A New Golden Age Begins, 1502-1505
Results of the War
The War of the Christian Vengeance was not a well planned war on the part of Constantine XIII. Immediately after Serbia had made peace with the Hapsburg alliance, Constantine had a sudden impulse to attack the Ottomans. Although the war was a success, the citizens of the country and its allies were angry and worried that the Emperor was capable of starting wars so recklessly without even consulting the rest of the alliance. It was for this reason that both Serbia’s and Ethiopia’s relationships with Constantine and his Empire dropped sharply.
After the war was over, Constantine made another rash decision pertaining to the signing of the peace treaty with the Turks. He did not invite the Serbians and Ethiopians to the ceremony and, so, they didn’t get any land or money from their participation in the war. Relations dropped a little bit more after this, especially with Serbia, who had played a major role in the war.
Although most results of the war were negative, it did give Byzantium two more semi-prosperous provinces. It also liberated the once independent Moldavians from their cruel Turkish overlords. The wealth these two provinces brought to the Empire, as well the wealth that all the other provinces and territories that Constantine had colonized and conquered, lead the Byzantine Empire to a new Golden Age.
Economic Growth
After the war, Constantine’s advisors suggested that Byzantium stay at peace for a few years, telling Constantine that he should try to take advantage of all the provinces and territories he had gained by improving infrastructure inside them. Constantine agreed and on December 29, 1502, he signed the 1502 Peace Accord, agreeing that he would declare no wars until 1510. All of Byzantium rejoiced at this news. Many had lost relatives in the armies during the wars and were glad that their kin would not be marching into any foreign lands anytime soon.
Immediately after the signing of the Accord, Constantine began vigorously working on his Empire’s economy and infrastructure. He decided that he should start the process of sending loans once again. The strategy had once brought Byzantium much wealth and he believed it would again. Most of his loans went straight to Venice, who was in wars against the English Alliance and England and who needed all the money they could get.
Bailiffs were promoted in Hellas, Bujak, and Ruthenia in the next three years. This drastically improved the infrastructure of these provinces and, in result, the Empire. Now these provinces earned up to 20% more income for the Nation.
Rebirth of Colonialism
A few years ago, Constantine was very determined for Byzantium to become a colonizing power. This determination had faded away during the war, but after the Peace Accords were signed it appeared again, stronger than ever before. Constantine immediately sent traders to Placentia, Kebec, and Leone. Later, he found out that only the trader that was sent to Kebec failed in his colonization attempt.
Constantine slowly continued sending traders and by 1505, Leone was producing great volumes of Ivory for the marketplaces of Constantinople and the trade center was thriving. Constantine wanted to send a real colonist, not just small groups of traders, but knew it would be better if he waited until he had improved infrastructure in his home provinces before getting too serious about Colonization.
The Rest of the World
The World was at war again. In 1502, France had declared war on the powerful Austrian alliance and their alliances had been battling ever since. In 1504 the war escalated to it’s peak when France annexed the small Holy Roman Empire nations of Württemberg and Baden. The Polish were crushing the Austrian alliance from the east and the French were destroying it in the west. The Hapsburgs were finally getting what the Byzantines thought they deserved for the bloody Austrio-Venetian war of 1496.
In the mean time, Turkey had accepted peace with Mamalukes soon after the peace treaty with Byzantium in 1502. Mamalukes ceded Syria and Samaria. The Christian world was angered by the Turks conquest of the Holy Land. One of the nations that this bothered was Byzantium, and, not wanting another disaster, Turkey kept Byzantine borders heavily guarded in the years following the conquest of the Holy Land.
Venice was still fighting in the Austrio-Venetian war against only Hungary. The battles and sieges dominated the landscape of Southern Hungary from 1502-1504 until, after the most bloody battles of the war in Croatia and Pest, a peace treaty was signed. This treaty gave Venice possession of the province of Croatia and the 8 year long Austrio-Venetian War finally came to a close.
