What is it with people named Churchill claiming the Balkans to be the "soft underbelly of Europe"?
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The Pope has lost Rome, and as Geneva isn't Catholic he probably won't be getting it back.
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And it was done so sneakily (misdirecting my attention towards Venice, and no real mention of Rome) that I overlooked it.
And it was done so sneakily (misdirecting my attention towards Venice, and no real mention of Rome) that I overlooked it.
Rome will not be Catholic again in this run.
Here is another interesting change in the Italy map
They need to trade places or names .
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You are right. That would make France too strong , being immediately on my border. I prefer Burgundy remain in HRE.
For helping Netherlands form , it looks right now that Friesland is best candidate
They have 4 provinces in Netherlands proper and 5 total.
Chapter 15: A Real Navy (1600-1610)
Chapter 15: A Real Navy (1600-1610)
We left the last chapter with Geneva and France locked in a brutal fight against their common enemies Spain and Britain. Geneva had done well on the battlefield but her treasury was suffering. After some deliberation, Syndic von Hasseln decided that Geneva would continue the war with France and would not seek a separate peace ( he did not have enough leverage on Spain to negotiate separately) . To mitigate the financial pain, he issued edicts for the protection of trade in all of the various States . Meanwhile on the battlefield, Genevan armies were again victorious in Labourd. And soon after news that Britain exited the war raised Genevan opinion about the war .
With his mind made up that Geneva would remain in the war, he worked for a faster conclusion and ordered Genevan armies into Spain proper. Another aim of that push was to secure as many provinces for Genevan occupation as possible, so France could not annex them . And one of the most valuable provinces in that regard was Barcelona, where the main Genevan army was sent on a force march to retake before the Hungarians arrived there. Similarly , Genevan troops were rushed to Tarragona and Cantabria to secure them before the French did.
The Genevan siege army under Henri Blies was then ordered to take Burgos as fast as possible ( barrage was used ) . Blies then withdrew back to Vizcaya behind the fort's protection, but not before refilling the garrison with regular troops to avoid it falling back in Spanish hands.
At that point , von Hasslen ordered the armies to stand back and let the French and Hungarians carry the offensive. Any provinces South of Burgos could not be annexed by France anyways, and so it was harmless to let the French try to take them . However, the allies failed and were defeated by the Spanish
It was clear to everyone at that point that Geneva was carrying the war effort. And it was only when the main Spanish force under their capable king Carlos got tied up with the Genevan field army at Barcelona that French arms had some success near Madrid
At that point, the Spanish King realized he was beaten. And the French King realized he could not gain any more provinces since Geneva occupied all the prize provinces ( Bordeaux, Languedoc, the Catalan and Asturian coasts) . They therefore reached a peace agreement.
Geneva was nicely rewarded with a single province. It was not Naples, but Salerno was second best. von Hasseln was very pleased as the province was coastal and in the Genoa trade node. He therefore designated it as the "province of the decade" and after that he did not seek any more expansion . Meanwhile France was able to get 3 provinces back . But Spain had kept the rich provinces of Bordeaux and Languedoc. For Geneva, this peace was almost perfect as it kept the two antagonist in almost precise balance ( France, while weaker than Spain, was a closer threat geographically). And relations between the French and Genevans remained hostile despite fighting a war together .
With physical expansion for Geneva settled for he decade, the indefatigable von Hasseln shifted to building up Geneva' alliances. First he clarified to the Venetians that Geneva would be nice to them, but that they should not expect to drag her into wars of their own choosing, and the alliance was from here on out defensive only .
He also began work on an alliance with Friesland, with the hope that one day this would lead to a friendly nation ruling all the Netherlands and acting as a helper against Britain [ h/t @Steckie ] . At the time , Friesland was actually allied to Great Britain. But that did not prevent them from concluding an alliance with Geneva. After all, for such a small nation having a Great Power friend was always considered good.
The other affair that consumed van Hasseln was the Navy. You see a few years prior, the Burgher Estate asked for the government to clamp down on the rampant privateering that various nations were doing in Genoa trade node. And von Hasslen thought this was going to be an easy affair, with the Genevan "Navy" chasing the pirates away in a few months. Unfortunately, the Genoa node was so rich that other nations, particularly the British based out of Corsica, kept pirating anyways.
The Genevan navy at the time consisted of about 25 trade ships. These were usually kept in Genoa during war. There was one heavy ship, the "Waldstatte", which was the flagship and pride of the Navy. In addition, seven transports were recently built to help ferry troops to the exclave of Salerno if needed . A few galleys captured from previous battles or inherited from Saluzzo rounded up the lot. Clearly, a fighting force that was not .
von Hasseln set about remedying that, and he ordered the construction of new Galleons in all available provinces. This surprised some as customarily nations in the Mediterranean preferred the cheaper and more nimble galley over the heavy ship. But for whatever reason, Genevans were naturally gifted at fighting from heavy ships - they practiced on lake Geneva maybe?- and so he took advantage of that .
This effort would eventually bear fruit 3 years later when the British finally gave up on pirating in Genoa and the Burghers celebrated in triumph ( although the British would soon return to their dirty habit) .
Meanhile, on the foreign front, Friesland annexed Holland , getting them once province closer to creating a united Netherlands ( although Amsterdam held by the British was still a major obstacle). And the Emperorship passed from the Austrians to the Burgundians ( most Electors were still Catholic, and Burgundy had better relations with them )
Von Hasseln kept Geneva mostly at peace in that time. He did wage two brief wars against Three Leagues and Switzerland just to give the army some practice and to shore up Republican Tradition
Internally, one of von Hasseln last major actions was the ratification of the reform establishing a Parliament to give more representation to the other cities besides Geneva, instead of concentrating power in the office of the Syndic.
And the new Landtag immediately passed the first law , enabling better development of the city of Saluzzo.
And soon after von Hasseln pushed for the creation of the first Universities, ahead of the anticipated date to speed up the development of Geneva's cities.
von Hasseln's last reelection occurred on November 13, 1605 . Around that time he crushed a rebellion in Salerno, by using mercenaries recruited there as Geneva did not have enough ships to ferry the necessary troops to the exclave.
von Hasslen passed away the next Summer, at age 62.
His tenure was a very memorable one. He presided over the acquisitions of claims over South Germany and most of Italy, switched religion to Protestant, led the League War , annexed Rome and more than tripled Geneva's coastal provinces, helped France defeat Spain and began construction of Universities and a real Navy. It is doubtful another syndic would match his achievements.
He was succeeded by a middle aged Military man, von Baltharsar . He would continue building up the Navy. And that would allow him to declare Rome a dominant trade hub, further improving its ability to grow.
Eager to make his own mark on history, he started to look for ways to attack Geneva's other nemesis: Great Britain . Now he could not attack Great Britain directly, for that would bring in their big ally Spain . Rather he looked to attack them via a weak ally. And after searching for a while, he stumbled upon the Knights of Malta, who were allied to Britain and to Mainz. ANd Mainx was lcoated in South Germany where Geneva had valid claims. Adopting the same ally-of-ally strategy that his predecessor used to get to Bohemia, he prepared to declare war
However he discovered that Hungary had adopted the title of Defender of the Faith and that his ally Sweden was ruled by a cruel King who refused to join the war.
He was undeterred by Hungary's presence. In fact, he considered that a bonus, as it gave him the opportunity to grow his ally Venice at their expense. But to avoid a difficult war , he spent some months cajoling the Swedes to join, and finally they agreed
The war started on the water, as the brand new Genevan fleet ambushed the 30 British trade ships pirating in the Genoa node. The first engagement of the new Navy ended in victory, with the British withdrawing to Corsica. But that was not the best news that months. In fact, the Syndic was ecstatic to learn that Otttomans, seeing that Hungary was in the war, decided to join Geneva.
With the Ottomans on Geneva's side, there was no doubt how the land battle would go . Balthasar first action though was to rush the troops to the Dalmatian coast. he wanted to secure it before the Turks so that it can be later ceded to Venice . But this haste was not necessary, as the Ottoman armies were slow returning from a recent war with Mamluks, and Hungary actually invaded Ottoman lands .
That allowed Genevan armies to being the conquest of Croatia and Dalmatia. Meanwhile a small Genevan force landed on Corsica and ejected the British squafron which was destoryed
But Britain would not take defeats on the water easily. Soon the British heavy fleet was spotted apporaching Ligurian sea . The Genevan admiral took account of hte size of the respective fleets - both 16 heay ships- , and took heart in the presence nearby of the Ottoman galley fleet.
He decided to challenge the British and battle was joined on November 14, and fighting continued for the next 12 days . The Genevans held their own, not losing any heavy ships, but when it became clear the Ottoman galleys were not coming to their aid, they broke off engagement and withdrew to Genoa, leaving a small Turkish trade squadron behind.
The first major naval battle for Geneva was a defeat. But it was against one the toughest navies out there and nothing to be ashamed of . The British navy, without any bases in the Western mediterranean, promptly withdrew back home leaving the waters around Corsica in Genevan hands.
These events bring us to the end of the chapter, which we close on February 1st, instead of January , to include the beginning of the Age of Absolutism on Feb 1, 1600.
We left the last chapter with Geneva and France locked in a brutal fight against their common enemies Spain and Britain. Geneva had done well on the battlefield but her treasury was suffering. After some deliberation, Syndic von Hasseln decided that Geneva would continue the war with France and would not seek a separate peace ( he did not have enough leverage on Spain to negotiate separately) . To mitigate the financial pain, he issued edicts for the protection of trade in all of the various States . Meanwhile on the battlefield, Genevan armies were again victorious in Labourd. And soon after news that Britain exited the war raised Genevan opinion about the war .
With his mind made up that Geneva would remain in the war, he worked for a faster conclusion and ordered Genevan armies into Spain proper. Another aim of that push was to secure as many provinces for Genevan occupation as possible, so France could not annex them . And one of the most valuable provinces in that regard was Barcelona, where the main Genevan army was sent on a force march to retake before the Hungarians arrived there. Similarly , Genevan troops were rushed to Tarragona and Cantabria to secure them before the French did.
The Genevan siege army under Henri Blies was then ordered to take Burgos as fast as possible ( barrage was used ) . Blies then withdrew back to Vizcaya behind the fort's protection, but not before refilling the garrison with regular troops to avoid it falling back in Spanish hands.
At that point , von Hasslen ordered the armies to stand back and let the French and Hungarians carry the offensive. Any provinces South of Burgos could not be annexed by France anyways, and so it was harmless to let the French try to take them . However, the allies failed and were defeated by the Spanish
It was clear to everyone at that point that Geneva was carrying the war effort. And it was only when the main Spanish force under their capable king Carlos got tied up with the Genevan field army at Barcelona that French arms had some success near Madrid
At that point, the Spanish King realized he was beaten. And the French King realized he could not gain any more provinces since Geneva occupied all the prize provinces ( Bordeaux, Languedoc, the Catalan and Asturian coasts) . They therefore reached a peace agreement.
Geneva was nicely rewarded with a single province. It was not Naples, but Salerno was second best. von Hasseln was very pleased as the province was coastal and in the Genoa trade node. He therefore designated it as the "province of the decade" and after that he did not seek any more expansion . Meanwhile France was able to get 3 provinces back . But Spain had kept the rich provinces of Bordeaux and Languedoc. For Geneva, this peace was almost perfect as it kept the two antagonist in almost precise balance ( France, while weaker than Spain, was a closer threat geographically). And relations between the French and Genevans remained hostile despite fighting a war together .
With physical expansion for Geneva settled for he decade, the indefatigable von Hasseln shifted to building up Geneva' alliances. First he clarified to the Venetians that Geneva would be nice to them, but that they should not expect to drag her into wars of their own choosing, and the alliance was from here on out defensive only .
He also began work on an alliance with Friesland, with the hope that one day this would lead to a friendly nation ruling all the Netherlands and acting as a helper against Britain [ h/t @Steckie ] . At the time , Friesland was actually allied to Great Britain. But that did not prevent them from concluding an alliance with Geneva. After all, for such a small nation having a Great Power friend was always considered good.
The other affair that consumed van Hasseln was the Navy. You see a few years prior, the Burgher Estate asked for the government to clamp down on the rampant privateering that various nations were doing in Genoa trade node. And von Hasslen thought this was going to be an easy affair, with the Genevan "Navy" chasing the pirates away in a few months. Unfortunately, the Genoa node was so rich that other nations, particularly the British based out of Corsica, kept pirating anyways.
The Genevan navy at the time consisted of about 25 trade ships. These were usually kept in Genoa during war. There was one heavy ship, the "Waldstatte", which was the flagship and pride of the Navy. In addition, seven transports were recently built to help ferry troops to the exclave of Salerno if needed . A few galleys captured from previous battles or inherited from Saluzzo rounded up the lot. Clearly, a fighting force that was not .
von Hasseln set about remedying that, and he ordered the construction of new Galleons in all available provinces. This surprised some as customarily nations in the Mediterranean preferred the cheaper and more nimble galley over the heavy ship. But for whatever reason, Genevans were naturally gifted at fighting from heavy ships - they practiced on lake Geneva maybe?- and so he took advantage of that .
This effort would eventually bear fruit 3 years later when the British finally gave up on pirating in Genoa and the Burghers celebrated in triumph ( although the British would soon return to their dirty habit) .
Meanhile, on the foreign front, Friesland annexed Holland , getting them once province closer to creating a united Netherlands ( although Amsterdam held by the British was still a major obstacle). And the Emperorship passed from the Austrians to the Burgundians ( most Electors were still Catholic, and Burgundy had better relations with them )
Von Hasseln kept Geneva mostly at peace in that time. He did wage two brief wars against Three Leagues and Switzerland just to give the army some practice and to shore up Republican Tradition
Internally, one of von Hasseln last major actions was the ratification of the reform establishing a Parliament to give more representation to the other cities besides Geneva, instead of concentrating power in the office of the Syndic.
And the new Landtag immediately passed the first law , enabling better development of the city of Saluzzo.
And soon after von Hasseln pushed for the creation of the first Universities, ahead of the anticipated date to speed up the development of Geneva's cities.
von Hasseln's last reelection occurred on November 13, 1605 . Around that time he crushed a rebellion in Salerno, by using mercenaries recruited there as Geneva did not have enough ships to ferry the necessary troops to the exclave.
von Hasslen passed away the next Summer, at age 62.
His tenure was a very memorable one. He presided over the acquisitions of claims over South Germany and most of Italy, switched religion to Protestant, led the League War , annexed Rome and more than tripled Geneva's coastal provinces, helped France defeat Spain and began construction of Universities and a real Navy. It is doubtful another syndic would match his achievements.
He was succeeded by a middle aged Military man, von Baltharsar . He would continue building up the Navy. And that would allow him to declare Rome a dominant trade hub, further improving its ability to grow.
Eager to make his own mark on history, he started to look for ways to attack Geneva's other nemesis: Great Britain . Now he could not attack Great Britain directly, for that would bring in their big ally Spain . Rather he looked to attack them via a weak ally. And after searching for a while, he stumbled upon the Knights of Malta, who were allied to Britain and to Mainz. ANd Mainx was lcoated in South Germany where Geneva had valid claims. Adopting the same ally-of-ally strategy that his predecessor used to get to Bohemia, he prepared to declare war
However he discovered that Hungary had adopted the title of Defender of the Faith and that his ally Sweden was ruled by a cruel King who refused to join the war.
He was undeterred by Hungary's presence. In fact, he considered that a bonus, as it gave him the opportunity to grow his ally Venice at their expense. But to avoid a difficult war , he spent some months cajoling the Swedes to join, and finally they agreed
The war started on the water, as the brand new Genevan fleet ambushed the 30 British trade ships pirating in the Genoa node. The first engagement of the new Navy ended in victory, with the British withdrawing to Corsica. But that was not the best news that months. In fact, the Syndic was ecstatic to learn that Otttomans, seeing that Hungary was in the war, decided to join Geneva.
With the Ottomans on Geneva's side, there was no doubt how the land battle would go . Balthasar first action though was to rush the troops to the Dalmatian coast. he wanted to secure it before the Turks so that it can be later ceded to Venice . But this haste was not necessary, as the Ottoman armies were slow returning from a recent war with Mamluks, and Hungary actually invaded Ottoman lands .
That allowed Genevan armies to being the conquest of Croatia and Dalmatia. Meanwhile a small Genevan force landed on Corsica and ejected the British squafron which was destoryed
But Britain would not take defeats on the water easily. Soon the British heavy fleet was spotted apporaching Ligurian sea . The Genevan admiral took account of hte size of the respective fleets - both 16 heay ships- , and took heart in the presence nearby of the Ottoman galley fleet.
He decided to challenge the British and battle was joined on November 14, and fighting continued for the next 12 days . The Genevans held their own, not losing any heavy ships, but when it became clear the Ottoman galleys were not coming to their aid, they broke off engagement and withdrew to Genoa, leaving a small Turkish trade squadron behind.
The first major naval battle for Geneva was a defeat. But it was against one the toughest navies out there and nothing to be ashamed of . The British navy, without any bases in the Western mediterranean, promptly withdrew back home leaving the waters around Corsica in Genevan hands.
These events bring us to the end of the chapter, which we close on February 1st, instead of January , to include the beginning of the Age of Absolutism on Feb 1, 1600.
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I wonder what Spain and France's rulers thought of the war that Geneva started, would they be supportive of one side in particular?
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Now watch as you can't feed Amsterdam to Friesland because 'Friesland doesn't want that province'
Curious to see if you'll manage to kick the British out of Corsica and France as well.
All in all, things are looking up for Geneva. Very good that Spain got takes down a bit.
I think that turn around of you diplomatic situation dumping Spain and Austria for Sweden and Ottomans made a big difference.
Curious to see if you'll manage to kick the British out of Corsica and France as well.
All in all, things are looking up for Geneva. Very good that Spain got takes down a bit.
I think that turn around of you diplomatic situation dumping Spain and Austria for Sweden and Ottomans made a big difference.
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These are some great gains. The Brits will be forced to submit. How much do you think you'll have to weaken them to lower their GP score?
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I ended the chapter in February so I can discuss Absolutism .
I finished chapter at -95 Max Absolutism ( yes , MINUS 95) . After removing all estate privileges that I do not really need that got better, down to -66 . I can remove more Estate privileges but that comes at a cost
Gov capacity is a problem because I am still duchy since I am in HRE. I can exit HRE, but that limits options to declare war without involving Emperor ( e.g the current war I have on Mainz would be complicated). I do not want HRE dismantled because it prevents PLC or Sweden or France from growing into it.
But assuming I get over Gov capacity with more buildings ( though I am pretty maxed out on Courthouses and State Houses) , and I cancel all privelges other than the Mana ones, we save 55 negative Absolutism . That gets us to -11 absolutism. If remove Mana privileges, we are at +4 . So now we need to talk about the Gov reforms.
We are staying as Republic . Mana is absolutely necessary to tall play, and monarchy wihout ability to PU is clearly inferior. But we can look into reforming out of frequent elections for example. Let's see what we gain/lose bi changing Gov Reforms while staying as Republic
If my Math holds, there are +95 Max Absolutism to be gained if I implement all the indicated siwtches. That gets us to 100 Max Absolutism if we also do all the Estate changes.
Is switching to maximize Absolutism worth it? That is a difficult question. My gut feeling says no . I have been swimming in Mana and have used it to get things like a +6 Siege general ( by just rolling for more generals) . Switching to 5 year elections ( from 2 years) costs 75 Mana per 5 years ( from the random +50 you get on re-election ) plus anywhere from zero to 144 Mana from the upgrades to the ruler from re-electing (if he is already 6/6/6 no gain from shorter election cycle, if he is 1/1/4 and gets upgraded twice in the 5 years ) . This is not counting the +1 random bonuses
If I decide to play with low Absolutism, I can use all Estate privilege spots for more bonuses . There is no difference between zero max absolutism and negative 90 max Absolutism.
I finished chapter at -95 Max Absolutism ( yes , MINUS 95) . After removing all estate privileges that I do not really need that got better, down to -66 . I can remove more Estate privileges but that comes at a cost
Gov capacity is a problem because I am still duchy since I am in HRE. I can exit HRE, but that limits options to declare war without involving Emperor ( e.g the current war I have on Mainz would be complicated). I do not want HRE dismantled because it prevents PLC or Sweden or France from growing into it.
But assuming I get over Gov capacity with more buildings ( though I am pretty maxed out on Courthouses and State Houses) , and I cancel all privelges other than the Mana ones, we save 55 negative Absolutism . That gets us to -11 absolutism. If remove Mana privileges, we are at +4 . So now we need to talk about the Gov reforms.
We are staying as Republic . Mana is absolutely necessary to tall play, and monarchy wihout ability to PU is clearly inferior. But we can look into reforming out of frequent elections for example. Let's see what we gain/lose bi changing Gov Reforms while staying as Republic
If my Math holds, there are +95 Max Absolutism to be gained if I implement all the indicated siwtches. That gets us to 100 Max Absolutism if we also do all the Estate changes.
Is switching to maximize Absolutism worth it? That is a difficult question. My gut feeling says no . I have been swimming in Mana and have used it to get things like a +6 Siege general ( by just rolling for more generals) . Switching to 5 year elections ( from 2 years) costs 75 Mana per 5 years ( from the random +50 you get on re-election ) plus anywhere from zero to 144 Mana from the upgrades to the ruler from re-electing (if he is already 6/6/6 no gain from shorter election cycle, if he is 1/1/4 and gets upgraded twice in the 5 years ) . This is not counting the +1 random bonuses
If I decide to play with low Absolutism, I can use all Estate privilege spots for more bonuses . There is no difference between zero max absolutism and negative 90 max Absolutism.
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I am hoping to force them to give Amsterdam to Friesland so Netherlands can potenitally form . And take Corsica for myself. If I can also give Calais for Friesland that would be great. I do not intend to make them give up their French provinces to France. I think those provinces are more liability for them than benefit.
Eventually , I think I will need to foment independence in the New World to have them lose that Dev. and ally African and Asian powers to make them lose other possessions in those continents
Oh if that happens I will be so
I am hoping for Corsica to be my province of the decade ( will give me access to Guardia Corsa merc company. is coastal and in Genoa node), I do not intend to make them give cores back to France ( except maybe calais)
I think France needs all her cores to unlock more missions ( e.g to invade Italy).. I have no intention of helping France too much .
Absolutism gives you discipline (nice to have but the max effect at 100 absolutism is still less than a mil advisor, plus you have Genevan/Swiss ideas; foreign core duration reduction (effectively useless); decadence reduction (completely useless); and administrative efficiency.
Administrative efficiency reduces your aggressive expansion, advisor costs, province war score costs, effects of province development on overextension and diplo-annexation cost. Most of these are irrelevant since you’re only taking a province a decade. The remainder would be also achieved by granting certain estate privileges that would also decrease absolutism.
I think you don’t need absolutism as all and I would go even deeper into your build because of this.
Administrative efficiency reduces your aggressive expansion, advisor costs, province war score costs, effects of province development on overextension and diplo-annexation cost. Most of these are irrelevant since you’re only taking a province a decade. The remainder would be also achieved by granting certain estate privileges that would also decrease absolutism.
I think you don’t need absolutism as all and I would go even deeper into your build because of this.
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I agree with Historywhiz on this: for your game it seems like the discipline and admin efficiency are "nice-to-have" and not "need-to-have" and that you have alternatives for the parts you do want.
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GLad we are all in agreement then. I will max out on Estates then for more bonuses.
BUt I think I should revisit this after Imperialism . A viable strategy to mortally cripple a major is to win one direct war against them then create a client state in their most critical and valuable provinces and release it as independent before the decade chapter end. For that the war score and AE reduction from admin efficiency would be good.
Before Imperialism this is not practical . So until then Estates and frequent elections are the way to go.
Chapter 16: The Calvinist Connection (1610-1620)
Chapter 16: The Calvinist Connection (1610-1620)
We ended the last chapter with Geneva waging an indirect war on Great Britain via their ally-of-ally Mainz. One the main aims of that war was to have Britain cede the important province of Amsterdam to Friesland. To make sure that aim was actually achievable, Syndic von Baltharsar ordered the Genevan army to transfer occupation of said city to Friesland as early as possible. He then sent feelers just to test out Friesland's willingness to take the province. To his dismay, and as predicted by international observers ( h/t @Steckie ), Friesland did not want that province .
That angered the Syndic who started to regard the Frisians with contempt. And with now Friesland occupying the province, he had no options of annexing it outright in an eventual peace. Geneva needed to reoccupy the province, and that meant letting it fall back into British hands first. So he ordered the army operating in the Netherlands to withdraw back towards Switzerland region . And he had the Genevan armies focus on occupying as much of Hungary as possible
The poor Hungarians were at that point getting squeezed between the Genevans advancing from the Adriatic, the Ottomans advancing from the South and the Swedes from the North.
Meanwhile on the Western front, the British landed a fresh army in the Netherlands and began sieging the cities of Friesland. The Syndic ordered the Genevan army to avoid contact with the British there, and directed it instead to invest the city of Calais which fell in January 1611.
Once the British took the Frisian city of Den Haag they quickly reoccupied Amsterdam. That was the signal for the Syndic to order the Genevan armies to hurry from Hungary to the Netherlands. At the same time, the army in Calais was ordered to relieve the siege of Antwerpen, while a new mercenary company, the Flemish Company, was recruited in occupied Calais as reinforcement ( the ability to recruit mercenaries in occupied provinces is a tactic that Geneva would use again in this Chapter in much more critical situations).
Unfortunately the battle of Antwerp was a defeat for Geneva and her army was forced to withdraw to Calais. To help with focusing the war effort on the Netherlands theatre, the Syndic decided this was a good time to force Hungary out of the war . With Pest and most Hungarian provinces in the hands of Geneva and her allies, the Hungarian King was forced to submit to a difficult peace which saw Geneva's allies Bohemia and Venice regain territory at his expense
The Syndic could have chosen to continue the occupation of Hungary longer and try and get them to cede more land to his allies, but he did not want to weaken Hungary too much. Although an official rival of Geneva, the Hungarians played an important role in preventing expansion of the huge Polish or Ottoman Empires in Eastern Europe. You see, Hungary was allied to France and guaranteed by Poland . This effectively deterred an Ottoman attack . But a very weak Hungary could tempt Poland into revoking the guarantee which would break the uneasy tense peace that was in place.
But one unforeseen and unfortunate side effect of the Hungarian peace was the designation of many Genevan army units traveling to the Netherlands as "exiled" and out of combat , as they were traversing neutral territory . As a result, when the Genevan armies reached Amsterdam, only the Morlachs company was capable of combat . The waiting British army had no difficulty dispatching them in battle.
Luckily the Genevans were able to hold Calais against a British attack , and were thus able to rehabilitate the exiled troops in Calais and avoid the long term trek to South Germany . The regrouped Genevan force then took the offensive, supported by friendly Ottomans units nearby . Their immediate target was the liberation of the Frisian city of Den Haag which blocked the road to Amsterdam.
But just as Den Haag was about to fall , the Frisians decided to make peace with the enemy, dooming the Genevan armies to another round of exile.
If the Syndic was already annoyed with the Frisians at their refusal to accept Amsterdam, he was now livid at their interference with the war effort .And what made him angrier at the delay caused by the Frisian peace was the fact that Spain had just declared another war on France, this time with the help of their ally Portugal ( the Iberian alliance broken by von Hasseln previously had apparently been reinstated).
The Syndic hoped that France. with the help of her allies , would be able to hold off the Iberians until Geneva finishes her war . But while his attention was focused on these events, the British managed a surprise landing in Sardinia . It was only the destruction of a sentinel unit left there that alerted the Syndic to the problem
Since Corsica was one of the main war aims, the Syndic did not want to see it lost . With the British fleet blocking reinforcements to the island, Geneva again resorted to mercenaries and the Free Company was raised in Corsica, using local volunteers apparently. But to give time for the mercenaries to become combat ready , the fleet was ordered out of the safety of Lucca to challenge the British navy
The outcome of the second battle of the Ligurian sea was similar to the first. The Genevan navy held its own for several days and withdrew in good order, dishing out as well as it received. And while the battle was a technical defeat, it was a de facto victory as the British navy withdrew back to the Atlantic to refit. That left the British expeditionary force in Sardinia stranded , and allowed time for he mercenaries in Corsica to prepare for battle. And instead of the British taking Corsica, it was the Genevans who took Sardinia and destroyed the expeditionary force
At that point the war was effectively over. The Archbishop of Mainz, officially the war leader of the enemy alliance, was willing to force the British to part with Amsterdam , Calais and Corsica. But the Syndic wanted to completely kick the British out of their mainland ports . So he kept the war going, to put more pressure on the enemy
And to convince the enemy of their utter defeat, various British armies that were stranded in Europe were chased and destroyed over the next 18 months .
By October 1613, the enemy alliance was willing to cede all 4 British port on the mainland ( Calais, Amsterdam, Corsica and Sassari) to Geneva. There was no compelling reason for Geneva to annex all 4 , an action that would have triggered a hostile coalition . And many expected the Syndic to annex Corsica to Geneva as the "province of the decade" , and release Amsterdam as the free nation of Holland and Sassari as the free nation of Sardinia, leaving Calais to be sold to a 3rd party. But the Syndic had other ideas. For starters, he did not trust that Amsterdam under a free Holland would not fall back into British hands, and he really wanted to keep both Calais and Amsterdam, important centers of trade in the Channel, out of British hands. So he decided to have Sardinia released as a free nation out of Sassari, and have Calais, Amsterdam and Corsica annexed to Geneva, with their fate to be determined after the war.
The Syndic's first action after the peace was to offer Amsterdam again to Friesland, at zero cost.
But they still refused to take it. In contrast , the Sardinians were eager to annex Corsica when offered the chance. Needing to get Geneva's province count back to normal, von Baltharsar ratified the sale of Corsica to the Sardinians . And then telling the Frisians "If you don't want Amsterdam , then I will keep it" , he created the vassal state of Holland out of Amsterdam and gave possession of Calais to his new vassal.
He explained his plan to the Council that Geneva was facing diminishing financial returns in its control of the Genoa trade, and needed to expand her trade opportunities . And what better place to do so than the Channel, the second richest trade zone in the world. Expanding there would give Geneva money, and more importantly, would deny income to the British. Furthermore, he argued that given their recent behavior, the Frisians could not be counted on to be an effective counterweight to the British. If Britain was to be challenged in the Channel, it was best done by Geneva herself.
And he immediately began to improve relations with the vassal state of Holland with an eye towards complete integration in 10 years. And to further cement the links between Geneva, hitherto an Alpine and Italian nation, and her new acquisitions in the North, he decided to convert Geneva back to the Reformed faith. That was an idea that he had been planning for some time, and now it made sense since future Genevan provinces in the Netherlands area were majority Reformed. He thus told the people of Geneva to think of the historical Calvinist connection between the two lands , so as to get over the impression that Geneva was becoming a border gore amalgam of provinces scattered all around the map.
But before we get to that, a quick detour to internal affairs. On the advice of outside observers ( @Steckie and @Historywhiz ) and having seen Parliament recently pass a law improving development in the entire nation, the Syndic decided to completely abandon any thoughts about Absolutist rule and granted more privileges to the Estates to gain sundry benefits for his nation
He then declared a quick war on Three Leagues to rid himself of the "Defender of the Faith" title as a prelude to conversion.
He then officially made Reformed faith the religion of Geneva again.
With more missionaries than before thanks to the control of Rome, and with the Age of Reformation over, there was no concern about the religious turmoil disaster and the Syndic let his underlings handle conversion of the various provinces and did not pay it any further attention . What he paid attention to , however, was the unfolding disaster to his west. Unlike the last time when Geneva was invited to help France against Spain, this time there was no such invitation. Despite the fact that the war there pitted three Great Powers against two ( Britain had joined her partner in crime Spain in the attack on France after the peace with Geneva)
And soon enough the French gave up and signed away a large chunk of their land .
The peace was received in dismay in Geneva, where a new Syndic ( Markus Honegger ) had succeeded von Baltharsar. Just a few years ago there was elation when Britain lost 4 provinces and before that Geneva was able to steal Salerno from Spain. But now Geneva's rivals have made tremendous gains with apparent ease, turning the once formidable French into a rump state. To make matters worse, the alliance "hug box" between Portugal, Spain and Britain was back again with each nation allied with other two . Apparently the Pope had managed to keep all 3 Catholic colonizer nations from getting into fights with each other.
Honegger could not let this situation worsen. He needed to strike back at this triple alliance before it gained more steam. And after some searching , he found a way to attack Portugal, the weakest of the three allies.
You see Portugal had proclaimed themselves Defender of the Catholics. And that allowed Geneva to attack them indirectly without bringing in their 2 big friends. Furthermore, the Syndic observed exiled Portuguese troops in Italy heading back home ( likely from Hungary who was allied to France in the last war ) . HE quickly hatched a plan to attack Portugal itself before their troops got back home and reactivated. He had mercenary companies recruited in Aix and Turin and quickly sent almost the entire Genevan force to Iberia, leaving just one small army to guard the homeland .
Using barrage and a capable 4 siege general ( the legendary Henri Blies had passed away sadly), Geneva was able to take both Evora and Lisboa before the Portuguese army arrived . A few smaller Portuguese units were picked off as they reached the border. As for the main Portuguese army, it was chased and finally cornered on the plain of Lugo in Northwest Iberia.
After they were beaten at Lugo, the Portuguese were chased all the way to Malaga in the South of Spain where they met their demise. Geneva caught another lucky break soon after as the vanguard force was able to cross into Ceuta in Africa and defeat the small Portuguese unit guarding the Strait.
Unfortunately, only the vanguard unit was able to cross, as the Portuguese fleet hurried to blockade the Strait. To reinforce the army already in Africa, Geneva resorted again to recruiting mercenaries in occupied provinces , this time summoning the Grand Company in Ceuta .
With reinforcements at their back, the vanguard troops took Fez castle and proceeded to siege the fort at Tadla. Meanwhile the navy took advantage of a momentary absence of the main Portuguese fleet and proceeded to unblock the Strait of Gibraltar
The naval victory at Gibraltar allowed the rest of the troops to cross into North Africa and take the coastal fort of Dahra and then engage the Portuguese army at Mititdja and defeat it.
That battle brings us to 1620 and the end of the chapter. Geneva is poised to complete the conquest of North Africa soon, while her allies continue to handle the minor enemies in Europe. And the Syndic is already looking at peace options, with his main aim being the revival of the Moorish Kingdom of Morocco.
By having an allied Morocco at the back of the Iberian powers , the Syndic hopes he can make any future war against Spain a two front war for them . But that is in the future. As for now, Geneva is still looking good economically , gaining from her trade presence in the Channel as well as occupied Sevilla.
We ended the last chapter with Geneva waging an indirect war on Great Britain via their ally-of-ally Mainz. One the main aims of that war was to have Britain cede the important province of Amsterdam to Friesland. To make sure that aim was actually achievable, Syndic von Baltharsar ordered the Genevan army to transfer occupation of said city to Friesland as early as possible. He then sent feelers just to test out Friesland's willingness to take the province. To his dismay, and as predicted by international observers ( h/t @Steckie ), Friesland did not want that province
.
That angered the Syndic who started to regard the Frisians with contempt. And with now Friesland occupying the province, he had no options of annexing it outright in an eventual peace. Geneva needed to reoccupy the province, and that meant letting it fall back into British hands first. So he ordered the army operating in the Netherlands to withdraw back towards Switzerland region . And he had the Genevan armies focus on occupying as much of Hungary as possible
The poor Hungarians were at that point getting squeezed between the Genevans advancing from the Adriatic, the Ottomans advancing from the South and the Swedes from the North.
Meanwhile on the Western front, the British landed a fresh army in the Netherlands and began sieging the cities of Friesland. The Syndic ordered the Genevan army to avoid contact with the British there, and directed it instead to invest the city of Calais which fell in January 1611.
Once the British took the Frisian city of Den Haag they quickly reoccupied Amsterdam. That was the signal for the Syndic to order the Genevan armies to hurry from Hungary to the Netherlands. At the same time, the army in Calais was ordered to relieve the siege of Antwerpen, while a new mercenary company, the Flemish Company, was recruited in occupied Calais as reinforcement ( the ability to recruit mercenaries in occupied provinces is a tactic that Geneva would use again in this Chapter in much more critical situations).
Unfortunately the battle of Antwerp was a defeat for Geneva and her army was forced to withdraw to Calais. To help with focusing the war effort on the Netherlands theatre, the Syndic decided this was a good time to force Hungary out of the war . With Pest and most Hungarian provinces in the hands of Geneva and her allies, the Hungarian King was forced to submit to a difficult peace which saw Geneva's allies Bohemia and Venice regain territory at his expense
The Syndic could have chosen to continue the occupation of Hungary longer and try and get them to cede more land to his allies, but he did not want to weaken Hungary too much. Although an official rival of Geneva, the Hungarians played an important role in preventing expansion of the huge Polish or Ottoman Empires in Eastern Europe. You see, Hungary was allied to France and guaranteed by Poland . This effectively deterred an Ottoman attack . But a very weak Hungary could tempt Poland into revoking the guarantee which would break the uneasy tense peace that was in place.
But one unforeseen and unfortunate side effect of the Hungarian peace was the designation of many Genevan army units traveling to the Netherlands as "exiled" and out of combat , as they were traversing neutral territory . As a result, when the Genevan armies reached Amsterdam, only the Morlachs company was capable of combat . The waiting British army had no difficulty dispatching them in battle.
Luckily the Genevans were able to hold Calais against a British attack , and were thus able to rehabilitate the exiled troops in Calais and avoid the long term trek to South Germany . The regrouped Genevan force then took the offensive, supported by friendly Ottomans units nearby . Their immediate target was the liberation of the Frisian city of Den Haag which blocked the road to Amsterdam.
But just as Den Haag was about to fall , the Frisians decided to make peace with the enemy, dooming the Genevan armies to another round of exile.
If the Syndic was already annoyed with the Frisians at their refusal to accept Amsterdam, he was now
livid at their interference with the war effort .And what made him angrier at the delay caused by the Frisian peace was the fact that Spain had just declared another war on France, this time with the help of their ally Portugal ( the Iberian alliance broken by von Hasseln previously had apparently been reinstated).
The Syndic hoped that France. with the help of her allies , would be able to hold off the Iberians until Geneva finishes her war . But while his attention was focused on these events, the British managed a surprise landing in Sardinia . It was only the destruction of a sentinel unit left there that alerted the Syndic to the problem
Since Corsica was one of the main war aims, the Syndic did not want to see it lost . With the British fleet blocking reinforcements to the island, Geneva again resorted to mercenaries and the Free Company was raised in Corsica, using local volunteers apparently. But to give time for the mercenaries to become combat ready , the fleet was ordered out of the safety of Lucca to challenge the British navy
The outcome of the second battle of the Ligurian sea was similar to the first. The Genevan navy held its own for several days and withdrew in good order, dishing out as well as it received. And while the battle was a technical defeat, it was a de facto victory as the British navy withdrew back to the Atlantic to refit. That left the British expeditionary force in Sardinia stranded , and allowed time for he mercenaries in Corsica to prepare for battle. And instead of the British taking Corsica, it was the Genevans who took Sardinia and destroyed the expeditionary force
At that point the war was effectively over. The Archbishop of Mainz, officially the war leader of the enemy alliance, was willing to force the British to part with Amsterdam , Calais and Corsica. But the Syndic wanted to completely kick the British out of their mainland ports . So he kept the war going, to put more pressure on the enemy
And to convince the enemy of their utter defeat, various British armies that were stranded in Europe were chased and destroyed over the next 18 months .
By October 1613, the enemy alliance was willing to cede all 4 British port on the mainland ( Calais, Amsterdam, Corsica and Sassari) to Geneva. There was no compelling reason for Geneva to annex all 4 , an action that would have triggered a hostile coalition . And many expected the Syndic to annex Corsica to Geneva as the "province of the decade" , and release Amsterdam as the free nation of Holland and Sassari as the free nation of Sardinia, leaving Calais to be sold to a 3rd party. But the Syndic had other ideas. For starters, he did not trust that Amsterdam under a free Holland would not fall back into British hands, and he really wanted to keep both Calais and Amsterdam, important centers of trade in the Channel, out of British hands. So he decided to have Sardinia released as a free nation out of Sassari, and have Calais, Amsterdam and Corsica annexed to Geneva, with their fate to be determined after the war.
The Syndic's first action after the peace was to offer Amsterdam again to Friesland, at zero cost.
But they still refused to take it. In contrast , the Sardinians were eager to annex Corsica when offered the chance. Needing to get Geneva's province count back to normal, von Baltharsar ratified the sale of Corsica to the Sardinians . And then telling the Frisians "If you don't want Amsterdam , then I will keep it" , he created the vassal state of Holland out of Amsterdam and gave possession of Calais to his new vassal.
He explained his plan to the Council that Geneva was facing diminishing financial returns in its control of the Genoa trade, and needed to expand her trade opportunities . And what better place to do so than the Channel, the second richest trade zone in the world. Expanding there would give Geneva money, and more importantly, would deny income to the British. Furthermore, he argued that given their recent behavior, the Frisians could not be counted on to be an effective counterweight to the British. If Britain was to be challenged in the Channel, it was best done by Geneva herself.
And he immediately began to improve relations with the vassal state of Holland with an eye towards complete integration in 10 years. And to further cement the links between Geneva, hitherto an Alpine and Italian nation, and her new acquisitions in the North, he decided to convert Geneva back to the Reformed faith. That was an idea that he had been planning for some time, and now it made sense since future Genevan provinces in the Netherlands area were majority Reformed. He thus told the people of Geneva to think of the historical Calvinist connection between the two lands , so as to get over the impression that Geneva was becoming a border gore amalgam of provinces scattered all around the map.
But before we get to that, a quick detour to internal affairs. On the advice of outside observers ( @Steckie and @Historywhiz ) and having seen Parliament recently pass a law improving development in the entire nation, the Syndic decided to completely abandon any thoughts about Absolutist rule and granted more privileges to the Estates to gain sundry benefits for his nation
He then declared a quick war on Three Leagues to rid himself of the "Defender of the Faith" title as a prelude to conversion.
He then officially made Reformed faith the religion of Geneva again.
With more missionaries than before thanks to the control of Rome, and with the Age of Reformation over, there was no concern about the religious turmoil disaster and the Syndic let his underlings handle conversion of the various provinces and did not pay it any further attention . What he paid attention to , however, was the unfolding disaster to his west. Unlike the last time when Geneva was invited to help France against Spain, this time there was no such invitation. Despite the fact that the war there pitted three Great Powers against two ( Britain had joined her partner in crime Spain in the attack on France after the peace with Geneva)
And soon enough the French gave up and signed away a large chunk of their land .
The peace was received in dismay in Geneva, where a new Syndic ( Markus Honegger ) had succeeded von Baltharsar. Just a few years ago there was elation when Britain lost 4 provinces and before that Geneva was able to steal Salerno from Spain. But now Geneva's rivals have made tremendous gains with apparent ease, turning the once formidable French into a rump state. To make matters worse, the alliance "hug box" between Portugal, Spain and Britain was back again with each nation allied with other two . Apparently the Pope had managed to keep all 3 Catholic colonizer nations from getting into fights with each other.
Honegger could not let this situation worsen. He needed to strike back at this triple alliance before it gained more steam. And after some searching , he found a way to attack Portugal, the weakest of the three allies.
You see Portugal had proclaimed themselves Defender of the Catholics. And that allowed Geneva to attack them indirectly without bringing in their 2 big friends. Furthermore, the Syndic observed exiled Portuguese troops in Italy heading back home ( likely from Hungary who was allied to France in the last war ) . HE quickly hatched a plan to attack Portugal itself before their troops got back home and reactivated. He had mercenary companies recruited in Aix and Turin and quickly sent almost the entire Genevan force to Iberia, leaving just one small army to guard the homeland .
Using barrage and a capable 4 siege general ( the legendary Henri Blies had passed away sadly), Geneva was able to take both Evora and Lisboa before the Portuguese army arrived . A few smaller Portuguese units were picked off as they reached the border. As for the main Portuguese army, it was chased and finally cornered on the plain of Lugo in Northwest Iberia.
After they were beaten at Lugo, the Portuguese were chased all the way to Malaga in the South of Spain where they met their demise. Geneva caught another lucky break soon after as the vanguard force was able to cross into Ceuta in Africa and defeat the small Portuguese unit guarding the Strait.
Unfortunately, only the vanguard unit was able to cross, as the Portuguese fleet hurried to blockade the Strait. To reinforce the army already in Africa, Geneva resorted again to recruiting mercenaries in occupied provinces , this time summoning the Grand Company in Ceuta .
With reinforcements at their back, the vanguard troops took Fez castle and proceeded to siege the fort at Tadla. Meanwhile the navy took advantage of a momentary absence of the main Portuguese fleet and proceeded to unblock the Strait of Gibraltar
The naval victory at Gibraltar allowed the rest of the troops to cross into North Africa and take the coastal fort of Dahra and then engage the Portuguese army at Mititdja and defeat it.
That battle brings us to 1620 and the end of the chapter. Geneva is poised to complete the conquest of North Africa soon, while her allies continue to handle the minor enemies in Europe. And the Syndic is already looking at peace options, with his main aim being the revival of the Moorish Kingdom of Morocco.
By having an allied Morocco at the back of the Iberian powers , the Syndic hopes he can make any future war against Spain a two front war for them . But that is in the future. As for now, Geneva is still looking good economically , gaining from her trade presence in the Channel as well as occupied Sevilla.
- 1
Frisia was being an absolute pain there, if you get the chance (or if this AAR wasn't a challenge) you should conquer the area and feed it to Holland.
- 1
Oh, so that's where I should look to release a vassal. (I've just started to play EU4 again for the first time in very many years, and there's a lot of things hiding behind other things).
Is it a feasible solution to avoid the Dutch revolts (I happened to roll the Burgundian succession as Sweden) to release them as vassals and keep them as such over the danger period?
Is it a feasible solution to avoid the Dutch revolts (I happened to roll the Burgundian succession as Sweden) to release them as vassals and keep them as such over the danger period?
That is one way to avoid it. But you really want to own that land outright so best option is usually to move the capital.
For me , it is almost 1650 and 5 Dutch provinces are needed to trigger revolt. So I should be OK even if I annex Holland.
Long term plan is to own every trade center province in channel node . The dev discount from getting a World Trade Center is worth it. So yeah Frisia missed their chance to be a big power under Geneva's wing.