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Islam, a religion that has suffered since its creation because of prejudices, both true and untrue. Accurate accusations made by historians, and false designs by enemies of the faith, they all have a part when the view of the East enter the mind of most Europeans and Americans. A mix of the medieval and modern jihad imprint an inaccurate picture of what Islam truly stands for. However, that aside, the modern world would never have developed the way it did if not Islam had been founded that day in the year 610 CE.
Without the Islamic nations, would there have been a need for seafarers and explorers to travel to India but on their way discover America? Possibly not. America would have been discovered no doubt, but under other circumstances as a road to India already existed. The need for a sea-rout would not be necessary until faster ships could be produced in order to out-time the land-rout. But then of course comes the discussion; did the discoveries lead to better ships, or did better ships lead to the discoveries? In any case, history would have developed in another fashion without Islam.
Would there have been the relative peace between the European nations without an Ottoman threat in the European backyard of Balkan? If the Ottoman Empire had not been, Austria would not have two fronts to protect as the Austrian War of Succession took place. The face of Europe would not have been the same without Islam.
Would there have been such a distressing call and spread of Christianity during the Middle Ages without the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem? There was never total peace in Europe as rivalling kings fought each other for petty areas across Europe. But the Islamic threat in the Holy land made the Pope a powerful figure that could call for crusades, excommunicate those who did not join, and send enormous riches to those who participated. Without a threat against European supremacy the kings and emperors would have most likely destroyed each other, but instead they sent their armies across the Mediterranean to fight the infidels.
The truth is impossible to establish, but one can speculate. The fact still remains that the period is one that has fascinated thousands upon thousands and me, the author included, see it as a wet fantasy to truly know what would have become of the world if such major historical events never took place. Or the reverse, what would have happened if it had “gone too far”. This is why I got the idea to play and write this AAR for Europa Universalis 2 as an Islamic nation and try to spread as much as I can to influence the growing powers in Europe.
Before I begin, I would like to thank Alhazen for his indirect and unintentional spur for this AAR. There is no denying that especially this AAR’s layout is heavily inspired by his Rome: Sons of Mars AAR, though the story-mode will naturally be a different one. The fact is that I most probably would not have received the idea to write this if it had not been for my reading the Sons of Mars AAR. As I go alone, I will try to mix the updates with part story, part describing of game-play.
And one more thing; a thing I have learned about most Islamic nations is that they were very ingenious and that religion never stopped them from trying new ideas and inventions, except those that clearly went against the teachings of the Qur’an. Compared to conservative Christians who were afraid that new ideas would lead people away from their faith, Islamic leaders could remain god-fearing and still try new ways. This is reflected a bit poorly in the game as the more the player turns to “inventiveness”, the less missionaries he receives. To represent a combined faith in the religion, with a curiosity for inventions, I will actually cheat.
The rules for this cheat are simple. By using LOYOLA, I receive 6 missionaries instantly. The 1 January every ten years, the same day that I change the national policy slider, I will be allowed to enter the cheat once. This, whether I have already used up all, a few, or none of my already gained missionaries from before. With a policy slider to the fullest towards “inventiveness” I will as a Sunni-Moslem nation receive -2 missionaries per year. Thus if I do not act quickly there will not be any missionaries left when I enter the cheat again. It gives me a fair amount of missionaries considering my plan to convert, and still a fairly troubling issue to deal with as they disappear rather quickly. If there are no provinces to convert, I will be forced to wait another 10 years for the next bunch of missionaries to help me out.
With that said, I will now begin this AAR with a classic prologue! Please enjoy.
(Note; any information, story or historical such, may or may not reflect the author’s views. The specific such views will not be mentioned. The following account is written from a Sunni point-of-view as the Ottoman Empire is a Sunni-Moslem nation. Knowing this, I would appreciate if nobody would comment on the specific religious content as it may be very controversial to some people, and the last thing I want is a religious debate. Thank you.)
Without the Islamic nations, would there have been a need for seafarers and explorers to travel to India but on their way discover America? Possibly not. America would have been discovered no doubt, but under other circumstances as a road to India already existed. The need for a sea-rout would not be necessary until faster ships could be produced in order to out-time the land-rout. But then of course comes the discussion; did the discoveries lead to better ships, or did better ships lead to the discoveries? In any case, history would have developed in another fashion without Islam.
Would there have been the relative peace between the European nations without an Ottoman threat in the European backyard of Balkan? If the Ottoman Empire had not been, Austria would not have two fronts to protect as the Austrian War of Succession took place. The face of Europe would not have been the same without Islam.
Would there have been such a distressing call and spread of Christianity during the Middle Ages without the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem? There was never total peace in Europe as rivalling kings fought each other for petty areas across Europe. But the Islamic threat in the Holy land made the Pope a powerful figure that could call for crusades, excommunicate those who did not join, and send enormous riches to those who participated. Without a threat against European supremacy the kings and emperors would have most likely destroyed each other, but instead they sent their armies across the Mediterranean to fight the infidels.
The truth is impossible to establish, but one can speculate. The fact still remains that the period is one that has fascinated thousands upon thousands and me, the author included, see it as a wet fantasy to truly know what would have become of the world if such major historical events never took place. Or the reverse, what would have happened if it had “gone too far”. This is why I got the idea to play and write this AAR for Europa Universalis 2 as an Islamic nation and try to spread as much as I can to influence the growing powers in Europe.
Before I begin, I would like to thank Alhazen for his indirect and unintentional spur for this AAR. There is no denying that especially this AAR’s layout is heavily inspired by his Rome: Sons of Mars AAR, though the story-mode will naturally be a different one. The fact is that I most probably would not have received the idea to write this if it had not been for my reading the Sons of Mars AAR. As I go alone, I will try to mix the updates with part story, part describing of game-play.
And one more thing; a thing I have learned about most Islamic nations is that they were very ingenious and that religion never stopped them from trying new ideas and inventions, except those that clearly went against the teachings of the Qur’an. Compared to conservative Christians who were afraid that new ideas would lead people away from their faith, Islamic leaders could remain god-fearing and still try new ways. This is reflected a bit poorly in the game as the more the player turns to “inventiveness”, the less missionaries he receives. To represent a combined faith in the religion, with a curiosity for inventions, I will actually cheat.
The rules for this cheat are simple. By using LOYOLA, I receive 6 missionaries instantly. The 1 January every ten years, the same day that I change the national policy slider, I will be allowed to enter the cheat once. This, whether I have already used up all, a few, or none of my already gained missionaries from before. With a policy slider to the fullest towards “inventiveness” I will as a Sunni-Moslem nation receive -2 missionaries per year. Thus if I do not act quickly there will not be any missionaries left when I enter the cheat again. It gives me a fair amount of missionaries considering my plan to convert, and still a fairly troubling issue to deal with as they disappear rather quickly. If there are no provinces to convert, I will be forced to wait another 10 years for the next bunch of missionaries to help me out.
With that said, I will now begin this AAR with a classic prologue! Please enjoy.
(Note; any information, story or historical such, may or may not reflect the author’s views. The specific such views will not be mentioned. The following account is written from a Sunni point-of-view as the Ottoman Empire is a Sunni-Moslem nation. Knowing this, I would appreciate if nobody would comment on the specific religious content as it may be very controversial to some people, and the last thing I want is a religious debate. Thank you.)
Katapraktoi
31/1 -06