The Pyrenean Century - (Jewish Alps - A Paradox Megacampaign AAR - Part3 - Victoria 3)

[Bfc kfc]

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

January 1, 1836 AD

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Hello everyone! This is the third installment, the Victoria 3 installment of the Jewish Alps megacampaign. The Vic3 conversion has been very rough, since Vic3 in my opinion is the least moddable of the Paradox games. Like you change something in the file and it stays the same anyways. So annoying. I got a save which got the perfect rolls for the leaders, so at least that is out of the way. I will also attempt to write in a new style for this installment, since I think my original one got pretty stale and uninteresting. I will try a "historian's notes" format, somewhat inspired from the university notes in the CK3 part of AARland (This format originates from @Cora Giantkiller and @Nikolai ), with the difference that it will be more detailed, and will focus on the perspective of a historian more than a student's perspective. #s followed by text will indicate the further notices of developments the historian wrote down which may not be as important. Below are my expectances for this installment:
WARNING!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

-In this game pretty much 2 "Russias" came about. One is, well, Russia, the other one is a strange polity, a hegemon over all of North America. Since Russia is set out to have a more liberal path due to their religion (Gnostic Christianity), I expect them to be a force for "level-headed conservatism" and a constitutional monarchy in an ever-shifting world. The American entity is very absolutist and fanatically religious, so I expect them to go down more akin to what happened to Russia OTL.

-The Two Sicilies (formerly Naples), and Prussia will be the unifiers of Italy and Germany respectively.

-The Pyrenean Union will pursue liberalism and will become the beacon of it, but will definitely colonize a lot and be the dominant power.

-The Chola empire of India will have dominion over the Indian Ocean.

-The Mosecypric Empire will either decline and be like the Ottomans OTL, or they'll be the main antagonist to the Pyrenean Union as a fanatically zealous and staunchly absolutist oriental empire.

-The main colonizing powers will be Great Britain, the Pyrenean Union, Two Sicilies (later Italy), India and Prussia (Germany)

The EU4 installment is still running, I have not yet posted the last few writings about the European Revolution (of which the Pyrenean Union will be the main protagonist of) and the Napoleonic Wars. A quick recap of the first 2 installments:

Starting in CK3, Isaac, a scion of the Jewish von Eberstein trading family, has obtained the Duchy of Tyrol, and his descendants wouuld go on to form the Tyrolean Empire, conquering the Alps, half of Iberia, Anatolia and the Holy Land. In Italy they fought crusades with Catholics. CK3 ended with Emperor Hezekiah III, a brutal tyrant, who, while lost the Eastern part of the empire due to rebelling vassals, chief among them the pretender Mose dynasty of Cyprus, has solidified the Imperial grip on the Western territories which would form the foundation of the Tyrolean Empire in the Age of Discovery.

In EU4, the succeeding Emperors of Tyrol have conquered all of Iberia and France, established colonies all over the world, and fought brutal wars with the HRE and the Brits. They systematically worked to dismantle the power of the nobility, and with the trade from the New World, the burghers took over the reins of power. After the League War, the crazy Empress Samdup, taught by a Hindu brahmin from India, converted to Hinduism and plunged Tyrol into civil war, during which Bavaria invaded and the ancient capital was reduced to ruin. Soon, burghers took power and proclaimed the Pyrenean Union, and founded a brand new capital in the Pyrenees, Kulturburg. While the Union started out pretty democratic, with separation of state and religion, it was always dominated by Jewish merchants and aristocrats and it was only a matter of time before an ambitious family, the de La Mothe, took the reins and made themselves hereditary Presidents. However, revolutionary fervor swept west from Asia, and the people of the Union were now demanding a true republic. The masses executed the last de La Mothe President and established a very unstable revolutionary republic. Using this turmoil, Napoleon, a Corsican Karaite artillery lieutenant, has risen through the ranks and couped the Republic from Corsica, declaring the Corsican Empire, conquering Europe for his cause until he died in his army camp in an illness. His only child, his daughter Penelope, had tried to finish his work of conquering Europe and started a campaign against Russia, but one of Napoleon's former generals, Tarfon de Toledo, betrayed her, letting her 150000 troops in Russia freeze to death while Tarfon proclaimed the Pyrenean Union yet again, and exiled Penelope Buonaparte.

Those who have read the last two installments, thank you, and I hope you will enjoy this one.

The Pyrenean Century awaits!

 

[Chac1]

For a variety of reasons, I did not follow the earlier parts of this grand campaign, but this is a good opportunity for me to jump into this mega-campaign now.

Looking forward to what you have prepared for us. The Victoria boards can always use new material.

 

[Bfc kfc]

For a variety of reasons, I did not follow the earlier parts of this grand campaign, but this is a good opportunity for me to jump into this mega-campaign now.

Looking forward to what you have prepared for us. The Victoria boards can always use new material.

With the EU4 part officially completed, it is just the moment for you to catch up! Welcome aboard!

Vic3 is a strange game. I love the politics the diplomacy the economics and all their intricacies, but modding it is such a pain.

 

[Nikolai]

Good luck with the third part!

I will try a "historian's notes" format, somewhat inspired from the university notes in the CK3 part of AARland (I'm not sure whose format that was, ping me if you know who invented it)

Both me and @Cora Giantkiller was pioneers on it, but I think it was her.

 

[Bfc kfc]

Good luck with the third part!

Both me and @Cora Giantkiller was pioneers on it, but I think it was her.

Thank you! I will add the mentions of you 2 to the original post. Hopefully you'll enjoy the AAR!

 

[Bfc kfc]

2004, University of Kulturburg

I wanted to examine the thorough nature of the Pyrenean Century, 100 years dominated by the same superpower utterly crushing its opposition and reigning over the globe. With this knowledge, I wanted to write a book. However, what I unraveled is a coordinated effort to change the world, exerted by polities yet unseen.

Prof. Obadiah Levin

1836-1841
The Machinations Begin

Events
In the Pyrenean Union
- Shmuel de Siorac had totally revised the state borders based mainly on economic interests. #The states which were heavily reliant on the local commune, Napoleon or religious fanatics in their pre-Second Republic administration had their systems completely destroyed, and they would have to be reintegrated according to the new standard.
- Argentina applied political pressure on Shmuel not to partition them. As such, they became a "sister republic", a highly autonomous system of governance, but still a subdivision of the Pyrenean administration. #Other overseas holdings of the Union did not receive such privileges.

- Shmuel and his government had to address serious economic issues which plagued the nation since the Napoleonic Wars.

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- Shmuel and his cabinet wanted to solve this by tax reform; by enacting proportional taxation, the last vestiges of aristocracy would be taken away and everyone would pay the same amount of tax.

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- Seeing the chaos in Europe and the government's inability to reign, Pyrenese China ceased contact with the central government. The Siorac cabinet issued a warning that this warrants military action in the future, but of course they weren't able to carry it out at the moment.

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- The Siorac cabinet resigned in 1838 after shamefully failing to deal with the effects of the famine. The famine generally affected rural communities the worst, who formed their own Agrarian Party and had their candidate Gaspard Remillard made President until the next election, with the Conservative Party supporting the coalition. #Shmuel retired from politics after this fiasco.

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- In 1838 this new government formed the Pyrenean Commonwealth, where trade ties were strenghtened with Argentina and the overseas holdings, hoping to alleviate the famine a bit. #The populace reaffirmed their support of Gaspard during the election of 1839, when the same cabinet was allowed to remain in power.
- As the industrial magnates had enough of the rule of Remillard, and the economy was still suffering, they installed Paul Bousselot, a general from the Army, as Prime Minister, and effectively governed instead of Remillard. Remillard, infuriated by this, gathered his coalition and started a brutal civil war in 1841. The only problem was that after he was kicked out of the mainland, Paul Bousselot fled to the Niger Delta, and the first attempt at navally capitulating them failed.

​

Worldwide
- By 1836, the Cathar Church was in great decline as Orthodoxy took over America and they were loosing followers to traditional Christianity and the Neo-Ebionites in Aquitaine, outreach was done to the Paulicians in Russia, who were dominating Eastern Europe and Russia.
- The Paulicians agreed to host the Council of Moscow.
- Elizaveta I took the opportunity to preside over the council.
- Until this point Paulicianism was only held together by a set of dogmas, but all the bishops were completely autonomous in their area. #The central tenets of Pre-Moscow Paulicianism were the denial of the veneration of the Cross, only Paul of Tarsus being a true apostle and the Holy Trinity. In contrast, Pre-Moscow Catharism rejected the Holy Trinity, viewing the Father as the father of all lies and they had an edited Bible with only snippets from the Old Testament (As they considered Genesis a "corrupted text") and an edited New Testament where they have cut out all mentions of the Holy Trinity, even those when Jesus directly references the Father and the Holy Spirit. The common point they have is that they consider the council of Nicaea to be a "falling away from truth", and varying degrees of gnosticism.
- The debate revolved around the Holy Trinity, the apostleship of the 12 disciples and ecclesiastical authority.
- In the end, the council reached a consensus and the new "Gnostic Christian Church" was established. The Holy Trinity was accepted, the apostleship of the 12 disciples was only accepted as 2nd-tier compared to that of Paul's, and a new Patriarchate of Moscow established as the "supreme vicar of true Gnostic Christians before Christ". The Cathar Church was reorganized as "the Archbishopric of the West" and retained their liturgical traditions. #There were some on both sides who refused the reform, they are known as Old Cathars and Old Paulicians. The Old Paulicians were heavily persecuted by the Russian government, while the Old Cathars enjoyed religious freedom under the Pyrenean Union. It is generally accepted that Elizaveta I vested the pope-like authority unto the new Patriarch, so she can control the new Church efficiently.

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- As the consequence of the Napoleonic Wars, supply lines all across the world have been disrupted, leading to major famines developing all around the world. By 1836, this was going for 16 years already, and it took the lives of millions. #While governments all around the world did their best to try to bring an end to the apocalyptic famine, this still lead to the further spread of radical political and religious beliefs.

​

 

[Nikolai]

Quite a dystopic world we have here, for now at least. All that hunger must give rise to much radicalism.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

- As the industrial magnates had enough of the rule of Remillard, and the economy was still suffering, they installed Paul Bousselot, a general from the Army, as Prime Minister, and effectively governed instead of Remillard. Remillard, infuriated by this, gathered his coalition and started a brutal civil war in 1841. The only problem was that after he was kicked out of the mainland, Paul Bousselot fled to the Niger Delta, and the first attempt at navally capitulating them failed.

​

That Reactionary Revolt looks very strong, I wonder how the Union will defeat it...

 

[Bfc kfc]

Quite a dystopic world we have here, for now at least. All that hunger must give rise to much radicalism.

Hopefully it shall subside after a time...

That Reactionary Revolt looks very strong, I wonder how the Union will defeat it...

Funnily enough, it isn't really reactionary. There are some conservatives, sure, but there are radicals in the mix as well. It is basically Remillard's camp fighting against a military-industrialist coup. I switched to the revolt because ain't no way the industrialists will win when they only have around 10% of the country.

 

[Bfc kfc]

1841-1846
Stability Reemerges

Events
-By the end of 1842 the government of Prime Minister Paul Bousselot has collapsed and the former President Gaspard Remillard was reinstituted. #He and his supporters took the advantage winning the Civil War gave them, so they passed laws heavily extending the powers of the President, making the Union a proper Presidential Republic.
-His cabinet got to work, quickly acting to fix the economic catastrophe, organizing huge constructions and solving the unemployment crisis. #He would be remembered for this to be a great President, who gave the chance to the Union to shine globally.

-The year of 1844 went by as India attacked for the Indonesian holdings of the Union. While the army could hold them back, it was a white peace, as the Pyreneans got obliterated several times by the Indians, who posessed European quality weaponry.

-The presidency of Gaspard was also an era of rapid social change and reform. His government signed a new, updated, radically egalitarian version of the constitution, in which every man was granted equal votes, regardless of his standing and background. #Much of the change was headed by Félix Antoine Poux, a poet and leader of the Liberal Party in coalition with the Agrarian Party. Also, no women's rights just yet.

-However, much damage was done to the existing legal framework in the Civil War. Gaspard's government worked on restoring the rights of ethnic and religious minorities all over the Union, culminating in legal success.

-It became clear that in the Pyrenean Union, radical egalitarianism had triumphed, and a new era of democracy and free speech was ushered in. Even Gaspard endorsed the movement publicly, while he of course still kept some of his pacifist ideals. #However, much of Europe was yet to experience this change. Scandinavia, Prussia, Russia and the UK were still absolute monarchies.

-Much work was also being done so that separation of synagogue and state could be fully carried out. Ever since the Pyrenean Revolution and subsequently, Napoleon, this law took much damage as the laws of local councils or even some administrative laws Napoleon drew up obstructed it from being truly carried out. The new law now just had to gain the approval of the Parliament.

-1845 and 1846 were dominated by a war between the Pyrenean Union and the Two Sicilies, over the conflict that all the Italian minor states began colonizing in area traditionally under Pyrenean jurisdiction. The war was bloody, but in the end, while near Nice in the Alps the fighting was fierce, and the UK sent some volunteers, but in Africe the Union steamrolled the already minimal resistance, granting the small colonies established and the entirety of Algeria to the Pyrenean Union. #By this time the global famine had ended, and the Pyrenean Union was poised to take a prime advantageous position among the world powers.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

no women's rights just yet.

radical egalitarianism had triumphed

It's not truly egalitarian until women have the same rights as men...

 

[Nikolai]

#By this time the global famine had ended, and the Pyrenean Union was poised to take a prime advantageous position among the world powers.

Finally! Now it can only become a golden age! Right?

 

[Bfc kfc]

1846-1851
Industry Rising

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Events
In the Pyrenean Union
-The question of separation of synagogue and state was finally out, as sufficient legislature was created in order to make sure that total separation could be achieved.

​

-As the industry started to flourish, the Union became the marketplace of the world, where all things could be bought and sold. Gaspard's cabinet placed a heavy emphasis on selling Pyrenean goods to foreigners.

-At the same time, due to the extremely liberal laws, the Union became a harbour of free thinkers, even ones criticizing this newly received freedom itself.

​

-Further liberalization came with the new leader of radical thought and the Intelligentsia, Lazare Lagarde, petitioning the government to pass a series of laws to make sure no government would spy on anyone, guaranteeing the liberties of the citizen. This was a walk in the park for the government to pass, as the Conservative Party was without power by this point, and the townsmen rallied behind a foreigner named Ludomír Junco, who made the Conservative Party very radically liberal, so they joined the coalition. #Opposition to the government became non-existent.

​

-Argentina also feeling the benefits of the economic upturn wanted to use it to secede from the Union. War was declared in 1851. Of course, such attempt was also inspired by foreigners, like Russia, who also wanted a piece of Pyrenean pie. The Pyrenean East Indies company, hoping to use this attempt to go rogue like the Chinese company did, declared war also.
Worldwide
-By this point protofeminist, protosocialist and even protofascist movements were around. Their motives were to advance their ideology, but not many listened, especially not in liberal countries like the Pyrenean Union. However, protofascist movements became active especially in Germany and Italy, hoping to unite the nations each respectively. #Protofascist agitators especially caused ruckus in Southern Germany, where many were exiled from, so they started protofascist movements overseas. One particularly successful exile was Konrad-Wilhelm Acker, who, after being kicked out of Swabia, established a protofascist group in New Zealand and rose up with others against the Dutch administration there.

-In the North Chinese Governorate of Russia, a particularly talented priest of the Gnostic Christian Church, Si-Yong Mi, rose the ranks of the governorate and seized control, kicking out all Russian influence. Russia wasn't happy, but couldn't do a thing against the youngster, who also began to teach wild dogma, like Paul being a false apostle, and that "Matthew 16" in the Bible was falsified to mean Peter when it was actually Thomas, and one of Thomas' disciples, Huan, a Chinese trader he converted, carried the "True Church" to China, and that Si-Yong Mi was just rediscovering the teachings of this group. Of course, no such group ever existed, so the Patriarch of Moscow excommunicated him, but it mattered little. For the Huanist Church, with Patriarch Si of Beijing at its lead, was already born.

 

[Bfc kfc]

Finally! Now it can only become a golden age! Right?

Yes! We now finally have positive income, if we don't go to war.

It's not truly egalitarian until women have the same rights as men...

The first protofeminist movements have only started to appear 5 years later, and even then, even the Pyrenean Union was considerably radical with universal voting rights, guaranteed liberties and propertied women.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

-Argentina also feeling the benefits of the economic upturn wanted to use it to secede from the Union. War was declared in 1851. Of course, such attempt was also inspired by foreigners, like Russia, who also wanted a piece of Pyrenean pie. The Pyrenean East Indies company, hoping to use this attempt to go rogue like the Chinese company did, declared war also.

Russia is very strong (almost twice as strong as you), this war may be very difficult...

 

[Bfc kfc]

1851-1856
The Pyrenees Ascending

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Events
In the Pyrenean Union

​

-Furthering the liberal advancements of the Union, with total support of the Parliament the law of Protected Speech had passed, citing that all citizens of the union have a right to free speech, and that damaging it in any way is against the law.

-While Gaspard Remillard would generally still be remembered as a great hero, in 1853, allegations surfaced that he was embezzling state funds and money-laundering it so he can keep it for himself. While not much, the precedent was deemed alarming by the Liberal and Conservative Parties (who pretty much held the same radical ethos by now), and pressured the press to condemn Gaspard for it. #The Agrarian Party stood by Gaspard and denied everything, even with damning proof emerging.

​

-Louis-Napoléon Buonaparte, son of Penelope Buonaparte, had returned from Switzerland after gaining military experience. Hearing the allegations raised against Gaspard, and that the Union has liberalized, allowing him greater feats of activism, he returned that he might restore the Corsican Empire. #Switzerland had a civil war where the country transitioned from a parliamentary democracy into a constitutional monarchy. This was where he gained experience.

​

-At the same time, due to the rapid liberalization of society, women also wanted a place alongside men as equals. Proper feminism first began to develop in the Pyrenean Union, where free speech gave them the power to protest more efficiently. Even though their opportunities were greater, like in other countries, men and women not keen on getting equality scorned them and labeled them clowns, in some cases even as "dangerous elements". #Some prominent feminist movements were the Saxon, Russian and Mexican (Formerly Central American) ones.

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Worldwide

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-The War for Argentinian Independence was a disastrous defeat for Argentina. With Russia being bogged down, the Union invaded in Uruguay and the Argentinian navy was too powerless to stop it. By the time Russian troops arrived, the Pyrenean Army was already entrenched in the Andes, and so it became a brutal battle of mountain warfare. Eventually, the Russians pulled out due to supply problems, and the war was won for the Pyrenean Union. #New sister republics, namely Chile and Uruguay, were created, so that Argentina may not hold monopoly over the region once known as La Plata. They would still hold to the legacy, however, and this would give rise to Argentino nationalism and irredentism.

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-The Union finally realised that it can't keep its colonial empire if it wants it all to be managed from Kulturburg. The sister republic of the Philippines was created, to show the locals the appreciation of their support and to cull separatism. The rest of Indonesia was given to the Pyrenean East Indies Company to manage, which was not very nice for the locals, as the company would look for ways to exploit the land, but not to give back to it.

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-The rogue Pyrenean Chinese Company, which has even dared to claim itself a "great power", had shown itself to be nothing of the sort. Seeing the theocracy in North China to be the only torch-bearer of Han identity, the populace of the Company began revolting. This crashed the stocks of the Company, while the Pyrenean Union was occupying the small colonial ventures the Company sponsored in West Africa. All mainland China was given to North China, while the small colonial outposts were absorbed by the Pyrenean Union. #With this collapse, the only European entity left in China was the British China Trade Company.

​

​

 

[Nikolai]

This Napoleon chap sounds like trouble...

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

he returned that he might restore the Corsican Empire.

Oh no... that can't be good.

 

[Bfc kfc]

This Napoleon chap sounds like trouble...

Oh no... that can't be good.

Indeed, he will try some shenanigans which may nearly lead to the fall of the Union.

 

[Bfc kfc]

1856-1861
Shifting Winds​

Events
In the Pyrenean Union

-The first move of Louis-Napoleon was to jump on the train of the Conservative Party in criticizing the governmental intervention in Saxony, where a revolution chased away the Swedish governor appointed by the Scandinavian Emperor who was the monarch before. The interim government soon found itself under threat from a radical republican insurgence, aimed at making Saxony akin to the Pyrenean Union and perhaps unify Germany under radical liberalism. The civil war lasted from 1857-59 and with the aid of the expeditionary forces of the Union, the rebels won, toppling the interim government and establishing a republic. #Napoleon's popularity skyrocketed massively after that, making him a threat to Gaspard and a representative of the Pyrenean Parliament.

-In 1859, the remains of the Holy Roman Empire were constrained to Austria, where Emperor Joseph von Habsburg tried to keep together a falling house of cards. The Tirol'h who still remain in scattered villages after the Bavarian annihilation of Innsbruck centuries before, have had enough and rebelled. While the call for interference in the Pyrenean Union was strong, the Remillard cabinet refused to intervene, which led to the fall of the revolt in less than a year. #Napoleon, of course, took the opportunity to criticize Gaspard, gaining further popularity.

-As the Union became more industrialized, great urban centres, like Paris, began to emerge as centres of radical republicanism. Socialism, a scarce ideology until then, had found fertile ground in the industrialized cities, where workers oppressed by the great magnates, heard the message, embraced it, and began organizing. #The rise of socialism and Louis-Napoleon would create a dangerous bomb which would endanger the very existence the Union.

Worldwide

-Ever since the Kingdom of Italy was destroyed, the Italian spirit was tattered. In the Post-Napoleonic order, Naples became the dominant power of Italy, making other Italian states dependent on it. Lombardy still evaded integration, but their peoples have deposed their child monarch once the Neapolitan troops arrived, declaring the intention to unify Italy. As war broke out with the Pyrenean Union due to nationalist militias trying to invade Messina on their own, the idea of a restored Rome got very popular amongst the Italian military. As usual, fighting broke out in the West Alps, around Nice. This time, the navy got involved too and the war became a testing ground for the new ironclad technology. In the end, a treaty was signed. The Pyrenean Union would give Sardinia, Malta, Sicily and the territory of Djerba to the newly formed and recognized Italian state, which would in turn drop any ambition of expanding into the Alps and into Occitania. #Ferdinando I Antelminelli, Duke of Naples got crowned as Emperor of Italy. The Italian spirit, while liberalizing, would also turn towards their Roman heritage, and deeming their Emperor as "Emperor of the Romans", which caused some tensions with Austria.

-During this time, in accordance with the first socialist movements, the first ultranationalist parties formed, the Arrow Cross Party in Hungary, and the National Unitarian Party in Saxony. During this time only their authoritarian ultranationalist tendencies united them, and what they believed varied. Crazy esoteric conspiracy theories, national and ideological fanaticism (sometimes even syncreticism), were very common in these parties.