A More Personal Union

[Xgentis]

What does high-water mark mean? Not being english speaking I don't know what that mean.

[Tyg]

Originally Posted by Xgentis

What does high-water mark mean? Not being english speaking I don't know what that mean.

It comes from the tides. When the tide is at its highest on the shore, it's at the "high water mark" and won't rise any further. The only thing it will do from there is recede.

So, to say that the Prince has reached his high-water mark is to say that he's attained the most success he could possibly achieve, and all that's left is a decline.

[Xgentis]

Originally Posted by Tyg

It comes from the tides. When the tide is at its highest on the shore, it's at the "high water mark" and won't rise any further. The only thing it will do from there is recede.

So, to say that the Prince has reached his high-water mark is to say that he's attained the most success he could possibly achieve, and all that's left is a decline.

Ok thank you for your help.

[Positively Indecent]

Slavery under attack on all fronts, a Franco-British union under the leadership of a King wielding an eye-patch of power, a native American power, Japanese Australia...

I don't think words can express how much I am loving this timeline. I've seen this timeline on the forum but never gave it a chance until a couple of days ago. 59 pages later and I'm absolutely hooked.

God save King Henry I, III and soon to be IX!

[Dunois]

Originally Posted by Thespitron 6000

And at their head, a golden knight, his armor like burnished sun itself, his visor flipped upward to reveal eyepatch, Scottish thistle, English rose, French lily.

As the Spanish frantically try to swing their positions to meet these new challengers, the defenders raise a lusty cheer.

His horse rearing, King Henri the Cyclops roars, “MEN OF ENGLAND! FRANCE IS HERE!!”

With this, the previous "Men of France, England is there" and the miracle of Cadiz. You have just created ultra powerful funding myths and legends for the future United Kingdom of France, England and Scotland.

The Battle of Orleans, Cadiz and London will likely still be remembered in TTL2011 in the same way as battles like Waterloo, Austerlitz and such are remembered in OTL history.

And there are also four more centuries on which to build more legends and heroic feats

Still the hardest task for the United Kingdom lies ahead, it will be flooding North America with its population and seeding a new Avalon on the other side of the Atlantic!

[Thespitron 6000]

Winter 1595 - 1596: As snow falls over central Europe, Augusta takes stock of her position. She’s plunged deep into Austrian territory, but Vienna has withstood many sieges, including those of the Ottomans, who are considerably tougher than the Poles. With little hope of ending the siege by spring, she’s amenable to Viktor’s overtures for an alliance. Although she shares few of the Alliance’s goals, she sees the value in allying her own forces with them, to rip large chunks out of the Empire. By January, the alliance between Poles and Danes, although not formal, is nonetheless concluded.

In Navarre, Holland, and England, ships are being readied at harbor for a major push into the Mediterranean. Many of the mercenaries Spain and Portugal use to fight are Italian; taking the Mediterranean away from the League will cut off the flow of fighting men into Iberia, disrupt League communications, deny Spanish gold to the Empire, and prevent Serbia from entering the war on the French front, should Rudolf choose to attempt that. To take away the Mediterranean as a League lake means forcing Gibraltar as well as driving the Spanish out of southern France, so that Alliance ships can dock at Marseille. It is a formidable task.

The French and English spend the winter refortifying their troops. It is time for a final push. Cut off Alva and destroy him! That is the plan. Southern France has been hammered again and again under Spanish invasions; this time there is no quarter, no half-measures. The commanders have been hardened by war, and now they understand how to fight. More than half of the French army now uses flintlocks and Besson knives; the English are starting to adopt them. Attack with overwhelming force and mobility, and victory can be yours.

Ferdinand of Uceda, realizing the defeat of his troops in France may be at hand, begins heavily fortifying the Pyrenees and the borders with Navarre and France. The Alliance will find no easy purchase come spring.

[Grouchio]

Godspeed brave Englishmen and Frenchmen. To your salvation.

[naraht]

The two strongest Catholic powers left are going to be Poland and that Northern Italian alliance.

[Thespitron 6000]

The Fall of the Hapsburgs

Spring 1596: The continued siege of Vienna is a bitter blow for Ernest. It is a rebuke to his claims of Imperial might, and a canker on the face of Empire. Upstart Poles have cut him off from his court, making him look like a fool. Ernest sees no option but to make like his great-uncle, Charles V, and drive the invaders from the walls, a charitably misapprehended version of the siege of 1529. As soon as snow melts, he sets out to repel Augusta.

Attacking the Poles in the first week of April, he seemingly does well--at first. Then the trap is sprung. Viktor and his Danes, who have been marching overland at Ernest’s rear and ignored by the impetuous Emperor, who foolishly believes they will try to take Prague once more, strike the Emperor from behind, pinning him between two hostile armies that outnumber him nearly two to one.

The battle is brutal. No quarter is given by either side, and blood falls freely as the professional, disciplined Poles push the Imperials back against Viktor’s enthusiastically savage Danes. The result is a tremendous bloodletting for the Austrians. Entire regiments, cleaved off by dazzling Polish maneuvers, surrender en masse, fearing destruction. On the second day, one of Augusta’s own Prussian Guard regiments pushes deep into the Imperial position, scattering landsknechts like ninepins, until they are upon the Emperor’s command itself. Although orders are to capture generals and royals to hold as hostage, in the heat of battle the Prussians cannot restrain themselves, and while attempting to defend himself, Ernest is pulled from his horse and killed. Eggenberg tries desperately to salvage the situation, but to no avail. The battle is lost, and with it Ernest’s body, which is quickly rushed back to Augusta to confirm his death.

What Imperials remain flee the battlefield, taking refuge in nearby woods and hills, while the Danes mop up any stragglers.

With the death of the Emperor, a void now exists at the top of the Imperial power structure. If the Holy Roman Empire is to avoid total collapse, a new, strong, competent Emperor must be elected, and quickly. Candidates, unfortunately, are rather thin on the ground.

The Hapsburgs, through their mismanagement and malgeneralship, have totally discredited themselves as a force in Imperial politics. Of the potential candidates--Charles VI’s children, Albert, Maximilian, Rudolf, the Iberians, Wenceslaus--none inspire much confidence. Worse, almost all the Electorates are in enemy hands. Only Rudolf, Christian of Saxony, and the Archbishop of Mainz remain out of reach. Therefore, any new Emperor will have to be elected by just these three men. Meeting in Innsbruck, Christian, the Archbishop, and representatives of the King of Serbia are told in no uncertain terms by the Imperial nobles that they will not tolerate a Hapsburg over them. There has been too much misuse of power, too many lost battles. The family has had their chance; it is time for a change. Reluctantly, Rudolf accedes to their demands, as do the other electors, admittedly much more easily.

The nobles who have distinguished themselves on the battlefield are men like Eggenberg, but they lack the necessary pedigree. However, one family’s generals have been doing their lineage proud, trouncing Alliance armies on the battlefield, and have the political power to back themselves. As a result, after much deliberation, in early May the truncated College selects as their next Emperor the forty-eight-year-old William of Bavaria, called the Pious. A talented administrator and general, victor of battles against Montmorency and Marischal, William is also a devout Catholic. Summoned from his army in western Germany to accept the Imperial diadem, William is, as usual, laconic in his acceptance. But what little he says does not disguise the gravity of this event, marking the end of one hundred and fifty-five years of Hapsburg rule, and the beginning of the ascendency of the Wittelsbachs, their old nemeses.

[Thinker1200]

And so at least half of what i said comes true. The Austrian Habsburgs are forever destroyed. Now lets see if Ferdinand of Uceda can salvage the Spanish line, even if the Spanish Empire is utterly destroyed.

[G.Bone]

Wow - the Catholic bloc is slipping.

Thespitron - are the French tactics (Besson knives/flintlocks) being noticed at all by the Polish/Danes?

[Yorel]

All Hail William I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Originally Posted by Thinker1200

The Austrian Habsburgs are forever destroyed.

I would rather say "severely weaken" rather than destroyed: they lost the Imperial Crown but there are still members of the family alive and, though they are occupied, they still hold Austrian lands in name. We have no way of knowing what will happen in the next years or centuries, but they could get back on their feet and reclaim the Imperial Crown: it will take time (probably decades), but it is possible.

That being said, I think the League has pretty much lost the War. I doubt Ferdinand is blind enough not to see how dire his situation is: he will have to make peace soon if he doesn't want to be humiliated by Henri.

[Timmy811]

The war looks likes it only going to last six years, give or take a few months. I was expecting it to last a lot longer. Unless Russia and the Ottomans get sucked into the conflict on opposite sides, and there's been nothing foreshadowing that, there seems to be no hope for a prolonging of the conflict.

[DrakeRlugia]

Hey Thes, I'm just wondering about your wars in the TL... how do you decide the places of battle, besieged cities, ect? I've been using google maps recently for my POP post, but it's mostly a headache when you end up finding modern cities and not medieval citadels. Of course, I am looking at Bulgaria rather than France, but still. Any suggestions for writing a war?

[Vince]

Originally Posted by Yorel

All Hail William I, Holy Roman Emperor.

I would rather say "severely weaken" rather than destroyed: they lost the Imperial Crown but there are still members of the family alive and, though they are occupied, they still hold Austrian lands in name. We have no way of knowing what will happen in the next years or centuries, but they could get back on their feet and reclaim the Imperial Crown: it will take time (probably decades), but it is possible.

That being said, I think the League has pretty much lost the War. I doubt Ferdinand is blind enough not to see how dire his situation is: he will have to make peace soon if he doesn't want to be humiliated by Henri.

I think the only way Ferdinand gets peace is if the League takes too many casualties invading Spain. France has been ravaged by Spain three times now. Henri at this point is probably thinking the only way to keep France safe is a knockout blow that removes Ferdinand from the throne. So he's going to at least try an invasion as he's probably in no mood to even consider peace.

[Tyg]

Originally Posted by Vince

I think the only way Ferdinand gets peace is if the League takes too many casualties invading Spain. France has been ravaged by Spain three times now. Henri at this point is probably thinking the only way to keep France safe is a knockout blow that removes Ferdinand from the throne. So he's going to at least try an invasion as he's probably in no mood to even considers peace.

In no mood to consider peace with Spain, probably, but Portugal and the HRE (such as it is, anyway) are another matter entirely.

Though I'd imagine Portugal is not going to enjoy the terms of peace the alliance would offer... Presumably it would include measures prohibiting slavery or at the least bringing new slaves from Africa. The doors are also probably going to be forced open to Navarrese, Dutch, French, and English commercial competition in Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Asia by Portuguese cession of some islands/ports or accepting the commercial rights of those nations to trade with or from Portugal's possessions or Asian ports.

That needn't be crippling for Portugal though, they're not large enough for a tight mercantilist model, and could potentially make more money with open ports and relatively free trade. Portuguese institutions would need to be flexible enough to adapt to those circumstances, and take advantage of the potential opportunities though.

[naraht]

Sweden is knocked out, Austria is functionally knocked out (Does the new HREmperor try to save Vienna/give up Vienna/sue for peace), Serbia is looking out for itself against the Ottoman, Savoy is secondary, Spain is in trouble and I'm not sure about the Portuguese.

BTW, what's going on with the Danish Navy?

[Space Oddity]

Originally Posted by naraht

(Does the new HREmperor try to save Vienna/give up Vienna/sue for peace),

Vienna isn't the capital of the HRE--it's the capital of Austria. With the Wittelbachs back on the throne, it's importance in the grand scheme of things just decreased. William's likely to do SOMETHING but it's not quite as important for him as it would be for a Hapsburg.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by Space Oddity

Vienna isn't the capital of the HRE--it's the capital of Austria. With the Wittelbachs back on the throne, it's importance in the grand scheme of things just decreased. William's likely to do SOMETHING but it's not quite as important for him as it would be for a Hapsburg.

ITYM Wittelsbachs, not Wittelbachs...

OK, Munich is now the primary southern German city. I guess the northern one would be Hamburg. ITTL, Hamburg surrendered to the Danish (their fellow protestants) without a fight, so the primary question is how much of the HRE does Denmark take...

[Grouchio]

This ATL makes me very proud to be Danish...