Anyone for being a diplomat? - the "Anyone for an MP game?" Diplomacy Thread

[fasquardon]

Evpraxia Ilkka, dowager Velikie Knjagin and Chancellor

of

The Court At Chernigov

of

The Kingdom of the Rus

speaking for

Velikii Kniaz Stepan Yaroslavich Rurikov

the

Protector of the Poles and the Pechenegs, Friend of the Alans, Overlord of the Rus and the Mordvins and the Lithuanians and the Finns, Co-Sovereign of the Cumans and the Turks and the Lapps and the Lettigalians and the Prussians.

hereby presents

The Four-Colour Map:

otherwise known as

The present position of the Kingdom of the Rus on the deportment of Europe:

as of

1092 AD

​

Having experienced the perfidy or incompetence of the court at Göttingen (we know not which, only that it is the Saxon dogs that delivered us to the German war), the court at Chernigov will now spell out the regions of it's interest, that any who tread on our toes from now on shall know full-well the risks they take, and that we might separate the ignorant from the betrayers by eliminating the ignorant.

Heed now well, oh powers of the known world!

Be aware that the Chancellery of the court at Chernigov has used the following colours to mean certain things:

Red: What is ours, or should be ours. This includes: All of the Rus, all of the Finnic tribes save the Magyars, the Lithuanian tribes, select Lettigallish tribes, and select Turkic tribes. Crossing a red line without express permission is an act of war.

Green: Areas which we reserve to maintain as either buffers, or which we may wish to claim as ours. This includes: Poland (including the Pecheneg regions) and the path to Central Asia. Crossing a green line without express permission is an act of war.

Blue: Areas which we maintain a significant interest, and would like to be consulted with before any other state meddles within these areas. At present only the Roman Empire has blue line status. Crossing a blue line without consultation may lead to war if the goals of the war are found to be detrimental to our interests.

White: Areas which have no special status. Our main interests in these areas are balance of power issues. Otherwise this is the domain of other powers.

The court at Chernigov reserves the right to update this map at its own sufferance so often as the winds of the world do change. The court at Chernigov will recieve those who wish to make suasions to alter our will, but those who try and move our lines by force of arms shall find their blood swiftly let out, their lands salted, and their souls damned to the special circle of hell reserved for donkey-lovers and incompetant Princes.

The Position on the Baltic:

The Position on Poland:

The Position on Asia:

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[fasquardon]

Ioannes Theodorosovich Kotertzes, Chancellor

of

The Court At Chernigov

of

The Kingdom of the Rus and the Lithuanians

speaking for

Velikii Kniaz Stepan Yaroslavich Rurikov

the

Protector of the Poles and the Pechenegs, Friend of the Georgians and the Alans, Overlord of the Rus and the Mordvins and the Lithuanians and the Finns and the Lettigalians, Co-Sovereign of the Cumans and the Turks and the Lapps and the Prussians.

hereby presents

The Kotertzesian Addendum

to

The Four-Colour Map:

otherwise known as

The present position of the Kingdom of the Rus on the deportment of Europe:

as of

1100 AD

​

Having negotiated with the court at Göttingen, and received their recognition of our position as stated in the Four Colour-Map, and in return recognising their claims and interests in the Baltic and Southern Europe, the Chancellery of the court at Chernigov finds itself disheartened and offended at the dishonour shown by the court at Göttingen. For, having completed these negotiations, and swearing upon St. Vlasü and St. Elias the Thunderer, they have, no less than three times in these past eight years, violated their word, and our solemn treaty, having invaded and subjugated the counties of Zemigaliens, Osterbotten and Kajanaborg.

In addition we note that we received no notification of the war made against the court at Zemigaliens, for while its lord was a rebel against the court at Chernigov, he was nonetheless a Christian. Thus the court at Göttingen has broken the Christian rules of civilised war, which only furthers our vexation.

Furthermore, having made study of the situation that has been thrust upon the court at Salerno by the request of Emma de Hauteville, mother of our lord's vassal and kinsman Yaropolk Davydovich Rurikov, we find further evidence of the deceit of the court at Göttingen. As is well known in the courts of Christendom, and even beyond, the King of Sicily is locked in vicious war with the devil worshiping pervert that calls himself King of Germany, a war which was started when the court at Göttingen made war upon the court at Taranto, a loyal vassal to what was then the Duchy of Apulia, and now the Kingdom of Sicily, and while the court at Göttingen quickly withdrew from this war, and promised great reparations to the court at Salerno, the vile von Franken still wages war, and Sicily has known no peace for these last 5 years.

What particularly arouses our suspicious in this case, despite the protestations of the court at Göttingen that this affair has arisen through accident, is that the court at Göttingen had no claim on Taranto in Oct. 1094, had a claim by Feb. 1095, and by Apr. 1095, had declared war, made peace, and left Germany & Apulia at war. We note that neither the demesne of the Duchy of Saxony nor any of her vassals are anywhere near Taranto, nor is the ruler of Taranto a relative of anyone of the court at Göttingen, therefore this claim cannot have happened by happenstance.

Therefore the declaration of war against the court at Taranto seems to have been engineered, and for this reason, we find it difficult to believe that the court at Göttingen did not notice that Taranto was a vassal of the Duchy of Apulia, as they claimed. We wonder, did perhaps the court at Göttingen fear the Duke of Apulia would once again seek the shelter of the German King's rule, and prove competition for the throne that the court at Göttingen so covets?

And again, we note that we received no notification of the war made against the court at Taranto, whose lord was most certainly Christian. This is the second violation of the Christian rules of civilised war by the court at Göttingen of which this court is aware.

This in mind, this court finds that it has been overly lenient with the court at Göttingen, and while we have grounds to be grateful to the Duke of Saxony, we do not find any grounds to give Magnus son of Ordulf a carté blanche.

It is evident that the court at Göttingen cannot be trusted to keep its word, so there is no worth in keeping our word to them.

Therefore we set forth the Kotertzesian Addendum to the Four-Colour Map:

We now revoke all recognition of the Duchy of Saxony, whose lords act like savages, and therefore shall be treated as such.

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[Manstein16]

In the Year of our Lord one thousand and eighty-nine, Duke Magnus of Saxony, vassal of King Heinrich of Germany, was asked by a Russian prince to orchestrate an assassination of a young boy, enabling the aforementioned Russian prince to assume through deceit and treachery enough lands to create the Kingdom of Rus. Duke Magnus, in his wisdom, responded to this request with kindness and aided the Russian prince, allowing for all of Rus to be united under his rule. It should be noted that this was done to the great consternation of the other rulers in the area; Duke Magnus felt that the Rus people's newfound friendship would more than outweigh this drop in relations. After an unfortunate border dispute brought on by a simple miscommunication, an arrangement was drawn up between Saxony and the newly-created Kingdom of Rus in which two spheres of influence would be drawn up between the two realms and the territory inside each sphere was to be accorded to its respective realm. Also included in this agreement was a clause stating that Poland would be left as a buffer and that the Duke of Saxony would consult the King of the Rus should the aforementioned party take any action in the Balkans against the heathens there.

Soon afterwards the kingdom of Rus fell into great disarray and many vassals rebelled. The Duke of Saxony, who's very existence rested on his ability to gain greater prestige, aided the Rus king and himself by destroying the armies of the rebellious counties that also bordered the Saxon lands and subjugating their people. These counties were then turned over to Rus without complaint or bloodshed. The Duke of Saxony, still facing imminent peril due to lack of prestige, also drove the heathens out of a county in Finland. This was then peacefully turned over to the Rus, again in accordance with their agreement which simply stated that Finnish provinces would be given to the Rus. At no point have the Saxons attacked Rus forces, nor have they refused to turn over Saxon lands in Finland to the Rus. Thus, in no way has this original agreement been violated and anyone who would feel otherwise would be wise to expand their knowledge of legal agreements. Duke Magnus turned over ALL counties to Rus that had been promised to Rus, always without bloodshed. Indeed, Duke Magnus aided Rus in this effort by destroying the rebellious armies that occupied the disloyal Rus counties, thus preventing Rus from having to waste blood on them.

In the matter of the accidental attack on a vassal of Apulia, it should be pointed out that while Duke Magnus immediately communicated the mistaken nature of the attack, the Duke of Apulia ignored these efforts and declared war on the Saxons without responding to the communications of Duke Magnus. This had the effect of bringing the German kingdom into the fight against Apulia. It should be emphasized that had the Duke of Apulia responded to Duke Magnus's attempts to resolve the situation peacefully, Germany would have never become involved and the current situation would have never developed. Duke Magnus admits his complicity in the decision to assault Apulia's vassal but without the knowledge of the vassalage. The Duke of Apulia's rashness (while understandable) is what brought the wrath of Germany upon them. Despite this, Duke Magnus has been noble enough to proffer up generous reparations to the Duke of Apulia, now King of Naples and the latter has accepted this offer with thanks, which has the effect of restoring good relations between the two realms.

It has been duly noted that the King of the Rus, as a result of his extraordinarily narrow interpretation of the aforementioned agreement between his kingdom and the duchy of Saxony, in addition to his inability to recognize the many efforts of Duke Magnus to prevent warfare in Apulia, has withdrawn diplomatic recognition of the duchy of Saxony. Such ingratitude saddens Duke Magnus immensely. It should be noted that "he who gives the crown may also take it away." Duke Magnus urges the opening of talks between Rus and Saxony to aid in the path to reconciliation between the two entities and to prevent any future misunderstandings after Duke Magnus inherits the German crown. As such, Duke Magnus extends an offer of peace and friendship to the people of Rus. Should the King of the Rus refuse this generous offer of his benefactor and continue down the path of myopia and narrow-mindedness, he should know that the Duke of Saxony will not tolerate the slightest provocation on the part of Rus and will bring the full force of the Holy Roman Empire down upon Rus should the King of the Rus insist on maintaining such violent feelings towards the Saxons. Duke Magnus doubts that the King of the Rus, facing such strong internal dissent towards his rule, could survive the full might of the Holy Roman Empire. He encourages his former friend to reconsider his previous threats against Saxony, that the two realms might thrive in peace and prosperity together, rather then engage in warfare that will only serve to strengthen the two kingdoms' neighbors.

 

[Okawoa]

Diplomacy (Will be updated)

The recently Adopted national flag, based directly off Apulias coat of arms

Hail! I am of no importance in the flow of history. I am just the meek chancellor of our great state. Indeed, Naples is destined to be an great state. With the brains of Italians and the hearts of Normans, one can seldom go wrong!

Our kingdom, ruled by his most venerable and excellent highness has flowered greatly during the five years. Robert de hautville, may the lord bless him, before mournfully passing had indeed made most noble of this state. Half this Kingdom's property belongs rightfully to our king, the other half, our barons tend with great love and devotion to his excellence.

I indeed have been busy during these past years cementing relations between our neighboors, these years have yeilded fruit and most tragicly rot, which I hold sole cause for. I do hope my successors keep an calm head and serve his prestigous and most pieus majesty, who grows more every day.

RELATIONS between states:

KINGDOM OF RUS-LITHUANIA+145
We are happy with such great and victorous allies. Indeed this mighty kingdom is by our side, we find dubious the causi beli they used to declare war on Saxony's fief and the suprise attack which Saxony regarded as cowardance. We delayed our partisipation in this war by 3 months but declared war after reflecting Saxony's past crimes.

ELECTORATE OF SAXONY -60
After fighting an furious paper war with Saxony we have come to an firm peace. Whilst we were offically at war, not much Saxon and Napoli blood has been splilled. We are vexed at their conquest of Danzig (our rightful port in the baltic) but we have signed an treaty which confirms our right (as an Italian state) to recieve the crown of Italy and reparations. We hope to hear more from Saxony to reduce tensions.

THE DUKEDOM OF LEISTER+75
We extend our hands to the tragic Duke of Leister, once ruling the most prosperous nation of the isle, now resides in fear at Lisbon. He is in great debt
(-600) and we have and will still try to reduce his debt. We have donated 300 gold pieces to this fair christan.

THE PRINCIPILITY OF CHERSON +5
We know little of this principility, we have however dropped claims to Byzantine territories because of its agressive drive to the throne. We view their crusade in Egypt with concern, but are sure good Christans can cooperate with bringing civilization to the Infidel.

Green is our current National provinces
Red are national provinces under enemy hold
Pink are provinces with hard claims
Yellow are national dreams and insperations
teal are contested areas