Encyclopedia Victoria

[Schlieffen]

Encyclopedia Victoria

Victoria (History)
(Suggest Reading This Article First)

Places
Tyrol

People
Rulers of Victoria

Victor I

Events
Trial of Victor
Totallity War
War of Burgundy
Wars of the Roses (Updated: August 4th)

Culture & Society
Victor (Name)

(Current Status: Trial of Victor added. Had to tweak the dates on the ruler chart a bit so everything made sense, but nothing huge.)​

Ok, I've tried a few AARs in the past but none have really gotten anywhere. Unlike a lot of AAR writers though, the problem though for me isn't the writing - it's the playing. Not just taking notes and such of course, but the fact that I have a vague idea of what I want before I start, and ultimately I end up just trying to play with a certain result already in mind. It makes for a nice challenge I suppose, but just adds an unnecessary aspect to the writing, which is why I make the things in the first place. (Also I've read the few AAR attempts I've made - it's been a while - and I had some computer difficulties back then that I didn't remember. That and my writing sucked, so I'm hoping not to repeat that part either. )
Additionally, my current plans are to have this span EU2's to HOI2's timeframe, one update at a time. Because of the many things to mod if I were actually playing (especially POPs in Victoria), understand that my hesitancy to play the AAR also stems from practicallity issues. (I'm putting this in EU2 for now - the timeframe is big enough that it'll take a while to get to the point where I would go into Victoria anyways, assuming I make it that far.)
So instead of playing and writing, I'll just be writing with a vague image of what's going on in the game in my head, perhaps a "screenshot" or two to accompany. Literally it isn't an After Action Report, but the various Paradox games used (EU2, Victoria, HOI2) will be tools in the storytelling. Essentially I'm going to try to keep everything so it could possibly be modded into the game (which isn't me promising anything - just a general guide so it could, at the very least, possibly be an actual AAR with a few events or whatever).

Another problem I've had with these things is laziness in general. Fortunately I enjoy the encyclopedic writing style I'll be using - I won't lie, it's easy - and will be visiting the forums on a regular basis for the RPG, so I doubt this will be a huge problem. Although I may throw more updates in, the plan is for at least one weekly update. Hold me to it, via a harshly worded PM if necessary.

The current plan is for things to added semi-chronologically, although hints about the future will be thrown in occasionally. Ultimately I imagine every article will be updated several times as I come up with new ideas or move forward in the timetable. Note that this is basically ad-libed though, so I may change things as I go along. (The underlining is actually a reminder for me to make an article on the subject and put a link there since this is all a work in progress. Likewise, parts surrounded by "<...>" are things that are likely to change as I work on this more - specific names and dates, primarily.)
(NOTE: Some descriptions, especially from pre-EU2 history, are taken almost verbatum from Wikipedia.)


(And yes, I like the name Victor. I don't know why. )

 

[Schlieffen]

Victoria (History)​

The Birth of Victoria​

The nation known as Victoria, named after it's founder, Victor I, came into being after the Totallity War. Originally the nation of Burgundy, the actual title "Duke of Burgundy" was given away in this treaty to avoid future difficulties with the French monarchs regarding vassalship, along with many other titles simply being abandon by Victor such as Duke of Brabant. Although many of the more minor titles were continued, this resulted in realm that, at Victor's death, was the most powerful in Europe having no real name - Victor himself was refered to simply as "Duke Victor", with the name of his Duchy never specified after the end of the Totallity War. Although maps would refer to the area as Burgundy in following decades, it eventually became to practice to refer to the nation as "Victoria", much like "Lotharingia" after Lothar, which had coincidently occupied a similar area.
The reign of Victor I was marked with a great expantion, almost doubling the area he had inherited. Although the majority of Victor's influence on the world would come long after his death, one of the most profound effects during his lifetime was the complete collapse of the French state that been victorious in the Hundred Years War.

Victoria at Adolph I's death​

Unfortunately, Victor's heir, Adolph I, ruled for only three years before dying, leaving Victoria to his six year old son, Konrad I. Konrad I would die at the age of fifteen, leaving Victoria to his brother Vincent I, aged eleven. The years from Adolph's death to the succession of Vincent's heir, Victor II, in became known as the Trial of Victor and were marked with a major decline in Victorian power gained during the reign of Victor I.

 

[Schlieffen]

Victor (Name): Both a surname and forname used by the decendants of Victor I.

Use as a Surname​

Although his ancestors used the name von Tyrol, Victor I never used the surname. Although he never went out of his way to change existing documents, any documents had to have "von Tyrol" removed before he would sign it. Although the reason for this behavior is unknown, the decendants of Victor, starting with his grandson, Adolph Victor, began to style themselves as "von Victor", going out of their way to remove von Tyrol's mention much like their predecessor. Although the reasons varied, most were attempting to benifit from Victor's legendary status.
Eventually this fake surname became the only one, with all mention of von Tyrol simply abandoned, although it was occasionally used in parodies to mock the von Victors. The "von" was dropped during <Victor III's> reign in <the 16th century>, when he would refer to his heir as <Adolph Victor>, probably attempting to please the non-German members of Victoria. The use of von Victor completely disappeared by <the early 17th century>, although the name is still used to refer to multiple family members to avoid confusion with the forename.

Use as a Forename​

Excepting Victor I himself, no von Victor has been given the forename Victor at birth. Although initially there was no specific reason for this, after Victor II the name became a monicker associated with the great leaders of Victoria and is often only used posthumously, such as with <Victor V>. Although there has never been an official method to gaining the status of "Victor", the Victorian Senate has released lists of the Victors on several occasions. Excepting by the briefly lived Victorian Representation, no Victor has ever had his status revoked after it was confirmed, always posthumously, by the Victorian Senate. Additionally, due to the unrest that can result from its use if not accepted by Victorians, only one self-proclaimed Victor, <Frederick the Heritic>, has had his claim disregarded.

 

[Schlieffen]

Tyrol: A historical region in Western Central Europe.

History​

The Tyrol, once an area in the southern part of the Duchy of Bavaria during the Early Middle Ages, consisted largely of ecclesiastical holdings of the Bishops of Brixen and Trento. Over the centuries, the Counts residing in Castle Tyrol extended their territory over much of the region and came to surpass the power of the bishops, who were nominally their feudal lords. Later counts came to hold much of their territory directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, as opposed to under the Bishops, and the Meinhardinger family, originating in Gorizia, held not only the Tyrol and Gorizia, but for a time also the Duchy of Carinthia.

In 1342 the county went over to the Bavarian dukes again when Emperor Louis IV voided the first marriage of Countess Margarete Maultasch. But already in 1363/1369 the Wittelsbach released the county when Margarete Maultasch, lacking any descendants to succeed her, bequeathed Tyrol to a minor noble from the region which the Hapsburg Emperor, tired of the issue, accepted. The Tyrol was ruled by the decendants of Frederick von Tyrol (often called Frederick Victor even though Victor I wasn't born until over a century later) until 1488, when it was briefly occupied by the Hapsburgs. Tyrol ceased to be after Victor I took the lands back, although the Hapsburgs would continue to use the title for several decades.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

Interesting concept. Looks nice

 

[Schlieffen]

Yeah, I did something like this once for a different setting - I was bored, so I just sat down at a computer and typed away - I swear, I could do this stuff for hours (and have in the past ). Had a good bunch of work done on it, but the work was on a computer I didn't own so I put it on a floppy disk when I moved. Unfortunately my computer doesn't have a floppy drive, so I haven't really been able to add anything. (I still have the disk, even though that was over a year ago and I've moved again since then.)

 

[unmerged(17581)]

I love this concept! I actually had thought of doing something like that, with an alternate Wikipedia set in an alternate history. The effort would be huge, of course. But it's fun to imagine what articfes would be like in those timelines.

 

[Schlieffen]

Actually the inspiration for the original project was the Dune Encyclopedia, a book as thick as a wordy dictionary that covered nothing but the fictional world of the Dune series of science-fiction novels. All sorts of things were covered, from an overall history to the Emperors (a multi-page table), to the ruling families, to varios aspects of society (some aspects covered being amazingly minute).
Although I've never read any of the novels, I absolutely loved the Encyclopedia - I guess the history buff in me just likes reading things like that, even if they aren't real. I suppose in a way it's just a different method of telling a story: instead of laying everything out, you leave enough pieces for the reader to piece together everything on their own. Although it's doesn't work very well for an individual, I can't think of a better or more convincing way to tell the story of a nation or society. Besides, we're all history buffs, right? Who needs that traditional fiction stuff anyways.

Of course, Dune has an obscene timespan to justify creating a society almost from scratch - I'm not going to push my luck.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

The Dune Encyclopedia is great. I've never read the books but still enjoy browsing through that. I like where this is headed.

 

[Schlieffen]

Victor I: Victor von Tyrol (1456-1503), the Eponymous founder of Victoria. Duke of Burgundy from 1481-1492 and Duke of Victoria from 1492-1503. He stabalized Burgundy after Charles the Bold's death, fought a series of wars against the French and Austrians, and succeeded in connecting Tyrol to Burgundy via a series of wars and diplomatic intrigues, forming the nation of Victoria. His writings and philosophies became the basis of Vicarism and Victorianism.

Personal Life​

Victor was born in 1456 to Count Charles von Tyrol. He was the middle of five children, with two older brothers. He was largely ignored by his father in favor of his two brothers, and his mother cared more for his younger sisters, leaving Victor largely ignored by his parents. He developed his analytical mind and dark mood, having no-one to share his thoughts with but himself for most of his early years.

In 1475 he was married to Mary of Burgundy by his father to cement a deal that included the sale of Alsace to Burgundy. Although they married without knowing eachother, their marriage was one of great respect and love - the diaries of Mary of Burgundy are often published along with any text about Victor I as proof of this fact. Only three children were had in the marriage (one of them male), as Victor feared being unable to raise his children as his family had.

His daughters were allowed to marry whoever they pleased, Victor having no desire to benifit from their marriage[anchorlink=VicQuote1](1)[/anchorlink].
His son was raised in a strict manner, not too harsh but certainly not lenient. He was raised to be a philosopher as well as a Duke, a General as well as a gentleman. Unfortunately he died shortly after Victor, leaving the Duchy to his eight year old son and begining the Trial of Victor.

After becoming Duke of Burgundy, Victor would recieve scathing letters from his father about how he would fail, Burgundy would collapse, etc. Victor was unphased by this taunting, and would reply to the letters in a calm analytical manner, going through the precise reasons he would not fail and the methods that he would use to grant him success and how his opponents would react, often with almost prophetic accuracy. His father met with him only once after he became Duke, and is said to have lost his composure within five minutes of the meeting, while Victor held his throughout the ordeal.

Von Tyrol​

Throughout his life, Victor would avoid the use of the name "von Tyrol", going so far as to refuse to sign treaties that had the name on it. The high point of this obsession was when he reconquered Tyrol from the Hapsburgs, but demanded that a title "Count of Ostaplen" be created rather than accept the already existing County of Tyrol.
Although the exact reason for this obsession is unknown, the most likely theory is that he wanted to distance himself from his family, either because of their low-ranking status or because of how he was raised as a child. Unfortunately he rarely wrote of his personal life or spoke to others about the matter, so the exact reason may forever be unknown

History​

Burgundy​

Upon the death of Charles the Bold's heir, Victor was brought to Burgundy to be alongside Charles, to learn of Burgundy's problems and enemies. His father, jealous of his son's new power, actively attempted to sabatoge the move, but Victor managed to make it to Burgundy.
Upon the death of Charles, Louis XI of France attempted to take the Burgundinian lands that were fiefs by the French crown, but Victor managed to rally his Dutch territories to stop this advance. A brief war ensued before the death of Louis in 1483. With his heir being only thirteen his eldest daughter, Anne of France, became Regent, but was unable to stop Victor's advance. Ultimately some minor territorial concessions were granted by France to end the war.

The End of Tyrol and Burgundy​

In 1487 Victor's father died, leaving him the County of Tyrol. The Hapsburg Emperor attempted to gain the land and a brief war ensued, during which the French declared war, attempting to gain back the lands they had lost in the previous war. Thus the Totallity War began, resulting in seceding Tyrol to Austria and focusing military efforts on France. The end result was that, by 1492, France was forced into a humiliating treaty giving large areas of Northwest France to Victor. France was givin the title Duke of Burgundy, though, to avoid any future claims of fealty. This led to a lengthy period where the von Victors were Dukes without a Duchy, eventually leading to their lands being called "Victoria" in reference to the first Victorian Duke.
Immediately following the Totallity War, Victor marched eastwards and took Tyrol back from the Hapsburgs in 1493, refraining from taking the title Count of Tyrol, rather having the Emperor create the title "Count of Ostalpen" in its place.

Consolidation​

The remaining years of Victor's life were mostly spent in the Western Holy Roman Empire, securing a passage between his French and Dutch possessions and his German ones. He also took advantage of the War of Burgundy which his actions more than partially caused, gaining an even stronger foothold in France. He took special care to ensuring his rule over already owned lands was strong, centralizing the authority of the crown while creating a body to keep Ducal power in check: the Victorian Senate. The Senate was limited to an advisory role during Victor I's rule, but would eventually become a serious check to the more foolhearty von Victors.
Victor died in 1503, having been born third in line to a county but died the most powerful man in Europe through a combination of fate and brilliance.

Victoria at Victor I's Death
(The black area is Burgundy at his inheritence, the dark purple is the area gained during the first war against France, the brighter purple is the area gained during the Totallity War, the bright grey areas are gained during the collapse of France shortly after the Totallity War, and the blue areas are those gained in various wars after the Totallity War.​

Philosophy and Religion​

(To be added...)

Quotations​

[anchor=VicQuote1]1) "I shall not force my daughters to marry so that I may gain the favor of some petty King. I have no need for such handicap in the field of diplomacy, so I see no reason to hurt others so that I may have it."[/anchor] - Reaction to a proposal to add marry off one of his daughters to cement the Peace of 1483

 

[Schlieffen]

Made a short (yet big) update to Victor I - I was looking the situation over, and noticed a few things: 1) Brittany is still free of France, 2) I've seriousally altered the future of Europe by denying the Hapsburgs Burgundy (making this a lot of work from this point forward ), and 3) the War of the Roses is going on and the person who ended up becoming King turned to France for help. I think Victor I just killed Europe as we know it.

Anyways, the English presence on that map isn't really a unified one, War of the Roses being stretched out and all - I'm thinking the presence in France a Henry Tudor (real-life Henry VII) coming for help, finding the French vulnerable and deciding to attack from Calais, using Paris as a "take back England" base. Needless to say, I'm thinking that a 150 Years War might be possible at this rate.

Oh, and does anyone know where to get that version of MyMAP? I downloaded the one I think is most recent and I get a version with a huge Picardie, and I really prefer that one, at least for my current France-mapping duties.

 

[Schlieffen]

War of Burgundy: A civil war in France caused by a variety of factors, most notably the horrible defeat suffered during the Totallity War. It's name comes from the realm that crippled France, but also from the color Burgundy, representing the bloodiness of the conflict.

The Setup​

France had almost completely removed England from the continent in 1453 (the port of Calais excepted), resulting in a period where the French Kings could solidify and centralize their rule. This left France as one of the strongest states in Europe for a time, but this ultimately came to an end when Louis XI attempted to take advantage of the death of Charles the Bold and take the Burgundinian lands that were French fiefs. The war ended shortly after Louis XI's death two years later and only mild concessions were given to Burgundy, but it was a humiliating end to the first major war fought by a unified France.
The death knell came when Anne of France, Regent to Charles VIII, declared war on Burgundy while they were fighting Austria, hoping to make up for their earlier losses by catching Burgundy unaware and forcing them to battle to enemies. The result is the Totallity War, where Burgundy, under Victor I, abandon their war with Austria and marched full strength on France. The result was a humiliating peace by any standard, with much of North-East France being given to Burgundy (which changed into Victoria).
The French nobility was dissatisfied with their leaders at this point and collapse was imminent, but the final straw was when one of the claiments to the English throne landed in Calais and invaded France, taking Paris as a "European Base" for the War of the Roses in England. It is at this Nadir that Brittany and Victoria struck a weakened France, and the Civil War begun.

The Civil War​

After Paris fell to Henry Tudor in 1492, King Charles VIII attempted to flee to Orléans merely to find a Victorian force occupying the area and Brittany occupying the lands west of the Ile-de-France. His whereabouts after this point are unknown, but it is assumed that he simply fled France alltogether to avoid repercussions for his generally poor leadership of France, having lost large swaths of territory to Victoria and now Paris to a rebellous faction of England. As he had no children, his titles passed to Louis XII, Duke of Orleans, which was overrun by Victoria by the time news of his succession reached him. Since he had no land of his own and didn't even have nominal control over Paris, Louis was little more than a figurehead King and had no power for the brief time anyone hailed him as King of France.
The factions in the civil war were numerous with alliances often changing, but the two that managed to stay strong for most of the war were actually not part of France prior to their entry - Savoy and Brittany. This is mostly due to the independence these states enjoyed prior to the Civil War and the freedom they had from the chaos in France that followed and, although other states would have their moments, Savoy and Brittany were competitors throughout the entire ordeal.

Vengence Against Victoria​

After Savoy successfully managed to wrest control of Franche-Comté from Victoria, it was realized just how weak Victoria was without its namesake leader, Victor I. Victoria became a battleground for claimants to prove their abilities, as well as a place for wealth to be gained to use against the others. Much of France was regained during the civil war, but Brittany took the largest areas, more than partially contributing to their eventual victory.
The end came in 1434, when the Savoyard heiress married the heir to Brittany. Although the majority of France was still unheld by either realm, the inevitability at this point was acknowledged by most of France. The actual styling "King of France" wouldn't for another twelve years, when the heir to both realms was under the Regency of his father after his mother's death in 1456, but France was, for all intents and purposes, united.

 

[Schlieffen]

Over 100 views but only three comments? You're allowed to post in here, you know - I end up linking to everything at the top of the page anyways, so it doesn't matter if there are a bunch of comments in between the articles.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

Ah, the Schlieffen Plan!

 

[coz1]

This is very interesting so far. Well done beating off France and birthing your new nation. Very creative as well.

One word of caution - I would be careful about having too many "will include later" type entries. It may not help gain new readers if they need to constantly return back to an earlier post to read new information not originally posted there. Otherwise, just give it time and readers will appear. The summer has sapped some comment strength lately, and the weekends are the worst. But keep plugging along as this is very nice.

 

[Schlieffen]

Chief Ragusa: Damn you people! I have no plan!!!

cos1: I was considering this, but I think some links in the updates post along with some italics in the articles might take care of it. Ultimately I can't just write chronologically since the past affects the future and whatnot - I had to update the "Tyrol" article because some minor thing (Alsace) needed to change for a major (Burgundy). Again, I'll try to includes links when I update and italicize or bolden the new or changed text.

 

[unmerged(58610)]

The collapse of France, has to be a Schlieffen Plan!

 

[Schlieffen]

Totallity War: The war in which Victor I abandoned all other interests except victory over France, resulting in the loss of Tyrol to Austria, but a crippling defeat to France.
Its name comes from a quote from Victor I after his first war with France was concluded: "Let it be known that henceforth, any state that attacks my realm without provocation will have its status as a threat to [Victoria] stripped before I will consider ending hostilities. If it should mean the end of my rule, I will end my foes' as well." This position was justified in a later quote: "You may think me mad for risking my realm, but as long as others think me mad as well I will never have to."

 

[Schlieffen]

I'd add more, but my head's been bothering me today, I don't know why. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the next in line sometime within the next few days.

As for the uncompleted parts in the entries, the parts in Victor I are left that way intentionally for now - it has an effect later, so I'll wait until that time comes around before adding it. The French Civil War bit is blank because... well, my head hurts. That and I still need to figure out factions and things... ugh.

 

[unmerged(59381)]

I'm liking the style of thios AAR, it does a lot more for me than those more 'traditional ' AAR's. I'm very curious as to how Victor will get on...