The Empire of the North
Part III
Europa Universalis (1534-1557)
January 1, 1533
Today we crown Christian III King of Denmark, and Christian I, First Emperor of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the united Territories of Germany. His first act will be to establish an academy for the fine arts in Copenhagen - he is committed to improving the standards of living among his subjects. And with a yearly income of over 550d, he has the ressources to carry out his grandiose dreams. He even wants to build a winter palace in Cologne - though I find that a somewhat risky proposition. First however, we have to pay off the loans that we incurred during the fortunate deflation of 3 years ago.
February 3, 1535
The loans were repaid in a timely fashion. England has joined us in Protestantism, so it is perhaps time to approach them for an marriage alliance between the English Princess and our newly crowned Emperor.
July 1, 1537
England has joined our alliance, after numerous bribes (though they insisted upon referring to them as gifts). England will be a useful ally for keeping the Scots occuppied in any future wars.
August 1, 1537
The dastardly Austrians have violated our territories for the last time. Claiming that they are rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrians have seen fit to be sending troops through our German territories with impunity. Despite severe remonstrances, the Austrians refuse to see the light. The Emperor has ordered our armies south, and now 150,000 men and 700 cannons are streaming towards the borders of Austria.
September, 1537
The world has turned against us. On August 9, Venice, the Mameluks, Persia, Iraq, and Hungary declared war. On August 16, Parma and the Knights, and Lorraine, Spain, Poland, and the Palatinate declared war. On August 24, Courland declared war and finally on September 10, Scotland and France declared war on us. Fortunately, our allies have proven to be true, and both England and Spain have joined our side in all these wars.
May 24, 1538
We have annexed the Palatinate outright, The Emperor has vowed that all of Germany shall be freed from the tyrannical hand of the Pope in Rome, and this is our first step.
October 5, 1538
Our fleets, led by the redoubtable Peter Skram have captured the sea rutters of Spain. This has allowed us to discover much of the American including their large fortified colonies in Central America. Even if we win nothing else during this war, this will prove a great boon to our explorers in future.
February 14, 1539
Lorraine has fallen to our forces, and their tiny realm annexed. The English have made peace with the Austrians, finding the blockade of the channel from Portuguese sea raiders to be too onerous a burden. I fear that we shall soon be seeing Portuguese soldiers landing in Germany to assist their Austrian allies. Hopefully we shall be able to crush them underfoot before they can make a difference. In the East, the war is going badly - the Hungarians and their Venetian allies are cutting a heavy swath through our provinces.
July 3, 1539
I had to rush back to Copenhagen, in order to restore order. A very favourable offer of peace from the Hungarians, offering to annex only Carpathia and accept a payment of 17d caused great destabilization within the government when we refused. The dissatisfaction with the war effort spread to the populace and caused riots in the streets. Only briefly though, and force was not required to restore order.
It seems that the fiction of my ageing has finally gained widespread acceptance. On this trip home, I even allowed my "son" (for some strange reason, I have been unable to have any children with my wife), to be seen in public with me - with a heavy makeup on to heighten the resemblance further. In addition, I have spread a number of portraits around to important notables of an aged version of myself and my "son", so that they will get used to the idea.
February 22, 1540
Austria has been annexed, and the Holy Roman Emperor deposed. In an attempt to cause revolts, the Pope has crowned the perfidious Carlos I of Spain as the new Emperor.
September 24, 1540
A peace has been concluded with Courland, due to inactivity on both our parts. Following this, the perfidious English made peace with Scotland, in return for gold. Well - we shall manage without their help. Now that the Danish Expeditionary Force, containing 60 cannon and 10,000 men have landed in Central America, we shall soon bring this war to an end - even though we have to blast our ways through the walls of each of these Spanish provinces.
January 1, 1541
We made peace with France, in return for receiving Champagne and Nivernais, as well as some gold. Scotland was let off with a white peace; we do not have the time to prepare a sea invasion, with our many commitments elsewhere. Our armies are now marching on Hungary.
January 24, 1542
The Emperor is furious that I have not followed his orders and preserved his winter palace in Cologne. The Spanish went in and burned it down. In the meantime, Prussia has declared war on us, and Russia has surrendered Tver to the Teutonic Order. In my attempt to bring an end to this destructive conflict, I also brokered a peace with Parma and the Knights; fortunately, the Emperor is a reasonable man (except as regards his brand-new, and now burning, winter palace).
Hungary is all but subdued, our armies are spilling across the borders into Poland, and our Central American campaign is progressing well. Perhaps another year will see the war brought to an end?
March 2, 1543
Courland has turned protestant, and sent delicate feelers to normalize relations with our Empire. We shall see how long that lasts. Our armies annexed Hungary in May, which immediately provoked Moldavia into declaring war on us again. Unfortunately, their timing was acrimonious; in November we forced Poland to cede Podlasia and Galicia, and Spain to cede Tuxpan and the rich gold mines of Zacatecas. With the huge influx of money, we were able to strengthen our defenses all over the empire, and launch new offensives on all remaining fronts. Even as I write, Moldavia is in ruins about me - the keys of its city in my hands. Thus Moldavia learns the price of stupidity.
Now only Portugal, the Venetian alliance, and Prussia remains in arms against us. Portugal we will buy off with a small cash payment, if we can.
September 24, 1543
Portugal was easily bribed; 39d was their price. But the annexation of Prussia has sparked off a new set of belligerents: Helvetia have declared war, supported by Savoy and France. In addition, Wallachia supported by Turkey and Algeria have invaded our newly conquored eastern territories. We dare not call in our allies, as our relations have deteriorated sharply during this war, so we have to go it alone.
January 3, 1544
Venice has surrendered, ceding Mantua and Illyria - our Empire's first steps to becoming a Mediteranean sea power. Despite our successes, revolts are exploding all over our Empire - entire armies are being kept occuppied simply storming to and fro across the land, in attempts to put down the revolts.
February 2, 1545
The Eight Years War is at an end. By June, we had captured Wallachia, and from there it was an easy task for our experienced armies to conquor vast stretches of Turkish lands. We then concluded a peace; allowing Wallachia to survive, but extorting as our price Rumelia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia from helpless Turkey. Our Empire now stretches to the Black Sea as well. After capturing Helvetia proper, our armies then stormed and recaptured Alsace, and annexed the Swiss. Savoy suffered the same fate, and France had to cede Franche Comte and Milan in the peace.
With our armies numbering 100,000 men and 670 cannons, and rich gifts to our two allies once again securing their friendship, we need no longer fear any enemy coalitions. Peace has descended on the world, as the Incas and Spain sign a white peace with each other.
January 1, 1546
Our year has been spent putting down the revolts left over from the long war. Misguided Catholics in Milan evicted our garrisons and declared independence - it seems we will need to make an example of this. Hopefully this will not be misconstrued by other nations as a sign of weakness.
January 1, 1547
Of course it was. Courland - now within the reach of our armies after the annexation of Prussia, has tried to lead the Baltic coast in rebellion. They failed, and now our forces are storming into their lands. Parma and their new allies of Venice and Portugal have also declared a war against us.
January 3, 1548
The Teutonic Order listened to their neighbours and joined their war declaration. Then the Poles declared war - on Courland. This is a strange development, considering that our armies have already conquored Courlands capital - though we have not yet been able to annex them.
April 16, 1548
The Poles devious plan becomes apparent. Getting their ally Genoa to declare war on us, they have now stormed and taken Courland from us and are now in a position to annex that country, if we recover the province that Courland have taken from us. In addition, the Papacy and Spain have joined in - despite our recently signed treaties.
January 21, 1549
Scotland has turned protestant, and sent me their pledges that they would not intervene in this new war. Courland has made peace with Poland, paying them a considerable sum of money. Milan - and Savoy who joined them in rebellion - have been reannexed. Parma has fallen to our troops, after a short but vigorous campaign. Bare months thereafter, Venice fell, and ceded us Ragusa and Kosovo. This time Portugal could see the futility of the struggle, and settled for a white peace. Now it is time to make and end to the impertinent Genoese - though our first attempt to invade Corsica ended in a miserable failure, as our fleet fled.
January 1, 1550
Not content with staying on the side lines, Tuscany had to go and declare war on us in February. In September, after being bloodily repulsed by the combined Genoese and French armies on our first attempt, our armies managed to besiege and storm Genoa. Our massed war fleet of 25 warships and 15 transports, led by Peter Skram then took on the Genoese fleet and crushed it utterly following which we invaded Corsica.
May 4, 1550
More war declarations. Wallachia, allied with Turkey and Algeria have declared war. Just this day, France allied with Helvetia and Scotland have joined in the war. Fortunately, we have forced the Spanish to a peace, taking the Central American provinces of Jalisco and Michoagan as our price. Kurland has also been annexed.
In the meantime, our Corsican invasion force has been beaten back in bloody ruin by a Corsican relief force that in
February 2, 1551
The Spanish Empire, with Poland, Genoa and the Papacy forced to join, have declared war on France. Good news indeed for our embattled empire. In the meantime, our soldiers managed to beat down the opposition on our Eastern front - the Teutonic order surrendered Memel in a peace treaty, while Poland ceded us Pripet and Podolia. A swift, punishing campaign down south resulted in the annexation of Wallachia. Our forces are now prepared to march west and bring the proud French to their knees.
January 28, 1552
Helvetia surrendered to our forces in April, but this small advantage was offset when the treacherous English made peace with the Scots - freeing up Scottish soldiers to ravaging the Norwegian shore line. France has settled with the Spaniards, paying good gold to get the Spanish to agree to a peace treaty. It helped them little though, as our forces brought the walls of Paris tumbling down just a few days ago. Faced with the undeniable facts, the French have been forced to cede Provence and Bourgogne.
A young man named Daniel Rantzau has been promoted from the ranks. He shows great promise, and will surely be tested in the upcoming offensives in the south.
July 20, 1552
After a mass attack by 50.000 men, Tuscany has succumbed to our armies. At the same time, the Turks have agreed to a peace with no tribute, and we can now prepare our renewed invasion of Corsica.
September 13, 1552
In August, we landed a huge army on Corsica, led by the young Rantzau who has shown some skills at sieges. The defending forces were quickly wiped out, and after a short siege, our forces stormed the citadel. Genoa has capitulated and been annexed by our empire. Faced with the undeniable situation, our last two enemies: Scotland and the Papal States agreed to a peace without tribute.
After another five years of war, we hope to be able to rebuild our empire. Crimea, formerly annexed by the Turks just declared their independence, so hopefully we shall be leftt in peace for a while. Our allies too appear tired of the endless wars, so it would be nice with a short break.
February 10, 1553
The Russians have apparently not had enough of war, and have declared war on Kazan. The English dishonored their alliance, but we naturally joined the Russians in their war declaration. Our support shall be only financial and moral, though.
May 15, 1554
Disaster has struck. First Venice, supported by the Mameluks, Persia and Iraq declared war on us. Then the Knights declared war. When asked to support us, the Russians betrayed us. We are left to fight off the opposition alone.
May 22, 1555
After we had made peace with Kazan, Russia was soon forced to surrender and pay indemnities to the Khanate. A short period of hectic diplomacy has followed, and we have now reforged the alliance with both England and Russia.
January 1, 1556
Stranger bedmates have rarely been heard off than Spain and the Incas. How useless their alliance is was demonstrated when Poland declared war on us; though Spain and the Papal States joined, the Incas dishonored their alliance. Our recently reaffirmed alliance, however, stood together about us.
Rantzau had mixed success on Rhodes - the first storm on their cliff-top fortress failing. It was to take two months of starvation and a second storm before the stubborn Knights would submit to annexation. With Rantzau freed from those duties, we shall strike quickly against our enemies and bring them to heel.
A new religious fever is sweeping Europe, led by a reformer called John Calvin. The King is showing dangerous tendencies towards this new religion, but he heeds my advice to be moderate - at least for now.
November 14, 1556
Our offensives were a stunning success. The Papal states were annexed almost immediately, as their fortresses had been severely weakened in the earlier wars. The Danish Expeditionary Force in America had some troubles with the Spanish fortress in Tampico, being reduced from 30.000 men to only 11.000, but after a hard-fought assault, that fortress too fell. Then Venice surrendered its last territories and agreed to annexation.
With all these successes, and our forces storming across the borders into Spain and Poland, Persia - the leader of the old Venetian alliance could see the writing on the wall and agreed to a white peace. Shortly after, our last opponents came to the bargaining table. Belarus and Lithuania were annexed from Poland, and Tampico and Naples from Spain. Perhaps at last, we shall have a lasting peace in Europe?
December 1, 1556
I am now officially dead. Taking this time to be as peaceful a one as we will ever get, and thus a time when my demise will cause the least instability in the country, I have allowed myself to "die". I was buried this morning, under greater pomp than ever before seen in Denmark - or in fact in any of the lands of the Empire. So far removed our nation already is, from those heady days of that January morning in 1492 when we were but a little Northern, second-rate nation.
Yes - it seems my immortality does not wear off. My "son" has been sent to our American colonies; there I have secured him lands and a good position, where he can live out his life in peace and security while I take over his life here. It is wonderful to no longer have to pretend to be old and care-worn, and instead walk straight and tall.
For now, there is a battle about who will succeed me, but I, as my son, have already signalled my intentions to be a contender. With my knowledge and experience (which I pretend to have inherited and been taught by my "father"), I shall soon be wearing my old mantle again.
Part III
Europa Universalis (1534-1557)
January 1, 1533
Today we crown Christian III King of Denmark, and Christian I, First Emperor of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the united Territories of Germany. His first act will be to establish an academy for the fine arts in Copenhagen - he is committed to improving the standards of living among his subjects. And with a yearly income of over 550d, he has the ressources to carry out his grandiose dreams. He even wants to build a winter palace in Cologne - though I find that a somewhat risky proposition. First however, we have to pay off the loans that we incurred during the fortunate deflation of 3 years ago.
February 3, 1535
The loans were repaid in a timely fashion. England has joined us in Protestantism, so it is perhaps time to approach them for an marriage alliance between the English Princess and our newly crowned Emperor.
July 1, 1537
England has joined our alliance, after numerous bribes (though they insisted upon referring to them as gifts). England will be a useful ally for keeping the Scots occuppied in any future wars.
August 1, 1537
The dastardly Austrians have violated our territories for the last time. Claiming that they are rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrians have seen fit to be sending troops through our German territories with impunity. Despite severe remonstrances, the Austrians refuse to see the light. The Emperor has ordered our armies south, and now 150,000 men and 700 cannons are streaming towards the borders of Austria.
September, 1537
The world has turned against us. On August 9, Venice, the Mameluks, Persia, Iraq, and Hungary declared war. On August 16, Parma and the Knights, and Lorraine, Spain, Poland, and the Palatinate declared war. On August 24, Courland declared war and finally on September 10, Scotland and France declared war on us. Fortunately, our allies have proven to be true, and both England and Spain have joined our side in all these wars.
May 24, 1538
We have annexed the Palatinate outright, The Emperor has vowed that all of Germany shall be freed from the tyrannical hand of the Pope in Rome, and this is our first step.
October 5, 1538
Our fleets, led by the redoubtable Peter Skram have captured the sea rutters of Spain. This has allowed us to discover much of the American including their large fortified colonies in Central America. Even if we win nothing else during this war, this will prove a great boon to our explorers in future.
February 14, 1539
Lorraine has fallen to our forces, and their tiny realm annexed. The English have made peace with the Austrians, finding the blockade of the channel from Portuguese sea raiders to be too onerous a burden. I fear that we shall soon be seeing Portuguese soldiers landing in Germany to assist their Austrian allies. Hopefully we shall be able to crush them underfoot before they can make a difference. In the East, the war is going badly - the Hungarians and their Venetian allies are cutting a heavy swath through our provinces.
July 3, 1539
I had to rush back to Copenhagen, in order to restore order. A very favourable offer of peace from the Hungarians, offering to annex only Carpathia and accept a payment of 17d caused great destabilization within the government when we refused. The dissatisfaction with the war effort spread to the populace and caused riots in the streets. Only briefly though, and force was not required to restore order.
It seems that the fiction of my ageing has finally gained widespread acceptance. On this trip home, I even allowed my "son" (for some strange reason, I have been unable to have any children with my wife), to be seen in public with me - with a heavy makeup on to heighten the resemblance further. In addition, I have spread a number of portraits around to important notables of an aged version of myself and my "son", so that they will get used to the idea.
February 22, 1540
Austria has been annexed, and the Holy Roman Emperor deposed. In an attempt to cause revolts, the Pope has crowned the perfidious Carlos I of Spain as the new Emperor.
September 24, 1540
A peace has been concluded with Courland, due to inactivity on both our parts. Following this, the perfidious English made peace with Scotland, in return for gold. Well - we shall manage without their help. Now that the Danish Expeditionary Force, containing 60 cannon and 10,000 men have landed in Central America, we shall soon bring this war to an end - even though we have to blast our ways through the walls of each of these Spanish provinces.
January 1, 1541
We made peace with France, in return for receiving Champagne and Nivernais, as well as some gold. Scotland was let off with a white peace; we do not have the time to prepare a sea invasion, with our many commitments elsewhere. Our armies are now marching on Hungary.
January 24, 1542
The Emperor is furious that I have not followed his orders and preserved his winter palace in Cologne. The Spanish went in and burned it down. In the meantime, Prussia has declared war on us, and Russia has surrendered Tver to the Teutonic Order. In my attempt to bring an end to this destructive conflict, I also brokered a peace with Parma and the Knights; fortunately, the Emperor is a reasonable man (except as regards his brand-new, and now burning, winter palace).
Hungary is all but subdued, our armies are spilling across the borders into Poland, and our Central American campaign is progressing well. Perhaps another year will see the war brought to an end?
March 2, 1543
Courland has turned protestant, and sent delicate feelers to normalize relations with our Empire. We shall see how long that lasts. Our armies annexed Hungary in May, which immediately provoked Moldavia into declaring war on us again. Unfortunately, their timing was acrimonious; in November we forced Poland to cede Podlasia and Galicia, and Spain to cede Tuxpan and the rich gold mines of Zacatecas. With the huge influx of money, we were able to strengthen our defenses all over the empire, and launch new offensives on all remaining fronts. Even as I write, Moldavia is in ruins about me - the keys of its city in my hands. Thus Moldavia learns the price of stupidity.
Now only Portugal, the Venetian alliance, and Prussia remains in arms against us. Portugal we will buy off with a small cash payment, if we can.
September 24, 1543
Portugal was easily bribed; 39d was their price. But the annexation of Prussia has sparked off a new set of belligerents: Helvetia have declared war, supported by Savoy and France. In addition, Wallachia supported by Turkey and Algeria have invaded our newly conquored eastern territories. We dare not call in our allies, as our relations have deteriorated sharply during this war, so we have to go it alone.
January 3, 1544
Venice has surrendered, ceding Mantua and Illyria - our Empire's first steps to becoming a Mediteranean sea power. Despite our successes, revolts are exploding all over our Empire - entire armies are being kept occuppied simply storming to and fro across the land, in attempts to put down the revolts.
February 2, 1545
The Eight Years War is at an end. By June, we had captured Wallachia, and from there it was an easy task for our experienced armies to conquor vast stretches of Turkish lands. We then concluded a peace; allowing Wallachia to survive, but extorting as our price Rumelia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia from helpless Turkey. Our Empire now stretches to the Black Sea as well. After capturing Helvetia proper, our armies then stormed and recaptured Alsace, and annexed the Swiss. Savoy suffered the same fate, and France had to cede Franche Comte and Milan in the peace.
With our armies numbering 100,000 men and 670 cannons, and rich gifts to our two allies once again securing their friendship, we need no longer fear any enemy coalitions. Peace has descended on the world, as the Incas and Spain sign a white peace with each other.
January 1, 1546
Our year has been spent putting down the revolts left over from the long war. Misguided Catholics in Milan evicted our garrisons and declared independence - it seems we will need to make an example of this. Hopefully this will not be misconstrued by other nations as a sign of weakness.
January 1, 1547
Of course it was. Courland - now within the reach of our armies after the annexation of Prussia, has tried to lead the Baltic coast in rebellion. They failed, and now our forces are storming into their lands. Parma and their new allies of Venice and Portugal have also declared a war against us.
January 3, 1548
The Teutonic Order listened to their neighbours and joined their war declaration. Then the Poles declared war - on Courland. This is a strange development, considering that our armies have already conquored Courlands capital - though we have not yet been able to annex them.
April 16, 1548
The Poles devious plan becomes apparent. Getting their ally Genoa to declare war on us, they have now stormed and taken Courland from us and are now in a position to annex that country, if we recover the province that Courland have taken from us. In addition, the Papacy and Spain have joined in - despite our recently signed treaties.
January 21, 1549
Scotland has turned protestant, and sent me their pledges that they would not intervene in this new war. Courland has made peace with Poland, paying them a considerable sum of money. Milan - and Savoy who joined them in rebellion - have been reannexed. Parma has fallen to our troops, after a short but vigorous campaign. Bare months thereafter, Venice fell, and ceded us Ragusa and Kosovo. This time Portugal could see the futility of the struggle, and settled for a white peace. Now it is time to make and end to the impertinent Genoese - though our first attempt to invade Corsica ended in a miserable failure, as our fleet fled.
January 1, 1550
Not content with staying on the side lines, Tuscany had to go and declare war on us in February. In September, after being bloodily repulsed by the combined Genoese and French armies on our first attempt, our armies managed to besiege and storm Genoa. Our massed war fleet of 25 warships and 15 transports, led by Peter Skram then took on the Genoese fleet and crushed it utterly following which we invaded Corsica.
May 4, 1550
More war declarations. Wallachia, allied with Turkey and Algeria have declared war. Just this day, France allied with Helvetia and Scotland have joined in the war. Fortunately, we have forced the Spanish to a peace, taking the Central American provinces of Jalisco and Michoagan as our price. Kurland has also been annexed.
In the meantime, our Corsican invasion force has been beaten back in bloody ruin by a Corsican relief force that in
February 2, 1551
The Spanish Empire, with Poland, Genoa and the Papacy forced to join, have declared war on France. Good news indeed for our embattled empire. In the meantime, our soldiers managed to beat down the opposition on our Eastern front - the Teutonic order surrendered Memel in a peace treaty, while Poland ceded us Pripet and Podolia. A swift, punishing campaign down south resulted in the annexation of Wallachia. Our forces are now prepared to march west and bring the proud French to their knees.
January 28, 1552
Helvetia surrendered to our forces in April, but this small advantage was offset when the treacherous English made peace with the Scots - freeing up Scottish soldiers to ravaging the Norwegian shore line. France has settled with the Spaniards, paying good gold to get the Spanish to agree to a peace treaty. It helped them little though, as our forces brought the walls of Paris tumbling down just a few days ago. Faced with the undeniable facts, the French have been forced to cede Provence and Bourgogne.
A young man named Daniel Rantzau has been promoted from the ranks. He shows great promise, and will surely be tested in the upcoming offensives in the south.
July 20, 1552
After a mass attack by 50.000 men, Tuscany has succumbed to our armies. At the same time, the Turks have agreed to a peace with no tribute, and we can now prepare our renewed invasion of Corsica.
September 13, 1552
In August, we landed a huge army on Corsica, led by the young Rantzau who has shown some skills at sieges. The defending forces were quickly wiped out, and after a short siege, our forces stormed the citadel. Genoa has capitulated and been annexed by our empire. Faced with the undeniable situation, our last two enemies: Scotland and the Papal States agreed to a peace without tribute.
After another five years of war, we hope to be able to rebuild our empire. Crimea, formerly annexed by the Turks just declared their independence, so hopefully we shall be leftt in peace for a while. Our allies too appear tired of the endless wars, so it would be nice with a short break.
February 10, 1553
The Russians have apparently not had enough of war, and have declared war on Kazan. The English dishonored their alliance, but we naturally joined the Russians in their war declaration. Our support shall be only financial and moral, though.
May 15, 1554
Disaster has struck. First Venice, supported by the Mameluks, Persia and Iraq declared war on us. Then the Knights declared war. When asked to support us, the Russians betrayed us. We are left to fight off the opposition alone.
May 22, 1555
After we had made peace with Kazan, Russia was soon forced to surrender and pay indemnities to the Khanate. A short period of hectic diplomacy has followed, and we have now reforged the alliance with both England and Russia.
January 1, 1556
Stranger bedmates have rarely been heard off than Spain and the Incas. How useless their alliance is was demonstrated when Poland declared war on us; though Spain and the Papal States joined, the Incas dishonored their alliance. Our recently reaffirmed alliance, however, stood together about us.
Rantzau had mixed success on Rhodes - the first storm on their cliff-top fortress failing. It was to take two months of starvation and a second storm before the stubborn Knights would submit to annexation. With Rantzau freed from those duties, we shall strike quickly against our enemies and bring them to heel.
A new religious fever is sweeping Europe, led by a reformer called John Calvin. The King is showing dangerous tendencies towards this new religion, but he heeds my advice to be moderate - at least for now.
November 14, 1556
Our offensives were a stunning success. The Papal states were annexed almost immediately, as their fortresses had been severely weakened in the earlier wars. The Danish Expeditionary Force in America had some troubles with the Spanish fortress in Tampico, being reduced from 30.000 men to only 11.000, but after a hard-fought assault, that fortress too fell. Then Venice surrendered its last territories and agreed to annexation.
With all these successes, and our forces storming across the borders into Spain and Poland, Persia - the leader of the old Venetian alliance could see the writing on the wall and agreed to a white peace. Shortly after, our last opponents came to the bargaining table. Belarus and Lithuania were annexed from Poland, and Tampico and Naples from Spain. Perhaps at last, we shall have a lasting peace in Europe?
December 1, 1556
I am now officially dead. Taking this time to be as peaceful a one as we will ever get, and thus a time when my demise will cause the least instability in the country, I have allowed myself to "die". I was buried this morning, under greater pomp than ever before seen in Denmark - or in fact in any of the lands of the Empire. So far removed our nation already is, from those heady days of that January morning in 1492 when we were but a little Northern, second-rate nation.
Yes - it seems my immortality does not wear off. My "son" has been sent to our American colonies; there I have secured him lands and a good position, where he can live out his life in peace and security while I take over his life here. It is wonderful to no longer have to pretend to be old and care-worn, and instead walk straight and tall.
For now, there is a battle about who will succeed me, but I, as my son, have already signalled my intentions to be a contender. With my knowledge and experience (which I pretend to have inherited and been taught by my "father"), I shall soon be wearing my old mantle again.
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