This session turns half the world into an absolute mess, then sets up for what may be the final major confrontation of the campaign.
1/1798 - Hungary grants Pegu's request for a white peace.
2/1798 - Mongol Khanate surrenders to Hungary, and Hungary gains the province of Tara.
10/1798 - Two more provinces culturally assimilate, one in Asia and one in the New World. Ulaszlo has been of age for a couple of years, so Istvan VII becomes a general, to hasten the succession.
12/1798 - Prussia's king dies without a legitimate native heir, and Hungary inherits Prussia (2 provinces).
2/1799 - The Hungarian colony in Pose is wiped out by unruly natives. Troops are dispatched to punish the perpetrators. Hungary gains a Border Dispute core in Brittany for the province of Labourd on the coast of Europe. Brittany's king is still illegitimate, and a war to force a personal union is looking like a possibility, despite Portugal, since Portugal is clearly having problems.
3/1799 - Another Border Dispute, this time for the province of Georgia, also owned by Brittany. 5000 Hungarian troops arrive in Pose, and are immediately set upon by 5400 native tribesmen. Spears are no match for modern rifles and machineguns [ Oops, more like rifled muskets and cannon, I've been playing too much Vicky2 ], and the native attackers are gunned down in the fire phase without a single casualty in return. New colonists are sent. Portugal's king dies, and the country breaks out in numerous revolts, with -2 Stability, a regency council struggling to control the country, and war exhaustion over 17 points, in addition to steep religious and cultural modifiers. Hungary can now annex another vassal, but there are a couple more vassals to bribe before that happens.
4/1799 - The revolts by Castillian and Grenadan Nationalists, religious fanatics, angry peasants, and other assorted rabble in Portugal's home territory spill over into Hungarian territory in Spain, and the local garrison army has to call in assistance from one of the armies in North Africa. Rebels blanket Portugal's colonies, including several Separatist armies that Hungary needs to deal with quickly, because the Portuguese army isn't even remotely able to respond.
6/1799 - Brazil declares independence from Yaroslavl (yes, they have a colony in South America, despite having been landlocked the entire game), receiving provinces from Portugal, Naples, and Toulouse in the process. Yaroslavl, Portugal, Naples and Toulouse are automatically placed at war against Brazil, and Naples brings Hungary into the conflict due to the Personal Union. 8 of Hungary's vassals and allies join the war.
7/1799 - Louisiana declares independence from Portugal, appearing as 4-5 provinces in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, entirely from Portuguese provinces. Hungarian troops nearby quickly enforce surrender terms on Brazil, which cedes Diamentina, converts to Catholicism, and relinquishes its core claims on Patos in South America, the island of Martinique, and two provinces in Africa (why Brazil has cores in Africa is beyond me). As a defender, Hungary gains 3 Infamy for the annexed province. To stir the pot and make things livelier, Denmark declares war on Norway, both calling in a number of small allies.
9/1799 - Portugal gains a Border Dispute core on a Hungarian province. Hungarian troops begin pulling out of Portuguese territory, as it becomes apparent that the only way to solve the unrest is to put it all under Hungarian control.
3/1800 - The situation changes abruptly. Istvan VII passes away, and Ulaszlo II (7/7/6) inherits the throne of Hungary, as well as the throne of the much-reduced HRE, and Naples, Holland, Savoy, and Wurttemburg are all inherited and incorporated directly into Hungary. Much to my dismay, however, the new heir is Matyas (3/4/6), which will very likely cause issues with the number of non-core provinces if/when he inherits the throne. Portugal, with its throne open and no prospective legitimate heir, refuses a Royal Marriage. Hungarian agents are tasked with the well-worn process of dredging up "Obscure Documents", and succeed, but are discovered, causing a point of Infamy. The process is repeated for Brittany, and the result is the same: success, but another point of Infamy. The stage is now set for a final confrontation for control of the planet, by declaring two wars simultaneously.
4/1800 - Hungary diplomatically annexes Auvergne (3 provinces), linking the Spanish provinces directly to the main body of Europe. This results in 3 more Infamy (now a little below 7), and severely damaged Relations with all vassals, which will take time and diplomats to heal. It will also take diplomats to restore a few Royal Marriages, and to declare a couple of wars, after breaking Military Access with two more diplomats. This may take a while, but I've got a year until the CBs expire.
At the moment, the plan is to declare both wars on the same day, and only call Hungary's allies into the harder war, rather than risk having some of them refuse to join a second war. I really don't expect to inherit Portugal and Brittany before the end of the game, since Ulaszlo's pathetic stats make it unlikely that he'll inherit anything, and time is getting a bit short for a second succession after him.
Not sure I'll have a lot of time tonight to dedicate to the game, so the next installment may only touch on the opening stages of what will probably be a long war, thanks to the huge number of scattered provinces owned by both rivals, and the 90% war score requirement to enforce the war goal. Fortunately, I've got troops on many of the borders already, thanks to the constant need to crush Separatist revolts no matter where they occur.