Pride Comes Before The Fall
Finally, the first part of the AAR! I should have posted this earlier yet I lacked the time. I promised a post in the "rules" thread, and so here it is! It may not be a very long post, however, another one will follow before this week's end. Maybe even all the years that remain of reign. Well, enough chatter. The title of this post says it all
1419: The Peace of Dalmatia
In 1419, Venice was at war with Hungary. The Venetians had already conquered Dalmatia, and when a peace was offered to Hungary in exchange for the province, the Hungarians readily accepted. Venice was not ready to take more from the Hungarians and had, as it was, no issue with them. Whom they did have an issue with, were the heathens from Anatolia. The Ottoman Turk had been enchroaching onto Europe for some time now, and no power had stood up against them. The Doge Tommaso Mocenigo, made it his life task to stop them.
First, Venice needed to create a powerful foothold. The Doge ordered tax collectors to be hired. After ordaining more centralization and increasing funds to land and naval technology and the further improvement of infrastructure, while for the moment stopping all investments in trade research, the Doge ordered Tristano Savorgnan and his army to make ready for war. Morea, the traitors in Greece, held lands wich belonged to Venice. Furthermore, they were allied with Byzantium, an empire that had proven too weak to stand against the Turk.
The Byzantine War
War was declared against them on September 18th, 1420. Immediately Pietro Loredan, Grand Admiral, sailed to Morea. Tuscany and Hellas, allies of Venice,
attacked Morea but were unsuccessful, only interference of Savorgnan allowed them to lay siege to Morea. Savorgnan himself advanced to Byzantium, yet was short of having enough man. Had Venice acted too quickly? The nobles perhaps thought so, for they refused to enforce the ordnances. The nation became less stable. Armies were hastily recruited in Ionia to aid the siege in Byzantium.
The Ottomans Strike
But then, disaster struck. Tuscany entered war with the Ottomans, and Venice joined, a terrible mistake. The Ottomans pressed through Byzantium and drove Savorgnan out. The Venetians were hunted down until Savorgnan died and the army was disbanded. Tuscany annexed Morea in the mean time and peace was made with Byzantium and the Byzantines actual paid for it, yet this proved nothing to the Ottomans and allies. The Bosnians invaded Ragusa and amidst all these troubles, the nobles demanded more pensions! The fools must have thought money was no issue now! The Doge refused them these extravagancies. He then died, "prophecizing" that Venice would be none the better if they would pursue an expansionist policy. The new Doge, Francesco Foscarini, knew this all to well, as his predecessor had left him with an unwinnable war to fight. Loans were taken, not only to hire troops but to hire the services of Carmagnola. Not the most thrustworthy of followers, yet a capable leader nonetheless.
In 1424, the treaty of Macedonia gave Venice a claim to Macedonia. Despite the monetary benefits, it would serve Venice little. In a desperate action, the
entire army was loaded aboard ships and the fleet set sail to Anatolia. Led by Carmagnola, they would try to conquer the Turkish capital and force a white
peace, for the Turk and their allies had conquered Ionia and Ragusa and were advancing towards the great city of Venice itself. In 1425, Carmagnola invaded Anatolia and defeated the Turkish defenders. He settled in for a siege of the city when good fortune finally shined on Venice. Tuscany handed Morea to the Turk and a small monetary sum was paid. Venice was once again, at peace.
Her coffers were empty however and she owed the bankers to large loans. What would become of her?
Thoughts on playing Venice: The Trouble with The Turkish
So much for the first few years. I had hoped to grab Byzantium, although it would have cost me a lot of BB to do so. Note that this is my first game ever with Venice, and I overestimated their power. My major fault was honouring the alliance with Tuscany. It was a war I could not win. Had I taken Thrace, war with the Ottomans would have been inevitable, but I would have had a bettter foothold. Venice is an interesting nation to play and the next time I would have taken Thrace and ignored the Ottomans for now. As for the continuation of this AAR.... Hey, Tyrol, is that a gold-producing province I see?
