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I'm absolutely stunned. :eek: This is something I've always wanted to do, and now that I've actually seen someone accomplish it, I finally see how beautiful it is.

I thought I had it rough when my massive Byzantine Empire was embroiled in a war against the entirety of Europe and a massive Russia, but your 13-year long war against all of Europe makes my little 2-year war look like child's play. :D
 
Wow, excellent work defeating the French, you avenged the defeat of Tours
 
And even more thanks everyone :D. Today I have to go to work and to a birthday, but otherwise I'm finishing the next chapter. So I'll post it tomorrow (just have to write what happened).

I believe I haven't said how many times I tried. It wasn't much: I believe the fourth time or something I came accross this one, and I clung at it immediately.

The Byzantine Empire is quite intersting too, especially with a war like that too (even though it is 'only' two years ;)). Have you posted it? (I'll search tonight, since I have to run to work now)

After the war I already had something like 19 vassals: no, I'm not releasing more. All conquered area's are now part of the caliphate :).
 
Very, very impressive. I am stunned. Now I hope you take some to get your economy back on the track and don't end up like Rensslaer's Milan, with sky high inflation and ruined economy for the rest of his game (although he is so strong by now it doesn't really matter that much anymore, still...)
 
Chapter 12: The aftermath (1468-1491)

europa_EU3_MAP_GRA_1468.12.5_1.bmp

The situation in Europe, 5 december 1468.

I nip from my glass of wine. Excelent, absolute superb. Andalucian wine from 1485: definately the best I have tasted in years. The past few years I had the time to taste all the different kinds. Things had been going easy for quite some years now, but they weren't always this good. My father died during his last war, and I had to take over. Well, that war was almost finished, so that was not that great a deal. But then the Great War broke loose. Hell and madness spread across Europe. The constant wars torn the continent apart. Cities were burning, bodies were floating on every river you could find. After thirteen years it finally came to an end, and the rebuilding could begin. But whatever could happen, Europe would never be the same again.
The war had made a deep impression on me. Entire Europe against me. But they couldn't stop the Granadan Empire. This inspired me to a song, which I of course performed on the national instrument: the guitar. I was so fond with the melody, that I turned the tune into a national anthem. No words were needed with this song. If you want to listen, just click here.

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The development of Europe in 1450 (the start of Muhammad VIII's last war), 1456 (just before the Great War), 1468 (after the Great War has just ended) and 1491 (Europe on the moment the depression was over).

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The armies of the world in the same four years.

Now that after 22 years of peace my Empire has restored, it is time to look at the situation. What has really happened these past decades? What happened to those countries that were so promising? And more pressing, who will be the dominating countries of the 16th century, just less than a decade away. Let's have a look at those foreign countries before I'll evaluate my peacetime.

France. Spoken with respect and fear before the Great War, now spit upon by even the christians themselves. How did that happen? During the last half of the 14th and the first few decades of the 15th century, France was at war with England about some monarchial dispute. While they made heavy losses during the 14th century, they totally came back during the 15th. While the war ended and Granada sneaked in on their southern and northern borders, they grew to the most powerfull nation of the world. Under the leadership of king Charles VII they builded up an army larger than any other country, including Granada. When the Great War started, Charles VII decided to assail Granada. He was quite succesfull in it, and even though the Granadan armies were off to the east, he could have beaten them.
But he died on 21 april 1459, leaving no heirs. For five years the nobles struggled amongst themselves to rise to power, while the war raged on. Lacking the military plans Charles had, they didn't went east to crush the Granadan army like they could have, especially in combination with the eastern forces that were also fighting the Islamic power. It wasn't untill 1464 that they choose a new king: Louis XII.
The new king had to face a country that had been in a war for years, where rebels were roaming free and to whom the Granadan force was marching. The poor soul did what he could to prevent disaster, but nothing could stop the march of the 30,000 Granadan soldiers against France. His armies were defeated, and the province of Perigord declared themselves independant: they became the country of Guyenne. With his army slain, half the country in an uprising and Granada occupying the other half, he could do nothing else than to accept the harsh peacedeal I offered him. But the trouble wasn't over for him.
As soon as the Granadans marched out of France, Guyenne marched in. They swept across the country and occupied every free province. When the Great War ended, Louis XII was still facing an occupier: his former province was now acting total controll over his country. And they didn't want to accept peace. My spies had told me all about his attempts to negotiate, but everything seemed to go wrong. And England hadn't forgotten them. On 9 august 1474, while Guyenne still occupied his country, England had the pope excommunicate Louis XII. Now everyone in the christian world was free to do what he wanted against France. But nothing happened. Well, his vassal Bourgogne claimed the province Dauphiné during this times of chaos, and the old Bourgondian kings declared themselves independant in the province Rouergue (Bourgondy's back!), but the political situation didn't change much by this excommunication. His country was swept in some wars with Austria, but no fights had taken place. Guyenne remained in full controll. Louis XII died on 2 september 1489 in lonelyness. Even his son, Louis XIII, hadn't visited him for a year before he died.
Louis XIII tried to make the best of it when the news of his fathers dead recached him. One province, Lyonnais, had broken free from the rebels. Since Guyenne hadn't had military access through Granadan territory, they could not reach them. He builded up an army. It was still small, but it was at least something. But England also didn't approve of him, and had the pope excommunicate him in november 1490.
When I now look at them, I see a poor, broken country, occupied by a minor. Even when they manage to survive these dire times, I think the French days are over. If they ever try to regain power, I will be forced to do something against it. And that while they could have become quite some powerfull nation, dominating western Europe. Now they are nothing. France has been defeated.

france.jpg

The development of France throughout the years. At the end I gave a possible alternative future, where Granada hadn't become such a dominant empire.

They other European powers laid in the east. Poland and Bohemia had been before the Great War the most powerfull countries in the east. But while they did participate in the war, they didn't loose or gain terrain, and didn't change their amry much in size. Nowadays they are still powers to be reconned with, but they are not they greatest anymore. Not now others have risen in the east...

One of the rising stars of the past few years is Austria. Ever since king Leopold VIII Wilhelm managed to become the Holy Roman Emperor in 1447, the country prospered. They had lost Tirol in the previous years, but during the Great War they re-annexed it. Also, they had conquered the province of Slavonia. On the other hand, they lost their Italian provinces.
The king didn't life long after the Great War had ended. On 27 july 1469 his son, Franz I, took the crown and became Holy Roman Emperor too.His country hadn;t suffered as much damage as mine, so he was ready to war. He warned me in 1471, but didn't do anything against the Granadan danger in their west. Maybe it had to do something with they army I had stationed at his border? Anyway, he fought with the Ottomans. While he was able to hold against them, he also didn't manage to driev them back. He incresed the army untill his death in 1489. His son Ferdinand I now became king ánd Holy Roman Emperor.
Ferdinand I quickly ended the war he had with the Ottomans. That war lasted for ten long years. His father had tried to force the Ottomans back, but had utterly failed. Now he had to restore his country, and maintain a large army, although it was only slightly larger than that of Bohemia.
Austria is a threat. It has been one, and will remain one. I will have to deal with them one day or the other, before they beat the Ottomans and assume power in the Balkan. They surely have to potential to do so. Ánd they have a lot of rich gold and iron mines.

austria.jpg

Austria is caught between two Islamic powers: the Ottoman and Granadan Empire. After losing their provinces in Italy, their only way to expand is into the heathen controlled area's. Or seize power from their allies in the north and south, but that's highly unlikely.

Further east my arm doesn't reach. But it is definatly worth noting what happens there. In the early 1400's, the Muscovites were quite expanding. They had defeated Novgorod and were challenging the Golden Horde. But things changed in the second half of the 15th century.
In 1449 Lithuania gained a new king: Wladyslawas I. He saw the Muscovite expansion and thought that, once Novgorod would be totally beaten, his country would become the next to fall victim. He decided that an pre-emptive strike was necessary to guarenty the independance of Lithuania. And so he declared war on the Muscovites. To his surprise, this war went extraordinarily well, and he did it a second time. He had awaken something in the Lithuanian nation that wasn;t there before: the drive to conquer. While the country didn't participate in the Great War of the west, they did took their share of fighting in the east. Kazimieras I continued the line of agression, and even his successors, first Zygimantas I and after 1480 Jogaila I, all started wars with the Muscovites. Now those have almost been conquered by the Lithuanians. With the second-largest army of the world, they are surely a power to be reconned with. They extend their tentacles mainly eastwards, but at the moment they are in a war with also the Teutonic Order. Well, those Teutons supported their alies the Muscovites. I guess both will be history...
Although my country won't face the lithuanians for a long time, I hope, they are someone to watch out for. For now they are expanding to the east, but who guaranties that they won't go west? There is yet a buffer of Poland and Bohemia between them and me, but once that is gone, the two largest armies might clash. My future successors will have to be watchfull for this one.

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The development of Lithuania throughout the years. At the end I gave a possible alternative future, where Wladyslawas wasn't born and never awoken the conquering identity of the nation.

When I look at the North Sea, I sea three powerfull countries bordering it. Of course my beloved Granada, but there are two others too. Scandinavia and England.

Denmark and Sweden were not much of a power separated. But during the Great War the Danish king Erik VII acquired the Swedish crown, and transformed these nations into one powerfull country, Scandinavia. He didn't saw the end of the madness, since his son Christian I took over in 1467, who ruled for 8 years. In 1475 he died prematurely, leaving no sons. So the nobles decided to allow his oldest daughter, Margareta I, to become Queen of Scandinavia, which she still is nowadays.
In 1480 Scandinavia tried to invade England, but it turned out to be really disasterous: the English pushed them back, and even took over Orckney. The Scandinavians are now really limited to the North-European provinces.
Their army has grown over the years, combining all the northern forces into one massive army. But they are too north for me. For at least the coming decades Granada won't be inetrested in those northern provinces. There are more richnesses south from there. The only reason it could come to a conflict between us, is if our allies drag us into it.

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Scandinavia covers all the scandinavian provines, except Iceland. They border the great Lithuania, which is an immediate threat to them. Although Granada is near, those two don't have conflicting area's of interest.

The other North Sea power is England. Those darn English... After the old king had died in 1445, leaving no heairs, the nobles tried for 3.5 years to figure out who should lead the nation. Finally they came up with Henry VI. Although his reign started well, the nobles had underestimated one small point: Henry had an amitions daughter. On 8 february 1451, just 2,5 years after her father started his rule, she poisoned him and became Queen Mary II. Her predecessor, Mary I, was during the first half of the 15th century one of the most warmongery monarchs the English crown had seen in years. This Mary was no different. It was her doing that Europe was thrown into the largest battle it had ever seen.
Five years after she had climbed the throne, she started a war that bleaked everything before: the Great War. Although she didn't really do any real invasion on Europe, her acts triggered the burning of a continent which stopped after 13 years.But even then she didn;t stop to bugger me. In 1476 a lot of pirates appeared along the coastline. I didn't know where they came from, only that it took my carracks quite some time to finish them all off. And they kept on appearing. One year later I discovered that someone was trying to commission those privateers, but it took my spies another five years to figure out it was Mary II's doing all along.

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Pirates! They infested all my coastlines for years, and it all appeared to be Mary II's doing.

I had really thought about striking back by an invasion. The plans were still there, and their army isn't as large as during the Great War anymore. But in 1485 Mary II died. Finally, I thought, someone sensible on the throne. My joyfull mood was once again shattered when I heared that a fight had broken loose among her children, and the only one who survived it to actually rise to the throne, was Mary III. O no. Something has to be done about those bloody Mary's. First the warmongery Mary I during the first half of this century, then Mary II who started the Great War and now another one? So far she hadn't started a war yet, and those pirates ain't appearing as much as they used to be, although they still pop up regularly. But she is a hindress in another fashion: she started to explore, starting to turn her nation into the only other nation besides mine who does that.
The English won't touch me easily on the continent, although they can strike at the islands I controll. They are not a landbased power. But now they are starting to become a concurrent for overseas pollicies. That is unacceptable. For the moment they haven't made the steps of colonisation yet, but it will come. Just you wait, it will surely come. They have to be dealt with.

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Although England is for now still limited to the British Isles and the western half of Iceland, they are building up potential to become a colonial power.

I ask for another glass of wine. These European nations have great potential, which has to be squashed like a bug. But how did my empire fare during the aftermath of the war, and where are we standing now?

The moment Mary II and I signed the peace treaty, the war was over. But the fighting was not. Rebels were swarming all over the country. I had to deal with them, while my army wasn;t fully operational. The first thing I did, was cleaning the westcoast. My cavalery was already there, so it was an easy choice to start over there. There were wuite a lot of rebels in Brittany, but after a quite fearsome battle I managed to sqash them. My cavalery rode on, to Iberia.
In the meantime the French king Louis XII was facing rebels and a Guyenne occupation of his own. Although I had gloated just a year earlier to him, I now had to come back and ask for military access again. I said that I wanted to relieve Europe from the rebel threat. The king accepted. He had no choice. He could only hope for a peacedeal with Guyenne, while he was without any means to stand against them. It would be hopefully quicker if I would help to clean the rebel threat too, so Guyenne could focus on a peace. But France had to wait. After I got this access, I went on to free my empire first from this rebel scum.
My infantery was spread accross the empire, and freed every province that had been occupied by those rebels. Since my infantery couldn;t deal withthe rebels themselves, I had to send my cavalery all around. After the westcoast I moved to the Iberian peninsula, where there was a lot of fighting. There was a looming danger that Aragon or Castille would declare themselves independant, but it never came that far. Slowly but surely my cavalery was gaining strength, and in jabuari 1471 the peninsula was cleanshed from those darn rebels. Time to move on, to the Swiss provinces.
The problem with Switzerland, was that there were still French rebels entering my domain. And they came in armies larger than 10,000 men each. Luckily my cavalery was already over the 20,000, so they stormed the area and rode over them, driving them back to France. I left them there, and wonderfully they stayed there. Those rebels had learned their lesson.
In may 1472 it was time to move one to the German minors. I had recieved cries for help from my vassals, and my own provinces were also under heavy siege. Luckily the cavalery rode on, and in just six months I had freed the area. Then the hardest part came: The Netherlands.
Those lowland swines were massing quite some armies. Zeeland was under siege by at least 20,000 Dutch rebels, and Breda and Haunait by likewise armies. My cavalery was already around the 30,000 men strong, but still a lot smaller than the combined Dutch forces. Luckily those Dutch seperatists had split their armies in smaller battlegroups of around 5,000-10,000 men. I just had to storm them, drive them away and attack those seperate groups, killing every young man in it. That would teach them a lesson. Revolting. Bwah.
Despite the success of the other area's, the Netehrlands proved to be the hardest nut to crack. For two years I non-stop fought in this area, making countless losses. But finally, at the end of 1474, I managed to get my country War-rebel-free. Of course, new rebels had spawned during these years, and more rebels would come up in the few years that followed, but they were small in numbers, and could be dealt with by my infantery, and later by the Cavalery riding across the continent. but the original rebels, who had found their way to resist the system during the Great War, were finally beaten after six years. And then, a few months after this accomplishment, those pirates showed up. But I have already looked into that, with England.

rebels.jpg

The war had left me with quite a lot of rebellions all over my empire.

The Great War had left my economy in ruins. The war exhaustion was very high, a lot of provinces had to deal withrebels and most of them were not core provinces. Almost no-one paid taxes, and to make things worse: I had to maintain my army, due to the rebel threat.
The problem of the corelessness was solving itselve during the years, and would solve itselve even more in the decades to come. Since there was no war the past 22 years, the war exhaustion bettered, and therefor people were prepared to pay their taxes again. This showed an enormous boost in funding. When I look at 1468, I really wonder how I managed to maintain everything. I got only half of the taxes I get now, and the end of the year bonus was at that time only 19 ducats. Now I recieve at the end of each year 276 ducats!
One thing that didn't fare well, was the inflation. When my grandfather, Muhammad VII, had to resist the Castillian invasion, he was forced to mint a lot. Inflation really went sky-high. My father managed to get things better under controll, but it was still rising. And during the Great War I managed to didn;t let it rise spectacular. But then my army wasn't at its full strength. Now it is, and I'm busy with quite some other money-consuming stuff. So the inflation is rising again. I really need to get something to be done about that.

economy.jpg

The economie bettered during the peacetime, although the inflation was still bad. The first column shows the statistics, the second the income of the largest nations and the last one the inflation.

While I was crushing the rebels and getting the economy back on track, I needed to watch out for something else too: friends. If I wanted to prevent something like the Great War again, I needed to ally myself with half of Europe. After the war my only allies were Tunesia, Sicily and Urbino. The first two were vassals, the latter not. In 1477 Urbino broke their alliance with me, and just like with Connacht, nowadays they are back to beeing a province of Napels. If they had just remained allies with me, Naples would have naver dared to come after them.
But to be short, my list of allies was short. My list of vassals was greater. In 1468, I had 19 vassals including Tunesia. Quite a large proportion of the Holy Roman Empire was pledging their loyalty towards me. I had to take that one step further: I started to form allies with all my vassals. Regardless of my reputation, they all accepted. They had seen what happened to Savoy and Trier, who broke with me during the war. I brought them back to beeing a vassal, with loss of quite some territories. No, they all accepted my propositions for an alliance wisely. The only problem was my lack of diplomats. It took me 8 years to ally myself with all those vassals, but I managed it. That's what counts.
Before the Great War started, I had plans for a pan-Islamic alliance. After the war my reputation was quite ruined, so they too wouldn't talk to me. I had to restore my reputation. But that would take time. I had my three advisors: Firdaus Ibn Muhammad, who helped me enormously with my political ideas, Stephen Suffolk and Heinrich Talken. The latetr two were working very hard to improve my reputation.
When on 2 september 1473 Firdaus actually slipped from the rock of Gibraltar and felt to his death, I had to hire a new advisor. I wanted to improve my reputation, so I sought in that catagory. I could only find Adam Beresford, who hepled me, but wasn;t such a great addition to the team. The real deal came on 31 may 1476, when I encountered Isidor von Wistinghaussen. I was walking through my German minor provinces when he was speaking to a square of townspeople. I was so impressed by his skill, I afterwards walked towards him and asked him to become my personal advisor. He gladly accepted, giving me an enormous boost to my reputation.

advisors.jpg

My advisors through the years after the Great War. They are all focussed on lowering my reputation, which they managed.

When my reputation was good enough, I started to approach my west-Islamic breathern. I arranged in 1483 a royal marriage with Morocco; Tripoli had already arranegd this with me years ago. I sended gifts to them, along to Tripoli and Algiers. Finally, in januari 1483 I entered an alliance with Morocco and one year later with Tripoli. That year I went even one step further: I turned both countries into my vassals in september 1485. Seeing this, Algiers was reluctant to do anything with me. But after years of sending them gifts, they finally could be swayed in 1489. I first arranged a royal marriage, and then in november 1489 we entered an alliance. Just one month later, before they could break the alliance, like they did decades ago with my grandfather, I turned them into a vassal too. Tunesia had been my vassal for quite some time now, so a few years ago I decided to annex them. They cheerfully accepted, and were absorbed in the mighty Granadan Empire.
Now all of the western Islamic countries were paying tribute to me. All? Well, since the Ottoman Empire had acquiered Corsica, they actually became a western Islamic power too. We now have a good relation and already a royal marriage. So I'm currently sending them more gifts...
Talking about the Ottomans: they are doing quite well. The past 100 years they have slowly, but steadily grown into a full empire. They had defeated the Byzantine Empire and were now bringing the Balkan to their knees. Under the guidance of padishah Murad II the country had fought quite some wars. The only downside was the Great War: Murad II lost some territories during this time. But he came back. The constant struggles with Austria led to some more conquests. Murad II died in 1483 and his successor was assasinated after three years, but the empire is now in the good hands of Murad III, who is ruling them from 15 august 1486. The Ottomans have expanded under both Murads to the borders of Austria. Since I'm on the other side, we both have encapsuled that country.

ottomanempire.jpg

The Ottoman Empire is doing quite well. Has it anything to do with the Granadan expansion in the west? Maybe. At least they are doing betetr than if Granada would have never risen.

On one aspect of the past decades I haven't shone my light yet: colonization. On 17 november 1470 a men came to me. His name was Malik Ibn Umar. He said: 'I had a dream!'
Well, of course, he said more. But where it came down too, was that he wanted to explore new territories. I always wondered about the unknown, so I gave him 1,000 muslim archers under his command, one cog to transport them and one carrack to accompany them. To test his abilities to find new land, I first ordered him to explore those unknown islands I heared rumours about. Some small islands at the coast of Morocco, and even some other lands. So he set sail, and explored those. Every island he discovered, I sended colonists to. These islands were good jumpgates for any further explorations. Maybe an island far, far away from the daily troubles. An island for myself.
During the seveties Malik explored the islands along the coast, and went deep into Africa, untill he encountered strange lands. At the African coast and in the Sahara desert the locals were very, very hostile, so Malik asked for some protection. Around this time the rebels had been defeated, so I could spare some men. I sended some 12,000 extra men along with him. It came only later to my ears that he had used this army to slaughter all their warriors. Well, at least there was no danger for any hostilities anymore.
As soon as Malik discovered new lands, I started to colonise. Madeira, The Canarias and The Azores were the first islands I let my colonists set foot onto. Those old Portuguese and Castillian people gave these islands their names. I didn't like it, but got the news to late to do something about it. The next colonies had to get more islamic names. And so it happened. On 12 april 1473 my colonists reached Cape Akhbar, the green cape. The Portuguese crewmembers wanetd to call it Cape Verde, but everyone who didn't accept the Arabic name was thrown off the rock of Gibraltar, so it was accepted quite fast.
In march 1483 my colonists started to expand the empire south of Morocoo. They had heard about a golden river, so they called that area Oued Edhahab. It turned out that grain was the only export product that could be mounted there, but nevertheless, the name stuck.

newlands.jpg

Malik has discovered quite some new lands, which I started to colonize.

When it became 1490, I started to question Malik. He was doing nothing for quite some time, and he still hadn;t found an island for me. Afraid of the rock of Gibraltar, he brought his friend Isma'ïl Ibn Isma'il, who was an excelent sailor. He said that they together would set sail, and go west, to discover an island for me. He set sail from the Azores and to my surprise, he kept his promise. On 29 april 1490 he discovered an island, which I have now finally colonised. I called it: Sa'd Bedhyra; Sa'ds island.

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Sa'd Bedhyra. If the island can grow to a full province, it will be an excelent starting point for expansion in the west.

Now it is 1 june 1491. I heared rumours that the English have sailed accross the ocean, and discovered last year new lands there. But it is too far for them to colonise. I must be sure to be there before they can get there.

There are some decissions that I have to make. What shall we do, what direction shall we go the next decade?

Military:
I have the largest army of the world, all stationed along my eastern border. In 1471 Austria warned me, but was too busy with the Ottomans to actually take action. But in 1476 Venice warned me. During the Great War, those warnings meant a looming war. Since the rebels ahd just been crushed, I positioned all my troops along the eastern border, while my cavalery rode through the lands once in a while to crush sprouting rebels. Venice and Austria never declared war, so I guess it helped to show me my teeth.
But now my country has restored from that war, it is time to look and decide what to do with such a large army. The Austrians have bothered me and my fatehr for quite some time now, and they have rich gold and iron mines. They are very yummie to have. And besides, I still need to connect my Italian provinces to the rest of my empire. On the other hand, England is quite a nuisiance. I could try to invade them, now that I have a five times as large army. They won't stand a change, and it would certainly stop their colonization plans. Or I could remain passive. So:
a) I go to war with Austria and Lombardia or Mantua, to connect the Italian provinces and ussurp some of the Austrian mines.
b) I invade England, try to capture Iceland and Ireland and stop their colonization plans.
c) An old goal: I will try to vassalize the remaining staes of the Holy Roman Empire. It is a riks, since it could throw me in another total war.
d) I remain passive, and just wait for a war to come to me.

Politically:
The current course I have taken, is that of uniting the western muslim world. The first step is to form alliances, then to vassalise the countries, and finally to annex them. I completed this plan with Tunesia, and Morocco, Tripoli and Algiers are entering the final stage. I am currently working on project Ottoman, but I should expand my view to the east of the mediterranian. Maybe it would be good to restore the Roman Empire, only this time under a good, Islamic ruler. I then need to improve my relations with Syria and the Mamluks.

Colonization:
Of course I need to colonize more. But unfortunately, Oued Edhahab was a mistake. It was tropical, causing it not to grow of it's own. I therefor needed to send a constant stream of colonists to get it to it's full potential. Now it was only usurping budget. But the other colonies are doing fine. I had heared about the English discovery, and now that I got Sa'd Bedhyra, I can easily explore further. But where to go to?
1) I explore to the west, with the risk to finding things I can't colonise for a long time.
2) I go to the south: same problem
3) I go to the north: I don't know if the colder north would be worth something, but it can be usefull to get there before the English.

I nip the last drip of wine form my glass. This is it. Granada is back in business, and now has to decide what to do. I will sleep another night before I decide.

*********************************************************************
Some sidenotes:

Yes, I gave some colonies arabic names :). But I don't speak Arabic, so I used online translators. Unfortunately, they give the translation in Arabic letters, and I can;t read those. So I needed some transliteration. I haven;t found a free tool yet, but I did find a course. Using this, I managed to transliterate some Arabic words. But if I did something wrong: please correct me!
Sa'd the warrior... Well, if he goes to war, he surely does credit to that nickname. Do you still think it is a suitable nickname for him, or is something else better? I think it actually matches quite well :).
I now have to decide what to do. Politically I'm going to vassalise more Islamic countries, or at least try to do so. I won't hurt if I have them as allies :). but where will I send my ship to, where to explore and colonise? And whom to attack? Will it be Austria, England, someone else or shall I remain passive?

I hope you enjoyed this peacefull update. 22 years of peace, that's quite a contrast to the 13 year long Great War of the last chapter. I couldn't give you the same excitement as with such an enormous war, so I tried something else. And well, I promised to give you some more details of France, so here they are :).
Next time I will try to keep the chapters shorter. You really had to wait a long time for this one, and the previous one. I hope I can get back to a more fast schedule, like I had during the first week of this AAR.
 
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Love the national anthem! :D

Ussually I'd advice to wait for the war to come you, but with a monarch called Sa'd the warrior, you'll have to fight! Italy would probably be the best place for that.

Go exploring south, the Caribean is close to you, and is rich, Brazil is rich too, but is further away. I'd go for Brazil, and keep Bermuda as a naval base.
 
Invade England!!!

Thet way, you can monopolise the New World.

And great Netional Anthem!!! :D
 
I agree; invade England and cut them off like you did with France. Who knows, maybe they'll be taken over by Wales. :D
 
Invade england for fun sake, also you can conquer ireland ^^

But why not ally Scandinavia? :(
 
Chapter 13: Invade England (1491-1500)
Part 1 - War with the Austrians (1491-1495)

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The situation in Europe, 1 june 1491.

The moment I wake up, I know what to do. Those English must pay for their deeds, and that bloody Mary should suffer. But my armies are all amonst the Austrian and Bohemian border, keeping them in check. They are a serious threat if I remove those men. So before I invade England, I need to remove the danger from the east. And of course in the meantime my dear explorers would go out and explore the west for me.
I took one year to prepare myself for war with the Austrians. I had looked at who their allies are, and saw that Milan was one of them. Milan was needed to connect my Italian provinces to the rest of the Empire, and Austria would protect them. So I decided to go to war to Milan.
After moving my men to their right positions, I declared on 2 june 1492 war on Milan. Immediately their allies, occupied France and Naples, were drawn into the war. But also Venice, who had warned me, and Austria, who is Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Venice took the lead in this one.
Two days after I had started the war, England, and its ally Lorraine, declared war upon me. Had Mary been waiting for an opportunity like this? She of course would attack my Irish and Icelandic provinces, but she was still not able to do a full-scale invasion. So no threat there.
Five days after Englands declaration, Bavaria warns me. This does mean they will declare within a few months a war on me. Experience from the Great War told me that. But it would take another few months. But by the end of the month, first Bohemia, and its allies the Teutonic Order, Brandenburg and Aquileia, declared war on me. So now I was at war with 11 countries once again. It surely brings back memories. But this time I was prepared. With 100,000 men at the front and more that 80,000 in reserve, I was a pure warmachine. My reputation was very good too. Even now this war is starting to become larger than I had imagined, I am much better prepared than the last time.

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At war with 11 countries: it surely does bring back memories.

By the end of july 1492 I occupied Lombardia, and immediately annexed Milan. Now my territories, except Nice of course, were connected. That mission has been quite fastly completed. Meanwhile my men where advancing into Austria, and beaten their men back. They had something like 50,000 men at their disposal, but not concentrated at the border. While I quickly marched into their territory with a lot of men, they had to pull them from all over their country. The attricion was high, but it was worth it. The Austrians were pushed back.
Half a month later, on 10 august 1492, my minors had occupied Lorraine, and I annexed it. Now my central German provinces were connected with the rest of the empire. I hadn't planned for this, but it is a good thing that it did happen.
Another month later, in september, something strange happened. Lyonnais was the only free French province left, and Louis XIII had assembles an army over there. He marched into my domain, but my vassal allies buggered him long enough so I could occupy his final province on 7 september 1492. But before I could do anything - with just one province occupied I couldn't demand much from them - Guyenne sended their diplomats. They demanded the head of Louis XIII and his entire country, and got it! Instead of one occupied France, I now saw one giant Guyenne rising. They hadn't got any army, but it wouldn't surprise me to see one beeing build in the coming few years. After my business in the east will be done, I have to deal with Guyenne. It is on the route towards England.

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One moment France is occupied for 23 years, the other moment France doesn't exist anymore.

The next month, at 5 october, Bavaria and it's allies Mainz, Mantua, Croatia and Poland declare war. I've been waiting for this to happen since they warned me. Now I'm at war with 13 countries. I hope no-one else will declare war on me. This is quite enough already. but with my full force available, I think I can handle it. At least, if I can beat Austria.

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The top of this war: fighting 13 countries at the same time.

Not everything went quite well. I had stationed 12,000 men at the Napelese border. When the war started, they moved into the enemy territory, only to be beaten up. When I accepted their white peace offer on 5 december 1492, only 277 men remained from the whole regiment. They were trapped on Sicily, so I had to transport them with boats. I brought them to the southern Guyenne border to recover: they were immediately in place for the second act of this chain of wars.
Luckily my war with Austria was going better. I had won some battles, but the decisive blow came at 14 december: I completely wiped out a large part of their army. King Ferdinant I of Austria found his downfall in Steiermark. 'Finding someones Steiermark' thereafter became an expression to tell someone found his end.

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The seven battles that lead to FerdinandI's downfall. Starting in Tirol (1166 casualties on my side, 1408 on his side), we moved to Lienz (1389/7246). After a detour back at Tirol (0/952), I marched on to Steiermark (0/3000) After this initial battle I went to the capital of Wien (3644/6652). After my victory there, I hurried back to Steiermark, where I awaited the army. In two battles (0/2004) and (0/12766) I completely defeated his main army. In these seven battles there were on my side 6199 casualties, while on his side there were 34028 deaths. Defeat within 6 months.

With the battle of Steiermark won, I split my infantery armies into smaller sections, to lay simultaneous siege on all their provinces, along with the provinces of Venice, Aquileia, Croatia and Mantua. And even march on towards Bohemia.
I never saw any man from the Teutonic Order, except on 10 march 1493. A diplomat arrived at my court, requesting a white peace. They had biseness elsewhere and could really not use this war. I galdly accepted: I would never reach them, so it was good to have them out of the war.
The same trick that happened to Lorraine, happened to Mainz: my vassals occupied that country. But this time I didn;t annex them: I turned them into a vassal, and let them pay 50 ducats. I didn't immediately need their territory, so this solution worked fine for me.
In april I occupied Aquileia, but I had to wait untill may before a diplomat was available. I then demanded from them:

Cede Istria and pay 50 ducats.

They had no choice than to accept.
A few days later Croatia also fell, which I did annex completely. On first sight you migth think that these two provinces were loose from the rest of my empire, but then you wouldn't see the larger picture: I still had to occupy Austria, and claim some provinces. I will be able to connect it easily when that happens.
Unfortunately on 30 july 1493 my explorer Malik died. Since my main explorations would now be on sea, I will not replace him for the coming years.

On 14 november 1493 the siege of Mantua was finally succesfull, and I could annex the country into my empire. I wanted to gain the entire Northern Italic area, so I had to absorb this small country into mine.
One month later Bavaria fell, and I demanded from them:

Become my vassal, cede Niederbayern, renouce your claims on Schwaben, Salzburg and Oberpfalz and pay 75 ducats.

They accepted. By doing that, they knocked Poland out of the war. The Polish hordes were bugging my vassals in the north, but their main army was staying in Poland, ready to defend every inch. But I was not interested in Poland: that country is a nice buffer between me and Lithuania, which I fear more.
Against England I had a few successes in 1494, despite they called a crusade against me on 5 may. I didn;t notice anything as a result. Ok, Provance warned me, but that was it. But while the English did that, I sank 5 of their carracks in the North sea, and 8 of them for the coast of Morocco, while losing none myself. I had 20 fully armed carracks sailing in formation towards their small fleets. I guess that my boats were saved by their numbers.

The second half of 1494 brought peace and victory. The first country to fall, was Austria. After they had found their Steiermark, they just couldn't cope with the armies swarming all over the place. Finally, on 14 july, I demanded from them to cede Tirol, Trent, Steiermark, Lienz and Görz, thus connecting my two loose provinces to my mainland.
One day later I sended a diplomat to Venetia, demanding:

Cede Verona and Treviso, renounce your claims on Athens and pay 225 ducats.

After they accepted, it was quiet for a few months. But in october it was again bingo. I first asked England for a peacedeal. I wanted to invade them, but not yet. just within a few years. So I said that there would be peace with them, if they would just pay 125 ducats. Luckily Mary III accepted on these terms. She was still sour over the loss of 13 of her 19 carracks.
By the end of october 1494, I completely occupied Brandenburg. I didn't demand any provinces: I forced them instead to become my vassal and pay 50 ducats. Why would I do that? Well, because I was gaining control over the Holy Roman Empire and Brandenburg is an elector, just like the previously vassalized Mainz. Just three more countries, and again occupying the capital of the Emperor, and I can dismantle that darn institution.

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The Holy Roman Empire is not only shattered, but I also controll almost all electors. Just three more.

Although I occupied Bohemia almost at the same time as Brandenburg, I couldn't immediately make peace: I lacked the diplomats. But on 2 februari 1495 they finally accepted my peaceterms:

Cede Oberlausitz, Linz, Sudety, Niederlausitz and Etz. Also, renouce your claims on Ratibor. Finally, pay 175 ducats.

In total I had just gained 750 ducats and 16 provinces from this war, along with 4 new vassals. now I was ready to march towards Guyenne, for the second stage of the invasion.

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Now Austria and Bohemia are defeated, Europe doesn't look the same again.

While this all took place in Europe, my brave captain kept on exploring in the west. By the time the war stopped, he had found the land the English had discovered, along with quite a lot more. There seemed to be a whole new continent on the other side of the ocean. Interesting, interesting. I have to claim that continent for myself.

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The discoveres made during the past four years. A whole new continent!

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Some sidenotes:
Ahura Mazda: I went westwards first, since that was the most logical thing to do. Then I started exploring both north and south, but with the discovery of the islands of the caribean, the island-loving Sa'd will demand that these new group of islands must be explored ;). And yes, I followed your advise: I first messed with Italy and Austria. O, and the national anthem: if I really become emperor in real life, I will make this one the national anthem. Maybe not this version, but still ;).
Enewald: I'm sorry, no peace today. Sa'd the warrior has shown his teeth. I want to colonise, but with the speed of 1 colonist per year that doesn't go that fast. I need to knock the competition out.
Warpimp: Who knows! Maybe things will clash between the Sunnites and the Shiites when I expand further to the east?
comagoosie: I really have to deal with those Mary lineage. And yes, it is a horrible inflation. But especially in the beginning, when Castille invaded the poor and small Granada, I had no choice. And since then things went so fast, the empire grew so explosively, that there was not yet a way to stop it going sky high. But I'm on top of the government research: If I can only get level 31, I can build a lot of Tax assessors...
EUROO7: Yes! Invade England! But it has to be done in stages. My army was guarding the eastern border. But now that the danger is gone over there, I can move silently to the British isles.
Vladislav: It would be great if that would happen :D. Esecially if Cornwall gains controll of entire England afterwards: one pink blob on the map. That would be quite a strange picture.
Tjena Med Laxen: It is now definately sure: England must die. And then I need to bring the Islam to those Irish people. We can surely use Islamic Leprechauns over here! And why I won't ally myself with Scandinavia? Well, if they offer me an alliance, I would definately accept it :). But our current relation is -169, and forming aliances with the other muslim nations has a higher priority. They are not in my way, I'm not in their way, so we won't bother eachother. But I'm, for now, not investing diplomats in improving the relation.

Ok, I will go against England! But my army was till at the eastern front, so I had to do this first. And the the Guyenne thing happened... Well, that has to be done too. But if everything goes as planned, England will be the third stage of this plan. I just hope Sa'd lives long enough to execute it... He is already ruling Granada for 40 years!
 
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You are a fantastic EU3 player, taking a nation from the brink of destruction to becoming the scourge of Europe. Good job!

Great AAR!

(brain explodes at the war overload and Muslim Germany) :p



:) asd
 
Guyenne must be destroyed!!!

You cannot let them form France!

And if you take some provinces from them, you can connect your provinces in western France to your empire!!! :D

And then, To the Isles!!!
 
Ha ha, amazing! I love the shots of the alternate history, though I find it highly unlikely. The Empire just had too many advantages, I cant imagine a timeline in which it didnt come to power :D

Just like professional athletes, Granada always wants more. Greedy Granadians! :)