Midnight in Moscow

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Chapter 7 1490-1505

This is the record of Ivan Wolf III, now the third by this name to serve king and country. I was born in Moscow in 1457; in 1490 Ivan Veliky appointed me to my father's former position as Regent. By this time I had lived 33 years, 21 of them at wartime. I did not know what peace was. For that matter, no one else did either.

With shame and sorrow I have read my father's official record, ending with defeat and the taking of his own life. Though it would be disrespectful to correct a dead man, and my own father at that, I must make our country's official record accurate. During the 1480s all of us, naturally, were focused on the Lithuanian war but as it happened we were involved in another war late in that decade. In November 1488 the Swedes, the vultures, saw our ruin at hand and declared war. To their credit, before this time they had followed an exemplary foreign policy; to my knowledge, they had not been involved in a single war. Unfortunately they picked us as their first target, at at time when we needed everything to fight the Lithuanians. We fought a few small battles with the Swedes during 1489 and they settled with us in January 1490. Obviously we could not afford to spare the troops to fight against them, but to tell the truth the Lithuanians had us beaten in any case.

As the Lithuanians made gains from 1486-1490 they made numerous peace offers, which my father rejected as he wrote before. Sometimes they asked for money, but usually they wanted territory: Ryazan, or Bogutjar, or both. To this we could not agree. But soon after they conquered Voronezh, we received a peace proposal on the following terms: Muscovy to pay 14 ducats (all we had), and grant Lithuania military access. Considering that they held four of our provinces these terms were surprisingly generous. I could only conclude that they, too, were at the breaking point.

I stood before Ivan Veliky as we discussed the Lithuanians' offer. Ivan looked me in the eye, knowing well what my father's attitude had been, testing to see if I would react in the same way. And, to tell the truth, that is what I wanted to do. Never settle! Make them pay for four ruinous wars! Revenge!

But we were broken. The Lithuanians beat us. We knew it, and they knew it. Vengeance would have to wait. We gave our acceptance to the Lithuanian ambassador, and Muscovy had peace at last.

Our kingdom was in ruins. The treasury was empty and we had to repay three loans on a limited income, all the while fighting against rebels who had taken Lugansk during the war. Here I must praise our Finance Minister, who performed brilliantly during this critical hour. Carefully following the investment market, he was able to refinance two critical loans at better rates before our creditors came calling. For my part I ruthlessly cut all expenses to the bare minimum of what was absolutely essential -- namely, a very small army to deal with whatever revolts may occur. On my orders, the Finance Minister minted new coins just fast enough to be able to accumulate a cash reserve to pay off the loans. By 1498 we were free at last from debt. The cost was an inflation rate estimated at 31%. But then our Finance Minister worked another miracle, instituting a currency reform which not only added precious money to our treasury, but lowered the inflation rate 5 points.

All the while we prayed for peace. We flatly could not afford another war. As the truce with the Lithuanians expired late in 1495 we waited with great anxiety for any hint of military activity across the border. Then it happened -- January 21, 1496 -- the Lithuanians sent notice that they had cancelled their military access in our country. Having seen this with Denmark 30 years before, we knew with dread what this meant: the prelude to war. Oh dear God, no! Spare us, in the name of Heaven! Never before or since was I as terrified as I was on that day.

But fortune, or perhaps God Himself, smiled on us. The Lithuanians never followed through with a declaration of war. Probably this was just a way for a powerful Duke or Baron in Vilnius to get a sick laugh at our expense.

In November 1500, for once we heard favorable news from Lithuania. It seems that the Polish-Lithuanian alliance, which had stood for ages, was under strain unknown to us. Poland declared war on Lithuania! Now, ever since the first Lithuanian war ended in 1455 we had sworn to take revenge. This looked like a tempting opportunity -- maybe time for a nice vengeful stab in the back? Many of our nobles were licking their chops at the prospect. But I reflected more dispassionately. By this time we had recovered quite a bit, but we were still too weak. And I would not make my father's error, and ruin our country in a fanatical war of vengeance that we could not win. At my urging Ivan Veliky adopted my position and we stayed out of the war.

The one country with which we did take action during this time was Novgorod. From the beginning of time, or so it seemed, they had been our enemy. But they had fared badly during and since the Lithuanian wars. Following the first war they fell into Civil War in 1457. Following the second war their government fell in 1468. As my father related, during the fourth war Muscovy captured their capital, and we settled for peace at the price of 253 ducats. This bought survival for Novgorod but they never recovered. Revolts occurred which they could not put out; at the arrival of the year 1500 and a new century, Novgorod was under rebel control, and a rebel army was sitting on their other province, Ingermanland.

At this point Ivan Veliky truly showed his greatness. Rather than swooping in as a vulture, Ivan saw that Novgorod would add to our alliance with Tver and Suzdal if only they could be cultivated suitably. It took about four years to accomplish Ivan's vision. First we made enough gifts to Novgorod to bring our relationship at least to a decent level rather than open hostility. Following this, Novgorod granted us military access and in a 3-year campaign we cleared out the rebels. Now Novgorod, newly added to our alliance, began to rebuild their shattered country and army.

By 1504 our relations with our three allies were so good, and our international reputation so much improved, that Ivan Veliky attempted to incorporate Novgorod and Suzdal into our kingdom as vassals. However, they both refused. Apparently the time was not yet right for such a move.

Our great king Ivan III Veliky left this world in October, 1505, and Vasily III reigned in his stead. Vasily was impressed by the work I had done during the past 15 years in rebuilding our country, and he retained my in my position as Regent.

 

[Lord Durham]

Here's another diamond in the rough worthy of the Weekly Showcase. Not only is this well written AAR an inaugural attempt, the author has no problem writing in the trouble he faces while attempting to expand his domains - a rare enough occurrence.

 

[Judge]

Oops a new AAR started in my absence last week. Well written, interesting and realistic. Good work indeed

 

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I am deeply honored to receive such attention from the powers that be. Many thanks!

Lord Durham, a minor correction -- I had a lot of trouble not in expanding the country, but defending it afterward!

I need to write some more. The game is getting way ahead of me, up to 1680 and I've written only up to about 1570. Going through the log is really tedious, but the record kept there is just super!

 

[Lord Durham]

Originally posted by jwolf
I am deeply honored to receive such attention from the powers that be. Many thanks!

Lord Durham, a minor correction -- I had a lot of trouble not in expanding the country, but defending it afterward!

Sorry, I was just using a generalisation.

 

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Chapter 8 1506-1521

As Muscovy recovered its strength we began to give serious thought to military action in order to accomplish political goals we could not have considered earlier. At this time, we recognized four such goals:

1.Revenge against Lithuania
2. Incorporate our allies (Tver, Suzdal, Novgorod) into our kingdom
3. Crush the Golden Horde
4. Curb Denmark

In 1506 the Lithuanians settled their war with Poland, ceding to them the province of Ukraina. We would need to wait for a better opportunity to attack them. On the other hand, they were battered so much by Poland that they would not be a threat to us for some time.

We had failed just recently in vassalization attempts of our allies.

By this time the Golden Horde no longer was a great power. After their defeat at our hands in 1471 they never recovered. More provinces were held by rebels than by the Horde, and Mediterranean powers had eaten away at their rich provinces at the Black Sea. We could destroy them at any time, but they did not present an urgent problem as they once did.

Denmark, on the other hand, appeared large, powerful, and very dangerous. We did not know when it happend, but sometime during the preceding several years Denmark annexed its former vassal, Sweden. This meant that the Danes owned literally all of Scandinavia, plus a bit of Northern Germany, and for good measure, Arkhangelsk in our backyard (the crafty Swedes had sneaked into Arkhangelsk and settled it shortly after our first war with Novgorod back in 1424). We were alarmed at the prospect of a powerful Danish army in Arkhangelsk, ready to strike at Moscow in only two steps. Then, too, there was the matter of revenge on the backstabbing Judases who had betrayed us twice.

Confident of our power along with our three allies, I sent a declaration of war against Denmark in March 1508. Our allies did indeed join the war as I had foreseen. For their part, Denmark was allied to several western powers, most of whom could not reach us in any reasonable way. The one exception was Aragon, which owned the province of Crimea. The price Aragon paid for their loyalty was to have Tver defeat them in Crimea and take the province; after Aragon managed to land another force to retake the province, Suzdal came down and did the same thing.

Meanwhile there was a great deal of fighting in Arkhangelsk and Finland. Although the Danish armies were more advanced than ours, by weight of numbers Suzdal and Muscovy successfully besieged Arkhangelsk. In Finland there occurred many battles with the Danes. And here it was that the wisdom of Ivan Veliky bore fruit. For our armies lost repeatedly to the Danes; except for overwhelming numbers or against weak forces, we could not defeat them. But Novgorod's army was new, using the latest tactical doctrines and training, and they successfully fought on even terms against the Danes. With Novgorod leading the way, we were able to set siege and we conquered Savolaks in October 1508. A siege of Nyland was just nearing completion in 1509 when the Danes won a great battle there and broke the siege. However, we returned and finally captured Nyland in November 1510.

The wily Danes attempted a backdoor attack on us through territory controlled by the Golden Horde (Denmark owned Astrakhan), but our scouts spotted them and we annihilated the Danes at Ryazan.

By the beginning of 1511 we had a commanding position against Denmark. Although Tver and Suzdal dropped out of the war in 1509, Novgorod had stayed with us and with their help we had given the Danes a beating in Finland. Compounding the Danes' problems were numerous revolts throught Finland and Sweden. Confident of our position, we sent an emissary with peace terms: we wanted Arkhangelsk and cash. We could not tolerate the bacdoor threat. However, the Danes would not even permit our ambassador to cross the border. We were not permitted to submit terms of peace to them. In return, the Danes consistently sent offers of peace for mere cash, but we rejected these offers because Arkhangelsk was more important. In May 1511 Novgorod dropped out of the war and it was apparent we would have to settle soon. Not being allowed to make our own offer, we had to accept whatever the Danes offered -- 154 ducats, our silver paid during the last century, with interest. The wily Danes had even cleared the former Novgorod trading posts at Kola and Karelia and resettled them with their own traders. Ironically, they ended in an even better position than they had before, completely frustrating our attempts to keep them contained. The only satisfaction for us was to see many Swedish and Finnish provinces in flames as the Danes were plagued with revolts.

With the Danish war concluded, we turned once again to the problem of developing our country's technological base. The Danish war had shown conclusively how pitifully backwards our country was in all respects, notably our army. For years Western ambassadors had reacted in mock horror at what they termed the primitive conditions in Moscow. We remembered the mercenary Italian engineer who came during the 1490s to offer his services. He was so appalled at what he saw that he didn't even stay to make his offer! To all these insults we had reacted earlier with hurt pride, maintaining a false dignity. But now the evidence was clear: Muscovy was falling behind, and to fall behind in military technology was a grave danger.

So our economic investments were directed toward military technology, first and foremost. We desperately had to modernize our country and our army. This venture attracted the attention of our greatest subjects, who contributed in any way they could. One wealthy and visionary nobleman from Tambow presented to the king a surprise gift: a state of the art weapons manufactory, far ahead of its time and ready to begin operation. King Vasily III accepted this gift with delight, and its impact on our economy and on our investments was immediately felt. This facility was indeed state of the art in every way -- except, tragically, for fire protection. Less than three years after its construction it burned to the ground. The formerly wealthy nobleman had invested all he had, and in despair he took his life.

Nevertheless, investment was accelerating, although slowly. We really were making progress, and over the course of several years that progress was tangible.

Our next major improvement was in trade revenue. Even while we had been rivals with Novgorod, we successfully maintained a full complement of traders at the center there. However, our merchants simply were not competitive at more distant centers such as Thrace or even Kurland. From my reading of the archives, by midway through the 1400s our government stopped sending merchants to any center other than Novgorod, for the cost outweighed the benefits when our merchants were booted out not long after they arrived. During the year 1514 I reexamined this problem and I saw that we were in a much more favorable position. We had plenty of merchants eager to operate in the field, we had a reasonable balance in the treasury, and most importantly, many smaller countries had been eliminated politically. This resulted in less intense competition at the trade centers. So I directed our merchants toward Kurland and we were able to maintain a presence of 5 merchants there, just as at Novgorod.

During 1517, we heard news of a religious squabble in Germany. Evidently a disaffected monk rashly made a public posting of complaints about the Pope. We couldn't care less. They're all wrong. But somehow, these new ideas are making quite an impression in many European countries. In 1518, Denmark broke several royal marriages and converted to the new Protestantism. Revolts broke out throughout the Danes' empire. We find their plight touching in the extreme.

In September 1519 our alliance, carefully constructed by Ivan Veliky, broke apart. It started on September 3 when the Pope declared war on our ally Novgorod. We were stupefied at this move -- with all the heresy breaking out in Germany and other countries, why is the Pope so concerned about the Orthodox? What possible motive can he have? No wonder Italy is so divided if this is how the Pope conducts his foreign policy! Both Tver and Suzdal chose to dishonor the alliance. We were still pondering how to react to this insane move by the Pope when far more serious news arrived: on September 4, Tver declared war on Novgorod.

What do you do when your allies fight against each other? My father never taught me how to handle this! Nor did my king, neither Ivan Veliky nor his successor, Vasily III. In Moscow, we were in turmoil. This move was completely unexpected. All through the night the arguments raged, some backing Novgorod and others Tver, and still others paralyzed in indecision. At length Vasily himself diagnosed the situation shrewdly. Between Tver and Novgorod, he said, one country will win and the other will lose. We must ally ourselves with the one who wins. Someone asked, how do we know which one that will be? Vasily's answer was cold and direct: based on the sizes of their armies, the winner would be Tver. Therefore, we must take steps to declare war on Novgorod. Vasily didn't say it, but it was plain to see that we had reduced our dignity to that of a jackal. This was odious.

Nevertheless, Vasily's instructions were explicit. We were tied to Novgorod by marriage -- well, no matter, some excuse was found to annul it. This news caused some unrest in the provinces, so we spent several months -- a year, actually -- allaying the fears of the populace until we were confident stability would not be a problem. In September 1520, one year later, Tver concluded peace with Novgorod, taking Ingermanland. We promptly declared war on the unfortunate Novgorodians. They fought bravely for several months but their attacks in Olonets and Vologda were beaten off, and Novgorod was captured and annexed in September 1521. I never felt so rotten, so low, in all my life.

The Novgorodians got one last bit of revenge before we took the city. The day before our siege ended, they made peace with the Pope, paying him 141 ducats (probably their entire treasury) and changing religion! Incredibly, the Pope's war was making sense after all, though I had the suspicion that it was the money and not the conversion which the Pope was after.

 

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Chapter 9 1522-1537

This is the record of Ivan Wolf IV. As my forefathers before me, so I serve king and country as Regent. I was born in Moscow in 1493; after the turmoil of the last Lithuanian war was over my father at last felt the freedom to marry and raise a family. My father served as Regent from the time of my grandfather's suicide in 1490 until we conquered and annexed Novgorod in 1521. Immediately thereafter, my previously sensible father fell into a bizarre combination of mysticism and drunkenness inspired, as he said, by guilt over our allegedly shabby treatment of our late allies in Novgorod. Sadly, my father's health declined rapidly and he died within a few months.

Bah! Did not Novgorod attack us repeatedly while allied with Lithuania? I say they had it coming, and good riddance. Our annexation of Novgorod was long overdue -- a century overdue, if you ask me. The additional income we received by controlling the center of trade was significant; we could have put that money to good use if we had had control over Novgorod from the beginning. On the other hand, I must admit that the Novgorodians have been extremely troublesome, with revolts flaring with dreary regularity. Eight times during the next 20 years did they rebel, in some cases with the treacherous complicity of the fort's garrison so that the rebels controlled the city even with our own troops stationed in the province. But even with the revolts, it is a rich province, a prize asset to our kingdom. In time we are confident the province will be stable.

For all our domestic problems with Novgorod, it fares much worse for our enemies in Denmark. On New Years Day, 1522, Civil War broke out. They are paying the price for changing to the new religion in 1518. All Denmark is in flames. We find their plight touching in the extreme.

I maintained my father's policies of investment and development in our economy and especially in military technology. Slowly, slowly, Muscovy is rising out of the stone age. Our goal is to develop our country to a position in which we can crush either Lithuania or the Golden Horde, depending on larger political issues. For now, the Danes are too far advanced for us to be able to fight competitively against them.

So the 1520s were a quiet decade, except for conquest and revolts at Novgorod. With little happening locally, I sent heralds to the great courts of Europe and the Middle East to see what is newsworthy, which countries are held in high esteem, and which feared and hated.

The Golden Horde is a limping dinosaur, scarcely alive and battered by revolts. No one even bothers with them anymore. East and South of the Caspian we hear only rumor. Georgia maintains its position in the Caucasus, and Trebizond occupies much of Northern Turkey. The rest of Turkey is largely divided among Bremen, Genoa, and Aragon. Speaking of the Turks, the Ottomans are ..... gone, long since overrun and conquered. Bosnia controls most of the Southern Balkans, with Venice clinging to the Adriatic coastline and Byzantium, the horseshoe crab of Europe, holding its capital and nothing else.

The Mamelukes have been hit hard by the Hedjaz and the Nubians, both making deep inroads into their territory. Algeria has held most of North Africa west of Tripoli.

Castile holds most of the Iberian peninsula but their vassal Aragon remains a significant power, holding most of the Mediterranean coast of Iberia as well as Southern Italy and Crimea. Portugal also is strong, holding their homeland and a big piece of Northern Italy. The Pope has held Central Italy but nothing else.

Lithuania is much weaker after the Polish war, but still retains a large territory. Poland is a strong nation, stretching from Pommerania to Rumelia on the Black Sea. Austria has developed into a colossus, all the more so with recent inheritances of both Hungary and Bohemia.

In Germany, Saxony and Brandenburg are the major powers. Baden and Bavaria are puppets of Austria. The Teutonic Order continues to be a strong regional power. Denmark owns all of Scandinavia and Mecklenburg to boot. Bremen has only small holdings in Germany but they also have a big piece of Turkey.

France, like Austria, is developing into a powerhouse. England still holds most of the French coastline but France controls almost everything else. France and Austria have split Lotharingia about evenly. Scotland is reduced to a mere two provinces, England having taken the rest. Eire owns all the Emerald Isle save for the one English province there.

Rumors swirl of vast, rich lands across the Atlantic. But of these lands we have no knowledge.

In January 1531, after a decade of careful savings, we began construction of a Fine Arts Academy in Moscow. Yes, the Western powers joked and laughed amongst themselves, thinking of us as barely elevated Scythians. But we are determined to prove them wrong. In time, Moscow will be a major power and a cultural center for all of Eastern Europe.

Next, after some 10 years of peace, we had a Scottish interlude. In June 1531 Scotland declared war on our ally Tver. What motive they had, no one ever discovered. And surely they had more pressing business back home? In any case, although Suzdal dishonored the alliance, we fought alongside our Tverian brothers. For the most part this was a phony war, but every 12 to 15 months Scotland managed to land a modest invasion force. Though the Scots were much more advanced than Tver and Muscovy, they could attack only in small numbers while we could defend with much larger forces. In time each Scottish invasion was driven off; yet they were surprisingly unwilling to make peace with us. By 1535 Tver had a defense force of some 30 thousand troops on the Scots' prime target of Ingermanland, so we were confident that we could accept a white peace with Scotland without betraying our allies. Not until 1537 did Scotland finally settle with Tver, paying a modest fee of 20 ducats for all the trouble they caused.

During the Scottish war our Fine Arts Academy was completed. Vasily led the dedication ceremony, and we looked on with pride. No longer would Muscovy be a primitive, backwater fiefdom!

In December 1533 Vasily III died. He presided over a time of generally peaceful development and economic expansion. Though my father was appalled at Vasily's handling of Novgorod, I found his strategy faultless.

Vasily was succeeded by Ivan IV Grozny, known to the world at large as Ivan the Terrible. This reputation was wholly undeserved as Ivan followed our policies of economic and military investment. Aside from the Scots, this was a time of peace.

Elsewhere, though, huge powers fought for control and supremacy. War broke out between France and Austria in April 1537. This was only the first of many wars between these two great powers during the rest of this century. We watched calmly from the East, grateful to let these two monsters slug it out.

 

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He, nice going, I knew you weren't defeated yet. But you forgot one thing, you did turn into Russia already didn't you?
I think you do cause Ivan Grozney was a Russian monarch, I had him. But ofcourse, I could be totally wrong....

 

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So far I have played into the late 1600s and my country is still Muscovy. I must have missed whatever triggers will transform the country into Russia. Of the original Russian minors (other than Muscovy) only Tver is left -- they have been my ally for more than 250 years. Occasionally I try to vassalize them but it never works, so I never even get to try an annexation. This is one part of the game (diploannexation) where I just don't see how it is done.

Nevertheless, as far as I can tell, I have had the traditional historical string of Russian monarchs all along.

 

[Syt]

Originally posted by jwolf
Of the original Russian minors (other than Muscovy) only Tver is left -- they have been my ally for more than 250 years. Occasionally I try to vassalize them but it never works, so I never even get to try an annexation. This is one part of the game (diploannexation) where I just don't see how it is done.

Hm, the usual - same alliance, royal marriage, none of you at war. Additionally, you should be significantly stronger than them. Diplo-skills of the monarch also seem to help. The rest - luck. You could, of course, keep re-loading till it works, but that'd be cheating.

 

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Sytass -- yes, I have had a military alliance and royal marriage with Tver throughout this period. Tver has had 3 provinces since 1521; Muscovy had 13 at that time, and has since grown to 30. Our mutual relations are almost always very high, at or near +200. I tried again last night, both with Tver and Georgia (a more recent addition to the alliance), under the monarch Peter the Great, surely the best I will have. Same results -- both declined to be vassals.

I have to admit this is frustrating because in reading many other AARs diplo-vassalizing and annexing seems to be a powerful and useful method.

I agree with you that repeated trial and error by reloading would be a cheat. Maybe sometime I should try it out just as an experiment, though, to see if it ever works.

 

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Chapter 10 1538-1549

In Western and Central Europe there is massive religious strife as the ideas of first Luther and then Calvin have made their influence. We in Moscow watch these proceedings with disinterest, but occasionally a terrible war breaks out and we shudder at the news, grateful to be uninvolved. During the 1540s the Vatican finally began to take aggressive action to counter the new heretical teachings of Luther and Calvin. In 1540 the Pope founded the Societas Jesu. Two years later, the Pope instituted the Inquisition in Rome, and the Counter-Reformation in 1545. In all these disputes we voice no opinion, for we know that ours is the one true Christian faith.

As for Muscovy's priorities during this period, we gained strength and prepared for war: perhaps against the Golden Horde, or perhaps against Lithuania, depending on a favorable turn of diplomatic events in one theater or the other. As it happened, it was against Lithuania that our hammer blow fell, and at long last, nearly a century after Vasily Temny had sworn vengeance, we inflicted a crushing defeat on the Lithuanians.

The events which led finally to our sweet victory over the hated Lithuanians began with another Austro-French war in 1544. Poland was allied with Austria, and many Western powers took part on one side or the other. Perhaps sensing that Lithuania was isolated and vulnerable, the Teutonic Order declared war on Lithuania in December 1545. Byzantium was allied to the Teutons and they attacked the Lithuanians in the Romanian territories while the Teutons brought severe pressure to the Lithuanians in their homeland. Now, at last, after so many years, we had the opportunity for revenge. Never would we have a better chance than this! Muscovy declared war on Lithuania in April 1546.

Lithuania, caught by surprise, could not counter our initial invasion. We quickly set siege to Tula and Belgorod while we held a force in reserve for the key mission: Destruction of Army Group Center. Our new Marshal, Georgi Zhukov, had prepared our armies for years for this very hour. After the Danish war of 1508-1511 we had spent a generation making as much investment in new training and tactics as we could. Our army was more modern than that of Lithuania; nevertheless with their heritage of excellence in cavalry they fought well and were hard to defeat, even when we had clear superiority.

The Teutonic Order was clearly beating Lithuania and had set siege to their capital. Lithuania held the bulk of their army in the neighboring province of Belarus. This was Army Group Center, the target of our main army. Zhukov's new doctrine was to siege less and destroy more. By crippling the Lithuanians' main army, we would have a free hand to take whatever provinces we wished. Our first attack on Army Group Center met with defeat -- our defeat, that is. This news resulting in some murmuring back in Moscow, but Ivan Grozny sensed that Zhukov was the right man, and he stuck by him. Regrouping and reinforcing, we attacked again but lost a close fight. Nevertheless, the Lithuanians were hard pressed by these attacks and could not use their big army to relieve our sieges. After we captured Belgorod and Tula in November 1546 we directed our siege armies to Kursk and Smolensk; meanwhile we formed an army for a third attack on Army Group Center. This attack was successful and now the Lithuanians were truly crippled, unable to relieve the Teutonic Order's siege of their capital and unable to attack our armies, except for minor harrassing attacks by small, newly raised armies which were defeated quickly.

All this time we were mindful of the threat posed by Denmark, which could attack from Finland and Arkhangelsk, as well as their outpost in Astrakhan. Our suspicions were confirmed in November 1546 when Denmark declared war on us. However, we had reserved our allies Tver and Suzdal for exactly this contingency. With help from our allies we kept the Danes from gaining ground even with their powerful, more advanced armies. After we defeated a backdoor attack at Saratov (they were able to move through Golden Horde territory) in February 1547, Denmark agreed to a white peace and we were assured of safety on this front.

In the same month, however, Eire declared war on Tver. This was mostly a symbolic gesture as the Irish were even less able than the Scots to mount a meaningful attack at Ingermanland, but the result was that Suzdal dishonored our alliance. This had far-reaching effects which I regrettably did not recognize at the time, being focused on obtaining victory over Lithuania.

Much more important news reached us in July 1547: the new nation of Ukraine declared its independence! Their capital, Donetsk, was a former Golden Horde province which for a generation had been under the de facto control of Ukrainian partisans. At the time of their formal declaration of independence, they also took Krementjug from Lithuania. They declared war on Lithuania and put additional pressure on our hated enemies. I immediately dispatched an ambassador to Ukraine with a letter of introduction and a promise of better things to come.

Meanwhile, our sieges of Lithuanian provinces yielded Kursk and Smolensk in October 1547, and Mozyr June 1548. During this time the Lithuanians, in the face of enormous adversity, still managed to put together sizable armies and they made valiant attempts to push us back, sometimes with success and sometimes not.

We made military history in January 1549: for the first time, the Pope (allied to Eire) sent an army into the Russian heartland in a backdoor attack similar to the Danes' two years before. We defeated this army in Ryazan, the first and only battle we ever fought against the Papal States.

The Teutonic Order settled with Lithuania in February 1549. The Lithuanians bought them off for 250 ducats. We still had a commanding position against them, but now we faced more pressure. Looking to wrap up the war favorably, I offered them peace for the provinces of Tula and Kursk. They consistently refused, however, offering only cash and not territory. These offers ran as high as 400 ducats, but still we pressed on. This was our revenge war, and territory was the only coin we would accept for peace. Finally, in June 1549, after we had again beaten their main army in Belarus and laid siege to Chernigov, the Lithuanians reached the breaking point. Just two months after they rejected our offer of Tula and Kursk, they offered peace for 25 ducats and no less than four provinces: Tula, Kursk, Belgorod, and Smolensk.

No dish at the finest banquet was ever as sweet as this revenge.

For their part, the Ukrainians more than held their own. They made peace with Lithuania the next year and doubled their territory, adding Poltava and Jedisan. Between us we had cut Lithuania down to half their former size.

 

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dude, nice going with the lithuanian war. it's also great you can post this fast, i can read it like a book. about the vassal thing, you should have a way bigger army than your target, show yyour power so that they know their country willl be in good hands....

 

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For the "show of force" does this count overall army size? Or do you need to make a single really big unit -- say, 40 or 50 K troops -- and stroll through their capital? I don't keep that many soldiers in one place; usually I spread them around in groups of about 8 to 15 K. But if I need to collect a big group, that is certain possible as my current army is on the order of 90 K. I'll try it out when I get a chance. Thanks for the advice!

 

[stnylan]

Well I finally got to read through it. Well done jwolf - you're certainly braver than I.

Nicely written too.

 

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Thanks to all for your comments and encouragements. And now, without further ado, I give you...

Chapter 11 1550-1572

Following our long-awaited revenge on the Lithuanians, we adopted a policy of non-involvement with the major powers near us as we rebuilt our strength and paid off debts incurred while financing the Lithuanian war. We did have a peaceful period during this time, but unfortunately our inward view led to two diplomatic failures which seemed minor at the time but had far-reaching consequences. For many years we had been allied with our smaller Russian neighbors Tver and Suzdal. When Eire declared war on Tver in 1547, Suzdal dishonored our alliance as I wrote before. We paid no attention to them while we were focused on defeating Lithuania, and by the time we attempted to bring them back into our alliance it was too late -- they had defected to another alliance led by Byzantium. In September 1550 we attempted to bring the new nation of Ukraine into our alliance, only to be met with a stinging rejection as they, too, joined Byzantium's alliance a month later! We were insulted and amazed -- how could Suzdal and Ukraine view Byzantium as a greater protector than Muscovy? Had not we earned a worthy reputation as an ally by defending Tver from countless attacks? What power could Byzantium, for ages in relentless decline, offer in defense of an ally?

Nevertheless, we still felt kinship with Suzdal and Ukraine, and Ivan Grozny commanded me to protect their interests so far as international law allowed, understanding that without an alliance we could not intervene directly in case of a crisis. Suzdal met such a crisis in 1552 when Byzantium's alliance was at war with another alliance which included Denmark. Denmark's powerful army in Arkhangelsk repeatedly crushed Suzdal's larger but inferior force. Suzdal's capital of Vladimir was in flames under a Danish siege as we watched from our lands across the Volga. Now it was our intent all along to fight a war against Denmark -- they were no friends of ours, and their outpost in Arkhangelsk threatened Moscow as well as Vladimir. However, we were not yet ready; our army had not been rebuilt to full strength, and the Danes remained well ahead of us in military tactics and training. We poured all our resources into advancing the quality of our army, but it was not yet the time to attack the Danes, if we could still afford to wait.

And could we? We were determined to block the Danes from taking Vladimir. We would not permit further Danish expansion in Russia; quite to the contrary it was our intent to remove them. So we gathered our armies in Moscow and Vologda, watching the siege across the river. The orders were definite: if Vladimir falls, we declare war. To our surprise and great relief, however, Vladimir did not fall. Gradually the Danes lost strength during the siege. Newly created Suzdalian armies fought poorly, but over time they inflicted enough damage that the Danish army fell too weak to maintain the siege. Incredibly, Suzdal even managed to create an army large enough to begin a siege at Arkhangelsk, next door. Soon afterward the two nations agreed to a white peace, and all was well.

Western Europe remained shattered by repeated religious crises. Governments made abrupt decisions to change religion, only to change back a few years later. England was the worst offender, and paid a severe price for their folly. In 1553 they changed religion back to Catholic and as a consequence they lost almost all their continental holdings the next year in a massive revolt: Puritans, French Catholics, Tripoli, Netherlands, and Brittany all declared independence. In London the government fell, and a new Protestant government was created. Then, in 1558 England announced to the whole world that they were the sole defender of the Protestant faith! Never before was I so grateful to have been raised in our Orthodox nation, free of such ruinous heresy.

Major wars broke out in 1562: Austria vs. France; Denmark vs. Lithuania; and Poland vs. Lithuania, the latter being settled quickly but the others quite bloody. But we were not yet ready to attack Denmark.

Tragedy befell us in 1566, when the Moscow Academy caught fire and was completely destroyed. Though we suspected Danish saboteurs we had no proof. We were heartbroken at the loss, all the more so because all of our scholars and artists left for courts and positions elsewhere, as we had no funds to rebuild the academy.

In 1563 our military technology reached a major landmark with the introduction of artillery. Still we needed to wait before we attacked Denmark, for their infantry soldiers use strange weapons called guns while ours still rely on the spear and the sword.

Four years later, in 1567, we finally had established the necessary technology to modernize our armies with the new weapons. We were ready to attack Denmark as soon as diplomatic events permitted. We no longer feared Lithuania, but Poland and Austria were both strong.

The year 1568 brought tumultuous news of changes among our powerful neighbors. In March, Poland inherited Lithuania! We were stunned, unsure how to react to this. Our hated enemies were gone, but in their place Poland was certainly no friend, and they had become a colossus rivaling Austria in size. The Austrians may have come to the same conclusion as they declared war on Poland in April. Denmark was allied with Poland and they joined the war. After observing these nations fighting each other for several months, we were confident that we could attack Denmark at last, with no fear of having to defend on another front. So it was that we declared war on Denmark in March, 1569. Our goals: destroy their armies in Finland and take Arkhangelsk. In all peace terms we would yield on any point if we had to, except that Arkhangelsk was non-negotiable.

Denmark's allies Venice and Poland made a perfunctory show of support, but they both dropped out of the war two months later. We were secure, and could concentrate our entire army against the Danes. Our ally Tver made peace with Denmark in August, unfortunately, leaving us to fight alone. But with our new artillery we were able to conclude sieges much faster than before, typically about half the time. By January 1570 we had taken both Arkhangelsk and Nyland. Meanwhile, we had sent a small cavalry raiding party through unfortified Danish provinces in the extreme North. This cavalry unit destroyed or disrupted small Danish units that had just been raised, greatly delaying the Danes from deploying any really significant forces into Finland.

The Danes fought back hard in 1570 and 1571, making repeated invasions by land at Osterbrotten and by sea at Nyland. We beat off every invasion, but gradually their strength in the area was growing. We conquered the Finnish provinces of Savolaks in July 1570 and Tavastland in June 1571. During the latter half of 1571 the Danes changed strategy and attempted several attacks into our heartland by way of Poland. At Tula and Kursk these were driven back, although with some difficulty.

As the year 1572 began we increasingly wished to conclude a favorable peace with the Danes. By this time the Danes' war with Austria had been concluded, and Austria's attention was devoted to another war with France. As we had seen in earlier wars, the Danes were consistently unwilling to yield territory. We asked for Arkhangelsk and Karelia; they offered cash. In September, however, their ambassador appeared at Moscow with a new offer: they would yield four provinces, the two we had demanded plus Nyland and Savolaks. This new Danish ambassador was very gracious, and we found it easy to accept his offer. Still, we had to wonder -- why hadn't they accepted our more generous offer just two months earlier? At that question the Danish ambasador apologized profusely, attributing the earlier rejection to a breakdown in communications at Copenhagen; he had been instructed to make a very generous counteroffer in compensation. To this answer we could make no reply save for joining him in a toast to celebrate peace.

With the successful conclusion of the Danish war I felt the freedom to make an unusual request of my king, Ivan Grozny. I am old, in my eightieth year. Unlike my forefathers, I have been blessed with a long life. I am the first to live to see my grandson, now rapidly growing into a handsome young man. So I begged leave of Ivan Grozny to live in an honorable retirement, and pass the Regency to my son, whom I have trained as well as any man can be. Ivan has kindly and graciously granted my request. I will have the honor to die in peace, with my family and country secure.

 

[Syt]

Originally posted by jwolf
Still, we had to wonder -- why hadn't they accepted our more generous offer just two months earlier?

A question recurring time and again.

Good explanation for it, though!

 

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Chapter 12 1573-1584

This is the record of Ivan Wolf V. I was born in Moscow in 1524 and it was my honor to serve under my father during our country's great victories over Lithuania and Denmark. I was appointed Regent following my noble father's retirement in 1572.

The year 1573 began with a great celebration in honor of my father. Ivan Grozny invited mighty nobles from all Europe to attend my father's retirement banquet. No expense was spared, as in addition to honoring my father, Ivan Grozny was determined to show to the entire world that Muscovy was a civilized nation, ready to enter international discourse at a distinguished level.

Whether distinguished or not, our recent victory over Denmark had attracted the attention of major powers. Austria declared war on us in March 1573. With no common border save for the Baltic, and no right of passage throgh Poland the Austrians could not bring more than small forces to the battlefield, as they invaded Ingermanland and Nyland. The more advanced Austrians were defeated by larger armies from Tver and Muscovy. After several such battles, the Austrians agreed to an amicable peace in January 1574.

Seeking to strengthen our Southern flank, I sought alliances of marriage with the fellow Orthodox nations of Georgia and Byzantium. Though they were in other military alliances, we were able to bring our relations with them to very friendly terms.

We became enmeshed in another nuisance war early in 1576 when Eire declared war on us, joined by Aragon and Spain. We quickly sent an army to Crimea (owned by Aragon) and sieged and conquered this province in December. Meanwhile, Spain landed a raiding army in the far North at Olonets. It required many skirmishes during the next year until this army finally was destroyed. We accepted a clean peace with Eire in 1578 but it was not until February 1579 that Spain finally agreed to peace, very generously compensating us 100 ducats for the damage caused by their raiders.

It was our intent to live out the 1580s in peaceful development. Though we had improved greatly since the early years of this century, it was plain to see that the Western powers generally remained well ahead of us in military technology and economic development. To this end, Ivan Grozny became determined on making an alliance with Austria, arguably the most powerful state in Europe. In order to impress the Austrians with his sincerity, Ivan sent his own son as ambassador late in 1583.

As I stayed in Moscow, I did not see or hear first-hand just what went wrong. The other members of the delegation gave conflicting reports when they returned in January 1584. One thing was certain: Ivan's son blundered badly. Far from befriending the Austrians, our young prince inflamed them with references to their foolish war against us ten years before. Whether as a result of this or for other reasons, Austria declared war on us again.

And now -- I shudder as I write this, my hand trembles even many years after the fact. My father had served Ivan Grozny for years, with faithful service well rewarded by the great king. We heard, of course, how our king was called "Ivan the Terrible" at courts throughout Europe. But my father insisted this label was completely false and unfair. And all these years, I believed him. But on that fateful day in 1584 I came to see that there was truth in that terrible name given to our king. For when our delegation returned to Moscow with its report of failure, Ivan took his sword and slew his own son in the sight of all. Horrified, we stood transfixed. I opened my mouth to speak but no sound would come out. As I turned to face the others present, I saw it was the same for them.

And what of Ivan the king? He stood over his son's body, stabbing the corpse repeatedly while shrieking the vilest curses I have ever heard. Then with a roar he stormed away to his private quarters.

As soon as Ivan Grozny left everyone began shouting at once. Where we had stood dumbstruck a moment before, utter chaos now prevailed. In the confusion, no one even gave a thought to the body of the unfortunate young prince, until a priest gently asked me what was to be done. Giving orders to tend to the body with the customary rites, I then addressed the crowd of nobles, courtiers, and palace staff. As Regent, it was up to me to regain control, and it was I who was appointed to speak personally to Ivan. No one else dared approach him.

This was a short walk, but the longest I have ever taken. As I approached Ivan's room I heard not shrieking, but sobbing. Taking a deep breath in order to work up my courage, I opened the door at last. Ivan turned quietly to face me, a look of complete despair written on his face.

"What have I done? What have I done?"

"For the love of God, Ivan Vasilevich...."

"Only bring my son to me. He still lives, does he not?"

To this question I could make no answer, but my face turned pale and Ivan Grozny understood that his son was gone forever. At that he broke down and wept bitterly. I could do nothing but stand at his side. Madness -- the Russian curse, or so it seemed -- had seized Ivan, never to let him go. No man's end should come like this.

 

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Now Do I see a hint of temporary insanity of monarch
Great writing and very fast too. No wonder you're in the weekly showcase. But what did you mean with the blundering son, was is just Austria that declared war or a royal marriage followed by war? Good luck for the rest...

 

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Well, just about all of my monarchs have had temporary insanity at one point or another, and Ivan IV Grozny was no exception.

In my game it is true that Austria declared war but I didn't have a bungled gift which triggered it. At various times I have thought it would be nice to try to bribe them into good relations, but it would be just too expensive, so I haven't tried.

I do not know this period of history very well at all, but I have read that Ivan IV really did kill his son, I think in a drunken rage. So I changed the facts in my game a bit in order to fit this script.

Note to all: I desperately need to get real work done. I'm way behind on a critical project, and about to get my a** fried if I don't get it done. So I need to suspend posting for a while. I assure you that the future of Muscovy is pretty good, if not glorious. I have played to about 1750 but my writing is about 150 years behind this. So I need to take some time to regroup mentally and see how to present this period of "history" in my AAR. It will probably be another two weeks or so before I have more material to post. Sorry for the delay, but I will return!