I have decided, due to the impending release of EU2 in the UK to shorten my notes and post as much as I can quickly. I am already up to 1725 so ill get on with it
Hiatus before the Crusade, 1621 - 1625
In these four years of supposed peace we are mainly occupied with putting down two small revolts by ragusan revolutionaries, and watching events outside our lands. In May 1622 Mustafa I comes to the throne in the Ottoman Empire, during a time when ottoman forces are ravaging the lower Austrian territories. In September a newly elected grandmaster comes to control our lands, he is Luis Mendes de Vascon Cellos. He is superseded only the following year by Antoine de Paule. We watch on intrigued at developments in the Balkans. It appears that by 1624 the lands of the ottomans are under massive rebellion. Austria secure a white peace with them in 1625.
The Ottoman Crusade, Oct 1625 - July 1628
We decide to take advantage of this situation by declaring war on the weakened ottoman state. We bring in Austria, Hungary New Spain and Genoa but Turkey is alone. The two main theatres of operation are in the southern Balkans (Albania and Thrace) and in the Middle East (Jordan). We are significantly more successful in the middle east. Jordan falls on August 29th 1626 and although we have performed badly in the Balkans we do manage to send a large enough army to Thrace, and Constantinople once again. Although we have failed to capture any other lands we continue pressuring for the cessation of Jordan to our realm. A war weary Ottoman empire accepts and the crusade is concluded in 1628.
Redeployment of forces, 1629 - 1631
We begin considering our next options by considering a crusade against the Ethiopians in the horn of Africa. Troops are redeployed and recruited for the upcoming campaign which is seen to be perhaps a waste of our forces. Ragusa continue to revolt throughout this period. We also make several advances to our naval technology equipping our relatively modern navy with forward guns (12).
The Ethiopian Crusade, 1631 - 1634
This four year crusade did not go initially to plan, but we did eventually succeed in our aims. On February 16th, 1631 we declare our crusade and although we begin our march we are attacked in our home province in Massawa. We stave them off and head to their capital in Keren. In January 1632, a combination of massive attrition and guerrilla warfare from the Ethiopian defenders sees us ejected from Keren. Throughout the latter part of 1632 and most of 1633 we fail to make any headway at all in Ethiopia and the crusade is fast becoming a complete disaster. In August 26th 1633 we finally capture the Ethiopian capital of Axum, before heading out to Issas. In 1634 the campaign is conducted far better than before as all the remaining provinces fall in the first half of the year. On August 29th we annex the entire region.
Development and Rebuilding, 1633 - 1644
We pull back all our forces and focus on rebuilding our shattered and war weary army. Our Navy continues its impressive state of technological development by introducing the addition of optics (13) to aid in navigation. In June 1636 Jean-Paul de Castellar is duly elected as Grandmaster, he continues his predecessors work additional planting trade posts in the lands south of Ethiopia. In 1637 we start paying attention to our army in Alexandria, this is principally because we are considering another crusade against the Algerians. Good Government Policies assist in this development in addition to improvements in the army (logistics 11). In 1641 we enter heavily into Persian trade and start to dominate that market. In 1642 it seems that Austria troubles are over, they have inherited what remains of Hungary and look like an enormous empire. We give thanks for being partners with such a strong empire.
Turkish Ingenuity and War against the Knights, 1644 - 1646
We are quite literally caught with our pants down in 1644. Ottoman spies had ensured that everything was prepared for the ultimate revenge attack on the crusaders. Days after our alliance with Austria expired the ottoman empire backed by Bohemia, Aden, Algiers, Mughal Empire and Oman declared war on us. We were staggered at the co-ordination displayed by the ottomans and braced ourselves for some heavy fighting. The bulk of the fighting in 1644 is in Ragusa, where incredibly we stave off two large ottoman attacks. We also take the initiative in the middle east by sieging Syria, north of Jordan. The few naval engagements of the war are generally the Turkish galleys getting mauled by crusader warships. In 1645 the fighting is extremely tough as we stave off an attack by Aden in Issas, Ethiopia in February 1645. We finally manage to capture Syria on the June the 29th before heading on to siege Aleppo. Unfortunately Turkey manage to take Ragusa in July. Our crisis is highlighted as we raise war taxes for the first time in decades and take out a loan. In 1645 a tiny Turkish army kicks our siege army out of Aleppo again highlight our inefficiency in land technology. We also manage to decisively eradicate all Algerian forces in Egypt this year as well. This backward trend in attacks sees a renewed ottoman offensive in the middle east as they siege Syria. In April 1646 Kabylia falls to the Algerians and we decide to simply cede that land back to them by treaty. In May the Turkish offer to take Ragusa off our hands and we accept. The revolts and general unproductiveness of that province mean that to lose it to the Turk allows us to save face, to some degree, although our performance in the field was not acceptable.
Short Interlude and the Wallachian War, 1646 - 1652
We notice that Austria have now got control of the former lands of Navarre, which total some four provinces in the north of the Iberian peninsula. This is concerning, but also interesting. In 1647 we ensure with the payment of a personal gift that Austria re-invite us to the alliance. This alliance is tested immediately as Wallachia for some curious reason declare war on Austria on July 1st in 1647. Our response is to immediately attack Judea (at last). We eradicate any navy they had there by October and all Land Forces by December of that year. On April 12th 1648 we liberate Judea, before moving on to Lebanon in May. In April 1649 Wallachia pay a heft 250d to Austria but the war still rages on as we send more re-inforcements to Lebanon. Once again we spy massive rebellion all over turkey. In 1650 the ineffectiveness of our troops in becoming a big joke throughout the ranks as we continually prove unable to take Lebanon despite the weakness of their garrison. This is compounded and ridiculed by the movement of rebels in Turkish lands blundering into Lebanon and booting out or army encamped there. We reform and attack in June of that year, but we are unable to eject the rebels until February 1651. We finally take the city after several abortive attempts by December 28th 1651, and we formerly take the province of Judea from Wallachia by treaty on January 9th 1652 ending our involvement in the war.
A small peace, 1652 - 1667
We reflect on the war and know we were lucky, our troops overall ability in battle is being thrown into serious doubt. During 1652 we are tasked with putting down a small Nubia revolt. Morocco eject Portugal from Tangiers in 1653, which is surprising. In 1655 we make the long awaited step into Musket armed technology (level 12) which will also allow for improved fortresses. We hold the land edge over turkey but only just, and a feeling of military security begins to return to the populace. In 1656 the rebellion which had been crippling turkey ends with major cessations that seriously weaken the ottoman empire. Ragusa, Moldavia, Hedjaz and Greece all become independent. The newly formed Greek territories are the most alarming of all, they contain SIX provinces including Morea, Hellas, Macedonia, Thrace (!), Smyrna and Trabizon. To say we are staggered is an understatement.
In 1657 a new grandmaster is elected, Martin de Redin. He maintains the flow of army improvement and rebuilding. In 1660 Annett de Clement-Cessan takes over his role as grandmaster, soon succeeded by Raphael Cotonor later than same year. In 1662 we gain new warships as enthusiasm reaches a high. We are additionally reinvited to the Austrian alliance. Greek independence is threatened by an angered turkey from 1662-1663 when they regain Thrace and Smyrna, in addition to 104d. Nicola Cotonor becomes the next grandmaster in October 1663, and overseas the addition of Musketeers (13) and Fireships (15) in our improving technological improvements. In 1667 we start considering a Persian expedition but this is prevented.
War with Turkey, England and Persia. Massive Rebellions and the fall of the Government, 1667 - 1679
Turkey declare war on us and bring in a formidable alliance which included the Netherlands of all people. We secure the crucial involvement of Austria. A great deal of the fighting in 1667 centres around the recently captured province of Jordan and in Algeria. In the middle of 1668 we have pretty much secured Jordan from the combined attacked of the Hedjaz, turkey, Aden and Oman as we begin to attack Arabia instead of remaining on the defensive all the time. The war in our Tunisian holdings is not going well as Tunis itself falls in mid-1669 and although we manage to recapture it we are pitifully weakened by actions in that theatre. We decide to pull back from that area to allow them to exhaust themselves. We take advantage of this weakening strategy by ejecting the Algerian army from Tripoli. Rebellion erupts in Tunisia as we regain Kabylia in 1673, we capture the Algerian capital in 1674 and force them to re-cede Kabylia back to crusader control.
We are shocked to hear that England, backed by such nations as Spain and Portugal declare war on us (?) in 1674. We quickly accept a white peace with turkey and try to prepare for the upcoming invasion. We are also attacked by Persia. This is truly a grave time for us. We decide after a lightning Spanish assault on Kabylia to agree to there demands by giving them 50d and ceding that province to their control. It means nothing to us.
In 1677 rebellion is absolutely everywhere, and we are utterly powerless to do anything about it despite improvements in Land (17) and Naval (17) Technology. In May 1st the government finally falls and demands for Nubian and Hafsid independence are granted. Admittedly it could have been A LOT worse. In some respects it was even beneficial. Our stability is now at +3 and all our wars are over automatically. We also have some physical barriers against Algerian and Spanish aggression.
