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To All: Was planning an update last night, but got carried away making a map, so had to postpone until now. Hope you enjoy, but first, feedback.

comagoosie: I am still wondering if bothering too much about Sweden is wise or not, but until I try I won't find out. As for France, they will do their utmost to annoy me and make sure that anything I want, they are opposed to. This will become a big problem in a little while.

Enewald: I doubt Austria will get divided, not with my protection, and the up-and-coming event will ensure that that protection will be in place, whether me or Austria like it or not.

Rabid: Indeed, Bohemia as a whole would have been nice, but the provinces are woefully expensive. Prague by itself is worth 96% war score. Perhaps I might get the rest of Bohemia, and who knows maybe even Moravia, one day, but for now, we must look to the defence of Austria, not the dismantling of it.

geek_knight: Don't forget that Austria has a playday in 1848 with both the Italian Revolution AND the Hungarian revolution. Add that to the militancy already present in much of the Empire, the cracked prestige, and the ever present threat of Russia, I am going to have to work my socks off to keep Austria afloat from now on.

phargle: Do not forget, though, dear phargle, that about 90% of my army was still stuck in the east (much of it still deep in Austria and Russia month from reaching the west) and my nation is tired after two large wars. I might have a strong military, but my nation has had enough of war, and it is now time for some consolidation. Keeping the British, and especially the French, happy for sometime is important until I have completed my goals for the year.

canonized, Hardraade: Thank you, it is fun to write about the fumblings, and the general feelings of each nation to another.

TheExecuter: France has now some problems. It has a natural ally in Russia, though Russia is hardly in a state to fight at the momment. However, France would not let Germany slip away from its grasps so easily, and I do not expect them to go without a fight. I am ready to face them.

AlexanderPrimus: The Czechs are less partial to me than they were to the Austrians, but in time they will see the light. I have no doubt that, eventually, a large portion of my army will be from Bohemia and Poland, so as to keep as many Germans at home as possible. But for now, I must consolidate, as you say, over Germany.

Eöl: It is not in my direct intrest to settle the balance of Europe. Germany is naturally one of the most powerful countries in the world, and I will find it difficult, once the Riech is formed, to try and rebalance central Europe. It is in my intrests, however, to do what I can to try and get Britain on side. If that means going into the Balkans, that is what I must do, but I would prefer an option, if one arises, closer to home...

Director: France I feel is very threatened by what I am doing, though it will become more and mroe acute as the year goes on, and will no doubt break into a war at some stage, but until that point, I am happy to let the French rattle sabres and speak rude words about me. As for Austria, as I found out, the alliance is actually included in the event chain of the conservative Empire, though I will try and explain that in the next update.

Lord Durham: nice to have you with us LD! You must note that basiclly everything that was to be organised was done so at the Delegation of Berlin, and when the sides turned up at Malmö, they all knew what was demanded of them, and basiclly asked to sign up, but yes, it would be nice if things could be done so quickly these days ;)

update coming soon...
 
1845: The Second Reich

After the second victory over Austria, the King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia decided that it was time, now better than ever, to act in favour of his great dream; a united Germany. The time was perfect: Austria would not interfere, Russia was crippled, and Britain was appeased. Only the French would give any certain resistance. A united Germany, the King was confident, could beat France where before it had crumbled under the pressures of French invasion. The crown that Wilhelm envisaged would be more powerful than any ever worn by a Germany King before hand, even more so than that of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Of course, trying to clump together dozens of Kingdom's and Princely States from all of Germany would not be easy. First, Prussia would have to ensure the Princes that the deal they got from entering the German nation would overweigh the power they held already. A belligerent policy of forcing them at gunpoint would be useless and would only turn the world against Prussia. They would need to be diplomatically coerced. There was one man who was suggested to the soon-to-be Kaiser that was seen as the man who could bring all the other states under the lee of Prussia; Otto von Bismarck. After the debacle over Kraków, and the early Austrian declaration of war, Bismarck had resigned his Captain's commission and had been accepted, in 1843, as a minister in the Landtag; the conservative party. He had soon proved himself the most impressive, diplomatic, compromising and adaptable politician in the house, and caught the eye of the King, and now he was needed to bring Germany to the King of Prussia on a plate. It would be no easy task.

bimarck.png

Germany's leading Diplomat, Otto von Bismarck. His effort in 1845 would be the core of the unification, and the King, soon to be Emperor, would not forget his services

What was needed, firstly, was to get all German leaders to Berlin and prove to them that Prussia had only the greater good of the German people in its mind. This was not difficult to organise; after the defeat of Austria, most of the German nations had flocked to Berlin, seeing that Vienna was collapsing as quickly as Prussia was rising. By March 1st, only two weeks after the peace with Austria, a meeting was organised in Erfurt between all the nations of Germany, including Austria. Present were all notable monarchs; the Kings of Hanover, Bavaria, Württemberg and Saxony, the Princes of the North German Confederation, Baden, the four Princes of Hessen and delegations from both Prussia and Austria.

The small Princes were easy to edge to the Prussian side; a guarantee of their lands and wealth, a certain degree of say in their region's politics and their title swayed their vote. Hanover too, fell in with the Princes and was dissolved. These states would become part of the Kingdom of Prussia and would be under nominal control of the King of Prussia. The Princes, in reality though, act as governors of their region, with proceeds going to Berlin.

The Kingdoms of Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg presented a larger problem, though. They still were threatened more than any by Austria, and refused to accept such mediocre settlements. They agreed on a set of demands which would have to be accepted by Prussia. Saxony demanded the most. The state of Saxony, which would have the King of Saxony as its Governor, would be expanded to include all the land that Prussia had received from Saxony after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and also the land of the four other Princes of Saxony; Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen and Dessau. This would all fall under the state of Saxony, which would be run by the Duke (to be demoted from King) of Saxony, subservient to Berlin. Württemberg similarly demanded that the Grand-Duchy of Baden-Baden be integrated into Württemberg along with the Prussian province of Swabia. Bavaria did not demand any territory to be added to it, in fact in agreed to give up the area of the Palatinate, but agreed with the other two Kingdoms on some points. All officers of the Kingdom's would retain their commissions, and all soldiers would retain their service, and even their regional uniforms. In effect, they asked the German military be split into four armies; those of Prussia recruited from all over Germany (minus the three other Kingdoms), that of Saxony, that of Württemberg and that of Bavaria. High Command would still be in Berlin, but the Dukes and Princes of the areas would still command their own troops in battle. In effect, the deal the Kingdom's wanted from Prussia was for Germany to remain a decentralized state, four Kingdoms in one nation, but for Prussia to remain the sovereign state. They were not unreasonable demands, and after some consideration, Prussia accepted. That left only Austria to deal with.

It was quickly agreed that Austria did not need to either need or want to be part of the German nation, but it would be necessary for the survival of both nations that they worked together. The fact was, Austria and Prussia were as good as allies now; Austria could not longer prevent Prussia uniting the German nations and Prussia was guaranteeing Austrian independence due to the treaties signed after the war. Therefore, to formalize what had already been prepared, and to prove to the German Princes and Dukes (now that the Kings no longer held that title) that what was happening was for the good of the Germans, a formal alliance was formed between Austria and Prussia that would ensure the protection from both east and west of the fledgling and dying nations.*

germany3.png

In Blue, original Prussian territory before Unification
In Cyan, Princely States and the Kingdom of Hannover added to the Kingdom of Prussia
In Red, the Duchy of Saxony, under nominal control of Berlin
In Pink, the Duchy of Bavaria, under nominal control of Berlin
In Yellow, the Duchy of Württemberg, under nominal control of Berlin
In Green, land in dispute between Germany and Denmark
**​

With all agreed, the nation of Germany, was declared to the world on March 4th, 1845. It was debatable, still, how strong the nation would be. The decentralized structure would surely hamper things, but it was a necessary sacrifice. It would have to be proved in the coming months how, exactly the structure worked, as even those present were somewhat perplexed by the odd arrangement, but they were confident that all would become clear. There was something that did become not quite so clear a day later. The Duke of Holstein, a Danish dominated Duchy in the north of Germany, had rushed down on hearing the news of the uniting of Germany, and had expressed his wishes to join the new Confederation of Princes that called Prussia their master. Without much thought, the Prussians accepted the Duke's offer of integration, and, at least in their eyes, another piece of land could be added to the Prussian Kingdom. However, they had just made a move so unwise, that it would have repercussions that could have been so easily avoided.

Christianviiidenmark.jpg

King Christian VIII of Denmark

Three days later, the King of Denmark, Christian VIII, sent a formal ultimatum, demanding that Holstein be handed back to Denmark, or that Denmark would forcibly attempt to take back the lost territory. On a first read, most of the Prussian staff laughed. Denmark was to try and invade a nation that had just defeated both Austria and Russia. The Ultimatum was refused immediately. As soon as Christian heard of the result of his attempt, he announced to the world a formal alliance between Denmark and France. The next day, France declared war on Germany. It was not to be an easy unification then...

Notes
*: This was done via event, and Austria decided she wanted to renew the old alliance
**: note that in game terms all of Germany in under my control, but in story terms, there is a serious de-centralisation going on and the Dukes will be at the centre of it.
 
Hmm, I have described the political structure of the new Germany pathetically in that, will have to do another update for it later...
 
That is a remarkable turn of events. Denmark cannot beat a German state, even one divided in the west between petty kinglets, but France might be able to win. Then again, you just trounced Russia. This may become a question of how badly Holstein is wanted, and how important it is to prove to the world that Germany can stand united. Here is what I wonder: Austria may be content to be Germany's satellite, but will Russia want round two? And will Britain be angry at the recent developments? And what about the United States, with a Hohenzollern Mexico on its doorstep? This could turn into a general alliance against Germany.
 
Finally a united Germany.:) Too bad you'll have to keep the unstable Austria as an ally. It would have been better to integrate the German lands and dismantle the rest into vassal states. Isn't that possible in Victoria? Or is that only in a mod? Great with a war against France to settle the dispute over truly German lands.:cool: Only hope the UK keeps to Germany's side-
 
Finally a united Germany.:) Too bad you'll have to keep the unstable Austria as an ally. It would have been better to integrate the German lands and dismantle the rest into vassal states. Isn't that possible in Victoria? Or is that only in a mod?
I think "Popular Unification" is in vanilla...

However, no matter how beautiful that giant (high BB) Germany would be, it's anything but Carefully Applied Force. :) Practically, Greater Germany will face a resisting Europe for the rest of the game. It has the power to do so of course, but you know. Moreover, I don't think he could have gotten it with his Prussia already liberalized.

Still, I don't like this little statelets arrangement in the story. Damn conservatives can't do a thing right, hmph. When you unify, you unify, rather than letting these petty aristocrats hold on to their little pockets of oppression. I hope Herr Bismarck will redress this little dishonor and liberate Germany's true potential. ;)
 
It remains to be seen if later Kaisers will like this decentralized state, but the Chancellor should be able to play one statelet off against the other and use Prussia's 'first-among-equals' status to good effect.

That was pretty clever of the AI, getting up a Franco-Danish alliance. Had that happened BEFORE unification, I would be a little concerned. But now, all I have to say is 'Get 'em Robou! Get 'em!' :D
 
Interesting, creating the German Empire so soon! This will have lots of repercussions on Europe as a whole. Also interesting that Bismarck is still involved even at this early date. Wonder if he'll ever become chancellor?

Ouch on the demotion of the kings to dukes -- since your King is becoming the Kaiser, he'd outrank them anyway as Emperor. I don't see why they couldn't keep their royal titles. Indeed - I don't think that they'd be so willing to take that hit.

And now a war with Denmark and France -- united Germany could take them both down easily, but I wonder if anybody else will get involved on either side?

:)
 
I have read from begining to end, and i must say I am loving this!!

But id really like to know a few things. here are the questions, in order

1: What exactly are the prospects of a war with the US? Since i believe you could trounce them easily, I am wondering if the Civil War might start after a Union defeat.
2: I noticed the intrest about Texas, and this makes me wonder if they may play a part in Prussias policy. Perhaps Prussia, oops! I mean Germany could bring them into an Alliance?
3: Are you going to try and literally turn Germany into the Russia of Europe? It seems so far that the German military machine is, more or less, unstoppable.

I would like to take this moment to state that, after your lovely war with france, you spend the next say 5 or ten years working on diplomacy rather then war and military.

UPDATE!!!
 
Interesting...an early unification. I don't know enough about the German kingdoms to know if this is a likely happening or not. I do want to say, for the good of the story of course:

GO FRANCE!
:p

TheExecuter
 
:rofl:

We start off slow then we gradually pick up speed until we start rolling down the hill out of control!

Brilliant! But I don't think the war will be too difficult, you should still have most of your men, right?

EDIT: And about that map...
 
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Of course, laugh at the danes, their harmless, unless they sign an alliance with France :p It's time for the first test of the united german nation.
 
To All: Blimey, so much feedback, better get it out of the way for now. As it is a few days before christmas and I am feeling merry, though I have no idea what that has to do with anything I am saying at the moment, I would like all criticism to come in now. But I would prefer to ask a couple of questions. Firstly, I have noticed that I have sometime put feedback up a day or so before I post the update and often there are several questions that wished to be asked in return to my reply to the initial statement. So would you prefer that I do post feedback mid-week so that you have time to read it and ask me some more questions before I post the update? Also, did you like the quiz in november and would you like me to run it again this month? Well those were the main questions, but if there is anything else you would like to ask or note down on a more general level then I am happy to answer anything. Update will come by the weekend. Also, I would like to bring to your attention my new AAR that I have started: Correspondence. It is about the Crimean War, so please, do go and check it out to see what you think. :)

phargle: So many questions, and most I cannot answer. Don't forget that I will be fighting a two-front war with much of my army still making its way back from the east. And I just demobilized the troops, and the storyline will make it hard to get those back quickly as will be seen later. As for Russia, that depends on just how effective my campaign of diplomacy is. The role of Britian in the up-and-coming months is to be crucial, but I wouldn't rest my laurels on their muskets... And America, it may take advantage of my weakness, but I doubt they will have the initiative to do so, and I do still have strong forces in Mexico, so I will make it a bloody war if they intend to invade.

Nikolai: I fired the 'Conservative Empire' event which makes Austria my ally, but you are talking, as Irencius correctly stated, about the 'Popular Unification' event that fires if Hungary exists and all the German states have a liberal party in them (or they don't exist) where Austria dismantles and you get the German, Czech and Polish bits. It is a hard one to fire, and I did achieve it once, but then Britain decided it didn't like that arragenment and I was done in. The Conservative Empire is a much more stable way of uniting Germany.

Enewald: The decentralized structure will come in a problem, but it keeps my storyline both correct and challanging and force me to always watch my back. But I fear going to Versaille might be a bit far, but we shall see how it goes. And don't call the Saxons noobs, they are now in possetion of my most valuable state...

geek_knight: Still, Britain would be a nice addition to my forces, although I will have Austria by my side, and for some reason I am in an alliance with the Ottomans... I'm not sure when i accepted that offer but I am in the alliance now for what use they may be.

Irencius: When Bismarck comes into power, I'm sure his has a mind enough to sort out the petty nobles, but for now, to keep Germany tied, the Emperor must compromise, annoying as it may be.

Ahura Mazda: In time, my friend, in time. We shall form MittleEuropa little by little, inch by inch!

Director, Ezdako: The 'First-among-equals' is the prime playing card at the moment, and we can just hope that eventually the later Kaiser's or Bismarck or someone else will be able to play them off against each other, just like Bismarck did with... well... Europe. If he can manage Europe, I'm sure he can do something with the rest of the Germany. And the AI can be clever with Alliances, but that is one of the more intelligent things I have seen.

AlexanderPrimus: Perhaps he does outrank them, but have other royalty in Germany seems wrong. Bismarck will sort them out, as I have said, when he gets into power, but at the moment he is still a young and promising diplomat. No guarentees that he will be office... And I could do with people being on my side; Germany may look strong, but you will soon see quite the opposite.

JosunUrashima: 1. That will depend on how agressive my policy in the Americas is. Once I buy Cuba, I could see a war as a reality, but for now America is stable enough to not need a war with me, but those Southern Shouts will get louder and louder. 2. I can't acctually remember if they are part of the states yet, but I doubt they will play much of a direct role in my foreign policy, and likely the best it will manage will be to spark off a war between me and the states via Mexico. 3. Prussia before it united was stronger than Germany is now, as we shall see, although over time this will change as I begin to stop the wars and focus on politics, economics and diplomacy.

TheExecuter: I couldn't agree with you more, for the good of the story if nothing else.

comagoosie: I have men, about 7 Divisions in German and the rest trapsing back from Russia and Austria, but I have just demobilised... oops! And I decided I liked that map more, sorry ;)

Capibara: It came as a shock let me tell you... and I had a sneak peek at France, and they have a lot of men... in France :eek:

Hardraade: We shall see just how rosy things may become, and Bismarck is not yet at the helm, but things change and fortunes rise. Though events are likely to superseed the change.

Avatar018: Thanks for catching up and I would advise that you do not just keep to this AAR in the wide world of Vicky. We do make some good ones ;)

Eöl: Or a more conservative one perhaps? Remember I have lots of nasty Duke to appease as well as the people of Germany now. But time will tell, and I doubt I will take a middle ground. It will go to a Liberal or Conservative Germany with nothing in the centre. My prediction anyway.