not to mention the much needed research for technology.
Trade is the number one cause of leading the pact in terms of advanced technology.
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Trade is the number one cause of leading the pact in terms of advanced technology.
Part 2: Muhammad VIII the Great (1417-1455)
Chapter 5: Invading Aragon (1417-1422)
The situation in Europe, 20 februari 1417.
20 february 1417, the day my father died and I took power. I'm Muhammad VIII, the new sultan of Granada.
The sultan is dead, long live the sultan!
My father saved the country from certain destruction by those catholic dogs. He led our country to three stunning military victories, opened trade routes and smashed rebel scum. But although he was military capable, that won't bring us to the top. What we need, is to adapt to the west. We're in the west, so it's logical to westernise. The first step is to listen to our oriental teachers.
The first step in westerisation: go to the oriental technology group.
I issued on the day I became sultan, that we should set the first step towards total westernisation. By looking towards the east, we incorporate much new inventions, which gives us an enormous technology boost. But not everyone is as progressive as I am. Riots are more a risk than when my father tried to gain control over the provinces.
Westernise part 1!
To aid me in my quest for progress, I need helpfull advisors. Of course, Rashîd Ibn Umar is very usefull, since he helps to improve the army, but I can't have Dawud Ibn Marwan around anymore. Mercenaries are not an option: the army has been professionalised. What I need, are advisors who know how to stabilise the country. So I hired the best Granada had to offer: Abdülmecid Amasyali and Edvárd Mészáros. While Abülmecid is a good muslim, Edvárd is a heretic catholic. But there is a majority of catholics on the Iberian peninsula, so I could really use the help of someone who knows them, who knows how to handle them.
Some new advisors, Abdülmecid Amasyali and Advárd Mészáros, will help to stabilise the country.
One thing had to be done: Get good generals. I didn't want to lead the ranks myself: there was too much to be done here at the court to meddle with the field battles. Important bussiness, like getting ready for the second step in westernisation.
The three generals.
With these changes, I'm ready to complete the last plan my father had set in motion: invade Aragon.
I waited a few days before declaring war, in order to settle down. During these days, I learned from heralds that the catholics had spread even further north than we previously thought. They were in scandinavia! I didn't know that land existed, but now I do, and I'm not that happy about it. It was like hearing there was another continent at the other side of the ocean. Ridiculous! But well, so I did thought about land firther north. Maybe... Well, there are now more pressing things to think about.
There is land further north.
Then, at 4 march 1417, I declared war on Aragon. Just at that moment, the alliance of Aragon, Hainaut, Bourgondy and Sicily, were at war with Trier, France, Liege and Cleves. Well, maybe I could backstab Bourgondy and Hainaut. But then I would need access through France, and they hate Granada. Well, it is unlikely, but not impossible. So I'll just ask. Nothing is lost if they refuse.
It is unlikely that France would allow access to my troops.
When my dip;lomats returned, I was astonished by my luck: they had accepted it. This was really great news: now I could go, after finishing off Aragon, through France towards Bourondy.
Unbelievable! They accepted!
The first thing to do, was to position men in all provinces of Aragon. Unfortunately, they owned an island group, and I had to send some men by boat to there. The Aragon navy was far superiour than mine. So I quickly dropped the men, and wanted to sail away as fast as I could. Unfortunately my ships were under attack. I fleed immediately. They captured two empty transports in the process. Better that than to lose my entire fleet.
Flee, ships, flee!
I knew that hiring Edvárd was a good move. He managed to bring enormous stability to Granada. This was really needed, at the beginning of this war.
I could choose between +2 stability, or +10 reputation. It may be clear what I choose.
As the war progressed, and I was on the brick of occupying Aragon, Abdülmecid cae to me and said that there was a problem with some taxes. If I wouldn't change them, there would be a lot of turmoil in the country. I listened to his advize, loosened the subjects and abolished a tax.
I had the choice between loosing 1 stability, or get 1 towards free subjects. That last one was actually quite good: it gives me a betetr techbonus.
I gained also military access through Foix: By getting access through here, I could take less northern prvinces from Aragon, and concentrate on getting provinces around my own. I had learned from Vizcaya.
At 7 march 1418 I had occupied all of Aragon. I called their diplomats and gave them my demands:
Cede Alicante, València, Aragón and Navarra. Also, pay 75 ducats.
They were reluctant, but accepted. I was really glad with it. I now had an eastern connection with my kingdom, and I had surrounded the Castille capital.
The result of the Aragon peacedeal.
I sended my armies north, the long walk through France. Bourgondy and France had made peace, and Bourgondy hadn;t got military access through France. Therefor I could sepeartely attack the two parts of the country. I started with the Netherlands, where Hainaut also laid. In the meantime I attack the Sicily province of Malta.
When the armies first arrived, I immediately attacked Hainaut and its two Dutch provinces: Zeeland and Holland. It took some time, but I finally managed to occupy them and demanded from Hainaut:
Cede Holland and Zeeland, and pay 75 ducats.
They accepted on 15 januari 1420.
Why would I want two provinces so far away from the homeland? Well, because they are rich coastal provinces, that's why.
The result of the Hainaut peacedeal.
One month after I conquered Holland and Zeeland, I got a warning from Morocco: when I would declare one more country war, they would attack me. Well, well. I of course dismissed their ambassadors, with their arrogance. I should think about this, use it to my advantage. When I would station enough troops at the border, and declare war on another country, I could steamroll over Marocco. Maybe something for the nearby future. For now I had to concentrate on defeating Bourgondy.
Morocco warns us: this should be used to our advantage.
I continued to lay siege. I destroyed the army Bourgondy had stationed in their northern territories, and occupied the Netherlands provinces one by one. Also, In Sicily, I occupied Malta and invaded the Sicily homeland.
Unfortunately, on 1 august 1420 Edvárd Mészáros died. It was a great loss, and an equal replacement could not be found. I had to be satisfied with Jem Dervis, who was also good, but couldn't match Edvárd.
After my advisor had died, I had to replace him with another artist
On 1 december 1420, I was still laying siege on several provinces of Bourgondy, my country was stable enough to make the next step of westernisation: look west, and join the western world.
The final step of westernisation: join the latin tech group. It takes again a huge stability hit.
now that I had modernised the country, I could look towards another problem: religion. There had to be made quite some changes in order to convert all the catholics in my kingdom.
And finally, Granada is westernised.
The war still raged on when again heralds from afar told me about new land. And sea: They told me that there was more ocean in the west. That wasn't quite new. We all know that there is a lot of water in the west, don't we?
More land, and sea.
The war was almost at the end when one of my three generals died. A lost arrow, they said. It is too bad he couldn;t see the full fruitation of this war. I couldn't replace him, not now peace is near.
General failure: Barakat Ibn Abd Allah is dead.
The war was at an end. At 17 february 1422 the last defence from Sicily broke and I sended my diplomats to demand:
Sicily will become a Vassal from Grenada. Also, they will cede Malta, renounce their claim on Athens and pay 50 ducats.
Despite the heavy demands, the diplomats were glad thet the war was over for them, that they wouldn;t have to worry about that anymore.
The result of the Sicily peacedeal.
The final end of the war came when Bourgondy accepted on 2 may 1422 the peacedeal I proposed:
Cede Artois, Vlaanderen and Antwerpen, and pay 50 ducats.
They accepted, since I had completely occupied their country. After five long years, the war was finally over.
When I look at the results of this war, I see that my territory on the Iberian peninsula had expanded. Also, I gained a vassal and an island in the mediterian sea. But what wasmore important: I conquered the important trade centre of Antwerpen, along with some nice provinces around it. But the war had cost dearly. From the 34,000 men I started with, only 12,500 remained. I would have to rebuild them if I wanted to defend Granada against its foes.
The result of the Bourgondy peacedeal.
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Some sidenotes:
Well, I want to create an Islamic Spain: this whole AAR is about that
. So I've got a goal with Granada .I know that the Iberian arabs were very innovative, but this has a huge negative effect on the amount of missionarisses per year. If I ever want to convert the Iberian peninsula to the islam, I'd have to be more narrowminded. Also, that gives some nice bonusses for colonies, which is very handy for the planned colonial empire. So after I join the latin tech group, the innovativeness will be gone as fast as possible.
Yes, I know that the Netherlands are far from the Iberian peninsula. But in real history, Spain owned the Netherlands. It would be funny if it would do so also in this timeline.
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A Muslim Flanders! I guess once you've established your hold on Iberia, you're going to go after the Franks. Hopefully they won't have a Charles Martel this time around.
I just caught up, and I have to say, I am impressed!
You have done all that in just 30 years!!!
Great AAR, I will be following.
P.S. : Great job on taking the Burgundian Center of Trade.
You have done all that in just 30 years!!!
Great AAR, I will be following.
P.S. : Great job on taking the Burgundian Center of Trade.
Tried this myself and I have to say...its hard. Also I love the narrative! This is a great balance of story and gameplay.
Great job! You're really kicking some behind in those battles. I noticed you had some good generals, who surely helped.
What are you thinking about for National Ideas? Missionaries?
What are you thinking about for National Ideas? Missionaries?
Amazing work! I really like your idea of consolidating both Iberia and the Netherlands before going on to Islamify the New World.
Chapter 6: 2nd Algerian-Moroccan war (1422-1428)
The situation in Europe, 2 march 1422.
One of the first things I did after the peace was once again established, was letting Holland and Zeeland leave the Holy Roman Empire. Why would provinces under my control be part of that catholic institution? no, I won't let any province be part of that.
I opened up the trade center of Antwerpen and sended my merchants to it. Although the trade center had collapsed since my control, it still gave a great economic boost.
the westernisation started to pay off. My trade became more efficient, and not only my trade. On all fronts the technology boosted. I knew that this was a good idea.
Trade technology level 5: also government and land reached level 5 shortly after this.
For years I kept a low profile. My armies recovered, and I got a hold on the provinces I captured. Also, I ensured that I would have a great reserve of manpower, so my losses would be minimized during the next battle. During this time, I talked to my neightbours, and tried to improve relations. I already was best buddies with Algiers, but more friends the better. Talks were going well with Tunesia and Tripoli, and also my vassal Sicily came to understand that they were better off in this situation.
but then, on 1 september 1426, Algiers invaded Morocco, and asked me for help. I could refuse, which would have avoided the turmoil in my country, but since war with the Marocs was inevitable, I'd better start it now, now my allies would help me. If I would have refused, Algiers would have broken our alliance. How coincidental that my second war would be with Marocco, just like my father had.
I've got 4,000 men at the borders of Morocco. It's nothing, but I didn't count on a war with them yet.
While war preparations started (I sended my men down to occupy the four central provinces, while I rerouted some troops from the Iberian peninsula to the boats, to invade Tangiers), I needed to secure my Dutch provinces. I was able to build men-at-arms there, which were better trained than my own muslim archers. That was good news. If I could only get the fine grasp of their training, and train my own men like them...
The situation in the north had changed the past four years. After I defeated Bourgondy, Liege declared its independance and France absorbed the rest of their Dutch provinces. Bourgondy wasn't a major player anymore, although they annexed their vassal Switserland.
All five the Dutch provinces started to build men-at-arms.
I finally found a suitable successor for Edvárd: Karl Sass, a German immigrant who spend half his life in Antwerpen. With his help, I could stabilize those Dutch provinces, and maby even unite the Netherlands.
Karl Sass joins the team of advisors.
The war went well. Fastly I occupied their territories one by one, although Morocco managed to occupy Toubkhal for a moment. I still made use of the same old tactic: avoid their main army and occupy their entire country while they try to defeat one of your provinces.
Morocco occupied Toubkhal, but my armies were ready to take it back.
As I took Toubkhal back, the Moroccan army freed their capital, Marrakech. But that didn't prefent me from occupying the rest of their country. I forced a heavy truce on them:
Cede Tangiers, Figuig, Sus and Atlas. Also, they would renounce their claims on Melilla, Toubkhal, Fez, Safi, Ifni and Ceuta. Finally, they had to pay 100 ducats.
I couldn't ask for more, except vassalization, but they weren't yet ready for that. They accepted my terms on 10 may 1428.
Morocco has almost completely be conquered.
This conquest of Morocco reminded me of my history lessons: of the great Almoravid empire. When I would annex Morocco, I would have an empire that would equal that old one. A nobel goal. But there were more pressing concerns for the moment: I wanted to border France also in the south, so I had to conquer more of Aragon.
The old empire of the Almoravids (wikipedia).
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Some sidenotes:
I think I'll go after Aragon. This ruler, Muhammad VIII, has some grunge on that country. Maybe he will follow his fathers steps, and finish off Castille, when he got what he wants?
Bourgondy has really been beaten by me. It not only lost all it's northern provinces, Switserland also declared it's independance again. I guess their days are numbered.
I'm doubting for the national ideas. The next one is still far away, but the level 7 trade tech is within reach, especially now I joined the latin tech group. I could go for quest of the new world, and discover new land. But since I gain 0 colonists per year, I would have to take colonial ventures too. On the other hand, I could also go for divine supremacy, which gives +0.5 missionarisses. But I'm currently at -0,75 missionarisses a year, so it would still take some time to change the slider... Well, maybe I'll just go for the colonies first, and check back on the missionaris plan when it is more feasable.
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Just start conquering the muslim world.
A caliphate shall once again rise and make the world better.
And I would not worry about missionaries... it would be just better be very very tolerant.
A caliphate shall once again rise and make the world better.
And I would not worry about missionaries... it would be just better be very very tolerant.
*France goes on a gigantic killing spree and once again creates a frankish kingdom* His name ....... well no more explanation is needed here I think.
Nice to see you have possessions in the Netherlands, just like Spain did
I can't wait to see when you start colonizing
I can't wait to see when you start colonizing
Chapter 7: 2nd Granadian-Aragon war (1428-1432)
The situation in Europe, 10 may 1428.
After the war with Morocco, I found help of Ausiàs de la Riba, who would help me to improve my reputation among the nations. Thatw as needed, since I wanted to form a great North-African muslim alliance.
Ausiàs de la Riba has been hired: I need the reputation, since I don't want to become a badboy.
Despite the Moroccan adventure, I was almost ready for a second invasion at Aragon. At 1 janurari 1430 I decided that it was time: I had positioned my troops and entered the Aragon domain. Morocco, who had previously warned me, stood by the sideline and respected the fragile peace that existed between us. But Aragons allies came to their help, and thus I was also at war with Hainaut, Bourgondy and Brittany. Bourgondy wouldn't be any problem: That country was at the moment beeing occupied by Switzerland. The only unkown factor was Brittany.
The situation at the beginning of the second invasion.
O my Allah! The war hasn't yet started up or something extraordinary happens. On 6 january 1430, Switzerland annexes the remains of Bourgondy, thereby doubling their domain and tripling their provinces. From all countries, the Swiss? The ones who had recently been annexed by Bourgondy, and fought their freedom back after my war with that country? The previeous war really was the downfall of the house of Bourgondy. This has already started to be an interesting war.
Switzerland expands. We should keep an eye out on them.
The war was turning out to be favourable. In half a year I had occupied Hainaut, and demanded its full annexation. My Dutch territories were expanding. Those rich provinces would one day all be mine, especially if they kept supporting the Iberian countries I attacked.
My Dutch territories expand.
After the success at Hainaut, I quickly occupied Aragon. But before I wanted to make a peacedeal with them, I had to do something about Brittany So my armies marched on and found few resistance. This success made the nobles of Granada so enthousiastic, that they wanted to support my cause with quite a large sum of money. They donated 300 ducats!
The nobles support my war against Aragon.
I wanted to send my cavalery somehwat earlier to Brittany, but there was quite some unrest at the Iberian peninsula. But after they had crushed the rebels, my horses would ride to Brittany and helped defeating their armies.
During the time I laid siege on the provinces of Brittany, a messager from Tunisia came to my court, with the question if there could be a royal marriage arranged. A Agreed, but only on the terms that Tunisia would become Granada's vassal. To my surprise, they accepted. I guess that they must have been stunned by the beauty of my daughters.
Tunisia becomes my new vassal.
Finally, at 25 july 1432, Brittany succumbed to the Granadian might and surrendered. I could freely lay my demands on the table:
Cede Finistère, Armor and Morbihan. Also, pay 75 ducats.
These provinces layed halfway between the Iberian peninsula and the Dutch provinces, forming therefor a nice stop inbetween. It also gave me another border with France.
Brittany after they had accepted my peace terms.
They accepted, after which I sended my diplomats to Aragon, which had been occupied for quite some time now. My demands for a peace were:
Cede The Baleares, Girona, Pirineo and Roussillon. Also, renouce their claims on Sardinia, Aragón, València and Alicante. Finally, pay 50 ducats.
The negotiations didn't take long. They would accept anything but vassalization, so I could demand all I wanted. They accepted on 24 july 1432. Now I only needed one more province in order to totally conquer Aragon. I'm almost there... Just have to wait five years.
Aragon after they had accepted my peace terms.
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Some sidenotes:
The Almoravide empire stredged indeed further south. I thus indeed need to conquer further south of Morocco. That means I have to colonize those African areas. So it is decided: I'll first go for colonists, then for missionarisses. But maybe I'll just go to the new world first. Well, for the moment I'm still busy conquering the Iberian peninsula.
When Islamic Spain has been formed, I at least need to get the Iberian peninsula muslim. How else could I convincable establish the Spanish Muslim Inquisition
?
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