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Ajuuraan is a lot like Najd. They got excellent idea groups when released, and both have bonuses to missionary strength and extra missionaries.
Ideal vassals to convert after a force religion.
Fetishist Najd.. Sure, why not!
You can annex and release ajuuraan after revoking all their old cores, and they will NOT have all the AE acquired. Not sure what cores Ajuuraan would get, look at their culture aned see what you can revoke.
But institutions might be in way.. It might be you can only make protectorate out of them. Theirt capital province needs same instutions as you, to be able to release them as vassal, I think.
forgot to say: convert the core culture provinces for any converting vassals FIRST, before releasing them. Easier. Might be worth coring and converting it, as Ajuuraan and Najd are low development. Up to you though.
Vassals can still use the national decision to flip out of animism religion, and this will revert your force religion upon them.
Not sure how the ai does it if you feed lot of sunni land to them, while having fetishist faith.
1.20 makes this vassal national decision undoable by vassals, thank god.
Vassals can still use the national decision to flip out of animism religion, and this will revert your force religion upon them.
Not sure how the ai does it if you feed lot of sunni land to them, while having fetishist faith.
1.20 makes this vassal national decision undoable by vassals, thank god.
Apologies for the long delay....
*****
Lesson 9: Ports around the Atlantic
Good morning class. I hope you all enjoyed your vacation. Of course, that was before you saw your test scores, so...
We left off with Kongo beginning to flex its power in northeast Africa and the Americas.
It's important to remember that Kongo spent a fair amount of time, effort, and money on colonization throughout the time period. Castile/Spain and Portugal were more efficient early, and France later, but none of the other countries were as consistently active throughout the world.
The small nation of Xiu was isolated politically from the rest of the Mexican states. This made them the perfect targets as far as King Garcia was concerned. He restarted the conquest of middle America here.
While the rest of the army was sent to secure the ports in far south America by bringing the natives of Charrua into the Kongolese possessions
Castile and Portugal finally became serious about having a non-European power beating them and sent armies into Timbuktu and began to retake their colonies. Kongo spies were said to number as many as every third servant that was supporting the European armies.
In 1549, King Garcia passed away and his son, Garcia II was crowned. Garcia II was a man of many talents, foremost his ability to treat with those that had been defeated and bring them into the fold, so to speak. Of course, many already believe his son, Garcia III would be an even greater King.
King Garcia II ordered all of Xiu annexed.
And closed out the war in southern America as well, thus making sure that Kongo had some sort of presence even as Castilian ambassadors demanded that all lands in the America's be turned over to them.
The army in middle America was moved further around the coast and began the invasion of the small native nation that had taken up residency next to our newest colony.
In 1550 the printing press had gained wide acceptance among the German states of Europe. Upon hearing of the device, King Garcia immediately dispatched agents to bring the technology to Kongo.
News from the little known or understood HRE states also indicated a wide ranging religious war was brewing. However, no one requested Kongo's aid - given our continued worship of native Gods, that might have been appropriate.
Despite the fact that King Garcia II had done nothing in West Africa at that point, several nations decided they needed to band together in the face of continued Kongolese aggression. This was probably a wise move on their part - Kongo had been fighting one war or another for most of the last one hundred years.
Eventually, after defeating their Shawnee protectors, the tiny nation of Susquehannock folded and acknowledge Garcia as their King. This war, with it's resulting gain, would go down as one of the most worthless and time-wasting engagements in Kongo's rise. The amount of troops needed to subdue some theoretically backward primitives had been vastly under-projected and the whole thing blew the next decades budget to pieces. Many called on King Garcia to abdicate the throne, the "Peaceful Rebellion" as it was called. Although they eventually faded into obscurity, from the ashes of that movement would be born the Republican Congress many, many years in the future.
Improvements in technology continued during King Garcia II's reign, new weapons were almost as important and the changes he made to the existing social structure as more people were given voice in the functions of the government.
Perhaps as a way to distract the voices that had been raised against him, King Garcia pushed the country down the a path that many have debated. Religion became the primary driver of almost all of the next two centuries of warfare. Was this a successful attempt at diverting his critics or a true expression of the faith of the King? It's a question many have attempted to answer.
Regardless, King Garcia took the country to war once again, this time against one of the Incan nations - Cajamarca.
And followed it up with a declaration of war upon the nation of Itza, which had become politically vulnerable after the latest round of fighting among the Mexican states.
The Itza war was over extremely quickly - they were still utilizing primitive fortifications and troops, unlike the north American "tribes."
Cajamarca fell soon afterwards, after but a year and a half of war.
With morale and faith in the army restored, King Garcia and his generals looked for more hearty targets.
And found one in Scotland, a small nation that existed in the north of the British Isles. It was politically isolated and currently being crushed by France for whatever unknown reason.
This was the second war that Kongo had declared that had no reason other then outright conquest. Just as the previous had opened up the gold mines of east Africa to us, it was hoped that Scottish territory would allow Kongo to gain access to rich northern European territories and access to the trade that flowed through the northern Atlantic.
Continuing the theme of picking on small isolated nations, Kongo invaded Chachapoya.
And added it to the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the war in Scotland was moving along slowly. Our troops were instructed to work hand-in-hand with the French, giving them first access to everything but the territory of Aberdeenshire. However, Kongolese detachments were sent to all of the Scottish villages and forts and let it be known that once the French were satisfied, Kongo intended to take their pound of flesh, and land, as well.
With much of the army occupied - or at least too much to make a serious attempt on any of the current African power blocs, the tiny coastal nation of Mikmaq was targeted in order to ensure another port for the Kongolese crown.
Nday Youla would became well known during this time, he was, many believed, the true force behind King Garcia II's recent successes. His hand stabilized the nation, even as his piousness brought many to the Fetishist faith that had once been Sunni.
The Scandinavian country of Norway and the British both became involved in the colonization game. Unfortunately for them, they choose the Caribbean. Kongo and Portugal had been settling the area unopposed and mostly peacefully. Now they both viewed the newcomers with distrust - even these single colonies could change the balance of power.
Eventually, enough of the new Incan lands would be pacified that it was deemed safe to set up another colonial state. Kongolese Peru joined New Kongo and Kongolese Kolumbia.
Eventually the French left Scotland and our armies besieged the capital city. They forced Scotland to give lands to Norway, which seemed strange, but suddenly useful given the situation in the Caribbean.
I'll note that King Garcia II became quite entranced with learning as he settled into his role as King. Most had expected him to serve but a few years before his child took over, but he was proving to be more resilient then those first few years would have led people to believe.
And then he would make an odd decision like this one, vassalizing the nation of Pequot and not actually taking MikMaq in the war.
But, with peace also being signed with Scotland, did give a window of peace to Kongo.
The Scottish peace left no one particularly happy, but it did achieve King Garcia's goal of giving the nation a "northern passage" into European affairs. It was a window that would grow over the next few centuries, although not immediately, as King Garcia's attention returned to Africa and Mexico and allowed the European nations to get used to the idea that a non-European state might engage with them as equals in Europe itself.
***********
And we're off (again).
Thanks for reading.
*****
Lesson 9: Ports around the Atlantic
Good morning class. I hope you all enjoyed your vacation. Of course, that was before you saw your test scores, so...
We left off with Kongo beginning to flex its power in northeast Africa and the Americas.
It's important to remember that Kongo spent a fair amount of time, effort, and money on colonization throughout the time period. Castile/Spain and Portugal were more efficient early, and France later, but none of the other countries were as consistently active throughout the world.
The small nation of Xiu was isolated politically from the rest of the Mexican states. This made them the perfect targets as far as King Garcia was concerned. He restarted the conquest of middle America here.
While the rest of the army was sent to secure the ports in far south America by bringing the natives of Charrua into the Kongolese possessions
Castile and Portugal finally became serious about having a non-European power beating them and sent armies into Timbuktu and began to retake their colonies. Kongo spies were said to number as many as every third servant that was supporting the European armies.
In 1549, King Garcia passed away and his son, Garcia II was crowned. Garcia II was a man of many talents, foremost his ability to treat with those that had been defeated and bring them into the fold, so to speak. Of course, many already believe his son, Garcia III would be an even greater King.
King Garcia II ordered all of Xiu annexed.
And closed out the war in southern America as well, thus making sure that Kongo had some sort of presence even as Castilian ambassadors demanded that all lands in the America's be turned over to them.
The army in middle America was moved further around the coast and began the invasion of the small native nation that had taken up residency next to our newest colony.
In 1550 the printing press had gained wide acceptance among the German states of Europe. Upon hearing of the device, King Garcia immediately dispatched agents to bring the technology to Kongo.
News from the little known or understood HRE states also indicated a wide ranging religious war was brewing. However, no one requested Kongo's aid - given our continued worship of native Gods, that might have been appropriate.
Despite the fact that King Garcia II had done nothing in West Africa at that point, several nations decided they needed to band together in the face of continued Kongolese aggression. This was probably a wise move on their part - Kongo had been fighting one war or another for most of the last one hundred years.
Eventually, after defeating their Shawnee protectors, the tiny nation of Susquehannock folded and acknowledge Garcia as their King. This war, with it's resulting gain, would go down as one of the most worthless and time-wasting engagements in Kongo's rise. The amount of troops needed to subdue some theoretically backward primitives had been vastly under-projected and the whole thing blew the next decades budget to pieces. Many called on King Garcia to abdicate the throne, the "Peaceful Rebellion" as it was called. Although they eventually faded into obscurity, from the ashes of that movement would be born the Republican Congress many, many years in the future.
Improvements in technology continued during King Garcia II's reign, new weapons were almost as important and the changes he made to the existing social structure as more people were given voice in the functions of the government.
Perhaps as a way to distract the voices that had been raised against him, King Garcia pushed the country down the a path that many have debated. Religion became the primary driver of almost all of the next two centuries of warfare. Was this a successful attempt at diverting his critics or a true expression of the faith of the King? It's a question many have attempted to answer.
Regardless, King Garcia took the country to war once again, this time against one of the Incan nations - Cajamarca.
And followed it up with a declaration of war upon the nation of Itza, which had become politically vulnerable after the latest round of fighting among the Mexican states.
The Itza war was over extremely quickly - they were still utilizing primitive fortifications and troops, unlike the north American "tribes."
Cajamarca fell soon afterwards, after but a year and a half of war.
With morale and faith in the army restored, King Garcia and his generals looked for more hearty targets.
And found one in Scotland, a small nation that existed in the north of the British Isles. It was politically isolated and currently being crushed by France for whatever unknown reason.
This was the second war that Kongo had declared that had no reason other then outright conquest. Just as the previous had opened up the gold mines of east Africa to us, it was hoped that Scottish territory would allow Kongo to gain access to rich northern European territories and access to the trade that flowed through the northern Atlantic.
Continuing the theme of picking on small isolated nations, Kongo invaded Chachapoya.
And added it to the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, the war in Scotland was moving along slowly. Our troops were instructed to work hand-in-hand with the French, giving them first access to everything but the territory of Aberdeenshire. However, Kongolese detachments were sent to all of the Scottish villages and forts and let it be known that once the French were satisfied, Kongo intended to take their pound of flesh, and land, as well.
With much of the army occupied - or at least too much to make a serious attempt on any of the current African power blocs, the tiny coastal nation of Mikmaq was targeted in order to ensure another port for the Kongolese crown.
Nday Youla would became well known during this time, he was, many believed, the true force behind King Garcia II's recent successes. His hand stabilized the nation, even as his piousness brought many to the Fetishist faith that had once been Sunni.
The Scandinavian country of Norway and the British both became involved in the colonization game. Unfortunately for them, they choose the Caribbean. Kongo and Portugal had been settling the area unopposed and mostly peacefully. Now they both viewed the newcomers with distrust - even these single colonies could change the balance of power.
Eventually, enough of the new Incan lands would be pacified that it was deemed safe to set up another colonial state. Kongolese Peru joined New Kongo and Kongolese Kolumbia.
Eventually the French left Scotland and our armies besieged the capital city. They forced Scotland to give lands to Norway, which seemed strange, but suddenly useful given the situation in the Caribbean.
I'll note that King Garcia II became quite entranced with learning as he settled into his role as King. Most had expected him to serve but a few years before his child took over, but he was proving to be more resilient then those first few years would have led people to believe.
And then he would make an odd decision like this one, vassalizing the nation of Pequot and not actually taking MikMaq in the war.
But, with peace also being signed with Scotland, did give a window of peace to Kongo.
The Scottish peace left no one particularly happy, but it did achieve King Garcia's goal of giving the nation a "northern passage" into European affairs. It was a window that would grow over the next few centuries, although not immediately, as King Garcia's attention returned to Africa and Mexico and allowed the European nations to get used to the idea that a non-European state might engage with them as equals in Europe itself.
***********
And we're off (again).
Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
Very global ambitions. This episode does bounce around the map a fair bit - something I imagine will continue now given Kongo's rather far-flung possessions.
I like the hint to the future with mention of a republic.
I like the hint to the future with mention of a republic.
Thanks for the comment - I'm attempting to get that "access" to all the various nooks of the world so future activities can continue to be spread out. Not sure it really works but I made the attempt. On the other hand, it does tend to lead me to be easily distracted, like wasting forever chasing a one province nobody on the Gulf coast that teched up to past my military level as soon as I colonized...
glad this AAR didn't join the long list of abandoned AAR
I appreciate that. I'll keep hammering it out. Although I'm going to have the game finished soon if I can make up my mind about what my next move is.
Lesson 10: Of Tiny Wars
King Garcia didn't sit still after having established his beachhead in Europe. However, he did move the armies out of the area. As soon as enough transports could be arranged, troops were brought back to the horn of Africa, where Ajuuraan waited to be attacked, having made no allies since their initial defeat. The initial battles were decisive and it looked to be fairly straightforward as the year 1560 rolled towards a close.
In addition, a war was launched in North America to support our new vassal Pequot's claims on Abenaki.
Kong, our vassal, was annexed. The yet small vassal of Mali was well positioned to serve as King Garcia's cat's paw in the area.
Having met with some success in the other American areas, a degree of liberty was granted to the Kongolese Greater Isles. This was one of the few regions that would never have financial difficulties.
The war with Abenaki and it's ally Lenape was closed out with territorial and financial gains.
And about a year after starting the war, Ajuuraan surrendered provinces to both Kongo and Marehan.
I'd like to point out that the vassal of Marehan was already experiencing difficulties holding the lands that had been granted to it - rebellions and taxation difficulties drained it strength.
Troops were gathered for a quick strike into Mixtec lands in order to gain the gold mines there. However, by the time the troops landed Mixtec had sworn fealty to Tlananec. Either way, the still backwards Mexican states were not a match for the Kongolese army, especially after fighting among themselves and war was still prosecuted.
The people found a new reason to worry as the increase in Sunni citizens began to worry those of the more accepted Fetishist faith. Rumors of the Queen soon spread, turning into widespread discontent. Many assumed, probably correctly, that the King was only enthralled with her due to her beauty - she had not made the mark of many former Queens upon the nation. But King Garcia held that marriage was not disposed of due to rumors and malcontent and even held a renewal ceremony in the sacred shrines at Yuka.
Students - I would really prefer to not get another paper talking about King Garcia the romantic. Find something else. Anything else, my eyes bleed from being assaulted every year.
Internationally, Kongo's power continued to grow and the world came to accept that they might indeed be, not just a Great Power, but the Greatest of them. Even Castile - who made the change to Spain about this time - began to question it's long policy of simply demanding that Kongo surrender all of it's land every time their diplomats met.
The colony in Diego Garcia had allowed Kongo spies to infiltrate and gain a usuable causes belle on the Maldives. These lands were invaded as soon as the troops from the Ajuuraan fight had recovered and shipped out.
King Garcia also began organizing the nobility along new and, let's say, creative paths. For some time the nobles allowed themselves to be bought off with fancy titles and golden cups. In fact, future Kings would continue this process. For all intents and purposes, this action marked the end of the nobility as an influence in Kongo's decision making. They would be called upon for troops and men but not entrusted with actual leadership.
Tlananec was completely destroyed in the fighting in Mexico. They surrendered completely and Kongo took everything of value and then made the diplomats take some more.
Maldives also surrendered, the islands simply not having the ability to fight off the Kongo forces arrayed against them. These new lands were added to the Kingdom with the hope of using them as a base for expansion into Ceylon and Kochin. Diplomats were sent to pave the way.
And then forgotten about until too late as King Garcia became involved in other wars. Many suspect that an earlier push into India might have had more positive results then the way the troops ended up being used, although, obviously, we are just talking about timing here.
The troops in America were shipped back along the coast to push further along the Mississippi. For some soldiers this was their third campaign in the area. Many letters home lamented going back to this place of swamps and illness and dreaded the coming battles.
This time however, King Garcia used overwhelming force and destroyed the natives ability to resist in a single battle. No drawn out war this time.
And very shortly thereafter Kongo took all of the their lands in the peace deals.
Kongo military technology continued to advance behind that of their rivals - learning the Spanish Square much later then the Spanish had. So annoyed with being behind the curve again, King Garcia refused to allow the Generals to give interesting names to the new infantry regiments the technology enabled.
With peace coming to the Kingdom, albeit temporary of course, King Garcia agreed with the merchant classes that it was time to move the main trading activities of Kongo to the Ivory Coast, where the vast wealth of the New World could be better managed. It was a decision harshly questioned at home, for many an original Kongo family was hurt by the sudden loss of jobs and security, but in the long run the new trade capital would funnel huge amounts of wealth into Kongo. Just a bit more indirectly. More importantly, the new gold mines of Mexico and those found in Peru and New Kongo could begin sending treasure fleets to Kongo laden with gold and gems. The riches of the new world would fund new armed forces and, more importantly, a larger transport fleet, plus the accompanying warships.
North New Kongo was formed on the coast of North America. Ignore the slide, someone forgot to type in the full name of the nation.
The long period of peace, well, peace in West Africa, led the countries there to disband their defensive arrangements. King Garcia was said to immediately have the generals draw up plans to renew his claims upon that part of the continent.
But that was for the future, for now, well, as spring came to the European continent in 1569, it was time to bust open the beachhead and invade England.
That ends our "Minor Wars" lesson, we will discuss the 1st English War at our next lecture and move into the time of King Garcia III.
************
And... another round of set-up. But, hopefully we're beginning to see some pay-off. I'm not sure I used any interesting strategies here beyond just trying to time things correctly and I certainly didn't challenge any other powers - well, until the end and the attack on England. But we outnumber them and their tech is just as lacking as our own.
Thanks for reading!
King Garcia didn't sit still after having established his beachhead in Europe. However, he did move the armies out of the area. As soon as enough transports could be arranged, troops were brought back to the horn of Africa, where Ajuuraan waited to be attacked, having made no allies since their initial defeat. The initial battles were decisive and it looked to be fairly straightforward as the year 1560 rolled towards a close.
In addition, a war was launched in North America to support our new vassal Pequot's claims on Abenaki.
Kong, our vassal, was annexed. The yet small vassal of Mali was well positioned to serve as King Garcia's cat's paw in the area.
Having met with some success in the other American areas, a degree of liberty was granted to the Kongolese Greater Isles. This was one of the few regions that would never have financial difficulties.
The war with Abenaki and it's ally Lenape was closed out with territorial and financial gains.
And about a year after starting the war, Ajuuraan surrendered provinces to both Kongo and Marehan.
I'd like to point out that the vassal of Marehan was already experiencing difficulties holding the lands that had been granted to it - rebellions and taxation difficulties drained it strength.
Troops were gathered for a quick strike into Mixtec lands in order to gain the gold mines there. However, by the time the troops landed Mixtec had sworn fealty to Tlananec. Either way, the still backwards Mexican states were not a match for the Kongolese army, especially after fighting among themselves and war was still prosecuted.
The people found a new reason to worry as the increase in Sunni citizens began to worry those of the more accepted Fetishist faith. Rumors of the Queen soon spread, turning into widespread discontent. Many assumed, probably correctly, that the King was only enthralled with her due to her beauty - she had not made the mark of many former Queens upon the nation. But King Garcia held that marriage was not disposed of due to rumors and malcontent and even held a renewal ceremony in the sacred shrines at Yuka.
Students - I would really prefer to not get another paper talking about King Garcia the romantic. Find something else. Anything else, my eyes bleed from being assaulted every year.
Internationally, Kongo's power continued to grow and the world came to accept that they might indeed be, not just a Great Power, but the Greatest of them. Even Castile - who made the change to Spain about this time - began to question it's long policy of simply demanding that Kongo surrender all of it's land every time their diplomats met.
The colony in Diego Garcia had allowed Kongo spies to infiltrate and gain a usuable causes belle on the Maldives. These lands were invaded as soon as the troops from the Ajuuraan fight had recovered and shipped out.
King Garcia also began organizing the nobility along new and, let's say, creative paths. For some time the nobles allowed themselves to be bought off with fancy titles and golden cups. In fact, future Kings would continue this process. For all intents and purposes, this action marked the end of the nobility as an influence in Kongo's decision making. They would be called upon for troops and men but not entrusted with actual leadership.
Tlananec was completely destroyed in the fighting in Mexico. They surrendered completely and Kongo took everything of value and then made the diplomats take some more.
Maldives also surrendered, the islands simply not having the ability to fight off the Kongo forces arrayed against them. These new lands were added to the Kingdom with the hope of using them as a base for expansion into Ceylon and Kochin. Diplomats were sent to pave the way.
And then forgotten about until too late as King Garcia became involved in other wars. Many suspect that an earlier push into India might have had more positive results then the way the troops ended up being used, although, obviously, we are just talking about timing here.
The troops in America were shipped back along the coast to push further along the Mississippi. For some soldiers this was their third campaign in the area. Many letters home lamented going back to this place of swamps and illness and dreaded the coming battles.
This time however, King Garcia used overwhelming force and destroyed the natives ability to resist in a single battle. No drawn out war this time.
And very shortly thereafter Kongo took all of the their lands in the peace deals.
Kongo military technology continued to advance behind that of their rivals - learning the Spanish Square much later then the Spanish had. So annoyed with being behind the curve again, King Garcia refused to allow the Generals to give interesting names to the new infantry regiments the technology enabled.
With peace coming to the Kingdom, albeit temporary of course, King Garcia agreed with the merchant classes that it was time to move the main trading activities of Kongo to the Ivory Coast, where the vast wealth of the New World could be better managed. It was a decision harshly questioned at home, for many an original Kongo family was hurt by the sudden loss of jobs and security, but in the long run the new trade capital would funnel huge amounts of wealth into Kongo. Just a bit more indirectly. More importantly, the new gold mines of Mexico and those found in Peru and New Kongo could begin sending treasure fleets to Kongo laden with gold and gems. The riches of the new world would fund new armed forces and, more importantly, a larger transport fleet, plus the accompanying warships.
North New Kongo was formed on the coast of North America. Ignore the slide, someone forgot to type in the full name of the nation.
The long period of peace, well, peace in West Africa, led the countries there to disband their defensive arrangements. King Garcia was said to immediately have the generals draw up plans to renew his claims upon that part of the continent.
But that was for the future, for now, well, as spring came to the European continent in 1569, it was time to bust open the beachhead and invade England.
That ends our "Minor Wars" lesson, we will discuss the 1st English War at our next lecture and move into the time of King Garcia III.
************
And... another round of set-up. But, hopefully we're beginning to see some pay-off. I'm not sure I used any interesting strategies here beyond just trying to time things correctly and I certainly didn't challenge any other powers - well, until the end and the attack on England. But we outnumber them and their tech is just as lacking as our own.
Thanks for reading!
Set-up is important, and it quite clear that you have been crowding the Europeans out of the New World, somewhat at least, and generally inhibitng their ambitions elsewhere.
I did smile about the King's refusal to allow for interesting names.
I did smile about the King's refusal to allow for interesting names.
Lesson 11: The English Invasion and King Garcia III
Good afternoon class - lets just dive in, with, I'm sure you remember, the 1st Kongo-English War.
Initial reports from the front were solid but unconvincing. Going head to head with a nominal power like Britain took some care, even with their lack of allies. The first strike captured territory but failed to bring a decisive confrontation with their army.
This continued as Kongo forces pressed both south and into Ireland, seeking confrontation. However, the English forces hid behind fortifications and refused battle, delaying a decisive engagement. With little choice, Kongo generals set up siege networks around London and Pate.
King Garcia II died during the opening of his English campaign. He was succeeded by his son, Garcia III. Unless I specifically call out the numeral, just assume I'm talking about the III'd from here on out.
The Spanish-Portuguese alliance took advantage of the fighting and launched their own invasion of England that met with a great deal of success along the southern coasts.
In a surprise move, King Garcia choose to ally the fetish faith with the cult of Christianity that had been growing among the coastal regions of the Kingdom. Most knew little of its ways - even some of Scotland had already converted to the ancient faith of our forefathers.
The Kongolese Louisianna territory was given some freedoms to chart its own course. Made up mostly of conquered tribes, it had a hard time developing for many years.
Meanwhile, in the Horn of Africa, Marehan had had some difficulty holding on to some of the Ajuuraan lands and they rebelled, rejoining their former countrymen. King Garcia could let the idea that people could leave his vassals, so he immediately declared war, even though only some five thousand men were nearby. Given that was the size of the entire Ajuuraan army and that Marehan had some forces it probably wasn't a bad bet but it wasn't a surefire easy conquest either.
Eventually the English armies simply disappeared. Some say they fled overseas and became part of the Iroquis nation. Others think they took to ship to attempt to land in Kongo but the Spanish armada sunk them. Either way, they were gone. Without support from England, the Leinster/Irish army was easily destroyed and they quickly surrendered.
When Spain and England agreed to peace, Kongo forces quickly picked up the occupation duties along the southern coast. Englad was not allowed to build an additional army. Peace was merely waiting on London to surrender.
Ajuuraan did give up first though, giving back all of the lost territories plus, well, just about everything else it had.
The first treasure fleet, bringing gold from Mexico, was delivered in 1572. While the constant addition of gold to the economy did horrible things to inflation, the average Kongolese citizen did enjoy quite the uptick in standard of living thanks to increased government spending.
The peace with England came in 1573, just shy of four years after the initial shots were fired. Provinces along the Irish Sea were taken, along with England's colonial holdings in the Caribbean. It wasn't the final blow to England's power - they would soon turn to colonizing North America, but it was a solid nail.
Unfortunately, North New Kongo simply wasn't able to hold on to its native territories - they reformed into their original tribes. Was was pressed upon the Creeks first.
I'm going to make a side note. At this point, no territory of Kongo had revolted, weather taken by strength of arms or treaty. Ever. Strong management with an ear for the native people's had prevented widespread unrest from occurring. The constant rebellions within the vassals' and colonial territories' lands was a source of never-ending annoyance to King Garcia.
The Creek war was fast. Ending with few casualties and little bloodshed. That army would move north and attack the Cree next.
We can take a quick pause here and note the increasing difference between Kongo's rating as a Great Power and the rest of the world. England, the 6th power, had just refused to fight - leading many to believe that little could stop Kongolese ambitions.
The war against the Cree was decisive, taking more territory. Perhaps greater gains could have been achieved but North New Kongo was having such an awful time keeping rebellious natives under control even this gain was probably more trouble then it was worth.
Powhaten would also be ceded to Pequot.
While these small conflicts were raging in North America, most of the troops were moved back into Africa, where they were allowed to rest before being prepped along the borders of Timbuktu and Air in order to persecute the next war. Also shown here, Timbuktu taking Portuguese lands in another ill-thought engagement by the Iberians.
A decision was made during this war to concentrate on Air and drive them out of the war. Sensing their allies resolve becoming thin, Timbuktu agreed to a joint attempt to relieve the siege of their capital. It was bloody, but General Makanga fought them off, taking heavy casualties. If nothing else, this battle did illustrate the need for Kongo to begin bringing larger artillery corpse to the fighting.
The tactic was successful and Air left the war, allowing Kongo forces to begin the hard work of laying siege to the many Timbuktu border fortresses. Constant raids by Timbuktu mercenary forces forced this process to be painfully slow as the army had to be kept relatively close together.
Invading Kiche was more of a footnote so that the colonial nations had something to do while Kongo was otherwise engaged.
The tide turned against Timbuktu when both their main army and associated mercenaries was defeated at the Battle of Tadmekka after they were lured into an open field engagement.
King Garcia was quite content to let the general's handle the military tactics. He concentrated on updating and refining the Kingdom's laws. His willingness to treat all fairly helped bind the provinces closer to the capital.
King Garcia issued the Garcia Doctrine - Africa was off-limits to further European colonization in 1580. This Proclamation was used as the basis for many future Kongo and held as a threat over many a European head-of-state. Portugal and Spain both denied that Kongo had any right to dictate their colonization choices.
.......And I'm afraid I'm out of time a bit early today, we'll pick up with the remainder of the Timbuktu War tomorrow.
*********
Thanks for reading.
Good afternoon class - lets just dive in, with, I'm sure you remember, the 1st Kongo-English War.
Initial reports from the front were solid but unconvincing. Going head to head with a nominal power like Britain took some care, even with their lack of allies. The first strike captured territory but failed to bring a decisive confrontation with their army.
This continued as Kongo forces pressed both south and into Ireland, seeking confrontation. However, the English forces hid behind fortifications and refused battle, delaying a decisive engagement. With little choice, Kongo generals set up siege networks around London and Pate.
King Garcia II died during the opening of his English campaign. He was succeeded by his son, Garcia III. Unless I specifically call out the numeral, just assume I'm talking about the III'd from here on out.
The Spanish-Portuguese alliance took advantage of the fighting and launched their own invasion of England that met with a great deal of success along the southern coasts.
In a surprise move, King Garcia choose to ally the fetish faith with the cult of Christianity that had been growing among the coastal regions of the Kingdom. Most knew little of its ways - even some of Scotland had already converted to the ancient faith of our forefathers.
The Kongolese Louisianna territory was given some freedoms to chart its own course. Made up mostly of conquered tribes, it had a hard time developing for many years.
Meanwhile, in the Horn of Africa, Marehan had had some difficulty holding on to some of the Ajuuraan lands and they rebelled, rejoining their former countrymen. King Garcia could let the idea that people could leave his vassals, so he immediately declared war, even though only some five thousand men were nearby. Given that was the size of the entire Ajuuraan army and that Marehan had some forces it probably wasn't a bad bet but it wasn't a surefire easy conquest either.
Eventually the English armies simply disappeared. Some say they fled overseas and became part of the Iroquis nation. Others think they took to ship to attempt to land in Kongo but the Spanish armada sunk them. Either way, they were gone. Without support from England, the Leinster/Irish army was easily destroyed and they quickly surrendered.
When Spain and England agreed to peace, Kongo forces quickly picked up the occupation duties along the southern coast. Englad was not allowed to build an additional army. Peace was merely waiting on London to surrender.
Ajuuraan did give up first though, giving back all of the lost territories plus, well, just about everything else it had.
The first treasure fleet, bringing gold from Mexico, was delivered in 1572. While the constant addition of gold to the economy did horrible things to inflation, the average Kongolese citizen did enjoy quite the uptick in standard of living thanks to increased government spending.
The peace with England came in 1573, just shy of four years after the initial shots were fired. Provinces along the Irish Sea were taken, along with England's colonial holdings in the Caribbean. It wasn't the final blow to England's power - they would soon turn to colonizing North America, but it was a solid nail.
Unfortunately, North New Kongo simply wasn't able to hold on to its native territories - they reformed into their original tribes. Was was pressed upon the Creeks first.
I'm going to make a side note. At this point, no territory of Kongo had revolted, weather taken by strength of arms or treaty. Ever. Strong management with an ear for the native people's had prevented widespread unrest from occurring. The constant rebellions within the vassals' and colonial territories' lands was a source of never-ending annoyance to King Garcia.
The Creek war was fast. Ending with few casualties and little bloodshed. That army would move north and attack the Cree next.
We can take a quick pause here and note the increasing difference between Kongo's rating as a Great Power and the rest of the world. England, the 6th power, had just refused to fight - leading many to believe that little could stop Kongolese ambitions.
The war against the Cree was decisive, taking more territory. Perhaps greater gains could have been achieved but North New Kongo was having such an awful time keeping rebellious natives under control even this gain was probably more trouble then it was worth.
Powhaten would also be ceded to Pequot.
While these small conflicts were raging in North America, most of the troops were moved back into Africa, where they were allowed to rest before being prepped along the borders of Timbuktu and Air in order to persecute the next war. Also shown here, Timbuktu taking Portuguese lands in another ill-thought engagement by the Iberians.
A decision was made during this war to concentrate on Air and drive them out of the war. Sensing their allies resolve becoming thin, Timbuktu agreed to a joint attempt to relieve the siege of their capital. It was bloody, but General Makanga fought them off, taking heavy casualties. If nothing else, this battle did illustrate the need for Kongo to begin bringing larger artillery corpse to the fighting.
The tactic was successful and Air left the war, allowing Kongo forces to begin the hard work of laying siege to the many Timbuktu border fortresses. Constant raids by Timbuktu mercenary forces forced this process to be painfully slow as the army had to be kept relatively close together.
Invading Kiche was more of a footnote so that the colonial nations had something to do while Kongo was otherwise engaged.
The tide turned against Timbuktu when both their main army and associated mercenaries was defeated at the Battle of Tadmekka after they were lured into an open field engagement.
King Garcia was quite content to let the general's handle the military tactics. He concentrated on updating and refining the Kingdom's laws. His willingness to treat all fairly helped bind the provinces closer to the capital.
King Garcia issued the Garcia Doctrine - Africa was off-limits to further European colonization in 1580. This Proclamation was used as the basis for many future Kongo and held as a threat over many a European head-of-state. Portugal and Spain both denied that Kongo had any right to dictate their colonization choices.
.......And I'm afraid I'm out of time a bit early today, we'll pick up with the remainder of the Timbuktu War tomorrow.
*********
Thanks for reading.
Thanks, it's hard to know how to describe something like a national idea. But that discipline finally made my forces start to stand up a bit more equally.
Running without a military idea yet probably isn't ideal, but Explor/Rel/Admin are so useful. And it's not like I wasn't using up the military points early on pushing development...
Running without a military idea yet probably isn't ideal, but Explor/Rel/Admin are so useful. And it's not like I wasn't using up the military points early on pushing development...
Lesson 12: King Garcia III Part I
Technically of course, King Garcia III's reign started last week, but that was mostly a continuation of the policies and military decisions made by his father. From here on out Garcia III called the shots. He has gone down in history as one of our greatest Kings, bringing Kongo's influence to every corner of the globe. So, lets see what he accomplished.
The 'war' to add Kiche to Kongolese Mexico was resolved fairly quickly. Ongoing rebel issues where more of a concern.
Timbuktu's attempts to drive our forces from their soil became disorganized and infantry heavy as the war churned on. There attempt at relieving the capital failed due to ill-timing, they had gathered enough numbers but botched the attack and their forward elements were slaughtered before the real fight even began.
The forces of Catholicism stood strong in the Holy Roman Empire - obviously a big "who cares" from the current Kongo administration, but Europe's religion issues didn't erupt into full out war as had been suspected.
The Timbuktu war ended with large gains in west Africa for Kongo and our vassal Mali. The fight never made it into Morocco, as had been hoped, due to declining manpower for the armed forces and a the realization that our military technology had fallen behind our more northern neighbors again. Rather then gather casualties that would have a hard time being replaced for minimal extra gains, King Garcia took a peace deal.
The Spanish alliance with Portugal and France continued to stand in King Garcia's way. When he learned they'd also signed a defensive agreement with Kanem Bornu, well, apparently he was quite upset.
Admittedly, the next "easy conquest" was off the table. However, this was the opening that Kongo needed, excepting that the military was drained by the recent fighting. We'll discuss this development more later on.
King Garcia's own plans to tip the balance of power in Europe, and the rest of the world, were proceeding though. First, France was allied. This would keep them from helping Spain should they decide to attack Kongo and fracture their best alliance. More, it was hoped that France might help with further gains in England or perhaps in Europe proper.
Just as King Garcia took stock while his army recuperated, we'll take a quick look at the world's statistics.
Current Great Power Ranking.
Known army sizes and capabilities of the time. Obviously, Kongo was fielding under it's abilities compared to similar nations of the time - but issues with the treasury and manpower were preventing rapid build up, especially of the needed but expensive artillery trains.
Kongo's vassals, trade companies, and colonial nations.
King Garcia did declare war quickly, but Scotland was an easy target - most of their allies were people we'd never heard of and who couldn't pose much of a threat.
Kongo's diplomatic corp used it's power to force Kanem Bornu to break it's alliance with Zazzau, the only other power not in a truce with Kongo.
And then declared war on Zazzau. There armies were engaged in attacking Air, so the march on the capital was quick and painless.
That is, about 6 months before the peace treaty was signed. One of Kongo's fastest ever wars for the amount of territory gained.
With Scotland occupied King Garcia was just waiting for them to give us. An ally bereft Leinster was the obvious next target to expand our holdings.
There military was taken out of the war quickly.
Leading to their total capitulation.
In order to bring Scotland to the peace table, King Garcia began to strike at the coast of Europe, forcing Scotland's allies out of the war. Looking back, many suggest that Breman should have been absorbed here, risking the wrath of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, but this seemed less then prudent given the still recovering military situation.
Continued fighting among the Mexican states allowed another one to be picked off while they had no allies.
A more equal war was declared on Cusco - but they were suffering from a Spanish invasion already and it was expected the our colonial holdings would send additional men.
The war in Mexico was wrapped up quickly.
As recent gains were brought fully under Kongolese control King Garcia declared that Kongo was no longer a Kingdom. He declared himself Emperor Garcia.
This move, albeit full of hubris, was well loved at the time and the Kongo basin was unified as never before in its joy. Social science identifies this as the point that many gave up their old tribes and really started to think of themselves as a "Kongolese" people.
Our new presence throughout the world also encouraged others to come to our realm. Contact with Hungary had been strong of late - the Ottomans were seen as a distant but real threat and Hungary was seen as an eventual counterweight should King Garcia's operations in northeast Africa continue to develop as hoped.
With that came a new acceptance of the Christian religions, which had been slowly peculating since King Garcia had tied the ancestral fetishist faith to the general principles of the cult.
Scotland finally surrendered, after being occupied for many years.
Notice that Norway has been much reduced by a powerful Swedish state.
In the year 1588 King Garcia would take one additional act that would change our national path. He took the little followed religion of Reformed Christianity and made it our own.
Our recent discussion was the entirety of the development of the faith to that point in Kongo - and it wasn't reformed either. The new Irish lands, they were Protestant. Just one province held Reformed as their faith. But now it was the faith of a world-spanning Empire.
France immediately accepted a Royal Marriage arrangement, our first in Europe.
And a momentary peace fell upon Kongo as Cusco gave up some of their gold mines to Kongolese Peru.
And that peace was used to bring Marehan into the fold of the greater Kongo Empire.
And Ajuuraan was declared upon and annexed immediately following that action.
Religious turmoil began to bubble. Historians call this the Long Almost-Rebellion. Dissent to the new 'official' faith was high. But King Garcia worked miracles in keeping the populace just on this side of satisfied. Conversion wasn't forced, but missionaries and preachers spread out throughout Africa and slowly the people began to accept the new faith.
A quick view of Kongo's African holdings, the core of the Empire.
It was also well known that the colonial nations would keep their faith and those would wished to could migrate to the America's where the Fetishist faith would still be the national faith. This outlet helped build up the colonies and ensured that the Fetishist faith of our ancestors is still practiced in most of America today.
But the transition wasn't entirely peaceful. The first revolt against Kongolese governance occurred in 1595, ending about one hundred and fifty years of internal peace.
We'll pick up here next week as we continue to discuss King Garcia III and his momentous reign.
************
Why reformed - the Atwix path. There are a couple of Reformed nations actually, along the Dutch coast (Barbrant, etc), but not many. This meant I wasn't losing anything much on my ability to declare religious war. But I was really feeling the limitations of the Fetishist faith. I'd originally thought I'd do the whole thing as a Fetishist but I wanted some options to play a bit more in Europe, plus some actually useful bonuses.
Thanks for reading
Technically of course, King Garcia III's reign started last week, but that was mostly a continuation of the policies and military decisions made by his father. From here on out Garcia III called the shots. He has gone down in history as one of our greatest Kings, bringing Kongo's influence to every corner of the globe. So, lets see what he accomplished.
The 'war' to add Kiche to Kongolese Mexico was resolved fairly quickly. Ongoing rebel issues where more of a concern.
Timbuktu's attempts to drive our forces from their soil became disorganized and infantry heavy as the war churned on. There attempt at relieving the capital failed due to ill-timing, they had gathered enough numbers but botched the attack and their forward elements were slaughtered before the real fight even began.
The forces of Catholicism stood strong in the Holy Roman Empire - obviously a big "who cares" from the current Kongo administration, but Europe's religion issues didn't erupt into full out war as had been suspected.
The Timbuktu war ended with large gains in west Africa for Kongo and our vassal Mali. The fight never made it into Morocco, as had been hoped, due to declining manpower for the armed forces and a the realization that our military technology had fallen behind our more northern neighbors again. Rather then gather casualties that would have a hard time being replaced for minimal extra gains, King Garcia took a peace deal.
The Spanish alliance with Portugal and France continued to stand in King Garcia's way. When he learned they'd also signed a defensive agreement with Kanem Bornu, well, apparently he was quite upset.
Admittedly, the next "easy conquest" was off the table. However, this was the opening that Kongo needed, excepting that the military was drained by the recent fighting. We'll discuss this development more later on.
King Garcia's own plans to tip the balance of power in Europe, and the rest of the world, were proceeding though. First, France was allied. This would keep them from helping Spain should they decide to attack Kongo and fracture their best alliance. More, it was hoped that France might help with further gains in England or perhaps in Europe proper.
Just as King Garcia took stock while his army recuperated, we'll take a quick look at the world's statistics.
Current Great Power Ranking.
Known army sizes and capabilities of the time. Obviously, Kongo was fielding under it's abilities compared to similar nations of the time - but issues with the treasury and manpower were preventing rapid build up, especially of the needed but expensive artillery trains.
Kongo's vassals, trade companies, and colonial nations.
King Garcia did declare war quickly, but Scotland was an easy target - most of their allies were people we'd never heard of and who couldn't pose much of a threat.
Kongo's diplomatic corp used it's power to force Kanem Bornu to break it's alliance with Zazzau, the only other power not in a truce with Kongo.
And then declared war on Zazzau. There armies were engaged in attacking Air, so the march on the capital was quick and painless.
That is, about 6 months before the peace treaty was signed. One of Kongo's fastest ever wars for the amount of territory gained.
With Scotland occupied King Garcia was just waiting for them to give us. An ally bereft Leinster was the obvious next target to expand our holdings.
There military was taken out of the war quickly.
Leading to their total capitulation.
In order to bring Scotland to the peace table, King Garcia began to strike at the coast of Europe, forcing Scotland's allies out of the war. Looking back, many suggest that Breman should have been absorbed here, risking the wrath of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, but this seemed less then prudent given the still recovering military situation.
Continued fighting among the Mexican states allowed another one to be picked off while they had no allies.
A more equal war was declared on Cusco - but they were suffering from a Spanish invasion already and it was expected the our colonial holdings would send additional men.
The war in Mexico was wrapped up quickly.
As recent gains were brought fully under Kongolese control King Garcia declared that Kongo was no longer a Kingdom. He declared himself Emperor Garcia.
This move, albeit full of hubris, was well loved at the time and the Kongo basin was unified as never before in its joy. Social science identifies this as the point that many gave up their old tribes and really started to think of themselves as a "Kongolese" people.
Our new presence throughout the world also encouraged others to come to our realm. Contact with Hungary had been strong of late - the Ottomans were seen as a distant but real threat and Hungary was seen as an eventual counterweight should King Garcia's operations in northeast Africa continue to develop as hoped.
With that came a new acceptance of the Christian religions, which had been slowly peculating since King Garcia had tied the ancestral fetishist faith to the general principles of the cult.
Scotland finally surrendered, after being occupied for many years.
Notice that Norway has been much reduced by a powerful Swedish state.
In the year 1588 King Garcia would take one additional act that would change our national path. He took the little followed religion of Reformed Christianity and made it our own.
Our recent discussion was the entirety of the development of the faith to that point in Kongo - and it wasn't reformed either. The new Irish lands, they were Protestant. Just one province held Reformed as their faith. But now it was the faith of a world-spanning Empire.
France immediately accepted a Royal Marriage arrangement, our first in Europe.
And a momentary peace fell upon Kongo as Cusco gave up some of their gold mines to Kongolese Peru.
And that peace was used to bring Marehan into the fold of the greater Kongo Empire.
And Ajuuraan was declared upon and annexed immediately following that action.
Religious turmoil began to bubble. Historians call this the Long Almost-Rebellion. Dissent to the new 'official' faith was high. But King Garcia worked miracles in keeping the populace just on this side of satisfied. Conversion wasn't forced, but missionaries and preachers spread out throughout Africa and slowly the people began to accept the new faith.
A quick view of Kongo's African holdings, the core of the Empire.
It was also well known that the colonial nations would keep their faith and those would wished to could migrate to the America's where the Fetishist faith would still be the national faith. This outlet helped build up the colonies and ensured that the Fetishist faith of our ancestors is still practiced in most of America today.
But the transition wasn't entirely peaceful. The first revolt against Kongolese governance occurred in 1595, ending about one hundred and fifty years of internal peace.
We'll pick up here next week as we continue to discuss King Garcia III and his momentous reign.
************
Why reformed - the Atwix path.
There are a couple of Reformed nations actually, along the Dutch coast (Barbrant, etc), but not many. This meant I wasn't losing anything much on my ability to declare religious war. But I was really feeling the limitations of the Fetishist faith. I'd originally thought I'd do the whole thing as a Fetishist but I wanted some options to play a bit more in Europe, plus some actually useful bonuses.Thanks for reading
I must admit to chuckling at the thought of an Empire as massive as Kongo suddenly converting like this. Constantine's conversion Mark II.
Lesson 13 Emperor Garcia III, Part II
Welcome back class, I'm sure your excited to be here. We'll pick up with the Empire of Kongo, newly formed and thrust into the Reformed faith. Not everyone was happy, but the massive religious wars of Europe never came to pass in Kongo as more and more people were slowly convinced to convert - peacefully, that is. Or at least, within Kongo itself.
While most of the massive development of the capital had occurred during the late 1400's, development continued throughout the reigns of many of the Kings. But, with becoming an Empire, the city of Mpemba was slowly became know as the Jewel of Kongo, home to architectural wonders along with relics from around the world. (ooc: 60 dev City of City's achievement)
Helping in the conversion of the massive amounts of territory under the control of Kongo was a willingness of the church elders (within Kongo at least) to bend a bit when mixing the old and new faiths.
Also, Emperor Garcia was given the title of Defender of the Faith, for Africa. Which meant little as far as duties went for there were few Christian nations and no reformed ones outside of Kongo in Africa.
The colonial nation of Kongolese Mexico felt secure enough in their power to begin declaring their own wars to finish annexing the assorted tribes that were left.
Note the presence of Norway's Mexican holdings, slowly spreading out to the North. While not a heavy colonizer, they were putting everything they had into developing that area and it was beginning to pay them dividends.
Meanwhile the Emperor pushed north with new colonies along the western coast of California and was determined to begin subjugating the tribes there.
And that war was quick, the people's of California hadn't yet had the opportunity to learn more advanced warfare techniques like their brethren to the east.
The year 1600 brought with it the acknowledgement of Global Trade as a primary motivator for behavior and development. Of course, Kongo had it's fingers in many of the ports around the world at this point, but Genoa was recognized as the greatest of all ports.
1600 also finally saw Emperor Garcia decide it was time to begin claiming previously ignored portions of Africa. Kilwa's armies were engaged in sacking the island nation of Sakalava, so the strike was particularly well timed. Adal joined their ally in defense.
Even as the armies moved, word came that a European power had rounded the Cape of Africa and was colonizing one of the islands in the Indian Ocean. The Garcia Doctrine was being tested, although Portugal insisted that the land was not in Africa and therefore exempt.
Adal was taken out of the war early. More army then was necessary was utilized to make sure the conquest was quick.
War against the Iroquois was seen as necessary to link our vassal to our colonial nation. Both French and English colonies can be seen in this picture. And yes, North New Kongo had lost control of some more lands to native tribes once again, a theme which would haunt Kongo again soon.
To hurry and aid the work of converting the many diverse citizens of the Empire, Garcia decreed that the Bible could be translated into the native tongues of the people, that they might be able to directly read and understand the faith. Decisions like this made him precious few friends in Europe but hastened the acceptance of the faith.
The noble class, realizing they've been playing court games for so long that they'd lost real power attempted to demand a return of status, thinking that hte Emperor would need their help keeping the people in line with the many changes being implemented. They were wrong. But Emperor Garcia was always a fair man of law - in this case though, he re-wrote the laws, bringing the ancient customs and understandings into the clear light of the modern, well, modern for 1600, time.
The world at this time, as far as Kongo knew it. Note the colonies in the Spice Islands as Kongo's grasp continued to move eastwards.
The Iroquois gave up the lands that Kongo needed to ensure the safety of their vassal.
Kilwa's success required an invasion of Madagascar as well before the royalty of Kilwa would surrender.
Meanwhile, colonists continued to flock to the new lands promised by continued expansion - the Spice Islands and south Africa were the targets of the time.
In 1604 Kilwa finally gave up, surrendering territory to their north along the coast and southern gold mines, plus some of their new possessions in Madagascar.
The newly released nation of Mahafaly was brought into alliance and then Kongo provided its armies to help the new nation realize it's territorial ambitions. This was the first war fought to help an allies war plans in Kongo history.
Of course, that altruism may have had other purposes - Mahafaly agreed to a vassal arrangement shortly thereafter.
The Portuguese attempt to bypass the Garcia Doctrine rankled at Kongolese pride - or at least at Emperor Garcia's pride, although it should be mentioned that, as best can be told without modern polling techniques, the people were pretty annoyed too. Fortunately, European alliance patterns had changed - for some unknown reason Spain and France had abandoned their alliance with Portugal and they stood with new friends who were not nearly as worrisome.
He declared war in 1607, a fight that would be engaged in Africa, North and South America, and Europe.
The war opened with what could only be considered a good sign - a Portuguese colony had discovered gold. It was quickly annexed and Kongolese settlers flocked to the region, even under war conditions the lure of getting rich quickly was enough.
Portugal lost ground quickly in Africa, but word came that France would no longer serve as our ally in Europe - they had suddenly decided they wanted all of the Mexican territories that were under our control.
France would soon declare Kongo to be their rival in all things, be it peace or war, prayer or labor.
It turned out that Spain and France had planned a war against Portugal as well, and their attack crippled Portugal, destroying their fleets and armies almost wholesale.
Kongolese armies rushed to claim whatever territory in North Africa and Portugal itself that it could.
But the Spanish-Portuguese War was over as quickly as it was begun, leaving behind an army of rebels for Kongo to deal with if they wanted to claim the capital.
Unfortunately, Emperor Garcia III would pass from the land before he could see the end result of the many changes he had brought, or more importantly, final victory. That would fall to his son, Emperor Garcia IV, who would destroy Portugal's dreams of a world spanning Empire forever.
And we'll discuss his reign next. Be sure to read The Son of the Sun King before Thursday.
********************
OOC:
Hm, in my head I actually thought I'd done a bit more with Garcia III in command or I wouldn't have built him up quite as much, still, a positive run. I'm benefiting from a lot of good timing and events but to some extent you look for that as you go, ie Portugal getting hit in time with my attack. Although that war with Kilwa took way longer then expected. There's always someone swimming around without much of an alliance.
Thanks for reading.
Welcome back class, I'm sure your excited to be here. We'll pick up with the Empire of Kongo, newly formed and thrust into the Reformed faith. Not everyone was happy, but the massive religious wars of Europe never came to pass in Kongo as more and more people were slowly convinced to convert - peacefully, that is. Or at least, within Kongo itself.
While most of the massive development of the capital had occurred during the late 1400's, development continued throughout the reigns of many of the Kings. But, with becoming an Empire, the city of Mpemba was slowly became know as the Jewel of Kongo, home to architectural wonders along with relics from around the world. (ooc: 60 dev City of City's achievement)
Helping in the conversion of the massive amounts of territory under the control of Kongo was a willingness of the church elders (within Kongo at least) to bend a bit when mixing the old and new faiths.
Also, Emperor Garcia was given the title of Defender of the Faith, for Africa. Which meant little as far as duties went for there were few Christian nations and no reformed ones outside of Kongo in Africa.
The colonial nation of Kongolese Mexico felt secure enough in their power to begin declaring their own wars to finish annexing the assorted tribes that were left.
Note the presence of Norway's Mexican holdings, slowly spreading out to the North. While not a heavy colonizer, they were putting everything they had into developing that area and it was beginning to pay them dividends.
Meanwhile the Emperor pushed north with new colonies along the western coast of California and was determined to begin subjugating the tribes there.
And that war was quick, the people's of California hadn't yet had the opportunity to learn more advanced warfare techniques like their brethren to the east.
The year 1600 brought with it the acknowledgement of Global Trade as a primary motivator for behavior and development. Of course, Kongo had it's fingers in many of the ports around the world at this point, but Genoa was recognized as the greatest of all ports.
1600 also finally saw Emperor Garcia decide it was time to begin claiming previously ignored portions of Africa. Kilwa's armies were engaged in sacking the island nation of Sakalava, so the strike was particularly well timed. Adal joined their ally in defense.
Even as the armies moved, word came that a European power had rounded the Cape of Africa and was colonizing one of the islands in the Indian Ocean. The Garcia Doctrine was being tested, although Portugal insisted that the land was not in Africa and therefore exempt.
Adal was taken out of the war early. More army then was necessary was utilized to make sure the conquest was quick.
War against the Iroquois was seen as necessary to link our vassal to our colonial nation. Both French and English colonies can be seen in this picture. And yes, North New Kongo had lost control of some more lands to native tribes once again, a theme which would haunt Kongo again soon.
To hurry and aid the work of converting the many diverse citizens of the Empire, Garcia decreed that the Bible could be translated into the native tongues of the people, that they might be able to directly read and understand the faith. Decisions like this made him precious few friends in Europe but hastened the acceptance of the faith.
The noble class, realizing they've been playing court games for so long that they'd lost real power attempted to demand a return of status, thinking that hte Emperor would need their help keeping the people in line with the many changes being implemented. They were wrong. But Emperor Garcia was always a fair man of law - in this case though, he re-wrote the laws, bringing the ancient customs and understandings into the clear light of the modern, well, modern for 1600, time.
The world at this time, as far as Kongo knew it. Note the colonies in the Spice Islands as Kongo's grasp continued to move eastwards.
The Iroquois gave up the lands that Kongo needed to ensure the safety of their vassal.
Kilwa's success required an invasion of Madagascar as well before the royalty of Kilwa would surrender.
Meanwhile, colonists continued to flock to the new lands promised by continued expansion - the Spice Islands and south Africa were the targets of the time.
In 1604 Kilwa finally gave up, surrendering territory to their north along the coast and southern gold mines, plus some of their new possessions in Madagascar.
The newly released nation of Mahafaly was brought into alliance and then Kongo provided its armies to help the new nation realize it's territorial ambitions. This was the first war fought to help an allies war plans in Kongo history.
Of course, that altruism may have had other purposes - Mahafaly agreed to a vassal arrangement shortly thereafter.
The Portuguese attempt to bypass the Garcia Doctrine rankled at Kongolese pride - or at least at Emperor Garcia's pride, although it should be mentioned that, as best can be told without modern polling techniques, the people were pretty annoyed too. Fortunately, European alliance patterns had changed - for some unknown reason Spain and France had abandoned their alliance with Portugal and they stood with new friends who were not nearly as worrisome.
He declared war in 1607, a fight that would be engaged in Africa, North and South America, and Europe.
The war opened with what could only be considered a good sign - a Portuguese colony had discovered gold. It was quickly annexed and Kongolese settlers flocked to the region, even under war conditions the lure of getting rich quickly was enough.
Portugal lost ground quickly in Africa, but word came that France would no longer serve as our ally in Europe - they had suddenly decided they wanted all of the Mexican territories that were under our control.
France would soon declare Kongo to be their rival in all things, be it peace or war, prayer or labor.
It turned out that Spain and France had planned a war against Portugal as well, and their attack crippled Portugal, destroying their fleets and armies almost wholesale.
Kongolese armies rushed to claim whatever territory in North Africa and Portugal itself that it could.
But the Spanish-Portuguese War was over as quickly as it was begun, leaving behind an army of rebels for Kongo to deal with if they wanted to claim the capital.
Unfortunately, Emperor Garcia III would pass from the land before he could see the end result of the many changes he had brought, or more importantly, final victory. That would fall to his son, Emperor Garcia IV, who would destroy Portugal's dreams of a world spanning Empire forever.
And we'll discuss his reign next. Be sure to read The Son of the Sun King before Thursday.
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OOC:
Hm, in my head I actually thought I'd done a bit more with Garcia III in command or I wouldn't have built him up quite as much, still, a positive run. I'm benefiting from a lot of good timing and events but to some extent you look for that as you go, ie Portugal getting hit in time with my attack. Although that war with Kilwa took way longer then expected. There's always someone swimming around without much of an alliance.
Thanks for reading.