Gold, Glory and Freedom: yet another Holland/Netherlands AAR

[grumphie]

welcome to my third(first at EU3) AAR, where ill be playing as holland and later hopefully the netherlands. im quite(got the game for the 500k celebration and had been reading some AAR's and wathcing lets plays for a few months) new to EU3, and its actually the first time ill be playing on normal difficulty(so no free inflation reduction and all). that means this AAR wont be a cakewalk.

why ANOTHER AAR as the netherlands(why not choose something original? like gelre? or denmark?)? because the netherlands start with great sliders for a free state, are rich and have capabilities to become a tech and trade powerhouse and do well in colonisation. on the other hand, burgundy is a major threath, and later france as well. keeping your homelands never gets dull.

my aims in this AAR are:

0. survive the inevtable burgundian onslaught
1. form the netherlands.
2. unite the region the netherlands, or at the very least the flemish-dutch culture part of it.
3. establish a small colonial empire, my main aims being the strategic islands(cape verde, st helena, bermuda ect.), the carribean and the spice isles
4. become THE naval and trading realm in the world
5. become a huge tech powerhouse

my settings will be all on normal, with no lucky nations. i wont be reloading or using the console, exept to fix a utter ridiculous AI or event and the like, and maybe slight ly for RP purposes.

this AAR will be a history book-ish AAR, but dont bash me for doing it poorly and get other writing mixed up in it.

chapters:
chapter one: the establishment of holland as an independent nation 1399-1405
chapter two: the expansion of holland 1405-1410
chapter three: a time of plenty 1410-1425
interlude - the current state of the realm and strategy for the next few decades
chapter 4: exploiting a oppurtunity 1425-1433
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



chapter one: The establishment of holland as a independent nation

the situation of holland on 14 october 1399 was mixed. while for that epriod centralised, innovative and free, favoring free trade, owning some of the richest provinces in europe, it was also in a personal union under hainut, lacked the millitary capabilities to defend against the growing power of burgundy and other major european factions.

the 14th of october 1399 was a very special day for the history fo holland, and shall be the start of our story. the dutch cities, called together to pay taxes to king albert and sick of his taxes to defend against burgundy decided that when time came, they would refuse to aid hainut, refuse their dyansty as their king and institute a new sort of kingdom of freedom for its subjects and free trade of high priority. in all but name, the cities ruled holland and prepared for a chance to kick hainut out of holland.

focus of holland itself lay on trade. while fairly rich, trade was where the large money lay. the cities focussed more on free trade, and focussed mostly on lubeck where holland got their grain to feed its cities.

the seventeenth of october, burgundy made its move against hainut. while aid was requested by hainut, holland refused to give it.

the new king and raad van state

soon, a large army was besieging hainut, and now the cities made their move. they imprisoned and murdered figures of power from hainut and replaced them by people under control of the city. after over a year of siege, hainut surrendered. now, holland openly refused to acknowledge the kings of hainut and elected Lodewijk I van Wassenberg as their king. they also intituted the so called "Raad van State" appointed by the cities, who would aid the king in ruling holland. these would serve for live, exept for crisis situations and ill-managment.

as the years progressed, traders from holland spread out over europe to antwerpen, novogrod and other important centers of trade. in the south, burgundy attacked brabant. brabant brought in almost all of scandinavia, resulting in a long war on the seas and burgundy's homeland while burgundy besieged brabant. after some long years of sieging brabant surrenders and is annexed, but the war with denmark and its allies rages on.

in november 1402 holland's raad van state started to pay off: moderate amount of gold were minted due to carefull management, which was then used to fund trading activities all over europe. durch traders dominated markets ranging from castille to novogrod, and as a result became much better in trading and shipbuilding. combined with the capable naval reformer and treasurer holland was far ahead in naval and trade compared to other nations. few years after this, all european markets in the baltic and atlantic had a strong dutch presence.

early 1405 saw the birth of a heir to king lodewijk, also called lodewijk. technological advancement was growing on all fronts, and burgundy was in a cold war with denmark, neither of the sides willing to make a move but both unable to dedicate themselves to another war. the cities enriched themselves and economy was booming. now, holland was ready to expand. and so they did, by claiming the throne of friesland whom they had a royal marriage with. holland prepared for war to enforce this claim.

 

[grumphie]

as to the first update, i got ridiculously lucky with my king and advisors. 6 and 5 stars, high stats for the king and a 8/8/8 heir(not shown yet). im saving my first national idea for QFTNW so i can colonise the azores, madeira and canaries quickly and core them as a jumping pole to the carribean and spice isles, but suggestions are always welcome.

 

[Range]

I think you'll do all right. Just have fun...and, we'll have fun reading it.

You're doing fine, so far.

Good luck.

I'll be following.

 

[ATBKING]

Exactly. Just enjoy the ride. well kick back and enjoy the read. Subscribed, by the way.

 

[Seelmeister]

I think it's very interesting that there are a few Dutch AAR's around the same time, we be intriguing to see the different powers which emerge in each game, and how the Netherlands that you all eventually form differ

Great start, you have an excellent panel of advisors there. Escaping from the grasp of Hainaut so early was a good move, although unfortunately it has strengthened Burgundy. Hopefully you can secure an ally or two against them, France would be ideal. Look forward to seeing the war against Friesland.

 

[grumphie]

chapter two: the expansion of holland

chapter two: the expansion of holland
at the very end of december 1405 war was declared on friesland to claim its throne. holland had two allies: oldenburg and munster, while friesland had one, cologne. oldenburg dishonored the call to arms by holland, so in the end it was holland and munster against friesland and cologne. initially, the war went bad for holland. munster's army got defeated on the field of battle by frisian forces and soon after that completly annialated, and now the frisian-cologne alliance had twice the forces of the holland-munster allaince. however, cologne was unable to aid firesland in any way due to their war with burgundy(who recently signed peace with denmark) and were occupied sieging brabant. holland's forces arrived in a defenceless friesland with its armies in munster, and prepared a siege.

what can POSSIBLY go wrong?

in april 1406 a army from cologne, 4 units strong started to besiege zeeland. the war was turned in a race against time for holland: if they werent able to besiege and take friesland before friesland took onsabruck, they would never be able to force friesland into peace, allowing cologne to take friesland. so, the raad van state watched to war carefully.

the war very quickly downhill. onsabruck fell, munchen accepted a humiliating peace with friesland and the siege of friesland went awfull. although the frisian army was defeated at friesland when they tried to liberate it, zeeland was under heavy siege. the raad van state and holland were in chaos. what did they have to do?

in july, the war finally went uphill. cologne broke the siege of zeeland to deal with rebels back home, frieslands army had been broken for the moment. things were finally looking up. burgundy cut off colognes army from returning to siege zeeland as well, by sieging colognes sieged territories on old brabant. cologne was practically out of the war. while holland itself was under siege from friesland things were much calmer now. its armies were smller than those of holland, and holland could siege friesland before hollan fell to friesland. if things continued like this, the war was won.

and thank you rebels

the first of january 1407 dutch diplomats got an offer of alliance from gelre which was quickly accepted and were called to arms. now, the war was as good as won, even though the siege f frieskand was terrible. or so holland thought.

two months later, war took a very ugly turn for holland. holland fell to friesland, and utrecht declared war on holland. they claimed holland was part of utrecht and marched on to zeeland with 4000 men. gelre wouldnt aid holland against utrecht as it had broken its alliance a month ago, munster would join holland, but lacked an amy to do anything and sat next to brunswick, ally of utrecht.

damn you utrecht

finally, n 18 may 1407, the siege of friesland was over. 472 days they resisted, and now the army of holland went on to liberate holland. now, the roles were reversed. the garrison in holland didnt resist the forces in holland as much as the garrison in friesland did. the king and raad van state had been moved to zeeland, and now rallied the defenders there to give no quarter and resisted the siege of utrecht. holland fell much faster than friesland, and the 10th of june peace was offered to te utterly defeated friesland: they would be forced in a personal union under holland. they accepted a day later. with one war now over, the second one could now be fought. holland-munster defending against butrecht-brunswick. brunswick already subjegated most of munster, while the army of utrecht sieged zeeland. more armies were trained in holland to destory utrecht as soon as possible.

FINALLY

the fall of friesland

lodewijk van wassenberg was smuggled out of zeeland in secret to lead the fresh armies of holland. the siege force was broken at zeeland, and then destroyed at holland. the army of brunswick, after forcing munster to break the alliance with holland and drop out of the war was caught at holland as well and was broken there. cleves offered an alliance to holland which was accepted, and they were called to arms. now, war again looked very good. all armies were defeated in the field under the competent leadership of lodewijk, and the sieging of utrecht commenced.`on the second of january 1410, peace was offered to utrecht. they would renounce all claims on holland, become a vassel-state of holland and break their treaties with brunswick. it was accepted. after some long years of war, holland came out on top and prevailed.

holland at peace again

 

[grumphie]

@range & abtking thanks for follwoing this. il make sure to have fun(whats the point of an AAR if you dont like making it)

@seelmeister its very intresting, yes. who is going to be the strongest? so far im doing pretty fine(at this rate i can form the netherlands soon). utrecht attacking me was a mixed blessing.

 

[grumphie]

chapter three: a time of plenty

chapter three: a time of plenty
first act of holland after the war was to reform the state into a despotic monarch, and do away with the feudal system, consolidating more power at teh top state. years progressed, and not much happened. france was in a locked war with england, where france managed to take english continental territories but failed to cross the channel, but europe was silent.

2 october 1411 naval reformer daniel vroom died, leaving a open position in the raad van state. this was filled by statesman adriaan poszt. his worth was quickly proved when he finished a revolutionary book with theories about governments.

the period of peace and stability was a blessing to holland. the state was rich, holland and zeeland were improved, trade from the western mediterenian to the far end of the baltic was dominated by holland. technology was booming, and the central government focussed on expanding this, giving holland an incredible lead in technology. all this wealth sparked something new in holland. rich traders started setting up explorating parties, to find new markets and hit new markets for trade. the quest for a new world had sparked.

the raad van state went along with this. in europe, there was no nation capable of besting holland tradewise but holland lacked a foothold near the medditrenean. in january 1419 a small fleet and amry was sent down south, to claim a spot in the meditreanian and its lucrative trade, under the capable leadership of daniel gouda.

the expedition of daniel was a utter success, with daniel discovering the isles of the azores, madeira and the canaries. while holland was still unable to reach the azores with normal ships, madeira and the canaries were claimed for holland and two small colonies were established. this allowed merchants form holland to penetrate much deeper into the mediteranian, and even reched alexandria. all this new wealth flowed back to holland, and also into the government. the government again used this to fund the colonies of madeira and the canaries, which slowly growed, and invested most in the developmetn of better ships. these would allow them to sail further south and reach the azores without trouble, and reach new markets.

closer to home however, burgundy invaded gelre and annexxed both gelre and its ally cleves. this brought the governemnt of holland to intergrate utrecht into its nation to present a more unified front against its threath. no efforts were made to expand the army though, as holland depended on its navy to defeat burgundy. on the border of zeeland alone burgundy had five times the army of holland, and only castille and bohemia had the armies to face burgundy, it having the largest army in the known world. if holland was attacked, its only chance would be to defeat the navy of burgundy, keep the isles of madeira and the canaries and pray on intervention from bohemia.

few years later in the 1420's, holalnds master of mint died, but was replaced by someone just as skilled with holland having many expierience in those matters. the colonies of madeira and the canaries proved to be lucrative as well, the canaries grown into a self-sufficient province and both prodicing the expensive sugar, being sold in amsterdam for massive profits.

the tenth of january 1425 was a day of griefing for holland. king lodewijk I died, leaving his very capable son lodewijk II in charge. with this firesland was also incorporated into holland, and now holland shared the low countries only with burgundy, the ever lurking threath on the border.

 

[grumphie]

a long, yet quit update. im exploring ESTREMLY early, as i really need those cores on the canaries and madeira to reach st helena, the cape and the new world. i really hope burgundy is going to get in a war over his neck(bohemia and france at the same time for example) as i doubt ill live to see the end of the century if he stays the strongest land power in the world.

 

[ATBKING]

Very Nice. Only Gelre remains. With the Current situation, we can expect a game changing war coming up soon. If you win you might be home free seeing as France minds its business for a while. You lose..... you might end end up at square one. its happened to me plenty of times. Good Luck. Do whatever you can to make them cede Antwerpen, whether you take it or you make them release Flanders. that is their biggest source of income and will hit them.... HARD.

 

[grumphie]

burgindy already has gelre(looks like i failed to mention that), and is the monster of europe. as you can see, they have a army the size of china's, and thats after a war. i currently have 38k troops on my border. so im not really planning for a war, but i am trying to ally castille and bohemia who are pretty much the only forces able to face them. anyways, i have a update in the making to analise the current situation for a bit and my next goals which should be finished somewhere saturday or sunday.

 

[ATBKING]

Awesome. Looking forward to it.

 

[grumphie]

interlude - the current state of the realm and strategy for the next few decades

interlude - the current state of the realm, strategy for the next few decades and how to deal with burgundy

my first real ruler just died, leaving his extremly capable 8-8-8 heir in charge. his heir again is 5-8-8, quite good but i would have preferred a bit higher admin. my advisors are also very capable, running at 5stars government and trade investors and a 6star inflation reduction, and as i can keep cultural tradition at 100% i can keep advisors of that level as well

im booming in tech, with the free investments in government and trade im currently 100% focussed on reaching the azores and beside my small minting all in invested in naval tech. land and production keeps up with neighbour and ruler bonusses but production will get major investments again once i reach the azores. land will be neglected for the moments, as my abysmall forcelimits(16 with +25% from trading in grain) and inabilty to face burgundy at any moment will make me lift that one with neighbour bonusses. the small inflation comes from events

my sliders are going quite good as well, with me moving towards putocracy for the spies and trade and quality for the more bamg for your buck armies. nothing intresting in religion, national decisions or the like yet

trade IS booming though. i got 5 merchants everywhere i can put them resulting in both a pretty hefty trade income(40.5 opposed to production and taxation wich stay under 10) and a whole bunch of trade modifiers. i currently trade in:
grain(+25% forcelimits)
wine(-25% stability costs)
wool(-10% ship cost)
cloth(-25% mercenary cost)
fish(-1 revolt risk)
fur(+1% prestige)
salt(-10% land maintance)
naval supplies(+25% naval frocelimits
copper(-10% regiment recruitment time)
iron(-10% regiment recruitment cost)
slaves(+25% global tarrifs)


my realm consists of the following provinces:
the canaries
holland
zeeland
friesland
utrecht

with madeira as a colony

to defend that, i got 6000 men. split in two. on the seas, burgundy can field 12 warships against my 8 but while i got two slidermoves towards naval, burgundy is all land. hopefully i can destroy a possible landing with a naval battle somewhere around portugal. if not, ill try to pay them off with ducats and all.

the european climate is less than optimal. england and france are both very weak ATM so no them beating up burgundy, although they are still strong plaers and need a few decades to recover. castille and bohemia are very strong though, and have the capabilities to defeat burgundy with some luck. austria has been reduced to a minor power and hungary and lituana are doing pretty good as well.

my near future problems/goals are:
1. reaching the azores and using it to jump to central america
2. coring the canaries and madeira to reach more atlantic ocean isles
3. not getting in a war with burgundy

my medium future goals/problems are:
1. see burgundy beaten back to acceptable size and grab some land, preferably limburg, antwerpen and vlaanderen and form the netherlands
2. reach the spice isles and carribean, and look for a way to grab some lands from te natives there
3. vasselise neighbouring states in the HRE

my far future goals are:
1. develop my nation to its limits, while keeping obvious threaths: austria, bohemia, france, burgundy and england+whoever may rise up to acceptable size, especially at the horde border.
2. become emperor of the HRE for the lovely frocelimits and manpower bonus

if anywone would like to know more just ask

any suggestions regarding burgundy are aprriciated as well, as i seriously doubt it'l get in a bad war with france at the current balance of power. basicly my only hope is an imperial ban CB from bohemia, or castille allied with another strong power while bohemia is tied up somehere else disallowing him to aid burgundy. or mass rebellions. any suggestions on how to deal with them?

 

[ATBKING]

Getting a jump on the Americas huh. Do you have any plans for Africa?? and one more thing.... Austria is NEVER a Minor. sooner or later they will bounce back.

 

[Seelmeister]

Lodewijk II looks like an excellent ruler, and the acquisition of Friesland is a nice boost. Combined with a great early tech lead, and a head start in the colonial race, things look very good for the Dutch. What are your intentions, start looking for wealthy colonies, or continue to build a stronger base for expansion in Europe? A strong ally against Burgundy would be useful, as their expansion threatens to cut you off.

 

[grumphie]

@abtking austria currently IS a minor power about the level of portugal, and they are not in a position to recover anytime soon. 50 years from now they can begin posing a threath again, but not for now. i dont really have much plans for africa other than cape good hope yet, although im looking to colonise some ivory and slaves provinces. my main goals however are reaching the america's colony wise the first of europe and reaching the spice isles. from there i want to exploit my tech bonus to punch up the natives and grab myself a nice colonial empire and trade range.

@sellmeister im trying to ally, but 6k troops dont inspire bohemia to ally me. its a shame france is so weak, as he's the only one who's willing to ally above impossible(unlikely) but i have no intention in getting pulled into one of their wars with burgundy. the azores are more important though, as i really dont want portugal getting a free core there with their mission(or i believe they get at least). if i can build a powerbase out of europe i can sue that to keep burgundy down. ill see what happens. but for now im forced to just let it do what it wants.

 

[grumphie]

chapter 4: exploiting a oppurtunity

chapter 4: exploiting a oppurtunity
live progressed under lodewijk II just like it had under lodewijk I. you had the yearly large expedition to madeira, which was quickly growing in size like the canaries, the threath of burgundy lay on the border, and france got itself in a big war with both bohemia and england. Lodewijk II did, however, suport the group in holland that wanted to expand the millitary as a determent for burgundy. under him,the millitary was improved to follow the example of other small german states, ahead of the large realms lke france or bohemia. for now, he had only little support but it was a start.

the goal to colonise the azores was scrapped from the goals of holland in 1428. even while the navies of holland were much better than those of the rest of europe, the technology was simply lacking. in some decades perhaps it was a possible goal, but it would be a waste to pursue now. instead, funding waas diverted to improve the government.

in europe,things were unstable. france was in a war with bohemia after defeating england, the gemran minors warred, burgundy had subjegated lorraine.

in sebtember 1431 the situation escalated. burgundy attacked france, but that same year went bankrupt greatly hurting its realm. who would win the war?

with the setbacks in colonisation and weakness of burgundy hollands focus shifted. with no more funds needed to fund the settlements in the atlantic, nothing more to sink funds in and the ever louder and stronger call of lodewijk II to create a stronger army the garrison of the isles got called back to holland and more men were recruited back home. holland began to provide counterbalance against the ambition of burgundy to own the low countries and create a strong nation between the empire and france. in the end, holland got a 16000 storng standing army ready in holland.

the start of a standing army

a dutch nation formed

the war with france quickly ended in a white peace. burgundy wasnt able to pay for its armies, and within months its standing army shrinked to a mere 17000 men. holland reformed its nation, not only representing holland alone, but all dutch people. with this, they claimed lands like gelre, vlaanderen and antwerpen. with bugundy's sudden weakness, they grabbed their chance. war was declared. the war escalated quickly. the border garrison of 15000 men was quickly destroyed, running on barely any pay and bankruptcy with barely any losses for the dutch, led by lodewijk II himself. antwerpen was assualted and fell soon, and in the following months large amounts of lands were subjegated by the dutch army, facing demoralised garrisons and no armies worth noting. france aided the war effrot by subsidies to the dutch.

the low countries falling to the dutch armies

free gold is always nice

as off december 1344, less than two years after the start of the war the entire northern netherlands were taken by the dutch. burgundy had no army left worth noting. the war was lost. 15 december peace was signed with burgundy: the netherlands would receive 75000 worth of guldens, and would receive the territories of breda, vlaanderen, antwerpen, gelre and limburg. in return, the dutch forces would retreat.

the northern burgundy is defeated and conquered

a peace even bohemia would envy

in two years time, the land sof the netherlands almost doubled, many rich provinces like antwerpen and vlaanderen were conquered and the treasury was a whole lot more full. burgundy had been kicked from the stage as undeafeatable power by a much smaller realm where france and england got destroyed and from now on, the dutch would be a force to be reckoned with.

the netherlands united

 

[grumphie]

well, so much for my strategy of "lets colonise in the america's and spice isles and use that to beat burgundy" or "get bohemia as an ally". real generals dont NEED any alliances or stinky colonies. only a convienient bankruptcy that kills 80% of its army. this changes things. A LOT. first of all, im going to get myself some vassels and challenge bohemian supremacy over the empire. second, im probaly going to end up in wars with france at some point over antwerpen. im still going for colonies, but on a larger scale than first for sure as my econoy can now sustain that much better. lastly, even iwth vlaanderen im still 1(210 from the needed 211) colonial range short of reaching the azores. im sure as hell going to DoW portugal into oblivion if they get it before me.

i was intending to get some more out of that peace, but assualts killed my manpower pool and i didnt really have any intention to get unlawfull HRE territory(preferring havign burgundy release some vassels) but at that moment i could get all my cores and a bunch of old, so i settled for that. they'd only be conquered again by burgundy or france later anyway.

after the war, i reloaded some earlier saves as burundy and two/three things broght them into this situation:
1. their economy relied on heavy minting, having them at 12% inflation and half their income mintend isnt exactly good for your economy, expecially if you lose 5 gold a month from intrest alone and your war machine requires a lot of pay
2. france had some armies causi gtoruble in their hearthlands, causing looting problems combined with +1 stabilty as they attacked it without CB
3. a possible nasty event costing them money probaly finished them off into bankruptcy, with all nasty effects resultingin the disbanding of the army and my easy war. once i beat that 15k stack they simply didnt have the means to rebuild it, as their loans costed them a LOT of gold.

 

[Stadhouder]

Well you're off to a nice start. Is Burgundy a rival now? So your triple 8 ruler can lay some nice claims on them.

 

[grumphie]

yes, burgundy is a rival. as are the hansa(seriously?) denmark and austria(who? i never even had any contact with them). im feeling threathend by burgundy(ok), france(quite correct) and the golden horde. who is all of europe away with bohemia in between.