Great chapter again, but, isn't the war exhaustion killing you. You've had about 20 years of non-stop war right?
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I think my longest consecutive period of war was about 14-15 years. But I kept stability at +3. Revolts really weren't a problem except for the bug from the early version of the game where Novgorod had eternal revolt risk. As I played through the war with the Knights I admit I was worried about possible WE problems, but I figured I would fight stubbornly unless revolts became a severe problem. They never did. But I should have assaulted Kerch about 8 years before I did. Live and learn. And in the AAR I was able to blame this fiasco on the Marshal, not me!
Emperator MaNu: Thank you for your kind words. But with respect, there are many other AARs at a fantastically high level of quality. For a rookie effort, I think I have done well, but let's just say there is still a lot of AAR frontier I haven't yet seen.
As I said before I'll be out of town for a long weekend. Next post should come Tuesday. Only two more chapters.
Emperator MaNu: Thank you for your kind words. But with respect, there are many other AARs at a fantastically high level of quality. For a rookie effort, I think I have done well, but let's just say there is still a lot of AAR frontier I haven't yet seen.
As I said before I'll be out of town for a long weekend. Next post should come Tuesday. Only two more chapters.
Chapter 24 1774-1812
This is the record of Ivan Wolf XII. I was born in Moscow in 1745, and Yekaterina Velikaya appointed me in my father's place as Regent following the great man's retirement in 1773. It was my honor and privilege to serve the Motherland for nearly 40 years, until certain critical events at the end of the year 1812, as I will relate presently.
After our tedious but satisfying victory against the Knights in 1772 Muscovy reigned supreme in Eastern Europe. Our armies were strong, and none dared to oppose us. Neither Denmark, nor the Teutonic Order, nor Poland, nor Venice, nor the Uzbeks (who had annexed Sibir), nor even the Austrians, could field an army that could defeat us. Quite to the contrary, Muscovy was powerful enough to take territory from neighboring countries virtually at will. However, we restrained ourselves in order to allow our international reputation to improve.
Attempting to fulfill our ancestors' dream of unifying the Russian states, we prevailed upon our longtime ally Tver to become our vassals in 1775. In later years we attempted our most intense diplomatic persuasion to annex them peacefully, but the Tverians, perhaps not surprisingly, never agreed to let go of their independence.
Our neighbor and perennial foe Denmark, meanwhile, was acting extremely aggressively in colonial wars. As a young man I had heard the news of the brave Americans fighting for independence against the English, and succeeding in 1764. Though we still had no map knowledge of the New World, the Americans' spirit was an inspiration to us all. So all of the Imperial Court at Moscow was shocked to hear, in 1777, that Denmark defeated this new nation and annexed the United States! Three years later, the Danes massacred a native tribe, the Shawnee, and extorted a huge amount of money from them. Many years later, in 1793, we were pleased to hear that Denmark actually lost a war, to Kongo in Africa.
Following a pattern from my father's and grandfather's time, trade wars flared in Liguria, Tago, and Isfahan, among other trade centers. The Sardinians with brazen selfishness refused to make a trade agreement with us as they attempted repeatedly to maintain a lucrative monopoly at Liguria. As we could not attack them realistically, we simply worked behind the scenes, slowly, to replace lost merchants. But this was a difficult process. At its worst, during the three years 1788-1790 we lost 17 merchants to greedy would-be monopolists. It took many years to repair the damage, but in time we did just that.
Our fellow Orthodox brethren in Trebizond had learned not to attack our ally, Georgia. But they faced repeated and heavy attacks from the Hedjaz's Islamic alliance, in 1779 and again in 1789. During this last war out of compassion for our brothers we offered them a military alliance so that we could defend them. But they refused! Rather than let Muscovy defend them, they willingly allowed themselves to be trampled by the Muslims, eventually buying peace with a large cash settlement.
The years 1793 and 1794 saw additional trade wars, in Isfahan and Delhi. These trade centers were particularly rich and we were certainly not going to allow the local potentates to keep our merchants out.
Late in 1796 our beloved Tsarina Yekaterina Velikaya died. She had brought Muscovy from a strong position to a dominant one. Truly she had earned her name, Velikaya, the Great. Our new Tsar was Aleksandr I, who was to reign for the rest of my life.
All this time we had developed and expanded our colonies as fast as new groups of colonists could be recruited. Irkutsk was established, after 4 failing attempts, in 1798. By 1807 our colonial empire extended as far as Buriat, another province rich with gold. This was to be our last colony during my lifetime; having founded Buriat, all subsequent colonists were sent to further develop already existing colonies. Our string of colonies in Siberia extended from the Ob River to Lake Baikal. Future generations, no doubt, would establish settlements to the Pacific.
In 1801 our army was modernized with the new, so-called "revolutionary" uniforms and tactics. Man for man, our soldiers were a match for anyone.
By the 19th century, Muscovy had been stable for so long, many of us had forgotten what revolts were like. In 1803 we got a rude reminder, from an unlikely source. A group of plotters somehow got very far along in their plans, to the complete ignorance of our security service. These plotters were led by a noble family of Ryazan, whose grandfather got the insane idea in his head that he would avenge their defeat by us (more than 350 years ago!) and rewrite history with Ryazan, not Muscovy, in the supreme position as leader of the Russians. Hiring a band of hardened criminals, these nobles very nearly succeeded in their wild plot, as the Tsar moved out of position at the last moment, escaping an assassin's bullet. Belatedly, our security forces moved swiftly to counter the threat. This they did, but the resulting political crisis caused numerous revolts, notably in Ryazan.
During 1805 and 1806 we learned from visiting diplomats that Denmark had once again embarked on an aggessive colonial policy, initiating brutal wars against natives in both America and Africa. By this time our stability had recovered, and many among the Tsar's advisors pushed for war against Denmark. We had two motivations: to punish them for their brutality in their colonial empire; and to liberate the Finnish people completely from the Danes' aggression. So our Marshal moved several armies into position, and in February 1807 I sent the declaration of war to Copenhagen. Our allies Tver and Georgia joined, as did several minor allies of the Danes. However, after just two months of fighting all the allies dropped out and the war became simply Muscovy vs. Denmark.
The Danes could not defeat our armies. By June 1807 we had captured Osterbrotten, Tavastland, and Kola. We also had control of the unfortified provinces Narvik and Lappland in northern Norway. A Danish army attacked Tula via the Teutonic Order, but this army was crushed. Vasterbrotten fell to us in October.
In the Baltic, without question the Danish navy was far superior to ours. Nevertheless, our brave sailors fought beyond their abilities, and won some victories against the Danes.
By the end of 1807, several attempted invasions by Denmark at Osterbrotten had all met with defeat. Still they would not accept our peace terms. So we increased the pressure, extending our siege line one province farther south into Sweden. During March and April 1808, our fleet won two key victories in the Gulf of Finland and that was enough, finally, to bring the Danes to their knees. They ceded to us the provinces of Kola, Tavastland, and Osterbrotten. At last, after countless wars against the Danes, they had been pushed not only out of Russia, but also out of Finland.
With the conclusion of this war against the Danes we were through with our expansion. Muscovy had no intent to engage any of our neighbors in further wars of conquest. As for me, I had been Regent for some 35 years, and I looked forward to retirement and peace.
However, events very soon proved otherwise. No country, not even Austria, dared to declare war on us, not openly at least. But in July 1808, Poland embargoed our merchants in the trade center at Thrace. Oh, you fools -- do you believe Thrace to be out of our reach? You will pay, we will not stand for this! For more than 200 years we had put up with the Polish conquest and occupation of Thrace. Though we had every right to restore true Orthodox control to the land of the Byzantines, for the sake of peace and reputation we had held back, and did not contest the Poles in Thrace. But now, this embargo, was simply too much! After a quick conference in Moscow, it was decided: Poland would be crushed, and Thrace liberated.
Our Marshal asked for two years to build up forces, and this time I gave him. On New Years Day 1811, we declared war, and the armies of Muscovy went on the move for the last time. We did not trouble our allies with this war; for their part, Poland had several allies, including Denmark, surprisingly, but they all made peace with us by March. Our armies had two objectives: Finnmark and Thrace. Our interest in Thrace as the trade center was obvious. The history of Finnmark, on the other hand, is a twisted tale, as I found out by consulting the ancient archives of my forefathers. Originally, Finnmark was a Danish trading post, and it remained so until 1546. In that year, the forces of Muscovy began their great revenge war against Lithuania. During this war Denmark declared war on Muscovy, likely on the assumption that our nation would be an easy target. As the record shows, fortunately, the Danes were wrong, and they did not inflict any damage. Actually, they lost ground, for our Marshal at that time had foreseen this possibility, and he had prepared a raiding army in Kexholm. As soon as the Danes declared war, this army quickly moved into Northern Scandinavia, burning every Danish trading post they found. Kola went down in flames, and so did Finnmark. Narvik was the next target, but by then the Danes made peace. Lithuania saw the open provinces to the North, and even at a time of extreme military pressure (both the Teutonic Order and Muscovy were hammering them) the Lithuanians sent traders to Kola and Finnmark. Twenty years later, Poland inherited Lithuania, including these two trading posts. The Poles developed Finnmark as a colony, but did not have a chance to do the same at Kola before the Danes burned it during a Danish-Polish war, and occupied it with their own traders. So it was that in 1811, Finnmark was a Polish city, but completely isolated and defenseless.
One of our armies in Finland quickly sieged and captured Finnmark without any opposition. Meanwhile the main action occurred in Western Ukraine as our main army group made a steamroller path toward Thrace, sieging as it went. Podolia fell in March 1811, Moldova in July, Dobrudja in June 1812, and Rumelia the next month. Polish opposition was scarce to non-existent.
Early in the war we moved our fleet from Azov in order to defeat the Polish navy in the Black Sea. The Poles evidently had the same plan, as their fleet met ours in the Sea of Azov. Regrettably this battle went to Poland, but our fleet recovered and defeated the Polish fleet in Varna in July, and at the Sea of Marmara in both August and September. At that point we had established naval superiority for good.
In August 1812 our army moved from Rumelia to begin the siege at the fortress in Thrace. A second army was moving through the recently captured provinces, trying to catch the Polish army and defeat it. The Poles were led by Kosciuzko, who wisely did not attempt to fight our main army, but engaged in a war of maneuver, feinting this way and moving that, sieging here but moving there when threatened. For some time Kosciuzko succeeded in this, but late in August he finally was caught by our second army. With the Poles eliminated from the battlefield, it was just a matter of time until Thrace fell, which it did on December 19.
With the fall of Thrace, Poland capitulated and offered as peace all 6 provinces we had captured! What a Christmas present! But we did not want such a negative reputation. Our goals were simply to take Finnmark and Thrace, so I respectfully made this counteroffer to the Poles, and they very graciously agreed to this proposal. After 223 years, the Orthodox once again reigned in the ancient capital of Byzantium.
This is the record of Ivan Wolf XII. I was born in Moscow in 1745, and Yekaterina Velikaya appointed me in my father's place as Regent following the great man's retirement in 1773. It was my honor and privilege to serve the Motherland for nearly 40 years, until certain critical events at the end of the year 1812, as I will relate presently.
After our tedious but satisfying victory against the Knights in 1772 Muscovy reigned supreme in Eastern Europe. Our armies were strong, and none dared to oppose us. Neither Denmark, nor the Teutonic Order, nor Poland, nor Venice, nor the Uzbeks (who had annexed Sibir), nor even the Austrians, could field an army that could defeat us. Quite to the contrary, Muscovy was powerful enough to take territory from neighboring countries virtually at will. However, we restrained ourselves in order to allow our international reputation to improve.
Attempting to fulfill our ancestors' dream of unifying the Russian states, we prevailed upon our longtime ally Tver to become our vassals in 1775. In later years we attempted our most intense diplomatic persuasion to annex them peacefully, but the Tverians, perhaps not surprisingly, never agreed to let go of their independence.
Our neighbor and perennial foe Denmark, meanwhile, was acting extremely aggressively in colonial wars. As a young man I had heard the news of the brave Americans fighting for independence against the English, and succeeding in 1764. Though we still had no map knowledge of the New World, the Americans' spirit was an inspiration to us all. So all of the Imperial Court at Moscow was shocked to hear, in 1777, that Denmark defeated this new nation and annexed the United States! Three years later, the Danes massacred a native tribe, the Shawnee, and extorted a huge amount of money from them. Many years later, in 1793, we were pleased to hear that Denmark actually lost a war, to Kongo in Africa.
Following a pattern from my father's and grandfather's time, trade wars flared in Liguria, Tago, and Isfahan, among other trade centers. The Sardinians with brazen selfishness refused to make a trade agreement with us as they attempted repeatedly to maintain a lucrative monopoly at Liguria. As we could not attack them realistically, we simply worked behind the scenes, slowly, to replace lost merchants. But this was a difficult process. At its worst, during the three years 1788-1790 we lost 17 merchants to greedy would-be monopolists. It took many years to repair the damage, but in time we did just that.
Our fellow Orthodox brethren in Trebizond had learned not to attack our ally, Georgia. But they faced repeated and heavy attacks from the Hedjaz's Islamic alliance, in 1779 and again in 1789. During this last war out of compassion for our brothers we offered them a military alliance so that we could defend them. But they refused! Rather than let Muscovy defend them, they willingly allowed themselves to be trampled by the Muslims, eventually buying peace with a large cash settlement.
The years 1793 and 1794 saw additional trade wars, in Isfahan and Delhi. These trade centers were particularly rich and we were certainly not going to allow the local potentates to keep our merchants out.
Late in 1796 our beloved Tsarina Yekaterina Velikaya died. She had brought Muscovy from a strong position to a dominant one. Truly she had earned her name, Velikaya, the Great. Our new Tsar was Aleksandr I, who was to reign for the rest of my life.
All this time we had developed and expanded our colonies as fast as new groups of colonists could be recruited. Irkutsk was established, after 4 failing attempts, in 1798. By 1807 our colonial empire extended as far as Buriat, another province rich with gold. This was to be our last colony during my lifetime; having founded Buriat, all subsequent colonists were sent to further develop already existing colonies. Our string of colonies in Siberia extended from the Ob River to Lake Baikal. Future generations, no doubt, would establish settlements to the Pacific.
In 1801 our army was modernized with the new, so-called "revolutionary" uniforms and tactics. Man for man, our soldiers were a match for anyone.
By the 19th century, Muscovy had been stable for so long, many of us had forgotten what revolts were like. In 1803 we got a rude reminder, from an unlikely source. A group of plotters somehow got very far along in their plans, to the complete ignorance of our security service. These plotters were led by a noble family of Ryazan, whose grandfather got the insane idea in his head that he would avenge their defeat by us (more than 350 years ago!) and rewrite history with Ryazan, not Muscovy, in the supreme position as leader of the Russians. Hiring a band of hardened criminals, these nobles very nearly succeeded in their wild plot, as the Tsar moved out of position at the last moment, escaping an assassin's bullet. Belatedly, our security forces moved swiftly to counter the threat. This they did, but the resulting political crisis caused numerous revolts, notably in Ryazan.
During 1805 and 1806 we learned from visiting diplomats that Denmark had once again embarked on an aggessive colonial policy, initiating brutal wars against natives in both America and Africa. By this time our stability had recovered, and many among the Tsar's advisors pushed for war against Denmark. We had two motivations: to punish them for their brutality in their colonial empire; and to liberate the Finnish people completely from the Danes' aggression. So our Marshal moved several armies into position, and in February 1807 I sent the declaration of war to Copenhagen. Our allies Tver and Georgia joined, as did several minor allies of the Danes. However, after just two months of fighting all the allies dropped out and the war became simply Muscovy vs. Denmark.
The Danes could not defeat our armies. By June 1807 we had captured Osterbrotten, Tavastland, and Kola. We also had control of the unfortified provinces Narvik and Lappland in northern Norway. A Danish army attacked Tula via the Teutonic Order, but this army was crushed. Vasterbrotten fell to us in October.
In the Baltic, without question the Danish navy was far superior to ours. Nevertheless, our brave sailors fought beyond their abilities, and won some victories against the Danes.
By the end of 1807, several attempted invasions by Denmark at Osterbrotten had all met with defeat. Still they would not accept our peace terms. So we increased the pressure, extending our siege line one province farther south into Sweden. During March and April 1808, our fleet won two key victories in the Gulf of Finland and that was enough, finally, to bring the Danes to their knees. They ceded to us the provinces of Kola, Tavastland, and Osterbrotten. At last, after countless wars against the Danes, they had been pushed not only out of Russia, but also out of Finland.
With the conclusion of this war against the Danes we were through with our expansion. Muscovy had no intent to engage any of our neighbors in further wars of conquest. As for me, I had been Regent for some 35 years, and I looked forward to retirement and peace.
However, events very soon proved otherwise. No country, not even Austria, dared to declare war on us, not openly at least. But in July 1808, Poland embargoed our merchants in the trade center at Thrace. Oh, you fools -- do you believe Thrace to be out of our reach? You will pay, we will not stand for this! For more than 200 years we had put up with the Polish conquest and occupation of Thrace. Though we had every right to restore true Orthodox control to the land of the Byzantines, for the sake of peace and reputation we had held back, and did not contest the Poles in Thrace. But now, this embargo, was simply too much! After a quick conference in Moscow, it was decided: Poland would be crushed, and Thrace liberated.
Our Marshal asked for two years to build up forces, and this time I gave him. On New Years Day 1811, we declared war, and the armies of Muscovy went on the move for the last time. We did not trouble our allies with this war; for their part, Poland had several allies, including Denmark, surprisingly, but they all made peace with us by March. Our armies had two objectives: Finnmark and Thrace. Our interest in Thrace as the trade center was obvious. The history of Finnmark, on the other hand, is a twisted tale, as I found out by consulting the ancient archives of my forefathers. Originally, Finnmark was a Danish trading post, and it remained so until 1546. In that year, the forces of Muscovy began their great revenge war against Lithuania. During this war Denmark declared war on Muscovy, likely on the assumption that our nation would be an easy target. As the record shows, fortunately, the Danes were wrong, and they did not inflict any damage. Actually, they lost ground, for our Marshal at that time had foreseen this possibility, and he had prepared a raiding army in Kexholm. As soon as the Danes declared war, this army quickly moved into Northern Scandinavia, burning every Danish trading post they found. Kola went down in flames, and so did Finnmark. Narvik was the next target, but by then the Danes made peace. Lithuania saw the open provinces to the North, and even at a time of extreme military pressure (both the Teutonic Order and Muscovy were hammering them) the Lithuanians sent traders to Kola and Finnmark. Twenty years later, Poland inherited Lithuania, including these two trading posts. The Poles developed Finnmark as a colony, but did not have a chance to do the same at Kola before the Danes burned it during a Danish-Polish war, and occupied it with their own traders. So it was that in 1811, Finnmark was a Polish city, but completely isolated and defenseless.
One of our armies in Finland quickly sieged and captured Finnmark without any opposition. Meanwhile the main action occurred in Western Ukraine as our main army group made a steamroller path toward Thrace, sieging as it went. Podolia fell in March 1811, Moldova in July, Dobrudja in June 1812, and Rumelia the next month. Polish opposition was scarce to non-existent.
Early in the war we moved our fleet from Azov in order to defeat the Polish navy in the Black Sea. The Poles evidently had the same plan, as their fleet met ours in the Sea of Azov. Regrettably this battle went to Poland, but our fleet recovered and defeated the Polish fleet in Varna in July, and at the Sea of Marmara in both August and September. At that point we had established naval superiority for good.
In August 1812 our army moved from Rumelia to begin the siege at the fortress in Thrace. A second army was moving through the recently captured provinces, trying to catch the Polish army and defeat it. The Poles were led by Kosciuzko, who wisely did not attempt to fight our main army, but engaged in a war of maneuver, feinting this way and moving that, sieging here but moving there when threatened. For some time Kosciuzko succeeded in this, but late in August he finally was caught by our second army. With the Poles eliminated from the battlefield, it was just a matter of time until Thrace fell, which it did on December 19.
With the fall of Thrace, Poland capitulated and offered as peace all 6 provinces we had captured! What a Christmas present! But we did not want such a negative reputation. Our goals were simply to take Finnmark and Thrace, so I respectfully made this counteroffer to the Poles, and they very graciously agreed to this proposal. After 223 years, the Orthodox once again reigned in the ancient capital of Byzantium.
A great game, and an equally great aar, jwolf!
Waiting for the next installment intently.
Waiting for the next installment intently.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the thrilling (well, not really) conclusion of "Midnight in Moscow":
Chapter 25 1812-1819
After our triumph over Poland, I met Tsar Aleksandr for a private audience. As my father did before me, so I wished to do now -- retire in peace, with honor. Tsar Aleksandr, in his wisdom and foresight, knew well of my desire, and quickly turned our conversation to the matter of succession. For 12 generations my family had governed at the side of our monarchs. But with me the line has come to an end, for my wife and I were not blessed with children. So Aleksandr pressed me on this point:
"Ivan Ivanovich, I have reigned for 16 years, and if this has been a time of glory and triumph, it is not least due to you. Whether in diplomacy, the military, economy, or trade policy you and your fathers have brought our nation where it is today -- a glorious empire, still ascendant."
"You are too kind, Aleksandr Pavlovich, for you know well that you yourself deserve as much credit as I. And, in earlier times, such great Tsars as Pyotr and Yekaterina."
"It is as you say, yet we both know that in our nation's history, though I say this with shame, not all the Tsars had such greatness. At those times your family's leadership was more valuable than ever."
"Truly, the Empire of Muscovy is beyond the rule of one man, however great he may be. Or even two or three. Have we not been well served by our Marshal, our Minister of Finance, and many others?"
"Yes, my friend, but your role has been more vital than all the rest. So I come again to the question that brought you here tonight. Whom should I appoint as Regent? Which minister or nobleman would you recommend for this position?"
"With your permission, Your Majesty. Kindly allow me to make another suggestion."
"You have only to speak, Ivan Ivanovich. You know you need hold nothing back from me."
"Very well, then. It will not surprise you that I have thought long on this problem." And from the Tsar's look, it was apparent that he understood. "I have read of our nation's earlier history, particularly during the periods when our army was so far behind the other nations. We have spent most of the past 300 years correcting this problem, finally with great success."
"Yes, of course. You know as well as I do that no nation has dared to attack us for nearly 50 years." Tsar Aleksandr was almost offended by the reminder of our nation's earlier weaknesses.
"My point is this. Just as we were forced to make great changes to our military in an earlier time, so now it may be the right time to make a significant change in our political structure."
Aleksandr's brow furrowed, showing his increasing alarm. I sought to set him at ease.
"Look to the West, as Pyotr Veliky used to say. The wealthy nations have successfully incorporated their merchant class into the government. Could we not do the same?"
"How does this concern the Regency? Surely you don't mean to suggest that a commoner, a mere moneychanger, be...."
"Certainly not, Aleksandr Pavlovich. No, I propose something more profound, more revolutionary. Let us form a parliament, a Duma, comprised of both nobles and the most influential members of the merchant class. Let this body govern over the minutiae of the Empire, saving you and your descendants this labor. Let the Tsar focus on the larger issues, or any issue of import at the moment. The Duma advises, and the Tsar rules."
At this the Tsar paced the room in deep contemplation. "Such a system may have merit, but it is too great a change to make at once. And in this way I would make many enemies among those who already hold such powerful positions."
"True, Your Majesty, but in the end you and your sons will rule over all. Those in positions of power now, who are competent, will be retained. And those who are corrupt -- remember Strelnikov back in '05? -- can be removed by the Duma without your hand being stained. The Tsar's position would be better than ever."
"Ivan Ivanovich, you have given me much food for thought. All I can promise you is that I will consider what you have said."
"My Tsar, I would not ask for any more than that."
"And now, my old friend, let us go. I believe the guests are waiting for your entrance."
And so it was, on December 31, 1812, Tsar Aleksandr gave me the honor of personally accompanying me to the banquet on the occasion of my retirement. With the news that the ancient capital of the Byzantines was once more ruled by the Orthodox, all were merry and smiles were plentiful as the drinks flowed freely.
With that my public service came to an end. During the next several years the Tsar kept his word to me, and gradually began to construct an advisory council. It was clear that it would take time, perhaps a full generation, for such a body to form and function well.
Meanwhile, I took unofficial note of events in the Empire and its environs, but to tell the truth this was a quiet time for Europe politically. Yes, the Teutonic Order fought against Austria at the same time as our war against Poland, but no other wars took place until 1819, when conflicts flared again. Several nations began to quarrel with Trebizond, probably trying to take little pieces of it for themselves. The Teutonic Order again picked a fight with Austria, maybe not a really good idea, although to their credit they fought well enough during the previous war that Austria paid them 250 ducats for peace! And finally, a ghost of a nation came back to life, after some 350 years, when the Turks arose in revolt and declared their independence form Bremen. We certainly had no love for the Turks, but admittedly Bremen had no business taking over that area in the first place. I pondered how I would handle this problem if I were still in office, but after a while I simply smiled to myself with relief, grateful not to have to worry about such crises. The Empire of Muscovy is in capable hands, and I can rest in peace with satisfaction of a job well done, by me personally and my forefathers as well.
THE END
Chapter 25 1812-1819
After our triumph over Poland, I met Tsar Aleksandr for a private audience. As my father did before me, so I wished to do now -- retire in peace, with honor. Tsar Aleksandr, in his wisdom and foresight, knew well of my desire, and quickly turned our conversation to the matter of succession. For 12 generations my family had governed at the side of our monarchs. But with me the line has come to an end, for my wife and I were not blessed with children. So Aleksandr pressed me on this point:
"Ivan Ivanovich, I have reigned for 16 years, and if this has been a time of glory and triumph, it is not least due to you. Whether in diplomacy, the military, economy, or trade policy you and your fathers have brought our nation where it is today -- a glorious empire, still ascendant."
"You are too kind, Aleksandr Pavlovich, for you know well that you yourself deserve as much credit as I. And, in earlier times, such great Tsars as Pyotr and Yekaterina."
"It is as you say, yet we both know that in our nation's history, though I say this with shame, not all the Tsars had such greatness. At those times your family's leadership was more valuable than ever."
"Truly, the Empire of Muscovy is beyond the rule of one man, however great he may be. Or even two or three. Have we not been well served by our Marshal, our Minister of Finance, and many others?"
"Yes, my friend, but your role has been more vital than all the rest. So I come again to the question that brought you here tonight. Whom should I appoint as Regent? Which minister or nobleman would you recommend for this position?"
"With your permission, Your Majesty. Kindly allow me to make another suggestion."
"You have only to speak, Ivan Ivanovich. You know you need hold nothing back from me."
"Very well, then. It will not surprise you that I have thought long on this problem." And from the Tsar's look, it was apparent that he understood. "I have read of our nation's earlier history, particularly during the periods when our army was so far behind the other nations. We have spent most of the past 300 years correcting this problem, finally with great success."
"Yes, of course. You know as well as I do that no nation has dared to attack us for nearly 50 years." Tsar Aleksandr was almost offended by the reminder of our nation's earlier weaknesses.
"My point is this. Just as we were forced to make great changes to our military in an earlier time, so now it may be the right time to make a significant change in our political structure."
Aleksandr's brow furrowed, showing his increasing alarm. I sought to set him at ease.
"Look to the West, as Pyotr Veliky used to say. The wealthy nations have successfully incorporated their merchant class into the government. Could we not do the same?"
"How does this concern the Regency? Surely you don't mean to suggest that a commoner, a mere moneychanger, be...."
"Certainly not, Aleksandr Pavlovich. No, I propose something more profound, more revolutionary. Let us form a parliament, a Duma, comprised of both nobles and the most influential members of the merchant class. Let this body govern over the minutiae of the Empire, saving you and your descendants this labor. Let the Tsar focus on the larger issues, or any issue of import at the moment. The Duma advises, and the Tsar rules."
At this the Tsar paced the room in deep contemplation. "Such a system may have merit, but it is too great a change to make at once. And in this way I would make many enemies among those who already hold such powerful positions."
"True, Your Majesty, but in the end you and your sons will rule over all. Those in positions of power now, who are competent, will be retained. And those who are corrupt -- remember Strelnikov back in '05? -- can be removed by the Duma without your hand being stained. The Tsar's position would be better than ever."
"Ivan Ivanovich, you have given me much food for thought. All I can promise you is that I will consider what you have said."
"My Tsar, I would not ask for any more than that."
"And now, my old friend, let us go. I believe the guests are waiting for your entrance."
And so it was, on December 31, 1812, Tsar Aleksandr gave me the honor of personally accompanying me to the banquet on the occasion of my retirement. With the news that the ancient capital of the Byzantines was once more ruled by the Orthodox, all were merry and smiles were plentiful as the drinks flowed freely.
With that my public service came to an end. During the next several years the Tsar kept his word to me, and gradually began to construct an advisory council. It was clear that it would take time, perhaps a full generation, for such a body to form and function well.
Meanwhile, I took unofficial note of events in the Empire and its environs, but to tell the truth this was a quiet time for Europe politically. Yes, the Teutonic Order fought against Austria at the same time as our war against Poland, but no other wars took place until 1819, when conflicts flared again. Several nations began to quarrel with Trebizond, probably trying to take little pieces of it for themselves. The Teutonic Order again picked a fight with Austria, maybe not a really good idea, although to their credit they fought well enough during the previous war that Austria paid them 250 ducats for peace! And finally, a ghost of a nation came back to life, after some 350 years, when the Turks arose in revolt and declared their independence form Bremen. We certainly had no love for the Turks, but admittedly Bremen had no business taking over that area in the first place. I pondered how I would handle this problem if I were still in office, but after a while I simply smiled to myself with relief, grateful not to have to worry about such crises. The Empire of Muscovy is in capable hands, and I can rest in peace with satisfaction of a job well done, by me personally and my forefathers as well.
THE END
Epilogue
This was my first game of EU, apart from a bit of Fantasia right after I bought the game. As I said at the beginning, I am very much a rookie player. Let me take this opportunity to share a few thoughts about how the game went from a personal perspective.
First, one thing I was not prepared for was just how much I would identify with my adopted country. When another nation DOWed Muscovy I took it as a personal offense. During the late 1400s when Lithuania kept ruining Muscovy with war after war, I was so mad that if I had met a real Lithuanian I probably would have punched him in the face!
The game kept up at a good or even relentless pace, with constant attention needed for both major and minor issues. However, for all the excitement of the first 350 years, by about 1780 the game did start to drag. I don't know if it was just a fluke in this particular game, but at that point it seemed that almost every significant country left in the game began to take a very conservative strategy. There were hardly any wars at all after that, even with saving and reloading to "wake up" the AI. By 1800 I had an itchy trigger finger, pretty much looking for any excuse to get some military action. That's one reason I jumped on Denmark and Poland so quickly a few years later. As it happens, since the Muscovy game I have completed just one other GC, as Georgia, and I found much the same thing. By late in the 1700s I had accomplished my goals and no other nation was strong enough or foolish enough to fight me. So, unless I wanted to engage in some really wild warmongering, the endgame dragged.
I played the original 1.00 version out of the box. Due to bugs with this version, I ran into some problems that I did not understand at the time. First, there was the "perpetual revolt" problem in Novgorod (and my ally Tver appeared to have the same problem with Ingermanland). This was highly irritating but I don't think it really changed the course of the game. More significantly, for whatever reason the event to form Russia never fired, although I had met the conditions by 1520 and ever thereafter. So, although Muscovy followed the historical table of Russian monarchs, all my commanders were generic (except for occasional random conquistadors). Worse, I never got the subsequent events giving Russia CB claims on lots of places. The result was that my expansion came at rather high BB cost; this was the main thing that kept me from taking more territory during the 1700s, when I certainly had the military might to do so.
Diplomatically my performance was very weak. As I noted here and in the main discussion forum, I never succeeded in diploannexing Tver even with dozens of attempts. Just vassalizing them was quite difficult. Further, I generally had very poor relations with my powerful neighbors Austria, Poland, and Denmark. It seems to me that a better player could have avoided a lot of the needless wars I had, for example, with Austria. They declared war on me 7 times, and after countless battles and tens of thousands of casualties, not one province ever changed hands between us (although I did get some revenge against Austria while playing Georgia ).
EU is a super game with almost infinite replay value. I grow dizzy just thinking about all the different nations I could play next!
This was my first game of EU, apart from a bit of Fantasia right after I bought the game. As I said at the beginning, I am very much a rookie player. Let me take this opportunity to share a few thoughts about how the game went from a personal perspective.
First, one thing I was not prepared for was just how much I would identify with my adopted country. When another nation DOWed Muscovy I took it as a personal offense. During the late 1400s when Lithuania kept ruining Muscovy with war after war, I was so mad that if I had met a real Lithuanian I probably would have punched him in the face!
The game kept up at a good or even relentless pace, with constant attention needed for both major and minor issues. However, for all the excitement of the first 350 years, by about 1780 the game did start to drag. I don't know if it was just a fluke in this particular game, but at that point it seemed that almost every significant country left in the game began to take a very conservative strategy. There were hardly any wars at all after that, even with saving and reloading to "wake up" the AI. By 1800 I had an itchy trigger finger, pretty much looking for any excuse to get some military action. That's one reason I jumped on Denmark and Poland so quickly a few years later. As it happens, since the Muscovy game I have completed just one other GC, as Georgia, and I found much the same thing. By late in the 1700s I had accomplished my goals and no other nation was strong enough or foolish enough to fight me. So, unless I wanted to engage in some really wild warmongering, the endgame dragged.
I played the original 1.00 version out of the box. Due to bugs with this version, I ran into some problems that I did not understand at the time. First, there was the "perpetual revolt" problem in Novgorod (and my ally Tver appeared to have the same problem with Ingermanland). This was highly irritating but I don't think it really changed the course of the game. More significantly, for whatever reason the event to form Russia never fired, although I had met the conditions by 1520 and ever thereafter. So, although Muscovy followed the historical table of Russian monarchs, all my commanders were generic (except for occasional random conquistadors). Worse, I never got the subsequent events giving Russia CB claims on lots of places. The result was that my expansion came at rather high BB cost; this was the main thing that kept me from taking more territory during the 1700s, when I certainly had the military might to do so.
Diplomatically my performance was very weak. As I noted here and in the main discussion forum, I never succeeded in diploannexing Tver even with dozens of attempts. Just vassalizing them was quite difficult. Further, I generally had very poor relations with my powerful neighbors Austria, Poland, and Denmark. It seems to me that a better player could have avoided a lot of the needless wars I had, for example, with Austria. They declared war on me 7 times, and after countless battles and tens of thousands of casualties, not one province ever changed hands between us (although I did get some revenge against Austria while playing Georgia
).EU is a super game with almost infinite replay value. I grow dizzy just thinking about all the different nations I could play next!