It is arguable that one of the most notable areas of the Vicky timeline were the Balkans, being a source of many crises, from the decaying Ottoman empire struggling to hold its own against the tides of nationalism, to the ambitions of the newly arisen Nation states like Serbia (Yugoslavia) and Greece (Megali Idea), to an assassination which brought forward World War I.
I feel like it would be of benefit to begin the discussion on the complex situation there, and to provide ideas on how to be as faithful as possible to the situation there while providing enjoyable gameplay for a player seeking to fulfill said ambitions.
In particular, I wish to begin with a discussion on Serbia's sovereignty status, which has been a divisive topic for Vic 2 modders, some opting for sphereling like Vanilla, while others made it a full-fledged satellite.
This is partially due to the diplomatic limitations of Vic2, however it does pose an interesting question on implementation of said subject relations, not only for Serbia, but the Romanian principalities as well, not to mention the various Namestniki in Russia.
Officially, Serbia was an autonomous subject of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, where it became independent at the Berlin Congress. However, in practice its policies were for the most part sovereign since 1830 and the Second Hatisherif which gave it near-complete internal autonomy at the expense of an annual tribute and certain degree of control over foreign affairs, with Russia acting as protector of said rights.
In 1826 we see the formation of a proper ministry of foreign affairs, which allowed Serbia to conduct diplomacy officially.
Come 1836. we see the first proper diplomatic ties being opened in Serbia, by Austria which established a Consulate. In the following years, Britain, Russia, France and others establish their own Consulates, with the French one in particular often answering to the Embassy in Vienna rather than Constantinople. While officially these consulates had to answer to their respective Ottoman Embassies, in practice they allowed Serbia to conduct its own diplomacy, giving it a large degree of diplomatic sovereignty as well, for example in the French case.
These in turn provided Serbia with a large degree of de-facto sovereignty, complete de-facto sovereignty being achieved by 1867.
While many questions remain on the intricacies of Vicky 3 diplomacy, I hope that the system allows to model the complex affairs in a proper manner, without resorting to an extremely inaccurate representation which had to be resorted to in Vicky 2.
As well, I would like to propose mechanics which allow the Balkan nations, and possibly others as well, to ferment national uprisings in foreign countries, as well as coordinate efforts with said groups. While the Balkan Wars are rather well-known, long before Serbia was independent we saw the formation of a short-lived alliance between Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgarian/Albanian liberation movements to liberate the Balkans in 1866, spearheaded by Serbia's foreign minister Ilija Garašanin, not to mention active propaganda to encourage uprisings in the event of war between Serbia and the Ottomans. Provided they were successful, they would also unite into a federation, however that one is a question on its own.
This in turn would provide means for the player to actively engage in ambitious diplomatic endeavours, and fulfill the goals set out by said countries, in particular the unification of the Southern Slavs, and thereby make gameplay in the Balkans more unique, historically accurate and entertaining.
Thank you for reading!
I feel like it would be of benefit to begin the discussion on the complex situation there, and to provide ideas on how to be as faithful as possible to the situation there while providing enjoyable gameplay for a player seeking to fulfill said ambitions.
In particular, I wish to begin with a discussion on Serbia's sovereignty status, which has been a divisive topic for Vic 2 modders, some opting for sphereling like Vanilla, while others made it a full-fledged satellite.
This is partially due to the diplomatic limitations of Vic2, however it does pose an interesting question on implementation of said subject relations, not only for Serbia, but the Romanian principalities as well, not to mention the various Namestniki in Russia.
Officially, Serbia was an autonomous subject of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, where it became independent at the Berlin Congress. However, in practice its policies were for the most part sovereign since 1830 and the Second Hatisherif which gave it near-complete internal autonomy at the expense of an annual tribute and certain degree of control over foreign affairs, with Russia acting as protector of said rights.
In 1826 we see the formation of a proper ministry of foreign affairs, which allowed Serbia to conduct diplomacy officially.
Come 1836. we see the first proper diplomatic ties being opened in Serbia, by Austria which established a Consulate. In the following years, Britain, Russia, France and others establish their own Consulates, with the French one in particular often answering to the Embassy in Vienna rather than Constantinople. While officially these consulates had to answer to their respective Ottoman Embassies, in practice they allowed Serbia to conduct its own diplomacy, giving it a large degree of diplomatic sovereignty as well, for example in the French case.
These in turn provided Serbia with a large degree of de-facto sovereignty, complete de-facto sovereignty being achieved by 1867.
While many questions remain on the intricacies of Vicky 3 diplomacy, I hope that the system allows to model the complex affairs in a proper manner, without resorting to an extremely inaccurate representation which had to be resorted to in Vicky 2.
As well, I would like to propose mechanics which allow the Balkan nations, and possibly others as well, to ferment national uprisings in foreign countries, as well as coordinate efforts with said groups. While the Balkan Wars are rather well-known, long before Serbia was independent we saw the formation of a short-lived alliance between Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgarian/Albanian liberation movements to liberate the Balkans in 1866, spearheaded by Serbia's foreign minister Ilija Garašanin, not to mention active propaganda to encourage uprisings in the event of war between Serbia and the Ottomans. Provided they were successful, they would also unite into a federation, however that one is a question on its own.
This in turn would provide means for the player to actively engage in ambitious diplomatic endeavours, and fulfill the goals set out by said countries, in particular the unification of the Southern Slavs, and thereby make gameplay in the Balkans more unique, historically accurate and entertaining.
Thank you for reading!
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