1836-1849; To the end of the first Slesvig War
The Spring of Nations
I was woken up at 8 by a knock at my door. It was the groom, who had received a small folded and laced note for me, with the word "urgent" written on the outside.
[
Dear Sir
I have much appreciation for your desire to meet me. I have been told it was a subject I was very well read about. Would you, if you please, meet me at two at my quarters for a modest luncheon. Good bearing is of course expected.
Bartram af Lehn
]
I was rather puzzled by this note, and wondered how it could have reached me, already, even in such a small town, given the particular circumstances of my... host.
Precise like a clock, I reached my host's room at two in the afternoon. He was waiting for me dressed simply under a velvet dressing gown. His entirely normal exterior made me suddenly apprehensive. What if he was much worse than I expected, than I could face?
"I appreciate your punctuality. I was told that you were looking for information on the history of Denmark behind the throne. And in particular, maybe to find a certain understanding of the duchies crisis."
"Exactly, sir."
"Then you might have come to the right place. Let's start a little before the great revolutions. This should give us enough time to understand some of the elements behind the crisis as well.
You see, after the defeat of Napoleon, the other powers of Europe saw fit to punish us for daring to ally with the loser. Or maybe for confusing the english... No, this won't work. You see, for these exposes, I need pacing in the room, and since I am hurt today, I will have to ask you to pace in my stead."
"You mean?"
"Of course I mean. You're an intelligent man, surely you understand what pacing is."
I began pacing slowly around the room. With a glass in the hand.
"Magnificent. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Besides the theft of most of our navy, we were now faced with the loss of Norway, and over a third of the overall population of the Danish crown along with the Sund tolls. The situation forced us to reduce the plans for the navy and pray that our existing industries could sustain our economy and bloated military. By 1838, as the old man told me, the first Sjaelland train line was finished. Obviously many questioned the logic of railroading a single island; but never our old selves. And we were right, since by 1846, we were already building rails over Iceland.
We were increasingly close to Russia and Sweden, mainly because the germans seemed to have taken to detesting us. It might have had something to do with the great conference our old selves at retold us, where the king of Denmark and the dukes of Holstein, Schleswig and Lauenburg had come to an agreement: calling these countries Denmark looked better on paper, particularly for schoolchildren. But they would have none of it, and with the support of Prussia, the germans decided to be rash about it.
Denmark's allies would have none of it, and along with a slew of volunteers, the Danish army simply took positions in Lauenburg and Copenhague. This soon proved to be useless, as the Prussians had no possible way to land troops past our new steam frigate, and Austria never had the luxury to leave the Adriatic. Particularly during the war, when its naval bases in Venice were under revolutionary control, leaving them with only Trieste, as Fiume was now part of the Hungarian republic.
During the war, we came to the conclusion that Clausewitz was possibly right, and that war was simply politics as usual. We also decided to convince our sailors that they were nothing without their crew. At least this one functioned, since I can never see sailors unless they are close to or on a ship.
The poisoned gift came after the war; as the war had been a complete stalemate after its two or three battles within the first few months, the London Protocol simply maintained the statu quo antebellum. But Prussia accepted the offer of the Frankfurt assembly, and Holstein went to us, instead of the German Confederation, according to the protocol.
But I see that you haven't eaten much. Quite frankly, I should have proposed to allow you to eat standing. But, please, do sit and eat. My expose for the day is done."
As he enjoined me to sit, I realized I had been pacing in the room for a good time with only my now empty glass of wine, and indeed, I was now hungry. For the entire length of this first encounter, I rarely dared to speak, for fear that I might fail to grasp his peculiar rules of courtesy.
OOC
Note - I did all the metropolis before I started putting rails in Iceland
I also maintained the army ready for war during the 1st SH conflict; there is no need to be too sure of ourselves, particularly when it's, as I already noted, my first time at this difficulty level.
OOT and OOC
I'm not sure if you've played VIP (I've played on two versions), but it's quite problematic to precipitate the scramble - the prestige and badboy cost to take over african minors is horrible, and it's impossible to build claims before the late 70's, or even the 80's, not to forget the constant revolts which pile up (e.g. since there are two countries in Burkina Faso, you'll face an overall +12 rise in militancy - keeping the peace will be costlier, particularly for Denmark, than actually conquering the place). The first Schleswig war is the easiest won anyway: historically, it consisted of Holstein and parts of Slesvig trying to breakaway, while Denmark (with Scandinavian volunteers) on one side, and Prussia (and German volunteers) on the other, moved about in Holstein and Slesvig in an indecisive fashion (making Austria take part in the 1st SH war is a mistake - the other Great Powers were quite adamant that the crowns of Denmark and the duchies remain in personal union at the time, many of them threatening war - hence the London protocols). IG, it is very possible to leave Holstein out, leaving you with only the naval front to contend with. Since Prussia usually builds up the clippers, and I keep the naval funding at lowest, I've actually seen my real navy defeated by the Prussian clipper flotillas once, because I had made the mistake of leaving two ships in port for refits, and waiting until they reached about 100.
I consider this a minor exploit considering the sheer power imbalance between the two countries within the game.
[Next update - maybe sunday; probably wednesday]
