A while back I made a Comprehensive Low Countries Suggestion, which you can find here: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/comprehensive-low-countries-suggestions.1447077/
And for a while now, I have wanted to give the Alpine region the same treatment, 1.30 was a good step in the right direction, but I would love to see these updates made to it.
Austria/Switzerland and nearby areas, the Alps in general, as seen in 1.31.3 (unchanged from 1.30).
-------------------------
Intro
The Alps form a natural barrier between the Italian Peninsula, France Germany and the Danubian Plain. It's home to many cultures and is very defensible.
In our period we see the Habsburgs from the Duchies of Austria attempt to increase their influence and consolidate it's holdings. The Habsburgs are split between a few family members all holding different Duchies and Territories. After many dynasties have already ruled over the HRE, the previous dynasty of the von Luxembourgs who ruled in Luxemburg and Bohemia has fallen. The Habsburg have secured the Emperorship under Albrecht II and his cousin Frederick the Third. Albrecht would fall in battle however, leaving his pregnant wife a widow, who would bare the child Ladislaus Postumus. Frederick became regent of this child and became the new elected Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile in the Swiss Confederacy a war is raging between the cantons. Zürich on one side, helped by the Austrians and the other cantons on the other side over the succession of the Counts of Toggenburg. Other nations in the region are the slovene rulers of Celje, the duchy of Savoy, many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire and Italian states.
-------------------------
The Map
While the 1.30 update already overhauled a lot already, there were some minor nitpicks that I think would alter how the Alpine Region functions somewhat and create more historical states and accurate situations:
Austria:
Areas:
Because of the potential addition of new provinces, some areas probably would have to be reworked.
Given the many potential new provinces in Switzerland, a new area here could be added, if Valtellina is added, then it makes sense to add it together with the other 2 three league provinces into a new area.
This would also give new room to the Switzerland area. The Switzerland area can also be split up again, or Romandie could be reworked. This depends on what is asked of it.
-------------------------
The Cultural Setup:
In the current game we have not as many cultures as the region could possibly hold. Because of its alpine nature, it is home to many smaller languages and cultures, often being quite local. This makes it that it would weaken many nations in the area if they were all added. However, this is a tradeoff, should you increase the diversity of the region to show it's uniqueness? Or should you simplify it to make the nations stronger?
Currently there is a single overarching Swiss culture, which unifies the many different languages spoken in Switzerland, however the region was rather diverse and the strength of the confederacy and federation allowed this cultural diversity.
So what if we added in this diversity instead? Well there are a few options.
Romansch is a very unique language which I think would be a great addition to teach people of it's existance. Much like the Cornish culture, it could be a 1 province culture or 2 province culture in the Three League area.
Another additional culture is Franco-Provençal also known as Arpitan or (Francoprovençal, Patois, Gaga, Savoyard, Arpitan or Romand).
Lastly, in Venice there is two other unique language which is related to Romansch and part of the Rhaeto-Romance language group. A choice could be made to add in these unique cultures as a single culture spread over a few more provinces:
Thus if we include all of these cultures the cultural setup of the region could be something like this:
1: Arpitan or Franco-Provençal (French Culture Group)
2: Rhaeto-Romance or Romansch, with the option to split it up further. (Italian Culture Group)
With the inclusion of these cultures, I would make Savoy's primary culture Arpitan and Three Leagues primary culture Rhaeto-Romance.
This would also change Swiss culture to be Swiss-German culture, to differentiate between the two.
-------------------------
Additional Flavor and Fixes:
The Old Zürich War and Zürich
While the Swiss Confederacy was in actuality a federation, somewhat similar to the Iroquois federation added in 1.31. The game represents Switzerland as unified. While this make some sense. A problem arises when one considers the Old Zurich War. A war fought over the succession of the count of Toggenburg. The canton of Zürich fought the other Cantons with help of the Habsburgs.
Thus perhaps a tag should be created for Zürich and an event should be made to make Zürich fight with Switzerland with help from Further Austria alone. This could be an interesting beginning of the game for Switzerland.
Dividing Austria
As mentioned before, Austria should be split up the same way Bavaria, Pomerania and others were split up, but the full details can be read from this post: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...nd-his-divided-austria.1191275/#post-25568118
New & Releasable Tags
1. Zürich
As mentioned before, Zürich could be made a tag given it's unique situation at this exact time.
2. Görz (Gorizia)
The County of Gorizia was an independant state until it became part of Austria in 1500.
3. Sion
The bishopric and later republic would be added as mentioned before
4. Basel
The Bishopric of Basel as mentioned before would be a new tag at start.
5. Carniola and Carinthia
Celje wasn't the only slovene state in this period. I think it makes sense to add the releasables of Carniola and Carinthia into the game to represent these other slovene/german entities.
These were duchies/marches in their own right under the habsburgs.
Swiss Ideas
If the new cultures were to be added I think it might make sense to give Swiss Ideas an idea for extra Culture Slots and Culture accept cost reduction.
-------------------------
End note:
I am bound to have made some mistakes and will update things accordingly or clarify things.
I would love to hear some feedback from other people if they think this makes sense.
And for a while now, I have wanted to give the Alpine region the same treatment, 1.30 was a good step in the right direction, but I would love to see these updates made to it.
Austria/Switzerland and nearby areas, the Alps in general, as seen in 1.31.3 (unchanged from 1.30).
-------------------------
Intro
The Alps form a natural barrier between the Italian Peninsula, France Germany and the Danubian Plain. It's home to many cultures and is very defensible.
In our period we see the Habsburgs from the Duchies of Austria attempt to increase their influence and consolidate it's holdings. The Habsburgs are split between a few family members all holding different Duchies and Territories. After many dynasties have already ruled over the HRE, the previous dynasty of the von Luxembourgs who ruled in Luxemburg and Bohemia has fallen. The Habsburg have secured the Emperorship under Albrecht II and his cousin Frederick the Third. Albrecht would fall in battle however, leaving his pregnant wife a widow, who would bare the child Ladislaus Postumus. Frederick became regent of this child and became the new elected Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile in the Swiss Confederacy a war is raging between the cantons. Zürich on one side, helped by the Austrians and the other cantons on the other side over the succession of the Counts of Toggenburg. Other nations in the region are the slovene rulers of Celje, the duchy of Savoy, many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire and Italian states.
-------------------------
The Map
While the 1.30 update already overhauled a lot already, there were some minor nitpicks that I think would alter how the Alpine Region functions somewhat and create more historical states and accurate situations:
Austria:
- Province of Burgenland
The Burgenland was an area contested between the Austrians and Hungarians. After the first world war it would pass to Austria. While the province isn't super important, it's fun to add this more dynamic province.
Capital: Eisenstadt
Culture: Austrian
Owner: Hungary or Austria - Province of Brück
To help with making Styria stronger, I've decided to include a new province with the city of Brück.
Capital: Brück
Culture: Austrian
Owner: Styria - Styria Region
As mentioned before, Frederick III was ruling Austria. But it wasn't this simple. As mentioned by others before, such as here: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...nd-his-divided-austria.1191275/#post-25568118
The reality was that there were 3 or 4 Austrian Duchies at this time, depending on how you count. These were the Duchy of Austria (Austria Proper), ruled by the child, Ladislaus Postumus. The Duchy of Inner Austria (Styria, Carniola and Carinthia), ruled by Frederick III, the emperor, the County of Tirol and Duchy of Further Austria, ruled by Sigismund. Sigismund however wasn't in full control over Further Austria and it can be said that the brother of Frederick III, should be the ruler there.
For the green outline on the map, I propose the state of Inner Austria (A rename of the tag Styria for this period in time).
Inner Austria (Styria), would be made the Emperor instead of Austria and Austria would be a vassal of Inner Austria with a regency in place.
Capital: Graz - Lower Styria or Slovene Styria
My proposal for this place is to redraw the province of Celje or to add another province here to increase the accuracy of this place.
The reason for this is that Celje perfectly encapsulates Lower Styria as a region, and by modifying it's shape, one can more accurately represent the modern country of Slovenia.
Another province could be added to represent the city of Marburg or Maribor. If we include this province as well:
Lower Styria or Marburg:
Capital: Marburg
Culture: Slovene
Owner: Styria - Görz & Triest
I've redrawn the provinces here so that Görz is given a coastline as well. This is also to allow Styria to have a connection to their province of Triest.
Görz should be changed however, it's historical owner wasn't Austria. It was owned by the Counts of Görz. The same is true for Lienz.
Görz:
Capital: Görz
Culture: Slovene
Owner: Görz
Lienz:
Capital: Lienz
Culture: Austrian
Owner: Görz - Tirol
Similarly to Inner Austria/Styria, Tirol was not part of the territory owned by Frederick or Ladislaus, but another family member, Sigismund. This should be reflected.
I suggest some redrawing and to give the brown encircled area to the count of Tirol.
- Ticino
In 1.30 the province of Como was added. Sadly however, It takes up a lot of space which I think would fit better as a different province. The Province of Ticino.
Ticino is a modern day region of Switzerland which became part of the Confederacy in 1512. By reworking Como or by adding in Ticino, this detail can be represented, and would allow for Switzerland to form it's borders.
Capital: Lugano
Culture: Lombard
Owner: Milan - Valtellina
Valtellina is not historically as important or significant, but forms a more important province in the sense of Ownership and shape of borders throughout EU4's period.
It was owned by Milan at startdate but would switch hands to the Grey League
Capital: Sondrio
Culture: Lombard or Romansch, in reality a mix of both at this time, while modern day only really Italian and Lombard
Owner: Milan - Thurgau
Thurgau is a historical canton of Switzerland, the reason to add this is that this area was contested between Switzerland and Austria at this time. This is why I think this province could be very interesting to add. The area would be taken by Switzerland in 1460 from Austria.
Capital: Frauenfeld
Culture: Swiss
Owner: Austria, specifically: Further Austria - Basel
The city of Basel is a rather famous and large city of Switzerland that still hasn't been included in Eu4. The city lies on the Rhine river and was both an imperial city and a bishopric.
I think it should be included both as a province and a tag. The bishopric would remain independant for a long time, while the Imperial City joined the confederacy.
Capital: Basel
Culture: Swiss
Owner: Basel - Lower Valais and Upper Valais (Wallis)
Valais was a valley which was both owned by Savoy (Lower Valais) and by the bishopric of Sion which later on would also be known as the Zieben Senden or Seven Tithings. A choice could be made to add in this extra bit of history. While the area was not significant, it is a nice bit of history.
Lower Valais:
Capital: Martigny or St. Maurice (I couldn't find the exact capital or administrative centre)
Culture: Swiss or Arpitan
Owner: Savoy
Upper Valais:
Capital: Sion
Culture: Swiss or Arpitan
Owner: Sieben Zenden/Bishopric of Sion or Switzerland - Geneva & Chablais
Geneva at the moment is fine, but it's a bit in the wrong spot. It takes up most of an area known as Chablais. While it's somewhat fine, it can be improved by moving it to the area shown. By moving it here, the historical and modern border shape can be recreated more accurately.
Further a choice could be made to include Chablais as well.
Chablais:
Capital: Thonon(-les-Bains)
Culture: Arpitan or Occitan
Owner: Savoy - Further Austria
Further Austria is made up of the Sundgau and Breisgau. The area was nominally owned by Sigismund, the count of Tyrol, but in 1446 Albrecht VI would gain control over it.
Thus I would grant this area to Albrecht VI as a vassal of Austria.
- Dauphine
The province of Dauphine is rather large. By splitting it into two provinces, one of them can be given the Franco-Provencal culture and the other can be Occitan.
Vienne:
Capital: Vienne
Culture: FrancoProvencal/Arpitan
Owner: France
Valence:
Capital: Valence
Culture Occitan
Owner: France - Aosta
Aosta is a region between Italy and France, a famous valley that is rather strategic and has it's own autonomy to this day.
Capital: Aosta
Culture: FrancoProvencal/Arpitan
Owner: Savoy - Geneva and Chablais
I mentioned this one before - Macon
Macon was it's own county in the Duchy of Burgundy. I think it makes sense to add another province here.
Capital: Macon
Culture: Burgundian
Owner: Burgundy
Areas:
Because of the potential addition of new provinces, some areas probably would have to be reworked.
Given the many potential new provinces in Switzerland, a new area here could be added, if Valtellina is added, then it makes sense to add it together with the other 2 three league provinces into a new area.
This would also give new room to the Switzerland area. The Switzerland area can also be split up again, or Romandie could be reworked. This depends on what is asked of it.
-------------------------
The Cultural Setup:
In the current game we have not as many cultures as the region could possibly hold. Because of its alpine nature, it is home to many smaller languages and cultures, often being quite local. This makes it that it would weaken many nations in the area if they were all added. However, this is a tradeoff, should you increase the diversity of the region to show it's uniqueness? Or should you simplify it to make the nations stronger?
Currently there is a single overarching Swiss culture, which unifies the many different languages spoken in Switzerland, however the region was rather diverse and the strength of the confederacy and federation allowed this cultural diversity.
So what if we added in this diversity instead? Well there are a few options.
Romansch is a very unique language which I think would be a great addition to teach people of it's existance. Much like the Cornish culture, it could be a 1 province culture or 2 province culture in the Three League area.
Another additional culture is Franco-Provençal also known as Arpitan or (Francoprovençal, Patois, Gaga, Savoyard, Arpitan or Romand).
Lastly, in Venice there is two other unique language which is related to Romansch and part of the Rhaeto-Romance language group. A choice could be made to add in these unique cultures as a single culture spread over a few more provinces:
Thus if we include all of these cultures the cultural setup of the region could be something like this:
1: Arpitan or Franco-Provençal (French Culture Group)
2: Rhaeto-Romance or Romansch, with the option to split it up further. (Italian Culture Group)
With the inclusion of these cultures, I would make Savoy's primary culture Arpitan and Three Leagues primary culture Rhaeto-Romance.
This would also change Swiss culture to be Swiss-German culture, to differentiate between the two.
-------------------------
Additional Flavor and Fixes:
The Old Zürich War and Zürich
While the Swiss Confederacy was in actuality a federation, somewhat similar to the Iroquois federation added in 1.31. The game represents Switzerland as unified. While this make some sense. A problem arises when one considers the Old Zurich War. A war fought over the succession of the count of Toggenburg. The canton of Zürich fought the other Cantons with help of the Habsburgs.
Thus perhaps a tag should be created for Zürich and an event should be made to make Zürich fight with Switzerland with help from Further Austria alone. This could be an interesting beginning of the game for Switzerland.
Dividing Austria
As mentioned before, Austria should be split up the same way Bavaria, Pomerania and others were split up, but the full details can be read from this post: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...nd-his-divided-austria.1191275/#post-25568118
New & Releasable Tags
1. Zürich
As mentioned before, Zürich could be made a tag given it's unique situation at this exact time.
2. Görz (Gorizia)
The County of Gorizia was an independant state until it became part of Austria in 1500.
3. Sion
The bishopric and later republic would be added as mentioned before
4. Basel
The Bishopric of Basel as mentioned before would be a new tag at start.
5. Carniola and Carinthia
Celje wasn't the only slovene state in this period. I think it makes sense to add the releasables of Carniola and Carinthia into the game to represent these other slovene/german entities.
These were duchies/marches in their own right under the habsburgs.
Swiss Ideas
If the new cultures were to be added I think it might make sense to give Swiss Ideas an idea for extra Culture Slots and Culture accept cost reduction.
-------------------------
End note:
I am bound to have made some mistakes and will update things accordingly or clarify things.
I would love to hear some feedback from other people if they think this makes sense.
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