The Reign of King Ferdinand – The Bohemian Wars of Religion: Part 3, 1545-1548
Allied w/Poland-Lithuania, Hungary, Bavaria
At war with the Palitinate
At war with Venice
1545
The Protestant faction in the Palitinate again gain the upper hand there as they declare themselves Lutheran. I am glad to hear this since it will give us a rationalization to the rest of Europe if we succeed in re-annexing them. A protestant revolt occurs in Bremen this February as well, as our newly acquired territories are inspired by the Palitinate’s example of gaining their independence from us once again. I am confident that we can crush any resistance, especially when we are able to pay off our second loan of 200 ducats this year. Since annexing both Hansa and Austria our economy has skyrocketed, despite the fact that the Holstein Center of Trade plummeted in value after we took control. With the dissolution of the Haneatic League the trade networks across northern Europe and the Baltic have seemed to whither and dry up.
Finally on February 17th Vlaclav is able to avenge himself on the Palitinate freedom army in Pfalz, and he soon begins a siege of the fortress there. With no remaining army in the field, the new Prince of Pfalz surrenders once again to Bohemian rule by June 22. Though a small resurgence of 12,000 rebels in Pfalz occurs in mid-August Vlaclav, who has remained to police the territory, easily squashes their hopes. As this chapter of our war in Northern Germany draws to a close Ferdinand rewards my efforts by making me the Duke of Holstein.
Our newly acquired “Bohemian Empire”
In the meantime we try to bring an end to our other “fake” war with Venice, offering a white peace in late March and, but they are under heavy pressure from the Spanish to prolong the conflict (or so our spies tell us). I am suspicious as to what the Spanish are planning. Perhaps Charles hopes to regain Austria by setting Spain against us, and wants to use our Venetian War as his excuse. I determine that we must avoid this if possible. Perhaps Charles will be mollified by gestures of contrition. I send a letter of reconciliation along with 25 ducats at the end of March and a personal gift of 100 ducats to Charles shortly after our annexation of the Palatinate in June.
(Totally relations improvement w/Spain: -189 to –123.) I am also nervous about France’s attitude towards us. The last thing we need is another major power breathing down our necks. I send them 25 ducats and a letter reaffirming our positive intentions towards the French king.
(-111 to –107)
Our tenuous political situation
Several more revolts spring up, 10,000 in Mainz in early August and 12,000 in Odenburg a month later. I know that is will be a long hard road before all of our newly acquired realms are fully pacified. I raise 10k/2k/0 in Bohemia to help in this effort.
My fears about Charles’ intentions are proved true in early September as he declares war on us again, this time acting as the King of Spain. He is determined to regain his status within the Empire, and to regain his Austrian lands. Though Spain had been a part of a powerful alliance with Lorraine, Genoa, France, the Aztecs and the Knights of St. John, all but the Knights declined to get involved in what was widely seen as an intra-dynastic struggle among the Hapsburgs. Surprisingly however, Charles is able to secretly convince the Protestant Danes and their allies in Orthodox Russia to join his war against us in late September. It’s obvious that these are no more than opportunists, hoping to snatch land from us and our Polish-Lithuanian allies while we are distracted by the might of the Spaniards. Though the wealthy Spanish are formidable foes, I am confident that we will be able to stand firm, especially when all of our allies once again spring to our aid.
Wanting to secure the homefront first before taking on the Spanish, Vlaclav faces off against 10,000 rebels in Mainz, quickly suppressing them in early October. Three days later Zatec takes care of the 12,000 revolters in Bremen. Zatec turns northward and sieges Denmark’s province of Jylland, giving the Danes a little more than they bargained for right off the bat. In the meantime our allies gain a quick advantage over Spain as a joint Polish/Hungarian force defeats a Spanish army in Tyrol on October 20th, and the Poles continue on to siege Helvetia by early December.
1546
The Second German Crusade
Enroute to Luxembourg, Vlaclav is briefly delayed by 12,000 rebels in Pfalz. They are poorly organized and poorly equipped however; and amazingly, Vlaclav defeats them without a single casualty! By the eleventh of February Luxembourg is under siege. We raise 13/2/0 troops in various provinces (Baden, Ostmarch, Mecklemburg) in order to resupply his army and Zatec’s for this coming campaign.
Yet again the Muslim world is engulfed in flames as the Turks and Mamelukes are at each other’s throats once more. The Ottomans are the aggressors this time, dragging Tripoli, Aden, Tunisia, Crimea, Oman, and Wallachia along with them. The Mamelukes are backed by Persia and the Hedjaz.
In February we learn that Martin Luther, the great heretic and deceiver of the Germans, has died. His followers, more numerous now than ever, are still powerful. Most of the common people of northern Germany consider themselves Lutherans, and they exert great pressure on their princes to defy us and our attempts to keep Germany at least nominally and politically Catholic. Lutherans in Brandenburg convince their Prince that now, while we are preoccupied with Spain, is the ideal time to liberate their fellow heretic brethren in Kustrin. At the end of February Brandenburg yields to their entreaties and declare war on us without any other allies. We respond by calling all of our own allies – Poland-Lithuania, Hungary, and Bavaria – to our side. We’ve endured this long war for nearly a decade now, I’m not about to relinquish any of our dearly bought land.
Encouraging word comes in March that Zatec has captured Jylland and is marching the Army of Bohemia towards Sjaelland. Later that month our newly raised Bohemian Regiment (10/2/0) suppresses the rebels in Odenburg with minimal losses and heads back to Praha to be supplied with some 40 cannon that I have recently requisitioned. Meanwhile, Brandenburg moves an army in to lay siege once more to Silesia. The fortress there is still a small one, and they capture the province on May tenth after a furious assault.
Though it seems as though the world is against Bohemia and our allies at this point, I have not been idle in garnering support for our cause. Members of our Brotherhood who have connections within the Vatican persuade the Pope to act on our behalf. While he refuses to choose outright sides in this Hapsburg War, he does agree to condemn the opportunistic actions of Denmark, a Protestant nation, in declaring war on us at this juncture. While not wanting to appear directly involved, the Pope does persuade their ally, Parma, to declare war on Denmark in early April. The Papal States, Portugal, and Savoy rally to the Crusade. Russia, not wanting to be caught in a religious war against the Catholic Church, disavows their alliance with Denmark.
More good news on the Spanish front, Poland captures Helvetia from Spain on the 24th of April, and Vlaclav beats off 3000 Spanish cavalry in Luxumbourg on May 11th. And then, June 5th, Kopenhagen falls to Zatec and the Danes agree to sign over Jylland and 50 ducats to us for peace! Nineteen days later Luxembourg falls to Vlaclav and he moves on to siege Artois. That same day Poland does us the favor of sending a force to Silesia to recapture it from Brandenburg on our behalf. Brandenburg by this point has sent its army to lay siege to East Pommerania, but I am confident that with Zatec now freed up in the north, we will soon be able to respond to Brandenburg’s attacks. The Brandenburgians also realize their impending danger, and push for a quick resolution, assaulting the stronghold in East Pommerania in early August. They fail but casualties are heavy. Our defenders are reduced to a garrison of 3000. Things worsen for them as Silesia is liberated by our allies by the 21st of this same month. The fire of desperation lights in the Brandenburgians and they manage to capture East Pommerania from us three weeks later.
On a side note, Russia and the Teutonic Order sign a peace in mid-August, officially handing over the province of Ingermanland to Russian control.
On the 15th of September Zatec lays siege to Magdeburg and a Polish/Bavarian force does likewise to Berlin in the province of Brandenburg itself. A month later Polish forces would also help us out by defeating the German army which had marched south from Pommerania into Kustrin. Of course, 10,000 resistance fighters in Carniola take advantage of the current distance of our armies by rising up in rebellion there at the beginning of October.
Artois falls to Vlaclav October 16th but Charles refuses to capitulate to our demand for Luxembourg. He still has hopes of overcoming our powerful alliance. In fact he succeeds in recapturing Tyrol from Hungary two days later. Apparently we will just have to make our case a little more convincing. Accordingly, Vlaclav moves his army to siege Hainut by early November.
The year ends on a sour note as 13,000 rebels spring up in Pfalz (those Palitinate bastards just will not accept the fact that they’ve been beaten). Furthermore, the day before Christmas Zatec and the Army of Bohemia lose to the Brandenburg Army which had recently fled Kustrin back to East Pommerania. Despite Zatec’s superior tactical skills, the dreary, marshy terrain of Pommerania hampers his cavalry and demoralizes his men.
Christmas day Venice sends us a demand for 43 ducats to end their war. However, now that we were involved in an extended war whether we liked it or not. We were much less interested in sacrificing our hard won treasury for peace with a nation that couldn’t touch us anyway (Venice doesn’t border us because Styria and Istria are owned by Poland-Lithuania).
1547
Vlaclav continues his siege in Hainut, defeating a Spanish force of 5000 that tries to break our encampment in early January. The Spaniards hold out another two months, but finally capitulate to Vlaclav in early march. Charles is still too stubborn to yield up Luxembourg to us for peace so Vlaclav takes his army to the great trade center of Flandres next. In the meantime Zatec captures Magdeburg from Brandenburg by mid-January, then begins preparations for a treacherous mid-Winter crossing of the Elbe River and subsequent march through the frozen marshes surrounding the city of Berlin. He is finally able to lay siege to that city by mid-April as the snow and ice begins to subside. He finds the defenses strong but the province devoid of defenders. This is due to the fact that in late February our Polish allies crushed a Brandenburgian army of 21,000 men in Kustrin and successfully assaulted and captured Berlin not a month later. Rather than waiting for Zatec’s arrival, the Poles settled a peace with the Germans, accepting reparations of 250d from Berlin. This at least makes it possible for us to recapture it and perhaps annex Brandenburg once and for all (like we should have done the last time we had a chance). As a side note, throughout the whole winter I am busily spending the majority of our treasury on new troops in Erz, West Pommerania, and Bohemia to add to our armies, which have tended to suffer much in the way of attrition during these extensive sieges.
May brings 14,000 Austrian rebels in Vienna and 11,000 Brandeburgians knocking on the gates of Silesia. Fortunately the Bavarians lighten our load somewhat by laying siege to East Pommerania in an attempt to recapture it for us. Rebellion spreads in June with 41,000 rebels in Holstein, and word that the Austrian revolt has spread to Carniola, where the fort is now in rebel hands.
This year Saxony, the birthplace of Martin Luther himself, finally and officially declares itself Lutheran, throwing off the yoke of Rome. Though Luther’s Elector, Frederick the Wise, has been dead some years now, his successor is much more decisive and committed to Lutheran principles. He was in fact converted by way of his friendship with the Elector of Brandenburg, a long time supporter of Luther. This is perhaps why, only a few short months after the declaration of Saxony’s official switch to the Protestant faith, Saxony and their Lutheran allies of Hessen and Hannover declare war against us in support of Brandenburg. The declaration comes to us on the 18th of June, only 12 days before the fall of Flandres to Vlaclav where Charles’ emissaries agree to sign over Luxembourg and 63 ducats to Ferdinand. Thus ends the Hapsburg Civil War between the brothers Holy Roman Emperor Charles, King of Spain (and formerly Archduke of Austria) and Ferdinand, King of Bohemia, (current) Archduke of Austria, and self-styled King of Germany. Of course, ironically and maddeningly, even as we wrap up the Hapsburg War this escalation of our Crusade to stamp out Lutheranism in Germany has prevented us from bringing our conflicts to a swift and easy end. It has been over ten years now since our annexation of Kleves sparked this whole, long religious and dynastic war, and the end of it still seems so far off. We are encouraged to see that our alliance stands strong however, even as forces from Poland and Bavaria defeat a massive combined Lutheran army from Saxony, Hessen and Hannover in the Battle of Wartburg, in the province of Thuringen, August 14.
Things go from bad to worse as France declares war on Bohemia and our alliance in October, dragging their allies Scotland along with them. Though the King of France is no Protestant sympathizer, and though he also has no cause to love Charles of Spain, the French nonetheless protest our occupation of Luxembourg. That province had long been a point of contention between France and Spain, and it is likely that King Henri merely was hoping to snatch the province from our grasp before we had a chance to settle in. Fortunately General Vlaclav is still relatively near the French border, having squashed a rebellion in Pfalz only a few days after France’s declaration. We raise 4000 more infantry in Luxembourg to assist him as he turns to meet the French threat. He is in the French province of Champagne by the end of November. The French on the other hand, concentrate their forces in the south, capturing Hungarian owned Tyrol around this same time.
Two days after France’s declaration of war we hear that Poland is guarding Vlaclav’s back by sieging Hannover. Unfortunately Saxon and Hessen forces sneak around this force and lay siege to Thuringen by the end of the month. In Silesia, Brandenburg overwhelms the fortress at Breslau on the 15th, and demands it and 23 ducats from us in return for peace. As Zatec is still sieging Berlin we place our hopes in his capabilities and flatly refuse their demands.
Our newly formed Erz Regiment (13/2/0) wipes out the Viennese rebels in early November and then marches to face rebels sieging Odenburg. Unfortunately our men are defeated in the high Austrian Alps after a long engagement throughout most of December. The massive attrition in the snowy mountains nearly entirely depletes the Erz Regiment which falls back to Bohemia to recover and rebuild.
On the 24th of November Hannover falls to Poland, and they hand over 145 ducats to the Poles for its liberation. This same day we learn that the Brandenburgian army has moved from Silesia and is now attempting to recapture Kustrin. Berlin is close to falling however, and on the 11th of December it does indeed succumb to Lt. General Zatec with some help from the Bavarians. Bavaria withdraws from the conflict with Brandenburg for 238 ducats, leaving East Pommerania and Silesia still within their grasp despite the fact that we now control their two home provinces.
1548
After over three years with no overt conflict between ourselves and Venice, they are forced to formally acknowledge a status quo peace with us. Meanwhile, our small naval fleet, which we had acquired when we annexed the Hanseatic League, reports that they have successfully developed the use of metal cannon balls for ship-to-ship fighting
(Naval Tech 4).
The Bohemia Regiment, which had previously been engaged crushing rebels in Austria, moves in to siege East Pommerania and liberate it from Brandenburg. I commission 6/1/20 to be raised in Bohemia to be added to the recovering Erz Regiment which is needed to put down the Austrian uprisings.
12,000 rebels spring up in Kustrin at the beginning of February, dislodging the Brandenburgians that had been sieging the fort there. The demoralized Germans flee back towards Berlin but are met by Zatec as they attempt to cross the Oder, are sent running once more. They flee southwards towards Silesia, hotly pursued by Zatec and his Army of Bohemia (not to be confused with the Bohemia Regiment in East Pommerania). He meets them there on March 9th and wipes out the remainder of Brandenburg’s only standing army. It will now be only a matter of time before Silesia and East Pommerania are reclaimed and Brandenburg is forced to swear fealty to the Kings of Bohemia. Realizing their doom Brandenburg offers us Magdeburg for peace several times over the course of the next few months. We insist that we will accept nothing less than the full annexation of their realm so that we can ensure that Lutheranism will not be able to regain a political foothold there.
At the end of February General Vlaclav captures Champagne from France. King Henri refuses a status quo peace from us, thus Vlaclav decides to persuade him by laying siege to Paris itself. France’s armies are still occupied in the south so his movements continue to go unchallenged. Meanwhile, more Austrian forces still loyal to Charles of Hapsburg rise up in Salzburg at the beginning of March (12,000 of them to be precise). In Holstein we hear that the Hansa rebels have captured Holstein. I fear that if they are left untended for too long we could face a resurrected Hanseatic League on our hands or even an independent Holstein state. However, I am hesitant to disrupt the progress of the sieges in East Pommerania and Silesia; and since we have no other available armies at the moment I merely cross my fingers and hope that Zatec will accomplish his goal soon. Our new fleet is forced out of the Holstein port by the rebels and are swiftly engaged and defeated by a Scottish task force in the waters of the German Bight. They fall back to the port of Bremen. Obviously our sailors are greatly deficient in experience.
In April a French army finally makes its way north and lays siege to Champagne. Vlaclav has a large headstart however, and I am confident that Paris will be in his hands long before Champagne falls. During the month of May several provinces trade hands. Zatec recaptures Silesia on the tenth, and I immediately send him north to resupply the Bohemian Regiment in East Pommerania, which had suffered heavy losses this winter due to attrition. On the nineteenth Poland-Lithuania captures Hessen, and receive a peace settlement of 198 ducats for its freedom. They immediately begin to march their armies south as word comes that same day that the Styrian gold mines have fallen to France. June brings another withdrawal, as Bavarian troops capture Hannover on the 25th and accept 107 ducats in reparations.
The Franco-Bohemian Conflict comes to an end July 22nd as Vlaclav marches his army through the streets of Paris. King Henri agrees to hand over 150 ducats as well as all maps of their recent explorations in the New World in return for a peaceful return of Champagne and Ile de France to their control. We learn somewhat of the coast of the Americas along with many of its coastal provinces, as well as most of the western coast of Africa. We can tell that Spain has extensive colonies in the southern part of the Americas, while Portugese trading posts sporadically dot the African and South American coasts. France only possess two isolated trading posts, one in each of the American continents, while England has claimed only a few provinces in the northern part of North America. From these maps we also learn that another ocean lies beyond the Americas. One which has been dubbed the Pacific. While we had heard rumors of these new wonders from the other courts of Europe, it is nevertheless astonishing to learn that the world is much, much larger than we had once thought, and the wealth of the East Indian Spice Isles much, much further away. For securing these maps along with peace with France, I am promoted to the post of Regent, and thus formally made second in authority only to King Ferdinand himself. Of course, with the influence of the Brotherhood I had long been first in power, unbeknownst to Ferdinand of course. However, this new title would of course help legitimate much of the power I already possessed; thus allowing me to practice it much more openly.
(I apologize for not having screen shots of our new maps. When I was playing the game I didn’t realize that we had gained new maps until nearly nine years later, and didn’t take a screenshot until then. Of course by then I had accidentally deleted my saved game files for these years. Expect screenshots of the New World when I get to 1557.)
In August 8000 Hanse rebels storm the fort in Mecklemburg and capture it. Within a month my fears are realized as a reborn Hanseatic League throws off our yoke and declares itself independent once more. Indeed, since their annexation more than five years ago the Hanseatic Merchant Princes had been hiding out in Helvetia and northern Italy, managing their remaining trade connections from there, and recruiting mercenaries to stir up the rebellions that have succeeded in liberating Holstein and Mecklemburg from us. As the Princes returned to the north and declared their independence war against our crown, other rebels flocked to their cause, 15,000 rebels rising up in Bremen. We send the newly revived Erz Regiment north to crush this uprising, but they are waylaid in Thuringen by a Lutheran army from Hannover and Saxony. After some weeks of fighting our men are victorious and resume their push northward.
On the 18th of November East Pommerania is liberated by Zatec and Brandenburg is left without any remaining strongholds. King Ferdinand accepts the fealty of the Brandenburgian lords as they are officially annexed on November 20th! Not all lords are entirely willing to capitulate, and less than a fortnight later 18,000 men have risen in revolt under the Baron of Magdeburg.
After receiving the capitulation of France, Vlaclav turns his attentions to our crusade against the remaining Lutheran princes of Germany, laying siege to Hessen on November 22nd. However, a day later we receive discouraging word that our ever shaky Erz Regiment has been annihilated by a massive army of Saxon Lutherans in the province of Anhalt while they were enroute to Mecklemburg. Zatec instead will now have to go about the task of suppressing the Hansa rebellion.
Next up: End Round 1
