26th July, 1664
Returned from a tour of our new territories, I arrive to find that the Russians have taken Lugansk and Bouzakhi from the Turks to conclude their war. The Turkish holdings in the Crimea are now reduced to Kerch and Kaffa, clinging feebly to the coastline.
1st January, 1665
Our fortification technology has improved again, and key fortresses are being upgraded (to class five).
3rd April, 1665
Word reaches us from the colony of Jambi in the East - a small outpost of 98 men in a huge depopulated wilderness - that the natural harbour on which our colony of Jambi stands has become a common refuge for trading ships from all nations, trying to escape pirates. Impressed by the respect for laws and foreign merchants that they found in the Commonwealth's citizens, they have begun to return with goods to trade. It seems that Jambi is now the principal market for all goods from Southern China and all other provinces in the East not controlled by Portugal (who have their own trading centre in Sumbawa). The profits for the Commonwealth are potentially very large - the only issue is how we defend the colony. Aceh is nearly built up to a level where it could support troops and public buildings, and this will be the focus of our colonial policy for the next few years.
17th November, 1665
The great leader Pan Sapieha - first to break the walls of Constantinople in Islamic times - has died at his estate in Macedonia. His body is to be brought back with all honour from there, for burial with the Kings in the Wawel Castle.
19th November, 1665
The English now have a border with the Commonwealth, as they take Mecklenburg from the Savoyards in a peace treaty.
1st October, 1668
Times have been quiet, but we have been building up our armies none the less. A few clever decisions by the Controller of the Fisc have meant that inflation has dropped by 33%. We order two goods manufactories to be built, in Poznan and Krakow, while prices remain low.
11th October, 1668
Our decision to build up our armies is justified, as the Russians, Danes, Venetians, Mamelukes and Scots declare war on us. Sweden's message agreeing to join us arrives before we can even write the letter inviting them into the war, and our armies take up their positions. As usual, we are standing back from the frontier, to allow the Russians to wear themselves out on our border fortifications. When spring comes, our highly trained armies will sweep in through the demoralised Russian forces, and attack in a four-pronged assault. One large siege army will attack Moscow, a smaller force will take on Karelia, and two large armies will attack at our preferred territories in the south. We have no desire to keep a long border with Russia, so driving her forces out of the recently-captured Crimean provinces will be sufficient for us. It also keeps the Bear back from the Black Sea. We refrain from summoning the pospolite ruszenie, the levy-en-masse of the nobility. They have served us well in the past, but with the advance of military tactics, they are useful as an emergency measure only.
April 8th, 1669
Spring has come, and with it the first assault of our armies. The Russians are badly led, and have been wasting themselves on Novgorod's class five fortifications all winter. I think this war will not be hard to win.
June 4th, 1669
Moscow was taken by storm on our first assault, while Bogutjar and Lugansk are now in our hands in the south. Donetsk is under siege, and the Moscow veterans are moving in support of the Swedes and Poles besieging Karelia.
August 28th, 1669
The Russian forces have been smashed in two battles, one outside Novgorod, one on the road to the Crimea. The way lies open for a peace on our terms. With our Swedish friends holding back the Danes in the west, the Russians have suffered severely from the absence of the Persians.
January 1st, 1670
The Russians offer us peace - Bogutjar and Lugansk, and 250 ducats. We reply that this is acceptable. It moves the Russian back further east. Donetsk remains an enclave of Russian terrritory surrounded by the Commonwealth - that will be our next target. Our armies return home in triumph.
October 17th, 1670
As usual, the Russians are taking our their aggression against someone smaller than them - the poor benighted Uzbeks.
August 6th, 1672
The Russians have taken Aralsk, Karaganda, and Ust Urt from the Uzbeks, extending their reach in the East even as their territory is eaten away in the West.
THE BOOK OF MAREK WOJTANOWSKI (1672 - 1712)
December 16th, 1674
My journey from Jamaica - where I was Starost - was tedious, but now I have arrived to find the Commonwealth flourishing. We have a strong defensive alliance with our vassal Sweden, with whom we have excellent relations. Our census intake is over 900 ducats a year, and our armies are unchallenged in their mastery across Europe. We are committed to recovering Constantinople for the Christian faith, and our armies seem to be up to the task. Austria is quiescent - they have been impressed by our recent feats against the Turk, and like us tolerably well. We have bloodied Russian noses, and our industry is progressing excellently. We also own the richest centre of trade in the world, the small but growing colony of Jambi on the island of Sumatra. Now, in further good news, the Russians and Turks are at war. The Russians have brought in the usual suspects of Venice, Scotland, the Hedjaz, Denmark, the Mamelukes and Scotland. The Turks bring along Aden, Algeria, Tunisia, Nubia and Wallachia.
January 8th, 1675
The Russians and Turks share no border, and Russia has no coastal provinces. This is going to make the war between them rather difficult. I would also not be surprised if it lasted a while, since both sides are devilishly stubborn. For the most part, I imagine the war will be fought between an undefended Venice and the might of the Turkish alliance. I send 250d ducats to Venice, to support them in their effort. If the Russians don't give in soon, we might take the opportunity to declare war on Turkey and take more of their European territory.
February 1st, 1675
We have sent a small detachment to deal with an uprising in Swedish Azov. As we suspected, the Turks have moved against the Venetian Republic in Illyria. We send another 100 ducats to the Doge, with our best wishes. He is starting to reappraise his dislike of us - perhaps we could bring him into our alliance one day?
September 19th, 1675
The Turk has captured Illyria, but the Dalmatian coast is better-fortified and their army of 50,000 men is stalled there, suffering severe attrition. We cement the rapprochement between Commonwealth and Republic by marrying Sapieha's grand-daughter to the Corner family, an ancient Venetian line.
July 7th, 1678
We have been subsidising the Venetian Republic heavily in the past few years, and the results have been good. The Turk was turned back from Dalmatia, and his army - reduced to 10,000 men - is currently washing its wounds in Illyria.
July 18th, 1678
The first treaty of the Russian-Turkish war is signed between Turkey and the Hedjaz, with the Hedjaz taking Tabuk.
April 8th, 1680
The Russian-Turkish war grinds on towards its sixth anniversary. The Spanish report that they have completely annexed the Inca empire in South America.
July 1st, 1680
Accepting realities, the Venetians cede Illyria to the Turks, which brings them out of what looks like a long war.
January 1st, 1682
We have been watching the progress of the war with interest. After lurking around for some time, the Turkish armies have all headed south, presumably to take on the Mamelukes. We are therefore left with a clear field in Europe, and are preparing our armies for attack. A conscription centre was built in Ukraine the other year, and we use the reserves of cash we have to build three armies - two siege armies at 20k/1k/100 and one field army at 30k/15k/0. Meanwhile, the King himself has taken command of our Macedonian regiments, which have been split into three. Two are siege armies (20k/0/100) commanded by colonels, and the other is a field army commanded by the King (25k/15k/0).
April 30th, 1682
The Mameluks cede Samaria to Turkey. However, after discussion in the Senate, we decide that we will not be put off from our path of war. Preparations continue.
June 9th, 1682
We declare war against the Turkish alliance, and the Swedes join us. We dispose our armies as follows. The King is sent to Constantinople to take out the 10k army sitting under its walls. Colonel Firlej is sent out of Salonika after him with the siege force. Another siege force heads south from Salonika to Athens (Hellas province). In the north, one siege army is sent to take Wallachia out of the war, while the others wait in reserve. They will join our Swedish comrades when they arrive, and help them to capture more territory for Sweden.
August 31st, 1682
The Turkish army outside Constantinople has been annihilated, and once more the Theodosian Walls are under attack from Christian forces.
February 9th, 1683
Constantinople has fallen for the second time. The King moves into Bulgaria, where another Turkish army (with Wallachian and Tunisian reinforcements) is waiting for him. The siege army moves to Rumelia from Constantinople.
September 19th, 1683
Rumelia and Hellas have fallen to our siege armies. We are having a harder time against the large fortifications in Buharesti. But it is the only Wallachian province - and the Wallachian army don't seem particularly keen to save it, as they're skulking around in Kosovo.
March 26th, 1684
Our armies continue to do well against minimal Turkish opposition. The walls of Buharesti are crumbling, and our forces now control all of mainland Greece, plus Kaffa, Kerch and Rumelia. Constantinople, of course, is also ours.
November 15th, 1684
The last Wallachian resistance crumbles, and their forces and people are brought into the Commonwealth's tender embrace. This gifts us an army of 10k/3k/50 in Kosovo, which instantly rises up against the Turks it is billeted with. The result is a massacre of the last Turkish army on the European continent. The annexation of Wallachia has made the strategic situation slightly different. We had planned to demand Hellas and Morea, and Albania if we could get it. This would give us a unified stretch of territory in Greece from where we could mount assaults on Constantinople in future. However, we are not prepared to have Wallachia isolated, so we or the Swedes will need to receive Bulgaria in a peace treaty (it is currently in Swedish hands). Then the capture of Hellas will give us a continuous strip of territory - and also divide the western part of Turkey-in-Europe from the eastern part. Divide et impera, as they say.
February 1st, 1685
The Swedish King decides to take Serbia rather than Bulgaria for his part in the war. That is his decision, and our army moves out of Wallachia to storm Bulgaria. Now the Swedes have received their reward, we can start to talk peace with the Turks ourselves. The Russian war is still going on, in its tenth year, but I cannot see any action taking place between any of the parties.
August 27th, 1685
The long negotiations with the Turkish emissaries are at an end, and we receive Bulgaria, Hellas and 250D for our reward. Along with Wallachia and the Swedish capture of Serbia, this is a good result from our war. Our next Turkish war will be against Albania and Morea, then Bosnia, Illyria (if Venice cannot recover it) and Kosovo.
Returned from a tour of our new territories, I arrive to find that the Russians have taken Lugansk and Bouzakhi from the Turks to conclude their war. The Turkish holdings in the Crimea are now reduced to Kerch and Kaffa, clinging feebly to the coastline.
1st January, 1665
Our fortification technology has improved again, and key fortresses are being upgraded (to class five).
3rd April, 1665
Word reaches us from the colony of Jambi in the East - a small outpost of 98 men in a huge depopulated wilderness - that the natural harbour on which our colony of Jambi stands has become a common refuge for trading ships from all nations, trying to escape pirates. Impressed by the respect for laws and foreign merchants that they found in the Commonwealth's citizens, they have begun to return with goods to trade. It seems that Jambi is now the principal market for all goods from Southern China and all other provinces in the East not controlled by Portugal (who have their own trading centre in Sumbawa). The profits for the Commonwealth are potentially very large - the only issue is how we defend the colony. Aceh is nearly built up to a level where it could support troops and public buildings, and this will be the focus of our colonial policy for the next few years.
17th November, 1665
The great leader Pan Sapieha - first to break the walls of Constantinople in Islamic times - has died at his estate in Macedonia. His body is to be brought back with all honour from there, for burial with the Kings in the Wawel Castle.
19th November, 1665
The English now have a border with the Commonwealth, as they take Mecklenburg from the Savoyards in a peace treaty.
1st October, 1668
Times have been quiet, but we have been building up our armies none the less. A few clever decisions by the Controller of the Fisc have meant that inflation has dropped by 33%. We order two goods manufactories to be built, in Poznan and Krakow, while prices remain low.
11th October, 1668
Our decision to build up our armies is justified, as the Russians, Danes, Venetians, Mamelukes and Scots declare war on us. Sweden's message agreeing to join us arrives before we can even write the letter inviting them into the war, and our armies take up their positions. As usual, we are standing back from the frontier, to allow the Russians to wear themselves out on our border fortifications. When spring comes, our highly trained armies will sweep in through the demoralised Russian forces, and attack in a four-pronged assault. One large siege army will attack Moscow, a smaller force will take on Karelia, and two large armies will attack at our preferred territories in the south. We have no desire to keep a long border with Russia, so driving her forces out of the recently-captured Crimean provinces will be sufficient for us. It also keeps the Bear back from the Black Sea. We refrain from summoning the pospolite ruszenie, the levy-en-masse of the nobility. They have served us well in the past, but with the advance of military tactics, they are useful as an emergency measure only.
April 8th, 1669
Spring has come, and with it the first assault of our armies. The Russians are badly led, and have been wasting themselves on Novgorod's class five fortifications all winter. I think this war will not be hard to win.
June 4th, 1669
Moscow was taken by storm on our first assault, while Bogutjar and Lugansk are now in our hands in the south. Donetsk is under siege, and the Moscow veterans are moving in support of the Swedes and Poles besieging Karelia.
August 28th, 1669
The Russian forces have been smashed in two battles, one outside Novgorod, one on the road to the Crimea. The way lies open for a peace on our terms. With our Swedish friends holding back the Danes in the west, the Russians have suffered severely from the absence of the Persians.
January 1st, 1670
The Russians offer us peace - Bogutjar and Lugansk, and 250 ducats. We reply that this is acceptable. It moves the Russian back further east. Donetsk remains an enclave of Russian terrritory surrounded by the Commonwealth - that will be our next target. Our armies return home in triumph.
October 17th, 1670
As usual, the Russians are taking our their aggression against someone smaller than them - the poor benighted Uzbeks.
August 6th, 1672
The Russians have taken Aralsk, Karaganda, and Ust Urt from the Uzbeks, extending their reach in the East even as their territory is eaten away in the West.
THE BOOK OF MAREK WOJTANOWSKI (1672 - 1712)
December 16th, 1674
My journey from Jamaica - where I was Starost - was tedious, but now I have arrived to find the Commonwealth flourishing. We have a strong defensive alliance with our vassal Sweden, with whom we have excellent relations. Our census intake is over 900 ducats a year, and our armies are unchallenged in their mastery across Europe. We are committed to recovering Constantinople for the Christian faith, and our armies seem to be up to the task. Austria is quiescent - they have been impressed by our recent feats against the Turk, and like us tolerably well. We have bloodied Russian noses, and our industry is progressing excellently. We also own the richest centre of trade in the world, the small but growing colony of Jambi on the island of Sumatra. Now, in further good news, the Russians and Turks are at war. The Russians have brought in the usual suspects of Venice, Scotland, the Hedjaz, Denmark, the Mamelukes and Scotland. The Turks bring along Aden, Algeria, Tunisia, Nubia and Wallachia.
January 8th, 1675
The Russians and Turks share no border, and Russia has no coastal provinces. This is going to make the war between them rather difficult. I would also not be surprised if it lasted a while, since both sides are devilishly stubborn. For the most part, I imagine the war will be fought between an undefended Venice and the might of the Turkish alliance. I send 250d ducats to Venice, to support them in their effort. If the Russians don't give in soon, we might take the opportunity to declare war on Turkey and take more of their European territory.
February 1st, 1675
We have sent a small detachment to deal with an uprising in Swedish Azov. As we suspected, the Turks have moved against the Venetian Republic in Illyria. We send another 100 ducats to the Doge, with our best wishes. He is starting to reappraise his dislike of us - perhaps we could bring him into our alliance one day?
September 19th, 1675
The Turk has captured Illyria, but the Dalmatian coast is better-fortified and their army of 50,000 men is stalled there, suffering severe attrition. We cement the rapprochement between Commonwealth and Republic by marrying Sapieha's grand-daughter to the Corner family, an ancient Venetian line.
July 7th, 1678
We have been subsidising the Venetian Republic heavily in the past few years, and the results have been good. The Turk was turned back from Dalmatia, and his army - reduced to 10,000 men - is currently washing its wounds in Illyria.
July 18th, 1678
The first treaty of the Russian-Turkish war is signed between Turkey and the Hedjaz, with the Hedjaz taking Tabuk.
April 8th, 1680
The Russian-Turkish war grinds on towards its sixth anniversary. The Spanish report that they have completely annexed the Inca empire in South America.
July 1st, 1680
Accepting realities, the Venetians cede Illyria to the Turks, which brings them out of what looks like a long war.
January 1st, 1682
We have been watching the progress of the war with interest. After lurking around for some time, the Turkish armies have all headed south, presumably to take on the Mamelukes. We are therefore left with a clear field in Europe, and are preparing our armies for attack. A conscription centre was built in Ukraine the other year, and we use the reserves of cash we have to build three armies - two siege armies at 20k/1k/100 and one field army at 30k/15k/0. Meanwhile, the King himself has taken command of our Macedonian regiments, which have been split into three. Two are siege armies (20k/0/100) commanded by colonels, and the other is a field army commanded by the King (25k/15k/0).
April 30th, 1682
The Mameluks cede Samaria to Turkey. However, after discussion in the Senate, we decide that we will not be put off from our path of war. Preparations continue.
June 9th, 1682
We declare war against the Turkish alliance, and the Swedes join us. We dispose our armies as follows. The King is sent to Constantinople to take out the 10k army sitting under its walls. Colonel Firlej is sent out of Salonika after him with the siege force. Another siege force heads south from Salonika to Athens (Hellas province). In the north, one siege army is sent to take Wallachia out of the war, while the others wait in reserve. They will join our Swedish comrades when they arrive, and help them to capture more territory for Sweden.
August 31st, 1682
The Turkish army outside Constantinople has been annihilated, and once more the Theodosian Walls are under attack from Christian forces.
February 9th, 1683
Constantinople has fallen for the second time. The King moves into Bulgaria, where another Turkish army (with Wallachian and Tunisian reinforcements) is waiting for him. The siege army moves to Rumelia from Constantinople.
September 19th, 1683
Rumelia and Hellas have fallen to our siege armies. We are having a harder time against the large fortifications in Buharesti. But it is the only Wallachian province - and the Wallachian army don't seem particularly keen to save it, as they're skulking around in Kosovo.
March 26th, 1684
Our armies continue to do well against minimal Turkish opposition. The walls of Buharesti are crumbling, and our forces now control all of mainland Greece, plus Kaffa, Kerch and Rumelia. Constantinople, of course, is also ours.
November 15th, 1684
The last Wallachian resistance crumbles, and their forces and people are brought into the Commonwealth's tender embrace. This gifts us an army of 10k/3k/50 in Kosovo, which instantly rises up against the Turks it is billeted with. The result is a massacre of the last Turkish army on the European continent. The annexation of Wallachia has made the strategic situation slightly different. We had planned to demand Hellas and Morea, and Albania if we could get it. This would give us a unified stretch of territory in Greece from where we could mount assaults on Constantinople in future. However, we are not prepared to have Wallachia isolated, so we or the Swedes will need to receive Bulgaria in a peace treaty (it is currently in Swedish hands). Then the capture of Hellas will give us a continuous strip of territory - and also divide the western part of Turkey-in-Europe from the eastern part. Divide et impera, as they say.
February 1st, 1685
The Swedish King decides to take Serbia rather than Bulgaria for his part in the war. That is his decision, and our army moves out of Wallachia to storm Bulgaria. Now the Swedes have received their reward, we can start to talk peace with the Turks ourselves. The Russian war is still going on, in its tenth year, but I cannot see any action taking place between any of the parties.
August 27th, 1685
The long negotiations with the Turkish emissaries are at an end, and we receive Bulgaria, Hellas and 250D for our reward. Along with Wallachia and the Swedish capture of Serbia, this is a good result from our war. Our next Turkish war will be against Albania and Morea, then Bosnia, Illyria (if Venice cannot recover it) and Kosovo.
Looks like you've become a juggernaut (or Polish equivalent) and no one can stand before you.
