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@merrick - Well, the reason why it got so huge is that it grew to that size -while- I was at war. A second one happened when we went to war again, but it was somewhat smaller.
Also, it really is. As I said, most of their provinces are in France, and France refuses to convert.


Vasiliy I of Russia, the Puny – Part II

Most fortunately, newly recovered records that date from year 1522 helped us reconstruct the events of the period.

The country of Russia would not deal with their stability problems so easily. It would take two years of minor rebellions for the country to calm sufficiently for Vasiliy to attempt further reforms. Forming a Military Academy in Moscow and bringing trained officers into the fold helped centralize the army around the very person of the King. Furthermore, he would have those officers form an official withdrawal system which the subjects of Russia would follow in the borders were to be attacked by one of the common enemies. The very act would cause further unrest in Russia, however, even if it would prove to be efficient in the future. This would also make Russia one of the most efficient and standardized countries in the world, even if they were terribly poor for their size.

With Poland's assault and annexation of Mazovia, which Russia supported diplomatically and financially, and further unrest caused by this kind of imperialism (it was not called imperialism at that time, but we can identify it as such), Russia was nearly at an all-time low in matters of stability, once again. Rebellions would once again try to overwhelm the country, but the new Russian army was most capable. That is, until late 1523, when new issues arose.

Austria, a newfound ally of Russia, was drawn into a conflict with the Golden Horde and their allies: the Ottoman Empire and the Mameluk Empire of Egypt, Tunis, Arabia, Judeia, Cyprus and Ethiopia. On the 17th day of August, 1523, Russia would be called to arms to help their ally, and Vasiliy I would accept, thinking too highly of his new military systems. He would personally lead his armies over the border, leaving an ineffective number of troops to deal with the rebels, save for the well-protected Finnish area.
Once again, the early campaign was a great success for Russia. But while they were winning a great war, their country was in disarray. With the only substantial province won being North Ufa, and rebels taking over most of the country again (most notably the nationalists in Polotsk), Vasiliy had to save his country and lose the war, or win it and risk partitioning it.
It was a hard decision, but Vasiliy the Puny made it, deciding to continue his campaign south, winning battle after battle, but losing his steady stream of men to hunger, disease and sword.

In June 1524, Vasiliy was left with a mere 7 000 men of his grand 22 000 he led into battle, and was forcing a march home. In the east, things were going much better, and Simbirsk fell to the new Russian training and their numbers, Pensa following only weeks later. In exchange, however, Ryazan fell to the enemy attackers, and most of the province's resources were under their control. It would take three and a half months to recover Ryazan, mostly through persuading the still loyal Russian subjects to help against the invaders. With Vasiliy temporarily out of the picture, Yevgeniy Barclay de Tolly took over the defense of the borders, and indeed did marvelously, deflecting half a dozen enemy assaults in four months.

Yet, with thinned defenses, Russia could barely hold on to conquered land, and some provinces, like Simbirsk, were recaptured, then captured again, back and forth. And while Russian borders were kept safe, conquering was barely an option, and a victory was slowly starting to turn in a status quo.
On the 26th of July, year 1525, Poland and Denmark smelled weakness, and they assaulted Austria, holding on to Danzig and Warmia still, with all the ferocity they could muster. Russia would not abandon their greatest ally, and they turned against Poland once more.


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Once again

Finally, Russia would have to submit, and they once again paid a symbolic fee, turning a status quo into a defeat. It was a matter of lost honour, yes, but they had to keep their country from collapsing, being in the heat of the Second Rebellion.


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The extent of the Rebellion. Dark blue is controlled, Lighter Blue is attacked or besieged.

The Second Great Rebellion, having started 1524, would finally be ended in June 1527, with Berezov liberated. Now the matter of the War of Danzigian Liberation was at hand, and it was a most troubling matter. Austria, still fighting the Horde, couldn't do much in this war.
They would indeed withdraw from the war in late November 1527, paying a small fee to Poland, their citizens tired of the war, as well. Russia, however, having taken the mantle of leadership in that war, would continue the fight. De Tolly would make a stand in Tavastland, but David Jablonowski's larger and technologically superior army would defeat de Tolly's more disciplined one. However, once he regrouped, he managed to chase of the attackers, allowing Vasiliy I, who had just arrived with 8 000 veteran militia from the last war with the Horde, to sieze Nyland.

Poland was still sure of their upcoming victory, and they demanded a grand fee in exhance for peace. Vasiliy wouldn't have it, and his army would clash with the one of Stanislaw I of Poland on the Finnish coasts, where Stanislaw tried to make a landing. Defeating the Polish king, he would take Finland as well, but at the cost of losing Savolax to nationalist rebels, left to operate freely. Furthmore, Poland was forced to travel through starved and troubled land of Sweden to reach Finland without using a mighty fleet, and Sweden was in the process of being conquered by Lithuania, and their Grand Duke Kazimieras IV, Holy Roman Emperor since the Year of Our Lord 1528.

The Finnish provinces were falling, and Stanislaw I was making a second landing attempt in Finland, to save his ravaged provinces. He and Vasiliy would meet on the coasts, once again, and Vasiliy would use his archers to keep the enemy at bay. However, the superior Polish troops would be defected twice, losing over a thousand men, before they managed to reach the Russian army, stationed on higher ground. They would clash there, and take around 2 600 Russians before they were unable to fight, and a retreat to the boats was sounded, with only some 1 000 more slain in the retreat. It was a dark day for Russia, as Vasiliy I had fallen in this battle, pushed down a cliff and having broken his neck. It was the 17th of October, 1528.
A dark day, yes. But a start of a glorious period in Russian history.
 
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Wow! Quite an adventure. Between Muslim Hordes and rebellious serfs (and probably nobles) it must be quite exhausting to be the ruler of the Rus! But it's a great read and keep up the good work!
 
You've gotta take care of those rebellions...ugh.

They're massive. Every war.
 
@ RGB - Yep, I noticed. Rebels are an everyday thing in Russia it seems. But such great rebellions don't happen anymore, this was just the GH both taking all my troops and giving me WE I didn't really need.
@ Marco Oliverio - Many thanks. I was influenced and impressed by your Granada AAR, and do hope one of my future AARs will get close to their quality.

Due to Vasiliy's sons finally doing -something- in Russia, I decided to change my plans and do brief reports on them before tossing in the epilogue.


Pyotr I the Brave

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A death is always unfortunate, and a most sad event. However, a nation could often benefit from the death of certain monarchs. And Vasiliy I was most certainly one of those kings. Like his ancestors, he had done a rather lousy job at fighting both his Christian neighbours and the Heathen Alliance. His young son, Pyotr, was forced to take the reigns, to finish up his war and to bring order to his kingdom. Pyotr would do even more.


Pyotr would show ability even in the first days, splitting the massive army his father's generals had commanded into two smaller ones – easier to feed and faster to maneuver. And while his generals, some unaware of his rise to the throne, in the east were not doing so well, Pyotr had given the command of the western troops to a most able man he had chosen himself – Iosif Mansurov, a man of humble origins, and as such not really fit for a general. In all but one, that is, and the one thing that made him fit was his military genius. He would take command of the other half himself, and use their mobility against the Polish, finally forcing Jablonowski to a frantic retreat. The Danish navy did prove to be a threat, but Pyotr did the simple thing – he bought them off, before continuing to seize Polish land. On the 31st of December 1529, Viborg's capital would fall to a storming assault of Pyotr's brave men.
It would take until the 5th of March the following year for the Russian diplomats to persuade the Polish to a peace. But they most certainly succeeded, winning a large amount of Finnish land for their young king.

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By this time, Pyotr had managed to mostly stabilize his country after his father's sad passing and the chaos of the previous years. And what Pyotr would do would secure Russia a few more chaotic years. However, it would prove to be a most magnificent decision, in the years to come. The Capital would be moved to the newly conquered river of Neva, and he would task the builders and architects of Russia with making a new capital. The capital would be called Pyotrgrad, for Pyotr had considered him the greatest ruler to rule these lands, and Moscow was not good enough for him. But even that was not enough for him. On the 1st of April, 1530, Russia would no longer be a Feudal Kingdom. Instead, Pyotr would claim the title of 'Czar of Russia'.

Moskva would be dismayed, from the lowest citizen to the highest noble, and no less than 18 000 men would rise to arms, then move the rebellion to Orel and Tver, wanting to overthrow the king in favour of his 14-year-old brother Fyodor. Although the rebellion would make Pyotr a laughing stock in most of Europe, he would still not take more than a month to defeat this sizable rebellion. To show the Muscovite citizens where they went wrong, he took hundreds of corpses and made sure to leave a corpse impaled on a stake on each mile's mark between Pyotrgrad and Moskva.

Furthermore, Pyotr would secure a royal marriage with the weakened Sweden, knowing he had to stop further Lithuanian expansion. Yet he knew that was not enough, and he would begin large-scale spy operations and military mobilizations and preparations to assault Lithuania while he still could. And while his country still did experience some rebellions, the situation had much improved since he had abolished the feudal system (to an extent). His plans for invasion into Lithuania proper would be halted by two separate things. Firstly Barclay de Tolly, his most important advisor in military matters, would choke on a fishbone on 1st of April 1532, and his records of plans and ideas could not be found. Pyotr was, however, a brilliant general himself, and he would continue to make the plans. He would also renew a royal marriage with France by taking a French wife and to ensure the Duke of Baden was elected Emperor by carefully working to destroy Lithuanian prestige.
Then, the second event that halted his plans took place – he had a stroke in May 1534. Luckily for Russia, he was succeeded by Fyodor I the Great, who would fulfill his plans, and do even more.

To this day, people still argue of the degree of Pyotrs greatness. He was surely capable and influential, but he was also an egomaniac. Furthermore, his reign wasn't especially long, and of all his deeds only some are truly great. He did, in fact, institute an empire and take more power for the monarch. However, he also plunged the country into nearly a decade of unrest by doing so, and even further harmed Russia's prestige by triggering the Muscovite Rebellion. He did indeed move his capital to a western, sea-adjacent location. But by doing so he angered Moskva's citizens, and made the capital far poorer (since Moskva and Novgorod were the two pearls of Russia, in wealth and culture). He did in fact gain land, but he only finished a war that was being won even by his father and managed to strike a good deal. He did remove the Imperial Crown from the Lithuanian Dukes. But it was not overly difficult, as Lithuania was on the fringes of the Empire and as such was a poor defender against the expansionist France and Great Britain. He did make excellent plans to assault Lithuania. Yet he died before executing them. The only thing he did that cannot be disputed was instituting the Russian National Bank and finally stopping the growing inflation in Russia that was ruining trade in Moskva and Novgorod. Yet, Pyotr the Brave, as he was called based on just a handful of battles he fought in, pales in comparison to his younger brother Fyodor.


__
And some eye candy, Lithuania at the heights of its power (Before Fyodor crushes it that is), picturing some.. other countries. Also, one Lithuanian province not shown.
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I love Lithuanian Scandinavia. Happens more often than you think.

Petr the Ever-so-Promising should be more like it, but nowhere near the historical counterpart. But why have one super-king when you can split his deeds among two, no?

Fishbones - deadly business in Russia. Don't talk when chewing perch!
 
@ RGB - Really? This is only the second time I see it happen.
Otherwise... Well, yes, if you combined their reigns into a single Czar, they would deserve 'the Great' as a title. Now... Well, none quite made it, but well, this is written from the Russian side, I do have to include some favouritism :p
As for the fish - oh, yes. Soup, too!

@ Mortu - Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I also see you've been tossing links around. Should I be paying you for your work? :wacko:




Fyodor I the Great

Fyodor I would be crowned in early June 1534, taking the throne almost routinely, as he had shared power with his brother for the latter two years of his rule. As those two years mostly consisted of planning the assault on Lithuania proper, he was most eager to lead this war and prove himself even greater than his brother. First, however, there were issues closer to home to handle, and some diplomatics steps to take. He would quench some rebellions that rose in Finland once the local army withdrew to Pyotrgrad for the Emperor's funeral.

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Rebellions would be easily handled by the Emperor's generals, who were adept and experienced in such matters. A final step before starting the preparations for the war itself was to send large coffers of gold to Poland, hoping the kingdom would maybe join Austria and Russia in an attempt to grab some Lithuanian land.

The first steps of the assault would begin in March 1538. One Isaak Wittegenstein, formerly a mercenary general, would join the Russian army as one of te leaders of the upcoming assault. Furthermore, Jurgis Ostrogiskis, a formerly Lithuanian drill captain from the Prussian area, and Sigurd Sverresson, a Swedish refugee and formerly the First Quartermaster of the Swedish Royal Army, would join the staff required for this assault.
The assault would be devious. Rebel cells were planted and financed in Lithuania since late 1533, and now they were ordered to take arms and cause as much chaos in Lithuania as they could. Kursk, Memel and Ingermanland would be swiftly attacked by numerous rebels. Furthermore, an informant chain would be activated in Vilnius, reporting to the Russian against of the latest Lithuanian move.
With a third of the Lithuanian army busy with pacifying the freshly conquered Sweden, the other two thirds would scatter to take care of the rebellions. Russia would recognise the chance to strike, and on the 2nd of April war would be declared. Austria, bent on expanding their Baltic holdings, would join on the Russian side. Denmark and Bohemia, both eager to see Austria fall, would join Lithuania.

The war would progress swiftly from the start. Ostprussen would surrender to the Austrians as soon as they noticed 25 000 armed men and a few dozen cannons directed towards them. Chernigov, on the eastern front, would fall to the Russian forces' assault under Wittegenstein.
The second of Russia's two great generals, Iosif Mansurov, would have 3 000 Lithuanian men surrender to him in Mogilyov, after only moments of battle. Without resistance, the province's governor, half-Russian himself, was quick to agree to Russian control on the province.
Minsk and even Vilnius would fall to the Russians not much later, also unprotected, and Podlasia would see no other choice but to submit to the Austrian forces.

Lithuania was in a pinch, but not without good ideas. The Grand Duke himself, a middle-aged, experienced warrior, would take the most of remaining Lithuanian forces to assault Pyotrgrad, which would fall surprisingly soon, seeing as it was still in the process of being fully built. Novgorod, one of Russia's key provinces, would be taken also, but the toll the Lithuania had to pay, in blood, was high.
Iosif would see no choice but to leave splinter forces to control and conquer southern Lithuania and rush to protect their key cities.

The war would continue on a trail of Russo-Austrian victories, with Bohemia withdrawing from the war soon afterwards. The only real losses, once Novgorod and Pyotrgrad were recovered, were in Finland – the Ducal forces of Lithuania would return from their Swedish Campaign to oppose the agressor and succeed, pushing as far as Savolax.
Realizing the danger from the North, once again close to their capital, Fyodor would pass the Recruiting Act, trying to gather all the able-bodied men he could find.
Austria would withdraw from the war, securing themselves wealth and demanding the freedom of the Imperial City of Riga. They would get it by the Treaty of Memel.
This would not stop Russia in conquering the remaining lands in Lithuania proper.


The war would continue with Wittegenstein finally managing to turn the tide and head into Lithuanian Scandinavia on the North, facing the horrid Scandinavian winter.
On the Southern front, the war would progress with only one hitch – the death of Mansurov from an arrow to the eye in a minor skirmish in Vilna. In October, all of Lithuania proper, save a few minor island towns, would be under Russian control. Denmark, now posing a danger from the sea, would be bought off with a single coffer of gold – they knew it was only a matter of time before Lithuania was handled and their own posessions in danger.

The war would unofficially end in Lithuanian defeat on the 5th of August 1541, with the fall of Österbotten and Västerbotten. It would officially end two days later, on the 7th, when the Russians finally managed to find someone important enough to make their decision amongst their prisoners – the heir of the currect Grand Duke.
The Treaty of Umeå would include some territorial changes on the southern Lithuanian border, the ceding of Lithuanian claims on Riga, and a considerable amount of gold changing hand. With it, Russia would confirm the status of an Empire, and Lithuania would start its decline towards a Scandinavian Duchy that would be completed some decades later.

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Having proven himself a true heir to Pyotr, and even a greater Emperor, he would renew the marriages with the royal lines of Poland, Austria and France.
He would then proceed to invest large amounts of gold and diplomatic ability into converting the nobility, and then the common folk, of the conquered trio of provinces that have been influenced by the heretical Catholic faith.
Fyodor I of Russia, the Second Czar of Russia, called 'The Great' for his humiliation of Lithuania, expanding Russian territory and finally managing to start to repair Russia's damaged prestige – would die on the 11th of March 1543. He was in fact murdered, drowned in his bowl of soup, by a Catholic noble he had dined and conversed with in private.

Yet, Russia would not fall with him.


---
The Epilogue will include a final map, the mention of the Fourth Russian-Lithuanian War and such. But I'm afraid I'm done with this one, and plan to play the Asturias one as soon as TDY is done.

Some eye candy:

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Italy, controlled by France, Portugal, Ottoman Empire and Aragon - Italian Ambition FTW
 
Yay!

You're well into Belarus now. Not bad.
 
A Brief Epilogue

Russia was, when it was formed as a feudal kingdom in 1510, a giant on clay feet. The West had respect for the Duchy (and later Kingdom) of Moscow, who managed to win some glorious victories against the Horde. Russia was not respected, for Vasiliy the Puny was not only the final in the line of monarchs unable of winning a war against the Horde, but also a weak king in general. It is, one could say, a wonder the Russian Kingdom managed to survive his rule without being fractioned in semi-autonomous duchies or even free kingdoms. One could also say that was what saved the West – where a unified stand could at least slow down the Horde, a handful of fractioned kingdoms couldn't.

Surviving the rebellions, Russia had become what it always should of been in the hands of his sons. They, each greater than their father, made a glorious comeback, one after the other, and turned Russia from a backwards kingdom into a growing Czardom. As Petar the Mongol-Eater, the infamous Duke of Polotsk (1612-1640) reportedly said: "Pyotr broke the kingdom to give birth to the Czardom." And indeed, it is most admirable how Pytor managed to take so much power from the influencial nobles and increase the Czar's demesne, without losing his country to noble rebellions. Historians of our time argue it was the promise of war and the increase in land that brought them to agree with his acts of reforming the government and moving the capital. Yet, there was unrest, and it followed Pyotr to his grave.

Fyodor, his younger brother, had the ability to take Pytor's plans and sweet words and make them reality. He was, seemingly, more practical a man, and possibly a greater Czar. It was during his reign, and the reign of his nephew that the Czardom grew in size, influence, and most certainly prestige – for all but the faltering Austria had forgotten about Russia, the Shield of Christianity, as Ferdinand Marco von Hapsburg, Duke of Parma (later Pope Leo XI, the last elected Pope that wasn't a priest) once called them. He managed to pull the strings of nobility, instead of being controlled by them, and he would even expand his influence into France, nearly managing to secure an alliance with the help of his relative, Guy Rurikovich, Duc d'Auvergne, yet failing when St. Damasus (III), a Pope of Lithuanian origin, stepped in to stop the plans at hand (and Lithuania proper would be partitioned between the Orthodox Russia and the Horde for this). When Fyodor passed away, he left a most centralized country to a most capable king, his nephew Ivan I of Russia, (IV if not for the Russian tradition of restarting the numerals). His children, the cadet Fyodorevich Dynasty, would try to pretend the throne 65 years later, but their claim and their wealth was not enough to wrestle the throne from Ivan III the Stubborn.

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Russian Gains during the reign of Ivan the Mad

Russia would gain much by continuing this tradition of strong kings, and Ivan I the Mad (as the Orthodox Church would name him after his death, for his strangely innovative ideas) would not only manage to turn Russia into a country equal to the West in technology and arts, but also strengthen the Czar's position and gain more Lithuanian land.
Russia would grow imensely, becoming the sole kingdom in Scandinavia under his son, Ivan II the Large, they would wreste away the salt-rich areas near their eastern border from the Horde during the reign of Ivan III the Stubborn, and it was under Ivan IV Red-Nose that the Horde would be forced to turn East and abandon their further campaign in Europe (although it would take until 1630 and the Renewed Crusades for Pyotr II the Bear to push them out of Lithuania, and his son Vasiliy II the Dwarf to gain access to the Black Sea).

Russia was, most certainly, the most glorious of Empires since the Roman Empire, and had they not crumbled in the late 17th century, leaving dozens of decentralized duchies after the Dynasty could produce nothing but Czarinas (three in a row) that couldn't even maintain an image they were under control. We must, however, remember that the Swedish Republic and the creation of the List of Human Rights and Obligations as we know them today wouldn't of happened had the Russian Czardom still existed. We must remember Muscowy and Russia did their role – they stopped the Mongols from destroying Europe's culture and the Catholic Faith. They could either grow to control Euroasia, or dissintegrate.
We can only wonder what would of happened had Russia not fallen – or, to go further into history, what would of happened had Muscowy never had expanded into Russia and halted Mongolian expansion? It would surely be a different world.



The End​
 
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Hah.

Love the nicknames...love the unorthodox expansion...LOL at 17th c. collapse.

Well done. Seems like a fun game.