A Largely Pictorial History of Imperial Poland

[Demoking]

Kazimierz VI the Great​

Emperor of Poland, Tsar Protector of the Russians,​

King of Lithuania, Duke(Emirate) of Crimea​

Kazimierz VI was only 16 when he ascended to the thrown of Poland on the 6th of November, 1530, which happened to be his birth day. The Kingdom he inherited from his father was a large multi-cultural nation stretching from Breslau in the west to Kiev in the east, Danzig in the North to Crimea in the south.

Though his Kingdom was indeed mammoth in its size, Kazimierz had a dream. He envisioned a huge Polish Empire stretching all the way to the far end of Siberia.

To accomplish this, he declared war upon Pskov and its ally Novgorod. The war was over practically before it began. Pskov was annexed within a month and about two months later Novgorod accepted his offer of peace, ceding Ingermanland to Poland and becoming a Polish Vassal.

There were two wars with Sibir and Kazan afterward, both as a result of Sibirian aggression. Each time Poland was victorious, and each time Kazan was forced to cede territory to Poland as payment for their ally’s aggression. Shortly after the second war Poland annexed Novgorod. One year later, on the 14th of November, 1620, Kazimierz was crowned Emperor of Poland and Tsar Protector of the Russians.

The Polish Empire at the end of Kazimierz VI the Great's reign. (Note that Denmark is a Polish Vassel and that Poland owns two provinces off screen to the east.)​

On the political front, Kazimierz instituted the Administrative Monarchy and favored a Quality Regular Army.

He also ordered the colonization of a place called “Brazil,” stating that “Poland will not be left out of what is to be gained in the New World.”

Polish Brazil and Trinidad.​

Kazimierz VI the Great died in his sleep on the 27th of November 1627, he was 113 years old. For many Polish citizens he the only ruler they had ever known. It was a sad day in the history of Poland.

 

[Demoking]

This is, obviously, a Polish game. It's the GC but the AAR will start in 1530, this is because I didn't plan to make this into an AAR until Kazimierz the VI came along, then I just had to.

I'm using vanilla EuIII on Normal difficulty.

P.S. I started this game on an unpatched version, just thought you would want to know.

 

[unmerged(63836)]

Whooa! That`s huge Poland, fully deserving to be called an Empire.

 

[sergius]

Do you plan to AAR this game from the start (1453) or continuing from where you are now?

 

[Duke of Wellington]

Looks like a great empire there. Nice to see you filling in for Portugal in the New World.

 

[unmerged(73991)]

A monarch ruling for so long with those stats is extremely fortunate!

Good luck to Poland, I'll be watching this. Great start!

 

[Demoking]

thrashing mad: Yep, anything less than Empire just wouldn't be right.

sergius: I plan to continue from where I'm at.

Duke of Wellington: Thankyou

The Yankee: Thankyou, and I know, I was shocked by his life span.

Thanks all for commenting. There are two updates on the way for today, but I won't be able to update for about a week 'cause I'm goin' to Disney World .

 

[Demoking]

Jan I Kazimierz​

Emperor of Poland, Tsar Protector of the Russians,​

King of Lithuania, Duke(Emirate) of Crimea​

Jan ascended to the thrown at the ripe old age of 63. He shared his father’s ambition of creating a greater Polish Empire. So he ordered the Military to prepare for the invasion of Kazan. He also balanced the budget a bit, though inflation was still out of control. Sadly, Jan would not see the results of his military preparations. While he was riding to inspect a regiment in Kursk, his horse spooked, throwing him hard to the ground, he died three days later, on the 30th of July, 1630, he was 66 years old.

 

[Mishgan]

As you are set right now, you should liberate the Russian provinces under Muslim yoke, then direct yourself south and free the Croats, Serbs and Bulgarians.

And then call yourself the Empire of All Slavs

 

[Demoking]

Wladyslaw IV the Conqueror​

Emperor of Poland, Tsar Protector of the Russians,​

King of Lithuania, Duke(Emirate) of Crimea​

Wladyslaw was 41 when he ascended to the thrown. He did not posses the abilities of his father or Grandfather but this was more than made up for with a driving determination to prove himself. So days after being crowned Emperor he declared war on Sibir. The declaration on Sibir was a move carefully orchestrated by Wladyslaw’s father so as not to alienate the Ottomans with whom Poland had friendly relations. Sweden and Mecklenburg, Poland’s loyal allies, contributed troops to this war.

The invasion began in the North, where Kazan had fewer troops, but the first battles were in the south.

Despite the occasional defeat the Polish soldiers marched on. Then something truly bizarre happened, Portugal declared war upon Poland, dragging their allies England and Castille into it as well.

This war was a success fur Poland, which gained a new colony in Brazil, but peace was bought at the expense of two of Mecklenburg’s colonies.

The war with Kazan was five years old when Wladyslaw ordered all Armies to converge on Bolgar. This resulted in a campaign consisting of three massive battles.

This left Poland in control over all of Kazan, so Wladyslaw sent an emissary to the Chief of Kazan, offering peace.

Sadly, Kazan’s Chief refused, and Wladyslaw IV the Conqueror died two months later, on August the 10th, 1637. He was only 48 years old.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

You sure demolished them with those mighty armies. Portugal must have been jealous of your colonies.

 

[Demoking]

Ok, I'm back from Disney World and will post the next update asap, but first some responses to viewer comments.

Mishgan: actually, I've no designs on the Balkans, and If I invade the region, I'd just release the different countrys of the region.

Duke of Wellington: Oh, there not totaly demolished just yet, and Portugal does seem very jealous of Brazil, as will be seen in a couple of updates.

 

[Demoking]

The Most Noble Council of Regency​

When Wladyslaw IV died he didn’t have an heir. This caused a diplomatic crisis as both the King of Mecklenburg and the King of England held claims to the Polish thrown.

This sparked the War of Polish Succession which pitted Poland and Mecklenburg against England, Portugal, and Castile. This war was a pointless affair in which no side got what it wanted. The main propose of the war was made null & void when the Polish “Most Noble Council of Regency” signed a white peace with the English at the first opportunity and opted for a Polish born Prince directly descended from Kazimierz VI instead of a foreigner.


All the while peace negotiations with Kazan where still unsuccessful. Kazan even sent an Army through Sibirian territory into the Polish rear. Their Army was finally brought to ground ground at the Battle of Lublin where it was destroyed. However, even with their Army gone, the Kazanians still would not come to terms, and wouldn’t for many years.

A map of the Lublin Campaign. The red lines are Polish advances, the red splotches Polish victories, and the broken yellow line is the Kazanian retreat to Lublin.​

The council of Regency made great strides in social reform, officially recognizing the Russian language and culture as a part of Poland’s heritage, though Polish was still retained as the nations official language for economic and Political reasons.

For some strange reason, Sibir declared war on the 10th of June, 1646.

This war started out with a few notable failures, but within a few months victory was assured. Peace would not be signed under the Council of Regency, however, but under a new Emperor from the Kazimierz line.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

Smart move Sibir , good to see you pull through the succession war unscathed, they can be bad.

 

[RossN]

I hate regencies (as a player), but you seem to have managed well. Who next for Poland?

 

[Grundius]

Fun AAR. Subscribed.

 

[Demoking]

Duke of Wellington: Yep, very smart of them indeed, and it's not the last time that they'll be that smart.

RossN: Who next? You'll see during the next update.

Grundius: Thanks

The next update will be posted in a few minutes.

 

[Demoking]

Zygmunt I the Brave​

Emperor of Poland, Czar Protector of the Russians,​

King of Lithuania, Duke(Emirate) of Crimea​

When Zygmunt ascended to the Polish thrown on 23rd of August, 1647, at the age of 27, Poland was embroiled in seemingly endless war. So Zygmunt’s first act was to sign a peace with Sibir on the 20th of November, 1647.

He also finally made peace with Kazan on the 6th of June, 1648.

On the domestic front, Zygmunt improved the stability of the Empire by increasing tolerance towards Protestantism and Reformationism.

Zygmunt was, as his ancestors were, extremely ambitious. So on the 8th of April, 1652 he declared war on Sibir, and by extension Kazan.

Zygmunt made Polish history in this war by being the very first Polish Emperor to take direct command of a field army. All of his predecessors including Kazimierz the Great had controlled the strategic and logistic aspects of their campaigns and left the fighting to the field Generals. Zygmunt, however, was one of those natural born fighters and if there was a fight going on, he couldn’t stand to stay out of it.

Nearly 6 months after the declaration of war on Sibir and Kazan, Portugal again declared war on the Polish Empire. They seemed obsessed with taking Brazil, but would never succeed.

Though this time they brought a new ally, Aragon, with them into the war.

Although Minas Gerais was lost in during in 1658, it was regained and Aragon’s King Ferran V, apparently not thrilled at having been dragged into a war of aggression, offered what would later be termed a “White Peace.” Portugal and her other allies, however, would remain defiant until the reign of Zygmunt’s son.

Though the war with Portugal wouldn’t end during his reign, the war with Kazan did, furthering by a great degree the dream of Zygmunt’s Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, Kazimierz the Great.

Something strange happened on the 31st of March, 1661, the Golden Horde, a tiny, insignificant dot of a country on Poland’s Southern border declared war.

It was a major mistake for the Golden Horde, and they were forced to accept a harsh peace exactly 6 months later. There ally, the Timurids, were forced to cede two provinces to Poland.

Sibir had declared war in 1658, dragging Kazan with them. This war was short lived, a “White Peace” having been signed with Sibir, who for some reason was now leading its alliance with Kazan.

With this war over, Zygmunt decided to lead his Army across Europe to the English held city of Navarre. He never made it, he died of complications from a fencing accident while on the march on the 2nd of February, 1662, he was 42 years old.