The hand that rocks the cradle: Muscowy/Byzantium AAR

[Ktarn]

While I`m waiting for HoI...

The goal in this AAR is simple, and not very original, to restore the the Byzantine Empire. The twist is I`ll play Muscowy/Russia. I`m not sure if this has been done before, if it hasnt I`m original, if it has i`m a copycat. I hope you`ll enjoy it either way.

I`ll be using EUII v1.05 with EEP 1.1 including the alternate history events. As a bit of restrainment i`ll keep BB at a low lvl, that is try not to get BB wars. And around lower tens as a max.

 

[Ktarn]

1419-25


It is the year 1419 of our lord Jesus Christ. The Grand Duchy of Muscowy is the largest and most prosperous of the many russian principalities, yet a shadow hangs over us. We are a mere suzerain of the mongol hordes, and the greatest city on earth and center of our faith, Constantinopel, is in danger of falling to the heathens. But before we can help the emperor, we must deal with some of our old enemies. Vasily I has issued a decree calling for increased training for the army, and extensive excercises during the coming spring.

When the snow thawed our forces marched towards our arch enemy, Novgorod. The first goal of the campaign was to eliminate Novgorods inferor forces. This was accomplished by the end of the year. Meanwhile we occupied all her land, and lay siege to her cities. With the coming of the new year the city of Novgorod fell to our forces under the command of Yuri Patrikeev. The opportunistic princes of Suzdal and Pskov thought that they could reap what others had sown, and declared war on Novgorod as well.
Fëdor III of Ryazan on the other hand decided that the time had come to throw of the mongol yoke, we were inclined to agree, but his timing could have been better. We were faced with the choice of either abandoning our ally, or declaring war on our masters, the Golden Horde. We chose the later, but kept the bulk of our army sieging Ingermanland and Olonets. The rest of the army was sent towards the horde, laying siege to Vorones. After Vorones had fallen we had to return to Moscow to put down a heretic uprising. This resulted in Ryazan falling to the horde, and Ryazan was annexed.

Late Spring 1421, Olonets and Ingermanland have finally fallen to our forces. Novgorod lost all land except Novgorod itself and its coffers were looted. We could now concentrate most of our forces against the Horde. Moscow was recaptured a year later.
Our campaign against the Horde had the following goal; to secure a land route to Georgia and a Black Sea port. To help Byzantium we need to be able to strike at the Ottoman Empire. Once we have common border with Georgia, securing acces through it and Trebizond should be easy.

Fall 1421, Byzantium released a pretender to the ottoman throne, and declared war on the Ottoman Empire. We crossed our fingers, and sent all the ducats we could spare to Constaninople.

The Ottomans was weakened after a long war with most of its eastern neighbour, and during the spring of 1424 made peace with the Empire, paying indemnities.

A year later our war with the Horde came to a successfull conclusion, they had to cede us the provinces of Ryazan, Tambow, Ufa, Lugansk and Azow. Our goal was accomplished, but at a cost. We had used most our income for war, and did not have the money for internal reforms.


My comments to follow...expect the next installment in a day or two.

 

[Ktarn]

Comments

I used the first diplomat to DOW Novgorod, and then forgot to cancel vassalization later.
The first Ottoman vs Byzantium war is a bit of a mystery to me. I didnt notice it until it was over. OE was at war with Karaman at the same time, but I have no good explanation of what happened. What I feared most was a crushing Byzantium defeat with Trebizond annexed as well.

 

[Faeelin]

Hmm, let's hope you can keep the center of the True Faith out of the hands of the infidel Turk. A very neat twist.

 

[unmerged(4007)]

Interesting idea. It'll be even more interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Ktarn]

1426-1435
Summer 1426, our neighbours are afraid of us, and rightly so. Nevertheless the prince of Tver refused to pay taxes, thinking perhaps that we are weak after a long war. We had no choice but to teach him a lesson.

In other news; OE finally made peace with Karaman, receiving Adana and Konya. We expect a new war between Byzantium and OE in 3 years, and we must be able to offer some real assistance. But first we must solve some internal russian affairs...

We marched on Tver as soon as our forces were asembled, after two decisive battles we started the siege of Tver in earnest. Some of our forces had to be diverted to put down rebellions. In the fall, Lithuania came to a successfull conclusion of its campaign against the Horde, receiving Donetsk. The following april, in the year 1427, Lithuania promptly declared war on us. A trap! It would seem the Prince of Tver has conspired with the King of Lithuania to halt our territorial ambitions. The later acted to late, Tver fell in late June, and the prince had no choice but to accept us as masters once more. We hoped that the war with Lithuania could be dragged out to a stalemate. A detachment was sent to siege Welikia, the rest of the army were given orders to continue our campaign to bring all the russian principalities to accept our overlordship.
In March 1428 Welikia fell, but large Lithuanian forces were laying siege to Moscow and Ryazan. Wanting to avaoid another long and costly war, we accepted peace with Lithuania, paying 39 ducats in indemnities.
In the coming years we succeded, by military means, to make all the other russian principalities our vassals. On the diplomatic front we sought closer relations with Georgia, Trebizond and the Empire, joining the later two in an alliance. Our trade was expanded, but still confined to Novgorod. We also found the time to expand the taxations system and encourage settlements in the far north of our realm. The biggest problem in this period was frequent rebellions, especially in the conquered provinces, but also in the catholic province of Kexholm.
In June 1435 Dulkadir declared war on Trebizond, starting the First Anatolian war.

Stay tuned for the next installment: The First Anatolian War.

 

[Ktarn]

Forgot to mention: Mil access through Georgia was secured.

 

[Ktarn]

How could I forget this?

1430, the heathen horde, in an attempt to restore their overlordship of the region, declared war on us. After a two-year campaign the horde was soundly beaten, and had to cede us Samara.

 

[Norgesvenn]

Ah, another Norwegian on the AAR board.

Good going. Playing Muscowy to rescue the Byzantines. Now that is original.

 

[Ktarn]

The First Anatolian War 1435-1440

June 1435, Dulkadir declared war on Trebizond. Dulkadir alone should be no match for our superior forces, but their allies, the white sheep turks, could pose a problem. Most of our army was stationed in Azow, it was promptly dispatched through Georgia, to lay siege to Armenia, Sivas, Daghestan and Kurdistan. The enemy army converged on Trebizond before we had a chance to intervene. The Ottomans declared war on Candar. Armenia fell a year later.
The Empire did not contribute much in this war, which was only good, they would need all their strenght to defeat the Ottomans. However they did find the time to conduct a campaign against Albania, which would have been an easy match, was it nor for her numerous allies.
The Empire had recently inherited the Duchy of Athens and had a large standing army. They would soon need it all.
In late August 1436, Candar fell to the ottomans and was annexed. The opportunistic ottomans declared war on the Empire, their allies and vassal Teke joined the war as well. Karaman had been annexed in a short campaign 1434-35.
But God is on our side, and before the end of September the Knights declared war on the ottomans as well, their allies, Bosnia and Venice, joining the fray.
With the coming of November, our siege of Sivas was brought to a successful conclusion. We decided to make peace with Sivasand her ally, Sivas had to accept us as hereditary lords, and the white sheep turks had to cede us Armenia. Our forces in there was sent into the eastern part of the ottoman domain, laying siege to Angora and Adana. A series of bloody battles was fought in Angora, we prevailed every time.
With the coming of spring the following year (1437), Trebizond could now longer hold out against the white sheep turks, it fell to the invaders and was annexed. This was a serious blow to us, our forces in Anatolia was cut of, and we had yet to build a fleet in Azow. In a fit of rage the prince decided to have the envoy sent to Arkhangelsk.
Angora fell in late September. Smyrna was captured by Venice.
During 1438 we managed to bring some reinforcements to Anatolia by sea, and the ottoman forces there were close to defeat. Konya was captured. Albania and Byzantium made peace. The Empire paying a symbolic sum in indemnities. The catholic province of Kexholm stopped paying taxes and pledged alegiance to the swedish crown. We were only happy to see them go. In early 1439 the situation looked good, the ottomans had no army to speak of, yet the emperor failed to exploit it, we sent them some money to hire more forces. A decree calling for a cadre of standing forces was issued.
The reason for the emperors inactivity was soon discovered, he had been busy parleying with the pope for a union of the churches, in exchange for help against the ottomans. He accepted a union of the churches. What this would mean for us has not been determined. This is indeed a dark time for the true faith.
Feeling abandoned by the emperor we made peace with the ottomans late the same year, they ceded us Adana and paid us 150 ducats. The Empire made peace a year later, without any further figthing. The ottomans paid a symbolic sum in indemnities.
This concluded the First Anatolian War as far as we were concerned. Venice, having annexed Teke, fought on, so did Ragusa, the Knights and Bosnia.

In hindsight, my forces could all have been stationed in Trebizond, that might have saved it, it might also have cost me my army. I beat the Ottomans in battle because they attacked me in mountain, over a river, and I had a leader. (stupid ai...) I had hoped that Byzantium would be able too grab a province or two from the ottomans in this war. When its army had stayed put for two years, and the ottoman army was almost destroyed, I deciced to make peace, emptying its coffers and receiving Adana.

 

[Ktarn]

1440-52

1440-1445 Rebuilding and phony wars
We concentrated on rebuilding our army and improving taxation system. A black sea fleet was another priority.
Denmark annexed Norway in 1443, and promptly declared war on us. The swedes, having already gained Kexholm, decided not to honor their alliance. Meanwhile our new allies, Poland, declared war on Bohemia, we followed suit. The Prince decided to pay minimal attention to both wars. Another development on our border is two new countries have emerged, Kazan (one prov) and Crimea (Crimea and Kaffa) both have quite large armies.

1445-1452 Retribution and desperate struggle
In the winter of the year 1445 of our lord Jesus Christ, our prince Vasily was captured by tartars from Kazan. We had to pay a hefty ransom, which had to be financed by state loans. With the safe return of Vasily, we decided to make Kazan pay. The confusion caused by the princes absence set many events in motion. Venice made war on our allies Ragusa, and Vasily of Suzdal claimed our throne and sent his army against Moscow.
The combined armies of Suzdal and Kazan was too much for our forces, we decied to focus on Suzdal, but still lost most of our forces. There have been unrest in Armenia, and we fear that they might try to seize te opportunity to declare independence.
The diplomatic ineptitude of the emperor culminated with the threat of yet another european war, this time between Poland (our allies) and Brandenburg. The empire decided not to honor the alliance, and we did the same. We were able to convince the emperor that it would be best if the alliance-building was left to us. A new alliance was formed between Muscowy, the Empire, and Georgia.
After a lenghty campaign to capture Suzdal and recapture Moscow, we made peace with Suzdal in late 1448. They were once again our vassals. Tambow, Ufa, Samara and Nizhgorod had all been captured to Kazan. Azow, Arkhangelsk, Armenia and Adana had all been captured by rebels. The court astrologer advised us to rename all provinces starting with the letter "A". His advice was not heeded, but one of our armies arrived in Armenia just in time to prevent the local duke from declaring independence.
A long campaign against the rebels and Kazan followed, helped by our new allies Georgia. The Empire was busy fighting Venice. The war with Kazan ended in september 1452, with them accepting our overlordship and paying indemnities. Faced with ever increasing revolt, and having the emperors consent, we made peace with Venice, paying 50 ducats in indemnities.

The war with Denmark ended after 36 months of inactivity, but they did capture Adana once, it was freed by rebels.
This got worse than I had thought, my army is quite small, I have an extended loan and only 100 ducats. Most of the budget has been used for stability or income for the last 5 years. Stab is now +2.
Stay tuned for the next installment, which I expect to be The Second Anatolian War.

 

[Ktarn]

Screenshots

Anatolia 1453

Russia 1453

 

[Eochaid]

Ah Moscow! Now that is a great city to live in when you're young. And its a great Nation to play when writing an AAR.

I drink to your health andsuccess: "Za Zdarovye"

 

[Ktarn]

1453-1466

1453-1460 Quiet before the storm
After the Mameluks annexed our vassals war broke out between them and the Ottomans. We hoped that the emperor would take the opportunity to make some territorial gains, but alas he was all to busy with court intrigue. On the bright side this gave us some breathing room and we could focus on internal reforms. We also tried to expand our trade, which was mostly a waste of money.

1460-1466 The Second Anatolian War
The Second Anatolian war started in may 1460 when the white sheep turks declared war on Georgia. Astrakhan, Crimea and the Ottomans joined as well. Seeing that the union of the churches served no purpose, the emperor disolved it.
Our army was in Azow, were the crimean army tried to ambush us, but it was routed. We lay siege to Crimea and Kaffa. A small detatchment was sent to cut the supply of the forces sieging Armenia. The rest of the army was sent into Ottoman controlled Anatolia to prevent it from amassing more forces there. Byzantium lay siege to Macedonia. The ottomans were sieging the mighty city of Constantinople.
Crimea was defeated in 1462 and had to accept us as master and cede Kaffa, they were annexed by Prussia(!?) shortly after. On the european side of the straits, both Constaniople and Macedonia had fallen. The ottomans were now sieging Macedonia, and the Empire was sieging Macedonia. We sent our anatolian army to lift the siege of Macedonia. We won the battle but had to wait for our army to be reinforced by sea before we could eliminate the Ottoman forces under Mehmed II. After this the war was one of attrition and long sieges. The Empire made peace in 1465, without accomplishing much, except the recapture of Constantinople. We made peace the year later. No territory changed hands on either side, except we gaining Kaffa. On the bright side, we left the Ottomas with no army and many provinces in a state of revolt, and the Empire still commanded a large army, almost 50000 men.

I`m disappointed that Byzantium failed to exploit the fact that OE was broken. On the other hand, this war could easily have gone the other way. Hopefully some of the ottoman provinces will rebel, and the ottomans wont have time to rebuild before the next war.

 

[Ktarn]

1467-1474 Diplomatic and economic expansion
The Second Anatolian war was followed by a short war between Georgia and the Horde in 1468-69. We captured Saratow. The Horde had no army to speak of and made peace with Georgia for 51 ducats. Our vassals Suzdal had annexed Kazan. After many bribes to the nobility of Suzdal, we convinced them become a part of our realm.
In 1471 the revolts against the ottomans resulted in the provinces of Bulgaria and Rumelia declaring independence and joining our alliance. Despite financial help they made peace with the ottomans shrotly after, ceding them Rumelia. Later the same years our diplomatic efforst towards Novgorod resulted in them joining our realm as well.


1474-1488 the Third Anatolian and other wars.
With the coming of the new year the ottomans together with the white sheep turks made another attempt at defeating the Empire. The cabable Georgian army were figthing the white sheep turks, and later occupied parts of eastern Anatolia. Our forceswas split and some sent by sea to Constantinople, another army was sent overland into Anatolia. The ottoman forces were beaten easily, our strong presence prevented them from raising another army. The Empire set about to capture the ottoman controlled cities. Macedonia was captured in 1475 and Smyrna in 1477.
In 1478 Georgia made peace with the white sheep turks, receiving Trabzon. We had financed the Byzantium war effort, and had to put up with increasing revolts among the peasants, when a flood of revolts spread across our realm, we had no choice but to make peace. The ottoman had no army and our allies controlled a total of five ottoman provinces, so our direct involvment was not needed.
Two years later our Prince, Ivan III, announced that he would henceforth be known as Ivan III Tsar of all of Russia. Our realm should simply be called Russia.
With Novgorod joining our realm many nobles wanted the trade there transfered to Moscow. The Tsar, not wishing to lose the trade with our eastern neighbours issued a decree in 1484 stating that all trade should be split between Moscow and Novgorod.
Our two vassals Pskov and Tver had just concluded a war, the later being annexed by the former. Our old enemy Lithuania went to war against Pskov and Tver was ceded. The Tsar not wishing Lithuania to extend her russian holdings, sent our mighty army against Lithuania in 1483. Lithuanias ally Prussia succumbed in 1485, we emptied their coffers as indemnities. Peace with Lithuania was concluded the following year, they ceded us Tver and paid indemnities.
Georgia had made substantial gains against the ottomans, but as the war dragged on without any territory being ceded, made peace in 1486 receiving 39 ducats in indemnities. Two years later the third Anatolian war ended with the Empire regaining Smyrna, Macedonia and Rumelia. This is a great time for the one true faith. Constantiople and the empire has not only been secured, but the empire is stronger than in a long time. The emperor has revealed that he wants to reconquer all of the empires former holdings. This is indeed the empires second birth.
The Tsar on the other hand has declared that all russian lands still under the controll of Lithuania or the mongols will be brought under russian rule as soon as possible.

1489-1502 Russian and Byzantine wars of expansion
Astrakhan had just concluded a peace with the Horde, conquering Saratow. The Tsar, wishing to conquer Astrakhan, went to war in 1489 once more sending his superior armies against the heathens. The enemy army was quickly eliminated, but at a substantial cost to our own forces. Peace was concluded in late 1490, with Astrakhan ceding us all territory except Astrakhan itself.
While we were busy fighing on the steppes, the emperor made war on Albania. The empire considered Bulgaria a part of the empire, this prompted the King of Bulgaria to leave our alliance at this time. They soon joined a new alliance with Hungary, among others.
Albania would have been defeated quicky were it not for the fact that she had some persistent allies, Aragon being the most important, and the fact they had conquered Bèarn earlier. The empire quickly occupied Albania and Kosovo, but the king fled to Bearn and refused to surrender.
The province of Kerch, that was nominally under genoan controll defected to Georgia in 1490. Trade was once again blooming in constantinople, and russian traders were encouraged to go there. In 1492 a trade agreement was signed with the Empire. Peace was made with Aragon the following year, the empire paying no less than 275 ducats in indemnities. Money they had received in tribute from us, the Tsar was furious, but there was little he could do. Albania still would not surrender.
No figthing was taking place, so we had the money to extend the wine production in Kaffa with some breweries. Two years later substantial goverment reforms were concluded with the passing of the Subdenik laws. The same year our war with Albania lapsed, but the empire fought on.
In 1498 the last of the independent russian principalities, Pskov, joined our realm. Wishing to further increase his power the Tsar issued a decree effectively increasing his power. However many nobles refused to put the new laws into effect.
The Tsar was angered, but a new war was beginning and he would have to act later. In the spring of 1499 we declared war on Lithuania again. After a short and decesice campaign they ceded us Smolensk, Kursk, Vorones, Bogutjar and Donetsk, and paid 175 ducats.
The Byzantium-Albanian war finally ended in 1502 with the later paying 29 ducats in indemnities.

This went rather well, here are some screenshots:

Anatolia 1502

Russia 1502

 

[Ktarn]

The Second Balkan war

1502-1510 The Second Balkan war
In May 1504 the emperor declared war against Bulgaria, her allies Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Moldavia joined the war as well. Our forces was rushed to Constantinople and marched to Bulgaria to reinforce the imperial army. Together we defeated the combined allied armies. The ottomans, perhaps trying to please, us declared war on Moldavia. We sent an army to plunder Hungary, and prevent them from raising new forces. Bulgaria fell in 1506, and was annexed by the empire. We concluded peace with Hungary in 1508, the empire fought on for another two years, receiving 200 ducats in reperations. To help with the rebuilding of the empire the Tsar announced the creation of an imperial army, of no less than 20000 men, to be stationed in Constantinople, under the command of Mikhail Glinski.

The first Balkan war would be the one against Albania...
Stay tuned for more empire rebuilding

 

[Ktarn]

1511-1528 The Third Balkan and Fourth Anatolian Wars
With the coming of spring in the year of our lord 1511 the Tsar decided to teach the Horde a lesson. The army was ordered to attack the Horde and their ally the white sheep turks. A few days later, the emperor, hallowed be his name, informed us that he intended to bring Albania back in to the imperial fold, and that his army was marching against her already. The Tsar was asked to help take care of Albanias ally Hungary. The forces stationed in Constantinople advanced on Serbia together with the forces of the Empire. First the Albanian army in Kosovo was defeated, then The hungarian forces were decimated. Mikhail Gliknski led his forces into Hungary to plunder and prevent them from rebuilding their army while the imperial forces were sieging Serbia.
Georgia was responsible for the campaign against the Horde and the white sheep turks. The later had recently lost a war against the Mameluks, losing all territory except their capital. Both wars were now dominated by sieges. Kouban fell late the same year. Serbia fell february the next year. In April 1513 Kosovo finally surrendered to the imperial forces. Kurdistan fell to georgian forces a year later, and the white sheep turks was annexed by Georgia, we sent them a gift to finance a new campaign against the Horde.They made peace with the Horde in april 1516 without accomplishing much. The empire captured Albania, and with Bearn in the hands of rebels the King of Albania had no choice but to surrender, the empire kept controll of Kosovo. Its army was sent towards Hungary. Banat fell in july 1515.
For some time now our missionaries had been busy preaching the true gospel and trying to convert heathens to the one true faith, but to no avail so far. Finaly the heathens in Satatow converted to the one true faith. Samara and Bogutjar followed in a few years. In the rest of Europe a new religous movement was splitting the catholic church, hopefully weakening it.
The Fourth Anatolian war, also known as Selims war, started in 1517 when the ottoman sultan Selim I sought to expand his domain at the expense of Georgia and Byzantium. Our army in Hungary rushed to lift the siege of Smyrna, the ottoman forces were numericaly superior but our forces prevailed. The Ottoman army was decimated. The war was then one of sieges and poor judgement on the emperors part, and internal problems withing the empire.
The Tsar, not wanting the same problems the emperor had continued his governmental reforms, centralising power in his hands.
Aanatolia fell to the empire in 1519. Peace with Papal states and Hungary was concluded the same year, Papal states paid 163 ducats in indemnities.
In the year 1520 our military engineers had finally developed cannons that we could produce in great numbers, this would give us an edge over some of our neighbours.
In April 1523 after capturing Konya and Dobrudja as well, the emperor made peace for 63 ducats and military access! The reason was that Albania still refused to accept him as emperor, and he once more sent his army against her. The Hungarian army was defeated on the plains of Kosovo, but the great Mikhail Glinksi was killed as well.
The emperor marched on Serbia. The following year our country was in revolt, and our allies didnt need more help, we made peace.
Two years later Hungary made peace with the emperor, ceding Serbia. The hungarian king died without heir shortly after, and was inherited by the Habsburgs.
In February 1528 the third balkan war finally came to a conclusion when Albania was annexed by the empire.

Stay tuned for: The mediteranean war.

 

[unmerged(6777)]

This is really a unique way to play Byza...err...Muscowy. It looks like your strategy is working very well to date and that both you and Byzantium are faring quite well. I will be very interested to see just how large you are able to coach the Emperor into becoming.

Neat idea!

 

[Ktarn]

1529-1540 War on the Steppes and the Ragusan campaign

In 1529 Tsar Vasily III continued the reforms to centralize power in his hands. The heathens in Bogutjar converted to the one true faith in 1531. The same year a short campaign agaist Astrakhan resulted in them being annexed.
Ioannes IX had laid his eyes on the rich trade republic of Ragusa, and war was declared in 1534. Venetia and the Knights rushed to the republics help. The emperor cut a deal with the venetians before the fighting began in earnest, they were paid 75 ducats in indemneties, and the emperor got a free hand against Ragusa. Ragusa was annexed by the Empire in 1536. Imperial historians would later call this the Ragusan campaign. Meanwhile Georgia ended its war with the ottomans for 39 ducats.
Our campaign to conquer the steppes continued after the fall of Ragusa. We captured Volgograd and Kalmuk, and helped Georgia lay siege to Kouban. The georgians had to abandon the siege of Kouban to deal with internal uprisings, we captured it shortly afterwards.
In early 1537 Sweden, perhaps hoping to limit our expansion, declared war together with her allies Sicily and Poland. This prompted the Tsar to make peace with the Horde, receiving Kalmuk and Kouban. This war never accounted for much, white peace was concluded with Poland in 1540 and with Sweden two years later.
In other developments the Tsar issued a decree removing restrictions on trade, and Byzantium concluded peace with the Knights, paying 200 ducats.

 

[Ktarn]

1540-1548 The First Dobrudjan war

The emperor had long wanted to recapture the last ottoman european holding, Dobrudja. In 1540 he deemed the time to be right and attacked. Our understrength forces stationed in Constantinople rushed to Smyrna. They were eradicated in the ensuing battle. This was indeed a serious blow to our military might. The empire sent a detachment to siege Dobrudja, the rest of her forces was sent against the main ottoman forces outside Bursa. The empire defeated the ottomans in the Battle of Bursa. Dobrudja fell in 1540, Bursa in late 1542. Meanwhile we captured Volgograd and annexed the Horde. The ottomans was on the verge of collapse, and in 1543 Angora fell to imperial forces. The next years of the war was marked by inactivity on both sides, the Tsar tried to convince the Emperor to make peace. Daghestan defected to Georgia.
In 1548 Bosnia, and her allies Croatia and Lithuania, tried to exploit that the empire was conducting a lenghty and expensive war with the heathens. The emperor made peace with the ottomans for 256 ducats and military access, the Tsar felt that the emperor should not have made peace without gaining some territory.