Dreams of Frisian Freedom

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 27: An Eastern Focus (1614-24)

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Frisian National and Domestic Issues

Our last episode finished in April 1614. By October of that year, the elderly but still vigorous Potestaat Koenraad Halbertsma (now 76) remained in power and he had a highly qualified cabinet to assist him (2 x +2, 1 x +3 advisers).

In those months, an advancement in Frisian national sovereignty had led to the pursuit of a new group of ideas by the Government to improve the quality of a range of military doctrines and institutions. The first two of these had already been achieved by 11 October 1614.

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By March 1616, there had been no change in the Government’s leadership or cabinet positions. Some key decisions had been taken in the last 18 months, with Friesland formally embracing the Counter-Reformation and founding the Frisian East India Company.

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This meant there were now seven Frisian merchants available for tasks with the trade network. Their distribution at that point is also highlighted above.

The Catholic Church now counted 82% of the Frisian metropolitan and direct colonial populations in their number. The first of the remaining Protestant provinces in European Friesland had become available for re-conversion and that process was almost complete.

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Other colonial missionary work was under way where possible, but a few factors limited the ability of the Jesuits to spread the word in the Frisian East Indies: more on that in a subsequent section below. Friesland remained the Catholic Defender of the Faith.

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About a year later, the Frisian leadership continued as it had, with Potestaat Halbertsma now 78 years old. The economy also remained strong, though the monthly surplus had been reduced to 17 ducats due to rising costs (adviser costs and colonial, army and navy maintenance mainly), while 731 ducats still remained in the treasury.

Frisian cavalry mounts had been improved, with more naval design innovations next on the drawing board.

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It was another seven busy years until we next check in with the pursuit of the Frisian Dream. In that time, old Koenraad Halbertsma had gone to his eternal rest, replaced by the significantly younger (that being a relative measure) Floris Van Uylenburgh as Potestaat. Alas, his talent for man-management of advisers coincided with a period of economic stringency at home, as the treasury fell into debt (for reasons that have proven difficult to glean from the available records – not building projects, mass ship upgrades or new military building as far as can be determined with a quick survey). This led to the cabinet being radically scaled back until more funds were available again.

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Some previously noted events or decisions (such as ship costs) continued to apply or had been partly balanced out, while a just-received Papal sanction would see tax intakes increased for another 30 years! The nation remained stable, well enough respected and republican traditions remained high.

As noted, a debt needed to be repaid and the treasury was close to the point where this could be done. The recent stringent savings measures (which also included mothballing most Frisian forts) had brought about a large monthly surplus, while recently increased colonial maintenance (principally from new settlements in the Frisian East Indies) might begin to reduce again as full cities were established in these provinces.

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The military had seen a modest growth in numbers and supportable capacity in the last ten years. Galiot designs had replaced those for the galleass, but none of this oared warship type had yet been built. Nine out of 11 total Frisian forts, either (mainly) at home or abroad, had been mothballed to save costs. Some new fleet capacity would need to be acquired or built to return the increased navy to efficient maintenance levels.

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As noted, naval technological developments had seen galiot designs gained and had also delivered a range of other benefits. More ‘quality’ ideas introduced during the last seven years had also benefitted the navy, with more on the way.

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In 1624, Friesland was still the Defender of the Faith and all its four missionaries were fully engaged. Three of these were missions in the Frisian East Indies (more below on expansion there in the ten years from 1614-24), while after the conversion of Oversticht (1618) and then Geldern (1619) back to the One True Faith, Cleve was now the last of the Protestant provinces in European Friesland requiring missionary attention, which had just commenced.

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Estate standings had also remained fairly steady over the last ten years. Of the ‘episodic’ factors affecting their influence, public school initiatives had been renewed to assist the standing of the clergy, though more recently the assertion of burgher authority had helped them but simultaneously hindered clergy influence. The loyalty of the clergy had also dropped in recent years, while the burghers were staunchly supportive of the government in August 1624.

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The two subject colonies remained loyal enough and neither were on the cusp of seeking independence. Income remained modest, though Frisian Australia had grown – especially its armed forces – over the last decade.

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The Wider World

In 1614, the Frisian alliance network remained in place: Denmark, Austria, Aragon, Savoy and the Hathawekela tribe in America. This would remain so for the next decade. At this time, a determined diplomatic effort to improve relations with Poland (then +142) remained in full swing.

Interestingly, by 1617 England was no longer a rival of Friesland – in fact, the English King Henry X Brock had sent a diplomatic mission to improve relations with their maritime neighbours and the two countries were now on quite friendly terms. England remained a little behind Friesland in technology and had a significantly smaller army and navy but remained a local middle and colonial power – with a royal marriage and alliance with Portugal.

But there were clear limits to their strength and reach. In February 1617 they were around three years into a bloody colonial war against Muisca, whose principal ally Inca had countered English occupation of parts of Muisca with significant inroads into English Colombia. Meanwhile, the English had occupied Cuzco and their ally Portugal some of the southern Incan provinces.

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While England seemed to be ahead in terms of bargaining power and the Inca had a significant separatist revolt to deal with along their western seaboard, the English had evidently over-extended themselves. Casualties had been heavy on both sides in land battles, while Anglo-Portuguese attrition had also been very heavy.

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Just six days later, the ill-starred attempted subjugation was over – the English would have to lick their wounds and look elsewhere for their next expansion in South America.

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By August 1624, English Colombia remained a substantial but divided colony. But to the south, the once-large regional native country of the Pacajes had been devastated by an earlier Portuguese invasion.

The 2nd Portuguese Conquest of Quillacas had begun some time in or after 1617. By June 1619 almost all the Pacajan lands had been subsumed by Portugal, including the major sites of Tiwanaku and the Cerro Rico del Potosi. Only two provinces were left in native Pacajan hands.

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Portuguese Peru had been formed in October 1622 and all these lands handed over to the new colonial administration.

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The Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were more comprehensively mapped by Friesland than in previous years by 1624.

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Friesland, largely as a result of recent colonial acquisitions and development, was now inching quite close to official great power status. The top three acknowledged nations were the same in 1624 as ten years before, with the Ottomans continuing to rank way ahead of all other comers. Poland-Lithuania was ‘back’ after catching up with its peers in adopting major societal concepts, with Morocco being the one to drop out of the ‘top eight’. And trade continued to be Friesland’s strongest suit.

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As noted before, Friesland’s European alliances ranged from the north to the south and central Europe, while they remained on a ‘diplomatic warning’ from France. Portugal was still the main rival and still embargoed Frisian trade. The rest of Europe had seen no major wars for the last decade.

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North America

New Friesland had been untroubled over the last ten years, largely penned in by geography and other native and colonial powers. In 1614, a war between France and its Portuguese allies (and colonies) against the Fox tribe had embroiled Fox’s allies the Chickasaw Federation in a major conflict that had first erupted in 1613.

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By October 1614 the French were well ahead and large areas of the Chickasaw lands had been occupied. The conflict also showed up the gap in military technology between European and Native American armies. The Chickasaw were well behind, while the minor Fox tribe remained a century or more behind.

Though the French had won a ‘brutal’ victory by May 1615, not much exchange of land had followed. By March 1616 Portugal had expanded from Mexico in Louisiana, while Castile was making inroads on the West Coast, in California.

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At that time, a new merchant had been sent into the Caribbean to steer trade to Chesapeake Bay. Though for now, the value derived from this seemed rather paltry.

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The East Indies

During this decade, Frisian foreign and colonial policy remained almost exclusively centred on the East Indies. In October 1614, a sizeable army and a small transport fleet with a few escorts constituted the Frisian military presence.

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The Emirate of Aceh was being considered as an expansion target and Frisian spies were building a presence that might eventually lead to a claim being fabricated. But the possible involvement of Bengal had so far deterred Friesland from starting anything serious there.

In May 1615, the latest colony in North Sulawesi was founded at Gorontalo, while the missionaries were well on their way to converting the locals of Manado from their heathen beliefs.

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The big event of this decade for Friesland was the War of Conquest for Padang – the last Indrapuran province left after the previous successful war of conquest. The war was launched in the second half of 1614 and by March 1616 the battle lines had shaken out. Padang had been fully occupied by by Friesland, while Indrapura’s allies Sunda (a significant regional power) and Palembang had attacked Friesland’s outlying holdings in Borneo and North Sulawesi.

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The enemy had suffered the bulk of the casualties on the land, both in battle and via attrition, though these had been modest by wider contemporary standards. It also appeared that New Friesland had some ships sunk in a losing naval skirmish with Indrapura at some point. Friesland remained ahead, as it held its major objective and the enemy tried to offset this by the outlying sieges and a naval blockade by Indrapura of Bengkulu.

In more detail, the campaign in Sumatra had been brief, with a battle in Padang wiping out the Indrapuran army in 1614 before its fortress fell to Frisian siege in February 1615. Meanwhile, Palembang took Katapang in May 1615 and Sunda did likewise to Sampit the next month, before handing it over to Indrapura.

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Sunda had just embarked a large army (16,000 men) onto their mixed fleet that consisted of heavy and light ocean-going ships, plus a large contingent of war galleys best suited to work in the Java Sea, all escorting 16 transport ships. It was just setting sail – destination unknown as yet.

In the meantime, Friesland had organised a war fleet to sail all the way from Europe to the East Indies, using its way stations in the Ivory Coast, south and south-east Africa to minimise attrition during the long voyage.

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This fleet contained the most modern light ships (all the available early frigates, supplemented by older caravels) including the flagship Frijheid. The remaining 7 galleons and 24 caravels remained back in Europe, where the fleets were typically more heavily equipped, protecting trade in the key English Channel trade node.

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In June 1616 Palu had been colonised by Friesland but a few months later had been occupied by Sunda. A similar fate came to newly colonised Poso.

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By February 1617 the Sundanese had landed their main expeditionary army in Gorontolo, where a siege would soon take that outpost, simultaneously despatching a single regiment to occupy undefended Manado. A smaller Sundanese force was heading back to Palu. None of these moves in Sulawesi or indeed Borneo were being contested by Friesland: their main campaign would focus in the western theatre.

There, the reinforcing fleet from Europe had arrived and, combined with the small fleet already there, engaged the Indrapuran navy in the Sunda Strait some time in late 1616, wiping it out and breaking the blockade of Bengkulu. The whole fleet was back in port for now, with the army co-located but not yet loaded up. Frisia’s commanders continued to ignore the enemy’s ‘distractions’ in Borneo and Sulawesi.

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Frisian casualties remained minimal while those of the enemy mounted, but war progress remained quite slow at this stage.

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In the event, the war had continued for another two years. The Frisian army had invaded Sunda itself on Java, with Banten on the western end the first to fall in November 1617. Pakuan followed in March 1618 then finally Kawali in March 1619. The enemy gave up on 10 April 1619, with not only Padang being annexed, but the three occupied Sundanese provinces also taken, while all other enemy occupied provinces in the east were released.

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In 1622 all three former Sundanese provinces had become Frisian cores and a short local separatist rebellion in Pakuan was defeated in 1623.

Elsewhere, the consolidation of the Frisian East Indies went on. Kendari in south-east Sulawesi was colonised in December 1617, before the Padang War was over. Mamuju in the west of the island was colonised just after the end of the war.

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Flores, to the east of Java, was colonised on 30 May 1619 and by August 1624 had been fully brought into the Frisian Republic. The four remaining colonies were all well along to becoming full cities.

This period had seen considerable expansion for Friesland in the East Indies, both by conquest and colonisation.

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Australia and Africa

In an event overlooked in the last chapter, back in 1611 Nyaki-Nyaki was apparently won in a colonial war by Frisian Australia. The details of this brief conflict are somewhat confused, but the outcome was further expansion of the Frisian toehold in western Australia.

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By 1614, Castile was by the far predominant colonial power in southern Africa. However, the larger Frisian colony in the Ivory Coast and the two other way-points had proven valuable links that had enabled the further expansion of Frisian colonists into the East Indies and Australia.

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Almost the whole of Australia had been mapped by Friesland in 1624. Portugal dominated the island continent, with Friesland the only other colonial presence. The rest was still ruled by some remaining aboriginal nations [and registering my discomfort with all this on a conceptual level, but it’s part of the game and I report it as such.]

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But together with the expanding Frisian East Indies, this made Friesland a fairly significant player in this corner of the world in the early decades of the 17th century.

 

[diskoerekto]

as the treasury fell into debt (for reasons that have proven difficult to glean from the available records – not building projects, mass ship upgrades or new military building as far as can be determined with a quick survey).

I wonder what it was, maybe a very bad random event?


The colonizing of indies is tough but progressing!

 

[HistoryDude]

Friesland's internal priorities remain the same. We'll see how long it takes them to colonize the East Indies... perhaps they can match the Dutch in OTL (in territory, at least)?

The Incan victory proves that some Native American nations can resist colonization, but the other wars prove that this is far from universal...

Is Friesland looking for an alliance with Poland?

 

[jak7139]

Alas, his talent for man-management of advisers coincided with a period of economic stringency at home, as the treasury fell into debt (for reasons that have proven difficult to glean from the available records – not building projects, mass ship upgrades or new military building as far as can be determined with a quick survey). This led to the cabinet being radically scaled back until more funds were available again.

Level 1 advisors are still good value and should basically always be hired (especially the mil one since you're doing a mil idea group). Armies, advisors, etc. grow more expensive over time, which might explain this sudden increase in expenses. It could also be, since your navy was moved to Asia during the war, that it was the loss of trade income from your light ships.

Interestingly, by 1617 England was no longer a rival of Friesland – in fact, the English King Henry X Brock had sent a diplomatic mission to improve relations with their maritime neighbours and the two countries were now on quite friendly terms. England remained a little behind Friesland in technology and had a significantly smaller army and navy but remained a local middle and colonial power – with a royal marriage and alliance with Portugal.

I'd forgotten England was so weak. Friesland has free reign if it ever decides to attack them and take colonies (or Channel ports).

Though the French had won a ‘brutal’ victory by May 1615, not much exchange of land had followed. By March 1616 Portugal had expanded from Mexico in Louisiana, while Castile was making inroads on the West Coast, in California.

New Friesland gets further boxed-in. Soon they'll be cut off entirely.

At that time, a new merchant had been sent into the Caribbean to steer trade to Chesapeake Bay. Though for now, the value derived from this seemed rather paltry.

You would need to wrest control of the Caribbean from Portugal for this to make more money. But, at least those 3 ducats are 3 coins the Iberians don't get.

But the possible involvement of Bengal had so far deterred Friesland from starting anything serious there.

As long as your navy ccan beat Bengal's it should be fine. Aceh is on an island, so Bengal couldn't cross if they wanted to.

By February 1617 the Sundanese had landed their main expeditionary army in Gorontolo, where a siege would soon take that outpost, simultaneously despatching a single regiment to occupy undefended Manado. A smaller Sundanese force was heading back to Palu. None of these moves in Sulawesi or indeed Borneo were being contested by Friesland: their main campaign would focus in the western theatre.

The AI (or player in MP) can burn down occupied colonies, forcing you to start over. It's very annoying. Fortunately, this didn't happen here.

The details of this brief conflict are somewhat confused, but the outcome was further expansion of the Frisian toehold in western Australia.

I laughed at this .

However, the larger Frisian colony in the Ivory Coast and the two other way-points had proven valuable links that had enabled the further expansion of Frisian colonists into the East Indies and Australia.

Who is Granada allied to? It could be an easy war to take their Ivory Coast land and get more trade.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Caught up.

Denmark is of interest, because if it could only turn away from Russia and instead annex Scotland and England, it would become far, far more powerful.

Iberia meanwhile plays host to two huge colonial empires but both home nations are much weaker and thus more vulnerable than OTL. At some point, someone is going to take a chunk off them or indepednance wars will ruin them.

France is a brewing powder keg that has to go off at some point, whether in North America or at home.

Not sure who will win between Poland and Russia, but Poland is in a more vulnerable postion if the HRE ever unifes or Germany becomes a thing. Got to keep Denmark on side for them.

Ottomans remain the most powerful empire and probably destined to rule the Middle East, North East Africa and as much of the rest of it as they can get.

Friesland seems to have two real rivals, no matter what rhe game says: Portugal and France. The former entirely colonially, whilst the latter both for that and for land in Europe.

Not sure how that will play out

Good stuff!

 

[Bullfilter]

I wonder what it was, maybe a very bad random event?

The colonizing of indies is tough but progressing!

Friesland's internal priorities remain the same. We'll see how long it takes them to colonize the East Indies... perhaps they can match the Dutch in OTL (in territory, at least)?

The Incan victory proves that some Native American nations can resist colonization, but the other wars prove that this is far from universal...

Is Friesland looking for an alliance with Poland?

Level 1 advisors are still good value and should basically always be hired (especially the mil one since you're doing a mil idea group). Armies, advisors, etc. grow more expensive over time, which might explain this sudden increase in expenses. It could also be, since your navy was moved to Asia during the war, that it was the loss of trade income from your light ships.

Back from a successful and fun (if hard) cricket tournament! Some much needed physiotherapy yesterday.

With the next episode now being written, here is the feedback from the comments on the last one.

I'd forgotten England was so weak. Friesland has free reign if it ever decides to attack them and take colonies (or Channel ports).

Could be, though it hadn't really occurred to me at the time. I do recall being surprised at how relatively large their colonial holdings were compared to their reduced home kingdom.

New Friesland gets further boxed-in. Soon they'll be cut off entirely.

Yes, by this stage they were just being left to drift along while the focus shifted elsewhere.

You would need to wrest control of the Caribbean from Portugal for this to make more money. But, at least those 3 ducats are 3 coins the Iberians don't get.

Ah, right. I think at the time I was (and still will be when I resume the active game) lust playing around a bit with the trade mechanics and may not have found anything else obvious to use the new merchant on.

As long as your navy ccan beat Bengal's it should be fine. Aceh is on an island, so Bengal couldn't cross if they wanted to.

Though there are strait crossing points between Malaya and Sumatra. And Bengal does have a sizeable fleet

The AI (or player in MP) can burn down occupied colonies, forcing you to start over. It's very annoying. Fortunately, this didn't happen here.

Same here!

I laughed at this .

Who is Granada allied to? It could be an easy war to take their Ivory Coast land and get more trade.

Still around 60-70 years before we catch up with the game again, so at this point it's still academic. That said, this is where they were at:

Caught up.

Thank you!

Denmark is of interest, because if it could only turn away from Russia and instead annex Scotland and England, it would become far, far more powerful.

It did start on Scotland and made considerable headway a while back but has since been focused more easterly - as you say, to their detriment so far.

Iberia meanwhile plays host to two huge colonial empires but both home nations are much weaker and thus more vulnerable than OTL. At some point, someone is going to take a chunk off them or indepednance wars will ruin them.

It will be interesting to see how that mechanic goes as the game wears on - having no personal experience of the kind of things and their timing that may happen there.

France is a brewing powder keg that has to go off at some point, whether in North America or at home.

I know, we've been apprehensive about them the whole game, especially after they made that foray into the southern parts of our potential Netherlands sphere of interest. Very pesky.

Not sure who will win between Poland and Russia, but Poland is in a more vulnerable postion if the HRE ever unifes or Germany becomes a thing. Got to keep Denmark on side for them.

And both must worry about the Ottomans, who have already effectively destroyed Hungary (forcing the rump part into a full merger with Austria).

Ottomans remain the most powerful empire and probably destined to rule the Middle East, North East Africa and as much of the rest of it as they can get.

Yes, by far. I'm not sure what (if anything) the game does to them later on to reign in its rampant expansion.

Friesland seems to have two real rivals, no matter what rhe game says: Portugal and France. The former entirely colonially, whilst the latter both for that and for land in Europe.

Yes, very much so, in long term strategic terms. And as it stands, we really don't want to fight either of them without one or more powerful allies who would actually help in a war, whether at home and/or in the colonies.

Not sure how that will play out

Good stuff!

Nor I (beyond the 1690s, where I got up to before pausing to write this up from game saves, seven months ago now)! Thanks for the support.

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 28: More Colonial Wars (1624-34)

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Frisian National and Domestic Issues

Two years on from 1624, Potestaat Floris Van Uylenburgh remained in charge of the Frisian Dream. Of their formal rivals, Portugal remained the most dangerous as a colonial adversary. Scotland was preoccupied with other problems during this time and was in no real position to worry Frisia in Europe or abroad. For now, the recent alliance arrangements continued as they had for some years now.

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In terms of governance, the recent financial strictures that had forced two of the three ministers to be sacked were over, with two new and very effective diplomatic and military advisers hired. In January 1626 lucrative new trade monopolies had been granted that would further boost trade income for the next decade. And Friesland continued to hover on the edge of great power status on the back of its colonial and financial successes.

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By mid-1627 there had been no change to the Frisian leadership group. Some decreases in revenue (trade and war spoils) and increases in some expenditure (fort and army maintenance) had outweighed some savings in fleet maintenance to cause a decrease in the monthly budget balance. But savings had been accumulated over the last year to boost the treasury, which stood at 539 ducats.

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As military quality continued to improve, the endurance of the Navy’s ships was about to be considerably boosted through the installation of copper sheathing below the waterline.

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Two years later, Van Uylenburgh and his cabinet remained in charge, with both colonial policy and the use of influence with the Pope helping out in the colonies – where (as we will see below) the East Indies was proving to be an active front for Frisian military adventures.

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New Friesland and Frisian Australia remained contented enough with colonial rule, while Friesland itself remained nipping at the heels of the Great Powers while its standing in the world (VPs) continued to grow.

Administrative technology had recently advanced, allowing the construction of cathedrals should the government wish to pursue them. Military technology had lagged a little as quality improvements had diverted research efforts in recent years.

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Van Uylenburgh’s now long time at the top had not brought out his best characteristics: by 1634 he had earned a reputation as a corrupt and greedy politician. Though he had at least hired a new expert economist to offset the cost of corruption by decreasing annual inflation.

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And the government had taken this further by pursuing long term improvements to the treasury that would help tame inflation for decades to come, while coffee imports and increased drilling were also bringing benefits.

Over the last five years, trade had at first increased then come back somewhat. The main effect on the budget bottom line had however been the big increase in advisor costs (now at their highest level ever), with many other costs trending upwards except for missionaries, whose efforts by 1634 had seen most colonial provinces converted.

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Not only had this drastically reduced the monthly balance, but a new colonial war in the East Indies had seen some increased shipbuilding and the one-off cost of hiring a large mercenary army significantly deplete the treasury.

Clerical influence in the Estates had again sunk to a low point by April 1634, while that of the Burghers was riding high.

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The recent introduction of new naval technology meant the next generation of seagoing warships would be bigger and better than ever. However, the current fleet remained composed of older designs (in light ships, caravels and early frigates). At this time. None of the new models had been built or converted to.

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The ideas to improve military quality had reached their zenith, with the concept of massed artillery batteries introduced, while the completion of the reform cycle had yielded a permanent improvement in discipline.

And noting the jolly jape about HOI3 in the supply system comments.​

Meanwhile, the introduction of an additional new military policy to better supply troops in the field would (despite slowing military research somewhat) help with the increasingly frequent foreign wars Friesland had found itself in of late.

In the last decade, army strength had remained very steady, with only one new infantry regiment being added to the Leger. A war galley had been captured but then lost in the East Indies during some of the naval fighting there and then the five years to 1634 had seen six new frigates built.

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Due to diligent missionary work, the whole of European Friesland had been brought back into the Catholic fold with the conversion of Cleve in April 1626. The missionaries then turned their attentions fully to the colonies, so that by April 1634 Catholicism was the faith of 99% of the Frisian population.

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Despite the diplomatic enmity of the Papal States, Friesland remained the Defender of the Faith throughout this period. By 1629 the number of Catholic nations had expanded to 50, meaning that foreign missionaries would also be cheaper to maintain for the rest of the Faith.

The two Colonial States remained loyal enough by the end of the decade, even if their contribution to Frisian tariff income (mainly through New Friesland) remained relatively low.

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The Wider World

Republican Friesland did not appear to be a likely candidate to excel too much in the Age of Absolutism, though it would try to eke out some benefits along the way.

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In North America, France and Portugal continued to lead the colonial race for territory, while Castile continued to encroach on native nations from the west. New Friesland remained peaceful and prosperous enough, though increasingly hemmed in.

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Portugal was the dominant colonist in South America, though both England and Scotland (currently embroiled in a colonial war in Central America) maintained sizeable colonies in the north and the Inca held out in the north-west.

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In 1626, Scotland was five years into a debilitating colonial war against Chactemal where, despite losing every land battle fought so far (principally by Scottish Colombia and Mexico) they were hanging on due to the occupation of their objective provinces and the home country’s high morale. And even though Chactemal in turn occupied much of Scottish Colombia.

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A year later and the Scottish-Chactemal War dragged on, with total Scottish casualties now over 52,000. The occupation of Chacujal by Scottish Mexico almost exactly offset the continuing run of lost land battles and creeping occupation of Scottish Colombian provinces. A Scottish Army was now reinforcing the colonial forces, where far more advanced military technology helped to balance Chactemal’s advantage in numbers on the ground.

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Eight years of bloody fighting and siege warfare had finally seen Scotland outlast its native enemy. Colonial forces had progressively retaken occupied Scottish Colombia and Mexican provinces from September 1628 to May 1629, culminating in the annexation of all three Chactemal province into Scottish Mexico on 26 July 1629. Whether this was worth the eight years of debilitating battle losses and attrition for Scotland and its colonies was another question.

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For New Friesland, the situation remained largely unchanged by September 1629: a long peace with a decent sized colonial army and small navy looking after its own defence.

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Only three years after its last difficult struggle in Central America, Scotland had been dragged into another debilitating war in 1632 through its alliance with the small native state of Xalisco. But this time, the opposition was far more powerful: Portugal was the aggressor and they were allied with England and France, as well as having the support of their own powerful American colonies. Huge armies had seen both parts of Scottish Colombia and Mexico completely occupied, as well as Xalisco itself.

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Even worse for Scotland, they had been overrun by the English and French at home as well. While total enemy casualties had been even larger than their own (mainly through attrition in sieges), Scotland itself had lost over 41,000 men. By April 1634 surrender was imminent and the peace would undoubtedly be a punishing one, while Scotland’s army and navy had been eviscerated.

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In central Europe, Friesland remained at peace. Bavaria, Franconia and Cologne were the rising small powers in western Germany.

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Cologne had enlisted the aid of Franconia and was winning a war to conquer Göttingen from Brunswick, who was being aided by Saxony. A side war further south between Milan and Ragusa had also gone poorly for Brunswick’s unfortunate Adriatic ally.

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Overall, Friesland continued to do reasonably well on the world stage, though it had stopped earning VPs by this time and still hovered outside the top eight Great Powers.

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The East Indies

In September 1626, Friesland was in the early stages of another expansionary war in Sumatra, seeking to take Pagarruyang from Aceh. Aceh’s main ally was the powerful Bengal, while Malacca was their other major regional ally. This would be a test of Friesland’s ability to project power against a significant regional grouping – whose military technology was generally better than that of the native countries in the Americas.

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The early exchanges had all been at sea, with a couple of New Frisian vessels lost to Pahang but a comprehensive naval victory for the main Frisian fleet against Aceh more than compensating. However, the overall military strengths of both sides were quite evenly balanced in terms of numbers – and more than half of those forces (Frisian and colonial) were a long way off back in respective homelands).

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Malacca had a large fleet – mainly equipped with war galleys – blockading Banten and Katapang and had deployed a large army into northern Sumatra to assist Aceh, while the Frisians besieged Pagarruyang itself. The Frisian fleet was in turn blockading the Coast of Aceh.

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A war galley had been captured from Aceh in the naval battle in the Coast of Sumatra and was being sailed back to port for repairs. Friesland hoped to take Pagarruyang quickly enough to be able to hold off both Malacca and the more distant Bengal forces and extract a victory before things escalated too far.

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As it happened, the conflict had proved far longer and more difficult than had been hoped. The combined Malaccan and Bengali fleets, which relied heavily on war galleys, had been too strong to take on in the inland sea areas. [Note, I recall that an experimental sea battle I tried at the start of the war had resulted in almost the entire Frisian East Indies fleet being destroyed, so I rebooted and kept them either in port or in open sea areas only.]

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In the end, Bengal had landed a large army as well and it had taken the hiring of around 28,000-man mercenary army (the ‘Grand Company’ led by Muhammad Jamad-Din Burnei) to augment the Leger van Friesland to defeat the Bengalis at the climactic Battle of Pagarruyang. Peace was made on 28 March 1629 after around three years of fighting, with Pararruyang annexed. Malacca had meanwhile occupied Banten, which was liberated as part of the peace deal.

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By September, the Bengali army (around 44,000 in total) was making its way south and was still passing through Frisian territory. The heavy and transport fleets were in port while the Frisian light ships protected the Malaccan node. The mercenaries were dismissed once the war had been won.

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Later that year, wishing to balance the surprisingly powerful and aggressive Bengal with a large regional ally of its own, Friesland had concluded its long alliance with the Hathewekela tribe in North America for a new alliance with Ayutthaya. Unfortunately, Bengal had then proceeded to invade Ayutthaya soon afterwards, dragging Friesland into a new war.

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The war had lasted until April 1634, ending in a Bengali victory. Any Frisian hopes to be able to stay out of it largely unscathed were frustrated due to Aceh and Malacca entering on Bengal’s side. Bengal secured their objective of Phetchaburi after also occupying Bangkok and some other coastal Ayutthayan provinces as the war progressed.

The separate campaign in Sumatra had been extensive. In early 1630 the Frisian Leger had advanced into Malaccan territory, taking the two southern provinces of Tulangbewang and Palembang from February 1630 to February 1632. From May-December 1631 they had added the three Malaccan provinces in north-central Sumatra to the list. But meanwhile, Bengal had landed an army in Aceh and had taken Padang in late October 1630, followed by the level 4 fortress of Pagarruyang on 8 June 1631 then the level 2 fort of Indrapura in late July.

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In early 1632, the Frisian Leger had left Siak to march around south-east Sumatra to knock Aceh out liberate the Bengal-occupied Frisian provinces. They retook Indrapura (Nov 1632) and then Pagarruyang (Apr 1633) before ignoring Padang to invade Aceh, taking three coastal provinces as they marched north-west from January 1633-April 1634. During that time, Malacca had retaken Siak (July 1633) before Friesland negotiated a separate white peace with them on 8 August 1633.

The overall peace following the surrender of Ayutthaya on 24 April 1634 saw all remaining occupied lands in Sumatra handed back to their original owners. It was clear from these experiences in the East Indies from 1626-34 that winning wars there would need serious preparation and power to be employed by Friesland in the future.

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Australasia

The next area for Frisian colonial expansion was into Melanesia, with Vanuatu settled in September 1626. By July 1627 the colony was well-established, with favourable short-term colonial policies assisting the task.

​

By September 1629, two more settler missions were on their way to Rabaul and the Solomon Islands.

​

These settlements were established by late 1630, with Vanuatu attaining full city status in May 1632. In April 1634, no new colonial expeditions had been mounted as Friesland sought to see the two new colonies fully established first.

 

[HistoryDude]

The end of the Protestant presence in Friesland should help with stability.

It looks like Friesland still has rivals in the East Indies.

Poor Scotland. What will happen to them?

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

The two Colonial States remained loyal enough by the end of the decade, even if their contribution to Frisian tariff income (mainly through New Friesland) remained relatively low.

To be honest, and I'm not sure if EUIV has a mechanic to aid this, the two colonies should be pretty loyal out of fear of what the French and Portuguese will obviously do to them if they aren't protected by the home nation. If they ever did fight for indepednance, France would immediately annex them.

 

[diskoerekto]

Republican Friesland did not appear to be a likely candidate to excel too much in the Age of Absolutism, though it would try to eke out some benefits along the way.

trade companies, universities and religious wars still seem to be doable

Overall, Friesland continued to do reasonably well on the world stage, though it had stopped earning VPs by this time and still hovered outside the top eight Great Powers.

Ottomans seem to be lazy lately

The overall peace following the surrender of Ayutthaya on 24 April 1634 saw all remaining occupied lands in Sumatra handed back to their original owners. It was clear from these experiences in the East Indies from 1626-34 that winning wars there would need serious preparation and power to be employed by Friesland in the future.

this has been a tough one

These settlements were established by late 1630, with Vanuatu attaining full city status in May 1632. In April 1634, no new colonial expeditions had been mounted as Friesland sought to see the two new colonies fully established first.

nice places to expand to!

Even worse for Scotland, they had been overrun by the English and French at home as well. While total enemy casualties had been even larger than their own (mainly through attrition in sieges), Scotland itself had lost over 41,000 men. By April 1634 surrender was imminent and the peace would undoubtedly be a punishing one, while Scotland’s army and navy had been eviscerated.

I hope England doesn't win much, especially in Europe. When the AAR reaches the already played part, I'll nag you every episode to take on England. Speaking of which, how many years left until played part? EDIT: I just saw it's 60-70 years.

 

[jak7139]

Still around 60-70 years before we catch up with the game again, so at this point it's still academic. That said, this is where they were at:

Ivory Coast is a good region to get for your trade, and Granada's allies don't look too strong. You should go for it if this situation persists.

Over the last five years, trade had at first increased then come back somewhat. The main effect on the budget bottom line had however been the big increase in advisor costs (now at their highest level ever), with many other costs trending upwards except for missionaries, whose efforts by 1634 had seen most colonial provinces converted.

The budget is a problem. Friesland needs to find some easy land to expand to which will help with income.

Even worse for Scotland, they had been overrun by the English and French at home as well. While total enemy casualties had been even larger than their own (mainly through attrition in sieges), Scotland itself had lost over 41,000 men. By April 1634 surrender was imminent and the peace would undoubtedly be a punishing one, while Scotland’s army and navy had been eviscerated.

It looks like we will see the death of Scotland. That's unfortunate, since a reemerging England will be a huge rival for Friesland. England needs to stay weak or be taken out.

In central Europe, Friesland remained at peace. Bavaria, Franconia and Cologne were the rising small powers in western Germany.

The minor German states to your east (Munster, Brunswick, etc.) could be good to grab depending on their allies.

The overall peace following the surrender of Ayutthaya on 24 April 1634 saw all remaining occupied lands in Sumatra handed back to their original owners. It was clear from these experiences in the East Indies from 1626-34 that winning wars there would need serious preparation and power to be employed by Friesland in the future.

Bengal is strong, but as long as they can't land troops in Malacca then they don't matter. You'll need some serious naval power if you want to challenge them again. On the other hand, Borneo and the rest of the East Indies look like easier targets to help strengthen your nation.

 

[Ix:Risor]

To be honest, and I'm not sure if EUIV has a mechanic to aid this, the two colonies should be pretty loyal

When the revolution kicks off, colonial nations get an automatic boost to liberty desire, though this usually doesn't outweigh their fear of the colonizer

And noting the jolly jape about HOI3 in the supply system comments

I'm glad that you found that and perhaps even found it funny

 

[Bullfilter]

Thanks everyone for the wealth of comments, and for support in the recent ACAs. Next period has been written up, so here follows the feedback.

The end of the Protestant presence in Friesland should help with stability.

Religious unrest hasn't been too bad (though I don't really have a frame of reference yet, this being my first game), but I'm hoping for a range of benefits from restored religious unity: it has been quite a long fight.

It looks like Friesland still has rivals in the East Indies.

Yes, and the locals are quite strong, it seems, let alone any incursions from other colonial powers.

Poor Scotland. What will happen to them?

They haven't been knocked out yet, despite this latest setback, but I think they passed their peak a while back. However, they remain colonial players for now anyway.

To be honest, and I'm not sure if EUIV has a mechanic to aid this, the two colonies should be pretty loyal out of fear of what the French and Portuguese will obviously do to them if they aren't protected by the home nation. If they ever did fight for indepednance, France would immediately annex them.

Probably not, but the potential for some serious colonial wars exists. Though while France and Portugal remain allies, any of those are likely to be very one-sided.

trade companies, universities and religious wars still seem to be doable

Right. Will see where we get to with that (I now can't remember ) over the next 50-odd game years (at which point we'll be caught up to the current game point).

Ottomans seem to be lazy lately

Hold that thought

this has been a tough one

Yes, the recent colonial wars there that involved the bigger regional players were a bit of a wake-up call.

nice places to expand to!

And the Potestaats were ooking to do more of it!

I hope England doesn't win much, especially in Europe. When the AAR reaches the already played part, I'll nag you every episode to take on England. Speaking of which, how many years left until played part? EDIT: I just saw it's 60-70 years.

Yes, 1693: getting quite close to it now in relative terms.

Ivory Coast is a good region to get for your trade, and Granada's allies don't look too strong. You should go for it if this situation persists.

Will see if it does.

The budget is a problem. Friesland needs to find some easy land to expand to which will help with income.

It's starting to get to the point where only the remotest bits are available for colonisation: the rest will have to be done the hard way (ie warfare).

It looks like we will see the death of Scotland. That's unfortunate, since a reemerging England will be a huge rival for Friesland. England needs to stay weak or be taken out.

This wasn't on my radar much at the time. I'll be interested to see what was done about it over the next 50 years (I honestly can't remember now, so I'm finding out much of this as you guys do!), at which point we'll see where they have got to.

The minor German states to your east (Munster, Brunswick, etc.) could be good to grab depending on their allies.

Another thought to hold. I recall a bit of that in vague terms and the focus does eventually shift back closer to home.

Bengal is strong, but as long as they can't land troops in Malacca then they don't matter. You'll need some serious naval power if you want to challenge them again. On the other hand, Borneo and the rest of the East Indies look like easier targets to help strengthen your nation.

Well, they've shown they can land troops not just in Malacca, but Sumatra as well. Quite a serious player with alliance links in the region.

When the revolution kicks off, colonial nations get an automatic boost to liberty desire, though this usually doesn't outweigh their fear of the colonizer

Interesting. Will see what happens in America in particular: whether we'll be a victim of the mechanic or might be able to take advantage of it: for example, I'm hoping the huge Portuguese and French colonial empires get broken up a bit during that time.

I'm glad that you found that and perhaps even found it funny

I thought it was a nice little self-deprecating nod from the devs

To All: Next update should be ready in a few hour. It takes us to exactly the 200-year mark in the game so far.

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 29: European and American Wars (1634-44)

The Frisian capital of Leeuwarden in 1637.

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The War for the Danish Conquest of Gotland: 1635-41

After years of relative peace, the decade from 1635 onwards saw larger scale wars coming back to the lands of Europe – and Friesland became embroiled in one of these through their alliance with Denmark. Hostilities began in 1635, with Denmark bringing in Friesland (among other allies) while the small island state of Gotland was protected by the powerful Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Friesland’s prior diplomatic outreach to Poland had come to nought.

By June 1637, Friesland had sent a large army to eastern Poland but had not yet become involved in any large land battles. Denmark’s casualties had been heavy in both land battles and through siege attrition. It was not clear where and how New Friesland had suffered almost 4,500 land casualties. Poland-Lithuania’s combined casualties were even heavier, predominantly suffered in land battles.

​

The broad scope of the war can be seen below, with the largest battle so far having been fought in the east at Psków between Denmark and Poland (a Danish victory). Friesland maintained its trade protection mission in the English Channel, letting the large Danish navy to look after the Baltic.

​

In the western and central sectors, the fighting had mainly been well distant from Frisian territory so far, though there had been Danish-led battles in Hamburg (a major victory) earlier in the war. Friesland had occupied Santok in eastern Poland in late May 1637 and was currently besieging Poznan. But Poland had made gains from Denmark on their Baltic Coast enclaves.

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The largest concentration of opposing forces was in the east by June 1637, where earlier Danish sieges had taken Ingria and Psków in 1636 and Nowogoród in early 1637. One Danish army was heading east from Reval to Narva, while another was trying to recover Wenden, which had been occupied by Poland back in January 1636. Lithuania was now trying to retake Ingria (siege almost complete) and Poland Psków.

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The war was nearing its end by January 1641. The only thing holding Denmark back from victory was their inability to take Gotland itself. The many battles fought had been roughly even in terms of their contribution to the war. But the enemy’s collective national morale was low and the Danes had managed to occupy large swathes of Polish territory.

Casualties had been enormous on both sides and Friesland had incurred a good number of those, in a couple of large land battles and siege work in eastern Poland. They had also lost three vessels (details not recorded) in some small naval skirmish at some point since 1637. For both sides, the great majority of total casualties (around 580,000) had come from field combat.

The two major battles involving Frisian troops had come at Poznan some time earlier – a major loss when ambushed by a far larger Polish force – and a victory back in Frisian Hamburg more recently, where the tables had been turned and the 2nd Army was still recovering. The occupation of Sanok had been taken over by Denmark in 1640.

​

As will be covered below, the Ottomans had launched a separate invasion of Poland in late 1638, which had no doubt been a major cause of the swing in fortunes towards the Danish-led coalition since then. Of note, at this time the transports previously based in the Frisian East Indies had been brought back to Europe and, combined with local transports, had embarked a force of 16 regiments now in Öresund and bound for Gotland, to do what the Danes seemed incapable of themselves.

The wider strategic view showed the extent to which Poland-Lithuania was now in trouble, the war with Denmark having laid them open to a stab in the back by the Ottoman super-power to their south. The last large enemy field army – a Lithuanian force of around 20,000 men – was trying to retake Nowogoród.

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The end came just a few weeks later, when on 5 February 1941 Friesland occupied Gotland. This forced Poland-Lithuania out of the war and (for reasons not quite clear from the available historical record but seeming to have been sparked by the gaining of more Prussian lands from Poland as part of the peace settlement) brought about the conversion of Denmark into the Kingdom of Scandinavia, incorporating a personal union with the Palatinate.

​

Denmark/Scandinavia had gained Malbork/Marienburg and Warmia from Poland. Gotland came to a separate peace a month later on 7 March, paying reparations but retaining its independence (thus counting the war as a ‘technical fail’ for Denmark but a ‘disaster’ for Poland. It would not be their worst disaster of the period, however.

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The Ottoman Conquest of Hunyad: 1638-42

As we have seen above, the Ottomans invaded the already much weakened and preoccupied Poland-Lithuania in late 1639 and proceeded to overrun them. By January 1941 the Ottomans were in a dominant position militarily and in terms of territory gained.

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The great majority of coalition losses had come in field battles, with Bavaria (a new ally for that war) suffering most heavily in terms of men lost, followed by Lithuania and Franconia, another new ally for this conflict. The vast majority of Ottoman losses had come through siege attrition, to the extent that their total casualties were around 86,000 more than the Polish coalition. But it seemed they could afford the price.

The pain and humiliation would continue for another year until Poland-Lithuania capitulated, the Ottomans claiming far more than the single province of Hunyad – with seven lost by Poland and six from Lithuania: far more than a ‘minor conquest’.

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The French Conquest of Avignon: 1639-43

War also came to the west in this period. France (backed by Portugal) claimed Avignon from the Papal State in late 1639, assisted by the regional powers of Frisian ally Savoy plus Switzerland. This brought a large coalition to oppose them, including the rival colonial great power Castile, to oppose the French. By October 1640 the French had occupied Avignon itself and three provinces in north-east Castile, while the Castilians had taken Évora from Portugal.

​

There had also been fighting in the colonies, from Australia's west coast to North America. The overall war’s balance so far was in France’s favour.

​

At this time, a large and fairly evenly poised battle was being fought in Rome itself between armies led by Savoy on one side and the Papacy on the other. The Savoyand-Swiss coalition force seemed to be slightly on top at that point.

​

The war would end in French victory on 11 March 1643, with Avignon incorporated into the Kingdom of France but no other known territorial changes.

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The 2nd Lauenburgian Conquest of Lüneburg: 1642-present

Closer to home, turmoil in the region came with a war by a Saxe-Lauenburgian-led coalition pitted against Lüneburg and its sole ally Scotland – not the most useful ally, perhaps, by this time. The war had begun in 1642 and it seemed poor Lüneburg had been outmatched from the start. By mid-1644 all their provinces were occupied and three large enemy coalition armies were camped in their territory.

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It also showed Friesland that local German coalitions could easily muster large armies. They still needed allies just in case they came up against such a foe.

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The Americas

By 1636 the post-alliance truce with the Hathawekela tribe had finished: Friesland used the opportunity to launch a shameless campaign of colonial expansion at the expense of their former long-time allies, on the pretence of attacking their allies the Kispoko, for Manahoac.

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The war had only just been completed by 4 June 1637, with Calicula and Patawomac from Hathawekela being added to Manahoac as spoils of war on 1 June, all to be ceded to New Friesland the next day. Friesland flagged its future intentions by establishing a spy network in the Chickasaw Federation where a claim on the isolation territory of Tutelo would be sought.

At this time, Portugal was the dominant colonial power in South America, followed by England and then Scotland in central America. In the north, France led the way, followed by Portugal and then Castile.

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In early 1643, having finished its war against Poland-Lithuania as Denmark’s ally, Friesland had gained its claimed and launched a war against the Chickasaw for Tutelo. Chickasaw’s ally the Comanche had retaken Tutelo and then taken the New Frisian province of Monacan in late 1643.

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However the combined Frisian armies had won both back from February-April 1644. The war ended with Tutelo’s annexation and granting to New Friesland in early July 1644 – just as this latest episode was coming to a close.

New Friesland had managed to expand its borders westward in recent years, but the avenue for growth was narrowing as France, the Floride, encroached both to the north and south and Portugal came east from Louisiana.

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In South America, the Inca’s lands had been steadily encroached upon by Portugal from the south and the English from the north, with another war currently in progress by the English against Inca, Chachapoya and Muisca.

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The Frisian East Indies

The decade from 1634-44 was once of consolidation, peace and building trade in the Frisian East Indies. In 1637. The transport fleet was still based in Sumatra, as was the large colonial army. The light vessels were busy protecting trade in Malacca, where a merchant had been located (transferred from the less lucrative Caribbean trade node). Friesland was now the second most powerful trader in the Indonesian Charter.

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In 1644, many ships (some light and all the transports) were still in Europe following the Gotland War. But a sizeable fleet still patrolled Malacca and four heavy ships remained in reserve in Sumatra in case called upon for regional hostilities.

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Melanesia

Little had changed in Australia during this time, following the brief colonial skirmishes between Castile and Portugal on the west coast during the Avignon War. But the colonial race was heating up in Papua. In 1637 Friesland had sent colonial ventures to the south of Papua (though they would take well over a year to arrive), while the colony in the Salomonen Islands had almost become self-sustaining.

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The Frisian colonial effort had been none too soon as both Portugal and Scotland established colonies on the Papuan east coast in July 1638, at around the same time as Friesland had in Kerema and Hanuabada. These had been followed by a new Frisian expedition to Daru, which was settled in December 1638. All were still being consolidated in mid-1644.

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Domestic Affairs

In June 1637, the new Potestaat Johan Ernst Jongstra was just over a year into his term following his predecessor Floris Van Uylenburgh commencing his eternal Dream of Frisian Freedom the year before. Jongstra would remain in office for the rest of this period.

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The year before, a military focus on the offensive had provided a very handy boost to Frisian siege warfare for the next decade, but trade and tax incomes were at the same time under downward pressure through the dominance of smuggling rings. The two subject colonies remained loyal enough and existing Frisian alliances remained in place.

Military advances had seen the introduction of improved cavalry and artillery formations since 1634.

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But (previously un-noted) some time between 1629 and 1634 Friesland had lost its position as the Catholic Defender of the Faith. It would once again cost 500 ducats to regain the title – funds not then available. However, full religious unity was brining its own benefits to the Republic.

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In January 1641 advances had just been made in administrative and (again) military technology, which meant an upgrade of all three branches of the army had been completed since 1634 as the Republic’s governing capacity increased. Friesland had opted for Gustavian Infantry.

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However, national stability had decreased somewhat from its usual highs (from 3 down to 2) and would take some administrative effort to remedy.

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In July 1644, the Danish alliance had been transferred to Scandinavia, but the regional pact with Ayutthaya had been discontinued – to avoid distracting entanglements in that part of the world for the time being. Since 1638, many events and decisions had impacted upon the factors modifying Friesland’s national efforts. Most were positive, though institutional corruption was again nibbling away at national prosperity. One colonial policy had lapsed in 1643 and another would do so in late 1644.

​

The clerical estate had made up a little ground, while Frisian prestige, Republicanism and power projection were good to adequate.

Diplomatic technology was the next to benefit from research, with increased naval professionalism benefitting trade efficiency and range.

​

The economic summary from 1637-44 showed a gradually increased balance more through expenditure efficiencies rather than revenue, which had drifted down very slightly. The main benefit had come in decreased advisor costs (the standard had been maintained).

​

The decrease in the treasury in July 1644 could be explained by the choice to once again become the Defender of the Faith. The funds had not been available in 1641 but by July 1644 Friesland had once again claimed this title. The entry of a couple of new Animist colonies in Papua had slightly decreased national religious unity, but missionaries were already in place to rectify this.

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As noted, military advancements had seen the whole Frisian Leger modernised since 1634. By 1641 losses in the Gotland War had seen some regiments destroyed at the Battle of Poznan, while new cavalry and artillery units had been raised. The heavy impact of Frisian army reserve manpower could also be seen at that time.

​

Two new infantry regiments had been recruited by 1644, but the navy had barely changed in numbers, with any losses being matched by new builds. And manpower levels had largely regenerated by then.

In July 1644, Poland-Lithuania had been weakened but remained a great power. And Friesland was once again on the cusp of reaching that status, just barely short of Austria and Morocco in those rankings.

​

The Frisian Dream remained well and truly alive as the middle of the 17th century approached.

 

[diskoerekto]

As will be covered below, the Ottomans had launched a separate invasion of Poland in late 1638

indeed I have spoken too early

There had also been fighting in the colonies, from Australia's west coast to North America. The overall war’s balance so far was in France’s favour.

shall they feast on each other's corpses

 

[HistoryDude]

Poor Poland. They overcommitted to the Danish war... an early surrender would've served them better.

Why didn't Friesland get involved with the invasion of Avignon? It would legitimize their claim to be Defender of the Faith (or at least the Pope). Were you trying to avoid conflict with France?

 

[jak7139]

The only thing holding Denmark back from victory was their inability to take Gotland itself.

The AI is famous for its inability to use transports effectively. This war was no exception.

(for reasons not quite clear from the available historical record but seeming to have been sparked by the gaining of more Prussian lands from Poland as part of the peace settlement) brought about the conversion of Denmark into the Kingdom of Scandinavia

I think you have to be at peace to form Scandinavia. Denmark already met the requirements during the war and just had to wait.

The overall war’s balance so far was in France’s favour.

This is quite an understatement. Outnumbered roughly 7-1.

It also showed Friesland that local German coalitions could easily muster large armies. They still needed allies just in case they came up against such a foe.

True, but you can always check the war balance before you declare war to see how the sides stack up. You've also done very little expanding in Europe for a while, so your threshold for triggering a coalition should be at or near zero.

 

[Bullfilter]

indeed I have spoken too early

Yes, they had been quiet (in Europe at least) for a while - but picked their moment to intervene very well! I think at this point no-one can stop them except themselves/time.

shall they feast on each other's corpses

Yes ... though the winner always gets fatter afterwards

Poor Poland. They overcommitted to the Danish war... an early surrender would've served them better.

Indeed it would. It was a bit unfair really, but there you go ... Poland's lot, in game as in OTL.

Why didn't Friesland get involved with the invasion of Avignon? It would legitimize their claim to be Defender of the Faith (or at least the Pope). Were you trying to avoid conflict with France?

I can't exactly recall now my reasons at the time, but looking at it:

• We were already at war in support of Denmark for Gotland.
• We wouldn't really want to help France.
• And we really would want to be fighting them either (both for the threat at home and especially in America.

In retrospect, I can't think of any compelling reason why we would have wanted to get involved given the Defender of the Faith aspect wouldn't have occurred to me at the time and I don't really understand the benefit now looking back. And while we were Defender of the Faith, the Pope/Papal State have been sworn enemies for quite a while. Would there have been a tangible benefit from getting involved if - unlikely - we'd been on the winning side? So yes, at the time, mainly avoiding conflict with France as well as concurrent war commitment, iirc.

The AI is famous for its inability to use transports effectively. This war was no exception.

Looks like it!

I think you have to be at peace to form Scandinavia. Denmark already met the requirements during the war and just had to wait.

Right, that makes sense.

This is quite an understatement. Outnumbered roughly 7-1.

By then yes. Game over, Red Rover!

True, but you can always check the war balance before you declare war to see how the sides stack up. You've also done very little expanding in Europe for a while, so your threshold for triggering a coalition should be at or near zero.

Right, will remind myself of that when I resume play - which is getting closer!

To All: Thanks for the comments and readership, next chapter out soon, after which we're getting quite close to the game's 'present day (1693). At that point, the AAR will become contemporaneous ('live' screenshots of things as they happen - events, battles, wars etc; reasons for doing stuff explained at the time; advice with direct application to current events, and so on. Exciting!

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 30: Building Freedom (1644-60)

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The Lauenburgian Conquest of Lüneburg (continued): 1642-47

Saxe-Lauenburg and its allies had launched its campaign to conquer Lüneburg back in 1642. By July 1644 the whole of Lüneburg had been overrun and occupied but they had not surrendered in the vain hope that their own allies Scotland might come to their rescue. Almost three years later, the war dragged on as the long occupation stretched into a fifth year.

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But a few months later, Lüneburg recognised the inevitable and their entire country was annexed in July 1647. Of interest, the country of Verden was revived after 70 year gap under a new King, Nicholas II, who was given both Verden and Stade by the victorious coalition. Saxe-Lauenburg got its prize of Lüneburg, while they ceded Celle to Magdeburg a couple of months later.

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War of the Scandinavian Succession: 1647-53

As had been mooted a couple of years before, Friesland’s largest and most long-standing ally Scandinavia (until recently Denmark) was at risk of succumbing to a succession war on the death of the current king. This eventuated in March 1647, triggering a series of events. First, the Elector of the tiny Palatinate became ruler of a personal union where Scandinavia was the junior partner. This automatically voided Friesland’s alliance with Scandinavia – but apparently (as far as can be reconstructed from partial historical records, many being destroyed after the Great Archival Fire of 1693) not before they became embroiled in a Succession War declared by the powerful Russian Tsardom!

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In any case, March 1647 saw Friesland as the second most powerful member of a coalition in a war with Russia that they did not want nor would likely benefit from. The initial Russian blockades in the Baltic would soon be relieved by the immensely stronger Scandinavian Navy. On paper, in March 1947 the Coalition led by The Palatinate looked far stronger than their Russian adversary.

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But the Coalition’s forces were all in the west and scattered – while the Russians were of course concentrated in the east and under unified command.

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Friesland had soon extracted itself from this conflict: the exact date and terms of its withdrawal and whether it suffered any losses before doing so is lost to the historical record. This hard-headed decision would have badly damaged the prospects of the Coalition and by 1651 the Coalition (still nominally larger in forces than the Russians) had lost fourteen field battles in a row after initial victories at sea and on land (at Viborg) in the opening phase.

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This equated to around 220,000 Coalition losses in field combat to just under 80,000 for the Russians, whose attrition casualties were almost as large. Scandinavia alone had lost 150,000 men. By that time, the Russians had a large advantage in infantry and a huge one in artillery, only being outnumbered in cavalry. Only the possession of Sjælland prevented the war situation being even more dire for the Coalition.

After modest gains in eastern Finland in late 1647 and 1648 (one province each), the Russians had gathered a little pace in 1649 (two provinces in May-July. But in 1650 the floodgates had opened, with most of Finland being overrun quickly between September and November. These gains had only been offset slightly by Berg and Regensburg taking two Russian province in the south in 1649-50.

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By early 1651, Russia had pushed into Sweden in the north and had a large army in the south to relieve its lost provinces. Of significance for the Coalition, a Scandinavian rebellion had just broken out in Denmark against the personal union, led by the pretender Magnus Juel. His army of 40,000 men had no credible nearby threat.

The war would end on 23 February 1653, with no apparent gain of territory by Russia on terms that remain unknown to modern historians. In any case, two years later Magnus Juel had succeeded in his rebellion, re-establishing the Scandinavian monarchy after a brief interlude. Though The Palatinate remained in alliance with them.

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And in 1658 the Scandinavians were once more trying to conquer Gotland – again with little apparent direct success by March 1660. Gotland’s ally Riga had taken all the punishment for them, while the attackers lost the vast majority of their casualties through siege attrition.

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Other Wars: 1651-60

Friesland’s alliance with the rising Franconia drew it into two German wars in the 1650s. First, they played a prominent role on the Franconian Conquest of Rothenburg against Mainz from 1651-53. This saw Rothenburg and Mainz itself annexed by Franconia on 21 September 1653.

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Less than three years later Franconia was at it again, this time aiming to take Niederhessen from Hesse. Mainz were again penalised, as an ally of Hesse, losing Coblenz to Franconia as well when the treaty was concluded on 17 January 1657.

In 1654 the unlucky Scotland once again found itself on the wrong end of a war caused because of its modest colonial holdings, again in Columbia. By this time, France had taken over the southern part of Scotland’s Central American slice of Scottish Colombia. During the latest war, England and its colonies had overrun the rest of Scotland’s Columbian holdings.

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Even more devastating for the Scots, England had also occupied the whole of Scotland itself by March 1660. It seemed a Scottish surrender must be imminent by this time.

And another large, long and bloody coalition war had broken out in Western Europe in 1655 when the Swiss, with the important aid of France, embarked on a conquest of Milan, backed by a range of Italian allies and Cologne. By March 1660, a great many bloody battles had been fought, both sides suffering hundreds of thousands in casualties – principally in many field battles.

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There had also been significant warfare at sea – where the Milanese Coalition’s heavy advantage in war galleys seemed to have given them a clear tactical edge in Mediterranean sea combat against the French. But the Swiss-French partnership was now well on top and had gained a big edge in overall numbers. Though in northern Italy, Swiss and French armies seemed to be fairly evenly matched against two Coalition armies headed by Naples and Mantua.

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New Friesland Expands: 1648-60

Friesland had pushed its colony to expand further against the unfortunate Hathawekela tribe – the only avenue (limited) left open for western growth there. From 1648-49 an uneven fight had seen Kanawha and Mohatan annexed and allocated to New Friesland.

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In early 1651, France had swept well past New Friesland’s western borders and between them and their allies Portugal had almost eliminated the formerly large Chickasaw Federation.

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The final small slice of Hathawekela land was grabbed in January 1659, when Tatteroa was conquered after a very brief campaign over just a couple of months. And New Friesland was now fully encircled by French colonies.

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Asia and Australasia: 1645-60

The latest flurry of Frisian colonisation (interspersed with similar efforts by France, Portugal and Scotland) had been in Melanesia and Papua in recent times. Yos Sudarso and Manokwari were settled in late 1645, both later becoming full cities by 1650-51, followed by forcible conversion to Catholicism and to Frisian culture by 1658 – along with the rest of the Frisian settlements in the region.

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The centre of the Frisian East Indies colonial administration had grown in Sumatra. Frisian military expansion at the start of the 1650s saw a series of regimental camps raised there, while Indrapura’s fortifications were upgraded in 1658.

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In Australia, the last tribal lands available on the continent were taken by Friesland and added to Frisian Australian rule in 1655. Minang, owned by the Nyoongah people, was the prime target but their allies the Larrakia were also drawn in – meaning both were annexed after the inevitable victory by the colonialists. Most of Australia was now controlled by Portugal and Friesland, with a small Castilian enclave on the west coast.

Then as 1659 drew to close, Friesland took an opportunity to use its large colonial army to defeat the Sundanese and their partners in a quick campaign in eastern Java, from February-December. Kawali was no longer isolated and Frisian control over the whole of eastern Java was secured – though some local rebellions had to be suppressed subsequently.

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Frisian Affairs: 1641 and 1647

In an event not noted in this work at the time, by January 1641 the twelfth round of governmental reforms had been implemented, with traditional Frisian Republican values being reinforced.

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Potestaat Johan Ernst Jongstra still ran the government with a strong set of advisors – who now cost far less to remunerate, thank to Jongstra’s well-developed political connections. This would yield a large benefit to the budget while he ruled. Though the common people were somewhat discontented and would remain so for the next few years.

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And of much satisfaction to the Republic was its recognition by this time as one of the Great Powers of the world. Its prestige had also grown further, acknowledged as a leading source of administrative, diplomatic and military achievements. At that time, Scandinavia’s submission as junior partner in a personal union had seen it fall out of the ‘Great Power Club’, while Austria’s star was also on the wane.

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At home, after decades of very little construction of major infrastructure projects and influx of wealth from trade, production, taxation and occasional Australian treasure fleets meant funds were available to embark on a major building program that would last from the 1640s and throughout the 1650s. Initially, there was a focus on growing the army (given the recent increase in major warfare in once-peaceful Europe), but also trade depots and factories – especially in the locally dominant textile trades.

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There were good reasons to build these new manufactories apart from their practical value – including the objective of achieving the next advancement in institutions. The period leading up to 1647 also saw military technology once again catch up with the other two branches of Frisian research.

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Frisian Affairs: 1651

Potestaat Jongstra remained in power in early 1651 and was still supported by good advisors in his cabinet. On the diplomatic front however, there had been changes. The Austrian alliance had broken down sometime between 1644-47 and certainly by the time the Scandinavian War of Succession had begun in March 1647. This seemed to be principally due to Austria coveting multiple Frisian provinces.

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While civil unrest would still smoulder away for a few months more, Friesland was now a word renowned trading power, which would have enormous benefits to trade income for many years to come (and the effect will be seen below in the economic summary for the period). But diplomatic technology research would be hindered for most of the decade due to a trend to naval disarmament.

The Frisian building boom had continued, with six (mainly military training fields) finished in the late 1640s. And a new textile factory was almost finished in Amsterdam. Around this time, this pursuit of early ‘industrialisation’ was also being driven by a national goal as well as institutional ambitions. And despite the recent expenditure, the treasury had amassed a fortune of over 1,100 ducats: they would soon be spent on a range of items, both buildings and military units.

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Around this time, as ranked by development, Friesland was closely followed by Amsterdam as the great cities of the Republic, followed by Groningen, Hamburg and Brügge. In the colonies, the New Friesland capital of Wicontiss was matched by Moratok in its level of development. But by this time, with research and other demands, there had only been modest attention paid to increasing development levels in the ‘metropolitan’ cities of the Republic.

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Friesland retained its position in the Great Power rankings, all of which had been temporarily lowered while the sixth institution had become technically available but not achieved by any of the world powers. The Republic’s status (VPs) also continued to increase.

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Frisian Affairs: 1660

After governing for over 20 years, Johan Jongstra had died in March 1657, to be succeeded as Potestaat for life by Hendrik Casimir Van Schellinkhout – a kind-hearted man and a reasonably competent leader. The alliance network remained unchanged from 1651, with no major powers but four prominent regional powers in Germany and to the south of France.

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The previous nine years had also seen some new developments, all in economic areas. Another Papal increased tax sanction, freer trade and a new cloves trade helped boost incomes further. And Amsterdam had been upgraded into ‘world port’ status. This was where the bulk of that large treasury surplus was spent. But its benefits were great and permanent.

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And due to the current prosperity, there had been enough money left over for new building projects with military infrastructure completed from 1653-57 and three textile factories in production and due to be completed by the end of the year. The national objective would be over half finished when they were built – and it also contributed to institutionalising manufactories for Friesland.

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As noted above, boosts to trade (in particular), taxation and production during the period were great. Costs, especially for advisors after the death of Potestaat Jongstra in 1657 and for the army, had increased by 1660. But the monthly balance was still a little higher than it been back in 1647. And much had been gained in military and economic power.

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The last nine years had also seen all three research streams advance, keeping Friesland at the forefront of these developments. And importantly, the institution of manufactories had spread to enough provinces for it to be embraced by the Republic [whether building them helped with that or not – maybe not].

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Catholicism remained very strong in Friesland at home and abroad, with new lands vigorously worked by the missionaries as soon as they could do so. But between 1647 and 1651, Friesland had again lost the title of Defender of the Faith. And by 1660 there were insufficient funds to retake this mantle (having been spent on Amsterdam’s port upgrade, other infrastructure and the military during the 1650s). But the Reformation had been well-contained in most of Europe.

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From 1644-47 the Frisian Leger and Navy had each grown modestly, as had their maximum sustainable limits. To 1651, actual growth was small, but potential army and navy sizes had been boosted significantly by the above-mentioned building program.

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Then for the rest of the 1650s, both the Leger (in particular) and the Navy’s numbers were boosted greatly, while capacity (especially naval capacity) were also expanded further, with more room for expansion left. A modernisation program had seen all Frisian heavy ships boosted to war galleon class, while almost two thirds of light ships were now frigates. At that time, two caravels were about a quarter of the way through conversion in their Javan base port.

In March 1660 Friesland had improved its global rankings as a great power and more generally (VPs, where it was now 12th in the all-time rankings). France was temporarily down in third spot of the great powers due to it not yet having embraced the manufactory institution, temporarily eclipsed by its ally Portugal, due to its great colonial empire.

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Scandinavia, free again of its short-lived personal union, was once again in the “big boy’s’ club”, but actually ranked below Friesland. Poland had fallen out of the top eight – perhaps due to an “institutional lag”. Of course, the Ottomans still dominated as the world’s greatest power.

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AuthAAR’s Note: we are now only 33 years from ‘rejoining’ the current game save point, though there is still a bit to get through before then.

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 30A: The Fall of the Inca and Frisian Cultural Imperialism (1644-60)​

Note: Here is some 'bonus material' I couldn't fit into one or both of the last two 'main' chapters but wanted to present for the information of my dear readAARs.

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The Fall of the Inca

The English had attacked the Inca and their allies - the Chachapoya and Muisca - in 1640 in the Conquest of Guayaquil. By July 1644 the war was still raging but the proud Inca were in dire trouble. The English and their Columbian colonial allies had by then deployed large armies and, despite taking heavy casualties in battle and attrition at siege, were now numerically and territorially dominant.

Map, from the Incan perspective, as at 10 July 1644.
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The end of the disastrous war came on 16 March 1645, with England establishing the new colony of English Peru and the rest of the conquered land going to English Colombia. Inca itself was reduced to small rump state centred around Cuzco in the south and its native allies survived in 1647. But covetous eye were turned upon them ...

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Those eyes belonged to the Portuguese who eventually pounced seven years later, in 1656. Pacajes was the first to fall in November 1656, followed by their allies the Inca and Chachapoya in May 1658. This time, all but the resilient Muisca were finally annexed.

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This left the Muisca as the last surviving native nation in the northern half of South America in early 1660. By that time, as we saw in Chapter 30, Scottish Columbia had been completely overrun by the English in their colonial war.

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Frisian Cultural Imperialism

Friesland had long sought to impose a mono-culture on all the lands it controlled. The European heartland had been fully acculturated by 1660 and the colonies directly run from Leeuwarden were well on their way along the same path. In New Friesland and Frisian Australia this cultural coverage was more patchy, as they had each run their own domestic policies since becoming self-administering colonies.

In the Frisian East Indies, this process was well advanced, with some parts of Sumatra and Eastern Java not yet fully assimilated.

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Australia remained a patchwork of tribal and coloniser cultures.

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Of the older colonies, the mainly autonomous New Friesland had a wide spread spread of Frisian culture, but also some Dutch from early resettlements, of course interspersed with more recently acquired native American cultures.

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And the three long-settled Frisian enclaves in Africa on the western, southern and eastern coasts had long been culturally and religiously assimilated into the Frisian Catholic way of life - in nominal terms, at least.