Embodying Empire: A Habsburg AAR

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A war begins: the year 1542

1542
on the 1st of January, word reaches us that Bohemia has converted to Protestantism. The Kaiser drops by my comfortable Vienna home late that evening--"The invasion of Bohemia has always been your pet project hasn't it?" "Yes, indeed, sire" I reply. "Those rotten Bohemian heretics have no right to live," says the Kaiser, "attack away--it'll be your head if they escape without annexation." I personally draft the declaration of War, which reaches Prague on January 8. I then order my generals into action, the pathetic dance troop that calls itself the Bohemian army is defeated at the Battle of Silesia on Jan 30, its just the seiges now. Von Frustberg sets up outside the walls of Prague Febuary, "I'm not leaving until this entire land belongs to our glorious Kaiser," he proclaimed to the frightened garrison. As Prague prepares to fall into our hands for the second time, I receive surprising news--Helvetia has declared war on us! 2 weeks later, with Prague once more in his hands, von Frustberg offers to conquer Helvetia for the glory of the House of Habsburg. I tell him to finish off Bohemia first and order him into Moravia. Meanwhile the Swiss armies have laid seige to Milan, we bring the Imperial Gurad up to Tyrol to watch. Ferdinand's army outnumbers the Helvetians by 2-to-1, but we decide to let attrition take its toll before swooping down on the Swiss. In may, the Venetian ambassador delivers a Declaration of War from his country and their Portuguese allies. I spend many a sleepless night over the next several months, monitoring 3 wars at once. Some welcome good news comes from the Bohemian front--Moravia has fallen, I order von Frustberg to proceed to Silesia, once it falls, Bohemia shall be ours! On the Alpine front, our Saxon allies have laid seige to Helvetia, but the Helvetian army continues to wait outside the walls of Milan--our stout garrison shows no signs of surrender. On Septmeber 1, Silesia falls. Von Frustberg elects not to attend the annexation ceremony of September 5--he has enemies to crush. I order him to proceed to the Venetian front and not to stop until the imperial standard has been planted on the Adriatic shore. The annexation ceremony in Prague is a short affair, as I am needed back in Vienna. The Turks take advantage of Venice's preoccupation with us and declare a war of their own against Venice. Their ambassador tells me they have annexed the Mamluks whilst we have been distracted by our wars. On the 14th of September the brave Saxons storm the fortifications of Zurich, and Helvetia is theirs. the Helvetian government parts with 250D from its treasury in a seperate peace with the Saxons. With Hungarian reinforcements on the way, Ferdinand moves against the Helvetian army in Milan, the battle is short, and the Swiss retreat with bulk of their army intact. A debate now rages in the ministry--the war party, led by the minister of religion, argues we should follow the Helvetians to their home territory and annex them for their impudence. The peace party, led by the minister of roads and bridges, argues we should make an equitable peace with the Swiss so we can concentrate on Venice. The peaceniks win out, and on November 30, we agree to a treaty with Helvetia by which we receive their entire treasury, it turns out they only have 11D in the treasury. I am now more convinced than ever that the Minister of Roads and Bridges is a Spanish agent. von Frustberg arrives in Istria province by the Adriatic sea that same month, and begins a seige.

 

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I like the Minister of Roads and Bridges... very nice touch :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

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The Great War: Part 2

1543
It seems an auspicious start for a new year on a cold January morning in Vienna, Bohemia has been annexed at last, the war with Helvetia has ended, and things are going well on the Venetian front, Istria will soon be ours. The year ahead will be difficult and dark however, beginning with a small Venetian troop, which marches on a much larger Austrian contigent in Tyrol and sends them fleeing, what a disgrace to the imperial army! Mercifully, the Ventians lacked sufficient manpower to initiate a seige. As the Venetian army continues to enjoy the sights of Tyrol, Istria falls into our hands, "I never knew so much water existed in the world," said one of our soliders as he glanced at the Adriatic Sea. Von Frustberg is prepared to move on Venice itself now, but the city is being beseiged by a regiment led by a suicidal Hungarian, who is throwing his troops against the walls of Venice. Von Frustberg must go around to reach the Ventian territory of Mantua. Our Tyrolian army puts itslef together and descends upon the Venetians, slaughtering their small army to a man. As we begin to anticipate an easy victory, we receive a declaration of war from Brandenburg. Our Saxon allies engage their army in Madenburg, and we order the Erz garrison, which distinguished itself in the Bohemian campaign, to proceed to Berlin and lay seige. Von Frustberg arrives in Mantua--"I'll be available for the German campaign in 6 months, he says." In April, Brandenburg buys out our Saxon allies, the Erz garrison is alone now, and making little progress with its seige of Berlin. Mantua has fallen to von Frustberg by now, and he drags his unit and all 70 of their cannons towards Berlin, when word reaches us that we have been DOWed by Thuringen and their allies Baden! Within a few months, Thuringen has bought out the Saxons, and we are once again without our German ally. Elsewhere, Spain continues its warmongering unabated, annexing the Aztecs and DOWing the Incas.

1544
We are once again fighting a three front war as 1544 begins, and Saxony has dropped out on both German fronts. Venice is tied down with Turkey, which begun an invasion of the Republic's Balkan territoty, I reflect to myself that this may well be the last time that I am overjoyed to see Turkish armies in Europe. Our diplomats hurry to end the Venetian war, and by July the Treaty of Tyrol is signed, granting the coastal province of Istria to the Habsburg Empire. I take brief tour of Istria province, noting that the Venetians have done little by way of improvements here. When peace resumes, we shall put some investment by way of the place, in the meantime, there are wars needing my attention. Hungary and Moldavia are fighting against Thuringen in Thurnigen's territory, so those enemies are temporarily distracted, the Berlin seige continues at a tortorously slow pace. At the end of September, Hungary takes a 202D indemnity in a seperate peace with Thurnigen, and Moldavia agrees to a white peace--it's just us and them now. In November, Baden launches an invasion of Wurtemberg province, The Imperial Guard quickly puts thier army to flight, but the Kaiser is enraged at these senseless attacks by minor states, "I was perfectly willing to live in peace with our German neighbors, but if they insist upon annexation, so be it," proclaims the Kaiser.

Next--the War continues

 

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The Great War: Part 3

1545
It's us versus the Germans, our allies have abandoned the conflict, but our military is strong and Habsburg hero General von Frustberg is a mighty asset in our cause. January brings bad news however--a 15,000 man Brandenburg army has defeated our 19,000 man Erz garrison, who abandon their seige and retreat to Habsburg territory in ignominy. We worry about future developments on the Brandenburg frontier until Febuary, when the Brandenburg ambassador offers a white peace from his king, we gladly accept, leaving just Thuringen and Baden to deal with. As von Frustberg makes his way to Baden, we receive surprising news regarding our southern front. Turkey grabs Illyria in peace agreement with Venice signed on April 17, then declares war on us on May 26! The Turks invade our Hungarian allies as our armies lay seige to Baden. The Turk advances against Hungary, and as we prepare for battle with the Turk in our respective parts of what used to be Venice, von Frustberg captures Baden. We annex the kingdom of Baden on December 30, just in time to invite the ex-king of Baden to our new year celebrations in Vienna-new realm for the Habsburg crown!

1546
The minute remnants of Baden's army, stationed in Thuringen, attack the minute remnants of Thuringen's army after the annexation. Thuringen wins the battle, but are left with a mere 427 infantrymen to defend their one and only province--von Frustberg makes short work of them, and we annex Thuringen to our ever-expanding empire in May. Over the next several months, tensions rise as we stare at the Turkish armies from across the Balkan border, we are beginning to feel at rest in September, when a herald arrives from Hessen with a declaration of War on the 10th. As the Hessens and their allies lay seige to Milan, I send word to our exhausted hero von Frustberg--he must reach the Hessen capital and force its capitualtion before Milan falls--then we can force a peace treaty upon the war-like Hessians. Barely 2 weeks later, on the 27th of Septmeber, we receive a declaration of war from Poland, I just sit and stare at this document--it is the 7th DOW our nation has received in the past four years. Our wars have set off a wave of other wars across the region, by the end of 1546, England DOWs Scotland, Russia DOWs the Golden Horde, Genoa DOWs the Teutonic Order, and in an event that brings welcome relief to our Hungarian allies, Georgia DOWs Turkey. The Minister of Geogrpahy thinks the Georgians are insane to be attacking the Turks, but the Turks and their allies begin leaving the Balkans in a welcome respite for our beleagured armies. Back on the home front, the race is on! Our courageous Milan garrison is finally cracking under the strain of repeated invasions--they have seen the worst of this war, von Frustberg is speeding towards the Hessian capital, our nation's hopes rest with him now.

1547
Success! Von Frustberg captures Hessen on the 25th of January, just 2 months after his arrival! The diplomat sent to negotiate the Hessian peace reports that the king was being kept in a dog-pin, and that the imperial armies had the run of the town. The Hessen king quickly agrees to part with his treasury for peace. It is a piddling sum we recieve, but Milan is saved and the victory is ours, now we must force Poland and Turkey to peace, and we can begin the period of retrenchment our nation so desperately needs. Von Frustberg's armies are in no fit state to continue fighting--they are down to 3,000 men and 59 cannon. Fortunatley, Brandenburg is beseiging its ex-province of Kustrin at the moment--we send in von Frustberg, he takes command upon his arrival, upon the city's capitualtion in Septmeber, we receive a peace treaty with Poland, gaining only 33D in the process. The year would have ended a success but for the horrid news which arrived back in March--that the Polish devils had annexed our heroic Moldavian allies ! We have executed the Polish ambassador and severed all ties with his barbaric state. As the New Year's service dawns, I say a quiet prayer for the brave Moldavians, now slaving under Polish oppression. Someday, when our imperial might has been restored, we shall avenge our fearless Moldavian allies .

 

[Morpheus506]

Poor Moldovia... you should punish Poland greatly for such a deed! Then punish Turkey for not invading Poland and stopping Moldavian annexation!

Actually just go annex everybody.

 

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Poor Moldovia... you should punish Poland greatly for such a deed!

That's the plan, as will become evident in future updates

Then punish Turkey for not invading Poland and stopping Moldavian annexation!

I'd rather invade Italy

btw, how do I add the "originally posted by Morpheus" bit to my quotes.

 

[Morpheus506]

Easiest way is to hit the little Quote button at the bottom of the post you want to quote. If you want to do it the old fashioned way though, just add the phrase in italics at the beginning of the quote.

 

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The Great War Ends

1548
The Great war of 1542-48 nears its close, we now have only the Turks and their allies to worry about. We order von Frustberg to leave Poland for the Turkish frontier. Hungary has received the bulk of the Turk's attention, this war has been murder on my allies. The fearless army of Wallachia launches an invasion of Carinola, despite the presence of 17,000 Habsburg troops there. The Wallachian army of 6,000 is quickly put to flight, but the Wallachians refuse to give up, throwing 3,000 men against our 14,000 man unit in Istria, once Wallachia loses the battle. Their ambassador then appears at court demanding that we give our rentire treasury to his nation. I am quite impressed by this show of bravery, as there are only 6 ducats in the treasury, we accept Wallachia's peace offer. Meanwhile, the Turks have captured Serbia and Bosnia has fallen in a seige led by the Hedjaz. Hungary is putting itself together though, and is attempting to retake Bosnia when they reach a settlment with the Ottoman Empire, parting with Serbia in exchange for peace. With von Frustberg nearly there, we send the Istria unit against Turkish Illyria, but they are tied down by a revolt by the Istrian peasants. Then a diplomat arrives from Istanbul, offering peace in exchange for 18D. Due to our nation's war weariness, we accpet, and the realm is at peace for the first time in 6 years. The War has been trying on us, but we triumphed, the size of our territory has nearly doubled, as we have acquired 6 new provinces in the Great War.

The Habsburg Empire as of January 1549

 

[Lord E]

Great job. 6 new provinces is very good for a war

Kepp it up

 

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An interlude of peace

1549
For the first time, the Habsburg government has time to do a proper survey of its new territory. We are most impressed by seaport in the Istrian city of Trieste. The peasants there tell us it is possible to build things called "transport ships" and visit lands many miles away without marching through enemy territory. We are not sure whether to believe this statement or not, so force the peasants to build us one of these ships. A ministry of the navy is created and the Minister of Roads and Bridges has taken to calling himself the Minister of Roads, Bridges, and Waterways. Meanwhile, we occupy our time at peace by building new armies, we now have an expanded realm to protect. Our spies in Poland inform us of a massive uprising in Moldavia, it appears the heroic Moldavians have defeated their Polish opressors and taken control of their lands, Poland shall feel the wrath of Habsburg if the rebels manage to declare independence. Turkey takes advantage of Poland's preoccupation with the Moldavian uprising to declare war on the Poles. Our hopes for a reborn Moldavia are crushed in May, when a large Polish army under the command of King Sigsimund recaptures Moldavia. Sigismund must be a capable commander, because in June we recieve word that Poland has annexed Wallachia, good news is brought by other sources, who tells us Crimea has captured Krementung and Bessarabia from the Poles. In October, a peasant revolt in Silesia ends our dreams of a peaceful year. Our war-hardened troops easily quash the revolt and recapture the fortress by the end of the year.

1550
We begin making amends for the sloppy administration of the Venetians by appointing a Tax Collector to the province of Istria. Our spies in Northern Poland bring welcome news--The Teutonic knights have won crushing victories in their war against the usurping Poles--no less than 4 Polish provinces are under Teuton control. "We must have these brave knights in our alliance," says Karl. Thus a personal gift is sent to the leader of the order by The kaiser, a letter follows a month later, telling the Teutonic Knights about the richness of our land and our mutual hatred of the villianous Poles. Later that year, we send the order another letter filled with derogatory remarks about the Polish king, relations between our lands begin to warm...

1551-52
Silesia revolts again, but once more the revolt is easily supressed. Our diplomatic initiative with the Teutonic Order continues apace and we receive more good news from Poland, the khan of Astrakhan has declared war on the commonwealth. Our new German possesions revolt as well, the Erz garrison dishonors the imperial standard by losing a battle against rebels in Thuringen and we must call out the Imperial Guard before the revolt is finally defeated. The Teutonic Order signs a peace deal with Poland in 1552, gainig Kurland, Poltosk, and Welikia! We send jubilant congratulations to the knights, our countries have come to view each other as friends.

1553-54
In April of 1554, the anti-Polish alliance meets in the Hungarian capital for a discussion of strategy. This year a representative from the Teutonic Order, members of the alliance as of Febuary 1553, send a representative for the first time, he is soon well acquainted with the Austrian and Hungarian representatives, an empty chair is kept in pride of place to honor the fallen Moldavians. We toast the Crimean ambassador to Hungary upon his news that his nation has received 231D and the province of Krementung in treaty with Poland. As we prepare for the grand invasion of Poland, word reaches us of new wars--Georgia has DOWed Turkey (their king must be a masochist) and France DOWs the Netherlands.

 

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2nd Great War (1555-58)

1555
A rather uneventful year until May 29, when the Hungarian ambassador informs the court that his nation has declared war on Poland, and seeks the Habsburgs to honor their alliance and join the war, aching for an excuse to invade Poland, we readily accpet. The Teutonic Order decides against joining the war, having an active treaty with Poland, but they accept our invitation to remian in the alliance. We order a stiking army of 37,000 and a seige army of 26,000 (20K infantry+60 cannon) into Polish territory. Then, disaster strikes--on August 12, before our armies have even reached Poland, the Hungarians pay 45D in a peace treaty with the Poles ! Our war plans are put on the back-burner once again. The year would have passed in peace accept for the declaration of war which arrives in December by way of Venice...

1556-57
We cannot understand the Ventians, they have declared war despite the fact that they lack an army to attack us with, we are happy to iniate a seige of their capital in the spring. As we look forawrd to easy victory against Venice, we recieve word Hessen has declared war on us along with their allies Parma, Papal States, and Spain. The Minister of Roads and Bridges has long dreamed of conquering Italy, and he now urges that we conquer and annex Parma to our realm, for once I agree with him, but Parma has an army of 18,000 that soon beseiges Milan, and then a 33,000-strong Spanish army joins them. We send our 42,000-strong imperial guard against the besiegers. The Battle of Milan spills across into 1557 and is an up-and-down struggle between ourselves, Spain, Papal States, and Parma, we finally emerge victorious, but at a horriffic price, however as Parma's army has been decisively defeated we send a seige army in to capture the 1-province country. The seige unit sent to Parma had just finished taking the provinces of Venice and Manatua from Venice, the Venetians agreed to part with Manatua in exchange for peace. At the end of 1556, when the realm is badly in need of strong leadership, Kaiser Karl IV dies . In his stead ascends Ferdinand I, a merely average ruler who mercifully accepts that I be left in charge as Prime Minister and regent until peace can be restored to the realm.

1558
The race is on to capture Modena (Parma's one and only province), one of our armies has already captured the Hessian capital, so we can sue for peace anytime we wish, but we wait for Modena to fall so we can annex Parma first. The Hessian troops who had harmlessly besieged Baden during our seige of the capital are now attempting to retake their seat of government--I send word to the front--Modena must be captured before the Hessians reclaim their capital. Though we lose thousands to attrition, our glorious army takes Modena in April, while the Hessains still need 2-3 months to retake their capital, we annex Parma, and then sue for peace with the Hessians, taking their treasury (only 15D) and restoring peace.

 

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Of Wars and Rumors of Wars

1559
We had no sooner annexed Parma than a desperate message arrived at court--"HELP!SOS!" It appears the barbarous Parmesan king had sent his fleet and 5,000 soliders on a sea voyage during the war, when we receive the message, the sailors had gratefully risen the Austrian banner--Parma's leaders had left the poor devils at sea in the frigid Baltic for no less than 44 months ! We knew attrition was eating the sad remnants of Parmesan power alve, so we ordered them to hurry home ASAP, we only hoped a small number of those barve men would arrive safely. Alas! The fleet and the remnants of its army fall to the bottom of the Atlantic shortly after rounding Jutland. Furious at this egregious mistreatment on the part of Parma's nobility, we order the lot of them executed. We begin with king, tying a lead weight and a bag of dead fish around his person before flinging him into the Mediterranean, the Minister of War goes next. When we have preceeded like this for some time, an ex-Parmesan duchess begs us to spare the remainder of her ranks, as they know of an excellent variety of cheese we have not yet tasted in the Habsburg court. The Kaiser arranges a grand feast together with a stay of execution. Fortunatley for the Parmesans their cheese and delicacies are superb. Those we haven't executed are divided between the imperial kitchen and the Ministry of Cuisine. The only other noteworhy development is news of peace between Poland and Astrakhan--the Poles take Volgograd, Donetsk, and 41D. We remember the Polish crusade and consider our truce with Poland little more than a temporary reprieve.

1560
We order a major round of military expansion in preparation fo renewed hostilities with Poland. The Minister of Roads and Bridges would rather have us pursue Tuscany, I begin to suspect him of being in the pay of the Polish court.

1561
Having turned the reigns of government over to Kaiser Ferdinand after the war, I am relieved to hear that his wise policies have increased our stability and that the merchants have contributed a thousand ductas to our investments in trade and infrastructure (Rand Event--Good Policy). The peasants in Mantua revolt anyway, but they are easily defeated. In December, we recieve word that Wallachia has declared independence from their wicked Polish overlords, we send a diplomat to Bucharest inviting Wallachia into our alliance. Once they accept, we send a Declaration of War to Warsaw with the backing of both Hungary and the Teutonic Order

Next--A new Polish War

 

[Morpheus506]

The thing that most quickly comes to mind is, "Behold, the power of cheese."



Great update.

 

[Eu_proof]

Great aar but... I can´t see the screenies, someone else having this problem???

 

[Morpheus506]

Great aar but... I can´t see the screenies, someone else having this problem???

Me too, it wants a .net passport everytime I try.

 

[Eu_proof]

Me too, it wants a .net passport everytime I try.

I have one, but I can´t see ´em anyway...

 

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My apologies to anyone having trouble viewing the images. I tried to add them directly to my post but couldn't figure out how. I wound up posting to them to the space I got from MSN with my hotmail account. If anyone has any suggestions, I've almost maxed out my free space anyway.

 

[Morpheus506]

You could just host them on a different site

 

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The Start of new Pan-European War

1562
Our first target in the Polish War is the province of Posen--large and strategically located within striking distance of both Warsaw and Danzig. Several months into the war, a message arrives from our generals at the Polish front, Posen's garrison is about to surrender, but our leaders are somewhat surprised that we have yet to encounter opposition from the Polish army. I ask our spies to discover the reason for this, and they tell me that the Poles are concentrating their armies in subduing Wallachia. We find this strategic decision curious--to recapture a poor province at the edge of the empire while the heartland is being attacked, but as it works to our advantage...

1563
A herald arrives from the Russian emabssy with surprising news...Russia has diplo-annexed their Danish vassals while simultaneously convincing the people of Pskov to accept vassalage, we cannot dwell on this news too long, as another enormous war has been initiated as a result of our forays into Poland. Turkey has declared war upon the House of Habsburg! Soon afterwards, Tuscany (and their Spanish allies), France, Hessen, and Savoy issue declarations of war upon the realm. We receive word that the Teutonic Order has taken a seperate peace with Poland in exchange for Tula, we sadly feel that we must quickly bring the Polish war to an end, Posen is in our hands and we are beseiging Warsaw, we order an assault, but the garrison weathers the storm. Meanwhile, news reaches us that Savoy has captured the province of Milan, "how does a 2-province minor raise a 77,000 man army?" ask many in Vienna. The Habsburg Council of War decides that this effrontery is too much, and that Savoy must be annexed for its impudence, first, however, we must defeat their army. In May, Poland reannexes Wallachia, and we fear the appearance of Polish troops on the northern front. The end of the year brings news of success however, in December the Tuscan army is routed in Modena, while a second assault has captured Warsaw. Sadly, the excitement is too much for the aging Kaiser, who dies on Dec 31st.

1564
The new Kaiser, Maximillan II, appoints the Minister of Roads and Bridges his regent for the duration of the war ! I resolve to end the war as soon as possible, and on January 26, we reach a peace with Poland, gaining Posen and 70D. We use this fresh influx of cash to buy out the French, who demand the steep price of 250D. The Habsburg War Council agrees to temporarily withold all investment so money can poured into raising troops. Prince Franz-Joseph, commander of the Imperial Gurad, brings grand news in May of the 2nd Battle of Modena, in which he defeated a combined Spanish/Savoyard force, in spite of being outnumbered and outclassed in cavalry. We order him to pursue the retreating soliders, while we manage (over the strenous protests of the Minister of Roads and Bridges) to get the Kaiser to accept a white peace with Tuscany, despite the fact that we control one of their provinces, the Spanish have dropped out now, and we can focus attention on Savoy. After Franz-Joseph defeats them in retreat in Milan, the Savoyards, now down to 32,000, lay seige to Tyrol. Franz-Joseph and his men take some R&R in Mantua while the mountainous terrain of Tyrol mercilessly whittles down the Savoyard army, meanwhile we have retaken Milan, and have begun a seige of Savoie...

 

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End of the second Pan-European War (1561-69)

1565
After enduring the Alpine winter, Savoy's invasion force stands at 15,000. As Tyrol's garrison nears surrender, Franz-Josef and 32,000 men fresh from R&R descend upon the Savoyards. The battle is no contest, and only 1,000 Savoyard troops manage to escape to Bavaria. Savoie province proves a tough nut to crack, but finally capitualtes on September 2. On October 1, Cologne declares independence from France, which should tie the French down whilst we annex Savoy.

1566
Portugal lands 6,000 men in Modena, not enough for a seige, but enough to defeat rebels in Modena in the month of Febuary. Also in Febuary, Hessen DOWs us again! To our immense sadness, our ex-ally Saxony has joined them...it is a pity, we had hoped to bring the Saxons glory with ourselves, now we shall have to annex them, the nearest seige army heads to Dresden...France is quicker than we think, for Cologne has been reannexed by April 15. Attrition begins to set in on our troops in Nice, so we order an assault, capturing the fortress on September 19, Savoy is annexed on the the 20th. Hungary has meanwhile laid seige to the Hessian capital.

1567
On January 21, Hessen pays 28D to Hungary to leave them alone. The Teutonic Order soon lays seige to Hessen. Dresden falls in June, and the Habsburg army proceeds to Anhalt. Anhalt falls in November. In a heated sessions of the Habsburg War Council, it is decided that, as a former loyal ally, to spare Saxony outright annexation, therefore, when the Saxon ambassador offers Anhalt in exchange for peace on November 27, we accept the offer, hoping the Saxons have learned from their follly. In December, word reaches us that Turkey has vassilized Crimea.

1568
As if we hadn't problems enough, we learn of a political crisis besetting the realm in July! The new Kaiser assumes full adminstrative responsbility afterwards, we are relieved that the Minister of Roads and Bridge is returned to his deseveredly humble post. In July, we sign a white peace with Portugal. The Teutonic Order captures the Hessen capital that same month, getting 138D in a peace accord, Habsburg armies lay seige to Hessesn;s capital starting in August. The crisis manifests itself chiefly in Italy, where we defeat revolts by Istria (twice), Nice, and Modena before the year is out.

1569
Hessen falls in March, and the 2nd Pan-European War ends with Hessen surrendering 102 ducats to the Habsburg treasury. Posen and its city revolts in March, but the rebels are defeatead and the city recaptured by June, after the fortress is stormed by brave Habsburg troops. A revolt In Mantua is defeated in Septmeber. The only other interesting news of the year comes in July, when Turkey DOWs Venice.