Baltic Lightning: a Grand Campaign AAR [Vic2 Branch]

[Centurial]

Welcome to the Victoria 2 branch of Baltic Lightning - this story follows Livonia from its beginnings as a small tribe to an industrializing power of Eastern Europe. The CK2 branch can be read here --- and the EU4 branch can be read here.

However, you don't have to read the other branches - the world situation is summarized in the beginning and the quality of writing has improved since the CK2 era.
The focus of this AAR has been on building an interesting alternate world - there are no continental empires, but there are several big players fiercely competing with each other. As for my gameplay as Livonia, I focus more on realistic expansion and roleplaying, instead of blobbing and powergaming. I hope you enjoy


Table of Contents:

The World in 1836
Interesting Countries
Chapter 1: Skirmishes and Diplomacy (1836-1840)
Chapter 2: Pushing Ahead (1840-1843)
Chapter 3: Early Industry and Foreign Conflicts (Jan 1843 - Oct 1844)
Chapter 4: Increased Provocation (1845 – Apr 1847)
Chapter 5: Intervention (Apr 1847 – Dec 1850)
Chapter 6: The Struggle for Italy (Dec 1850 – Feb 1853)
Chapter 7: Maintaining the Grip (Feb 1853 - Dec 1855)
Chapter 8: Agricultural Revolution, Colonialism, and Partition (Dec 1855 - Apr 1859)
Chapter 9: Triumph in Asia; Concerns in Europe (Apr 1859 - Nov 1863)
Chapter 10: Fractures (Nov 1863 – Dec 1865)
Chapter 11: The Rumbling Continues (Dec 1865 - Dec 1869)
Chapter 12: Charging Through Africa (Dec 1869 -Sep 1873)
Chapter 13: Racing Across the Continent, and Canal Diplomacy (Sep 1873 – May 1875)
Chapter 14: Mediterranean War, and the growth of Socialism (May 1875 - Oct 1877)
Chapter 15: Sunshine in Liivimaa (Sep 1877 – Feb 1882)
Chapter 16: The Caucasus War, and the Birth of Communism (Feb 1882 - Oct 1884)
Chapter 17: The Absence of Order (June 1884 – Aug 1887)
Chapter 18: The Communist Civil War (Aug 1887 – March 1888)
Chapter 19: Loss of the Mediterranean (March 1888 – Jan 1889)
Chapter 20: A New Order in Europe (Jan 1889 – Dec 1890)
Chapter 21: Fighting for Advantage (Dec 1890 - Dec 1895)
Chapter 22: Setting the Dominoes in Place (Dec 1895 – April 1900)
Intermission: The status of several countries in 1900
Intermission: The Colonies in 1900
Chapter 23: Great War – Opening Moves (April – June 1900)
Chapter 24: Great War – Back and Forth (June – September 1900)
Chapter 25: Great War – Maneuvers (Sep 1900 – Jan 1901)
Chapter 26: Great War – a Modern Conflict (Jan - May 1901)
Chapter 27: Great War – Breakthrough (May 1901 – Feb 1902)
Chapter 28: Great War – Conclusion (Feb 1902 – Nov 1903)
Chapter 29: The Treaty of 1903 (November)
Chapter 30: Aftershock (Nov 1903 – Feb 1905)
Chapter 31: The Cats are Asleep (Feb 1905 – July 1906)
Chapter 32: Evolution of Empires (July 1906 – May 1907)
Chapter 33: Stretching Across the Globe (May 1907 – Dec 1911)
Chapter 34: Friends and Foes (Dec 1911 – Feb 1917)
Chapter 35: Yearning for Order (Feb 1917 – Jan 1919)
Chapter 36: Hunger, Anger, and Rebirth (Jan 1919 – May 1922)
Chapter 37: Micro Wars (May 1922 – Feb 1925)
Chapter 38: Ideological Boundaries (Feb 1925 – Aug 1929)
Chapter 39: War on the Horizon (Aug 1929 – Dec 1935)



HEARTS OF IRON IV BRANCH

 

[Centurial]

The World in 1836:

North America was primarily split between the three formerly English colonies of America, Michigan, and Canada. While these countries had at first been closely aligned, tensions continued to grow between all three of them - especially after America was invaded by its two neighbors, who overthrew the government and turned it into a Monarchy. Michigan had been rapidly expanding into Jiazhou and Mexique, making their neighbors weary. Livonia still held a small coast along the northern tip of Canada, although the land was sparsely populated and mainly served as a naval port when the waters weren’t frozen. Finally, the formerly Chinese Beixue remained isolated along the coast of Alaska, weakly populated and mainly serving as a trading stop between Asia and America.

Central America consisted of the formerly Aquitanean colonies Mexique and Colombie, as well as Haiti, the first new world colony to gain independence. Mexique was shrinking after two wars against Michigan, while Colombie was still going through internal chaos, as half of their land was conquered by Haiti and a dictator took control of their country.

South America was split between formerly Italian Peru/Argentine, and formerly Aquitanean Bresil/Chile [the latter of which only gained independence 10 years ago, after the Aquitanean Revolution collapsed]. These countries were relatively stable for the moment, although there were some border disputes involving Argentine.

Africa was still mostly untouched by the rest of the world, with a few exceptions. Khalij of South Africa had been colonized by the Arabic Zaya Empire, before gaining independence, being conquered by Aquitaine, then gaining independence once again in the 1820’s. The rest of East and West Africa was mostly inconsequential, although England had been expanding quite a bit along the western coast in the last several years. Aquitaine also held smaller amounts of coastal land, and Livonia had recently conquered several of the nearby islands, supplementing its small port in West Africa.

The Mediterranean Sea was mostly dominated by Sunni powers – Isbania had been quickly rising during the 1800’s, building a very powerful navy and reviving the dead Zaya nation. Misr, ruled from Egypt, spanned from Algeria to Palestine and was heading south towards the Horn of Africa. Allied with them was the empire of Iraq, which had one of the largest armies in the world and had been consistently crushing its enemies for over 100 years now. Finally, Al-Turkis of Anatolia and Greece, also now dominated the Balkans after their victories against Bavaria in the last few decades.

Europe was rather complicated, as one would expect. Aquitaine’s government had been overthrown by an English-led coalition in 1825, but tensions with its neighbors were still quite high, despite Germanic territory being returned in the peace. For now, England protected them, hoping to gain a strategic foothold on the continent. Bavaria dominated Central Europe along with its two new puppets in Italy: Rom and Neapel. Livonia was the greatest power in the east, joined by the client states Kiev, Kuyavia, Pomeranija, and Danija. Recently, Norvegija had been created as a state by Livonia after they pushed out the Uyunid invaders, and the majority of the territory in Sweden that Livonia had conquered centuries ago was returned, with the exception of Stockholm and Norway’s southern coast. Norvegija wasn’t a complete puppet of Livonia like the other states, but the two countries were closely aligned.

The Steppes of Asia were occupied by several countries, three of which had broken off from Karenia. The northeastern coast of Asia belonged to the loosely-connected Buryatia tribes. This area was lightly populated in general and was far behind technologically compared to even most of Asia.

In South Asia, the region was mostly dominated by the Talakad of India. The nation had once even colonized the west coast of Mexico, and still occupied several important Pacific islands despite their decline. To the north, the resurgent state of Kanyakubja had kicked out the Persian and Karenian invaders but was still in a precarious position, bordered by three different regional powers. Persia, once the strongest country in the region, was now crippled by their losses to Iraq. Lan Na of Indochina had expanded a lot during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, but the Xi would likely try to take their mandated territory back.

East Asia belongs to the Xi Dynasty, a recently-unified Japan, and Korea.

Indonesia was primarily owned by local powers, the most notable being Malacca. England had recently conquered the island of Sulawesi, which was now a valuable source of spices for the empire. In addition, Talakad still held several islands all over the area - remnants from the brief Indian domination of Indonesia back in the 1500’s. Finally, the people of Lata and Jhainabhumi independently occupied the south islands, descended from Indian colonists centuries ago.

 

[Centurial]

Interesting countries of 1836:

Since this world has been shifting for around 1000 years now, the demographics and situations of many countries are quite unique. Seeing as I’ve gotten very familiar with some of these after spending the majority of two days modding, I thought I’d highlight some interesting details before zeroing in on Livonia:

Haiti currently dominated the Caribbean, but the heavily agricultural country depended on slavery – so much that there were more slaves than free men in Haiti. Between discontent in their recently-taken Colombian territory, rivalries with nearby powers, and the worsening debate over slavery, it seemed that Haiti’s empire, while impressive, was a fragile one.

Another country arguing over slavery was America. The majority of the country’s population was descended from the English colonists, but there were several African slaves in the south. The Anglo population had a respectable percentage of literate citizens – one of the highest in the Americas.

Michigan, directly west, was far less homogenous. The country was still dominated by Anglos, but they made up just under half of its population. Especially after its invasions of Jiazhou and the Indian colony in Mexico, there were rather large differences between several regions of the country. Infrastructure was still extremely poor and travelling across the country was slow and dangerous, so most people never left their local area. As the country eventually comes more connected, it will likely have a very hard time developing a national identity.

Al-Turkis of the Bosphorus was in an interesting position: the country’s main population was a mix between Turks and Sunni Greeks, who both were integral to the country’s culture, as it had originally been a Greek vassal state back in the Medieval era. Their recent expansion into the Balkans brought several of the local ethnic groups under their control, although the main discontent coming from these people was a result of religious differences.

The Uyunids, east of Livonia, were mostly based in the upper Caucasus area, with very low population density throughout the rest of their northern land. The country hadn’t changed much over the last several hundred years, still dominated by farmers and miners and very decentralized. The only real change in recent years was the soldiers’ anger after losing Finland and being annihilated by Livonia, a country to which they had historically been equals.

The Livonian-propped country of Norvegija was united by a common Scandinavian identity and historical ties, but that was about it. The country was ruled from the west, yet Finland was one of the most developed and valuable regions in the country. The Finnish people were mostly Sunni, while the old Halsingland population was Christian, and the people of previously-Livonian Scandinavia were Jewish. Essentially, Norvegija was three different nations glued together, and uniting the three groups into one would be difficult.

Aquitaine’s population was mostly homogenous, especially after Bavaria and Brabant had retaken German land from them in the 1825 dismantlement. The Occitan culture was slightly distinct in the southern region of the country, but overall they were very similar to the French by now. The citizens of Aquitaine were quite well-educated in general – one of the primary public benefits that came from the Revolutionary government. Even after the restoration of the monarchy, the people were far more liberal than most Europeans. There was still a large Andalucian minority in the densely-packed Basque territory, but Aquitaine’s German minority was rather small, now that their borders were in a more natural position. The majority of Germans living in Aquitaine were along the Swiss Alps, which was currently causing tension with Bavaria.

England was perhaps the most technologically advanced country in the world, as of the last decade. The country’s relative isolation and colonial imports made it rich, and the population was slowly urbanizing, and expanding quickly as agriculture developed.

Bavaria, on the other hand, did not treat its minority cultures well, and it had a lot of them. The ruling class was South German and Czech, while the Germans of the north aligned more with Pomeranija, Kuyavia, and Brabant. Several Italians still remained directly in the empire, and the Italian issue was still a contentious one, even after the creation of the two client states several years ago.

Another southern country with a rather diverse population was Kiev. This country had been carved out of Uyunid, Bavarian, and Bohemian conquests centuries ago, and while a core culture of the country had developed, there were still many autonomous cultures within its borders, primarily along the borders. In fact, despite being a Jewish state (as demanded by Livonia upon its creation), the religion only made up 32% of its population.

Kuyavia, the other old vassal of Livonia, was split by conquests as well, although its cultures meshed well together. Most of the country was a mix of Germanic peoples, with a large Czech population. The land taken from Bavaria in Livonia’s final war with the country had increased the size of its population by a ton, but conveniently the new people were mostly compatible with its culture, although they remained Catholic.

Livonia itself is the final country - Most of the people are farmers and fisherman, although Livonia has a rather large number of artisans, mostly working in the old 1700’s-era manufactories centered around Warsaw and the capital. The people of Stockholm are mostly miners, using the rich coal and iron mines of the region to feed Livonian industry. Cultures were split primarily between the old Latvian and Lithuanian people – most of the other minorities were scattered in various regions along the border, such as the Mordvin people who had been liberated from Uyunid oppression, and the Scandinavians of Stockholm and Southern Norway. The country was also fairly literate, thanks to several universities along the Baltic Sea, the rather large merchant class, and Jewish schools around the country.


(If you have any questions or curiosities, feel free to ask)

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 1: Skirmishes and Diplomacy (1836-1840)



At the beginning of 1836, the Livonian parliament was mostly conservative. After the back-to-back wars against Bavaria and Brabant decades ago that had taken so many lives and stagnated the economy, popular opinion was opposed to any more European intervention. As a result, Livonia’s focus had shited towards internal development and colonialism in recent years.

After the Revolution ended in 1825, Europe was surprisingly calm for the next decade – there was tension, but none of the major powers got into another war; in part because the same anti-war sentiment in Livonia was present in Brabant, and completely dominated Aquitaine.

In early 1936, Canada and Mexique both declared war on Michigan. Mexique was concerned with the return of its territory, while Canada wanted to weaken their neighbor and curb their expansionism.

A few months later, America also declared war on Michigan, over the territory of Tennessee. A war on two borders was already difficult for Michigan, so after two months they agreed to cede the land to America. Michigan was very spread out, and most of the inner country was sparsely populated and difficult to travel. As a result, trying to raise two large armies to fight enemies hundreds of miles apart took a very long time, and was very inefficient.

Over in Europe, the constant tensions between Bavaria and Aquitaine over their new borders finally boiled over when Bavarian forces entered West Switzerland, and Brabant moved to occupy a claim of their own. England, the country which had installed the new Aquitanean government, decided not to intervene. Aquitaine’s military was in poor shape, and the people had no desire to be invaded once again, so they caved in and ceded the land. At the same time, Isbania declared war, hoping to take Catalonia and expand their borders against Aquitaine. These demands were far more extreme, so Aquitaine reluctantly moved its armies south to try and defend.

Shortly after taking Switzerland, Bavaria’s armies invaded Al-Turkis, hoping to expand in the Balkans. Unlike Aquitaine though, Al-Turkis was a strong nation, backed by Misr and Genoa. There would be no bloodless victories here.

The Livonian King and parliament decided not to intervene in either of these wars. Instead, the country continued trying to catch up with the industrial advances coming out of England and Isbania. The biggest snag for Livonian industry at the moment was coal, which mostly had to be imported from Kuyavia and Kiev. The country did export large amounts of crafted goods though, thanks to its high artisan population.

The doctrine of foreign policy had shifted under the ruling conservatives – rather than dismantling its enemies and fighting to defend the balance of power, they believed the best way to gain strength was to rapidly develop the country, while its enemies fought amongst themselves.

Expeditions had shown that the island nation of Madagascar had a decent supply of coal, and owning the island would give Livonia an excellent base in West Africa and easier access to the rest of Asia. Rather than dying in Europe, Livonian soldiers were being loaded onto the Navy to station themselves in the nearby Livonian islands.

By December of 1937, it was clear that Aquitaine wouldn’t be able to stop the Isbani invasion, so they reluctantly agreed to cede a rather large amount of land to the country. The new government was furious that England hadn’t gotten involved; they lacked the power to resist against any of their neighbors without foreign assistance.

Around the same time, Michigan was losing its war on all fronts, so it agreed to return the land Mexico was occupying. During the war, America had gotten into a conflict with Canada over their New York territory, which they eventually agreed to transfer, wanting to avoid war against a powerful foe while they were winning against Michigan.

Over in South America, Argentine was at war with two of its neighbors, while Colombie’s dictator fought to retake their land from Haiti.

The Turk-Bavarian war was going badly for the attackers, who had underestimated just how strong Al-Turkis’s army was. Bavaria had one of the largest armies in the world, but they still failed to make any gains - even Genoa had managed to hold off this long into the war.

Misr, even while sending armies to help Al-Turkis, managed to invade Ethiopia at the same time, taking quite a bit of land along the Red Sea.

6 months later, Bavaria negotiated peace with Al-Turkis. Bavaria was forced to give them even more land in the Balkans, while the county of Ferrara was released as independent, at Genoa’s request. Genoa had been surprisingly strong for such a small country – this was the second time they had managed to hold off a Bavarian invasion. The country did have a very strong economy, and its geography made it easy to defend, but the main factor in their recent prosperity had been their alliances.

Meanwhile, the Livonian invasion of Madagascar began. Capturing the entire island took two whole years, as the land was harsh. The Livonians took far more casualties from mosquitos and wildlife than they did from the natives, and eventually the island was completely occupied.

After years of dialogue, Livonians finally agreed with Canada to sign a trade agreement in 1838, allowing free access through the borders of its colony. This was an important move for Livonia, as its Canadian colonies made trade with North America far easier, and there was little the country could do to defend its colony in the event of a Canadian invasion. On the other hand, being friendly with Canada would give Livonia diplomatic leverage over North America, as Canada was by far the most stable nation on the continent.

Europe as a whole was once again turning volatile, but it was still far more stable than in the early 1800’s. Aquitaine was being carved up by its enemies once again, but neither England nor Livonia were willing to come to its defense anymore. Bavaria had certainly declined since their zenith 50 years ago, as the war against Al-Turkis proved, but if they continued expanding into Aquitaine, they might regain enough power to become a serious threat once again.

In 1939, artificial fertilizer was invented in Livonia – once produced on a large scale, this could have a huge impact on agriculture.

Around the same time, basic railroads were being built around England’s capital. These early railroads were unreliable and expensive, but the technology had enormous potential.

It would remain to be seen how England and Livonia’s isolationism and advances in technology would affect their power in the future, but in the meantime, the powerful empires of Europe were content to take advantage of their absence.

 

[mekka66]

Why is the Australian nation called Astrakhan? Astrakhan is in Russia.

 

[stnylan]

Great to see the next stage in this excellent game and saga

 

[Centurial]

Why is the Australian nation called Astrakhan? Astrakhan is in Russia.

EDIT: Oops, that was a modding error - its name should be Jhainabhumi. Fixed.

Great to see the next stage in this excellent game and saga

Thanks, hope it entertains

 

[Rabbit Burgher]

Awesome to see the detail and effort put into screenshots (eg. putting notifications onto maps, etc. Seems small but not a lot of AAR writers do it. Certainly looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I am curious; have you added decisions/events for any nations? (eg. integrating Livonia's vassals).

 

[HIMDogson]

Do you plan on events to integrate your satellites?

 

[Narvait]

Oh, my first ever Victoria AAR to read.
Losing innocence.

 

[Idhrendur]

It looks like the conversion went pretty well. I'm always glad to see that.

 

[Centurial]

Awesome to see the detail and effort put into screenshots (eg. putting notifications onto maps, etc. Seems small but not a lot of AAR writers do it. Certainly looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Thanks - they're pretty quick to do normally and makes it a lot more readable.

I am curious; have you added decisions/events for any nations? (eg. integrating Livonia's vassals).

Do you plan on events to integrate your satellites?

As far as events are going right now, no. Livonia isn't trying to own every bit of land in Eastern Europe (and deal with the consequences of doing so, like separatists and ethnic conflict) - these countries serve as create buffer states which are under Livonian control, which serve a defensive role (and incrasingly economic role, as you'll see once I get there).

Oh, my first ever Victoria AAR to read.
Losing innocence.

Ha, well hopefully navigating Vic2's confusing interface doesn't make it too hard to see some of the details.

It looks like the conversion went pretty well. I'm always glad to see that.

Overall, it did do a good job (better than the CK2/EU4 one), although there were a whole lot of changes I had to make - mainly technology, which I had to set for almost every country, and cultures, which were messed up due to the game coming originally from CK2 [as well as in the Americas, since the AI in EU4 never converts away from native cultures]

 

[Cossack_of_Hetmanschina]

What is primary culture of Kiev?And had American Kingdom claims on entire vanilla U.S. territory?

 

[Centurial]

What is primary culture of Kiev?And had American Kingdom claims on entire vanilla U.S. territory?

Ugrian.

American claims as of 1840:

The remaining north american countries mainly just have claims on their natural borders [such as Mexique] - the only other ambitious claims are by Jiazhou on their historic borders, although it's not very realistic at the moment that those will ever be retaken.

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 2: Pushing Ahead (1840-1843)



In 1840, the two largest militaries in the world were those of Bavaria and Isbania. On paper, it appeared as if Bavaria had a huge military advantage over Al-Turkis, yet they still couldn’t succeed in invading them.

Following Livonia’s conquest of Madagascar, the country began influencing Khalij of South Africa. It made sense to develop close ties, as Khalij was isolated from the rest of the world, and working together would both countries to protect against natives and exchange labor.

In late 1840, Aquitaine declared war on Genoa, hoping to gain ground in the south. Considering how outmatched they were by every other neighbor of theirs, it made sense to try and attack the one small nation nearby – but in order to do so, they would have to deal with their ally Al-Turkis.

In Livonia, one of the largest political debates was over the country’s path of isolationism. The current era of peace was definitely fueling the country’s growth, but many of the Liberals were concerned about another Aquitanean collapse, and feared a Bavarian or English invasion of the satellites. The Conservatives still maintained a majority in the most recent election, but the Liberals were growing in size, making their voices a little bit louder.

The concern over the of satellites was only strengthened as reports started coming out of Norvegija that Bavarian diplomats were trying to bribe government officials to gain influence within the country. This was unacceptable to Livonia, who forced the country to ban Bavarian diplomats from entering.

Over in Asia, the country of Persia had successfully invaded Kanyakubja, retaking some of its land from the new Indian nation. There was currently no sign of modernization in these countries, which had very little interaction with Europeans.

After nine months of failed offensives, the Aquitanean army fell into disarray as the Genoese, reinforced by Turkish regiments, led a counteroffensive into the country. It seemed Aquitaine was in such a mess that it couldn’t even hold off against a smaller country like Genoa –the other Europeans would certainly take notice of this.

One country that immediately reacted was England, which took advantage of the Genoese advance and invaded Aquitaine’s colony in Africa - fully connecting the English colonies and giving them complete control over the coastline.

As Livonia attempted to modernize, it became clear that coal was a critical resource to control. Livonia had no natural coal deposits of its own, although there were large quantities in Kiev and Kuyavia. England, on the other hand, had very rich reserves of coal – one of the main reasons the country was currently leading in industrial expansion. There were also decent coal reserves in Madagascar and Khalij - one of the reasons Livonia was so interested in the area. Finally, there were very large amounts of coal in East Asia. Unfortunately, this land was much too far away for any of the European powers to control, so for now it remained untouched.

After a year of Genoese advances, they forced Aquitaine to surrender Provence. This land was distinctly Occitan and was clearly demanded purely for expansionism, but no foreign powers protested against the peace deal.

Shortly after, Bavaria decided to invade Aquitaine as well. In response, Livonia began to expand its military, although the country still was only concerned with defense.

Throughout the year of 1842, several advances in medicine were developed in Livonia, which collectively made a huge impact on the quality of medical treatment. While the effects of 1842 weren’t immediate, many of the innovations of this year would eventually result in a population boom.

Meanwhile, the warfare of North America continued: Michigan finally won their two-years war against Jiazhou, going bankrupt in the process. America and Mexique had formed an alliance in the meantime, and declared war on Michigan while their armies were still stationed on the West Coast.

Bavaria’s war against Aquitaine was a very short one: only six months. The Aquitanean army had struggled against Genoa - it completely collapsed against Bavaria. They expanded into Savoy and Rhone, territories which had actually belonged to Bavaria before the Aquitanean Revolution and still had a notable Germanic minority.

One of the immediate benefits of Livonian medical advances was their ability to expand further into Africa. New treatments for malaria were adopted on a wide scale in 1842, so the government funded expeditions near its West African territory, as well as in Angola. These expeditions were also done in response to the English conquests, which would create a monopoly over West Africa if left unchecked.

America won in their war against Michigan, expanding farther west. A new popular mood was developing in the country, desiring to completely remove Michigan from existence and annex the majority of its land.

Livonia remained focused only on colonial wars, but even there the pace was slow. The more aggressive Liberals in parliament were quickly becoming more popular, and the country’s blooming industry could have a huge impact on its economy in the future – as well as the population growth. Europe was advancing faster and faster, and it seemed the balance both within Europe and the world was unraveling.

 

[stnylan]

While things are quiet for Livonia these others wars must be a source of some concern. Bavaria needs watching - and clearly is already engaged in hostile acts re: Norvegija.

 

[ThetrueColt]

Will this be the beginning of the rise of the new Genoan superpower?

 

[Centurial]

While things are quiet for Livonia these others wars must be a source of some concern. Bavaria needs watching - and clearly is already engaged in hostile acts re: Norvegija.

Indeed, although as you will see Livonia also has quite a bit of their own influence in foreign countries.

Will this be the beginning of the rise of the new Genoan superpower?

I certainly see some parallels between them and the IRL Dutch.

 

[Centurial]

Chapter 3: Early Industry and Foreign Conflicts (Jan 1843 - Oct 1844)



In January of 1843, the first factory was opened in Livonia, producing canned food for the military. The factory wasn’t profitable at the moment, but the Livonian government had funded its construction and continued subsidizing it. Despite the expenses, the factory was able to produce far larger quantities of canned food in a day than could be produced by hand.

Two more factories had been planned at the same time, but due to shortages of machinery and concrete the construction was years behind schedule.

A few weeks later, Bavaria declared war on Al-Turkis, once again. This time, they were joined by their new allies, Isbania and England. On the opposing side was Genoa and Al-Turkis – whose victory seemed unlikely.

Despite having far less land than most other Europeans, Genoa was very powerful. They had a surprisingly huge army, thanks to their dense population, and their navy was now the strongest in the Mediterranean.

By this point, Isbania, Genoa, and America were all experimenting with early factories as well, although the success of them this early on was doubtful without huge subsidies from their governments.

The war between Mexique and Michigan ended in February, with the former retaking quite a large amount of territory. A crisis erupted at the same time over Michigan’s conquests in the north, which they were forced to return to Jiazhou after Canada and America threatened war.

As the European powers exploded into war, Livonia took advantage of England’s distraction to expand in Africa. The areas of Senegal and Angola which had been scouted out by Livonians last year were formally claimed in March, and the Colonial African Army was already preparing to invade Jolof.

Internally, the Liberal party continued to gain popularity, as more of the lower class began demanding the right to vote (the Livonian Parliament was currently elected by landowners and the merchant class). This movement didn’t currently affect elections, as the people complaining weren’t allowed to vote in the first place, but it did help the Liberal party gain more popularity in general.

The factory in Latvia expanded quite a bit throughout the year, soon growing to almost full capacity, prompting the government to fund its expansion. Two other factories had finished construction in the country as well – another canned food factory, and a liquor factory. The liquor factory actually did turn a profit, even without government subsidies – liquor was one of the country’s largest exports already, and the ability to mass-produce it could bring huge profits.

The government began to strongly encourage investors and capitalists throughout the country’s cities, hoping that more and more factories could be constructed. Building factories at the moment was very expensive, so most of them had to be funded mostly by the state. Regardless, the government had been promising to focus on development for decades, and this was an excellent way to do so. The benefits of the canned food factories were mainly the increase in available supply for the army, but if consumer goods could turn a profit as well, this could bolster the country’s economy quite a bit.

As of August 12th, the war in the south was still inconclusive. Genoa was mostly occupied by Bavarian forces, but their army was still not destroyed. On the front with Al-Turkis, both sides were advancing in different locations, but the fighting was still ongoing with little progress being made.

In late 1843, the King also allocated a huge budget to the construction of railroads across the Liivimaa. England’s railroads had already been in use for years now, and observers had returned from the country with some basic ideas on how to improve the railroads and build them on a larger scale in Livonia.

During Bavaria’s war with Al-Turkis, Livonian diplomats were hard at work in Italy, trying to influence Bavaria’s two puppets. While infiltrating the country was proving to be difficult, the Livonians were able to convince some with promises of supporting independence and even investment in the country (as opposed to sucking funds out of the country, which was generally the Bavarian policy).

In the middle of 1844, new mechanized mining techniques made the extraction of coal and iron far more efficient. New mining techniques were constantly being tested as the demand for coal was skyrocketing - and those who ran the mines were getting very rich. It seemed that every year, some new technology was coming out that would make a huge impact on some aspect of Europe – one could only wonder how far this might go.

The Livonians also subjugated one of the two major Jolof tribes – the other one refused to become a protectorate, so invasion would probably be necessary.

Soldiers were sent to Pomeranija to deal with a North German nationalist revolt. More so than the other satellites, Livonian rule was unpopular in Pomeranija, and many of these nationalists were fighting for true independence or even integration into Brabant. They didn’t succeed, but the revolt was worrying.

In August, Bavaria and Al-Turkis agreed to a white peace after months of stalemate and death on the Turkish front. The second Bavarian-Turkish war only served to cement the current borders, while distracting and weakening all of the major countries involved.

Over in Colombie, the dictator was finally deposed and a new democracy was established. Haiti subsequently invaded the country, but Brazil came to their defense, and together they managed to win the war and return Colombien territory.

Livonia’s ambitious expansion was proving to be quite expensive – especially the railroad constructions. There were shortages of material – especially timber. The Liberal majority was rising too, and the newly-bolstered Livonian Army was giving the government far more confidence in military affairs.

 

[stnylan]

Sounds like a very blood Mediterranean stalemate. I wonder of Livonia will end up being the fulcrum power that decides who wins and loses.