Kings, Emperors, and Statesmen: The History of the Polish Empire

[Sterkarm]

The Forging of an Empire​

"The King is dead."​

"So I've heard," replied Wszebor as Wladislaw handed him the message being sent around the countryside to towns, hamlets, and cities everywhere in Poland. Wszebor had been sitting, looking out upon the Wisla, watching the funeral guests coming into Krakow. "I suppose this means a change for all of us then?"

"Well, of course, but that is to come later, now is the time for honori--"

"Yes, yes, I know, honoring my father and his deeds. He was a great man, yes, but he has seen Poland crumble around his head and he did nothing!" shouted Wszebor.

"Kiev has fallen and it is said that the Prince of Kiev has conceded to your father's demands, perhaps he did more than you think," came Wladislaw's half-hearted reply. They had argued this same thing for months, and Wladislaw was tiring of it. Wszebor however, was never at a loss for enthusiasm for an argument.

"Kiev is but a stepping stone, Kiev itself is worthless. Lithuania is still controlled by Russians, and the entirety of Rus is controlled by but a few princes, who grow stronger every day. We cannot simply take a few bits of land here and there as my father did. We must win decisively and crush the Russian princes and kniazs. Every day we sit here, they plot against--"

"Enough! I've heard enough! Today is not the day for planning and making of war. Today, today is the day for honoring your father. Yes, honoring, not criticizing his every move. Now, I for one shall go now to his funeral. I leave you to your own thoughts."

So went the line of thought of Wszebor Piast. He was not a man of peace or of formalities. Wszebor was a warrior, a lion, and, only if times required it, a diplomat. He spent many days planning his eventual ascension to the throne of Poland.

In the following days, Wszebor was watchful. He conversed with many nobles, gaining support for himself against his brothers and any other contenders. Wszebor was, however, the heir apparent. His conversations with the Archbishop of Krakow, recorded in diocese records, were found to contain numerous promises made by Wszebor. In speaking to the Archbishop, Wszebor was careful as to what he said. Stanislaw was the most powerful man in Poland at the time, and had the support of the pope.

"I know you are a true servant of God, your Holiness, as am I. Poland is the bulwark of Christianity. If Catholicism is to flourish in the East and defeat the heretical Orthodox church, it will need a strong leader. Give me your support, Stanislaw, and I will spread Catholicism to the Volga and beyond. You want a Catholic Rus, do you not? I promise you Kiev will be Catholic within a decade, no matter how much blood must be spilt." Wszebor definitely knew how to make a pitch.

"Yes, I most certainly believe you, my son, but I am not sure if it is my role as a man of the cloth to have such a role in politics."

At this Wszebor became angry, "You are not sure? Then why were you so sure when you refused to give my father your armies? Were you unsure of whether it was your role to defend Poland or to simply betray your pledge to your king and country?"

"That is enough, Wszebor," said the archbishop sternly, "The past is the past, and you would do well to remember that. Do not hold grudges, my son, for it will only harm yourself. Well, I suppose I shall give you my support. As long as the Wlostowic line agrees, you shall be King of Poland. Do not abuse such power, my young liege, for it is not easily regained. All our hopes rest on your shoulders. Go now, and realize those dreams."

 

[Sterkarm]

I completely revised my original post, didn't like the first style I used.

 

[Lurken]

Good start Sterk. Will be fun to read the happenings of the "great" war.

 

[unmerged(55206)]

nice start one question which scenearior are you playing in?

 

[Lurken]

nice start one question which scenearior are you playing in?

We are playing a MP game, named Kings, Emperors and Statesmens. ANd can be found in Sterkarms sig. Check it out, if you please. Just you wait until Sterkarm catches up to what has happened.

"Pelhrim, savior of Germany", at least I will be looking forward to that part Sterkarm.

 

[Sid Meier]

The Fall of the Russian Bear

After the absorption of the Baltic tribesmen by the Prince of Kievien state as was told in the previous chapter penned by the great scribe Bradenski. The Kievien rulers were broke as the constant wars, intrigues and the occasional scandal forced the Kievien Prince to spend vas sums of money on maintaining the loyalty of his vassals, however his dismantling of Polotosk, the absorption of Lithuania and the weakening of Pereslavl as a threat put Kiev in a position to launch for the prestigious title of King of Rus and Lithuania but all this is soon to cease to be as the Kingdom of Poland who had up to this point been slow to act on the Kiev’s expansion declared war and marched a host into Kiev, Kiev unable to fight off Hungary and Poland collapsed and pledged fiety to Poland.

Pronsk while rivals as well were also subdued and the two brother states now realized they had a common goal and common enemy. Andrei Rurikovich and Bahadir Rurikovich the Prince’s of Kiev and Pronsk met and saw each other for the first time in a little known but fast growing commercial center of Moskva. They agreed that Andrei’s wing of the family would govern as King’s of Rus an that Bahadir’s would be Cuman and Bolgar, the next several days they bargained over their mutual borders and agreed that the titles and lands associated with them of Moskva, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Rostov, Vladimir, and Smolensk would go to Rus while the title and lands of Kiev and Galich would goto and forever be apart of Bolgar. They agreed on this arrangement and drunk to it and proclaimed friendship and agreed that Russia must be free of the Catholics and made their plans and intrigues.

They seeked out the courts of England, of France and Leon and any other smaller nations who would have reason to fear the mighty Polish Hegemony, and they soon learned that a Grand Alliance of Elves and Men (sorry had to put that there) were marshalling their forces and their purses to defeat the threat poised by the Piasts over all of Europe. They considered their plans and they agreed that they would give Poland an ultimatum and should they refuse they would declare war on Poland followed shortly after with the declaration of Independences by the Russian princedoms. The fight would be long and bloody and as such England was prepared to loan assistance to the Russians in terms of gold to keep them afloat. Mean while they knew that there was still one unknown in their plans. The Holy Roman Empire if it declared war and ambushed the Grand Alliances armies the Grand Alliance would falter and be broken, thus it was agreed unless Germany gave assurances to not enter the war they would also declare war on Germany in order to remove them from the war as quickly as possible.

The Ultimatum was sent and the Poles struggled with their diplomatic might in order to convince the Grand Alliance to see reason and realize that all subjects in the Polish Empire were treated fairly, but the Alliance would not hear of this to them the question was of ethical morals and how a Polish King now had the King titles that should rightfully belong to Russians and this plus their quick conquest of Hungary ad Bohemia was inexcusable. Poland in the end predictably refused to give up two thirds of their empire to the demands of the West and the Alliance declared war on Germany whilst the Russian declared their independence.

It was a long hard struggle but the Poles managed to peace the Seljuk Turks and marshaled a total army of 100,000 men vs. the 70,000 that could be marshaled by the Russian rebels. Pronsk at first was able to hold fast against Poland but Kiev soon faced a civil war whilst fighting the Poles and could not fight a unified front against the Russians and soon could not put up hardly any fight offencively and could only aid their Allies Pronsk.

Pronsk for a long time fought well but the Poles had far greater numbers and won many key battles and Pronsk front lines were broken through by the Poles.

Kiev and Pronsk collapsed after a long two year bitter struggle that in the end lost.

The West could never come to the aid of the Russians in time to save them for Germany instead of capitulating quickly as hoped fought long and hard despite severe realm duress issues and held back the Alliance, despite collapsing in the end the territory received by the Alliance was poor consolation as this “victory” left a bitter taste in their mouths for they knew that in their hearts they had failed their Russian friends who had placed all their hopes on the Alliance succeeding in aiding them fight for freedom.

 

[Piko]

Good so far, KUTGW!

 

[Sterkarm]

The Young Empire

My Good Prince,

I write to you in regret at my father's harsh peace with you and your people. You did not deserve to lose Kiev or the southern lands of Rus. It seems my father was too naive to see that the Russian and Polish people are natural allies. Well, at least the Russian people under the reign of the Principality of Kiev. I ask you, therefore, to let us reconcile our two realms' differences for the greater interests of the Slavic peoples. The past is the past, and a new king sits in Wawel Castle, a king that is not so unforgiving and brutal as his father. In peace and brotherhood, I make you an offer: to unite our two peoples under one crown. If you would pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of Poland, your Principality would fester no longer in the north but would hold sway over the whole of Rus. The Kniaz of Pronsk is unworthy of his holdings, he needs only to be reminded of such by our armies and his supposed might will fade away as though it were dust. I ask that you join me in this just fight.

In Fraternity,

Wszebor Piast, King of Poland, Protector of All Slavs, Bulwark of Christianity, and Vicar of Christ

So reads but one of the many letters Wszebor sent to the abode of the Prince of Kiev in the late 11th century. His honey-sweet words and elusive promises of grandeur shrouded his plans of conquering Rus. The king, a clever and deceptive diplomat was, at best, a man whose mind seemed to change quite frequently, and, at worst, an outright backstabbing liar.

Many more letters were sent to the Kniaz of Pronsk as well, and where those to Kiev promised an attack on Pronsk, the letters to Pronsk promised an assault on the Prince of Kiev. Though Wszebor knew nothing of who had written it, he was using the old military maxim of "divide and conquer". It would, in the future, bring hell to the very doorstep of Cracow, and it was there that his strength would be tested in earnest.

 

[Sterkarm]

In the cold winter of 1117, the Piast line was thinning. The roulette wheel of death had chosen many heirs, and the royal inheritance was more uncertain than ever. While the Polish kingdom was now an empire and ruled over all from the Oder to the steppes, its future was grim. It was, therefore, in these trying times, that Wszebor Piast found himself faced with the greatest obstacle to forging an empire. Both from within and without, the rivals of Poland saw it growing, and they began to see Poland's power as a threat to their own. There was but a whisper here and there at first, but treason and treachery were afoot. Shadows in the dark moved about their chess pieces and arrayed their banners against the white eagle. Wszebor could see the tides shifting and the plans as they were formulated. He could do nothing but play the fool as his enemies plotted against him. At long last, the English king delivered the demands of the kingdoms of England, France, Castille, Naples, Norway, and the Principalities of Kiev and Pronsk. The final betrayal had come, and though it stung Wszebor not in his heart, for he despised the Russians from the day he bound them to his service, it pierced into his psyche and brought him to his weakest.

The empire Wszebor had forged now stood at an empasse. It could either surrender itself to the combined power of the armies arrayed against it, or it could stand and fight a hopeless war. Though Wszebor's armies could crush the Russians, it would take time, and the western forces would be on the march right away. Though he tried to splinter his foes, Wszebor could do nothing to turn them from their determined march. Fools they were, he thought, to give up such opportunities for riches and power. Nonetheless, he was forced again to decide between defiance and submittance. Is it better, he must have asked himself in those dark hours, to live in humiliation as a servant, or to die in glory as a warrior, albeit a defeated one?

It was at this crossroads Poland stood, and its people nearly faltered and gave into the threat of war and destruction. But a light shone out from the west, and it, at least for a moment, lifted the darkness from the fields and trees of Cracovia, Lodz, and Wroclaw. The Holy Roman Emperor sent word that he would support Poland in all matters, to save them from the so-called justice of the Latins and the Rus. Wszebor rose from his knees at the news, and, in a righteous fury, taunted the Latins and dared them to make war.