Dreams of Frisian Freedom

[Midnite Duke]

Someone should, anyone can but probably no one will deal with the Otto-Menace. Poor Lithuania. Thanks

 

[diskoerekto]

I know I should root against the ottomans from a catholic Friesland perspective, but I can't help myself. On the other hand, for the ottomans, poland is a wrong place to conquer in many ways.

 

[jak7139]

Welcome back! I hope the move is going well.

As noble as it was for Scandinavia to try and defend Lithuania, they didn't have the numbers or momentum to win. The Ottomans continue to grow, but are running out of easy targets.

 

[HistoryDude]

RIP Lithuania. The Ottomans remain a massive threat... but the loss of so much of their men should slow their expansion down, at least.

 

[Rensslaer]

Your Ottoman Empire is the stuff of nightmares!! Gosh someone kill it.

Glad you're not in their direct line of sight. But gosh it seems like someone has to deal with them and there's no one to do so. Not probably time in the game anyway. Would be an interesting V2 game (or V3, but I'm treating V3 like I treat Star Trek V (just pretending it never happened)).

Rensslaer

 

[Bullfilter]

Someone should, anyone can but probably no one will deal with the Otto-Menace. Poor Lithuania. Thanks

I suspect the only power capable of beating the Ottomans now is themselves (if EU4 allows that kind of thing) in some civil war or break-up/revolutionary disaster. Otherwise they're just too big now, it seems.

I know I should root against the ottomans from a catholic Friesland perspective, but I can't help myself. On the other hand, for the ottomans, poland is a wrong place to conquer in many ways.

Haha. When you've conquered everywhere else, where to you go?

Welcome back! I hope the move is going well.

Thank you. Well enough, six days to go to the auction of our house!

As noble as it was for Scandinavia to try and defend Lithuania, they didn't have the numbers or momentum to win. The Ottomans continue to grow, but are running out of easy targets.

At least they helped prolong the war and caused them additional attrition without losing their own army. Though even quite large targets are proving easy enough for them.

RIP Lithuania. The Ottomans remain a massive threat... but the loss of so much of their men should slow their expansion down, at least.

One can hope. They will recover, of course, unless they keep up these big wars with heavy attrition. Even so, they remain massive as you say. To big for Frisia to handle.

Your Ottoman Empire is the stuff of nightmares!! Gosh someone kill it.

Glad you're not in their direct line of sight. But gosh it seems like someone has to deal with them and there's no one to do so. Not probably time in the game anyway. Would be an interesting V2 game (or V3, but I'm treating V3 like I treat Star Trek V (just pretending it never happened)).

Rensslaer

I wish someone would. Barring an implosion of their own making, I think we're just trying to do the best we can elsewhere.

Soon it is back to the main narrative, where we remain in the first phase of the war against Songhai and Air, with Aragon as our ally.

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 54: The Songhai Remain the Same (1733-35)

Regular Frisian troops advance through the African savannah during the Frisian-Songhaian War, 1733.

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Domestic Issues: August 1733 to May 1734

The wartime economy brought on by the latest war in Africa against Songhai and Air saw a monthly budget deficit of around 65 ducats by August 1733, mainly through the cost of supporting large mercenary forces.

​

This was hardly a problem for the treasury though, which had a reserve of over 24,000 ducats. Trade was the engine room of the Frisian economy, principally the home node of the English Channel. Production was the next most lucrative source of income.

A closer look at the military expenditure figures showed what was costing the most. It also revealed an issue that had been unforeseen at the time Frisian ideas had recently been changed. Obviously, the higher maintenance and temporary effect on the land force limit from having so many mercenary regiments in the field was the largest impact.

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But the large decrease in the naval force limit took some investigation. Going back over past figures from 1731, it was discovered that the cancellation of Exploration ideas had removed the benefit of Global Empire, which had been adding 25% to the naval force limit. This was only noticed later, so no early action was taken to start increasing that capacity again. And though am impost, the added cost was hardly unmanageable for such a large commercial empire.

In March 1734 Gerrit Galama’s scholarly influence was allowed to spread beyond Friesland’s borders Frisian with benefits for administrative effectiveness and missionaries.

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While a few months later the perennial influence of the Burghers was once again on show as they were granted more privileges, counteracting the administrative benefits of Galama’s teachings but protecting the key diplomatic developments currently the focus of Frisian research.

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War and Rumours of War: August 1733 to August 1734

After occupation of southern Air and Songhaian territory early in the Frisian colonial war against them, in early October 1733 the mercenary Independent army, with some regular Frisian artillery support, began its siege of the major Songhaian fortress of Nupe.

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L.v. Calabar headed to Gurma in central Songhai on 1 November as their Aragonese allies besieged the fort of Dendi. Seeking to ‘end run’ that blocking fort, the mercenaries of the Dahomey Amazons were sent on a dangerous march along Songhai’s western border to attack their capital of Gao, which had been designated as an objective for Aragon but not yet attacked by them.

More widely, the President (no longer Potestaat/Syndic after the declaration of the Federal Republic) was informed that Aragon had successfully annexed Tlemcen, which had not been able to sustain their independence for long.

​

Morocco also had to cede five provinces to Aragon and four to Portugal. A month later, a large amount of Aragon’s army seemed to be filtering south after this victory.

In January 1734, a number of developments saw Gurma occupied, then Wukari in southern Air surrender the same day the Dahomey Amazons arrive in Gao – as a larger Songhaian army approached from the north-west. Frisian and Aragonese sieges in central Songhai continued.

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On balance, the war was tending in favour of Friesland and its allies and the total strength of their coalition dwarfed that of Songhai and Air. But of course it was the forces applied at the focal point that mattered, while attrition would always be a problem for the attackers.

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It was an army from Air that attacked the mercenaries besieging Gao on 4 February, who were badly out-gunned and destroyed within a week.

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With the siege of Nupe continuing in the south and Wadagugu now also besieged and Aragon still investing Dendi, the Asafo Company (with regular Frisian artillery support) had been flanking north to make another attempt on Gao. However, word of a separatist uprising in recently occupied Gurma in June had them backtracking.

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As casualties mounted, by mid-June 1734 the war was not yet progressing much to Friesland’s favour.

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On top of this, in July word came that long-term (and expansionist) Frisian ally Bavaria was preparing a war of aggression against Bohemia, thanks to Joseph Ferdinand’s tendency to indiscretion. So now a possible additional European entanglement for the Federal Republic loomed.

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The Asafo Company fell upon the rebels in Gurma on 12 July and had eliminated the rising within three days of one-sided fighting, even before the four slower-moving support regiments of Frisian artillery arrived.

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Their march then resumed to flank west and north to make another play at Gao.

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A month later, Aragon finally succeeded in taking the fortress of Dendi, opening the way to Gao through central Songhai. Once again, the Asafo Company was turned around, able to take the shorter route through central Songhai that had been blocked by Dendi.

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At last, the momentum was starting to build for Friesland.

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Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs: June 1734 to April 1735

The Frisian push to improve its diplomatic outreach advanced further in June 1734 with a more experienced diplomatic corps burnishing their diplomatic reputation.

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Research into new offensive ideas had slowed of late as some military power was expended in artillery barrages during sieges in the African war.

In September 1734, three free Frisian diplomats were available for new missions, even as another finished their embassy to Brunei. Relations would be improved with the all-powerful Ottomans and long-term ally Scandinavia, while a spy network was started in Münster – in case of later expansionist plans.

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Shortly afterwards, Russia had a major victory in East Asia, all but fully annexing the remaining northern Chinese Shun state and a large slab of Korea as well. This would bring them into even closer contact – and potential conflict – with the burgeoning Shu Empire.

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Portugal declared an imperialist war on Kong in December 1734, as European powers continued to expand their presence in West Africa.

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Closer to home, Friesland sought to improve the dire relations with Castilian April 1735 by rebuffing a defector. This was a European and colonial power Friesland did not want to have to confront directly. If the rivalry could one day be turned around, they would make a great ally against France. This may not be possible, but at least war with them might be avoided.

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Wars: October 1734 to July 1735

In a double blow to ailing Bohemia, both Bavaria (as already foreshadowed) and Franconia declared war on them on the same day – 7 October 1734! As it happened the Bavarian call to arms was the first responded to, obviating the requirement to respond to the Franconian request.

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Bohemia and its two small allies were close to defenceless, so Bavaria would require little direct assistance to prevail, given Franconia was also seeking to take a slice out of them. Friesland hoped to minimise losses and would not involve itself in combat on the main Bohemian front.

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But they would intervene against Dithmarschen, sending L.v. Latgalia up via Hamburg to confront their small army, while at sea a lone enemy frigate was caught and sunk within a day of the war’s start.

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The unfortunate Dithmarschen army was caught and wiped out for minimal loss in a single day. General Gerulf Jousma stayed on to besiege the city.

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Back in Songhai, the Asafo Company reached Gao on 20 October to find a well-led but smaller and partly disorganised Songhaian 4th Army guarding it.

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When the Frisian artillery support train arrived two days later, the battle ended in a complete slaughter of the enemy and a measure of revenge for the earlier destruction of the Dahomey Amazons.

Another naval skirmish in the Helgoland Bight in November 1734 saw two of three Dithmarschen transports captured and the other sunk as the land siege continued.

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On 2 February 1735 one of the Aragonese armies (seemingly largely of mercenaries) heading south through Air encountered a similarly sized Air army in Kawar. For Aragon, the lack of effective artillery support and superior Airan leadership proved fatal, with the Frisian allies suffering a heavy defeat.

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With the long siege of Nupe finally ending on 9 May 1735, the large Independent Army, with its supporting Frisian artillery train, set off north to Katsina, to start the invasion of Air proper and forestall any enemy advances following the defeat of Aragon at Kawar.

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In June, Aragon was asked to invest two Airan forts; one the capital in the north and Bedde in the south.

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However, it seemed Aragon might be distracted for some time as Air had them on the back foot in North Africa towards the end of July 1735.

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Domestic Issues: June 1734 to August 1735

The first Presidential election of the Federal Republic of Friesland was conducted on 1 June 1734 following the death of Potestaat-come-President Albrecht Banda. Of the three candidates Tabo Martena was the youngest and best qualified, but it was left to the lottery to decide the outcome.

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Fortunately for the Republic the best man did win and he soon proved himself to be both a talented and righteous leader.

Soon after, foreign plots were uncovered, with Martena temporarily sacrificing some Republican tradition for maintaining the stability of the government and securing a huge windfall for the treasury when the assets of the plotters were seized.

Plotters uncovered in Leeuwarden, August 1735. Over 3,500 ducats worth of property was appropriated from these traitors, even if these measures offended the Republican sensibilities of some of the Frisian intelligentsia.​

With an excess of administrative power that could not yet be spent on a technology advancement, around this time 140 points were spent to increase development in Upper Guelders, Meppen, Cleve and Oldenburg. Then a few days later the colonist working in Gabon increased development there as well.

The period ended with news that a new Papal Golden Bull had been promulgated: the Dei Gratia Rex.

 

[diskoerekto]

last, the momentum was starting to build for Friesland.

Finally!

Fortunately for the Republic the best man did win and he soon proved himself to be both a talented and righteous leader.

Great luck!

I hope everything regarding health and also difficult stuff like moving houses works great for you. All my best wishes my friend.

 

[Rensslaer]

As I recall, Bohemia was quite a powerful presence in your Central Europe at one time, yes? How the mighty have fallen.

Interesting that your Russia seems to have been pushed east through a combination of Ottoman pressure and opportunities in China.

Interesting also that your "Scramble for Africa" is happening a century early. Is that a function of the EU IV alliance system, or something else I wonder.

Rensslaer

 

[jak7139]

The war against Songhai is slow going, but you seem to be winning.

Bohemia's existence will soon be over. How much warscore is all of Bohemia to take (if you click on one of their provinces and hover over the warscore of the province, it will tell you the total amount)?

 

[filcat]

Apologies for the relatively irrelevant sidetracking:

About the otto-fear of this run mentioned a couple of times;

There will be no conflict between the player-frisia and the code-ottos, as long as the code does not rival the player, and the player-frisia is out of reach of the potential conquest zone of the code-ottos (any neighbouring province), which is the case of this run.

eu4, however an arcade game and low-quality simulation compared to other paradox games it is, is still a modern game of the paradox-era(*). Only a handful tags in eu4 will be always hostile to the player, and their reasons are more-or-less disclosed in that (ex: code-mughals will be hostile to the entire world); this does not do much in the war-arena if they do not have direct interests on the player. If they have, then they will definitely use any moment of opportunity - player going into a massive war can trigger the other hostile-tags to start a coalition, fabricate claims, even embargo without rivalry (when the player is devouring extreme aggro-exp), and maybe even declare wars. And yet, they have to have a reason - a cb, and/or else they need to have an interest on the player.

Rivalry is different; in that case if the code-rival has no interest and no claims, it will still make hostile-alliance-rings. This includes the allies of the player. Yes, player-persia can see its ally, a two-province code-gazikumukh, allying to code-russia, rival of the player as an example.

If the code-rival has interests, and even claims on the player, then there will be blood.


Of course, the player is not bounded by limitations of such but only imagination. A player can certainly prevent the rise of any potential turbo-tag, without caring for any interests there may be.

Spoiler: or rather, the player will create its own interests

such as player-otto annihilating code-austria (due to hungary-tag),
code-russia (due to interests on crimea or protecting greathorde-tag),
code-france (due to code insisting on being defender of the faith),
code-castile-aragon-portugal (due to their pirates),
code-denmark (to prevent them destroying poland-tag),
code-poland-lithuania (to prevent them destroying code-bohemia),
code-ming (too much effort, but if they survive, just for a merchant in canton node),
code-england (for fun), etc.
without actually conquering, else sometimes even without waging wars,
such as player-russia proclaiming defender of the faith after force-converting many hre-minors (no code can dare to attack a turbo-tag with five vassals, and never its co-religion tags after being defender of the faith).

But in this run, there is nothing the player-frisia can do even to slow down a bit, let alone contain, prevent, stop, etc. the code-ottos. Even when it is done, so a mass-alliance, imperialism-cb, stackwiping the armies, sinking the ships, long enough war to force the code into crushing debt, the code-ottos will recuperate in no time. That phase was missed, long ago.


(*)paradox-era: Current era of the strategy games.
Further clarification would derail the thread; may explain some other time in an appropriate thread.

 

[HistoryDude]

That Russo-Shun War could be interesting when it finally happens. I'd expect Russia to win.

Do you plan to demand anything from Dithmarschen?

Poor Bohemia. I wonder if they will retain their independence after this war...

 

[Bullfilter]

OK, the Eye of Sauron (or Bullfilter, anyway ) returns to Frisia again, as the last chapter covering the most recent session is ready to go.

Great luck!

Yes, they chose ... wisely!

I hope everything regarding health and also difficult stuff like moving houses works great for you. All my best wishes my friend.

Yes, health good enough and we exchanged contracts on the sale of our current home yesterday, avoiding the danger of bridging finance between our old and new homes! <phew>. Still lots of work to be done, including packing and moving, but te most stressful part is now behind us. More to ordinary hard work now.

As I recall, Bohemia was quite a powerful presence in your Central Europe at one time, yes? How the mighty have fallen.

Yes they were - they have received the typical reign of blows that regional powers seem to get once they're set foot on the downward spiral. Still, not much sympathy for those heretics from Friesland!

Interesting that your Russia seems to have been pushed east through a combination of Ottoman pressure and opportunities in China.

Yes, and of course they have a better power balance there than against the all-powerful Ottos.

Interesting also that your "Scramble for Africa" is happening a century early. Is that a function of the EU IV alliance system, or something else I wonder.

There's been far more consolidation of power and colonial empires in game than OTL, with Africa being another manifestation of it - though it has had a few reasonably capable mid-powers to put up a fight while all the smaller ones get picked off easily.

The war against Songhai is slow going, but you seem to be winning.

Yes, some tough going and a lot of attritional siege work needed, but it's getting there. Aragon has actually been useful support.

Bohemia's existence will soon be over. How much warscore is all of Bohemia to take (if you click on one of their provinces and hover over the warscore of the province, it will tell you the total amount)?

Yes, they're rapidly heading for the s-bend . Re warscore: I'd played well beyond that point in the session, so it wasn't readily available (and the war was over by the time the session ended).

Apologies for the relatively irrelevant sidetracking:

Haha, always welcome.

About the otto-fear of this run mentioned a couple of times;

There will be no conflict between the player-frisia and the code-ottos, as long as the code does not rival the player, and the player-frisia is out of reach of the potential conquest zone of the code-ottos (any neighbouring province), which is the case of this run.

eu4, however an arcade game and low-quality simulation compared to other paradox games it is, is still a modern game of the paradox-era(*). Only a handful tags in eu4 will be always hostile to the player, and their reasons are more-or-less disclosed in that (ex: code-mughals will be hostile to the entire world); this does not do much in the war-arena if they do not have direct interests on the player. If they have, then they will definitely use any moment of opportunity - player going into a massive war can trigger the other hostile-tags to start a coalition, fabricate claims, even embargo without rivalry (when the player is devouring extreme aggro-exp), and maybe even declare wars. And yet, they have to have a reason - a cb, and/or else they need to have an interest on the player.

Rivalry is different; in that case if the code-rival has no interest and no claims, it will still make hostile-alliance-rings. This includes the allies of the player. Yes, player-persia can see its ally, a two-province code-gazikumukh, allying to code-russia, rival of the player as an example.

If the code-rival has interests, and even claims on the player, then there will be blood.


Of course, the player is not bounded by limitations of such but only imagination. A player can certainly prevent the rise of any potential turbo-tag, without caring for any interests there may be.

Let's hope we can avoid any conflict with the Ottos, unless its part of some overwhelming mass pile-on, which seems unlikely.

It's a good thing my expectations of EU4 weren't much ore than a bit of slap and giggle then! So long as we can play around a bit, gradually learn how to play the game and tell a story, I'm happy enough. My expectations have been carefully self-managed.

But in this run, there is nothing the player-frisia can do even to slow down a bit, let alone contain, prevent, stop, etc. the code-ottos. Even when it is done, so a mass-alliance, imperialism-cb, stackwiping the armies, sinking the ships, long enough war to force the code into crushing debt, the code-ottos will recuperate in no time. That phase was missed, long ago.

Yes, I was never in a position to intervene as Friesland early enough to make a difference there, starting as a 2PM on the other side of Europe.

Further clarification would derail the thread; may explain some other time in an appropriate thread.

Well, we can't have that A bump in the track, but we're through the tunnel and still on the rails!

That Russo-Shun War could be interesting when it finally happens. I'd expect Russia to win.

I guess it will and yes, distance from the Russian centre vs overall power should prove interesting

Do you plan to demand anything from Dithmarschen?

We're the ally in this one, so it's up to Bavaria to lead that, I think. And the war was over by the time this was being written up, so you'll see what happens in the forthcoming chapter.

Poor Bohemia. I wonder if they will retain their independence after this war...

There's this war and the concurrent one against Franconia. Not much fun for the Bohemians ...

Next chapter up reasonably soon - thanks for the ongoing readership and comments!

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 55: Peace is in the Air (1735-37)

Frisian Federal Republic President Tado Martena addresses the Landtag in Leeuwarden, October 1735.

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The Bavarian-Bohemian War

Frisian participation as an ally of Bavaria in this European war begun in 1734 was limited to the siege and blockade of Bohemian minor ally Dithmarschen. The city and province fell to Frisian troops on 12 January 1736 after a long siege – the main event so far in the overall war.

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The war leader Bavaria concluded a separate peace with Dithmarschen two weeks later, entirely on the back of Frisian efforts. Friesland received a majority of the ducats seized in the settlement and welcomed the forced conversion of the losers to the One True Faith.

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The losses to the one short battle and siege attrition had been kept relatively minimal – a key aim of the Federal Republic’s limited involvement. They would effectively sit out the rest of this war while they remained primarily engaged in Africa, letting Bavaria and Franconia continue to fight Bohemia itself in their parallel wars.

Bavaria’s involvement would last for almost exactly one more year, with no further losses for Friesland, which still raked in an appreciable amount of the upfront Bohemian payment to end the war. Bavaria also owed the Republic favours for their support and also picked up Praha from Bohemia – a massive blow for the struggling former middle power, which was still at war with Franconia.

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The Frisian-Songhaian Imperialist War

The war against Songhai and Air (principally) had been launched by Friesland with Aragonese support back in March 1732. After three and a half years, the tide was turning more in the Republic’s favour but the Africans were still in the fight by October 1735. Frisian heavy reliance on mercenaries to do the bulk of the fighting and sieging was designed to minimise the effect on manpower recovery as far as possible.

On 2 October 1735, a very long siege of Wadagugu in Songhai was won after over 600 days. No sooner was it over than L.v. Calabar (composed of regular Frisian troops) was directed east to deal with a rebel uprising in Borgu as sizeable Aragonese forces operated to the north and the sieges of Gao and Katsina continued.

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A little over a week later, the Aragonese commander informed Frisian General Lodewijk that they were in Gurma would deal with the rebels in Borgu themselves, allowing L.v. Calabar to divert to the north instead.

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By December, the rebels had been long defeated and Friesland had occupied Hombori.

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The siege of Katsina in Air was interrupted on 2 January 1736 by a massive local peasant uprising. Fortunately, the large Independent Army plus its Frisian siege train outnumbered even these masses and certainly outgunned them. A heavy victory was won by 13 January as the siege resumed.

‘The Battle of Katsina’, a contemporary watercolour by one of the Frisian artillery officers who witnessed the battle.​

The next big milestone was the fall of Gao to Friesland on 17 January, turning the war more heavily in the attackers’ favour.

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Around this time, the main emphasis again switched to reducing Air: given Aragon’s unwillingness to respond to the previous request to besiege Air’s capital, L.v. Calabar was given the task.

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They arrived in Air on 6 April, while Ader and Gobir were occupied by the end of May.

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While the allies were running around freely in the south, the enemy had been taking the opportunity to occupy Aragonese land in the north, Air armies seeming to act with impunity. On 10 August they arrived in the perennially vulnerable (but negligibly important) Frisian outpost of Thubaqt, which was allowed to fall unopposed by 3 September to a force of mercenary Ottoman Janissaries.

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Meanwhile in the south, Spain was overrunning Granada in their separate bush war while more Air provinces were occupied by Friesland between August and December and the Aragonese were given a new objective in the east of Air. Along the way, on 28 November a small Songhaian force was overrun and destroyed in a skirmish at Zamfara.

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However, the occupation of these minor provinces had done little to move the dial further in overall war progress by the start of 1737. Friesland would attempt to remedy this by conducting another siege in Bagirmi in early February.

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As war weariness began to set in in April 1737, further Frisian and Aragonese victories had swung the war heavily in Friesland’s favour. After just over five years, it was time to bring things to an end. The demand was sent was issued on 14 April 1737 to extract the maximum price.

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Air was forced to cede six provinces and Songhai two to the Federal Republic. Friesland had sustained just over half the war’s casualties – 175,000 men. But as mentioned before, the bulk of these had been mercenaries, so the manpower reserve still sat at almost 94,000 and could now start to recover.

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This settlement massively increased Friesland’s colonial holdings in West Africa.

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This led the colony to be retitled Frisian Niger and a grand Colonial headquarters built.

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The Asafo Company and Independent Army were disbanded, with them estimated to be off line recovering their manpower until December 1740 and February 1742 respectively.

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Foreign Affairs and Diplomacy

As at 1 January 1736, there were seven known wars in progress around the world: most of them imperialist and a couple nationalist in nature. Of interest, France was faring poorly against Malacca and its allies, while the Ottomans had encountered some initial setbacks against Tuscany and Savoy, though everyone knew it would only be a matter of time before their overwhelming strategic weight would be applied to crushing effect.

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Then just the following month France had to accept a humiliating peace with Malacca, actually forced to concede the island of Bangka to them, as well as a sizeable payment. There was much private chortling in the halls of power in Leeuwarden.

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The diplomatic effort with the Ottomans reached its maximum potential in March 1736. There was no current prospect of an alliance with them even when the war against Songhai and Air ended, but hopes were held of a more positive relationship in the longer term.

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Spare and recalled diplomats were next sent to further repair relations with the Papacy (which had gradually improved again over the years), while the maintenance of relations with allied Scandinavia was maximised in April.

As has been noted in the report on the war in Africa, Castile had declared a colonial war on the hapless Granada, which would be all but over by April 1737. They could not escape their ancestral enemies even in the deepest recesses of Africa!

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By November 1736 the Bavarian-Bohemia War was still in progress, while the Ottomans were well behind in their fight with Tuscany and Savoy, who had carried their counter-attack into Ottoman territory in Italy and Croatia. Ominously, however, large Ottoman armies had recently arrived in western Savoy, so the Empire was surely about to strike back.

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The world in April 1737 was more consolidated than it had been in the preceding centuries.

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This trend was even more pronounced in the Americas, where five colonial powers (Friesland being the smallest geographically) now controlled virtually all of the territory in both continents. Where peace had reigned for decades.

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Friesland maintained its sixth ranking on the list of great powers, even with a temporary ‘dip’ in its development ranking due to suddenly acquiring eight as yet un-cored African provinces.

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Domestic Matters

With administrative power about to max out again, another 214 were spent in October 1735 to improve development and the tax base in Hoya (twice), Celle, Upper Guelders, Oversticht and Meppen.

President Martena’s reputation was assailed in May 1736: instead of overreacting and losing government stability, he brazened it out as the ‘tough man of the Republic’.

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The same day it was time for the Landtag to debate another ten-year legislative agenda. Leaning into his ruthless ‘tough guy’ persona, Favours, bribes and concessions were quickly offered to unswayed members without delay, bringing on a rapid approval for the Quartering of Troops.

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As the African war ended in April 1737, a new administrative technology was embraced to improve the Republic’s bureaucracy.

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However, this meant the coring of the new African provinces would have to wait until more administrative power could be accumulated.

The end of the war of course meant the excess army maintenance costs for the mercenaries were ended, putting the monthly budget back into surplus. Next steps would be to reduce fort maintenance again and try to rebuild naval sustainment capacity over time.

​

In fact, there was now a little spare capacity for army builds, so some more artillery regiments would soon be commissioned.

Another period of colonial expansion and minor European warfare was over, with the Federal Republic now likely to concentrate on consolidation, manpower rebuilding and diplomatic missions. Unless events intervened ...

 

[diskoerekto]

Air was forced to cede six provinces and Songhai two to the Federal Republic. Friesland had sustained just over half the war’s casualties – 175,000 men. But as mentioned before, the bulk of these had been mercenaries, so the manpower reserve still sat at almost 94,000 and could now start to recover.

it was long but at least it's been a major victory without any disappointment!

 

[jak7139]

with the Federal Republic now likely to concentrate on consolidation, manpower rebuilding and diplomatic missions. Unless events intervened ...

Hmmm...Is Friesland about to fight a major, globe-spanning war?

I'm sure you and your allies can handle it though.

Instead of "from Cape to Cairo," Frisian imperialists dream of "from Tripoli to Coast Ivory." Air should be weak enough after that last war that you can continue against them once the truce is up. But Tunis might be a problem. Are they still allied to the Ottoman menace?

 

[Bullfilter]

Thanks for the two hardy commenters this time around: suspect many people must be preoccupied by RL and other distractions at the moment (like me, actually).

it was long but at least it's been a major victory without any disappointment!

Given the current difficulty expanding much in Europe, these colonial adventures are what we seem to have left at the moment.

Hmmm...Is Friesland about to fight a major, globe-spanning war?

I'm sure you and your allies can handle it though.

Ah no, not foreshadowing, just being cautious If there is such a war soon, it won't be on purpose.

Instead of "from Cape to Cairo," Frisian imperialists dream of "from Tripoli to Coast Ivory." Air should be weak enough after that last war that you can continue against them once the truce is up. But Tunis might be a problem. Are they still allied to the Ottoman menace?

As at April 1747, Tunis is a minnow: 2,000 troops left, 9,000 MP, and only allied with the tiny rump Granadan state in Central West Africa. Air is still allied to the Ottomans, but we could still get to them (at this time) through their Songhai alliance.

New chapter out soon.

And thanks to all who voted for the AAR in the recent ACAs.

 

[Bullfilter]

Chapter 56: Let Them Eat Chocolate (1737-40)

Locally recruited Frisian East Indies troops marching through Eastern Java in 1739, during another colonial war of expansion.

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The Ottoman-Tuscan War

The latest Ottoman attempt to dominate another European nation had begun back in 1733 with an attack on the substantial regional Italian power of Tuscany, backed by their Savoyard neighbours. Unlike many past campaigns, this one had proven troublesome for the Turks from the start. By late April 1737 large areas of Ottoman territory in the area of Croatia were still under Tuscan occupation and large two battles against the Italian allies were in progress.

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One on Savoyard lands near Venice saw the Tuscan-led army narrowly defeated by 8 May, but after inflicting very heavy casualties on the Ottomans: truly a Pyrrhic victory. The other on the Adriatic coast at Split was a heavy victory for the Savoyard-led army – which did not even have a recognised general in charge.

However, Savoyard luck ran out soon after where, still in Split, they came up against another Ottoman force that was then reinforced part way through the battle, forcing the entire exhausted Savoyard-Tuscan army to surrender.

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Despite this, by mid-November 1738 the Ottomans were still well behind in the war, even after retaking their lost Croatian land and advancing into northern Italy again.

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Indeed, over a year later the Ottomans had been unable to subdue their stubborn Italian adversaries. All they had to show for six long years of war were hundreds of thousands of casualties, a significantly smaller army and no new territory as a white peace was concluded. This was heartening news for the Christian world which was used to rampant Ottoman domination and encroachment into Europe.

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The Russian-Shu War

The much-anticipated war between Russia and Shu, assisted by their ally Korea, broke out in September 1737. The Russians would greatly outnumber their opponents, but it was expected many of their troops must have been on duty far to the west. Though perhaps the Russians had already mustered many troops in anticipated of this latest imperialist grab.

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Over a year later, the Russians had advanced in strength through north-eastern China and in the middle of the isolated Korean state. A rare intelligence report from the Russians (ie a quick tag to check things out) showed the Russians had been recruiting heavily in their far-eastern provinces and seem to have their enemies heavily outnumbered.

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By July 1740, the whole of Korea was under Russian occupation, as were large swathes of northern and eastern China. Russian victory looked assured.

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Africa

After the end of the Songhai-Air War, it was taking time for Friesland to fully integrate the newly acquired provinces. There was only enough administrative power to begin coring the first two provinces – Ife and Yawuri – by September 1739, while the missionaries were sent to Ifah. This meant a period of tribal unrest lay ahead for the new overlords of Frisian Niger.

In the meantime, two extant colonial wars were concluded by Portugal and Castile in late 1737, as the European carve-up of Africa continued, with Morocco and Kong severely depleted while Granada was almost extinguished.

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The missionaries did their jobs first in Idah and then Nupe from 1738-39.

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And the first tribal revolt broke out in Yawuri in June 1740, before it could be cored. L.v. Calabar, one of the two garrison armies poised for security operations, quickly snuffed out the uprising against some poorly armed tribal spearmen.

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The East Indies

Castile attacked Banjar, in southern Borneo, on 6 February 1738. Not only might this create a contiguous border with the Frisian holdings there, but it took Friesland’s regional ally Brunei into the war, along with Blambagan and Bone. This war would drag on for the rest of the period, with either side taking territory of the others as Brunei led the allied response.

The Frisian claim on Pajang (the last province of Demak in Java) remained in force until October 1756: they planned to use it before then. In January 1739 the main battle and transport fleet docked in Pontianak, Western Borneo, ready to pick up the second of the two FEI colonial armies.

At this point, Demak’s allies were Pahang (in Malaya) and the rump Sunda state; but former Frisian ally Malacca was in a trade league with Demak, which would also bring them into the war. It was not an arrangement Friesland could use its great power status to make them void. Nonetheless, a diplomat was recalled from his spying mission in Dortmund, allowing for a declaration of war to be made the next day.

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The war was ostensibly for Pajang but the Frisian commanders knew Malacca would be the principal opponent. While on paper Friesland had the numbers, they only maintained around 60,000 troops in the FEI and were unable to call in their preoccupied regional ally Brunei.

The first engagement was fought at sea, with the Frisian trade protection fleet engaging a small Pahang squadron of frigates, sinking two and capturing the other three.

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Soon after, the Frisian army in Java struck the small Demakian field force in Pajang, which was destroyed in just two days. The siege began but at the time, General Galama [ie me ] did not appreciate he lacked the troop strength to fully besiege the fortress, though a barrage was ordered first up.

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The main FEI battle fleet (triple deckers and archipelago frigates) began a blockade of the Straits of Johor on 7 March, having an instant impact on the balance of the war and bottling up both the Malaccan and Pahang fleets in port. The transports stayed back in Pontianak with the army.

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However, over 90,000 Malaccan troops were already in Sumatra and heading around the south to Friesland’s main province in the west of the island. Early on, it was decided those provinces would not be contested: the enemy had the numbers and Friesland would pick its fights elsewhere.

From March through to November 1739, Malacca proceeded to occupy the west Sumatran provinces, while Sunda did the same in the undefended eastern islands. While one Frisian army was occupied (fruitlessly at first) besieging Pajang, the other was eventually ferried over from Borneo in April to chase the Sundanese and take back the occupied provinces.

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It was not until September that Galama realised the lack of progress in Pajang was due to a troop shortage <facepalms>. A detachment from L.v. Surabaya (named L.v. Bali) was sent west to bolster the siege. They arrived in late October and soon began to progress the siege after a very slow start.

Gerulf Jousma caught up with Sunda’s small army in Flores on 2 January 1740 and forced their surrender within three days. Flores was reoccupied on 18 February. By then Sunda had raised new regiments further west as L.v. Surabaya headed back that way to deal with them.

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But in Sumatra, the fortress of Indrapura fell to Malacca on 3 March after 10 months of siege. A month later, L.v. Surabaya swept through Lombok and wiped out a single artillery regiment that had been stationed there without casualties. After that, it was on the Sundanese island of Madura, where battle was joined on 17 May, forcing another surrender on the 19th. Jousma was hailed as a ‘hardy warrior’ after this battle.

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After Madura was occupied in early July, Jousma was forced to double back to Lombok, where two Sundanese regiments had been raised again by the time they arrived in mid-August. Another surrender was forced without any serious fighting.

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As the period ended, Pajang held out and the Frisian effort was still in its early stages. Thoughts of a quick victory had been put on hold: it was obvious it would take time to see the enterprise to its conclusion.

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Diplomacy and Other Foreign Affairs

With the Federal Republic now mounting a significant diplomatic effort, their strategy and moves through this period will be examined as they balanced alliance relationship management with placating powerful rivals and establishing spy networks in potential targets or enemies.

Air’s loss to Friesland soon resulted in them no longer being considered a valid rival: a new one would be picked. Austria’s implacable opposition was rewarded with them being declared as rivals – it could hardly make the relationship any worse! They joined France and Portugal for this dubious honour.

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In June 1737, Friesland had three free diplomats after various tasks had been completed in recent months. They were used to ‘top up’ relationships with two powerful rivals (Castile and Portugal) and a potential future partner (Poland).

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Frisian ally Franconia finally wrapped up its own war against Bohemia in September, taking a huge eight provinces from them and paying a heavy diplomatic price in aggressive expansion. Franconia had now become the largest German state, followed by Pomerania and Bavaria.

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In October, the spy mission in Münster was clearly making negligible progress: it was switched to neighbouring Dortmund.

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Clearly, Franconia’s recent victory had made them more arrogant and grasping: they now wanted to take the rich port of Hamburg from Friesland and had decided to assume a hostile attitude to their ally. The writing was on the wall for the long-standing alliance in November 1737 and there was nothing diplomatic Friesland could do about it.

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The Franconian theocracy formally terminated the alliance three months later. And they fielded a large army these days – around the same size as Friesland’s European field armies.

This turn of events prompted the Frisian foreign ministry to recall Sikke Van Uylenburgh from his ‘hardship posting’ in Lisbon to instead set up a spy network in Franconia.

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With warm relations now re-established with the Papal State to the highest level possible, the effort was transferred to Britain to keep that relationship ‘topped up’ in case an alliance proposal was ever made.

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When that was completed, a review of the potential relationship with Poland (which Friesland hoped to use as a possible balance against now-hostile Franconia) showed more would need to be done if an alliance were ever to be concluded (the diplomatic risks inherent in that were a separate issue to be considered in due course).

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So the diplomat released from London was sent Poland to begin currying favours and a friendly attitude was set. Another option later could be to see if a demand could be made of Poland to break its alliance with Austria, which might do the trick.

February 1739 saw the impudent, ‘untrustworthy scum’ of Cologne offer a classic insult. They just had to go there, didn’t they? Their time would come.

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From May 1739 to April 1740, a series of diplomatic adjustments were made with relation-building missions as one would finish and a new one begun. Former enemies, powerful rivals and extant allies were all courted, with the last change leaving a spare diplomat in Leeuwarden awaiting the next task.

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Domestic Issues

With the army force limit increased after the end of the Songhai-Air War, on April 1737 four new artillery regiments were raised, all in Frisian Niger, where the local armies were still a little low in their artillery ratios. At the same time, a large sum was spent on new or upgraded grand shipyards in 15 provinces throughout Europe, Africa and the FEI. And to help improve the budget balance, nine of Friesland’s 31 forts throughout the world were mothballed.

Later that year, Frisian diplomatic practice was further improved through adopting more flexible negotiations.

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And after decades of hoping for one, Friesland’s capital was granted a new cardinal’s seat by the Holy See. There was a chance four more Frisian cities may be granted the same privilege for the next vacancy.

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It was also decided that new tariffs would not be imposed on the copper trade.

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The 15 new shipyards were completed in February 1738, which came close to eliminating the force limit excess for the navy (now 280/278), thus also reducing the additional drain on the naval budget to just 1 ducat a month.

Before the war with Pajang was declared in 1739, there was enough military power to unlock a new offensive idea through the introduction of national conscription in March 1738.

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In October 1738, more new builds were commissioned: five universities (completed on 30 August 1739) and three state houses. The new cardinal was brought into assist the administration in July 1739, improving governance, boosting Clergy influence.

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Another excellent boost to manpower recovery came in early 1740 when chocolate imports were welcomed, with a benefit that would last for the next five years.

 

[diskoerekto]

Indeed, over a year later the Ottomans had been unable to subdue their stubborn Italian adversaries. All they had to show for six long years of war were hundreds of thousands of casualties, a significantly smaller army and no new territory as a white peace was concluded. This was heartening news for the Christian world which was used to rampant Ottoman domination and encroachment into Europe.

are they finally stagnating?

By July 1740, the whole of Korea was under Russian occupation, as were large swathes of northern and eastern China. Russian victory looked assured.

just as scary

It was not until September that Galama realised the lack of progress in Pajang was due to a troop shortage <facepalms>. A detachment from L.v. Surabaya (named L.v. Bali) was sent west to bolster the siege. They arrived in late October and soon began to progress the siege after a very slow start.

at least he figured that out early enough

As the period ended, Pajang still held out and the Frisian effort was still in its early stages. Thoughts of a quick victory had been put on hold: it was obvious it would take time to see the enterprise to its conclusion.

better late than never

Air’s loss to Friesland soon resulted in them no longer being considered a valid rival: a new one would be picked. Austria’s implacable opposition was rewarded with them being declared as rivals – it could hardly make the relationship any worse! They joined France and Portugal for this dubious honour.

I wonder why ottomans gloss over austria and focus on the italian peninsula

Clearly, Franconia’s recent victory had made them more arrogant and grasping: they now wanted to take the rich port of Hamburg from Friesland and had decided to assume a hostile to their ally. The writing was on the wall for the long-standing alliance in November 1737 and there was nothing diplomatic Friesland could do about it.

we definitely need new friends, I wish it was possible to ally ottomans and/or russia to scare off anybody anywhere before messing with us

 

[jak7139]

All they had to show for six long years of war were hundreds of thousands of casualties, a significantly smaller army and no new territory as a white peace was concluded.

There were also some Neapolitan separatists I noticed. But with the war and it's distractions over, they will probably be crushed soon.

and seem to have their enemies heavily outnumbered.

Russia could be a good ally (especially given later events in this chapter). How close are they to accepting when compared to Poland or GB?

The main FEI battle fleet (triple deckers and archipelago frigates) began a blockade of the Straits of Johor on 7 March, having an instant impact on the balance of the war and bottling up both the Malaccan and Pahang fleets in port. The transports stayed back in Pontianak with the army.

As the period ended, Pajang still held out and the Frisian effort was still in its early stages. Thoughts of a quick victory had been put on hold: it was obvious it would take time to see the enterprise to its conclusion.

I'm not sure if it's come up before now, but fleet blockades only trap armies as long as you control at least one side of the strait.

Regarding this war, with Malacca's armies all distracted in Sumatra, you could go for a naval landing and quick occupation of Johor. Then Malacca would be unable to cross and forced to watch as you siege their homeland.

The writing was on the wall for the long-standing alliance in November 1737 and there was nothing diplomatic Friesland could do about it.

Perhaps it's time for Friesland to get more involved in German affairs. Maybe the archaic Holy-Roman institution should be dissolved by force.

And after decades of hoping for one, Friesland’s capital was granted a new cardinal’s seat by the Holy See. There was a chance four more Frisian cities may be granted the same privilege for the next vacancy.

Congratulations! I noticed you added a question mark in the Invested column of the Holy See screen. What was that about?