A soapbubble bursts ...
Chapter XXV: A soapbubble bursts ...
Jan 1610 - Dec 1616
Today we witness a tactical brainstorming session of King Maximilian and his Secretary of State...
Secretary of State : "Sire, the rebels that controlled our province of Kaffa defected to the Crown of Cuman. I'm afraid we lost the province!"
Maximilian : "Kaffa? Isn't that a Greek Orthodox province somewhere near the Black Sea? I'm glad we got rid of them! What has taken these people so long? We inherited that place more than 50 years ago, when we annexed Genoa! We removed all our troops, and set the tolerance to Orthodox to zero. And now - finally - they defect! Good clearance!!"
S.O.S. : "I agree, Sire, but we should not show our joy to the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, we should declare that stealing our province is outrageous. That would give us a Casus Belli on Cuman..."
Maximilian : "Koeman? Ronald Koeman? Isn't that a Dutch football player? Why would I declare war on a football player? I'm a huge football fan, you know! Don't you remember his marvellous free kick in the EC I final? What a goal!!"
S.O.S. : "Not Koeman, Sire, but Cuman. And you would want to declare war on them because they are allied to England and Provence."
Maximilian : "Koeman, Cuman, what's the difference? And why would we want a war with England and Provence?"
S.O.S. : "Because France and the Low Countries are still in a terrible mess colour-wise, and I think Royal Bavarian Blue everywhere would be a tremendous improvement, Sire!" (c) Farquharsson
Maximilian : "That's true. My Map would look prettier when all that brown, red, yellow and burgundy-red spots in France would be wiped out!"
S.O.S. : "Another reason to go to war is the turmoil in Poland. If we can drag them into a war with their neighbours of Cuman, they won't have time to defeat the rebel scum ... and we could grab some provinces from them!"
Maximilian : "Allies are supposed to help each other, remember?"
S.O.S. : "We will be helping them: they will invite us to attack provinces that declared independence, and we will gladly do so!"
Maximilian : "OK, you convinced me! What's the address of that Dutch football player Koeman? Does he still live in Barcelona? No, no, he has moved to Ajax Amsterdam! Send a diplomat to Amsterdam and declare war on Koeman!"
S.O.S. *sighs*
Bavaria declared war on Cuman (not on Koeman - S.O.S. sent the diplomat to Donetsk, not to Amsterdam). Poland, France, England, Provence and Bohemia all joined the war.
Poland suffered from a -3 stability, had rebels in 15 - 20 provinces and faced an invasion by Cuman forces (
King Maximilian wondered how a single Dutch football player could stand against so many Polish troops for so long. Perhaps his brother Erwin Koeman joined the war?).
It didn't take long before the first Declaration of Independence (DoI) was announced: the province of Hinterpommern formed the nation of Pommern ...
Bavaria fought a war on two fronts: on the Western Front it faced England and Provence, on the Eastern Front the troops patiently awaited the DoI's and the invitation from Poland to invade the new countries ...
§1: All Quiet on the Western Front
In 1607 France, Spain and Bavaria joined the Catholic League [Event: relations with Spain +150]. This improved the relations between Bavaria and Spain and King Maximilian used this opportunity to obtain Military Access through Spain.
The attack in the West first focussed on Flandern and Provence. Both provinces were invaded in Apr 1610. In Dec 1611 Marseille was captured and Provence agreed to become the vassal of Bavaria.
The army that defeated Provence now marched on through the Spanish provinces of Languedoc and Guyenne and invaded Gascogne, Poitou and Béarn.
The English burned the TP on Bahamas and attacked the isles in the Mediterranean, but they didn't defend their possessions in France ... By the end of 1612 Flandern and Poitou were captured while Gascogne and Béarn were still under siege. England had suffered defeat after defeat in their attacks on Corfu, Sardinia and Crete ... and offered Flandern and Poitou to Bavaria. King Maximilian accepted and the War in the West was over. Two ugly red spots in France could be painted Royal Blue!
§2: Chaos on the Eastern Front
During the war against Cuman, Poland suffered from DoI's and defections at an incredible rate. The Bavarian generals had to update their maps constantly and received new march orders every day.
An overview of the
Disintegration of Poland (and the actions of Bavaria on the Eastern Front)
Feb 1610: "
The people of Pommern declared independence from Poland"
(1 province: Hinterpommern)
Bavaria had troops at 'stand by' in Vorpommern, and immediately launched an attack on the new nation.
In May 1611 the siege was over and Pommern was vassalized.
Aug 1610: "
The people of Hungary declared independence from Poland"
(5 provinces: Pest, Presburg, Magyar, Maros and Ruthenia)
In the same month Bavarian troops (that had been fighting in Bohemia) arrived in Presburg and Pest, capturing both provinces in May 1611. They then moved on to besiege Magyar and Maros. The job was done by Apr 1612, and the troops moved on to the last Hungarian province: Ruthenia. The capital of Ruthenia fell in Dec 1613 and the catholic provinces Presburg, Pest and Ruthenia were added to Bavaria.
Dec 1610: "
The people of Brandenburg declared independence from Poland."
(1 province: Kustrin)
An independent Brandenburg, next to the Bavarian province of Brandenburg? That was inacceptable, so the province was put under siege "situ prestu"... and was vassalized by Feb 1612.
Now Bavaria had a province and a vassal with the name Brandenburg and a province and a vassal with the name Pommern...
That complicated the import/export business, because quite some goods were delivered to the wrong Brandenburg or the wrong Pommern. The transport firms in Brabant and Vorpommern didn't like that at all, and organized traffic jams with their trucks. They even blockaded Brussels and Stettin for a while! [Unhappiness among the Peasantry, Stab -2, Revolt in Vorpommern and Brabant]
That was inacceptable in times of war and the army that captured Flandern crushed the rebellion in Brabant, while the army that defeated Pommern restored the order in Vorpommern.
[Are you still following this?]
March 1611: "
The people of Ukraine declared independence from Poland".
(2 provinces)
Bavaria and Ukraine signed a White Peace
Apr 1611: "
The revolters in Bogutjar have defected to the crown of Russia."
May 1611: "
The people of Lithuania declared independence from Poland."
(3 provinces)
Bavaria and Lithuania signed a White Peace
Jun 1611: "
The people of Serbia declared independence from Poland. "
(1 province: Serbia)
Bavaria and Serbia signed a White Peace
June 1612: "
The freedom loving rebels in Carpathia have left the yokes of Poland to join our realm. "
That's nice!
Nov 1612: "
The revolters in Podolia, Bujak and Dobrudja have defected to the crown of Cuman. "
And one month earlier Poland had offered Jedisan and Ufa to Cuman in a peace deal. So Cuman gained 5 provinces from Poland in one month! Not bad for a Dutch football player, heh? :rofl:
Jan 1613 : "
The people of Croatia declared independence from Poland."
(2 provinces: Krain and Croatia)
Bavaria didn't miss this opportunity and sent in the troops that became available after defeating Hungary. Krain and Croatia were put under siege, and both were captured by Oct 1614. Krain was added to the Bavarian Empire and the remaining province became a vassal. Sad but true: three years later Croatia was annexed by France ...
Apr 1613 : "
The revolters in Estland and Livland have defected to the crown of Russia."
Apr 1614 : "
The people of Tver declared independence from Poland."
(1 province)
Bavaria and Tver signed a White Peace
May 1615 : "
The people of Pskov declared independence from Poland."
(1 province)
Bavaria and Pskov signed a White Peace
Nov 1615 : "
The revolters in Ulster have defected to the crown of England."
Yep, Poland owned Ulster!!
Mar 1616 : "
The revolters in Belgorod have defected to the crown of Russia."
One month later the Polish government fell, and the rebellions stopped. Serbia turbo-annexed Banat.
Poland lost 29 provinces in about 6 years of war and rebellions. Bavaria gained 5 "Polish" provinces (Presburg, Pest, Carpathia, Ruthenia and Krain - all Catholic) and vassalized Hinterpommern and Kustrin.
Bavarian expansion to the East.
Poitou and Flandern captured from England.
The Implosion of Poland.
The new vassals of Bavaria
