1760-1766 – The Balance of Power
As the latest session of Parliament came to a close, the ministers went about doing their jobs. The Minister of the Interior, John FitzRoy, immediately met some difficulty as he discovered many of the proposed buildings had been constructed ages ago, or there simply wasn’t room for further infrastructure. What projects that could be completed were put underway while efforts were made to make room for further projects.
With the decision made to send Byzantium aid, an offer of ducats, troops, and administrators was offered to the Greeks. Much to the surprise of most Hispanians, Basileus Romanos V declined the offer. Despite their recent troubles, the worst of it was over. The treasury was starting to fill back up, there were still eager men to serve in the army, and the empire was returning to normal. Looking at more specifics, Byzantium simply did not need the assistance. The imperial administration was mostly intact, seeing as Constantinople had been left unscathed. The army was still in good shape due to the late Basileus Demetrios’s massive expansion to counteract the rebel forces, although now it was in the process of replacing the mercenaries with regular regiments. There was also some speculation that the nobles were behind this refusal. Byzantium was still largely feudal in nature, and having Hispanian administrators come in and try to reform the system was not in their interest. They certainly did not want to see their power weakened or the government further centralized. To ensure the aid was not accepted, they offered up further levies to further instill peace and generously donated to the Crown. There was also a hint of resentment towards Hispania, seeing as they had ignored Byzantium during most of their plight and only intervened once the civil war was all but won. Most Greeks didn’t want Hispania meddling in their affairs and instead felt that the Greek people should handle their own problems. This signaled a change in Byzantium. The Greeks, who had been looking to expand and restore their former glory, were now starting to look inward. The general consensus was that they should focus on their own affairs for now and take the time to rebuild and improve what they already had. Hispania could manage the foreign affairs, but the Greeks would decide their own destiny at home.
In foreign affairs, Germany was making more moves. An alliance was forged between Germany and Scandinavia. Germany agreed to hand over the rest of Denmark in exchange for the alliance. There was speculation that the alliance was targeted at Poland, but there was nothing definite about it in the actual agreement.
Hispania was finding its dominance of the New World contested as other nations continued to set up colonies wherever they could. Great Britain, reduced to almost insignificance in Europe, focused its attention on the establishment of Argentine in La Plata. Scotland, having managed to claim part of Central America, was not setting up colonies in Brazil. At least Hispania’s colonies were continuing to grow steadily. With Lenca and Calabar able to stand on their own, the Crown began taking effort to link up the two parts of Nuevo Leon again by cutting a line between French La Plata and Argentine.
Siak, a tiny nation in Sumatra, managed to steal weapons and bits of information from Hispania’s colonies in Palembang, mimicking western ideas.
Persia expanded its position into Arabia greatly, managing to reduce Najd to a minor state in the process.
Canada was slowly expanding southwards, seeming to block the UKA from claiming land to the east. If Canada kept it up, the UKA would either be pinned in or forced to confront their neighbour.
Troops had been sent near to Byzantium with the intent of aiding the Greeks, but in the end it turned out they weren’t the ones who needed the help. The Wallachian people, some of the only devout Orthodox followers left, rose up against their ruler. It seemed that many weren’t pleased their nation was now taking orders from a non-Orthodox empire. The Exercit Athens responded by marching up to Oltenia and removing the rebel threat. Despite this religious issue, the government continued to allow free worship of all Christian faiths.
In August of 1761, Emperor Alfons’s cousin King Frederick II Seymour of the UKA came of age.
With enough funds set aside, 60 great frigates were placed under construction to start the first phase of rebuilding the lost trade fleets. Upon their completion, they were sent out to Aden, Ceylon, and Malacca to trade.
A few farms and mines had adopted new methods of production that seemed a vast improvement on current methods. Efforts were made to replicate these and spread them to the rest of the Empire.
With the Empire at peace, funds were set aside to keep the fortifications in decent condition, with the focus placed on Ceuta for the moment.
Siak’s time as a westernized power was brief as they were annexed by Pasai.
Rebels were plaguing Ming, with Min separatists trying to establish an independent nation on the coast. While this would have proved a boon to Hispania, these rebels seemed to believe part of Hispania’s territory in the region belonged to them. A rebel army entered Chaochow and took the province. The Exercit Cathay intervened, easily decimating the rebel force with superior weaponry and tactics. This display of Hispanian strength had men flocking to join the army.
A problem arose in a province dominated by a noble who had refused to join the Cortz and relinquish his feudal rights. The man continued to rule the province like his own personal fief, and at the expense of the people. While not willing to go so far as to force the issue of joining the Cortz, Emperor Alfons chastised the noble for his mistreatment of his subjects and used the Crown resources to further isolate the unruly noble.
The Asian kingdom of Korea lost most of its land to the much larger Manchu.
When Bonny became a self-sustaining colony, the Crown invested resources into colonizing Whydah to seal off the rest of West Africa’s coast.
In February of 1763, word arrived that Germany had declared war on Poland to liberate the German people under their rule. Scandinavia joined in alongside them, intent on weakening Poland’s influence over the Baltic.
With trade fleets now operating in Asia again, the Indian Trading Company saw a boom, with money starting to flow back to Hispania.
When Nicaragua was handed over to Nova Hispania, the Crown decided that a colony should be established in Bengkulu to strengthen Hispania’s presence in Sumatra.
Canada annexed Potawatomi on the American border. The Americans, perhaps in response to Canada’s recent expansion in their backyard, set up colonies in Anticosti and Mecatina, a blatant land grab in Canadian-dominated territory.
Meanwhile, other Europeans had shown up on the West Coast. Both France and Scandinavia set up colonies just south of Nootka, and it seemed likely they would soon be expanding their presence.
In November, Alfons’s uncle Francesc, the heir to the throne, passed away at the age of 41 from a wound that had plagued him since the Hispanian Civil War. The new heir was now Alfons’s cousin Carles, Francesc’s teenage son. Alfons had yet to produce an heir. The new Empress, Camelia Kosovic of Wallachia, gave him a daughter in 1761, but she succumbed to illness a year later and passed away. When Camelia gave birth to a stillborn child the following year, there was fear that this empress would fail to produce an heir as well. Only time would tell.
With forts becoming more and more impregnable, the army started gathering together those with the skills necessary to combat this problem and formed them into their own corps, to be used during sieges.
It seemed difficult to comprehend that there had been a civil war nearly a decade ago. Hispania was prospering, with farms producing a surplus of crops.
Germany and Scandinavia were proving an effective fighting force. Due to the superior Scandinavian leadership, the Polish army was pushed back from its German lands. King Gustav himself faced off against a Polish army in Austria, with the intervention of General Rosenkrantz sending the Poles running. The Polish army was running low on men and struggling to fend off the invasion.
The increasing cultivation of spices around the world saw the spice trade take a drop due to increased availability. The profitability of such a trade was not as good as it had once been.
The German war with Poland came to an abrupt end as Poland accepted that it could not win. The German and Scandinavian forces had so easily swarmed over its lands and decimated its army. Resistance seemed impossible. The Poles were thus willing to accept even a damaging peace, and a damaging peace it was. Initial negotiations saw the western-most German lands handed over to Germany, with Memel surrendered to Scandinavia. Parts of Hungary were returned to its former owner, better securing Wallachia’s border against Poland. While this seemed suitable enough to the King of Germany and the diplomats involved, it was not enough for the shrewd Chancellor of Germany. Threatening continued hostilities unless a more suitable peace was signed, he managed to coerce Poland into handing over the entire Baltic coast to Scandinavia and lands stretching well into Poland proper to Germany. Poland found itself cut off from the Baltic and with almost no chance of expanding west again. The balance of power in Europe was shifting.
Presenting His Imperial Highness, Alfons IX de Trastámara, Emperor of Hispania, Caesar of Rome, and Protector of the Greeks.
It is good to see Hispania at peace, and even more heartwarming to know that we can bounce back from such tragedy so quickly. It seems though that our time spent recuperating has allowed the opportunity for others to expand their colonial empires. The British have carved out a piece of La Plata, and now Scotland has established a presence in Brazil. Even our allies are starting to show up in regions previously left open only to us. Perhaps it is time we look to expanding our colonial empire in the Americas, with the cooperation of our colonial subjects.
On that subject, a new goal for the near future may help guide us forward. Trade has proved the lifeblood of Hispania, so giving it greater attention may be a good option. There is always Africa and Asia to consider. Colonizing some of the East Asian islands might be a worthwhile pursuit. Mali has often been overlooked by us as well, so perhaps expanding further inland in an attempt to acquire greater riches should be considered.
The developments in Germany have recently come to my attention. I am still unsure how to feel about this state that would harbour a fugitive of Hispania or the rapid expansion of this new nation. I can at least take solace in the fact that Poland has received the brunt of their aggression and that our ally Scandinavia has greatly benefitted in the process. A weakened Poland also means that Wallachia shall be safer. Perhaps their use as a buffer state is no longer needed.
((Time to point out that we get to pick a new mission, not that they’re overly exciting. I’ll include them down below. We can also diplo-annex Wallachia now if someone wants to pursue that.
Minister have until
Monday at 6PM PST to post their plans, and players may propose laws in that time period too. You may notice the time limit is slightly longer. It’s Thanksgiving this weekend in Canada, so I’ll be away for most of Sunday and Monday. The start of the vote may be delayed as a result.
))
))
