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Oct 12, 2012
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  • Europa Universalis III: Chronicles
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  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Rome: Vae Victis
I'm making a comeback after my previous AAR failure. I wasn't going to post this, but It turned out to be a very enjoyable (and successful) game. :cool: The first few updates might have fewer pictures than the rest because I was not planning to post this, but I shall try my best to make it concise. Without further ado, I present to you Macedonia: A Greco-Bulgarian Divergences After Action Report.​

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Previous infoboxes: 1836
 
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I would love to see how you handle the situation.If I remember correctly,Macedonia starts at war with the Ottomans.
 
Good to hear you again, Michael. :D

It's also nice to see another Divergences AAR (I actually did one such AAR based on the Seven Republics, though it's now dead).

-Gian ("Manager" of Genovia in the SCJU)

P.S. By now, you should have known that Genovia's "changed", now that Ethan/Murcia has turned into a Grecco-state. Just so you know. :cool:
 
This sounds like it will be very good. I look forward to following your struggles!
 
Subbed! I've seen other Divergence AARs, but never subbed to any. You're the first. :D
 
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Apologies again for the lack of in-game pictures, I didn't start to properly document the game until the 1860s,
when it became really interesting. I shall try my best to make it enjoyable
until the endless stream of screenshots arrives, bare with me!


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Map of Ottoman central Macedonia.

Since the fall of the Bulgarian Empire in 1396 and the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire, also known in the West as Imperium Graecorum (the Greek Empire), in 1453, Bulgars and Hellenes (Greeks) respectively found themselves without a country to call their own. The relative peace and prosperity that had prevailed in the first centuries of Ottoman rule over the Macedonian homeland was gradually replaced with the greed and corruption of the Ottoman overlords to the expense of the Greeks and Bulgarians alike. Nepotism and high taxation for faraway wars gradually sipped into the Macedonian psyche, and discontent with the Sultan spread across the land.

With the fall of Thessalonica, in 1432, and Constantinople, in 1453, scores of Greek intellectuals sought refuge in Venice and Aragon. The ideas they brought with them, so different to the narrow-minded views of the Catholic west, sparked an intellectual revolution so intense that it was as if Europe was reinventing itself; this revolution was given the name The Renaissance, The Rebirth. Age-old beliefs in the authority of the Church above everything else are gradually beginning to be replaced by Humanist ideals (albeit against a religious backdrop), and eventually the Age of Enlightenment comes into life, further expanding the longing for a free and independent Macedonian fatherland, where Greeks and Bulgars will enjoy the freedoms they cherished before their Ottoman subjugation.

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The Conference of Nàpols, presided by Martin Fernando Alfonso, Príncep d'Aragó.

The concept of a Macedonian kingdom was not only appealing to the Greek and Bulgarian intellectuals outside of the Ottoman Empire, but also to the Crown of Aragon, which had in the previous centuries grown to rival the Venetians and the Ottomans in its mastery of the art of trade in the Mediterranean. Under an Aragonese monarch, such as kingdom could be a powerful ally to project the interests of Aragon against Venice and the Ottoman Turks, and it was with this thinking that numerous Greek and Bulgarian revolutionaries from across Europe were invited to Naples in the Kingdom of Aragon to participate in a conference, presided by Alfonso VI d'Aragó's second son, Martin Fernando Alfonso, Príncep D'Aragó, in 1824.

The intentions of Aragon were made clear at the conference, that Aragon would support the Macedonian cause only if Martin Fernando Alfonso, Príncep D'Aragó, claimed the Greco-Bulgarian throne as Constantine XII and III (Constantí XII i III) under the title King of Romans, Tsar of Bulgars (Rei de Romans, Zar dels Búlgars). With no living descendants of any of the Greek or Bulgarian royal houses, there were no objections to the ascension of Martin Fernando Alfonso to the throne per se, and fears of exchanging one Turkish tyrant for an Aragonese one were put to rest with the formal promise of a constitution similar to that of the Crown of Aragon. The more liberal voices calling for a Republic were ultimately pushed to the sidelines by the end of the Conference.

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Martin Fernando Alfonso, Príncep d'Aragó, in 1824 (aged 18).

It was with that air of optimism for a free Macedonian homeland that the conference concluded, and the secret organisation borne out of it, the Brotherhood of Freedom, set to plan the War of Independence. Upon Martin Fernando Alfonso's acceptance to the Brotherhood, the Macedonian Tricolour was presented to him; three vertical bands of blue, for the Greeks, white, for Peace, and green, for the Bulgars, with the lesser coat of arms in the center, a red Macedonian lion on a blue field topped by the Macedonian crown.

By the 1830s, the Ottoman Empire had descended to a state of near chaos. Dissatisfaction was widespread with the Sultan's refusal to enact reforms, which was causing the Empire to lag behind the other European powers. The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment were infiltrating the educated classes of the Ottoman elite, and there was widespread talk of revolution in the Sultan's realms, which greatly aided the plans of the Brotherhood of Freedom.

Meanwhile, Greek and Bulgarian commanders were being trained in the army of Aragon, and official battle plans drawn up for when the time came to declare the independence of Macedonia from the Ottoman yoke. Everything was falling into place for the greatest revolt the Balkans had experienced.

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The Declaration of Independence.

The opportunity to strike against the Ottoman Empire revealed itself in 1835. The mutiny of several divisions of the Ottoman army under Mehmed Emin Rauf Pasha forced the Sulta's remaining forces to head towards Anatolia, where Rauf Pasha's revolt was making significant gains. Albanian nationalists later followed, with their declaration of independence from the Turks. The Brotherhood of Freedom seized the opportunity, and the Declaration of Independence was signed in Thessalonica on 2 October 1835, amid jubilations by Greeks and Bulgars alike. The document of independence was reproduced and distributed to all corners of the Macedonian homeland, and the news of the revolt soon spread to other Greek- and Bulgarian-speaking territories.

The battle plans which the Brotherhood of Freedom and the Crown of Aragon had been planning for almost a decade were put into effect, and the Macedonian army charged towards Kavala and Dedeagatch. In a surprise move, the Ottoman army, now mostly made up of conscripts, moved in from the north and caught the Macedonian forces by surprise. Macedonia had to retreat from Kavala and Dedeagatch, to come to the aid of Macedonia's largest city, Skopje.

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Ottoman forces defending recently-captured Skopje.

Skopje, with a population of mostly Bulgars but also significant amounts of Greeks, had been captured by the Ottoman Empire in the earliest stages of the War of Independence. Macedonia's senior general, the Bulgarian Gjerasim Avram, immediately ordered the recapture of the city. The Ottomans, outnumbered and outgunned, suffered great losses, but the losses of Macedonia were even greater. The time it took for Avram's reinforcements to reach Skopje was devastating for the initial Macedonian army tasked with taking the city. The Battle of Skopje remained the costliest battle of the War of Independence in terms of lives lost, with Macedonia losing 21,044 men (out of 47,000 lives lost in the entire war) in its successful effort to recapture the city.

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The Aragnon-trained Macedonian Cavalry charges against the Ottoman forces.

From the recapture of Skopje onwards, one Macedonian victory succeeded another. Hitting the retreating Ottomans on the run, the Macedonian army, and in particular the fearsome Macedonian Cavalry, stroke a series of devastating blows to the Ottoman army, which was in disarray. On other fronts, the Ottoman rebels of Rauf Pasha had crashed the Ottoman forces sent to deal with the rebellion, and Albania was soon joined by Illyria, which declared war on the Ottoman Empire for Montenegro, and Hungary, which demanded expansion as well.

A second Ottoman invasion force, landing in the Macedonian town of Petrich, was soon intercepted by the Macedonian army in the war's second-bloodiest battle. Refusing to consent to defeat, and fuelled by the numerous Macedonian victories, the Greek and Bulgarian troops broke the enemy lines and succeeded in securing a victory over the enemy.

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The Macedonian army enters Athens, amid scenes of jubilation.

Hitting the retreating Ottomans proved a successful strategy, and within a few years the Ottoman Empire had been soundly defeated by the Macedonian army, which had grown in size since the start of the war to a total of 75,000 able-bodied men. The Ottoman Empire had lost most its forces, and occupation by various powers and rebels of its land prevented the Sultan from raising further troops.

By 1838 the prospect of Macedonian independence seemed certain, and the Macedonian army now marched largely unopposed. The First Army headed to liberate Kavala and Dedeagatch, in Eastern Macedonia, while the Second Army headed south, liberating Yannena, Volos and Athens. The Cyclades soon followed, and Macedonian forces were greeted as liberators by the southern Greeks.

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Losses in the Macedonian War of Independence.

1839 was a significant year for the War of Independence. Macedonia had made significant territorial gains against the Ottoman Empire, having occupied all the lands south of Macedonia, and had further occupied East Macedonia and Rumelia. By then, Rauf Pasha's rebels had already stormed the Imperial palace in Constantinople, taking the Sultan captive. The reality of the situation was becoming increasingly apparent to the Sultan and to Rauf Pasha, and soon negotiations began between Macedonia, represented by Martin Fernando Alfonso, and the humiliated Ottoman Empire.

In the course of almost four and a half years, 113,914 lives had been lost in the battlefields of Macedonia and the Ottoman Empire, all defending their ideals gallantly. Ultimately, the will of Macedonians for self-determination prevailed, and the Ottomans were forced to accept the new Balkan reality; no longer did the Ottoman Empire have complete control over Balkan affairs. In fact, it had been severely wounded by the events of the past four years, with mutinies and revolutions taking place in all corners of the once mighty Empire.

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Macedonia, the national personification by Aragonese painter Carlos Rivel in 1839.

Who would have imagined in 1824 that the War of Independence would be such a huge success for Macedonia? That the revolutionaries would not only manage to hold their ground in Macedonia, but conquer lands in southern Greece and Rumelia, reaching even the outskirts of Constantinople? Fate was not in the Ottoman Empire's favour, and Macedonia eventually triumphed over its oppressor. The nationalist fervour which accompanied Macedonia's triumphant march to independence, with its future king, Martin Fernando Alfonso, Príncep d'Aragó, at the helm is documented in paintings such as that by Carlos Rivel.

The Macedonian delegation sent to negotiate in Constantinople in 1840 will put an end to the War of Independence. Independence is granted, certainly, but the issue remains; how much of its conquests will Macedonia keep once peace is signed?

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@ King50000 - My first subscriber, yay :wub:
@ Razgriz 2K9 - Divergences is my favourite mod (apart from PDM, but Divergences uses PDM too, so...) and I'm surprised there arent more Divergences AARs out there :/ Hope you enjoy this one though!
@ videonfan - I hope the post explains it sufficiently, I don't have any screenshots until peace is signed with the Ottomans, and then screenshots are very rare from 1840 until 1850-something, when the game became interesting and I decided to make an AAR about it.
@ hoi2geek - always nice to see you commenting, Gian :p I am aware about Murcia/Genovia, but people have lost interest in the SCJU (myself included due to the lack of activity) so it's unlikely that Northern Greece will get developed more. I sent you a private message by the way.
@ Belgiumruler - Thank you :)
@ Mkoll13 - Thanks, I hope you have enjoyed the opening update and stick around for the much more exciting stuff that happens later!
@ Derahan - I will certainly try! Those silly southern Greeks, puppets of Venice, are currently in the way!
@ GreatUberGeek - I feel honoured now, I hope I don't disappoint you! :D
 
Nicely done I must say.Atleast much better than when I tried playing Macedonia :p
What are your future goals?Conquering Alexander the Great's empire?
 
A dual-nationalist rebellion that accepted an Aragonese absolute monarch?! Something tells me that it will be easy to write any demands for political reforms into the story.

Are there any more of your cores that you can get out of the Ottomans in a Crisis, or is it strictly conquest from now on? And, if so, how soon can we expect to see a Macedonian King of Greece again?

P.S. Loving the effort you are putting into the pictures. Please keep it up.
 
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As usual, fantastic visuals. That was a great first chapter. Excellent work willing your freedom from the Ottomans. Now put it to good use dominating the Balkans!
 
@Michael - I noticed the PM.

Will be responding soon.

EDIT: Done.