1678-1684 – The Inevitability of Death
The military drew the most attention following the Second League War, becoming a national focus and pushing talk of constitutionalism into the background. The Hispanian army had served admirably, but faults were pointed out and ideas were drafted by several leading generals, including Marshal Gaston Jacques de Saint-Pierre. Of particular note was the mass loss of men, with over 100k men killed in action, draining Hispania’s reserves. A large empire needed to field plenty of men. One of the military reforms instituted first was to open the army to a wider range of recruits. Any man willing to serve, could. This would help to fill the army’s ranks and provide a larger pool of reserves.
The standardization of the army was also a prime concern of Marshal Saint-Pierre. The court was consulted on the various equipment used by the army and choose what they saw as the best path for Hispania. For muskets, the court was unanimous in its support for the best quality muskets available, despite the increased costs. A more muted opinion was made on uniforms, with the decision made to keep the current ones which were neither too uncomfortable nor too professional, but just right. As for artillery, the court was quite divided. The voices in support of heavy artillery turned out to be the loudest, wanting artillery that was both effective in sieges and battles, despite costing more and reducing the mobility of their armies. As for the proposed National Military Academy, the court was also in full support of state funding for the establishment. The Crown had to take out a loan to afford its construction and maintenance, but it was believed that the academy would be the best way to train a new generation of generals.
Marshal Saint-Pierre also introduced a massive change in the army composition, combining the various armies of Hispania into a fewer larger forces. It was decided that the Exercits Castilla La Vieja, Granada, and Africa would be disbanded and their men merged into other armies. Regiments were sent marching across the empire to their new positions, while the Exercit Colonial was recalled to be part of this process.
With all eyes on the army, the matter of Rome was overlooked by some. Martial law was declared, reducing unrest in the region, although greatly displeasing the Pope who felt Hispania was using the situation to intimidate the Catholic Church.
While the army took up much of the limelight, there were still those discussing constitutionalism. The constitution presented by Prime Minister Petros Mandromenos was rejected by such a small margin that its supporters felt that measures had been taken to keep it from passing. Emperor Joan III stressed that was not the cause, but the more he spoke about it, the more those supporting the constitution blamed him.
Despite the slight debt the Crown had found itself in after the establishment of a military academy, it found itself receiving a large windfall as the growing coffee trade suddenly exploded. Coffee beans had been slowly introduced into Hispania’s colonies, but had never really caught on until now. With the opening of coffeehouses across the empire, a growing desire for it came about, raising the price and greatly bolstering Hispania’s trade.
Tunis was finding itself in troubled times as rebels rose up against their westernization attempts. The possibility of their collapse would be a great boon to Hispania.
Although an official agreement had never been reached over the Caribbean, since Emperor Louis XVIII blocked it at every turn, colonization continued as usual. France set up its own colonial nation, Antilles, in the region and continued a push to claim the rest of the Lesser Antilles.
Persia, Hispania’s old ally against the Mamluks, found itself losing ground in the east as they were forced to give up land to Baluchistan.
The Church of Jesus Christ had increased its presence in the empire’s European provinces, with focus shifted to northern Italy and then to some of the farther colonies and Africa.
Nova Hispania held many ambitions and declared another colonial war, targeting Zapotec. It seemed likely that the colonial nation would have little difficulty expanding at their inferior neighbour’s expense.
Near the end of 1678, a glaring problem with the Marshal’s reorganization of the army became apparent. While the European armies had a sizeable number of infantry, a decent amount of artillery, and some cavalry to fill in the ranks, the Exercit Colonial had simply been given the scraps. The army reorganization had accounted for 20k men being left over to serve as the new Exercit Colonial, but Marshal Saint-Pierre had evidently not accounted for the fact that this would consist of 3k cavalry and 17k artillery with no infantry. Emperor Joan, upon hearing the news, had the Exercit Colonial reassigned to North Africa and refused to have it used for anything until it was given adequate infantry. 3k cavalry was surely not enough to protect such large numbers of artillery. The Marshal was told to fix this, although the emperor was willing to wait until the remaining military reforms were completed. ((Not sure if you intended this
@05060403, but the army reorganization has made the Exercit Colonial mostly ineffective. Might want to shift some of the infantry and artillery regiments around or replace some artillery with infantry.))
Thanks to the influx of money from the coffee trade, the loan was paid off in October.
Nova Hispania’s war with Zapotec did not take long, with the colonial nation only seizing one province and extracting war reparations.
Despite the inner turmoil within their nation, Tunis still managed to westernize their administration.
Smelling weakness, Kiche leapt on Zapotec, although Xiu came to their defence.
Although the Church of Jesus Christ only covered Christians, the spirit of tolerance embraced by the empire was starting to spread to heathens as well. While there was still a desire to get them to follow the true path, such efforts were not as hostile as before. The encouragement of dialogue, a sharing of all ideas, would only benefit Hispania.
Seeing as the Crown had not received any instructions from the steward or his predecessor for quite some time, the emperor took the time to arrange the renovation of the empire’s ailing naval infrastructure, expanding shipyards throughout Iberia and Italy.
In November of 1679, France declared war on Flanders. France clearly intended to strengthen its presence in the rich Lowlands, and only had to deal with a few minor states standing in its way. The war was a minor one and France did not see a reason to call on its allies this time.
Events back home were fairly quiet as military reforms continued on. When the French easily dispatched an Alsatian army, it received national attention.
The Trans-Atlantic Trading Company was finding its hold on East Africa becoming increasingly tenuous. When pressed for military support to expand Hispania’s holding in the area, Chancellor Andrés de Alvaro remained silent. The TATC would have to struggle on with what it had. This, however, did not make the issue go away. When the TATC continued to press the issue, the Crown reduced its support for the trading company. Trade in East Africa suffered and the TATC found itself losing control of its monopoly in the region.
France at least was doing well in their war. A sizeable Bavarian and Mainz army was bested on the field of battle in a decisive victory.
The beginning of 1680 brought the first of what was to be a string of royal deaths throughout Europe. Empress Helgi had given birth to a young girl the year before, but the girl succumbed to illness shortly after and passed away. The empress was inconsolable for months. The fact that the royal couple’s second son, Alfons, kept suffering a string of illnesses greatly worried the two.
In the summer of 1680, the colony at Alcantara was formally handed over to Sanchonia. Despite tensions with the TATC, Emperor Joan decided to show some support for the trading company by utilizing Crown resources to fund a colony in Inhambane on Mutapa’s southern border. Hopefully another port on the coast could strengthen the TATC’s hold on East Africa.
The presence of French La Plata so close to Nuevo Leon was causing problems. The settlers in the region had gotten into the habit of freely exchanging goods, which in turn allowed the French settlers to send Hispanian goods back to France while avoiding using Hispania as the middleman. This leak of goods was damaging to Hispania, so the colonies were ordered to cut off trade with French La Plata unless permitted.
Kiche’s attack on Zapotec backfired. With Xiu’s help, the two native states reduced Kiche to a fraction of its former size, allowing Zapotec to recover from its loss to Nova Hispania.
In the series of military reforms, the minimum age to serve was lowered to allow for more young recruits to join up, filling the ranks of the army quicker than before.
A meeting between Emperor Joan and the leader of Cusco saw the two sitting down in joint prayer before discussing the Church of Jesus Christ, for Cusco was the only colonial nation to willingly embrace the new Church.
In the New World, Britain annexed Powhatan, bringing attention to the vast growth of British colonies. They had managed to establish a large colonial presence all along the east coast.
France signed a peace with Alsace first, only emptying their treasure and demanding war reparation. A few months later they annexed Flanders, securing their position in the Lowlands.
In July of 1681, word from Bangka, a colony off the coast of Sumatra, revealed that the tiny rebel state of Siak had revolted from Pasai. However, the old ambition to control a piece of land on Sumatra had long since died. ((I cancelled our mission to conquer Pasai, since it has obviously been forgotten and isn’t happening any time soon. We’ve even lost the CB.))
God decided to show the world that not even those who sat on thrones could escape death. King Gustav IV Soop of Sweden passed away, leaving his six-year-old son, Karl Gustav, on the throne. The following month, Louis de Valois, Emperor Joan’s uncle and the heir to the French throne, died childless and left his wife Marta de Trastámara widowed.
While the TATC struggled in East Africa, its presence in West Africa was not in dispute and the trading company held strong there.
Two months after the death of King Gustav, Archduke Albrecht VI von Habsburg of Austria passed away, leaving his 33-year-old son Albrecht VII on the throne, fortunately avoiding a regency unlike Sweden. Albrecht had a seven-year-old son, Georg, as his heir. Before the month had ended, another Habsburg died, this time Joan’s grandmother Adelaide, who was 75 at the time of death. The emperor held a funeral service in honour of his late grandmother.
The colony in Trinidad became self-sufficient, with its founder Andrés de Alvaro having it renamed Felipias. The next colonial venture was sent to Chumash on the other side of the continent at Grand Admiral Dietrich Vinzent Lübecker’s request.
Some of the settlers in Inhambane did not like living so close to Mutapa and moved south to Matsolo. The Crown, despite the additional costs, was willing to back this colonial venture.
Less than a week after the loss of Archduke Albrecht VI of Austria, the infamous Emperor Louis XVIII of France died a sudden death, thrown from his horse during a parade celebrating France’s conquest of Flanders. With the passing of his cousin and heir the month before, this left the future of the French throne in doubt. While the empress had never bore the emperor a child, his mistress had. Between the time that Emperor Louis’s cousin had died and his own untimely demise, Louis XVIII had made arrangements to have his bastard son legitimized. The Pope’s response in favour of this motion arrived shortly after the emperor’s death, but to many this was not enough. A regency council consisting of loyalists was established for the future Henri II, but a pretender rose up to dispute this. His army was summarily crushed and chased down by the French army, ending that problem. Now France had to deal with a bastard on its throne.
Hoping to end tensions with the Crown, the TATC offered the Crown an investment opportunity to restore faith in the company. Joan had already taken measures to mend ties starting with the Crown colony in East Africa, so he was willing to accept this as well.
Lithuania, still miffed about its defeat in the Second League War, decided to take up piracy, sending ships to raid trade in the Mediterranean. It did not take long for Admiral Dietrich Vinzent Lübecker and his fleet to set sail to send those ships running back to the Black Sea.
In Manila, a new system called the Encomienda System was put into use. Colonists were given the duty of educating the local natives, and in turn those natives would provide labour for the colonists. It was a way to enlighten the native population and deepen ties with them, and it seemed to be working fairly well. Soon the colony was self-sustaining thanks to this policy.
Conflict and tension amongst the nobility was seeing their power at court diminish, while the clergy started to flourish more with the spread of the Church of Jesus Christ.
The Crown had usually only supported a certain number of colonial ventures at a time, but permission was given this time for the Mandromenos family to back a colony in Manado.
After suffering through yet another illness, Joan’s second son Alfons passed away early in 1683, leaving him with just his daughter Peronella and son Ferran.
In April of 1683, Aachen declared war on Trier. While insignificant to Hispania, it did bring attention to the sudden expansion of Cologne, who somehow managed to reclaim their lost land from Trier, possibly through rebellion.
A much more damaging war occurred in East Africa, with Ethiopia mostly dismantled by Kaffa and Yemen.
The army reforms truly allowed Ramon Fernandez de Hijar to do his work, instilling a level of discipline in the army that was unheard of. The whole empire could admire the state of the army.
Speaking of military reforms, one policy that had taken time to implement and was finally being utilized was the requirement of nobles to provide a number of recruits for the army. This draft of sorts forced more people into the army, making it easier to form new regiments when needed.
The colony in Matsolo continued to flourish, with the settlers who had already moved south deciding to set up yet another settlement. This was only further encouraged, for it meant more people to tax.
As the year turned to 1684, the last in a line of tragic royal deaths occurred. The heir to the Hispanian throne, young Ferran de Trastámara, suffered a fatal accident. The boy had been climbing a tree out in the palace gardens and fell to his death. With the crown prince’s passing, Joan’s brother Pere became the heir apparent yet again, although he had no children of his own yet. While there were still plenty of Trastámara males in succession, it seemed that the male line of Alfons VIII and Ferran V would die out if the two brothers did not sire an heir.
Presenting His Imperial Highness, Joan III de Trastámara, Emperor of Hispania, Caesar of Rome, and Protector of the Greeks.
My wife and I mourn the loss of our children, taken from us so young. We are grateful though that God has chosen to spare our beloved daughter Peronella, for I could not bear to lose all my children so suddenly. Our allies abroad, I have heard, have experienced similar misfortune and my condolences will be with them as well.
Our military has been drastically reformed, mostly for the better I hope. I am looking forward to seeing how it performs now with its improved muskets and heavy artillery. The matter of the Exercit Colonial should perhaps be dealt with first before we seek any military engagements afar.
As for matters of state, perhaps it is time we establish a direction for this great empire. I believe our colonial empire should take precedence, but where exactly? Matsolo has proven promising, so perhaps we should focus our resources on the small colony. We could also turn our gaze towards the Spice Islands again, but this time go for an easier target, like Makassar. If we feel daring enough, we could poke the Chinese dragon and attempt to take the port of Canton from Ming, although that would be a lengthy taste that will most likely cost many lives to achieve.
((RNGesus really had a vendetta against royalty this update. Three monarchs offed all within months of each other, and all allies too. I’m not sure what happened with France. From what I can gather from the save file, the heir died shortly before the emperor based on when the low-legitimacy heir appeared. I can only assume an heir with 20-ish legitimacy is a bastard. It should be noted that the death of Prince Ferran was my doing, for he was not supposed to make it past eight.
As always, ministers have until
Monday at 12PM PST to post their plans, and players may post any laws or reforms during that time. Players may still present constitutions, although it is suggested they be modified from earlier versions so we don’t keep voting on the same thing. Just a note, we will be voting on a new mission later, since I felt it was time to pick a new one we might actually complete. I’ll include screenshots of them below.
Pensioners:
@05060403
@Mach Twelve
@wzhang29
@Jkonstantin
@delpiero1234
))