German Confederation, Prussia could hardly just declare war on Austria. That would be intollerable, and would most likely inflame a war between all the German States, Austria and possibly Russia against the belegured Prussian Kingdom. No, Fredrick-Wilhelm would have to find another way to get at Vienna, he would need a proper Casus Belli . The question was, how to get it?

The answer was much simpler than it first appeared, though it had elluded the greatest minds of Prussia for a longer than one might have thought, looking at it afterwards. A Captain in the Prussian Army, a certain Otto Von Bismarck, suggested it to his superior, General Von Roon, who then passed it on to higher authority. The simple answer was: Kraków.

krakow.jpg

The Free City of Kraków

Kraków had been created after the Congress of Vienna to be a Polish Free State, to try and sate the cries for Polish Independence by giving them somewhere to rally behind instead of Warsaw, which was given to the Russians. As its three huge neighbours, Austria, Russia and Prussia were meant to guarentee that they would ensure the Poles always had a representative, however small that may have been. The Russians and Austrians had all but ignored this, though Prussia had been more watchful, not willing to seek the annoyance of a France she now bordered. Austria and Russia did not have that worry of the Pole-loving French at their door-step.

Bismarck had heard from a friendly 'aquaintence' in Vienna that plans were being made and documents forged by the government there to provide a reason to occupy, and then inevitably annex, the small state into the Hapsburg realms and to destroy any ideas of a Polish Free State. Therefore, if Prussia was guarenteeing the Independence of Kraków when the Austrians invaded, not only would the German Confederation not be able to support Vienna, due to the conflict being external from Germany, but Austro-Prussian relations would not be so badly scarred than if Berlin gave a direct decleration of war. During June, 1836, the arrangements were made, and Kraków was secured its independence by one of its three larger Neighbours. When war did come, the phrase 'The Kraków Two-Step' was used as they had taken two steps to war instead of the normal one step of direct decleration of war.

krakow2.jpg

The Prussian Guarentee



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Ahura Mazda: Must be your computer, my friend, because i can't see a thing

Capibara: Because it is in my specturm of influence...yes... ;)
 
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Some complicated diplomacy to further your influence.

And it is amazing how no matter how small something is, the impact it can have on the rest of the world. Maybe its impact isn't noticed right away, but sooner or later it will surface.

And with Austria treasury drained, I assume they will not be able to hire mercenaries or raise more men.

all in all it seems you have set yourself in a marvelous position. Now we wait.

EDIT: Maybe there aren't mercenaries...this isn't Rome or EU3 :rolleyes:
 
It had to be Bismarck! Excellent plan! Now, Prussia just has to wait the declaration of war of the Austrians and there will be war ;)

robou said:
Capibara: Because it is in my specturm of influence...yes...

Wouldn't it be great to see the Prussians in America? :D
 
Brilliant! I cant wait to see if the Austrians DoW anyway. :p
 
Clever, very clever. Looks like you found use for Poles too, as a trap.
 
You can take 'em!
 
Clever, clever. It's nice to see you breaking out of the traditional Prussian warm-up. Playing Prussia (or any great nation) can be kind of droll if you just do things by the book because they become so strong so fast. Your Krakow gambit is quite intriguing, especially if it puts you at war with Austria decades too early.
 
A nicely aggressive diplomatic move.
 
Excellent, a cunning plan. We all love cunning plans.

Would getting into a war with Austria now cause the event chains to 'get confused' later in the game?
 
To all: Apologies that no update has been forthcoming... just waiting for a few people (perhaps) to catch up, but an update will be out tomorrow, i promise.

comagoosie: Waiting is the name of the game.... well not really but you know what i mean :D

Capibara: You might just force me to invade the United States...though i would very much enjoy the sight of a Prusso-Mexican Alliance

germanpeon: Thanks, and i just hope they will now

DarthJF: haha i never thought of it that way but, yes, the Poles are serving me well

Emperor_krk: Will do! I have plans for visiting it anyway, so i hope your statement is true :)

likk9922: I can. My military score is 34 and theirs is 12 so i can take 'em easy. But i have to be quick.

phargle: strangely this is my typical Prussian warmup (depending how i feel i am going to use Austria). I hope by decades too early you hope for the better? ;)

stnylan: agressive, yet subtle :D As comagoosie said, the little things that make big differences.

PrawnStar: I will have plenty of oppertunities to beat up Austria. Oltmutz is the first in the 1840s but i can't be bothered to wait that long. THen of course in 1866, which i will still take. It doesn't mess up anything wonderfully. Also, by taking Austria early, i might be able to gain an even better advantage in later wars :)
 
A cunning plan indeed, a victorious war against Austria would ensure Prussia's position of ascension in Europe and make it the natural leader for the German states!
 
English Patriot: that is the idea... at least :)

Ladislav: i can beat them, easy

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The Economical Crisis of 1837

The new year started in much the same way as the the last did, with economical reform. An entrepreneureal group of middle-class citizens, now becoming a major driving force in the Prussian social system, began seeking funds to build a lumber mill, which would convert the timber from East Prussia, of which they had many shares in, into more expensive manafactured Lumber, which the government could then sell some of onto the open market. The scheme was sound and the backing was there to provide for it, so the construcion went ahead around Kottbus.

Seeing this, other citizens began to call for similar funding to other areas of industry to stop a, so called, imbalance of production. The fact that the people to call out to loudest for new funding were the Fabrics industry, of which the country was expending a lot of its money on to keep running, made the idea upsurd and construction of a new Fabric factory in Westfalen was turned down. Under the extra pressure being put on them by the Reichstag, included with the huge costs and extent of Fabric industry, it began to collapse under its only weight as the government began providing less and less funding to purchase American Cotton and Indian Dye, and within days the Fabric industry in Prussia ceased to be as all imports were blocked. As a consequence, three Fabric complexes in Silesia and the Rhineland stopped working. As a tag on effect to this, the clothes industries also could no longer work without the nescesary Fabrics, and had to apply for Government funding to buy cheap fabrics from Britain to continue manafacturing. None was forthcoming, but the Reichstag promised the funding once it became available.

With the imports for Fabrics, which had been costing the government $50,000* a day to keep coming in, were now gone an the economy revitalised, even with the country now not having as large an industry as it once did. Arguments that trying to keep a certain industry running even if it were not bringing in any revenue were now destoryed and Prussia was the prime case of a country benefitting from the closing of a certain industry. The Riechstag acted on the new surplus cash and lowered the taxes of all economical classes, of course the richest (ie. them) being taxed almost nil, although rich taxes were not changed until a month after the others.

budgetreform.jpg

The economy was revitalised from 1837 onwards, note that Rich Taxes have not been lowered at this point

With war, perhaps, imminent with Austria, the Reichstag demanded that the army continue its planning, and the plans (and extra ones in theoretical situations) were drawn up by January 13th. The army was then ordered to continue its advancement to find better ways to make the army more professional. The banning of the hated, among the ranks at least, Commisionary System, whereby rich men could buy their way into officership without having to work their way through the ranks. Officers would now be picked by their own conduct and intelligence rather than by the size of their pockets. Generally, due to corruption in the system, richer men often got the top jobs anyway, but the situation was slightly improved. Another way to improve professionalism was to make men think of the army as more of a proffesion for life, rather than a thing that one did during his twenties as a form of education socially and physically. The hope was that more men would join from the age of eighteen and then serve into their forties or fifties to create a better experience base from which the army could work itself to. Things like this were important to the Prussians, considering that Prussia considered, in many ways, itself to be an Army with a State, rather than the other way around. Admittedly, keeping a much larger professional section would cost due to army expenditure, but the effort was, the Reichstag was assured, worth it.

armyprof.jpg

Ways to professionalise the army are begun

A New Member

January also saw a new nation join the select confederation of German states. Hanover was put into an odd position when King William IV of Great Britain and the House of Hanover died leaving no male heir** to the British throne, something which hadn't happened since the 16th Century. The next in-line to the throne was his Neice, Victoria, who was crowned Queen of Great Britain in late January. However, in Hanover this would not do, as the the House of Hanover forbad a woman monarch. Victoria could not inherit both houses. Instead, Ernst Augustus, King Williams brother, ascended the throne of Hanover as the most viable candidate for the posting. He, however, no longer believed that with a woman on the throne of Britain that he could count of British support anymore, and hence would be stuck on Europe alone. Being, ethnically at least, German as were all his subjects, Augustus saw fit to apply to the only people that he could now count on for support, the German Confederation. Being the most powerful Northern German state, minus Prussia, she was readily accepted into the Confederation by a select comittee of German Dukes, something reminicent of the Electors. Prussia was elated, as the country felt it could count of its large neighbour for support in times of war with Vienna.

hannover.jpg

The State of Hanover

However, it didn't take long for Hanover, or mainly Augustus himself, to begin causing problems for the rest of Germany. Under the reign of William, British Whig politics was exported to Hanover as well, and the wave of liberalism caught hold of Hanoverian politics. A Liberal constituation was made, styled of course on that of Britain, and a reasonable ammount of freedom of speech was given. However, now that ties with Britain were severed, Augustus could do what ever he wanted with the country, and he wished to rule it as a monarch, not as a whim to Liberal politicians. He dismantled the consitution and declared himself the sole ruler of Hanover, a move which both enraged and frightened the large ammounts of Liberals residing in Hanoverian territory. At the University of Göttingen, seven leading professors spoke out against the new laws and demanded that the liberal consitution be restored. Augustus ignored their pleas and exiled the seven men. The act sent liberal shockwaves over Germany, all Liberal Germans realising what kind of a conservative monster the Confederation had allowed in, and they began to get restless for liberal action. It would be the first of very many bad mistakes by German conservatives which would end in disaster.

gottingen.jpg

The Göttingen Professors are banished

'As I Thought'

In Spain, the Carlists had finally managed to take Bilbao and were desperately waiting for news that Russia and Austria had declared war on Spain, but no news came. Austria and Russia still seemed to not want to endanger themselves with war against France and Britain and kept to sending money to the Carlists. It would be of little use though, the Carlists already had stacks of money but little to do with it. What they needed were troops, of which none were forthcoming. When King Wilhelm heard of the Austrians and Russians backing down it was said that: 'The King did leap right from his perch, and holding his index finger up, bellowed "As I thought" at the assembled courtiers.'

bilbao.jpg

The Fall of Bilbao

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Notes:
*$50,000 = £50 in game terms
** He, however, did have 10 illigitimate children
 
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Is war going to come against Hannover? Is it a wise move? Is hannover rich? Who will you be fighting against if you do declare war?

I am in suspense, I can't wait for more :D
 
Argh! Poor Carlist Spain, I hope Hannover's little political discourse didn't cause major problems for Prussia.