Some thoughts on the Romanian provinces
After looking into the status of the three Romanian principalities (Wallachia, Moldovia, and Transylvania), it seems some tweaking could be done to better reflect the history of the region.
For one, I'd suggest additional CB flags for all three countries on each other's capital provinces (though the emergence of Transylvania, of course, is only potential), as well as Ruthenia, Maros, and potentially Banat to represent reuniting Dacia. There is certainly evidence that this was attempted, and even accomplished, within the scope of the game. This is from the Romanian Government Home Page at
http://domino.kappa.ro/guvern/istoria-e.html:
"The end of the 16th century was dominated by the personality of Michael the Brave. He became voivode of Wallachia in 1593, joined the Christian League - an anti-Ottoman coalition initiated by the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire and he succeeded, following heavy battles (Calugareni, Giurgiu) to actually regain the independence of his country. In 1599-1600 he united for the first time in history all the territories inhabited by Romanians, proclaiming himself “prince of Wallachia, Transylvania and the whole of Moldavia.” The domestic situation was very complex, the neighbouring great-powers - the Ottoman Empire, Poland, the Hapsburg Empire - were hostile and joined forces to overthrow him; so this union was short-lived as Michael the Brave was assassinated in 1601. The union achieved by the valiant voivode became, however, a symbol to the posterity. In the 17th century, in various forms and with evanescent success, other princes attempted to restart the ambitious political program of Michael the Brave, by trying to form a united anti-Ottoman front, made-up of the three principalities and to restore the unity of ancient Dacia."
I'd also suggest increasing relations between Wallachia and Moldovia. They start at -40, which doesn't seem to reflect history, as they'd been allied against the Turks (I'm not sure how you set up Transylvania). This is from the same site:
"Alone or in alliance with the neighbouring Christian countries, more often in alliance with the neighbouring voivodes of the other two Romanian principalities, the voivodes of Wallachia Mircea the Old (1386-1418) and Vlad the Impeller (Dracula of the Mediaeval legends, 1456-1462), with Stephen the Great and Holy (1457-1504), the voivode of Moldavia and Iancu of Hunedoara, the voivode of Transylvania (1441-1456) fought heavy defence battles against the Ottoman Turks, delaying their expansion to Central Europe."
Ultimately, all three Romanian principalities became Turkish vassals (in the EU sense), though that was at least partially for the protection they offered. Ironically, it was the Turks who freed Transylvannia from Hungarian rule, setting them up as a quasi-independent state.
I'd also consider looking at the province religions. Transylvania's starting Religion should probably be Orthodox, as the native population was still largely intact under Hungarian rule. Maros, and possibly Banat too. With the partial independence they gained by paying tribute to the Turks, they were really a bastion of the Eastern Orthodox religion in the area.
Finally, I'd second giving Bujak to Moldovia (or at least testing it out). Though the evidence may be inconclusive, it would be nice if at least one principality survived to strive for reuinification, and unfortunately, Wallachia doesn't seem up to the task (a block to the Poles is an added bonus). I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable weakening Hungary more by giving Maros, Ruthenia or Banat to either principality, but that would be another option. It might actually add to their survivability.
Love the IGC, by the way. Kudos to the team for some excellent and entertaining work.
- Raife
belled cows of Foix, I just discovered (from random surfing from link to link from the address Jeremy posted above) that they still exist on the flag of Andorra:
