1: Ripperda and the outbreak of war
  • 1: Ripperda and the outbreak of war
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    Juan Guillermo de Riperda

    The second half of the 17th century had seen the steady deterioration and diminishing of the Spanish empire as it was besieged by one opponent after another seeking a slice of Spain's domains. This lust for Spain's varied lands ultimately obstructed a peaceful passage of Spain's empire from Carlos II to his Bourbon heir, Felipe V, and provoked the long, hard War of the Spanish Succession. The war saw the Spanish monarchy attacked everywhere from the Americas to Sicily to the Spanish Netherlands. Even Spain itself was assailed as the Catalans fought against the crown in favor of the Hapsburg claimant, as the Rock of Gibraltar was lost, and as Madrid traded hands seven times. Eventually, in 1713, the war came to an end with the Treaty of Utrecht. This treaty effectively ended Spain's claim to greatness and removed it from the class of heavyweight European powers that Spain had been a part of since its inception. Soon after the rest of Europe began to look past and beyond Spain: Britain took to adventuring in the Baltic, Austria resumed its campaign against the Turk, and France attempted to inject life into its colonies.

    However, while the rest of the continent thought that Spain's power had been curtailed, the new Spanish king believed that he could resurrect the behemoth that once was Spain. As a consequence, Felipe V and his Cardinal Alberoni engaged in a series of plots and intrigues to destabilize and distract the guarantors of Utrecht so that Spain might steal back its lost provinces. These plots included efforts to unleash the Jacobites on Britain, take over the government of France, and fuel conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Turkish Sultan. In the meantime, the armies of Spain swiftly conquered the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. This initial success, however, did not last. Soon the plots of Alberoni were exposed and defeated and soon after so were the soldiers of Spain. The resulting defeat only served to reconfirm the harsh reality of Utrecht: Spain had fallen. Thwarted and demoralized, King Felipe allowed his melancholy to get the best of him and abdicated in 1724. Unfortunately, the death of Felipe's successor, Luis, just months after forced Felipe to return to his miserable throne.

    When Felipe V's second reign began so too did the scheming to restore Spain's former glory. Having learned from the failed war against the Quadruple Alliance Felipe now sought to split up and befriend his enemies so that he might turn on just one of his enemies rather than all of them. At first, Felipe imagined that Spain's friend was to be France. However, the young French king Louis XV and his anti-Felipe advisers ultimately stymied that plan when they sent back the Spanish infanta meant to marry Louis XV. This act outraged the Spanish court and demonstrated that France cared more for Britain than for its family in Spain. With France having turned its back to Spain, Spain focused its efforts on the Holy Roman Emperor.

    The task of arranging an alliance between Spain and the Hapsburgs feel to the relatively minor character of Juan Guillermo de Riperda. Riperda was another of a long string of foreign adventurers who had come to the Spanish court to make their name and fortune. Despite not having done much to prove himself thus far, Riperda's knowledge of foreign languages and limited diplomatic experience was enough for King Felipe to appoint Riperda as his special envoy to the Emperor. The additional benefit of sending Riperda over a Spaniard was that if Riperda were to say something truly infuriating to the Emperor, Felipe could easily have Riperda disavowed and abandoned.

    The proposition which Riperda was sent to offer to Emperor Charles VI was in simple terms outrageous. Spain expected Charles VI to allow his daughter and heiress, Maria Theresa, to be married to Don Carlos of Spain who would gain the Hapsburg German lands and be named King of the Romans. Furthermore, Charles' second daughter would marry Don Felipe and Spain who would gain Milan, Sicily, and Naples from the Emperor. The Southern Netherlands were to be returned to Spain and Hapsburg aid was expected in regaining Sardinia, Minorca, and Gibraltar. In return, Spain would offer support to the Emperor against the Turks and opposition within the Holy Roman Empire, trade with the Spanish empire, help with the Ostend Company, and concessions regarding the Order of the Golden Fleece. Of course, Charles VI and his ministers rejected this imbalanced proposal. Even though this initial offer was declined, Emperor Charles did find the idea of a Spanish alliance appropriate and permitted Riperda to remain in Vienna and negotiate a more reasonable deal.

    The first arrangement that Riperda and the Hapsburgs came to only amounted to a defensive alliance in return for Spain giving the Hapsburgs and their Ostend Company commercial rights. This agreement would have woefully insufficient and outright rejected by the Spanish had it not been for Spain's falling out with France. Instead, Spain accepted and celebrated the Treaty of Vienna and the new alliance with the Hapsburgs. In spite of the limited range of this alliance it still concerned the government of Britain greatly. In Britain, there was even talk of returning Gibraltar to Spain if Spain would just void its treaty with the Hapsburgs. Yet this talk was quickly disregarded and in its place talk of a true military alliance with France occurred. France apparently shared Britain's concern for they signed the Treaty of Hanover, entering into an alliance with Britain and Prussia. However, the creation of this alliance only further encouraged the Hapsburgs to tie themselves to the Spanish. Within months, Riperda had signed a new treaty with the Emperor that arranged for two of the Emperor's daughters to marry Don Carlos and Don Felipe. Additionally, the Emperor would support Spain's quest to retake Gibraltar and Minorca in return for Spanish subsidies. The signing of the revised Treaty of Vienna began a series of negotiations between states of Europe that left aligned in two camps, that of Britain and France and that of Austria and Spain. The Hanoverian Alliance ultimately consisted of Britain, France, the Dutch Republic, Hanover, and Sardinia. The opposing Viennese Alliance consisted of Austria, Spain, Russia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Cologne. Prussia although one of the original signers of the Treaty of Hanover created uncertainty by entering into talks with the Emperor.

    With these two alliances dividing the continent it seemed war was on the horizon but first a political misstep ended Riperda's adventure. After returning from Vienna with the improved treaty, Riperda claimed that Charles VI wanted him to be Spain's prime minister. Felipe and the Spanish Court compiled with this demand out of fear of losing their Hapsburg benefactor. However, upon the arrival of the Hapsburg dignitary, Konigsegg, it was discovered that the Emperor was in no way inclined towards Riperda and that his claim was entirely false. What Konigsegg discovered for himself was that Spain had no money to supply the subsidies promised by Riperda. Still, the Hapsburgs favored amity with Spain and continued to remain supportive of Spain. As a result, in spite of the Treaty of Vienna's prime orchestrater falling and being imprisoned, the alliance remained intact and soon after optimistic Spain declared war on Perfidious Albion [1].

    [1] So far everything is still OTL.

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    2: Spain and Britain's war
  • 2: Spain and Britain's war
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    13th Siege of Gibraltar

    Although Spain had been the one to declare war in 1727 the first move had actually been taken by Britain. In the spring of 1726, the British parliament dispatched to the Caribbean a fleet of eleven ships-of-the-line, one frigate, two sloops, and one snow under the command of Rear-Admiral Francis Hosier. This fleet ultimately sailed on to Porto Bello, one of Spain's prime treasure ports, for the purpose of disrupting the flow of gold and silver to Spain. When the fleet they quickly managed to seize a number of Spanish ships. However, the Spanish treasure was safely unloaded and returned to the storehouses in the port. This initial success would not be replicated. Instead, the following months saw both the Spanish and British forces remain idle around Porto Bello. Of course, the British fleet being at sea suffered more than the Spaniards on land. Eventually, the combination of the tropics and constrained quarters culminated in an outbreak of yellow fever among the British fleet. With his fleet ravaged by disease, Hosier had no choice but to return to Jamaica and replenish his numbers. Without the British anchored off outside of Porto Bello, the Spanish were finally able to send their treasure fleet to Spain. The fleet's arrival in Spain was hailed a victory, which it doubtlessly was as Britain has wasted significant resources for the sole purpose of avoiding that exact outcome. Furthermore, the addition of 31 million pesos to the Spanish treasury quickly became an absolute necessity for the Spanish war effort.

    When Spain declared war on Britain, they did so with little preparation and a weak treasury. The reason Spain was willing to fight under such conditions was that they had been promised serious material aid from the Hapsburg monarchy. The Hapsburgs, however, became hesitant about fully committing themselves to the Spanish alliance when British diplomats suddenly began to act much more friendly than they had in the many months previous. Consequently, the Spanish army found itself dependent solely on itself to find a way towards victory. In spite of the odds, many commanders were still confident in Spain's ability to achieve success. These commanders, of course, had to call back to the memory of the Spanish empire of old rather than to the recent actions of the Spanish military to remind their soldiers of Spanish glory. Even though Spain had found some early wins in the previous War of the Quadruple Alliance the war had ended in a humiliating defeat for Spain.

    The main success which Spanish hoped to achieve was the capture of Gibraltar. In regards to accomplishing this feat, previously the Marquis de Villadarias noted that Gibraltar was unassailable without naval superiority, which the Spanish had lost the right to contest after their horrific defeat at Cape Passaro during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Thus Villadarias assessment would have deemed a capture of the Rock to be impossible. Spain's current engineers, Jorge Prospero de Verboom, Francisco Monteagut, and Diego Bordick, were slightly more sanguine. The engineers thought that perhaps a diversionary attack combined with a quick naval assault against the southern approach of the Rock had a slim chance of success. Neither of these judgements pleased Felipe V in his quest for victory. Instead, the boast of Count de la Torres that he could take the fortress in six weeks is what garnered the most attention from Felipe and his court. As a result, de la Torres was named commander of the army destined for Gibraltar and the others were made his subordinates.

    The army of de la Torres consisted of thirty whole infantry battalions and six squadrons of horse. The artillery that complements this considerable force was made of seventy-two mortars and ninety-two cannon. In total, the Spanish army amounted to 12000 men on paper. Among these men were four Irish battalions, many of whom were Jacobite supporters who viewed this siege as an opportunity to strike a hard blow against the rising British empire. Opposing Spain's army was the much smaller garrison of Gibraltar. This garrison contained only the elements of four regiments which added up to just 1200 men. On top of this numerical disadvantage, both the Earl of Portmore and Brigadier General Jasper Clayton, respectively, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar, were absent from the fortress when the Spanish army arrived across the isthmus. The responsibly of defending Gibraltar fell to a mere colonel, Richard Kane, and a garrison that was outnumbered 10 to 1. Despite the grim disparity in land forces, the British did have a major advantage in the strength of the Gibraltar and Menorca naval squadrons. This naval superiority guaranteed that Gibraltar would remain supplied with munitions and food throughout the siege despite the distance to Portsmouth.

    The siege officially began when the Spaniards occupied Devil's Tower and began to dig siege lines opposing Gibraltar on February 11th of 1727. The British defenders responded with a few warning shots but the angle depression made a heavy bombardment of the Spanish from Gibraltar unfavorable. Rather than depend on Gibraltar's guns to damage the Spaniards the British depended on their naval guns, which is fitting considering Britain's historical reliance on its navy. At first, these naval guns did take their toll on the Spanish besiegers by killing hundreds on them. However, once the Spanish constructed artillery batteries along the coast the British ships were forced to back down. Even though the British fleet's bombardment had ceased, the poor weather of February combined with the Britain Willis' battery hampered Spain's efforts to advance its siege lines. However, the discovery of a cave beneath Willis' battery offered the Spanish a chance to literally undermine the battery. Yet once became obvious that such a task would take several months, de la Torres abandoned the idea due to his foolish belief that he might actually win the siege in just six weeks. However, the problem with leaving Willis' battery standing was that Spain could not advance its siege lines much further for risk of the infantry being battered too heavily. The only option left to Spain was to depend on its cannons to hammer Gibraltar into submission.

    The true Spanish bombardment of Gibraltar began on March 24th and continued for ten days. The bombardment would have lasted longer, however, the rains began too heavy and the conditions too difficult. Nevertheless, the bombardment had met with a good degree of success. The northern fortifications and Villa Vieja neighborhood of Gibraltar had sustained harsh punishment. Indeed, in Villa Vieja, after the bombardment "a hundred houses were by that means laid in rubbish" according to a British defender. However, not all was well for the Spanish. Firstly, Gibraltar still stood defiant. Secondly, many Spanish soldiers had deserted or been taken out of action by disease. Additionally, the bad weather continued to hamper the Spanish siege. This weather hampered the Spanish so much that the British were able to reinforce Gibraltar unmolested first on April 7th and later on May 1st. These reinforcements brought the size of Gibraltar's garrison up to more than 5000. Also, among the reinforcements was Earl of Portmore, Governor of Gibraltar, an experienced general and leader. Overall, this reinforcing of Gibraltar significantly bolstered morale and confidence among the British defenders. Soon after they attempted a sortie, however, the British artillery fired early and alerted the Spaniards to the sortie attempt.

    On May 7th, the conditions finally allowed the Spanish to resume their bombardment of Gibraltar. For the next eight days, the Spanish rained fire and dropped thousands of cannonballs upon Gibraltar and its defenses. This bombardment killed many of the British defenders and harried the British batteries. On the Old Mole, sixteen of the twenty-four British cannon had been dismounted in a single day of Spanish bombardment. At Willis' battery, only two guns had been left mounted after the Spanish bombardment and the British artillery personnel was scared to return to their positions. The British had been so harassed that Portmore felt the need to significantly raise wages from eight pence a day to a full shilling a day. The Spanish also recognized their success. In fact, de la Torres sent a message to Portmore: "A Flag of Truce to the Governor With a Compliment to inform his Lordship that they have not begun the Siege, and that as yet they were only trying their ordinance, tho' they yesterday sent us, most part into the Town, 119 Bombs and near 1500 Balls and keep still a most dreadfull firing."

    Despite those eight days of success, Gibraltar still did not succumb. And after those eight days, the Spanish iron cannon broke from overuse and the Spanish brass cannon became ineffective due to overheating. Furthermore, the failure of the Hapsburgs to provide the material support meant that the Spanish supply situation was declining into a horrid state. The British soon enough began to remount their guns, reestablish their batteries, and return fire against their Spanish opponents. All in all, despite the damage the Spanish had done they were not actually close to taking Gibraltar and the defenders were still stalwart in their defense. The previous disagreements of the Spanish commanders over how to conduct a siege of Gibraltar boiled up into hostility. De Verboom, the engineer-in-chief of the siege was so discontented he returned to Madrid to file a complaint against de la Torres' conduction of the siege. When de la Torres arrived in Madrid, however, he found that the Spanish government's focus on turned to an entirely different place from Gibraltar, the Baltic [1].

    [1] Once again, this post is entirely OTL. I promise the next post will include the POD. This last line, obviously, hints at that POD: Shenanigans in the Baltic.

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    3: Rally and Rage
  • 3: Rally and Rage
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    Empress Catherine I

    As the British found themselves at war with the Spanish in the Mediterranean they also were in the midst a crisis with the Russians in the Baltic. Ever since Russia's dramatic victory in the Great Northern War it had been the premier Baltic power. Since the rise of Russia had coincided with the ascendence of the German Hanoverians to the British throne, Russia being the Baltic power posed a grave threat to Britain's new Hanoverian realm. In particular, Russia's ardent support of the House of Holstein-Gottorp's claims against Denmark was considered fundamentally dangerous to the integrity of the Electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg. The reason being is that the Electorate's purchase of the province of Bremen-Verden from Denmark had been made alongside a promise for the House of Hanover to support Denmark in its dispute with Holstein. Alone, Holstein had not been able to act on its claims and find retribution for its grievances; however, with Russia's armies, Holstein could very well reclaim its lands and thus void Brunswick-Luneburg's right to Bremen Verden. As a result, Britain had spent the years after the Great Northern War to 1727 doing everything it could to oppose Russia in the Baltic and discourage it from amending Holstein's situation. This policy involved Britain deploying a fleet to the Baltic in 1721 and then again in 1726 to make a show of force and demonstrate Britain's resolve in opposing Holstein's claims. Although the latter fleet had successfully dissuaded a Russian attack on Denmark, it turned Russia's attention and ire towards Brunswick-Luneburg and Britain. Furious at Britain's interference with Russian policy, Russia placed itself in two alliances very much opposed to Britain. The first alliance is that of Austrians and Spaniards. Russia agreed to join in arms against Britain and all her allies by supplying 30000 soldiers for a direct assault on Hanover. The second alliance was one with the Jacobite claimants to the British throne. This second alliance, however, was only informal and no official treaty or proclamation was made. Altogether, these acts had more than frightened Britain.

    Britain acted on its fear like it always did by sending envoys and warships. In the spring of 1727, British envoys arrived in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Cassel all for the sole purpose of gathering Britain allies to defend Hanover. In Copenhagen, the British restated their support for Denmark rather than Holstein and reminded Denmark of the hazard of Russia's power for Denmark. In Stockholm, the British offered a chance at redeeming the hard defeat of the Great Northern War. In Cassel, the British presented hard cash and promised more. In all three capitals, each government agreed to sign on to the Treaty of Hanover and join Britain's alliance. As British diplomats went about buying Britain an army to defend Brunswick-Luneburg, Britain's navy went about reminding the Baltic who was the superior naval power. Once again, a British fleet had entered the Baltic determined to show strength and force Russia to back down. Yet this time was different. In 1726, the Russians had stayed at port and abandoned their plans due to the threat of the British ships. in 1727, however, the Russians were of a different mind. Rather than once more allow the British to encroach in Russian waters and intrude in Russian affairs, this time Russia was determined to act. After hearing of Britain's fleet and of her new allies, Empress Catherine rallied with all her strength from a bout with illness and commanded Fyodor Apraksin and the Baltic fleet to answer Britain's show of force with one of its own. Shortly, afterward, however, the illness violently seized Catherine again. Catherine continued through the weeks of May [1].

    As Catherine had been battling with illness, General Admiral Apraksin did just as she ordered and challenged the British trespassers. After weeks of sailing, the Apraksin had located the British fleet, commanded by Admiral John Norris, on the 23rd of May, off the coast of Saaremaa. Upon sighting the British, Apraksin prepared his fleet for battle and sent orders to Saaremaa and Muhu for help from the coast. Despite his preparation, however, Apraksin did not wish to fight a real battle against the British. Although the numbers of each fleet were roughly equal, Apraksin still recognized the obvious superiority of the British. All Apraksin wished to do was demonstrate strength and fire some warning spots so that he could fulfill his orders and uphold Russia's honor. Admiral Norris, on the other hand, had no qualms about engaging the Russian fleet. Indeed, when Norris had first heard of the Russian fleet leaving port he had been surprised and also concerned. Previously, a Russian fleet had managed to reach the Hebrides unopposed. At this point, with Russia allied to the Spaniards and linked to the Jacobites Admiral Norris had to be uneasy. Perhaps the Russians were soon to be at war with Britain just as Spain already was or perhaps the Russians were dreaming up plans to a Jacobite army in Britain. In any case, Norris felt that the best course of action was to engage and defeat the Russian fleet. Consequently, Norris quickly organized his fleet and sailed straight at the Russians [2].

    In the ensuing battle, the superior British ships and seamanship hammered the Russians hard. Quickly Arpraksin ordered his fleet to retreat into the Vaike Strait. As the Russians pulled into the Vaike Strait along Saaremaa's coast, the British ships which chased after struggled. The British fleet although the better fleet overall was not better in every way. Throughout the 1720s the Russian Navy had gone from being a fleet filled with and commanded by foreigners to one which was decidedly Russian. As a result, the pilots, captains, and sailors were all extremely familiar with the shorelines of the Russian Empire and how to navigate them. Furthermore, the Russian fleet was a Baltic fleet whereas the British fleet was an Atlantic one. The small size of the Baltic Sea, its many islands, and its close quarters meant that heavy ships were not always superior. Although having the biggest ship and biggest guns can win a navy many battles in the open sea, the same can not be said when fighting in the cramped shorelines of the Baltic. The British navy's focus on blue water fighting rather than coastal fighting had previously resulted in several English defeats to the Dutch despite superior English numbers. At Saaremaa, decades later, the British were punished for failing to learn from their mistakes. In this tight strait, the British fleet's effectiveness diminished and the British soon found themselves harassed by Russian soldiers from the coast. Still, Admiral Norris pressed on, and as he pressed on Apraksin fell back. Then with a sudden, jarring, crash the HMS Britannica ran aground on a hidden shoal. The large size of the HMS Britannica meant that it running aground did not just take the Britannica out of battle but several of the ships behind it as well. Furthermore, the confined area of the strait and the coastal harassment made any attempt to unground the ship far less likely to succeed. With Norris' biggest ship effectively lost and his fleet divided, the admiral had no choice but to give up the chase and retreat. In this retreat, of course, the British were forced to abandon the Britannica. Despite the British retreating, the Russians did not chase after them. Actually, the Russians were incapable of chasing after the British because of the large amount of damage the Russian ships had sustained.

    When news of the Battle of Saaremaa reached St. Petersburg, it is said that Empress Catherine was so filled with an absolute white rage that she managed to immediately recover from her months-long illness, stand unaided, and loudly proclaim that she would destroy Hanover and crush Britain and all its allies. Whatever the truth of that, Catherine I did recover soon after the battle and had been enraged by the British attack against her fleet. In Catherine's eyes, Russia and Britain had been at peace then Britain attacked Russia without provocation while the Russian fleet was doing nothing more than protecting the sovereignty of Russian waters. Catherine called back to the Battle of Cape Passaro when the British attacked a Spanish fleet despite the state of peace between Spain and Britain. There is some truth to Catherine's analogy but overall it can be concluded that Catherine was simply fishing for an excuse to go to war with Britain and resolve the Holstein dispute once and for all [3]. Regarding the actual result of the battle: Russian fleet had lost 3 ships while the British had only lost the Britannica and twice as many Russian ships had been severely damaged. By strict definition, the battle was a British victory. Also, following the battle, the British fleet remained in the Baltic, which means that the Russians failed to achieve their strategic goal and thus the battle was also a strategic defeat. Yet the Russians went on to call it a victory. They proclaimed Apraksin a hero and called the battle their second Gangut. In Britain, on the other hand, the battle was considered a humiliation. The British navy had been given a bloody nose by a navy which was less than half a century old, led by Asiatic beasts, and consisting of inferior ships. Admiral Norris was vilified for his conduct and command during the battle. Norris was almost immediately replaced by Admiral Wager as commander of the Baltic Fleet due to the disgust at the result of the battle. Norris was even court-martialled but successfully defended himself before the tribunal. Something which further fueled these perspectives of the battle was the Russian refloating of the Britannica. After the battle, the Russians completely unloaded the warship and then successfully kedged it. Subsequently, the Russians repaired the Britannica and Empress Catherine personally renamed it Retribution to indicate her intent to use Britain's own ship to punish Britain and Brunswick-Luneburg.

    Regarding that punishment, the first move Catherine made was to inform her ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor that she was invoking the terms of their alliance and calling on the Hapsburgs to help Russia retaliate against this brazen British attack. At the time, Emperor Charles VI was engaged in negotiations with the British to abandon Spain and reestablish relations with Britain. Considering the lack of Spanish military success and the strength of the Hanoverian Alliance, Charles VI had been very inclined to accept Britain's offer. After the Battle of Saaremaa, however, the situation was drastically different. If Charles reconciled with the British now then he would not just betray the Spaniards but also the Russians. While the Hapsburgs might be able to survive without Spain, to give up an alliance with Russia would be far from wise. Still, Charles was very wary to throw his domain into a long, bloody war that there was no guarantee of victory in. For days, Charles and his council debated what action Austria should take while Russian and Spanish diplomats constantly bombarded the Hapsburgs with calls to arms. Finally, on June 29th, the Hapsburgs released answer and it was just as the Russians and Spaniards had prayed for, war.

    The decision of the Hapsburgs to declare war on Britain triggered the series of treaties between the various powers of Europe and turned what originally had been a limited war between Spain and Britain into a true continental conflict. Opposed by Russia, the Hapsburgs, and Spain, Britain requested France, Sardinia, the Dutch Republic, Denmark-Norway, Sweden, Hesse-Cassel, and Prussia fight along its side. Almost all of these states chose to fulfill their treaties with Britain and joined the war. The Dutch Republic, however, was quite slow in its reaction as its States General worried about the potential of French soldiers in the Austrian Netherlands. Meanwhile, Prussia was forced to reevaluate its situation. Prussia was a strong state in its own right, however, it was weaker than Austria and far far far quicker than the Russian Empire. To fight for Britain could easily mean the complete destruction of Prussia or at least significant harm being done it. Fighting for the Emperor, however, offered the chance to be in his good graces for succession disputes and most importantly meant avoiding Russian hordes overwhelming Prussia and Brandenburg. With this in mind, Prussia joined Bavaria, Cologne, and Saxony as allies of Russia, the Hapsburgs, and Spain. All in all, the stage was set was a spectacle of war between nearly all the relevant European states [4].

    [1] In OTL, Catherine I dies on May 16 of 1727. As a result of her death, there immediately is a (bloodless) struggle among the Russian nobility to select the next Russian ruler. As a result of this struggle, new people came into power and among their first actions was to recall the Russian Baltic fleet. Obviously, only recently having gained power the new government does not want to risk losing control or popularity due to war. TTL, Catherine does not die, the fleet is not recalled, and it ultimately ends up fighting the British.
    [2] British naval policy at this time was exceedingly aggressive and tensions with Russia were at a very high point.
    [3] Tensions were very high, all that was needed was a spark.
    [4] Alliances are all OTL and so its Prussia's loyalty to Austria and fear of Russia.

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    Map - 1727 Europe During Empress Catherine's War
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    Thought a map would help illuminate the situation. All thanks to Marc Pasquin for editing this map for me.
     
    4: Hanoverian Alliance Prepares for War
  • 4: Hanoverian Alliance Prepares for War
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    Prince Frederick in 1720

    As war seized Europe in the summer of 1727, the British led Hanoverian Alliance realized just how truly unprepared for a war they were. In Britain itself, the expansion of the Anglo-Spanish conflict into continental brawl came a particularly delicate time in British politics. Little over a week before the Hapsburg declaration of war, Britain's king, George I, suffered from a stroke and he died two days later. Upon hearing of his death, the British prime minister, Robert Walpole, rushed to the Prince of Wales and asked for instructions. After years of being opposed by Walpole, George Augustus bluntly replied that Walpole should go to Sir Spencer Compton and that he would give Walpole his instructions. This statement was effectively a dismissal of a man who had led Britain for the past six years and began a contest for the position of prime minister. This contest did not start immediately as the British court instead focused on establishing the new king, George II, in his palaces and set about organizing a funeral for the old king. Thus when news of war arrived in London it arrived to a leaderless parliament and a fresh king.

    The competition for prime minister mainly occurred between Walpole, the recently dismissed prime minister, Charles Townshend, Northern Secretary, and Spencer Compton, Paymaster of Forces. Walpole had not desired war in the slightest. As prime minister, he had done much to keep Britain out of conflict. The Treaty of Hanover, which Walpole blamed for escalating tensions and ultimately causing the war, had actually been negotiated entirely by Townshend without Walpole being informed until after the treaty was signed. Still, Walpole felt that he was the best possible prime minister and felt obligated to try to return to the office. Townshend originally did not have much interest in pursuing the premiership, however, with the outbreak of war in the Baltic many members of parliament felt that it was only right for the Northern Secretary to conduct that war. This pressure from below is what convinced Townshend to compete. Lastly, there was Compton. Compton was not viewed as a particularly adept politician and he had been prevented from having too much influence in politics by Walpole for the last several years. Despite those facts, Compton was noted as a man of great energy and will, which were viewed as extremely necessary and important traits in a prime minister for war. Consequently, several politicians offered their support to Compton. Whatever the opinions of the parliamentarians, however, the decision of who would lead Britain in war fell George II not them [1].

    During the days that followed, each man made it known to King George their interest in being his prime minister. All of them gave speeches about their experience and their skill but the main matter of importance was their plans for the war. Walpole, out of his reluctance for war, spoke of limited army operations to prevent the fall of Gibraltar and also defend against an attack on Brunswick-Luneburg. Navally, the British would focus on protecting their interests in the Caribbean and Baltic while also harassing Spanish and Austrian trade. Such a small scope, however, did not sit well with George, especially because of his deep attachment to Brunswick-Luneburg despite his fourteen-year-long absence from the electorate. Townshend spoke of a more serious British commitment to the war which combined his experience might have been enough to gain him the premiership had it not been for the fact that Townshend had arranged the Treaty of Hanover in close cooperation with George I, whom George II disdained. Ultimately, it was Compton's calls for large albeit unrealistic military commitments to the Low Lands and Hanover that won the position of prime minister [2].

    As prime minister, Compton's first move was to attempt to make good on his promise by requesting that parliament supply the funds to support an army of 70000 men. These soldiers were to fight across the Continent, in Gibraltar, Galicia, the Low Lands, and Brunswick-Luneburg. The Opposition and many of Compton's allies fiercely attacked the idea of such an army. Some pointed to the potential for tyranny, others simply spoke about the costs. Although many in Parliament were about the Russo-Austro-Spanish alliance they were concerned to the extent of 70000 men and four distinct campaigns. Instead, after much debate and compromise, the Parliament agreed to support a much smaller force of 46000 men. 20000 men were to be made available for the defense of Brunswick-Luneburg, 12000 men would be dispatched to the Netherlands, and a final 14000 men would be raised to defend the British Isles against any potential Jacobite attack. Despite the reduced size of the army, the army Britain began to assemble was still a considerable force. Still, some worried that it would not be enough.

    Across the English Channel in France, the Walpole's reluctance for war was shared by Cardinal Fleury, the leading man in Versailles. Unlike Walpole, Fleury would not lose his position over his reluctance. France had spent nearly a century in a constant state of war and it had paid price in blood and gold for it. Although, France had greatly been expanded under the reign of Louis XIV it had also been financially and politically exhausted. For this reason, Fleury and most of the French court were wary to dive deep into yet another European war. The only reason that Fleury had accepted the British call to arms was that he shared their fear of a Russo-Austrian alliance dominating Germany and threatening France's eastern flank. Still, Fleury's lack of enthusiasm was obvious and had a large impact on how France proceeded with its preparations for war. France decided to only raise 100000 soldiers. This army may be twice that of Britain's but France's population was more than three times the size of Britain's. In the high seas, Fleury ordered only an inexpensive and limited "guerre de course" or war against commerce [3].

    This disinclination for war in Britain and France was significant but it paled in comparison to the almost hostile stance the Dutch Republic took towards war. The Dutch had joined the Hanoverian Alliance out of irritation at the Hapsburg Ostend Company, which threatened to become a commercial rival of the republic. However, the Dutch had never expected a war to actually occur. They had expected, much like Townshend and Fleury, that the Hanoverian Alliance would overawe Austria and prevent entirely. To be clear, the alliance had managed to keep the Hapsburgs in check for half a year after Spain went to war. Russia and Britain's belligerence, however, had pushed the Hapsburgs and in turn the Dutch into war. Now, confronted with the reality of a continental war, the States General of the republic severely regretted the misfortunes that had brought them to this point. Many within the Republic also feared that fighting against the Hapsburgs would only serve to weaken the buffer between the Dutch and the French. Although, the French were friendly now many Dutch remembered the time when that was not the case. As a consequence, the Dutch deliberately undermined the war effort in a hope to avoid a French army in Brussels or turning the Austrian Netherlands into a perpetually hostile neighbor. For the sake of appearances, the Dutch were required to support an army of 30000, which they did but no more [4].

    In the south, the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia was much more willing to fight than its Atlantic allies. Victor Amadeus had spent decades attempting to turn their Italian duchy into a true European power. Savoy's victory in the War of the Spanish Succession marked the end of Savoy's subservience to France and Savoy's ascension to a royal title, the Kings of Sicily. Within a decade though Savoy found itself powerless as the Spaniards seized Sicily from them and excluded when the Quadruple Alliance gave Sicily to the Hapsburgs without so much as broaching the topic to the Savoyards. This war provided Victor Amadeus with the perfect opportunity to amend his situation. By fighting the Hapsburgs with Britain and France's help, Victor Amadeus thought it possible to not only recover Sicily but also to conquer Naples and Milan. If he succeeded in all these goals then he would become a truly powerful king whose rights and opinions had to be respected. For this reason, Victor Amadeus was more than happy to muster an army of 24000 men, which he prayed would carry him to glory.

    As the Atlantic members of the alliance hesitated and Sardinia was seized by lust for land and glory, the Baltic countries of Brunswick-Luneburg, Denmark-Norway, and Sweden had nothing but survival on their minds. In Brunswick-Luneburg, the very specific threat that the Russians had directed towards the electorate caused a state of panic. The recent death of the former elector, George I, did little to mollify this sentiment. Under these conditions, Brunswick-Luneburg needed a leader and they could not wait for London to choose one. Instead, the nobility of Brunswick-Luneburg turned to 20-year-old Prince Frederick, now heir to British and Brunswicker thrones [5]. Having he spent his whole life within the borders of the electorate, Frederick had a good deal of respect for it (not as much as he had for Britain, however) and had no desire to see it destroyed by the mighty hordes of Russia. With this thought hanging on his mind, Frederick accepted the pleas of the nobles and took command of preparing Brunswick-Luneburg for war, without consulting with Britain. In spite of Frederick's inexperience, he made a good leader for a country in crisis as his youthful energy allowed him to manage the various matters at hand. As the British parliament still debated, Frederick was already putting together an army of nearly 20000 to defend Brunswick-Luneburg. Joining this army were the 15000 Hessians which Britain had bought. When this news arrived in Britain, it certainly surprised the British and especially family. George II, in particular, was taken aback by his son seemingly usurping his position. However, Compton and Queen Caroline convinced George that Frederick meant no harm and that his leadership in Germany was actually quite necessary.

    To the north, in Denmark, the same panic felt by the Brunswickers was felt by the Danes. The Danish had for years managed to avoid an actual confrontation over the issue of Holstein due to Britain's interference in favor of Denmark-Norway. With the Battle of Saaremaa, things, of course, had changed. Denmark did not delay in reinforcing its garrisons in Holstein and raising more men to join them. Ultimately, the Danes expected to support a field army of 44000 men, which was quite large. However, many of the Danes feared that this would not be enough to stop the combined strength of Russia and Prussia. In Sweden, the politicians realized that they may have perhaps miscalculated by declaring war on Russia. Russia could easily support hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Sweden, on the other hand, was still reeling from the lost almost 250000 men in the Great Northern War. Now the Swedes would be fortunate to raise even 40000 men. Still, many hoped that a defensive strategy in Finland and Pomerania could hold back the Russians and Prussians until Sweden's allies won the elsewhere.

    With the Hanoverian Alliance in such apparently dire straits, it is important to understand two things. First, the importance of Prussia to the Hanoverian Alliance. One of the Treaty of Hanover's original signors had been the Kingdom of Prussia and up until Prussia's betrayal, the rest of alliance expected Prussia to fulfill its promises. Prussia switching to Russo-Austro-Spanish side completely ruined the strategic sense and planning of the Hanoverian Alliance. Firstly, without Prussia, the Hanoverian alliance was deprived of a field army of 65000 of the Continent's finer soldiers. Furthermore, those 65000 soldiers were now fighting for the enemy. Secondly, without Prussia a major the threat to the Hapsburgs in Germany was removed and instead the Hapsburgs would be allowed to focus on its western front while the Prussians and Russians destroyed the Hanoverian allies in the Baltic. To be honest, the British should have calculated for such a possibility. Prussia had long been a loyalist to the Emperor so to expect Prussia to actually wage war on the Emperor was a bit of a gamble. Additionally, Austria and Russia's combined land army presence in the region to far superior to anything the Hanoverian Alliance can produce. Thus if Prussia opposed Austria and Russia there is a good chance of severe damage or even defeat being dealt to Prussia. In particular, Ducal Prussia would undoubtedly be destroyed. Overall, Britain's failure to perceive the possibility of a Prussian betrayal gave Britain and its allies an aura of overconfidence which allowed them to drag themselves into war [6]. The other mistake of the Hanoverian Alliance was that each member overestimated their allies' strength and willingness to fight. In Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic severe reluctance had limited the size of their armies and the scope of their campaigns. Yet each of these countries had not expected this of the other power and instead had allowed themselves to believe that their allies would contribute more to the war. Now, they would feel the ramifications of their actions [7].

    [1] OTL the primary candidates were Walpole and Compton. TTL Townshend gets more of a chance because of his foreign affairs experience and personal creation of the Treaty of Hanover.
    [2] OTL Walpole won the prime ministership by offering George more money for his family without any political concessions. TTL Walpole's strong political ideas prevent him from reaching a favorable agreement with George and thus Walpole loses out to Compton.
    [3] Fleury, for the most part, was a man of peace. OTL he did seek to curb Hapsburg power a bit, which is why he is willing to fight the Hapsburgs. However, Fleury believes that he keep the war limited and win in this limited context, which is why he does not initially muster the full strength of France.
    [4] The Dutch during the Second Stadtholderless period really wanted to avoid any sort of war. Additionally, they were still distrustful of the French. Consequently, they do not do much to promote the war effort.
    [5] OTL Frederick was in Hanover until 1728.
    [6] Prussia was surprisingly strong at this point even without Frederick the Great, which is why Prussia was so vital to the Hanoverian Alliance.
    [7] All of this is simply based on an analysis of the Hanoverian Alliance and its members.

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    5: The Viennese Alliance Mobilizes
  • 5: The Viennese Alliance Mobilizes
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    King Friedrich Wilhelm I

    Among the allies of Vienna, the reaction to the war was more positive than had been Hanoverian Alliance. In Spain, a larger war was exactly what the court had wished for. In the midst of a more complicated conflict, the Spaniards could expect to be overlooked and underestimated, in which case, their military operations would have a better chance of success. Indeed, in Britain, the parliamentary debate had resulted in troops be dispatched to Brunswick-Luneburg and the Netherlands but no additional men were to be sent to Gibraltar or Menorca. Instead, the British were intent on relying on their navy to prevent the fall of either base. Under these conditions, Spain felt that they could and would take back their lost land and in the process restore the glory of the Spanish empire. Some Spaniards even believed that Spain could push on into France and conquer Roussillon, Cerdagne, and Navarre [1]. The primary leadership, in Spain, however, was willing to be more reasonable. As a result, Spain's initial military strategy was to focus on the siege of Gibraltar and to raise an army of 20000 men to defend Catalonia against the possibility of a French invasion.

    In Vienna, the Hapsburgs like the British, French, and the Dutch had hoped to avoid a war. The Hapsburgs, however, did hold themselves back because of their initial desire. Instead, the Hapsburgs were quite willing to make the necessary effort and raise the necessary armies to assure themselves of victory. While Fleury had only vague goals of limiting Hapsburg power and the Dutch were uncertain of what to do, Emperor Charles VI saw this war as an opportunity to secure the promises that would secure the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa to the throne should he fail to conceive a male heir. By showing generosity to his allies and strength to his enemies, Charles was sure that he could convince the whole of Europe to comply with the Pragmatic Sanction and allow a daughter to assume the Hapsburg monarchy without hindrance. Hence, the Hapsburg council decided to put muster 100000 men for war, which for the Hapsburg realm was quite significant. These soldiers came from the various domains of the Southern Netherlands, Milan, Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary as well as from the mercenaries stocks of the princes of Germany and dukes of Italy. Altogether, the Hapsburg war effort certainly was impressive.

    In the Munich, Dresden, and Cologne, a similar stance was taken by the three electors of Bavaria, Cologne, and Saxony. Both the Wittelsbach and Wettin families had recently secured for themselves important marriages with the two daughters of Charles VI's predecessor, Joseph. Charles had, of course, forced both Maria Josepha and Maria Amalia to renounce their place in the line of succession before the marriages, which damaged the claims which the Wittelsbach and Wettin families would have upon the death of Charles VI. Rather than oppose Charles now to reestablish those claims, the Elector of Bavaria, Karl Albert, and Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong, sought to prove their loyalty to the Emperor in expectation of receiving some form of compensation for their claims. The act of proving that loyalty would involve Bavaria and Cologne raising an army of 28000 men and Saxony raising an army of 26000 men. Although these armies were not exceedingly large in the general of European warfare, they were serious commitments for Wittelsbach and Wettin houses. Of course, they were nothing like that of King in Prussia.

    Prussia had been motivated by a mix of fear and loyalty into turning coat and joining the Viennese Alliance. In spite of these not entirely pure motivation for kneeling before the Emperor and Empress, King Friedrich Wilhelm I had every intention of prosecuting the war without reserve or delay, because in front of Friedrich Wilhelm was a perfect opportunity to finish the work he had started in the Great Northern War and to take advantage of Brunswick-Luneburg. Thus while most of Europe was still in the process of putting together their armies, the Prussians launched an invasion of Swedish Pomerania just six weeks into the war. This opening strike of 26000 soldiers easily overwhelmed much of the Swedish province in only two weeks. A contingent of soldiers even managed to cross over and take the island of Rugen before either Swedish or British fleets could stop them. Finally, at the town of Stralsund, the rapid advance of the Prussians came to a halt and a slow siege of the last remaining holdout of Swedish Pomerania began [2].

    As Friedrich Wilhelm stormed through Pomerania, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau had a much more muted campaign against Brunswick-Luneburg. With most of Prussia's supplies be dedicated to the Pomeranian effort, Prince Leopold had to constrain himself and his 29000 troops so as not to exceed Prussia's limitations. Additionally, the swift arrival of the mercenaries from Hesse-Cassel and preparations of Prince Frederick meant that Leopold was faced with far more consequential opposition than that seen in Pomerania. Overall, by the time Friedrich Wilhelm was starting the Second Siege of Stralsund, Prince Leopold was barely dancing within the borders of Brunswick-Luneburg. For the next few weeks, this deliberate and cautious effort against Brunswick-Luneburg would continue until eventually new forces arrived in the region and military conditions of the situation drastically changed.

    [1] This was an actual suggestion in Spain at the time despite the disparity between France and Spain.
    [2] Sweden is still recovering from the damage of the Great Northern War and no longer can supply Swedish Pomerania with its traditional and considerable garrison. Consequently, the Prussians overwhelm most of the territory. Stralsund, however, was always a tough nut to crack.

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    6: Menshikov's Opening Moves and Lacy's March
  • 6: Menshikov's Opening Moves and Lacy's March
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    Peter Lacy

    In St. Petersburg, the word of the Battle of Saaremaa, as mentioned, caused an outburst of rage in Empress Catherine I and led her to desire vengeance against the British scoundrel. However, Catherine unlike her late husband, Peter, did not run the country alone. In fact, her Russia was led more by her small Supreme Privy Council than it was led by her. Although Catherine had taken a personal interest in promoting Holstein, the home of the partners of her two daughters, it was Andrey Osterman who had actually been carrying out the pro-Holstein policy of Russia. Osterman had not embarked on this pro-Holstein diplomatic course of action because he felt the need to support Catherine's children but rather because he wanted to continue Peter's project of developing Russia's relations with Germany since he believed it was vital to solidifying Russia's position in the Baltic Sea. However, throughout this program, Russia was opposed by Britain, which led Osterman to believe that war with Britain was necessary to give Russia the freedom to pursue its Baltic dreams. In the wake of Saaremaa, Osterman finally had the necessary capital to push for a war with Britain and Denmark to liberate Holstein and secure for it for Russian interests. However, Osterman could not start a war all by himself.

    At this time, the main man in Russia was none other than Peter the Great's disciple Alexander Menshikov. Thus far Menshikov had allowed Osterman a great deal of autonomy in running Russia's foreign policy. To declare war, however, Osterman knew he needed Menshikov's approval. Fortunately, Menshikov had just the right type and amount of ambition that was needed for Osterman to succeed. Menshikov viewed himself as a vital piece of the rise of Russia from a simple backward Tsardom to a European empire. Yet Menshikov had spent much of the Great Northern War in the shadows of Peter the Great and Boris Sheremetev, which left him deprived of the renown which he felt he deserved. Only in a war without either of the two great men would Menshikov be able to establish himself as a true icon of Russia and its military might. A great, continental war against Russia's old foe Sweden and new rival Britain was a greater opportunity than Menshikov could have ever dreamed of. As a result, he eagerly accepted Osterman's call for war and between Menshikov's ambition, Osterman's strategy, and Catherine's fury peace stood no stood and maybe Europe did not either.

    With Russia at war, Menshikov, already the most powerful man in Russia, took undisputed control over the Russian war effort. Under Menshikov's leadership, the Supreme Privy Council decided the first set of actions for Russia's war. Apraksin was to continue to defend Russia's coasts and in particular the ports of Reval and Riga. Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, who had led the Russians in Finland during the Great Northern War, and Christoph von Münnich, Russia's newest General-in-Chief, were to organize the defense of St. Petersburg and once they were ready, an invasion of Finland. Peter Lacy and his army of 30000 men was to finally stop languishing in Livland and promptly march on Hanover to deliver Catherine's fury. Charles Frederick, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and seventh member of the privy council requested that he be given command of Lacy's army. Menshikov, however, recognized Charles Frederick's lack of experience and was unwilling to consent to the request. Out of respect, Menshikov did allow Charles Frederick and his cousin Charles Augustus to join Lacy's army but as clear subordinates [1]. For Menshikov himself was reserved the prodigious task of assembling and then commanding another field army destined for Germany, this one was to be twice the size of Lacy's. Under these conditions, the stage for Russia's war was set.

    Peter Lacy's march to the west was a spectacle for all Europe to witness. After taking a few weeks to ready his army for the march, he crossed the Russian border with Courland in late June. There Lacy quickly dispelled any belief in that Maurice of Saxony could rule the Duchy of Courland without the express approval of the Empress of Russia as the Russian army rested in Mitau. Heavily in debt and now deprived of his duchy, Maurice had few options left. The option which he chose was to offer to join the Russian army just as he had done in 1713. As a commander in the Russian army, Maurice would once again be employed which would help with his money troubles. More importantly, service with the Russians might earn him the respect and favor he needed from Empress Catherine to finally be permitted to assume the title Duke of Courland and Semigallia. Lacy accepted the offer as means of confirming Maurice's removal from Courland and of adding another experienced to his army. Among the army's leaders, he found fast companions in the genial Holsteiners and soon began to learn a great deal from Lacy [2].

    As the Russians marched through Ducal Prussia, Poland, and Brandenburg they were quite a sight. Tens of thousands of fine soldiers with good discipline and modern arms. These Russians were not the Asiatic beasts which Western Europe had long overlooked but instead were shining examples of a new and modern Russia. However, the Russians were hampered by the great distance at which they meant to travel. Indeed very few days the Russian army was forced to rest so as not to outmarch its supply train. Still, the Russians were making surprising speed, mainly due to Lacy's superb command. Overall, the Russian army made an incredible impression on the rest of Europe and put fear into the hearts of the Hanoverian Alliance as they wondered how long before the rest of the Russian army would be unleashed [3].

    That impression was particularly strong in the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. There, Duke Karl Leopold, a former ally of Peter the Great and husband of Russian Grand Duchess Catherine Ivanova, ruled. Karl Leopold had married Catherine Ivanova and allied with Russia in 1716 for the purpose of capturing the city of Wismar for himself. Both the marriage and the attempts to gain Wismar ultimately failed. In 1722, Catherine Ivanova even left Mecklenburg-Schwerin forever and returned to her native Russia. Now, even though Karl Leopold had no optimism that he might revive his marriage, the march of Lacy's army convinced him that he could restore his alliance with Russia and finally achieve his goal of capturing Wismar. After an exchange of diplomatic enquiries with Menshikov and Osterman, Mecklenburg-Schwerin joined Russia's alliance in August of 1727.

    Finally, after weeks of harsh marching, in September the Russians arrived in Brunswick-Luneburg. The arrival of the Russians after fourteen weeks of marching came as a huge surprise to Britain and France and further demonstrated just how greatly they had underestimated Russia. Neither of them nor even Russia's ally the Hapsburgs had expected such decisive and deliberate action by the Russians and now a not insignificant Russian army stood in Northern Germany ready to impose its will. The Holsteiners, of course, wanted that will to be a strike against Denmark-Norway, who had seized Holstein-Gottorp as soon as the war had broken out. Despite Charles Frederick esteemed position on the Supreme Privy Council, his wishes did not supersede those of Menshikov and Empress Catherine. which involved the obliteration of Brunswick-Luneburg. As a result, Lacy joined his army with that of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, presenting the electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg with the greatest threat to its existence it had faced.

    [1] Charles Augustus (love of Empress Elisabeth's life) lives. In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Saaremaa, there is a whole lot of movement and politics and so on. As a result, Charles talks to different people, does different things, and avoids contracting smallpox.
    [2] At this time OTL Maurice left Courland for France and ultimately became a French general. TTL at the time he is going Courland there is a field army there and a good job opportunity. He takes it, let's see where it leads him.
    [3] In OTL just a few years later the Russians would make quite the scene on their march to the Rhine Valley under Lacy's command. Their discipline and organization at that time are what prompted the great amount of fear France had regarding Russia during the War of the Austrian Succession where despite the fact that they were winning the war they felt forced to make peace as a Russian army advanced across Germany.

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    7: The Assembly at Hanover
  • 7: The Assembly at Hanover
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    Death of General Ilton at the Battle of Bienenbuttel

    The arrival of the Russian army in Brunswick-Luneburg was soon followed by the arrival of three others. From Holstein, an army 24000 Danish-Norwegian soldiers, under Christian Detlev Reventlow marched to unite with the now desperately outnumbered army of Prince Frederick of Hanover. A week later further reinforcements came in the form of Compton's promised 20000 British soldiers. This British contingent was personally led by Britain's new king, the battle-hungry George II. Overall, the defenders of Brunswick-Luneburg numbered 80000, 21000 Brunswicker-Luneburger soldiers and militia, 15000 Hessian mercenaries, 24000 Danish and Norwegian soldiers, and 20000 British men. The overall command of the army fell to the Elector of Brunswick-Luneburg and King of Great Britain George II since it was his electorate which this grand army was defending. However, the true command was held by John Campell, 2nd Duke of Argyll. His subordinates were Generals Ilton of Brunswick-Luneburg and Reventlow of Denmark-Norway. Of course, accompanying them were King George II and his son, Frederick.

    Opposing this grand army was an even larger one. For weeks the Prussian army had already been marching outside of Dannenberg and making its presence felt. Now, they were joined by first the Russian army of Peter Lacy and second the Saxon army of Augustus the Strong. This force amounted to 85000 soldiers, 29000 from Prussia, 30000 from Russia, and 26000 from Saxony. Quickly enough even that massive number increased when 2000 soldiers from Brunswick-Wolfenbuffel added to their ranks. The Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbuffel, August Wilhelm, had decided to join the Emperor's alliance due to his family's connections to both the Hapsburgs and the Romanovs and his hope of uniting the two halves of Brunswick-Wolfenbuffel. As a result, the Viennese Alliance had a total of 87000 men under the joint command of Peter Lacy, Prince Leopold, and King Augustus in Brunswick-Luneburg. Oddly, there were Hapsburg soldiers among those 87000 in spite of the Hapsburgs' previous commitment to deploy an army to Hanover. Still, 87000 was an army to be reckoned with.

    To the north, the remaining Danish-Norwegian soldiers remained stationed in Holstein-Gluckstadt and Holstein-Gottorp. The Danish-Norwegian force was reluctant to leave Holstein undefended, especially with the addition of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to their list of enemies. Rather than conduct any offensive movements, this Danish-Norwegian army focused on digging in around Altoona and to the northeast of Hamburg. Preoccupied with this task and wary to get out of position, the Danish-Norwegians failed to stop a Prusso-Mecklenburg army from marching into the poorly defended Principality of Lauenburg and overrunning it. Afterward, both the Danish-Norwegian army of Holstein and the Prusso-Mecklenburger army in Lauenburg fell into an uneasy stalemate. Neither army dared to cross the border and instead both simply remained in their respective camps and fortified their positions till winter.

    In Swedish Pomerania, Friedrich Wilhelm continued his harsh siege against Stralsund. With most of the province already occupied the Prussian King was able to afford to send an army to aid Mecklenburg-Schwerin. However, this army's main purpose was not to enhance the territorial ambitions of Mecklenburg-Schwerin but rather to provide protection against the possibility of a Danish-Norwegian flank emerging from Holstein. In the meantime, Friedrich Wilhelm brought up his son and heir, Friedrich, to watch and participate in the siege so that he could gain a true experience of war and through that experience lose his liberal attitude. Throughout the following months, young Fritz actively participated in the siege. He bravely stood atop the siege works, he helped dig trenches, and he participated in the soldiers' mass. It is commonly believed that the prince only went to mass to spite his father who had troubles with religion. Overall, the Prussian prince's bravery and spirit made a good impression on the soldiers and even his hard father [1].

    Young Fritz, was not the only son struggling to manage his relationship with his father. Fritz' Hanoverian counterpart, Frederick or Griff, also had a difficult relationship with his father. Whilst Friedrich Wilhelm had been a hard and sometimes cruel father to Fritz, George II had been no father at all to Griff. When George II left Brunswick-Luneburg for Britain in 1714 he had been forced to leave the 7-year-old Griff behind. For the next three years, George II had argued and argued with his father to allow Griff to come to Britain. However, once George II had a second son, George William, his efforts to secure Griff's passage to Britain halted. And so for thirteen years, Griff did not see nor hear from his father. The only family member who ever visited the lonesome boy was his grandfather, George I, which is why Griff grew quite close to the old man and grew barely knowing his father. It was only when Hanover was on the verge of being vanquished by a Russo-German army did Griff's father finally return to Brunswick-Luneburg and reunite with his son [2].

    The reunion between George and Griff was surprisingly genial. Griff was eager to erase the obvious estrangement between and his father, so he approached father with kindness and an open heart. George was quite unsure of what to think of the 20-year-old man before him who claimed to be his son, yet George responded to kindness with kindness. Still, both men feel the awkwardness creep in as neither knew what to say next. Fortunately, the Duke of Argyll saved them by beginning to question Griff and General Ilton on the state of Brunswick-Luneburg's defenses and army. Over the next several days, George and Griff would exchange some light conversations but mainly discussed matters of military importance. Throughout this time, the British king was surprised to see how much the Brunswicker-Luneburger soldiers and people looked up to Griff and how they treated their own Elector as a foreign stranger. However, it had been Griff not George II nor George I who had been the resident representative of House Hanover and presiding official of all events in the electorate ever since the departure of George I and George II to Britain [3]. For the reason, when the funeral of George I was organized it was Griff who oversaw the affair rather than George II [4]. At that funeral, George II said very little of his father because he had very little good things to say; on the other hand, Griff gave a heartfelt speech about his grandfather's warmth and compassion, two things that George I had never shown towards his own son [5]. This speech helped to inspire the Brunswicker-Luneburger men in their defense of the electorate.

    Friedrich Wilhelm and Fritz and George II and Griff were not the only father and son duos among the armies of the north. Within the Prussian army, every noble family had at least one son in the army and for many, there were more. These fathers and sons in some cases were split between different regiments or battalions but in most cases, the fathers and sons stood together. For example, in Prince Leopold's army, one of Prussia's best cuirassiers, Hans Heinrich Graf von Katte, was accompanied by his son Hans Hermann [6]. Going over to the Saxon army, Frederick Augustus, Count of Rutowsky and bastard of Augustus the Strong, also had the honor of serving under his father's command [7]. Another one of Augustus' illegitimate sons, Maurice of Saxony, was a new commander within the adjoining Russian army. Upon meeting his father again, Maurice was offered a place in the Saxon army but he rejected it and chose to remain a Russian soldier [8]. As heartwarming as these unions of father and son are they should not derail the discussion of the actions in the Northern German theatre any longer.

    Although conflict north of the Elbe remained isolated to the singular Siege of Stralsund, campaigning south of the Elbe was not so limited. Once both the Hanoverian army and Viennese had finished assembling, the true campaign began. With their numerical superiority, the Viennese began to march aggressively towards Dannenburg. Skirmishes between the two armies ensued as the Viennese advanced forward. Initially, the Hanoverians had planned on holding Dannenburg and protecting the rest of the electorate from the depredations of the enemy. However, when Lauenburg was overwhelmed the Duke of Argyll and the Hanoverian army had little choice but to concede Dannenburg. The only other option to operate in a salient and risk being cut off and surrounded by the Prusso-Mecklenburger army. With Dannenburg having fallen the Viennese gained control over the eastern half of the Principality of Luneburg. There was, however, still time left in the campaign season and a numerical advantage still to be taken advantage of by the Alliance of Vienna.

    Again the Viennese army marched west, this time towards the city of Luneburg. Under strict orders to prevent the fall of Luneburg, the Duke of Argyll stationed 10000 soldiers within the town to defend it against a siege. The rest of the army was to remain aloof so that it could maneuver behind the Viennese army and come at it like a hammer against the anvil that would be Luneburg. After marching up the Elbe, the Viennese army descended upon Luneburg and placed under siege. Lacy and Leopold both being avid students of war realized what the Hanoverian army was intent on doing. After setting up a siege, they left just 20000 men to perform the actual functions of the siege while the rest of the army acted as a screening force. Even with this intelligent action by the Viennese commanders, Argyll felt that with the sizes of the two field armies now comparable that battle possible. More importantly, Argyll was under considerable pressure from George II to engage in battle and eject these invaders from his electorate [9]. Thus even though he was uncertain of the merits of a battle, Argyll marched towards it.

    The forward elements of the Hanoverian army were met by Russian outriders near the village Bienenbuttel. Over the next few hours, the two great armies formed up to the south of the Ilmenau River, the Viennese army to the west and the Hanoverian army to the east. At 11 am, after finishing their war councils and making their formations, the two armies were ready for battle. Since the Prussians held the village and the Viennese army had its back to Luneburg, the Viennese were in a decent defensive position and refused to move out it. This act forced Argyll to order the advance of his army at 11:30 am. When two armies clashed the Prussians and the Danish-Norwegians faced each other on the northern side of the battle, the Russians and British fought for the centre, and the Saxons and Germans contested the south.

    As the hours progressed, the Danish-Norwegians and Prussians were having a hard fought battle in the north. Once the Danish-Norwegians marched well in the range of the houses of the village they were surprised to be harried by Prussian soldiers from within the houses. The Prussians in the houses were backed by strong, disciplined lines of Prussian infantry which held strong in the face of heavy Danish-Norwegian attacks. The Danish-Norwegian cavalry also struggled to make themselves effective as the Prussians had anchored their flank on the river. This also meant that the Prussian horse was of little use. However, seeing as the Prussian cavalry was probably inferior to their Danish-Norwegian counterparts, the elimination of both bodies of horseman benefitted the Prussians. Under conditions, the Prussians held their position.

    In the centre, Argyll's soldiers were surprised to see the Russians stand their ground and give back hell. In spite of Lacy's excellent march along the Baltic, Argyll had still thought less of the Russian army. The Russians, however, were tough and hardened veterans of the Great Northern War and Russo-Persian War. Whereas, Britain's last series of conflicts were a punitive expedition against Gibraltar and two Jacobite uprisings of clansmen. The British soldiers were a bit out of touch with the ruthlessness of real war and pitched combat. Within this combat, the young Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Charles Frederick, and the older King of Great Britain, George II, both distinguished with bravery and courageousness. All in all, just like Danes to the north, the Britons struggled to move their enemy.

    In the south, the fighting was much more decisive. Under General Ilton's command, the Germans had been slower in their advance towards the enemy, which had allowed the British to take heavy fire from the Saxons at first [10]. Along the way, the Germans were also heavily punished by the Saxon cannon. Once the Germans finally did reach their enemy disaster occurred. General Ilton's slow march had meant his cavalry had face outpaced his infantry. When his cavalry smashed into the Saxons, the Saxons counterattacked with both their cavalry and their unengaged infantry. Outnumbered and unsupported the German cavalry was shattered and broke entirely. As Ilton's cavalry ran from the battlefield his infantry was soon engulfed by a firestorm of Saxon musketry on his front and Saxon cavalry on his flank. Feeling overwhelmed, Ilton panicked and ordered a hasty retreat. Within this retreat, Ilton himself was run down and killed by a Saxon soldier.

    As chaos broke loose, Griff took personal command. Quickly, he stopped the rout and restabilized his formation. However, the damage of Ilton's poor command had already been done. The German formation was very bloodied and poor condition to keep fighting. A more experienced commander might have been able to turn this southern fight around but the young Griff had none the experience to accomplish that. Instead, Griff ordered a retreat of his own and began to withdraw in an orderly fashion. He sent word to both Argyll and Reventlow of the state of German forces and they two made good retreats. The Viennese army generals recognized the retreat before them but chose against giving chase. They had won the field and that was enough.

    Overall, the Battle of Bienenbuttel was undoubtedly lost by General Ilton's poor command of the German flank. However, it is doubtful if the Hanoverians would have won even without Ilton. In the north, the Danish-Norwegians had been confronted with a strong defensive formation and had difficulties overcoming it. In the centre, the Russians had held back the British sufficiently. In the south, the Saxons were no slouches themselves. Furthermore, Maurice of Saxony had been in the process of leading reinforcements from the besieging force. These reinforcements would have marched through the Vierenbach and been in prime position to face the Danish-Norwegians. Overall, the battle cost the Hanoverian alliance over 6000 men, mainly Hanoverians and Hessians. Meanwhile, the Viennese army had only lost a little more than 3000 men.

    In Luneburg, after the defeat at Bienenbuttel, the defenders realized the hopelessness of their situation. Still, they attempted to hold out longer but by mid-October, their defenses had been pounded away by the besieging cannon. Then they attempted to surrender under good terms. However, General Lacy was not willing to accept anything less than a full capitulation since he knew there no possibility of relief and Luneburg's fortifications were insufficient to stop an assault. Even the defenders' threats to burn down Luneburg did not move Lacy as Empress Catherine had explicitly deserved the destruction of Brunswick-Luneburg [11]. Finally, the defenders surrendered entirely on October 21st. With that, the Viennese gained complete control over the Principality of Luneburg and now their Hanoverian opponents numbered just 64000, almost 20000 less than the Viennese army. It seemed as Brunswick-Luneburg was well and truly doomed.

    [1] Frederick I getting his first battle experience
    [2] OUCH!
    [3] In a situation akin to there must always be a Stark in the north, Frederick was designated Hanover's representative when the rest of the family left, despite his youth.
    [4] George I had requested to be buried in Brunswick-Luneburg. It was the only part of George I's will that George II respected.
    [5] George I apparently a good grandfather in spite of being a horrid parent.
    [6] Yes, it is that Katte.
    [7] Rutowsky was on his way to joining the Saxon army when the POD occurred so he still goes on and joins the Saxon army.
    [8] Maurice could have gone back to his father at any point in time OTL but didn't. He has a better opportunity to make his name and fortune with the Russians so he stays with them for now.
    [9] OTL George II had a deep connection with his electorate which caused him to sell his Imperial vote to France when Brunswick-Luneburg was threatened. Additionally, George II was eager to fight and always wanted to get back to the battlefield. Here, those preexisting conditions combined with the fact that he feels a little overshadowed by his son in terms of affection from the electorate and that George has already lost Dannenburg have a powerful effect on him. Ultimately causing George to demand a battle to expulse the invaders.
    [10] Ilton would later become notorious for this sort of conduct. Luckily in that battle, he got saved an even bigger error on the part of the enemy. This time he doesn't.
    [11] Common threat, Lacy doesn't care though.

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    8: All Quiet on the Western Front
  • 8: All Quiet on the Western Front
    220px-Cardinal_de_Fleury_by_Rigaud.jpg

    Cardinal Fleury, the leading man in France

    The Western Theatre of Empress Catherine's War geographically is much larger than the Northern German Theatre. Whereas the Northern German Theatre was fought mainly in the Lower and Upper Saxon Circles of the Holy Roman Empire, the Western Theatre involved four Imperial Circles (the Burgundian Circle, Westphalian Circle, Swabian Circle, and Austrian Circle) and the completely foreign countries of the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of France. Overall, this Western Theatre extended from the commercial city of Antwerp in the Southern Netherlands all the way to the fortress of Freiburg in the region of Swabia. Accompanying this larger area of land was also a larger amount of men and resources relative to the Northern German theatre. In the west, there were more than 200000 soldiers involved compared to the 167000 soldiers in Northern Germany (before the Battle of Bienenbuttel). Finally, although the commanders in Northern Germany were by no means nameless nobodies, the two men who commanded in the Western Theatre were by far the two greatest generals in Europe at the time, Prince Eugene of Savoy and the Duc de Villars, Claude Louis Hector. Yet in spite of all of these facts, the Western Theatre was quite quiet from a military standpoint.

    In fact, looking at past wars, the Western Theatre is a particularly odd grouping of geography. In all the preceding wars of Louis XIV, there was no combined Western theatre but rather two distinct and entirely separate Low Countries Theatre and Rhenish Theatre. The reason for this distinction was that each theatre had enough battles, sieges, and excitement that historians and politicians did not even contemplate joining the two regions into a singular theatre, which would rob each of respect due to them. This war, Empress Catherine's War, however, was decidedly different in how it treated the two regions. This difference in conduct had little to do with the titular figure of the war but rather the lack of the titular figure of previous wars. Although Catherine I, no doubt, cared little for occurrences in the Low Countries and Rhine Valley it was actually the lack of Louis XIV which deprived the two regions of their expected action. Louis XIV had for decades fought for his own glorie and then later for the quest of giving France truly defensible borders. These goals heavily involved winning large set-piece battles and capturing major fortifications in both the Low Countries and Rhineland. Without Louis XIV, France's goals had changed dramatically and so to did the method in which it fought its wars. The change was so great that it had warranted the creation of a Western theatre.

    Following Louis XIV's death in 1715, France had since several men try to replace that behemoth of a man. Among those men had been Louis XIV's illegitimate son, Louis Auguste, Duc de Maine; Louis XIV's trueborn son, Felipe V, King of Spain; Louis XIV's nephew, Philippe II, Duc de Orleans; Louis XIV's kinsman, Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon; Cardinal Dubois; and Cardinal Fleury. For the ten years that followed Louis XIV's death, these men schemed and plotted against each other to become the most powerful man in France. This plotting including two conspiracies, four executions, one war, and a marriage. For the majority of that time, it was the Duc de Orleans who had been beating out his opponents and maintaining himself as the power behind the throne. By the time Empress Catherine's War broke out, however, Orleans was dead and the only man left standing was the patient, calculated Cardinal André-Hercule de Fleury.

    Cardinal Fleury was drastic contrast to the Sun King, Louis XIV. Where Louis XIV was willing to resort to violent force, Fleury looked towards gentle diplomacy. Where Louis XIV was a man of grandiose ambitions, Fleury thrived on moderation and temperateness. And where Louis XIV dreamed of using his might to create a France which Europe could never threaten, Fleury worried that all Europe would ever see in France was a threat. Thus where Louis XIV had had a mission of expanding France's territories and strengthening borders, Fleury had a much-limited goal: survival. These set of differences were already noticeable when Fleury guided France towards joining Britain's coalition rather than being the target of that coalition. Now, with war at hand, these differences would make themselves even more apparent. For example, while Louis XIV regularly raised 250000 men, Fleury restricted himself to just 100000 for reasons of finance and diplomacy [1].

    As the war began, Cardinal Fleury was slow to dispatch his armies, unlike Louis XIV who had always struck with decisive speed. This delay was not out of a lack of capability or courage in Fleury nor was due to his disinclination towards war. Instead, Fleury postponed France's military movements because he did not wish to act alone which might incite fear among his allies that France had not changed since Louis XIV's demise. With Britain's lack of government in the very of the war, Fleury could do little else but assemble his armies and wait. However, once both the Parliament in London and the States General in the Hague had made their decisions regarding the war and their strategy towards it, Fleury was quick to consult with both governments. In London, the British were clearly happy to have as an ally rather than an enemy but it was obvious that underneath all the courtesies and civilities that the British were still concerned that France might use this war to its own advantage [2]. In the Dutch Republic, the degree of contempt and fear was too hard to hide completely. The exchanges with both allies convinced Fleury that he was correct in his assessment of France's position vis-à-vis its allies and neighbors. France was still the enemy in their eyes and it would be a hard sentiment to break down. Despite how they saw France, Fleury was still determined to improve France's diplomatic situation and its long-term place in European affairs.

    In Fleury's effort to diminish the association of belligerence and aggression with France, he actively worked to approach French military campaigning in a new and nuanced way. Towards, Spain 25000 men under the Duke of Berwick would be dispatched to occupy Navarre and put pressure on Madrid to come to terms with the Hanoverian Alliance. For the Low Countries, an army of 30000 men led by Marshal du Ble would be formed as nothing more than an army of observation meant to dissuade the Hapsburgs from making any significant military actions. Finally, in the Rhine Valley, 55000 men under the command of the Duc de Villars were to be deployed. The only aim of this last army was to seize Lorraine and the Hapsburgs fortresses in the area to provide a threat towards the Viennese Army from the west. Overall, not only did Fleury desire to use fewer men than Louis XIV had used but Fleury desired to use these men for less than Louis XIV had used them for [3].

    Cardinal Fleury's decision against invading the Southern Netherlands proved to be extremely wise as the initial events of the war unfolded. As aforementioned, the Dutch Republic was still haunted by the devastation of the Franco-Dutch War and the wars which followed. For this reason, although the Dutch were allied to the French there no trust felts towards the French. Consequently, when the war began, the Dutch garrisons of the Barrier Fortresses were ordered to give up the line of fortifications to the Hapsburgs by the officials in the Dutch Republic. After negotiating with the Governor of the Southern Netherlands, Archduchess Maria Elisabeth of Austria, it was agreed that after a brief set of mock sieges that the Dutch would surrender the fortresses to the Hapsburgs but be allowed to keep their arms and retreat unhindered. Once the Dutch had, in fact, turned over the fortresses they chose to retreat to the north. This meant they decided they would rather march all the way through the Southern Netherlands to reach home than march a brief distance to the south to their "ally" France. In other words, despite declaring war on the Hapsburgs alongside the French, the Dutch Republic still trusted Vienna more than Versailles [4]. In Versailles, the Cardinal did not take offense at the Dutch actions but rather took them as further proof of his own beliefs about France's reputation.

    The reaction to the surrender of the Barrier Fortresses in Vienna was pleasant surprise. This occasion was an undoubted coup for the Hapsburgs and Archduchess Maria Elisabeth was praised for her role in it. In spite of this congratulation for Maria Elisabeth, the Imperial council still felt that over the course of her tenure as Governor of the Southern Netherlands had been displaying a proclivity towards independent action which was considered disagreeable in Vienna [5]. The outbreak of a European war provided Vienna with the reason and motive to remove and replace Maria Elisabeth. Although Emperor Charles VI would have liked to have Prince Eugene, one of his most advisers, at the helm of the Southern Netherlands, Prince Eugene previous rule of the region had failed and anyways the Prince was preoccupied with commanding an army in Rhine Valley. The rest of the Emperor's advisers were needed at home, in Vienna, to manage the war in its entirety rather than a single part of it, in the form of the Southern Netherlands. With these thoughts weighing on his mind, Charles VI decided to promote the Elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, to the post of governor. The position had once been held by Charles Albert's father, Maximilian II Emmanuel, who had done an impressive job until he ultimately betrayed the House Hapsburg and fought for Louis XIV. Also, Charles Albert's brother was the current Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and Prince-Bishop of Münster, both of which were neighbors of the Southern Netherlands and the Dutch Republic. Additionally, Charles Albert was married to a Hapsburg, Archduchess Maria Amalia. Overall, Charles Albert was a decent candidate for the role of governor. More importantly, it was believed that by naming Charles Albert governor that the Hapsburgs would be able to further secure his and Bavaria's loyalty to Emperor Charles VI [6].

    Charles Albert was indeed pleased to be appointed Governor of the Southern Netherlands and he sent his thanks to the Emperor for entrusting him with such a great responsibility. What Charles Albert did not mention was that he still aspired to the Imperial crown that there be no Hapsburg to assume upon Charles VI's death. Nor was Charles Albert's hopes of gaining a slice of the Hapsburg inheritance lessened by this honor. Still, for the time being, Charles Albert thought it best to align himself with the Emperor. Perhaps the position of governorship was a prelude to the Emperor actually ceding him the Southern Netherlands in return for Charles Albert recognizing Maria Theresa's succession to the rest of the Hapsburg empire [7]. Such a thought pleased and amused the young Elector of Bavaria. In the meantime, however, he did have a war to attend to.

    Upon arriving in Brussels, Charles Albert found that only 15000 Hapsburg men were defending the region. Charles Albert soon augmented that number with 15000 soldiers from his own Bavaria and from his brother's Cologne. This brought up the total Viennese Alliance force in the Southern Netherlands to a just 30000. Such a number is typically a considerable one. In this case, however, Charles Albert was left wanting more. Again, to his south, Charles Albert was being stared down by du Ble and 30000 Frenchmen. To his north, Charles Albert found 42000 Anglo-Dutch soldiers. Combined the two enemy formations outnumbered Charles Albert by more than double and in the case that they attacked him Charles Albert would be hard pressured to defeat either or both of them. At best Charles Albert could attempt to hold out in Brussels and pray for relief or to fall back to Luxembourg and await reinforcements. Fortunately, no attack ever came.

    As already discussed, Fleury had explicitly ordered Marshal du Ble and his 30000 Frenchmen to act solely as an army of observation. Cardinal Fleury had drawn this command up because he knew that French in the Low Countries would only cause great alarm among his British and Dutch allies. The British would recall their nightmares of Frenchmen in Antwerp and the Dutch would think back to the Franco-Dutch War. Neither outcome was desirable for Fleury as both were counter to his goals. On the other hand, Fleury could not just leave the Low Countries unattended. Of course, there was the risk that the Hapsburgs would attack from the Southern Netherlands but the better reason was that Fleury did not want to seem uncommitted to his alliance with Britain and the Dutch Republic. In such a situation, the British or Dutch might be led to believe that France was perhaps scheming against them, which would be a disastrous thought. By leaving an army of observation to the south of the border, Fleury would not threaten the security of the Southern Netherlands nor would he seem disingenuous about his commitment to the alliance.

    To the north of the Southern Netherlands, the Dutch and newly arrived British soldiers made for a formidable army. Yet both the States General of the Dutch Republic and the Parliament of Great Britain agreed that it was best not to use that army. If the Anglo-Dutch army struck at the Southern Netherlands it would give the French an excuse to also invade the region, which could not be allowed to happen. However, the British and Dutch had antagonized the Emperor recently and they could not be certain of his intentions so an army was needed in case those intentions should include a forcible revision of the Treaty of Westphalia and opening of the Scheldt River to the Emperor's Ostend Company [8]. Fortunately, at least as far as 1727 was concerned, the Scheldt was not on Charles VI's mind and thus the Anglo-Dutch army remained stationary and unengaged.

    All in all, despite there being a little over 100000 soldiers in the Low Countries, not even a single musket or cannon was fired outside of drills. The political machinations and aspirations of France, Great Britain, the Dutch Republic, and the Hapsburgs had restricted three whole armies to do nothing more than sit, watch, and wait. In this fashion, the Low Countries which had once been a great seat of conflict worthy of being classified as its theatre to become nothing more a sideshow to the adjacent actions of the Rhine, which in their selves were but a sideshow to the ongoings of Northern Germany and the Mediterranean. Low Countries had become nothing more than a place for political messages and images.

    In the Rhine Valley itself one would have expected a good deal of action or at least a grand campaign of maneuvering with the renowned Duc de Villars at the head of a French army of 55000 men and the venerated Prince Eugene of Savoy at the head of a German army of 58000 men. However, that was not what happened. Indeed, just as the Low Countries had failed to meet the expectations and precedents just by previous wars so to did the Rhine Valley. This was not the war in which the French would raze Palatinate nor would an Anglo-Hapsburg army daringly march through the region towards an epic triumph [9]. No, this was the war without Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance.

    The Rhine Campaign opened with the Duc de Villars quickly overrunning the neutral Duchy of Lorraine and Bar. This action was the most typical opening to a French expedition towards the Rhine and was not one which the Hapsburgs had ever attempted to stop. This time was no different. What was different was what followed. Once reaching the barrier that was the Rhine River, Villars found himself opposed by Prince Eugene on the other bank. Villars could have attempted to outmarch and outmaneuver Eugene by invading one of the countless Imperial principalities. However, Cardinal Fleury did not want to alarm the Imperial Diet or Imperial Circles by infringing on the neutrality of any other Imperial states outside of the Duchy of Lorraine and Bar, regarding which there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that the Imperial states and France would never go to war over Lorraine's neutrality. These orders were made because firstly, Fleury was working to assuage the fear which all of Europe and the Holy Roman Empire had kept reserved for France. To act just as Louis XIV did and trample over the rights of the Imperial states would do everything but help Fleury rebuild France's relationship with the Imperial states. Secondly, there was France's fear that if a French army attacked an Imperial state not already involved in the war that the Imperial Diet would see it as an attack on the Empire as a whole. In which case, the Imperial Diet could declare an Imperial War or Reichskrieg on France, which would bring the whole of the Holy Roman Empire into the conflict. In turn, the war would escalate to exceedingly worrying and complicated levels. In such a state, French diplomacy and scheming would be little able to rehabilitate France's image [10]. Under these conditions, Villars' maneuverability was severely hampered and his army's choice of actions was made quite predictable.

    On the other side, Prince Eugene knew that an offensive campaign, for the time being, was completely out of the question. The Hapsburgs had enough money to fight a kind of war but not the kind of war which involves campaigning across borders, deep inside enemy territory. Furthermore, Prince Eugene had only been entrusted with an army of 58000 men, consisting of 45000 Hapsburg soldiers and 13000 Bavarian soldiers. This army was barely larger than Villars'. If Prince Eugene was to invade France than supply issues, desertion, and attrition could easily wear his army down and do away with his slight numerical edge. This scenario would cede the advantage to Villars and put the Germans at the mercy of the French. Hence the Prince had little choice but to focus on doing nothing more than defending the Rhine Valley by establishing a defensive line at Ettlingen.

    With these two complementary objectives for the Duc de Villars and Prince Eugene, a slight campaign of maneuver began. Villars and French would march south and try to outpace the Germans or trick them into leaving a crossing ill-defended. Prince Eugene, however, was still in his prime and was able to match Villars march for march [11]. In the meantime, the Germans were busy repairing and improving the Rhenish fortifications such as the Fortress of Philippsburg and the Fortress of Kehl. Since neither army was significantly larger than the other, neither could use the threat of battle to force the other to concede ground. Thus for months the two armies marched and marched to little avail. Finally, winter arrived and offered the tired soldiers of both armies a reprieve from life on the road as each army retreated to its winter quarters.

    The Rhenish portion of the Western Theatre had similarily to the Low Countries been, for the most part, uneventful. Outside of the expected loss of Lorraine, the had been no other change in territory. By the end of the campaigning season, the Duc de Villars had failed to overcome the barrier that was the Rhine and Prince Eugene had not even made the French consider leaving Lorraine. Both armies although somewhat depleted by the constant marching were still equally matched and that situation looked unlikely to change as Cardinal Fleury's government did not feel the need to draw up more soldiers to the front and the Imperial Council lacked the funds to support another army. Only a stroke of genius might be able to disrupt this flow of actions, the problem was that both commanders were geniuses so neither was likely to get outwitted.

    Overall, the Western Theatre in 1727 failed to produce any decisive actions that could bring the war's end closer. This lack of action emerged mainly from the political disclination of Cardinal Fleury towards the thought a grand offensive campaign to dislodge the Viennese Alliance from either the Southern Netherlands or the Rhenish Valley and from the Anglo-Dutch absolute unwillingness to promote violence in the Southern Netherlands. On the other side, the Viennese Alliance's members of the Hapsburgs, Bavaria, and Cologne would have liked to have seen some successes but were willing to accept the result of nothingness which they received. Charles Albert, the new Governor of the Southern Netherlands, was simply happy to avoid losing his new position after just gaining it. Emperor Charles VI had prayed for a fortunate victory on the Rhine but had acquiesced to Prince Eugene's calls for a simple defensive campaign. All of this is understandable, the only real question is if there was any reason for the strategic situation of the Western Theatre to change in the campaign season that was to follow.

    [1] Fleury wanted to improve France's situation, he just believed that France was in such a bad spot with its reputation that it needed to act like the good guy to improve its situation. Fleury was still willing to push for the ambitions of the House of Bourbon but he wanted to do it in a subtle, slight fashion. If Fleury could get France Lorraine without raising alarm then that's exactly what he would do. Fleury, however, is not the kind to push for the annexation of the Southern Netherlands, Palatinate, or Catalonia.
    [2] The current alliance between France, Britain, and the Dutch Republic had been arranged personally by Townshend. The alliance was not arranged with the full parliament or even the full government being aware. The rest of parliament still accepted the alliance, of course, but at the same time its, not something which they or the new prime minister, Compton, were personally involved with creating. So although Britain is happy to have France on its side, it still has concerns.
    [3] Similar to in the War of the Polish Succession, Fleury wants to keep the war limited and quiet in regards to France. If there are no major battles then that's a victory for Fleury's France, because it means no one is looking towards what France and its military are doing.
    [4] The Dutch literally flooded half their country and underwent a political revolution due to their fear of France in 1672. For the next three decades, the Dutch Republic was ruled by William III who personally disdained France and his disdain towards France seeped down into the Dutch Republic's various politicians. Even after William was dead the Dutch spent over a decade fighting France in the Low Countries, on the doorstep of the Republic. The only war in which the Dutch have been allied to the French was the War of the Quadruple Alliance against Spain for the purpose of upholding the Treaty of Utrecht which the Dutch hold on to dearly. In this war, the French are once again fighting the Hapsburgs which could mean French gains in the Low Countries or Rhine, which the Dutch absolutely do not want. Which is why the Dutch are acting in such uncooperative and distrustful fashion towards the French.
    [5] OTL Maria Elisabeth was quite the independent governor. She independently suspended and closed the Ostend Company since it was located in the Southern Netherlands. Because the Hapsburgs gave up on the Ostend project to gain British acceptance of the Pragmatic Sanction and because there were no pressing concerns in the Southern Netherlands the Hapsburgs allowed Maria Elisabeth to govern till her death. TTL the Ostend Company is still alive, there is a real war, and the Hapsburgs want to further tie Charles Albert to them which leads to Maria Elisabeth's dismissal.
    [6] Overall, Charles Albert is a legitimate candidate who checks a lot of boxes.
    [7] Most of the participants in the OTL War of the Austrian Succession just wanted to receive a slice of the Hapsburg inheritance, they didn't care how they gained that slice. Frederick the Great for example offered to ally with Maria Theresa if she should give up Silesia. Throughout the war, Charles Albert tried to negotiate with Maria Theresa.
    [8] The Treaty of Westphalia closed the Scheldt River to the Southern Netherlands which extremely limited its trading ability and allowed the rise of the north. Once the Southern Netherlands were unleashed in the form of Belgium they were able to surpass the Netherlands.
    [9] The march refers to Marlborough's march to Blenheim.
    [10] OTL this motivated Fleury against attacking the Imperial states during the War of the Polish Succession, TTL it also motivates Fleury's policy.
    [11] OTL Prince Eugene's defense of the Rhine in the War of the Polish Succession was inadequate as his mental state has significantly deteriorated in the time leading up to the war. TTL Prince Eugene's mind is still sound and he is able to match Villars and prevent the fall of the Rhenish fortresses.

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    9: Spain's Return?
  • 9: Spain's Return?
    300px-German_print_of_the_1727_Gibraltar_Siege.jpg

    Siege of Gibraltar

    Spain was undoubtedly pleased with the expansion of their war into the continental Empress Catherine's War. Within the Spanish Court, some claimed that now both the Emperor and Empress marched for the reconquest of Gibraltar and Menorca. The expectation was that whether or not Gibraltar and Menorca should fall that the two Imperial despots would force Great Britain to return Spain's lost possessions. However, others, Felipe V and Elisabeth Farnese, included recognized how reluctant to join the war the Hapsburgs had been. For half a year Spain had been besieging Gibraltar and yet the Hapsburgs had not sent so much as a single bullet or a single loaf of bread to aid Spain's army. Indeed, for a time it looked as if the Hapsburgs were closer to reconciling with the British than they were to declaring war. This concern had motivated the Spanish to engage in some light negotiations with the French who had seemed open to the idea of restoring a Spanish presence to Italy in return for Spain abandoning its attempt against Gibraltar. Ultimately, with the incident in the Baltic, the Hapsburgs had been forced towards war and thoughts in Spain of giving up their dream of retaking Gibraltar and Menorca vanished. Still, Spain remembered the cool reception in Vienna they had received months previously and now Spain only saw Russian and Hapsburgs soldiers joining the fray in Germany, on the Rhine, and in Milan. Just as Spain had hoped it would be overlooked by its enemies, Spain was also being overlooked by its allies. In Spain, the Court was quite confident that their allies would win the war in Germany, Spain only worried that their war would not be won there [1].

    The suspicion that Spain and its interests would be left out of the final peace negotiations provided a strong motivator for Spain to achieve its own objectives alone. If Spain did manage it find its own victories then its allies might be forced to consider Spain's demands at the peace table. Otherwise, Spain could use its own victories to secure its own, separate peace while leaving Spain's allies to fight on their own. As a consequence of this thinking, Spain redoubled its military efforts and commitment to the war. In Gibraltar, Spain reinforced its army, bringing its strength back up to 15000. Spain furthermore raised 20000 new men for the defense of Catalonia, more than doubling the current number of Spaniards under arms. For the armies of both Gibraltar and Catalonia, Felipe V gave his best men command.

    In Madrid, King Felipe, his wife, and his councilors were all displeased with the fact that Gibraltar was barely closer to falling now than it had four months previously despite de la Torres' promise to take Gibraltar in just six weeks. Consequently, the cries of Jorge Prospero de Verboom against the ineptitude of Count de la Torres found many like-minds in the Spanish Court. Curious as to how de Verboom would take Gibraltar, Felipe and Elisabeth offered de Verboom a chance to win the command for himself [2]. De Verboom was quite pessimistic about his ability to achieve the monumental task of capturing the Rock of Gibraltar; however, de Verboom's disdain towards de la Torres was enough of a motive for de Verboom to be willing to make an attempt. Thus de Verboom proposed to mine Willis' Battery, advance Spain's siege lines, and bombard Gibraltar into a pulp over the course of a year [3]. This plan in de Verboom's mind was the only real option left available to Spain. Neither the King nor Queen was pleased to hear that Gibraltar might not fall for another year yet they preferred it to the alternative of Gibraltar not falling at all. Hence de Verboom's design was approved and de la Torres was dismissed in disgrace.

    Upon assuming control of the Siege of Gibraltar, de Verboom did just as he had said he would: he began the long, laborious process of mining underneath Willis' Battery. Day after day, Spanish soldiers and civilians entered the cave near Willis' battery and steadily chipped away at the rock. The laborers were regularly changed to prevent anyone from becoming too exhausted or broken from the hard work of mining. The only soldiers exempt from this duty were the artillerymen. The artillerymen had their own harsh daily tasks. Once again the bombardment of Gibraltar had been renewed. For days on end, the artillerymen were expected to keep a near-continuous bombardment going. After the bombardment was halted, the artillerymen still had work to do. They spent hours cleaning, repairing, and mending their cannon for the next bombardment. The siege was a difficult feat for the Spanish soldiers but the replacement commanders and the expansion of war gave them some hope that not all of this work was done in vain.

    On the British side, the installation of de Verboom as siege commander was not unnoticed. With de Verboom at the helm, the bombardments became a more steady and regular occurrence to the displeasure of everyone on the Rock. On top of the better managed Spanish siege, the Earl of Portmore received news from White Hall about their approach to the war, an approach which precluded a heavy reinforcement of Gibraltar. Instead of reinforcing Gibraltar's garrison with any more men, the new British government and the new British king were more inclined to focus on fighting in Brunswick-Luneburg. To Portmore's dismay, all Gibraltar could expect was to be resupplied and defended by elements of the Royal Navy. The rest of the siege was left to him and his diminishing garrison which was an increasingly dim situation.

    To the north, the Hanoverian Alliance was not content to be on the defensive. Instead, Cardinal Fleury authorized James FitzJames, the Duke of Berwick, to take 25000 men and invade Spain. Previously, during the War of the Quadruple Alliance, Berwick had embarked on this same campaign and had witnessed good success. The positive outcome of Berwick's campaign combined with the negative outcome of Spain's adventure in Sicily had ultimately led Spain to sue to peace. In 1727, Fleury hoped to replicate the events of 1719 and bring a quick end to the war with Spain. With these orders, Berwick crossed the Spanish border and marched into Spain. Just as Berwick had done previously he chose to march into Navarre rather than Catalonia, the latter place was not filled with any good friends of the Frenchman.

    In Navarre, Berwick first besieged the fortress of Fuenterrabia. The French army surrounded the fortress, cutting it and its garrison of 800 men off from the rest of Spain. Jose Carrillo de Albornoz, the Count de Montemar, and his 20000 strong Spanish army moved with all haste out of Catalonia towards Navarre to relieve the fortress. In this march, the Spanish army was joined by King Felipe just as it had been during the 1719 French invasion. Unlike 1719, the Spanish army was not led by a timid fool like Principe Pio but rather by the Marquis de Lede's capable successor and lieutenant the Count de Montemar. Montewar recognized the inherent strength of Fuentebarria's fortifications as a barrier between France and Spain and thus Montemar was determined not to lose it. As Montemar's army neared Fuentebarria he sent orders to the garrison to not surrender under any terms with the express permission of Montemar and the King. With a relief army close by, the morale in Fuentebarria surged and the defenders resolved to not give so much as one more inch of Spanish soil to the French invaders.

    The arrival of a relief army and the newfound determination of Fuentebarria was an unfortunate occasion for Berwick. The easy conquest he had witnessed in the earlier campaign was apparently not to be had this time. Still, Berwick had his orders and he intended to follow them by breaking into Spain and providing a threat against Felipe V and his government. For this reason, Berwick did not give up on taking the fortress. Berwick did, however, abandon any thought of assaulting Fuentebarria's walls. The cost of such an assault would have great and could easily have given Montemar the advantage over Berwick. Instead, Berwick focused on pounding the fortress into submission. Yet as it stood Berwick lacked the heavy artillery required for such a siege as the French had failed to anticipate serious Spanish opposition. Only after a few weeks was Berwick's bombardment allowed to begin in earnest. By this time, it was already September.

    Berwick's bombardment was near relentless for the next two months. Thousands of cannonballs fell down upon the fortress and its surrounding city. Similarly to the Siege of 1638, the bombardment succeeded in leveling the city but failed to destroy the fortress. The garrison already very much battered by this cannonade refused to yield to Berwick. Day after day, the defenders bravely repaired their fortifications and armaments and fired back upon their French besiegers. To aid the defenders, a small contingent of Spanish soldiers from Montemar's army broke through Berwick's siege lines during a night operation. This contingent brought with it some additional supplies for the defenders and a personal letter from King Felipe V asking them to fight on for him and for Spain. Ultimately, in November as the weather grew worse and disease ravaged Berwick's army, he was forced to break his siege of the stalwart Fuentebarria.

    With Berwick's army retreating north, King Felipe desired to launch a counteroffensive against France. Montemar doubted that he would have much more success than Berwick had had and advised the King against such action, using the lateness in the year as an excuse. Since Felipe could not ride north he instead rode into Fuentebarria and personally thanked each of the fortresses defenders. The commander of the garrison, a minor Spanish soldier, was awarded the title Count of Fuentebarria whilst the rest of the garrison was to be publically honored in a ceremony in Madrid that winter. As Felipe rode back to Madrid, he left Montemar to repair Fuentebarria's walls and to review and improve the defenses of Catalonia.

    Overall, the Siege of Fuentebarria was an undoubted Spanish victory. The Spanish had stopped a French invasion of Spain and demonstrated their military resoluteness and formidability in the process. Obviously, the Fleury and Berwick had underestimated the Spanish army as they had not expected anything close to the resistance the Spanish had actually offered. However, this underestimation was not justified. Yes in the War of the Quadruple Alliance the French managed to occupy the provinces of Vizcaya, Gipuzkoa, and Alava despite the presence of a Spanish army in the region. Yet that Spanish army was nothing but scraps of the Spanish military. The real Spanish army had taken Sardinia and Sicily. On the latter island, the Spanish army under Marquis de Lede and Count de Montemar had defeated the initial Hapsburg effort to retake the island. Only when the army was completely cut off by the Royal Navy was the Spanish army defeated. In this war, Empress Catherine's War, the main Spanish army was not stranded in Sicily but instead was fighting in Spain at Gibraltar and Navarre. This capable fighting force was one which deserved respect for its recent accomplishments and improvements. France, however, had failed to give the Spaniards that respect and paid for it with a costly failed campaign [4].

    Across the Atlantic Ocean, another miscalculation cost the Hanoverian Alliance dearly. In the Caribbean, at Porto Bello, the blockade of the Spanish treasure port continued in the same manner in which it was conducted before the Anglo-Spanish war became Empress Catherine's War. Admiral Hosier continued to position his fleet outside of the port to dissuade Spain from sending another treasure fleet home. If possible, Hosier would seize the Spanish treasure for Great Britain. However, just as before the Spanish treasure remained ashore and the Spanish ships did not move. While the British fleet waited for the Spanish to act, Yellow Fever unleashed itself upon the sailors of the Royal Navy. Thousands of men contracted the illness and many, including Admiral Hosier, died. By the time the Yellow Fever had run its course through the fleet, 4000 sailors and marines were dead, which amounted to more than four-fifths of the fleet. With Hosier dead, Edward St. Lo became the commander of the fleet. He quickly ordered the return of the fleet to Jamaica to refit and replenish its numbers [5].

    The deaths of so many members of the Royal Navy was devastating. In London, the Admiralty began to doubt if its operations in the Caribbean were the right course of action. Compton, however, was too embarrassed at the cost of the Caribbean expedition to give up on it without any success. As a consequence, the Royal Navy did not opt to change the orders of St. Lo. Fortunately, the expansion of the war had also meant that French ships were now also prowling the Atlantic for Spanish prey. In this state of affairs, the Spanish colonials could not safely order another treasure fleet to be sent to Spain. Instead, Spain's treasure remained in the Americas, which mitigated the effect's of St. Lo's retreat to Jamaica.

    Altogether the Spanish war effort post-expansion of the war had been successful in its goals. In the colonies, Spain had held on while the British had suffered greatly. At Gibraltar, the Spanish potentially were making progress towards actually taking back the fortress. In Navarre, the Spanish had succeeded in repulsing the French attack. Spain's military did not look like the same broken, decrepit thing it was after decades of Hapsburg mismanagement. Instead, Spain's military looked like a legitimate force in European military affairs. These successes gave Spain the hope that it might actually achieve its war goals of retaking Gibraltar and Menorca, restoring Spanish prestige, and gaining guarantees for Spanish rights in Italy. On the other side, the Hanoverian Alliance looked at Spain and they began to realize that the early victories of Spain in the War of the Quadruple Alliance had not been a fluke but rather a foreshadowing.

    In both Great Britain and France, the governments also began to realize that perhaps Spain did not have to be the enemy. Sure, Spain wanted to retake Gibraltar and Menorca and it wanted to gain land in Italy, but James Stanhope, Britain's Chief Minister from 1717 until his death in 1721, had already been contemplating returning Gibraltar to Spain before his death and France and Great Britain had already agreed to give Spain some guarantees in Italy after the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Perhaps Spain could be brought without compromising the interests of Great Britain and France too much. This thought was so provocative that Fleury's diplomats already re-engaged with their Spanish counterparts in mid-November of 1727. Spain, however, believed in its own strength and plainly told France that its offers of Parma, Piacenza, and Gustalla were too paltry. For Great Britain and France, Spain's demands of all those Italian territories, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany the removal of Britain's commercial rights in the Spanish empire, and the return of Gibraltar and Menorca were too excessive. Thus Spain remained an active belligerent for the Viennese Alliance but it also was aware of the fact that as it had hoped for the Hanoverian Alliance was willing to make a separate, favorable peace with Spain [6].

    [1] Spain has goals which are not directly associated with the goals of its allies and it recognizes that, so Spain knows it has to go out on its own and find its own victories.
    [2] Felipe V and Elisabeth Farnese replaced ineffective commanders quite often, so de la Torres' neck gets put on the line after only four months.
    [3] This is the same plan from the initial Gibraltar post which de la Torres rejected because it would take too long.
    [4] Pretty much everything I said here explains the French failure. The French are going against a determined and numerous enemy and Fuentebarria is a legitimate fortress, the French are not prepared for either and fail as a result.
    [5] The POD is not far away enough in time and is far away enough in space that the Yellow Fever outbreak still occurs and kills off most of the British fleet.
    [6] Spain is selfish and the Hapsburgs have not been as receptive as desired, they will take a separate peace if a good enough offer is made.

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    10: A Meaningless March in Milan
  • 10: A Meaningless March in Milan
    220px-Vittorio_Amedeo_II_in_Maest%C3%A0_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

    King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia

    The war in Italy was slow to start. Although the British had managed to buy King Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia and his army, they were in believing that Victor Amadeus was the same energetic, ambitious man he had been a decade ago. Now, at age 61, Victor Amadeus was wondering if all the projects and wars of his youth had actually accomplished anything. Yes, Victor Amadeus was now a true king with his possession of Sardinia but to become King of Sardinia he had forced to give away the much richer and more developed Kingdom of Sicily. Furthermore, in regards to Victor Amadeus's lust for Lombardian land, he had achieved almost nothing. Victor Amadeus had made no ground in his quest to be named King of Lombardy and had so far only received the scrapes of land which the Hapsburgs had deemed it acceptable for him to possess. At home, Victor Amadeus had implemented a new tax system. Although this tax system proved to be more effective it also earned him the scorn of his people who had revolted against the taxes in 1724. Not even in his own family could Victor Amadeus find comfort. Victor Amadeus' wife, Anne Marie, was a kind-hearted person but she and Victor Amadeus had never connected and fallen in love. Out of the six children Victor Amadeus had had with his wife one remained, Charles Emmanuel, and the relationship between Victor Amadeus and Charles Emmanuel had never been a close one [1]. All in all, Victor Amadeus was a sad old man, and it was him to whom the Hanoverian Alliance entrusted the Italian Theatre to.

    The melancholy and lethargy of Victor Amadeus resulted in the Sardinian army of 24000 soldiers marching from Piedmont weeks later than it could have. When Victor Amadeus II did march, he did not take his son with him, Charles Emmanuel, with him, unlike Friedrich Wilhelm. Despite being the only male from the House of Savoy left in Turin, Charles Emmanuel was not regent in Victor Amadeus' absence. Instead, Victor Amadeus assigned that responsibility to Anne Marie. Charles Emmanuel did not take lightly to the obvious insult from his father of not being allowed to earn any military glory or even administrate at home. However, Charles Emmanuel could do little to resist his father's decision. Victor Amadeus remained the unchallenged ruler of the Kingdom of Sardinia despite his own misgivings about his reign's success.

    Once the Sardinian army entered into the Duchy of Milan they found little opposition before them. The Holy Roman Emperor's reluctance for war had led him to leave Milan's defense in a dismal state. Neither fortifications nor the soldiers were sufficient enough to so much as delay the advance of the Sardinians. Milan's governor, Wirich Philipp von Daun, did not hesitate to abandon the city of Milan upon hearing of the Sardinian approach. Rather than bother defending Milan, Daun chose to evacuate to Mantua where the heavy fortifications might hold the Sardinians long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Quickly chasing after Daun were the Sardinians. Soon enough the Sardinians had put Daun and the Hapsburg soldiers under siege [2]. Everything seemed to be looking up for Sardinia and Victor Amadeus II.

    The ease of Victor Amadeus' campaign did not last. By the end of September, a Hapsburg army of 40000 men under Count Claude Florimond de Mercy had been formed and it was moving straight towards the army of Victor Amadeus. Seeing this large force coming for him, Victory Amadeus had two decisions: Victor Amadeus could run and give up or he could try to fight. With some of the courage Victor Amadeus had left from all those years of fighting, the King of Sardinia chose to stand and fight. However, Victor Amadeus did not wish to fight de Mercy in an open field in a pitched battle. Instead, the King wanted to fight the Hapsburgs from within one of their own fortresses, Mantua. Of course, Mantua was still being defended by Daun, who would never even contemplate surrendering with de Mercy's army approaching. As a consequence, Victor Amadeus made the only order he could, to hit Manuta with everything he could and hope that it breaks open in the process. Over the next three days, the Sardinians bombarded Mantua without stop. At the end of this bombardment, Mantua's walls still stood strong and the Sardinians were faced with the dim prospect of assaulting the impressive fortress of Mantua. At this point, Victor Amadeus' courage left him and he ordered a swift retreat towards Milan.

    After the Sardinians made their march from Mantua, de Mercy and his army arrived in Mantua. The Sardinians, however, were still installed in Milan and de Mercy was hungry for their blood. After reaffirming Hapsburg control of the Duchy of Mantua, de Mercy quickly begin to drive towards Victor Amadeus across the rivers of Northern Italy. The speed at which de Mercy's army moved frightened even the experienced commanders of the Sardinian army so they were quick to make it known to the King that they recommended abandoning Milan for the safety of Piedmont [3]. With immense difficulty, Victor Amadeus agreed with these generals and gave the command to return to Piedmont and leave behind all the gains the Sardinians had worked so hard to achieve.

    When Victor Amadeus came home he did so having lost 2000 men and not having a single inch of new soil to show for it. Consequently, the mood in Turin was not one of excitement or joy, just woe. In Mantua, de Mercy had forced the Sardinians to back off and in Milan, de Mercy had restored Hapsburg control less than four months after it had been lost. Still, de Mercy had been desirous of a battle and a chance to prove his mettle one more time. Obviously, with the onset of winter de Mercy could not dare invade Piedmont and instead had to just winter in Milan. In Vienna, Emperor Charles VI did not share de Mercy's bloodlust and has immensely pleased with how the campaign had ended. Indeed, Charles VI was so pleased that he reduced de Mercy's army to just 30000 soldiers. The rest were to be redeployed towards the Rhine where the French threatened the Empire's bounds.

    [1] Charles was never the favorite and he felt that. Charles was never close to his father and was happy to get rid of him in 1731.
    [2] In the OTL 1733 Franco-Sardinian invasion of Milan, the Sardinians were worried that if they did not secure all of Milan then the French would steal it from them and give it to the Spanish. Here the Spanish and French are not involved in Milan. Thus the Sardinians do not have to worry about Milan being stolen and can continue towards Mantua.
    [3] In de Mercy 1733 relief of Mantua he was quite slow. De Mercy's lack of speed was attributed to a stroke he suffered early in the campaign. Right now de Mercy is 6 years younger and is still one of the Hapsburg Army's most decisive and aggressive generals.

    Word Count: 1200
     
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    11: Catastrophe at Kymmendale
  • 11: Catastrophe at Kymmendale
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    The HMS Revenge after Kymmendale

    Despite giving himself the task of preparing another army for Germany, Alexander Menshikov left that duty to others. In the meantime, Menshikov remained with Mikhail Golitsyn's army to the north of St. Petersburg, where Menshikov expected to be able to bath himself in glory when the Swedes attacked. However, when the Swedes did come they did come as soldiers as diplomats. The Swedish king and Riksdag had expected that the fear held by much of Northern Germany towards Russia would lead to a grand coalition forming against Sweden's nemesis. Instead, to Sweden's surprise, Northern Germany was so frightened by Russia's strength that they chose to subordinate themselves to the Russian beast and its aims. Most importantly, the Prussian king had betrayed the Hanoverian Alliance and joined Russia's. This severe shift of power in Northern Germany had turned what the Swedes had expected to be a favorable war into an absolute nightmare. As a result, the first course of action of Sweden was not to brazenly attack the massive Russian war machine but instead to ask for forgiveness and peace.

    The pleas of Sweden fell on deaf ears. Menshikov had entered into this war for the sole reason of securing an incredible military triumph that would guarantee that his place in Russia's history. Peace with Russia's Northern adversary would nothing to further that goal. Sweden, however, was desperate to avoid a full-on war with Russia, so it begged for peace. The Swedes offered to switch sides, offered to pay Russia money, or even give Russia a small parcel of land. None of this was enough for Menshikov. Menshikov wanted victory on the field with fire and blood not in a palace with a pen and paper. Furthermore, the frenzied effort from Sweden to make peace with Russia only made Menshikov even more eager to fight Sweden. If Sweden was willing to surrender before even a single shot was fired then they were not ready for war and they would crumble as soon as the Russian army struck them. Thus Menshikov refused every peace entreaty Sweden made [1].

    Throughout these talks between Russia and Sweden, Russia had one single condition for the continuance of negotiations: Sweden refuses harborage to the British Baltic Fleet [2]. Sweden agreed to this condition, which placed Admiral Charles Wager in an even difficult position had been. Upon arriving in the Baltic to replace Admiral Norris, Wager had been under explicit to keep the British Baltic Fleet outside of Reval, where the Russian fleet had placed itself. The Admiralty had been left too embarrassed by the Battle of Saaremaa to allow the Russian fleet to take to the sea again. Furthermore, in the immediate outbreak of the war, there was a concern that General Lacy's army in Livland might be transported towards Germany by sea. Once it was clear that Lacy intended to march all the way to Germany, Wager began to petition the Admiralty to allow him to return to Britain for repairs or at least sail to Sweden. Eventually, when it was clear that the new armies the Russians were forming were not meant for the sea, the Admiralty acceded to Wager's request only for the Swedes to refuse it. Only when Menshikov tired of Swedish diplomacy did Sweden's attitude towards the British fleet change. However, rather than inviting the British fleet to finally come to Karlskrona and make its necessary repairs, the Swedes demanded that Wager sail towards Finland and support the Swedish army which would likely be attacked as soon as autumn ended in Russia. Begrudgingly Wager complied.

    At this point, the British Baltic Fleet had been at sea for almost ten months, in which it had fought a battle. Nearly two-thirds of the sailors in the fleet had already been lost to scurvy, far far more than the Russians had killed [3]. Furthermore, several ships were still in need of repairs after Saaremaa. Of course, every ships' hull was very fouled since the British had been able to clean their hulls since leaving Portsmouth. Overall, the British fleet was in a sorry state and Wager knew it. All Wager could do was hope that this debilitated fleet was still stronger than its Russian counterpart. Or better yet that the Russians would be too afraid to even try something against the British, because even if Wager won at what cost would he win?

    Wager's fleet was positioned near the coast of southern Finland. There it was joined by a detachment of Swedish ships, most of the Swedish navy, however, remained in the western Baltic for the Siege of Stralsund. From its location, the fleet would not be able to stop the Russian invasion, which would probably come through Villmanstrand. However, the British and Swedes could hamper Russian attempts to besiege Fredrikshamm or Helsingfors. As a consequence, Menshikov wanted the Anglo-Swedish fleet to be removed from the equation before Russia launched its invasion of Finland. Despite the fact that Apraksin had been lionized for Saaremaa, Apraksin himself recognized that the battle was not the victory it was made out to be. Additionally, Apraksin considered himself lucky to have accomplished what he had. Even knowing the poor conditions the British had to be in, Apraksin feared to engage in battle with the British. Apraksin's opinion was supported by the members of Russian Admiralty. However, they all understood that Menshikov cared little for what they thought was wise, and Saaremaa had bought Apraksin enough clout to deny Menshikov. Under these conditions, the Russian Admiralty spent several days discussing in depth the options that they had. Ultimately, the Commander-in-Chief of Kronstadt, the Scottish Thomas Gordon, recommended that the Russians take a page out of Britain's playbook. Rather than confront the British fleet in a head on a battle, the Russian navy should attack and disorganize the Anglo-Swedish fleet with fireships before hitting the British and Swedes with their ships-of-the-line and galleys. As daring as the idea was, the Russian Admiralty still had reservations about it. Nevertheless, they began the needed preparations.

    Unlike some navies in the world, Russia's navy could not afford to build and maintain a specific class of fireships. However, when war with Britain broke out a number of British ships were in Russian ports. Many of these British ships had been seized by the Russian navy, some had already been outfitted as warships but others still lacked a naval role. With the Russian Admiralty having decided to use fireships against the Anglo-Swedish fleet, many former British merchants now found a new purpose. Quickly these ships were stripped down of certain items and filled with flammables. Some extra support was given to the masts so that they would not collapse before reaching British Baltic Fleet and some grappling hooks from other Russian naval ships were loaded on. Within a week the Russian navy was ready to strike. Due to the presence of some British agents and merchants within Russia's borders, the British were made aware of some type of Russian naval preparations. However, Wager expected that Russia's fleet was destined for Germany or even Danish Sound as the Russian Admiralty kept quiet about their true intentions. Still, Wager readied his own fleet for a potential fight [4]. When the fight arrived, however, Wager was not ready at all.

    In the deep darkness of the morning of November 10th, 1727, Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, silently led a fleet of fireships towards the British Baltic Fleet and elements of the Swedish navy anchored off of Kymmenedalen. Golitsyn's ships were ordered to cover a great deal of ground with lights so that they could surprise the Anglo-Swedish fleet. Without illumination, the Anglo-Swedes failed to spot the advance of these ships but also several of the Russian fireships ended up drifting away from the main formation. Shortly after seven bells in the morning, British sailors spotted flames approaching them. Soon after Golitsyn's ship was lit on fire the rest of the Russian fireships followed suit and the British found themselves confronted by 19 fireships. Amid the darkness, the brightness of the fireships was so strong a contrast that it was practically blinding. Through the bravery of some of the Royal Navy's midshipmen and common sailors, five of these fireships were towed away. The rest, however, reached the fleet. Some of the British and Swedish ships were able to push away these fireships but the less maneuverable ones, including those damaged from the Battle of Saaremaa, were forced to cut their anchors to avoid an unfortunate collision. Only twos ship of the Royal Navy, the HMS Revenge and HMS Assistance, were actually directly damaged by the fireship attack. The HMS Revenge was the victim of an unfortunate mishap when a fireship's mast collapsed onto the HMS Revenge and demasted it. The HMS Assistance was the victim of an actual collision with a fireship, which managed to alight a barrel of gunpowder. Overall, the fireship attack seemed to have only had limited success, but the cover of darkness was not the only reason the Russians attacked at such an early time in the morning.

    After eight bells, the high tide arrived. With many British and Swedish ships lacking their anchors, they were incapable of stopping the tide. Instead, they were swept towards the dangerous Finnish coast. Once more British ships were pushed dangerously towards the rocks and shoals of a Baltic coastline. On top of lacking the traditional tool of an anchor, several of the ships were undermanned and some had even lost their original pilots to scurvy. As a consequence, the British did not get away as lightly as they had at Saaremaa and three ships-of-the-line ran aground. Fortunately, this time the coast was governed by Britain's friends rather than enemies, so these grounded ships avoided the harassment which the Brittania had had to endure. Speaking of Britain's friends, the Swedish lost one ship themselves. Yet the ordeal was not yet over. Those ships which had avoided the coastline and finally rejoined with the main fleet were now challenged by a fresh Russian navy [6].

    Unlike at Saaremaa, this Battle of Kymmenedalen did not just feature two fleets of ships-of-the-line. In this battle, the Russians had brought their full Baltic strength including countless galleys (commanded by Naum Senyavin). Wager, however, was not frightened by the massive superiority in numbers that the Russians had as he recognized the limitations of these galleys. What did frighten Wager was the state of his fleet after the early morning attacks and months of deprivation. On top of that, Wager was not excited by his Swedish allies thus far. They lacked seamanship and their ships were just as bad the Russian ones. Unwilling to allow the Russians to surround his Wager ordered the Anglo-Swedish fleet to attack the Russian one. However, cautioned that his ships needed to keep their distance from the Russian galleys to avoid being overwhelmed and boarded. For several hours, the Anglo-Swedish held off the Russians as the powerful British ships-of-the-line blasted away the Russian galleys. Due to their lack of men many of Britain's ships-of-the-line found themselves rivaled by their Russian counterparts. The former Brittania and newly christened Retribution played a key role in holding back the British fleet [7]. However, at around 11 am the battle' shifted away from Wager's side as the tide did. As many of the British and Swedish ships lacked their anchors, when the tide pulled back away from the coast towards the Russians it took these anchorless ships with it. As many of these ships were thrown towards the Russians, the Russian galleys swarmed them and overwhelmed them [8]. At the same time, the Russian ships-of-the-line directly attacked the broken formation of Wager's fleet. It was a disaster and Wager knew it. Not knowing what else he could do, Wager commanded what ships that could to retreat. Once again the battered Russians did not pursue and instead focused on subduing those British and Swedish ships which had lost to the tide. In Wager's retreat, he was joined by two of the British ships which had run aground earlier as it had managed to refloat itself. It was a minor solace in wake of an actual Russian defeat of the Royal Navy.

    In review, the Battle of Kymmenedalen was much bloodier than Saaremaa had been. The British Baltic Fleet had lost six ships-of-the-line in the battle. One ship which had run aground was purposely burned when its sailors realized it could not be refloated. Another ship lost its duel to Russia's newest prize, the Retribution, and was sunk in the process. The HMS Revenge was abandoned due to its lack of mast and the HMS Assistance, of course, had been burned. The last two ships were carried straight into the arms of the Russian navy by the tidal waves. They were then boarded and overwhelmed. Outside of those ships being truly lost, many British ships were damaged. The refloated ship had been practically crippled. Three ships which lacked their anchors had managed to avoid smashing into Russians through some hard and brilliant piloting. And one final ship had actually escaped the clutches of the Russian galleys but at great cost. The Swedes had lost one frigate to grounding and two brigantines and five galleys in combat. On the other side, the Russians had not the battle cheaply. Two of their ships-of-the-line had been sunk in the battle. Alongside it, three lesser ships and more than twenty galleys were lost. Many more ships were damaged and made be taken back to Kronstadt for immediate repairs, and hundreds of Russians were dead.

    Even with the high toll, Kymmendalen was still a major victory for the Russians. This time the victory was not just a perception but a fact. The severe loss of ships for the British and the fact that the British had to scurry away by definition made the battle a Russian victory [9]. Furthermore, after the battle, the British Baltic Fleet had no ability to sustain itself in the Baltic as it lacked the men, the ships, and the confidence. The British Baltic Fleet after spending most of the year in the Baltic finally returned home with its tail between its legs and its head sunk low. Without the British Baltic Fleet and with the losses sustained by the Swedes, Finland lacked any real naval support. This fact meant that the highway along the coast was wide open to the Russians. Furthermore, the defeat drove a wedge between Britain and its Baltic allies. When Wager was forced to explain himself before the Admiralty he immediately blamed the Swedes for not offering assistance earlier which led to his fleet's horrid state. The Danish-Norwegians were also blamed for not sending their navy to the eastern Baltic. The Parliament was also horrified by Portobello's failure being so quickly followed by the Catastrophe at Kymmendalen, as it was deemed. Many radical calls were made by members of the opposition. Robert Walpole was quick to criticize the leadership of Spencer Compton, which has led to Portobello, Bienenbuttel, and now Kymmendalen. The British nobility and public were also divided on how they felt towards the King after this battle. Some felt that the King's servants had completely mismanaged the naval war while he was trying to stop the immense Russian hordes in Germany. Others asked why the King was in Germany when he had an entire war effort to help run.

    Within Russia, the victory had immediate effects. Apraksin, Gordon, Golitsyn, Senyavin, and Matija Zmajevic were the lauded, commended and extolled by every member of Russian society. Each man was generously and personally awarded by Empress Catherine for the role in the victory. Great estates, generous wealth, and extensive titles were given to all of them. The common sailors were also greeted and celebrated by Catherine upon their arrival in St. Petersburg. Once again British ships had been captured by the Russian navy. The HMS Revenge, HMS Canterbury, HMS Lion, and HMS Southhampton were added to the Russian navy. Respectively, they were renamed Kymmendalen, Saaremaa, Anna, and Elizaveta after the two recent Russian victories and Catherine's daughters. Most of the Russian ships-of-the-line entered the docks of Kronstadt for repairs after the battle. Only a few ships-of-the-line and many galleys were made responsible for supporting the Russian invasion of Finland. Speaking of which, Menshikov was pleased to have another victory over the British during his time as Russia's main man. However, Menshikov also recognized that the victory would be regarded as Apraksin's just as Gangut was. Consequently, Menshikov after taking a brief part in the celebrations of the victory went off to go find his own victory.

    Menshikov did not go far for his victory. Since Menshikov's German army was still getting prepared for its expedition, Menshikov rejoined Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn and Christoph von Munnich's army and immediately ordered the invasion of Finland. With an army 25000 men strong, Menshikov marched across Russia's border into Finland. This army first directed itself towards Villmanstrand where a small Swedish army had been deployed to staunch a Russian invasion. Outnumbered more than six to one the Swedes stood little chance of actually stopping the Russians. Nonetheless, the brave Swedes still tried. For more than four hours, the Swedish men attempted to hold their positions and rebut the Russian assault. Ultimately, surrounded and outnumbered the Swedish commander gave up and broke out towards Helsingfors. The Swedes had lost 1500 men in their valiant defense and had killed half as many Russians in the process.

    With the first border fortress under his control, Menshikov turned on Fredrikshamm, Sweden's border fortress town. The town was purpose-built to withhold enemy sieges and had some similarities to Vauban's Neuf-Brisach. However, when more than 20000 arrived outside its gates, Fredikshamm was in need of a miracle to survive. Charles Emil Lewenhaupt and his army of 10000 soldiers were supposed to be this miracle. Daringly, Lewenhaupt snuck his army behind the Russian army in an effort to smash the Russians between his army and a sortie from Fredikshamm. However, Menshikov although a politician was also a veteran of the Great Northern War and understood how to properly establish a siege. Thus when Lewenhaupt's army appeared in Menshikov's rear it was spotted by the Russian sentries and Menshikov swiftly regrouped his army to face Lewenhaupt's. Meanwhile, Munnich was left with the task of repelling any sally from the fortress.

    Despite being significantly outnumbered, Lewenhaupt bravely continued his advance. He imagined that the best Russian soldiers were all fighting in Germany not here in Finland, and, to be fair, Lewenhaupt was right in that regard. Lewenhaupt, however, was wrong in imagining that his army was equal to the Russian invaders. Despite the best soldiers being with General Lacy, the soldiers under Menshikov were green, undisciplined boys. They were still hardened soldiers from the Great Northern War and Russo-Persian War. Although Lewenhaupt's soldiers themselves were bad by most standards, they were not good enough to overcome the numerical superiority of the Russians. Consequently when the two armies collided the Russians did not fold and did not falter. Slowly but steadily the Russian army turned back the Swedes. After three brutal hours, the Swedish flanks finally began to crumble under the heavy pressure of the greater Russian numbers. By the fourth hour of the battle, Lewenhaupt was in full retreat. As that battle raged on, Munnich was fighting the Swedes of Fredrikshamm. These soldiers came at the Russians hard and nearly broke through their siege lines. Ultimately, however, Munnich managed to rally his men and force the Swedes back to their ramparts [10]. A few days later the Swedish garrison of Fredrikshamm surrendered and the Finnish border came under Russian control. Further operations, however, were not pursued due to the weather making a long march to Helsingfors unviable.

    Although Menshikov only managed to take the border before the year was out it was still a good victory and he knew it. Furthermore, Menshikov knew in his mind that this was only the first of many victories he would win in this war. However, it was the last victory he would have in Finland. After conquering Frediskhamm, Menshikov returned to St. Petersburg and took over direct control of the preparation of his German army. In a few months, the army would be ready to march along the Baltic coast into Germany just as Lacy's army had. Already lacy had won a great victory at Bienenbuttel, one which deserves to be commemorated in history; however, Menshikov's mind was already on how he would achieve his own great victory over the British on land and then over the Danish-Norwegians. As little as Menshikov cared for Charles Frederick's German ambitions, Menshikov did view them as a way towards his own glory. Menshikov could barely wait to join this German clash and assert his and Russia's dominance over Europe. Glory awaits [11].

    [1] Menshikov wants his glory and Sweden making minor concessions is not enough,
    [2] At Apraksin's recommendation's Menshikov makes this condition, Sweden agrees because they think it might lead to peace.
    [3] Scurvy was a huge problem these days. Although some navies (Spain) and officers knew of actual cures for scurvy, the British did not have a widespread effective response to scurvy. As a consequence, they often suffered extreme casualties from scurvy. Losing half of your sailors was considered typical.
    [4] The Russians still have the Jacobites, so there is still the potential that the Russians try to make a run for the Danish Sound with the Jacobites.
    [5] Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn is the brother of Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, no joke.
    [6] At this point, the British Baltic Fleet is down to 14 undermanned and ill-supplied ships-of-the-line in combat.
    [7] At one-third manpower and only 14 ships-of-the-line the British lack their normal supremacy over the Russians.
    [8] Quite literally the tide breaks and separates the British formation and sends British ships into the Russian fleet. The British ships now are up close with Russian galleys and get boarded and overwhelmed.
    [9] As a reminder, Norris actually won the Battle of Saaremaa, it just was not perceived that way. If any other ship than the Brittania runs aground then people would have said that Norris won. Because Norris lost one of the biggest and most famous British ships, he lost.
    [10] The Swedes stand a chance in an even battle but this is not that
    [11] And that concludes the 1727 phase of this war, 1728 coming up.

    Word Count: 3756
     
    12: Masterpiece at Munster
  • 12: Masterpiece at Munster
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    Viennese cavalry at Munster

    After months of preparations and planning, Alexander Menshikov and his army finally left St. Petersburg in February and began their long grueling westward march. This army did not reach the promised 60000 soldiers. Instead, Menshikov had little over 50000. Among these 50000 men were many veterans from the Great Northern War against Sweden and the Russo-Persian War; however, the large size of the army meant it also contained a number of recent recruits. These recruits were unaccustomed to the difficulties and deprivations of an army on the march, which immediately caused trouble for the aged Menshikov. As Menshikov marched through Russia he lost many soldiers to fatigue and desertion. On top of that, every two to three days Menshikov had to halt his advance just so that the men could rest. Despite these problems, Menshikov still strove forward, he had victory in his eyes and he would let nothing stop that.

    Menshikov's determination to drive himself into the heart of Germany was matched by King George II's determination to remain in that heart of Germany. John Campbell, the Duke of Argyll and supposed supreme commander of the Army of Hanover, had seen the defeat at Bienenbuttel as a condemnation of the viability of fighting in Germany when Britain's enemies included the Hapsburgs, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Cologne. King George, however, responded only with anger and contempt at the suggestion of abandoning his homeland [1]. George went so far as to place the blame of Bienenbuttel at Argyll's feet and to question Argyll's competence. George proclaimed that Argyll's record was nothing more than a retreat [2] and a skirmish with brigands [3]. Although both George and Argyll took offense at each other's words neither was willing to act on that offense as Argyll did not resign and George did not dismiss him. Argyll hoped he could still change the young King's mind and retain his favor while George feared that the next general would be no better. Thus throughout the spring, the Army of Hanover stayed stationary in southern Brunswick-Luneburg.

    During this spring, Argyll was not the only person to face King George's wrath. In the aftermath of Bienenbuttel, George witnessed his son, Frederick or Griff, be treated as a hero by the common Brunswicker-Luneburger soldiers who he had saved from rout at Bienenbuttel. Even though George was their elector the people of Brunswick-Luneburg they barely knew him and barely loved him. George could not stand this fact and despised his son for it. Often times during councils of war George railed against his son if he dared to offer an opinion. Several officers of Brunswick-Luneburg were displeased by George's treatment of Griff, however, they sought to protect their careers and so they stood by silently. The ambition of these officers even led them to agree with George when he asked them if he was correct in his assessment of Griff's ability. Griff struggled to understand why his father was such a cruel stranger to him but desperately desired to gain his love. As a result, Griff took every hit that George threw his way and did not fight back no matter how much he was hurt [4].

    Ultimately, when Menshikov's army marched into Brandenburg the Hanoverian Alliance's situation became untenable, and George finally acceded to Argyll's demands and agreed to an evacuation of Brunswick-Luneburg. To accomplish this evacuation it was agreed that the Army of Hanover would march to Bremen-Verden and then depart from Bremen with the assistance of the Royal Navy. Just as Argyll had achieved the escape of the entire Austracista army from Spain in 1713, Argyll intended to rescue the Army of Hanover from Brunswick-Luneburg [5]. In early May, Agryll marched out of Celle and began to make his way towards Bremen. However, his march would not be unopposed.

    Although letting the Hanoverians run would have allowed Peter Lacy to take the rest of Brunswick-Luneburg without any loss of life, his standing orders demanded otherwise. Empress Catherine and Menshikov had been explicit: Brunswick-Luneburg must be destroyed with fire and blood. Simply capturing the electorate would not be enough for this monarch and that despot and Lacy knew it. With that thought in mind, Lacy did not hesitate to march into Bremen-Verden as soon as Argyll moved towards it. Swiftly, Russian troops under General Maurice overran much of the duchy and secured many of its strategic points. However, the all-important port of Bremen remained in the hands of forces loyal to the Hanoverian Alliance, which meant that escape was still position. Meanwhile, the rest of the Viennese Army turned southward to confront the Hanoverians and deny them the chance to depart.

    Early June after much maneuvering and marching, Argyll finally made his attempt to dash to Bremen. With a couple of night marches, Argyll quickly closed the distance between his army and Bremen. However, Lacy was fast too and when Argyll neared Achim he found a large army awaiting him. Rather than dare to try to best Lacy on the field, Argyll again tried to outrun him. During the night of June 7th, the Hanoverian army crossed the Weser River in an effort to go around Lacy. Yet Lacy had not been a fool to not see this coming, so when Argyll's tired troops approached the Eiter River they found the bridge they wished to cross already occupied by a force of Russian soldiers under the command of Charles Frederick. This opposition did not please Argyll as he had hoped to evade any detection or resistance. Still, Argyll recognized that Charles had only a small troop of men and Argyll needed to cross that bridge.

    After quickly organizing a few formations of infantry, Argyll ordered the first assault against the bridge. As the British soldiers advanced they were peppered with musket fire and hit hard by the Russian artillery battery. Exhausted and frightened this assault broke up and ran back towards the rest of the Hanoverian army. Argyll and his colleagues, however, could not allow this first failure to deter them. They needed to cross that bridge. If they did not then they could not escape. Thus another assault was sent forth. This one actually made it to the bridge only for the Russian infantrymen to break apart and reveal a cannon which then blasted apart the formation of British soldiers. Again the soldiers came running back and again Argyll ordered more men forward. This time two formations offered covering fire on the flanks of the bridge whilst the assault force fixed their bayonets and bravely charged forward. Their melee struggle with the Russians, however, was rebuffed just like the ones before. At this point, George took command and ordered a full assault of the bridge whilst other men were meant to ford the river. Crowded on the bridge the Hanoverians could not use their numbers to their advantage. At the same time, the soldiers wading through the river were welcomed by some submerged caltrops and wooden spikes. Nevertheless, with difficulty and death, the Hanoverians pushed forward on the bridge and made it to the other bank. Next, with a hideous thundering, the bridge exploded and tens of Hanoverian soldiers were instantly killed or injured by the explosion of fire and debris. Amidst this chaos, the Russians counterattacked and murdered the men who had made it across the bridge and had succeeded in fording the river.

    The demolition of the bridge instantly made crossing the Eiter a more formidable task but not an impossible one, not even with Charles Frederick on the opposite bank. Thus the Hanoverians prepared for another strike against the Charles Frederick. However, that strike was never made. To the north, Danish scouts had spotted Russian horsemen riding towards Charles Frederick's aid. Even if the Hanoverians finally did dislodge the stalwart Holsteiner they would then have to defeat the menacing Lacy. Worse yet, if Lacy was fast enough he might catch the Hanoverians while they were still crossing the river, the river which now had no bridge. Argyll, George, Reventlow, they all knew that the safe crossing they had planned was no more and with it the plans to escape through Bremen had also vanished. With sad hearts and a sense of damnation, they called off the final attack and ordered a retreat back towards Celle [6].

    The Battle of Thedinghausen Bridge although minor in terms of the number of men who were actually engaged in combat and the death toll was still strategically significant. The Hanoverian forces had spent weeks plotting to escape through Bremen and then maneuvering to actually get close to Bremen only to fail in the end. In the meantime, Menshikov's army was allowed to march ever closer to Brunswick-Luneburg. Once Menshikov arrived in Brunswick-Luneburg the Hanoverian situation would certainly change from difficult to impossible. Within the Hanoverian army, the defeat only further worsened morale issues and the feeling of despair heightened the rate of desertion. Additionally, the hostility between King George and the Duke of Argyll rose to a much more dangerous and damaging level. King George lost almost all the respect he had left for the general. George went on to take supreme command of the army for himself and relegated Argyll to the simple commander of the British contingent. Furthermore, the Royal Navy had dedicated considerable resources towards readying an evacuation force [7]. Instead of these resources being used to bolster the Caribbean squadron or protect the Mediterranean they were wasted in the North Sea. Overall, failure at Thedinghausen was very harmful to the military situation of the Hanoverian Alliance.

    On the opposing side, the Battle of Thedinghausen was viewed as another sign of Russia ascendancy and superiority. Despite being massively outnumbered, Charles Frederick and his Russian soldiers withstood multiple enemy attacks over the course of a couple of hours. Furthermore, the Russians had lost less than 200 men whereas they killed or injured nearly 1000 enemies. The victory, importantly, prevented the Hanoverian escape while also preserving the Hanoverian army to be challenged by Menshikov himself. This situation is exactly what Lacy needed to accomplish and he had done it. In the following two weeks, the Viennese Alliance solidified their occupation of Bremen-Verden and took control of Bremen and Stade, which removed the threat of a future escape by sea.

    In this new reality, the Army of Hanover was running out of options and out of time. No matter which way the Hanoverians looked all they could see were enemies. To the north, Lacy and Friedrich Wilhelm complicated any march towards Holstein and the rest of Denmark-Norway's army. To the east, Menshikov made Brandenburg unwelcoming. To the south, Wolfenbuttel and Saxony provided no good means of escape. To the west, Munster was possessed by the House of Wittelsbach and might be filled with the soldiers of Elector Charles Albert and Prince Eugene if the Hanoverians dared march there. The Hanoverians were surrounded and if they did not move then they would slowly be strangled and all hope be lost. With much debate, the Hanoverian generals discussed which route of escape would be their best chance. Ultimately, the French inability to provide a guarantee that they could hold Prince Eugene forced the Army of Hanover to look in one direction alone, north [8].

    The next many days saw the Army of Hanover desperately gather as many supplies as possible so that they could sprint towards Holstein and join with the Danish-Norwegian army there. Even though the Hanoverians readied themselves as fast as they could, it was not enough. On July 6th, Menshikov crossed the eastern perimeter of the electorate and gave the Viennese army a more than two to one advantage over the Hanoverians. However, with Lacy concentrated in Bremen-Verden and Menshikov only in Luneburg, there was still a chance. The Hanoverians might still escape Brunswick-Luneburg and escape obliteration. Driven by this hope, the Hanoverian army soon departed from the city of Hanover and began their march towards Holstein and towards safety.

    Fortunately for the Hanoverian Alliance, Menshikov's march had not gone as well as Lacy's. Obviously, Menshikov's march had taken much longer but on top of that Menshikov had suffered far more attrition than Lacy had. While Lacy took Russia's best west he had managed to maintain a tight and disciplined march with limited desertion and disease. The same could not be said for Menshikov's army. By the time it reached Brunswick-Luneburg Menshikov's army had lost 6000 men to fatigue, disease, and desertion. This was more men than the Army of Hanover had killed thus far. Even with these losses, Menshikov's army was still a force to reckoned with. The core of the army was made up of hardened veterans and Menshikov himself was a more than capable commander. The Hanoverian army needed to be careful if it wanted to get out of Brunswick-Luneburg intact.

    Considering the sustained Viennese garrison at Luneburg and the close proximity of the Prussian army in Pomerania, the Hanoverians preferred to escape through the western half of the electorate rather than the east even though the west was where Lacy laid. The escape plan King George and Reventlow formulated relied heavily on simply outrunning and outsmarting Lacy as difficult as that was. Warily the Hanoverian army marched northward before making a dramatic bolt out of Soltau. While a small force feinted to the east of the Luneburg Heath, the main army run into the west. Lacy, however, was one of the most formidable commanders of this period and was not easily taken by fakes. Swiftly, Lacy's army moved towards Neuenkirchen and provided too great a threat to the Hanoverians, which forced their march to come to a sudden halt.

    George, despite his many faults, was not an idiot. He had hoped and prayed that he could sneak by Lacy but he had known there was a very real possibility he would not. Thus when the Hanoverian army found itself opposed by Lacy it was not paralyzed, it was not shocked, and it was not unprepared. At first, the Hanoverian army made a quiet and expected retreat back southward after another apparent failure. However, midway through the night, the Hanoverian camp outside of Soltau was awakened and orders were bellowed out. By 4 am,the Hanoverian camp had been disassembled and the army began to march this time to the east. Although George and Reventlow knew that Menshikov would probably be waiting for them, they believed that they could overpower him before Lacy would be able to reach him. To help slow down Lacy's army, a sizable rearguard was left behind. If the Hanoverian army could beat Menshikov and the rearguard and delay Lacy then the road towards Holstein would be wide open and from there they would continue the fight.

    At around 8:30 am on July 18th, the Hanoverian army found Menshikov's army positioned in the village of Munster. Once again the Russians had positioned themselves on a riverbank and sought to throwback this Hanoverian escape attempt. However, the Hanoverians were not going to just throw themselves at the Russians again. This time the Russians were not just a small formation but were instead an entire army. Consequently, George prepared for a full-blown battle. As the army began to draw itself into battlelines, George hosted a final war council to decide how to best overcome Menshikov. George decided that this time the British would be the left, the Germans would make up the centre, and the Danish-Norwegians would control the right [9]. Prince Frederick was placed with the British troops under Argyll's command while George would lead his electoral soldiers himself. The army would advance and lay down heavy fire on the Russians before charging at them and breaking through them.

    On the opposite side, Menshikov had arrayed his army so that his veteran formations and his newer formations were interspersed. This way he hoped to mitigate any lack of discipline or displays of fear. Between these formations, Menshikov had placed his artillery batteries because he lacked any suitable elevation to justify placing them behind his army. All of these soldiers were dug in behind the riverbank and bogs of Munster. Menshikov had not had the time to turn the rivers into the same of horror that the Eiter had been for the Hanoverians. However, the bogs provided their own method of deterring attackers.

    At 12:15 pm the battle finally commenced as the Hanoverians had finally pieced together their army [10]. According to the plan, the Hanoverian army marched forward and began to fire volley after volley into the Russian formations. However, once again the Russians proved their mettle as traded back every volley the Hanoverians gave them. Along the Hanoverian left flank, the British soldiers struggled to make it past the Russians because the river curved to the north and thus guarded the Russian flank. On the Hanoverian right flank, the river curved in the opposite direction to the south and with it so did the Russian line. As a result, the Danish-Norwegian soldiers were unable to round the Russian flank and had their numerical advantage limited. For more than two hours this brutal firefight continued as the Russians showed no sign of weakening or breaking. Wherever a young soldier hesitated he looked around and saw the soldiers of the Peter the Great fighting with everything they had. Up and down the lines Menshikov rode rallying every soldier who wavered and demonstrating no fear as bullets and cannonballs whizzed past him.

    At around 2:50 pm, George received news that Lacy was attacking his rearguard in Soltau. Immediately, George grew anxious about how long the battle had gone on without any real progress and he worried that his rearguard would not be able to hold long enough. Desperate to achieve victory and reach safety, the King ordered the Hanoverian army to attach its bayonets and assault the Russians. Lacking any sort of bridge, the Hanoverians only path was through the waters of the river and the bogs [11]. As the soldiers trudged through these waters many were shot and some dropped. Upon reaching the opposite bank the Hanoverian soldiers were met with a fear wooden stakes and a heavy rain of fire. At this point, some formations were turned back. Others, however, struggled forward and charged right at the Russian brutes. In the harsh melee that followed the ragged and disheveled Hanoverian soldiers unleashed themselves on the hated Russian foes. In the centre, the German soldiers were severely rebuked after only an hour of combat. On the Hanoverian right, the Danish-Norwegians later managed to overpower the southern length of the Russian army. Whereas on the Hanoverian left, the British and Russians infantry still contested the ground. In this heavy and bloody brawl, the Hanoverians seemed as if they might actually succeed.

    Come 4 pm the Hanoverian hopes, however, were crushed. Thousands of Russian, Prussian, and Saxon cavalry emerged on the western horizon and surged towards the British on the left. George was completely surprised. No word of his rearguard falling had arrived, yet somehow the Viennese cavalry was here. It did not make any sense but with thousands of enemies smashing into his flank George need not think about how these enemies had gotten here. George instead needed to figure out how to respond to it. Unfortunately, his centre was still in disarray after its failed assault and much of the Hanoverian reserves had already been committed. The reserves that George had left he quickly dispatched to his left and just prayed that it would be enough.

    Already engaged with Russian soldiers in the front and with many British soldiers split between the two banks of the river, the Hanoverian left flank is a horrible position when the Viennese reinforcements arrived. The initial shock of the cavalry charge broke some of the British units in morale and those which still stood struggled to form up and react effectively. At this moment, Frederick of Hanover, the young Griff, once again displayed his courage and relentlessness as he rode towards fray rather than away from it. Inspired by Griff's example, the British soldiers rallied and began to fight back against the Viennese cavalry with the aid of some fresh reserves. However, this moment did not last long. Now, Viennese infantrymen arrived too and joined the epic melee while also laying down fire where they could. Outnumbered and completed enveloped the British soldiers found themselves the victims of a massacre. Being cut down by Saxon cavalry, gunned down by Prussian musketeers, and run through by Russian footmen, the British were shattered and destroyed.

    The arrival of further Viennese soldiers was not something which King George could understand. It did not make any sense and George did not want it to make sense, not as part of his army was being utterly crushed. George was stunned and so was his army. As his German troops wavered, Menshikov launched his counterattack and thousands of Russian soldiers streamed forth. With the Hanoverian left flank having collapsed, the Viennese soldiers were able to attack the German centre from both the flank and the front. Even overwhelmed and demoralized the German soldiers still put up a good fight before finally being dispersed and defeated by 6 pm. Many of the German soldiers were captured right there and then. Others would be captured by Viennese cavalry and scouts over the next few days.

    The only Hanoverian soldiers who escaped the slaughter at Munster were the Danish-Norwegians and a small group of Germans. Having actually been winning their part of the battle, the Danish-Norwegians had been close to turning the Russian flank before the arrival of Viennese reinforcements. At that point, the Danish-Norwegians continued to fight hard but as they realized just how dire the situation was they instead chose to run while they still could. With them, they took a few thousand Brunswicker-Luneburger men. Among these men was King George II. However, during their retreat, they did end up having to sacrifice further soldiers to delay the Viennese troops just a little longer. Even with the brave sacrifice of those men, the retreat was not easy. The escapees barely stopped or rested in their run towards Holstein. Along the way, many injured men had to be left behind to preserve the speed and integrity of the rest of the army. When the force finally reached the friendly arms of the Danish army in Holstein, it was a starved and damaged thing. Of course, the army lacked any heavy artillery or significant war materials.

    As George later found out, his rearguard had not failed him. Early on July 18th, Lacy was suddenly woken up by General Maurice because the scouts had spotted movement near Soltau. Instantly, Lacy realized that Menshikov was at great risk and with all haste he prepared his army to march to Menshikov's aid. Due to the size of his army and the need for artillery, Lacy had little choice but to march the army towards Soltau. However, Maurice postulated that such a maneuver might take too long and Menshikov could be defeated before Lacy could come to his aid. For this reason, Maurice suggested that Lacy give him 10000 of the best troops that they had so that Maurice could march straight through the Luneburg Heath and reach Menshikov before any disaster could befall him. In an acknowledgment of Maurice's skill and a show of trust, Lacy approved Maurice's plan. Thus while Lacy marched towards Soltau, Maurice went towards the Heath [12].

    Although Maurice's march was difficult he was correct in believing that he could do it and that it was necessary. As Maurice had joined the fight at Munster, Lacy had only just defeated the hard Hessian and Brunswicker-Luneburger rearguard that George had left for him. Had Maurice instead stayed with Lacy then Menshikov's probably would have faltered. At the moment Maurice arrived the British had been making progress and the Danish-Norwegians were already winning their part of the battle. Within an hour or two, Menshikov's flanks could have folded and with it his army destroyed and the Hanoverian army's escape achieved. Instead, Maurice arrived just when he was needed most and routed the Hanoverian army.

    In military terms, the Battles of Munster and Soltau amounted to a military catastrophe for the Hanoverian Alliance. The casualties suffered by the Hanoverians were devastating. More than 14000 Hanoverian soldiers had been killed in battle among them was the Duke of Argyll. A further 13000 men were captured in the immediate aftermath of the battle. This list of prisoners included the Frederick of Hanover. Only 19000 men made it to the safety of Holstein. The last 9000 men were later regrouped in the City of Hanover but there a position was doomed. Accompanying these losses of men, the Hanoverian Alliance lost all ability to contest the control of Brunswick-Luneburg and its dependencies. The region was the Viennese Alliance's to take and would take it in the succeeding weeks. With the Hanoverian threat in Germany vanquished, the Viennese Alliance would be able to refocus and redouble its efforts towards achieving mastery of the Rhine and of the Baltic Coast.

    Regarding the victor of Munster, Menshikov, obviously, treated the victory as an extreme triumph. Despite the fact that the Viennese Alliance suffered nearly 8000 casualties at Munster, Menshikov still had much to be proud of. He had held his ground against a superior foe and, in the end, he and Maurice had shattered the Army of Hanover. The sheer number of casualties inflicted on the Hanoverians alone justified calling Munster the sort of great victory Menshikov had been aiming for. Additionally, the strategic result of the battle made this success comparable to Peter's victory at Poltava. Finally, the carnage of the battle had matched exactly the havoc which the Empress and Menshikov had envisioned when they called for the destruction of Brunswick-Luneburg. All in all, Menshikov was one step closer to his full glory.

    Maurice, the other hero of Munster, also had much to be happy about in the aftermath of the battle. Although publically Menshikov made sure to take as much credit for the victory as possible and to play down the importance of Maurice's intervention, in private Menshikov did recognize the true role of Maurice. Seeing as Menshikov was still the first man of Russian politics, this private praise was a significant breakthrough for Maurice is in ambitions to regain the Duchy of Courland. However, Maurice still had a ways to go. Menshikov was grateful towards Maurice but Maurice was not first among Menshikov's friends [13]. In terms of military advancement, Munster solidified Maurice's place as a top-tier Russian general rather than just one of its many talented subordinate commanders.

    The duo of Lacy and Prince Leopold were able to mark down another victory due to their intelligent command at Soltau. Although the Hessian and Brunswicker-Luneburger rearguard had put up an impressive fight, Lacy and Leopold were able to overcome them with just 700 men being lost. However, as mentioned earlier, the rearguard did waste enough time that Lacy's army did not reach Munster before the battle concluded. Fortunately, Lacy's dispatching of Maurice was enough and Menshikov honored Lacy for the brilliance of it. Underneath Lacy, Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein and Frederick Augustus of Rutowsky fought with a distinction worthy of notice [14]. In Charles Frederick's case, his bravery and leadership contributed to the Russian breakthrough of the enemy lines. While in Hans Hermann's case, his natural aptitude for war resulted in the rearguard's retreat being cut off and thousands of Hanoverian soldiers being captured.

    Immediately following the Battles of Munster and Soltau and their subsequent chases, the Viennese Alliance turned towards finishing their conquest of Brunswick-Luneburg. Already Luneburg, Bremen-Verden, and Lauenburg were under Viennese occupation, however, Brunswick, Osnabruck, and Gottingen remained in the hands of the remnants of the Army of Hanover. Rather than take these locations one by one, Menshikov split up the Viennese army. The King Augustus the Strong and the Saxons were sent to Gottingen, Maurice and some Russians were deployed to Osnabruck, Lacy and Leopold were tasked with taking Celle, and Menshikov himself went for Brunswick-Luneburg's crown, Hanover. Over a period of three weeks, all of these places either surrendered or were overwhelmed.

    In Hanover itself, the defending commander realized the impossibility of his situation and was also scared that the Russian demands for the destruction of Brunswick-Luneburg would actually be carried out. As a result, the commander offered to surrender his whole army of 9000 men and allow them to be imprisoned so long as the city was unharmed. Although a surrender typically lacked the excitement which Menshikov sought, a surrender on this scale was utterly humiliating for the Hanoverian Alliance and was more than enough to appease Menshikov's power-lust. The subsequent Convention of Hanover marked the official end of the Viennese campaign against Brunswick-Luneburg.

    With Brunswick-Luneburg conquered the Viennese Alliance showed its first cracks. After the conquest was finished, Menshikov asked the Saxon army to return to him so that they could pivot towards Holstein. However, King Augustus cared little for the affairs of Holstein and the ambitions of Menshikov. Augustus occupied the territories he wished to control and he had the political clout that he knew he could keep them when peace negotiations arrived. Instead, Augustus turned towards the Holy Roman Emperor, who still had prizes to offer the Elector of Saxony. The Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Ferdinand Albert II, felt the same way and he too refused the calls of Menshikov [15]. The same could not be said for the Prussians and Mecklenburgers. Although the Prussians had taken most of Pomerania, Stralsund remained under Swedish control and until it was taken the Prussians felt the need to play nice with the Russians. For Charles Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Danish presence in Holstein was too great a threat to his newly captured Duchy of Lauenburg. Thus it was only Russia, Prussia, and Mecklenburg which still stood to oppose Denmark-Norway.

    Menshikov like Augustus did not actually care about Holstein. Menshikov recognized that the duchy had some importance to Empress Catherine who had married both of her daughters to princes of Holstein. However, Menshikov's command of Russian politics was so dominant that taking Holstein would do little to grow his power. Indeed, the effects of spending so much time away from St. Petersburg to conquer Holstein could overweigh the political gains of actually taking it. Yet politics so far had not been Menshikov's reason for personally this war and politics certainly played little part in Menshikov's decision to go after Holstein. Already, Menshikov had defeated the Swedes and the British but he not defeated the Danish-Norwegians. Indeed, they were the ones who had escaped Munster. Furthermore, Menshikov had won just two good victories, Fredrikshamm and Munster, but he wanted three. Holstein and the army of Denmark-Norway offered an opportunity to find that third victory and Menshikov wanted it badly [16].

    The Hanoverian army in Holstein was made up of 40000 Danish-Norwegian soldiers and 1000 German survivors from Munster. Although King George was counted among the army's generals, the composition of the army made it so that Reventlow's authority was supreme and that all the important positions were held by Danish-Norwegian commanders. This army was quite formidable in numbers and in skill. However, Reventlow was presented with a true challenge when he saw the army which Menshikov had. With 3000 Mecklenburgers, 32000 Prussians, and 50000 Russians Menshikov assembled an army of 85000 soldiers, more than twice the number Reventlow had. Of course, this number was commanded by men such as Maurice of Saxony, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, and Hans Heinrich Graf von Katte. Furthermore, Reventlow had an incredibly long boundary to defend and not a heavily fortified one at that. In fewer words, Reventlow's task was a tall order.

    To invade Holstein, Menshikov placed the majority of his army in Lauenburg and near Altoona. Reventlow matched this array as best as he could but, of course, was outnumbered in both places. As Reventlow dug in, Maurice detached himself from Menshikov's army with 20000 men and marched north along the right bank of the Elbe. From this maneuver, it was obvious to Reventlow that Maurice intended to cross the Elbe and threaten Reventlow's rear. However, Reventlow could do little to stop Maurice. The disparity in numbers between the Danish-Norwegians and the Viennese meant that if Reventlow sent a significant force to defend against Maurice then Reventlow himself would doubtless be attacked and perhaps overwhelmed. Instead, Reventlow could only send 4000 men and just hope they could rebuff Maurice's crossing.

    Rapidly Maurice marched northward along the Elbe but the small Danish-Norwegian army was able to match his speed. Subsequently, Maurice split his army into four and dispersed the different sections along the river, which forced the Danish-Norwegians to do likewise. Finally, as Maurice marched on of these sections north during the day he reversed course at night and then quietly began to cross the river. By morning 4000 Viennese soldiers had amassed in Holstein 7 miles south of Gluckstadt. As the Danish-Norwegian soldiers tried to regroup they left other portions of the river unprotected and so by the end of the day all 20000 soldiers had crossed the Elbe and Holstein security had been breached.

    At this point, Reventlow decided to retreat. The Danish general recognized that his situation was untenable and that he had been beaten. Maurice was a talented commander who might be able to hold out long enough for Menshikov and Lacy to rescue him, which made turning on Maurice a risky decision. Attacking Menshikov's main army was simply out oft he question. The best option and the safest course of action for Reventlow was to concede Holstein and retreat to better ground with shorter lines. For this reason, Reventlow quickly ordered the Danish-Norwegian army to evacuate towards Schleswig and not risk getting caught out by a Viennese pincer attack. Although the decision was a tough one to make it was the right one. Earlier that year, King George's reluctance to give up Brunswick-Luneburg had resulted in the destruction of the Army of Hanover and Brunswick-Luneburg still fell. Here, presented with the same situation, Reventlow chose to preserve his army's strength and trade Holstein so that Schleswig could stand a better chance of surviving [17].

    For the Viennese, the Danish-Norwegian evacuation was a military coup that allowed them to quickly retake Holstein-Gottorp and also occupy Holstein-Gluckstadt. However, Reventlow's withdrawal had deprived Menshikov of his third victory on the field. Despite the success, Menshikov wanted more and was not yet ready to give up on his dreams of a decisive defeat of the Danish-Norwegians. Consequently, when Charles Frederick asked for Menshikov to continue on to Schleswig and retake the duchy for his family, Menshikov acceded. If Holstein could not provide Menshikov with a battle than Schleswig must. However, as the Viennese army began to make its moves towards Schleswig, terrible news arrived.

    To the east, as the Viennese forces under Lacy and Menshikov conquered Brunswick-Luneburg and then Holstein, Prussians under King Friedrich Wilhelm had been continuing their siege against Stralsund. The hardened fortress of Stralsund had managed to survive the dedicated effort of the Prussians for over a year without showing any signs of falling. As the key to Pomerania, Stralsund's capture was necessary to assure the Prussian domination of Pomerania, which is why Friedrich Wilhelm had continued to please and court the Russians even after Brunswick-Luneburg had fallen. He had hoped that after defeating Denmark-Norway the Russian armies would turn to help take Stralsund. Failing that, if Stralsund should survive the war then Friedrich Wilhelm would need Russia to use its victories in Finland to gain Stralsund for Prussia.

    All of this began to change on September 2nd when a lucky mortar shot hit some barrels of powder and ripped a hole in the Stralsund's outer wall. Eager to throw off the shackles of Russian military and political superiority, Friedrich Wilhelm did not hesitate to order an assault of the breach. That evening hundreds of Prussian soldiers stormed towards the breach taking cannon shot after cannons hot and volley after volley without breaking formation. Upon reaching the wall, the Prussian soldiers fearlessly climbed through the rumble and viciously pushed back the Swedes from the wall [18]. Despite repeated Swedish counterattacks, these Prussian soldiers held on to this position and allowed for reinforcements to flood into the outer defenses of Stralsund.

    With Stralsund's outer wall under Prussian control, Friedrich Wilhelm demanded the inner citadel surrender. However, the brave Swedish defenders refused. Friedrich Wilhelm then began to reestablish siege lines within Stralsund so that he could pound the citadel into submission. Before he did this, a young officer, Kurt Christoph of Schwerin, presented Friedrich Wilhelm with a plan to attack the citadel with an escalade attack and then open the gates for the rest of the Prussian army. Friedrich Wilhelm was unsure of the plan but he recognized Schwerin's two decades of experience and constant demonstration of competence and gave Schwerin permission to proceed [19]. Two days later during the night of September 5th, Schwerin and his soldiers quietly and slowly crawled towards the Citadel and got within 100 yards without detection. For the last length, Schwerin's men broke out into a mad sprint towards the walls, musket in one hand and ladder in the other. The Swedish sentries were taken by complete surprise but were still able to raise the alarm. Swedish troops began rushing towards the walls in their nightcaps to repel the attack. And in most cases, they succeeded with four of the six escalades failing. However, with the two units that did successfully establish themselves within the citadel, Schwerin was able to battle his way towards the gate and open it. Within 15 minutes hundreds more Prussian soldiers rushed into the citadel and overran the Swedish garrison. Two hours later, the Swedish commander surrendered and Stralsund was Prussia's.

    For Schwerin's part in taking Stralsund, he was raised to the title of count, made a major-general within the Prussian army, and given extensive financial awards. This was exactly the sort of man which Friedrich Wilhelm sought in all his officers, a man of daring and talent. These traits were also exactly what Friedrich Wilhelm wanted for his own son, who admittingly had shown some promise during the siege and was not the complete coward his father feared he would be.

    From a military and political standpoint, the fall of Stralsund had a considerable impact on Empress Catherine's War. As expected, the capture of the city gave the Prussians full and unchallenged control of Pomerania. All the Prussians had to do was keep control of Stralsund till the end of the war and they should be able to retain it. Considering the fact that Holstein and Brunswick-Luneburg had already been conquered, no German threat to Stralsund existed. There was also no reason to believe that the Swedes would retake Stralsund on their own as they were being pummeled by the Russians in Finland. Altogether, Friedrich Wilhelm had accomplished his wall goals and now lacked any reason to continue to support the aggrandizement of Russian power in Germany. As a result, his next orders to Prince Leopold proved very damaging to Menshikov and Charles Frederick's ambitions.

    With no reason to fight on and all the reasons to stop fighting at all, Prince Leopold separated himself from Menshikov's army and retreated back towards Brunswick-Luneburg. The loss of the Prussians hurt Menshikov's plans to run over Reventlow and his Danish-Norwegian army as Menshikov's army had dropped to just 53000 men. This number of soldiers was still considerably greater than Reventlow's army in Schleswig but the numbers were close enough to warrant some concern. Instead of recklessly chasing after Reventlow, Menshikov now carefully and cautiously pursued the Dane. With the few weeks of campaigning that Menshikov had left he tried to get Reventlow to meet Menshikov on favorable ground but each time Reventlow conceded and avoided the disadvantageous fights that Menshikov offered [20].

    When the campaigning season came to a close, the Viennese Alliance had undoubtedly won the Northern seat of conflict. Brunswick-Luneburg and all its dependencies were occupied, Pomerania was captured, and Holstein was possessed. Furthermore, the main Hanoverian army was destroyed and the crown prince of Great Britain and Brunswick-Luneburg had been captured. However, the indefatigable Viennese Alliance began to strain. The Germans had been willing to fight alongside the Russians so long as they had to. Now that Prussia, Saxony, and Wolfenbuttel saw no further reason to fight for the Russians they left the Russians to fight with just the Holsteiners and Mecklenburgers. This shift in the strategic situation gave Denmark-Norway the reprieve it desperately needed and also thwarted Menshikov's efforts to complete his crown of victories, at least for 1728 that is.

    [1] King George II like OTL is very attached to Hanover. Historically, he spent a lot of time in Hanover after ascending the throne just like his father before him which damaged his popularity in Great Britain. The current popularity of his son in Hanover only intensifies George's attachment to Hanover. George does not want to seem like he failed his subjects and like he is not committed to them. He does not want them to prefer this man he barely knows over himself their God-given ruler.
    [2] Argyll's evacuation of the Army of Spain in 1713
    [3] Argyll's defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Sherrifmuir.
    [4] OTL Frederick of Hanover/Wales tried very hard to please his father and get in his good graces when he first reunited with him. Frederick had gone up with almost no family except the occasional visits from his grandfather and granduncle, so Frederick really wanted a sense of family and love. This is why he takes his father's harsh criticism. He does not want to provoke further anger or estrangement in his father.
    [5] Austracista was a name for the pro-Hapsburg forces in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.
    [6] Although another assault or two might have actually succeeded if the Hanoverians tried hard enough, they really are worried that they will just allow themselves to get caught out by the Viennese and so they give up and fall back.
    [7] The Royal Navy essentially committed a full fleet and countless support vessels to this operation, which pretty massive for what is essentially just a transport convoy.
    [8] Fleury does not want to raise and deploy another army which could protect the escape of the Army of Hanover. All Fleury can do is try and distract Prince Eugene with Villars' army. However, Villars is still on the wrong side of the Rhine so there is no guarantee that he can't stop Eugene.
    [9] King George wants an excuse to fight with the Germans hence them being in the centre. Kings typically fight on the right or the centre. The Danish-Norwegians are better than the Germans so they are given the right as they have a better chance of flanking the enemy. That only leaves the centre for George and the Germans.
    [10] Typically it took hours to set up for a pitched battle hence the delay in the battle start and when the armies see each other.
    [11] Bogs are not fun at all for soldiers. Going through dark muddy water with uncertain depths is always a hazard. The river is less of a problem but it is still not a cakewalk.
    [12] Lacy is basically trying to do a V and Maurice going straight. Lacy, however, gets to go using a road whereas Maurice has to make his way through the woods.
    [13] Maurice got Menshikov's favor but he did not instantly earn himself Courland. Maurice will have to provide further services if he wants the Russians to support him in Courland.
    [14] Frederick Augustus is already a major general despite being in his twenties. This is because he is Augustus the Strong's bastard. However, he is talented anyways so he gets to use that talent here and start building up his reputation.
    [15] In case you are wondering why little Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel is asking as tough as an ancient electorate, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel is directly tied to the Holy Roman Emperor and for that reason is able to act high and mighty.
    [16] Everything is better in threes, right? So far Menshikov has a victory over a minor Swedish army and a bloody victory over the Hanoverians. Menshikov wants a beautiful and clean victory over the Danish-Norwegians.
    [17] Reventlow had a terrible position to defend and he did his best. He decides to trade space for time and for better ground. Turns out to be the right decision as Menshikov's army loses 32000 men while Reventlow loses "0"*
    *Aside from disease, etc.
    [18] The Prussians are already becoming one of the better-trained armies and this is a demonstration of that.
    [19] Schwerin is already a known quantity in Prussian military affairs. However, Schwerin is not yet a top general of the Prussian army. Because of his existing reputation he is able to speak to Friedrich Wilhelm about his plan and is able to get it approved.
    [20] Reventlow does not take Menshikov's bait and keeps maneuvering. Reventlow is not conceding Schleswig, he is trading pieces of it back and forth with the Russians in a campaign of maneuver.

    Word Count: 7571
     
    13: Blenheim! Bellheim?
  • 13: Blenheim! Bellheim?
    Portrait_of_Prince_Eugene.jpg

    Prince Eugene of Savoy, Victor of Blenheim and Bellheim

    During the first year of the war, the 17-year old French king, Louis XV, had said very little about his own opinions on the French war effort. Although Louis XV had some ideas and thoughts about what France can and should do in the war, the adolescent king felt that his own experience and education were too lacking for his ideas to have much merit. Instead, at the meetings of his council, Louis sat and listened to what his aged advisers like Claude le Blanc and the Count of Maurepas had to say. Most importantly, Louis listened to the plans of Cardinal Fleury and whenever asked what he thought Louis would defer to the Cardinal. Like this, the French King had allowed the war to be run by Cardinal Fleury without so much the slightest inference for 1727. However, Louis' silence and unwillingness to exert himself did not last into the next phase of war planning. As a young monarch, Louis XV felt the embarrassment of the failure to take Fuentebarria acutely. Louis did not see it as the fault of Fleury or of the Duke of Berwick but rather blamed himself. While Philip had ridden to Fuentebarria and personally inspired its defenders, Louis had remained in Versailles with his newly born twin daughters. As beautiful as the little babies were, Louis knew that he had a responsibility to his Kingdom and his armies to prosecute this war with all vigor, just as his grandfather the Sun King had [1]. As a result of this sentiment, when the government councils met to discuss France's next steps, Louis stood up and simply stated that he thought best that he should ride to the Rhenish front to raise the spirits of his soldiers and inspirit them as they pushed beyond the Rhine. The King's advisers were quick to advocate against such action. They all pointed to the fact that the King was still without a son and that military camps ran rampant with diseases, which the King could easily contract from his interactions with his soldiers. Bombarded with imagery about the chaos and destruction that a succession crisis would bring to France, Louis sat down and once more allowed Fleury to guide France without bother [2].

    Cardinal Fleury himself was worried by Fuentebarria's resilience and Spain's seeming resurgence. In the Cardinal's eyes, Fuentebarria might be a sign that Spaniards could be worthy partners of France. Philip V was the uncle of Louis XV and so long as Philip abandoned his aspirations to the French throne it would be only natural that Philip and Louis become allies. However, as it stood Spain and France were enemies and that had to change before Fleury could more seriously consider an alliance with Spain. Already Fleury had begun to discuss peace with the diplomats of Spain but they too had been affected by Fuentebarria. Although Fleury felt that his offers were more than generous for an inferior power such as Spain, Fuentebarria had emboldened the Spanish to point where they were very grand demands. Although Fleury was willing to make some concessions to the Spanish, he felt that giving them half of Italy, Gibraltar, and Minorca was too much. Spain needed to be brought back to down to earth a bit so that Fleury could secure a more reasonable peace with them. For this purpose, Fleury authorized reinforcement of the Duke of Berwick's army to bring its strength to 30000 men. Additionally, rather than invade Navarre again, the Duke of Berwick was to go for a Spanish gem, Barcelona.

    Besides putting forth a better effort on the Spanish front, Cardinal Fleury was content to allow the rest of France's armies in the Western Theatre to continue their campaigns in a fashion which amounted to nothing more than theatrics. In the north along the border with the Southern Netherlands, Marshal du Ble was ordered to remain stationary and non-threatening. To the east on the Rhine, Fleury preferred that Duc de Villars and Prince Eugene continue their simple dance on their respective sides of the Rhine. Overall, Fleury's strategy amounted to continued minimal action. Only like this could Fleury redefine France's place in European politics from the malicious warmonger to the benevolent diplomat. Of course, the low costs of prosecuting a war in such a fashion provided the additional benefit of allowing France's treasury more breathing room and not derailing its recovery from the Sun King's war [3].

    However, to Cardinal Fleury's surprise, the rest of the Hanoverian Alliance found fault with this strategy. Due to the obstinance of King George II, the Army of Hanover had been placed in a difficult and dangerous position in which they could soon be smashed to pieces by the armies of Peter Lacy and Alexander Menshikov. Faced with this future, the Army of Hanover desires a means of escape. Among the options that the Army of Hanover weighed was a march through Munster toward the Dutch Republic. Although seemingly simple, the fact that Lacy's army had positioned itself to the north of the Army of Hanover pressured the Hanoverians to march along a more southernly path which the Viennese army of Charles Albert might complicate. The Army of Hanover feared that if it marched into the rivers of Westphalia that Charles Albert could delay its march long enough for Prince Eugene or the Russians to catch up. Consequently, King George II and his commanders requested that the French army of Villars aggressively and energetically occupy Prince Eugene's army. If Prince Eugene was removed from the scenario the Hanoverian generals felt that the chances of a successful escape went up significantly.

    Upon receiving this entreaty from his allies, Fleury was more than pleasantly surprised. in Fleury's view, France's primary enemy was the Hapsburg Realm that dominated Germany and directly challenged France on the continent [4]. Thus far in this war, Fleury desire to build up relations with his own allies had encouraged the quiet campaign of Villars. Now, however, Fleury allies were practically begging Fleury to make a dedicated attack against Germany. Presented with this opportunity to humble the Hapsburgs, the Cardinal did not flinch to answer the calls of George II and soon ordered Villars to proceed towards the Fortress of Philippsburg directly. By besieging of the vital Rhenish fortress Fleury knew he would draw the attention of Prince Eugene just as the British wanted him too, but Fleury also expected that capturing of Philippsburg would be a strong blow towards the Hapsburg extreme preeminence in Germany that had existed since Blenheim.

    The sudden and decisive movement of the army of Villars towards the north took Prince Eugene and his subordinates by surprise. Initially, the Germans believed that the French were simply renewing last year's convention of meaningless marches with more gusto. In response, Prince Eugene cautiously paralleled Villars' movement. But when Villars failed to double back or make any effort to trick the Prince, the Prince began to worry. Finally, as the French army's rapid advance turned into true sprint it became clear that the French had no intention of sneaking their way over the Rhine. Instead, the French were bolting towards Philippsburg where confrontation with the Germans was almost certain. This realization almost caused a panic within the German army, however, Prince Eugene still had enough energy and authority to snuff out this weakness as soon as it appeared within his officers. Even though Eugene worried that his army was not good enough he was still going approach his next battle without even the slightest degree of trepidation. Even now at 64, Prince Eugene of Savoy was still the same man who won Zenta and Blenheim [5].

    On this note, the German army, reinforced by troops from Italy, soon started to cross the Rhine and assemble itself on the right bank. The decisive and quick German action was an unpleasant surprise for the Duc de Villars who had little respect for any of the German generals outside of the Prince of Savoy. However, Villars himself was prompt in his reaction. As the German army marched to relieve Philippsburg, the French-built numerous pontoon bridges to connect their formations across the areas numerous waterways and allow for a speedy regrouping in the event of a German attack [6]. Thus when the relief arrived near Philippsburg it found itself confronted with a series of connected and dug-in positions which made any assault a distressing thought. As a result, despite the German advantage in numbers, Prince Eugene relegated his army to simple posturing while he tried to imagine a way through Villars' elaborate contravallation.

    This standoff between the Rhenish armies ultimately came to an end before either Prince Eugene or Duc de Villars could act. Instead, it was an act of God which brought about the conclusion. In late June, the summer rains of the Rhineland began to pour down upon the two armies [7]. Due to the French reliance on pontoon bridges, the rising and gushing waters concerned Villars dearly. Soon enough some of his bridges were carried away by the floods of water and the French defenses started unraveling. With this force of nature breaking apart the French army and threatening to expose the French to the menace of the German army, Duc de Villars recognized that his army might soon be attacked. Rather than idly waiting for such an eventuality, the French marshal assessed that his situation was untenable and ordered that his army organize a retreat. Subsequently, amidst these harsh summer rains, the French army broke its siege of Philippsburg and set about withdrawing. Had it not been for the fact that the Germans were also harried by these torrents of water, Prince Eugene doubtless would have pounced on the French [8]. However, as the weather proved difficult for both the French and Germans neither was able to carry out any type of aggressive action, and the French army was allowed to make its way back towards its previous camp. Or at least that was true for the most part.

    As part of the French rearguard was retiring across a pontoon bridge, the sentries reported that German outriders were in the distance. After receiving this news the young, inexperienced colonel in charge of completing the withdrawal allowed his emotions to overtake his senses. With a look of fright on his face, the colonel ordered that the retreat pick up the pace considerably and overruled his engineer when he claimed that such action would endanger the integrity of the bridge and thus the safety of the men. As could be expected the man who got his rank through hard work and endless studying was right and the man who only got his rank due to his blood was wrong. Within half an hour the overtaxed and creaking bridge finally gave way and collapsed. Before the engineers could even contemplate a quick repair, the river swept the rest of the bridge away. In this instant, many men died, a number of horses were lost, and a few cannon sunk with them. Worse yet 700 men were now stranded on the opposite from the rest of their army and on the same bank as more than 50000 adversaries.

    Presented with this new dilemma, the French colonel surprisingly did not panic a second time. Instead, after establishing that the river was uncrossable at this point, the colonel commanded that his remaining troops abandon all their heavy equipment and march towards the next pontoon bridge with all haste. However, by the time they reached this crossing their fellow Frenchmen had already completed their evacuation and destroyed the bridge afterward. Even though it was obvious at this point that the most likely event was that they would be captured, the colonel told his men to persevere and search on for some means of escape. None, however, was to be found and by the end of the day, a troop of German cavalry and regiment of German infantry had caught up to the French. Perhaps due to the shame, he felt at having caused this calamity the colonel asked his soldiers to stand with him and make a heroic stand for their country and for their king, and perhaps due to some ill-guided hope that there was still a possibility of escape these French soldiers agreed to follow their commander into battle. The following engagement saw the French soldiers bravely charge at their German counterparts. Outnumbered, however, the Frenchmen stood little chance. As soon as they were solidly engaged with the opposing infantry, the German cavalry rode forth and thrashed the French flanks. Within an hour and after 100 French soldiers had lost their lives, the colonel surrendered and this mini-odyssey came to an end.

    This minor skirmish at Hordt was at first nothing more than a footnote in history. Indeed, both commanding generals of the French and German armies felt that way and treated the skirmish as such in their reports. Duc de Villars wrote to Cardinal Fleury about he had successfully withdrawn with almost all of his army but that a few hundred men had been lost due to a pontoon bridge failing and the enemy then capturing the helpless soldiers. In the Prince of Savoy's report, it read that he had failed to interrupt the French flight but that a few unfortunate Frenchmen had been caught out after their bridge collapsed. Overall, both the Duc and the Prince felt that the skirmish had not altered their military situations. The capture of a few hundred Frenchmen did not substantially weaken the French army. The only reason the French retreated all the way back to their initial camp was that their supply situation was not ideal after a few weeks of besieging a far off fortress. The Germans themselves could not take the offensive because they felt no stronger than they had at the beginning of the year.

    However, as is often true, reality is more than just reality. In Vienna, the Holy Roman Emperor had spent the year of 1727 watching his Prussian and Saxon vassals participate in the excellent Battle of Bienbuttel, an overrunning of Lauenburg, the Siege of Stralsund, and the capture of Luneburg. Meanwhile, Emperor Charles VI's armies failed to provide excitement. Flanders was motionless, the Rhine was nothing but maneuvers, and although Milan was saved it was done without even the slightest bloodshed. The year of 1728 seemed as if it would only see more of the same as the Lacy and Menshikov's armies seemed destined to dominate the north and the Hapsburg armies destined for nothingness. Under these conditions, Charles VI felt that his pride and glory were under threat but more so he worried that he would find his place the peace tables minimized. Already people were calling the war Empress Catherine's War, Charles could not let it also be Empress Catherine's peace.

    Due to this sentiment, when Charles VI heard of the clash at Hordt he did not care how minor it was, it was a victory. Right away, the Emperor began to illustrate Hordt as something much more than it was. In fact, rather than publish accounts of the skirmish as the Battle of Hordt, the Emperor renamed the engagement after the nearby Bellheim. Renaming Hordt to Bellheim was not just done to make the name roll off the tongue more easily. In doing this, Charles hoped to draw comparisons between this scuffle and the epic and beloved Battle of Blenheim. However, Charles did not just let people figure out this connection on their own. Instead, Charles actively drew the brawl as a battle of as great of a significance as Blenheim had been. The Holy Roman Emperor wrote and spoke of how at Bellheim, the Prince of Savoy had chased off the French army's attempt to conquer Philippsburg and unleash itself upon the whole of Germany. Soon accounts of a battle of several thousand men began to circulate and songs of another great Hapsburg victory were written. Even in France, this sensationalism of Hordt exploded. Many members of French society called the battle a debacle and bemoaned about the failure to break through the German defenses. The public sentiment of the battle was so poor that Cardinal Fleury and King Louis XV both felt embarrassed and failed to give Villars the credit which was due to him for his well-managed retreat. Ultimately, a fight which initially had been inconsequential became much more as politicians and monarchs distorted and contorted the reports of the combat [9].

    Although Bellheim in itself was actually without significance, what Bellheim represented did indeed matter. The actual capture of some French troops did not affect the Rhenish campaign at all, however, the retreat from Philippsburg had repercussions which extended into Brunswick-Luneburg. Since the French had been unable to sustain a prolonged siege of Philippsburg they were incapable of forcing the German Rhenish army to remain in the Rhineland. The French could not assure the Army of Hanover that they would be able to keep Prince Eugene occupied or otherwise prevent him from marching north to oppose a Westphalian escape. As a consequence, George II and the Army of Hanover lacked the confidence to flee through Westphalia towards the Dutch Republic or France; instead, the Army of Hanover strove to march north and in the process were caught and obliterated at Munster. This was the true importance of the Rhenish campaign of 1728, and when word of the Battle of Munster arrived in Vienna and Paris it only further fueled the distortion of Bellheim as a major war-defining battle [10]. Thus despite the Western front once again remaining relatively quiet it did, in fact, have marked effect on the greater war that it was a part of.

    [1] This era is filled with a lot of rulers who were inspired by the previous generation of warrior-rulers like William III, the Sun King, and Max II Emanuel. All three of them personally were involved in their war efforts and at times participated as commanders. William III and Max II Emanuel, in particular, were noted commanders of the Grand Alliance and Holy League. OTL Louis XV grew up on stories of these men's exploits and was instilled with a sense that he should do similar things. Ultimately he personally accompanied his armies in the War of the Austrian Succession, where he contracted smallpox and was incapacitated for a time. Here, this young, teenage king sees his uncle fighting, sees George II fighting, sees Frederick of Hanover fighting, sees Friedrich Wilhelm I fighting and feels like he too should be fighting despite his youth.
    [2] Right now Louis XV only has two extremely young daughters so the possibility of a succession crisis is very well, especially because France is currently engaged in a war against Spain. Louis recognizes this and backs down from wanting to fight in the war. This episode is really meant to offer a glimmer into Louis' mind more than anything else.
    [3] Oddly enough after years of fighting all of Europe your economy is in a sorry state.
    [4] OTL Fleury considered Austria, not Britain to be France's enemy. This idea drove French politics through until the mid-1740s when new people took power in France and asserted that Britain was, in fact, France's main enemy which led to the eventual Diplomatic Revolution.
    [5] Although by the War of the Polish Succession in 1733 Prince Eugene's mental and physical state had greatly deteriorated. In 1728, the Prince was still one of Europe's best.
    [6] During the 1734 siege, d'Asfeld similarly used pontoons to reposition his army and protect his rear. Here, TTL, Villars makes a similar action.
    [7] Rains could at times make military operations in this region difficult and here they do.
    [8] Although the German army may have access to more true bridges than the French do, typically when an army crosses a river it does not just use the bridge because of the amount of time it would take to march an army across a small bridge. Usually, armies also have sections that will ford the river such as the cavalry and some infantry. When the rivers are flooded, however, this is not possible. As a result, the Germans are also hampered and are incapable of quickly setting themselves upon the French.
    [9] Basically, although Hordt/Bellheim does not actually matter, the Austrians are able to manipulate and distort images of the skirmish to turn it into at least a political victory.
    [10] Again, Bellheim itself is a meaningless and worthless piece of combat. However, because of Bellheim's attachment to the French retreat, Bellheim becomes the battle which led to Munster even though it wasn't.

    Word Count: 3458
     
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    14: Kaboom or How Spain Took Back the Rock
  • 14: Kaboom or How Spain Took Back the Rock
    358px-Philippe_V_Ranc.jpg

    King Felipe V of Spain at Gibraltar

    The victory of Spain at Funtebarria was met with extreme and immediate excitement from the Spanish Court. Many courtiers thought that this evidence of Spain's resurgence to the status of being a great power within Europe. With this feeling in their hearts, they encourage the King to continue the war and reject any peace offers from the Hanoverian camp that did not return to Spain both Gibraltar and Minorca. However, these were not the only voices in King Felipe V's ears. Although most saw Fuentebarria as a sign that Spain could fight on and actually defeat France and Britain, others pointed out that the War of the Quadruple Alliance had similarly had an optimistic opening. Once the Quadruple Alliance actually even slight pressure on Spain, the Spanish war effort crumbled. These individuals looked to France's initial limit to its war machine and worried that France would remove those limitations and smash Spain to pieces. The pessimism of these nobles combined with Felipe's own melancholy memories nearly led him to accept the peace terms put before him by France and Britain [1]. Ultimately, however, the biggest voice of all, Elisabeth Farnese, expelled those thoughts from Felipe's mind [2]. Although Queen Elisabeth cared little for Gibraltar and Minorca she cared deeply for Spanish pretensions in Italy. Regarding Italy, the French and British had promised simply to reaffirm Don Carlos' rights to Parma and Piacenza. This was insufficient for the Farnese queen who looked lustily at the Grand Duchy of Tuscany [3]. Consequently, when France and Britain refused to yield Tuscany to Spain, Elisabeth made sure that her husband put to the bed the idea of peace for the time being.

    Since Spain had chosen to continue its fight within Empress Catherine's War, it was necessary for Spain to consider how best to continue that fight. The previous year had seen Spain split its army of around 35000 men between the Siege of Gibraltar and defending against the French invasion. In regards to Gibraltar, the Marquis de Verboom claimed to be making good progress. He did request for more men but was mainly concerned with supplies and munitions. Along the border, the Count de Montemar was more urgent in his request for reinforcements as he shared the concern of some Spanish officials that France would greatly increase its dedication towards subduing Spain. To meet these demands, the Spanish government took advantage of the patriotic sentiment of the Spanish people in light of Fuentebarria and made a significant effort towards recruiting and training new soldiers. This effort ultimately allowed for the army at Gibraltar to be reinforced to just 14000 men and for a total of 10000 men to be added to the lists of defenders of the northern border by May of 1728.

    To oppose the expected French invasion, Montemar took advantage of his bolstered numbers to defend both possible routes of invasion: Navarre and Catalonia. In Navarre, Montemar considered the work done to restore Fuentebarria to its former effectiveness had largely succeeded, which would make an invasion through that gateway exceedingly difficult and painful for France. Thus Montemar was content to only deploy 7000 men to defend the fortress and its environs. Montemar felt that this force would be able to hold long enough for reinforcements from the rest from the country to arrive and drive off the French attackers. To command this army, Montemar selected a native of Fuentebarria and a veteran of all of Spain's recent wars, General Gabriel Jose de Zuloaga y Moyua. General Zuloaga was one of Spain's more esteemed commanders and most importantly was expected to be able to keep the Basque people under control. In Catalonia, Montemar had more to be concerned about, which is why he felt it necessary that he personally command the defense of Catalonia and also that 28000 soldiers were placed in Catalonia (which was more than three times the number of soldiers in Navarre). The problems with Catalonia were many. Firstly, Catalonia was less fortified than Navarre and had less restrictive geography. Secondly, Catalonia's biggest center, Barcelona, could easily be pummeled by the superior French navy. Thirdly, the Catalans were no good friends of the current Spanish government which had stripped them of their traditional rights after they had fought for the Austracistas. Nonetheless, if it came to it, Montemar was determined to defend Catalonia. And it did come to it.

    As Spain foresaw, France had felt it necessary to increase their commitment to the war against Spain in light of the lack of success at Fuentebarria. However, the reinforcements that the Duke of Berwick received did not create the feared horde of Frenchmen that Montemar and some Spanish nobles had predicted. Even though Cardinal Fleury was willing to put more into this war effort, he still saw Spain as an inferior power with an inferior military. Indeed, Fleury did not think that it was Spain's strength that needed to be curbed but rather Spain's ego. As a result, Fleury only raised Berwick's army up to 30000 men, which was barely more than Montemar's Army of Catalonia. Furthermore, Spanish anxiety over the possibility of a French naval bombardment of Barcelona proved unnecessary as Fleury kept his fleets in port for the purpose for limiting costs. The contrast of Spanish vigor and French foot-dragging is reflective of the overall difference in energy between the Viennese camp and the Hanoverian camp, and just as that difference had cost the Hanoverian Alliance thus far it would do so again in Spain.

    The French invasion of Catalonia was allowed to cross the Franco-Spanish border without any incidences. Quickly, the French managed to capture the towns of Camprodon and Figueres. However, as the French advanced towards Girona, their advance stalled. There Montemar dug his army in and promised to bloodily oppose any further French march. Due to the small disparity in numbers and the surprisingly poor quality of French soldiers, Berwick had little confidence about pushing forward [4]. Although Berwick did make some attempts to upset Montemar's position, the Spaniard refused to budge and permit Berwick to march on Barcelona. The fact that the French navy was providing no additional threat to the coastal city allowed Montemar to sit comfortably as long as he kept near to Berwick.

    Another issue which complicated the French invasion was the opposition of the local population, which was a considerable shock for the French but has a very clear explanation. Although Felipe V had taken away the rights of the Catalans and earned their disdain for it, it was actually the Duke of Berwick who had brutally conquered them during the War of the Spanish Succession. Berwick's role in the suppression of the Catalans had promoted a sense of distrust towards the general. However, the main sense of distrust and dislike towards Berwick and France as a result of their actions during the previous War of the Quadruple Alliance. In that war, Berwick ejected the Spanish military presence entirely from the Basque counties with the help of the locals. As a result, the Basque people offered to make themselves a part of France as long as they were granted autonomy. Cardinal Fleury and Berwick rejected this offer and then abandoned the Basque counties in the subsequent peace treaty. Due to this interaction, the Catalans felt that helping the French would only lead to an even worse situation when France and Spain made peace. Instead, the Catalans treated the French coldly and some even fed information about their movements to Montemar's army.

    Since Montemar was able to contain Berwick's army by himself Zuloaga's army seemed almost pointless. Or at least that is what people lacking the imagination and ambition of the Spanish court would think. To them, even the small number of 7000 soldiers could be used for any number of campaigns. As soon as the Spanish court realized the opportunity before them they began debating a number of different uses for the army. Some suggested that Zuloaga and Montemar join together to inflict a decisive defeat on Berwick, but Montemar himself was quick to veto that idea. Montemar had managed to establish a good situation for his army and did not want to risk throwing that away in a chancy battle. The other ideas included making a naval assault on Gibraltar's southern side, retaking Menorca, or seizing some land in Italy. Anyway, all the remaining ideas involved a naval expedition. As a consequence, Zuloaga's army was marched to Valencia, where it waited for the King to make his decision.

    To the south, at Gibraltar, the Marquis de Verboom continued his siege. Verboom was happy to see that his numbers were somewhat replenished from what had thus far been a harsh siege. Under Verboom's command, the Spanish siege efforts had become more organized and concentrated which had resulted in ever-increasing damage to Gibraltar's fortifications and casualties among its defenders. However, the integrity of the fortress remained intact and although the garrison was battered it was not beaten. These two facts provided the Governor of Gibraltar, the Earl of Portmore with some solace. Such solace was crucial since Portmore was feeling extremely neglected by the British government. Already, in the latter half of 1727, Portmore had been forced to accept the fact that Britain would not be reinforcing his garrison any further. Now, in 1728, Portmore was incredulous when he heard that his request for supplies would only partially be met. Apparently, the Admiralty felt that Germany was more deserving of its naval resources than Gibraltar [5]. As a consequence of the focus on Germany, the lasting damage of the Baltic mission, and French naval nothingness, the Royal Navy could not supply Gibraltar as effectively as Portmore desired. Additionally, with the majority of the combat happening in Northern Europe, most risk-loving merchants preferred to trade in the Baltic rather than Gibraltar as the potential profits in the north were higher. All in all, this led to a subpar supply situation in Gibraltar and facilitated the breakout of scurvy among the garrison. However, as stated earlier, the defenses remained strong enough that Portmore did not feel pressured to surrender. On the Spanish side, there was also a problem of rampant disease and poor logistics. Yet the progress Verboom was making above ground was promising. Additionally, King Felipe had ridden to Gibraltar to help raise the spirits of his besieging army. Most importantly, Verboom's effort to mine under Willis' Battery was proceeding at a reasonable pace and gave Verboom hope that he could drastically change the situation that lay before him.

    In late June, King Felipe finally decided how to use Zuloaga's army. At the behest of Elisabeth Farnese, Felipe opted to have Zuloaga invade the island of Sardinia. In doing so the Spanish would increase their influence in Italy and could promote Elisabeth's efforts to put her son, Don Carlos, on the thrones of Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany. This meant that Gibraltar and Menorca would go unassailed. However, the Spanish military did not let that news slip out just yet. As the situation stood, the Royal Navy was stretched thin by its current operations and the fallout of its Baltic blunder, which meant that the Royal Navy lacked the complete supremacy of the Mediterranean that it had grown accustomed to. The British certainly still had superiority over the Spanish but the imbalance was not as favorable as the British would have liked. As a consequence, the British could not afford to attempt to catch Zuloaga's expedition outside of Valencia because if the British failed to catch Zuloaga there then the forces left at Gibraltar or Port Mahon would be insufficient to prevent a Spanish landing [6]. Instead, the British were forced by circumstance to split their ships between Gibraltar and Port Mahon so that if the Spanish approached either, the landing could be intercepted or at least interfered with. So long as the British continued to believe that Gibraltar or Port Mahon was at risk, the Spanish navy would be able to sneak Zuloaga's army to Sardinia and avoid a catastrophe like Cape Passaro. For this reason, the destination of the Spanish army was not revealed by Zuloaga until after the army had already put to sea [7]. Thus as the Spanish ventured into the Mediterranean it practically vanished as far as the British were concerned.

    Three weeks later the Spanish fleet arrived at Sardinia on July 28th. This time similarly to 1717, the Spanish landed unopposed due to their naval and military edge over the island's defenders. However, due to the Savoyard focus on defending its mainland territories and the worse military and economic situation of the Savoyards in 1728 relative to the Austrians in 1717, the island's defense was far weaker than it had been in the last war. Lacking any major opposition, the Spanish captured most of the island within a few weeks. By the end of August, all that was left in Savoyard hands were the forts of Alghero and Castellaragonese and city of Cagliari. However, once these places were subjected to the full strength of the Spanish invasion force they fell one after another. Eventually, on September 17th, the last of the Savoyard soldiers surrendered and the island had once more been reconquered by Spain. The ease of this conquest was heavily facilitated by the continued favorable Sardinian opinion of Spain as well as the lack of an established loyalty towards the government of Turin.

    A few days after the Spanish army landed on Sardinia, the Siege of Gibraltar erupted into explosive, quite literally. On August 1st, after over a year of hard work working away at the limestone underneath the Rock, Verboom and his engineers were finally able to set off a bomb below the troublesome Willis' Battery. With a loud blast, the slope on which Willis' Battery stood shook and suddenly collapsed. Amidst the quake, the cannon fire from Willis' Battery went wild and through the most unfortunate circumstances, the magazine behind the battery was lit and soon after blew to kingdom come. This dramatic and frightening sight was accompanied by the deaths of all the soldiers and artillerymen who had been stationed at the battery. The gravity and immenseness of this event crushed the weakened soul of the Earl of Portmore who proclaimed that "All is lost and the Rock has fallen!" Portmore's exacerbation combined with the lack of knowledge as to where the Zuloaga's army was headed might have been enough to provoke the surrender Gibraltar. Fortunately, in this moment of crisis, Gibraltar's Lieutenant Governor, Jasper Clayton, stepped up and supplied the needed resoluteness for the garrison to reject Verboom's demand for surrender. Still, the loss of Willis' Battery was acutely felt as the Spanish siege lines quickly advanced over the next weeks until they were dealing severe and direct damage to Gibraltar's defenses [8].

    For the tragedy of Munster to be so followed in succession by the Spanish landing at Sardinia and the explosion at Gibraltar was lethal to the British effort. Even in the Americas the British did not find success as they received news in July that latest admiral they had sent to oversee the Blockade of Porto Bello had also succumbed to the diseases of the tropics [9]. Across the Channel, the fact that Berwick had failed to accomplish anything of note could easily be called another Spanish victory. Overall, somehow, someway the ruinous Spain had managed to not only defend itself against the actions of two of Europe's heavyweights but had also managed to take offensives of its own and find success with them. Although Spain's victories did match its wildest dreams, they certainly exceeded the wildest expectations that the rest of Europe had for the former hegemon. And on that note, the governments of France and Britain found themselves inclined to give up entirely on mastering the difficult Spain and finally make peace on the terms of Madrid rather than the terms of Westminster or Versailles. Spain's return? has become Spain's return!

    In France, this amounted to a sullen Cardinal Fleury deciding that peace with Spain was France's only recourse left after a discussion with the other members of the governing councils. In Britain, however, the decision to make peace came as part of a vicious and violent debate within the Parliament. Ever since Robert Walpole had been replaced by Spencer Compton as Prime Minister, Walpole had been doing everything in his power to disparage and diminish Compton's leadership. From Walpole's perspective, Compton had taken away the war from Walpole's capable hands and was at fault for every defeat that Britain had suffered since. Walpole clearly pointed to the mishandling of the campaign in Brunswick-Luneburg but was careful not to attack King George's leadership during that campaign since doing so would only hurt Walpole's effort to be renamed Prime Minister. Walpole's main focus, however, was on the utterly catastrophic note that the Baltic mission had ended on and blamed Compton for not pressing Denmark-Norway or Sweden hard enough to provide support to Wager. Walpole also pandered to the merchants by bringing up how Britain's extensive trade with both Russia and Spain had been interrupted by the war. Although this lack of trade affected Britain's enemies more dearly, Britain's merchants were far more influential than their foreign counterparts. As a consequence of this fact, the harm felt by the British merchants thus far was exerting significant pressure on Compton's government while Russia and Spain's governments were able to ignore worse economic situations [10]. This latest set of disasters with Spain only added to Walpole's toolbox. For Gibraltar to be under real threat, for the Royal Navy to be bamboozled, and for the Caribbean to be nothing but a tropical hellhole was unacceptable in Walpole's eyes as well as the eyes of most of Parliament. The only reason that Compton avoided a no-confidence vote was that Walpole had no desire to be the one to sign the humiliating peace treaties with Spain and Russia that Britain's current situation warranted [11]. Consequently, it was Compton who was left to negotiate with Spain and without much of a mandate to rule at that.

    Between Fleury and Compton, it was agreed that France and Britain would make a number of concessions to Spain. However, before Fleury and Compton revealed these concessions they awaited Spain's offer in some hope that Spain might be timid in its demands, Spain was not. Spain demanded, Gibraltar, Menorca, an end to all British commercial rights in the Spanish empire, Sardinia, and strong guarantees to be backed by British and French arms if necessary for the rights of Don Carlos to the Duchies of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. This excessive list was, of course, rejected by France and Britain but their counteroffer was still a triumph for Spain. Under the terms of the Treaty of Madrid, Gibraltar and Sardinia were returned to Spain and Don Carlos' succession to the thrones of Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, and Tuscany. France and Britain agreed to support Don Carlos' succession with their own militaries if necessary. In return, Spain reaffirmed Britain's possession of Menorca, accepted Britain's commercial rights in Spain's colonies, and removed Don Carlos from the Spanish line of succession [12]. Soon after France and Britain forced the rest of its allies, particularly Savoy, to accept this treaty. Thus ended Spain's role in Empress Catherine's War.

    [1] Felipe's unstable emotional state makes him susceptible to taking this peace offer even if it is not everything he wants.
    [2] Elisabeth Farnese dominated Felipe, not to the extent historians make it out to be but still a lot. Hence her desires prevail over the desires of the others within the Spanish court.
    [3] Farnese is Italian and OTL held Italian ambitions for all her sons hence her desperately wanting Tuscany for Don Carlos.
    [4] France's troop quality between 1700 and 1750 was surprisingly bad and well noted by most contemporaries, including France's own generals like Maurice de Saxe. During this time period, French military success mainly came off the backs of great leadership.
    [5] This is referring to the Verden evacuation attempt.
    [6] Port Mahon is the name of the British naval base on Menorca.
    [7] Ports were often filled with many foreign agents, which resulted in invasion fleets often being found out. In recognition of this fact the Spanish do not try to hide the fact that they are going to invade somewhere they focus on hiding where though.
    [8] Willis' Battery is not the biggest or most crucial fortification of Gibraltar, which is why its destruction is not an auto-loss for the British. However, the battery controls the eastern approach to Gibraltar so its fall makes the advancement of Spanish siege lines possible.
    [9] This new admiral is Edward Hopson.
    [10] In other words: Britain's merchants have real government influence, the same can not be said for Russian and Spanish merchants.
    [11] Walpole does not want to be the one who lost the peace.
    [12] Treaty of Madrid. Also, Don Carlos removed from Spain's succession just like when he became King of Naples and Sicily.

    Word Count: 3547
     
    15: Bassignana
  • 15: Bassignana
    QXAmyAc.jpg

    Count Claude Florimond de Mercy

    As the titanic behemoths of Eugene and Villars eyed each other on the Rhine, as the rising stars of Lacy and Maurice stalked the Hanoverians in northern Germany, as Spain's foreign generals, Montemar and Verboom, sought to make their names, Victor Amadeus and Count de Mercy challenged one another in northern Italy. For most of Europe, Italy was some other theatre. For the Russo-German commanders of Brunswick-Luneburg, Italy was a place for inferior generals, smaller armies, and lesser politics; for Britain and France, Italy warranted only the slightest attention; and for Spain and the Hapsburgs, Italy was at best a secondary front. However, for Victor Amadeus and de Mercy, Italy was the one and only theatre which mattered. There among the mountains and plains of the ancient Romans, both generals felt that they could decide their careers and their country's fates. Despite the importance which the King of Sardinia and Reichsgeneralfeldmarschall placed in Italian warfare, they were both restricted by the fact that their allies and superiors felt differently. In the case of Victor Amadeus, his requests for French armies and British fleets were soundly but politely rejected. In the case of de Mercy, as a consequence of his successful campaign in 1727, the Holy Roman Emperor had stolen one-fourth of his army to reinforce the Rhenish front [1]. Even with these limitations, Victor Amadeus and de Mercy still had a war to fight and to win.

    In the eyes of de Mercy, he had been robbed of a triumphant victory in 1727 due to the cowardice of the Sardinians. In 1728, de Mercy was determined to find and secure that triumph to cap off his long and decorated career as he was nearing an age where he knew he would struggle to maintain his brilliance [2]. In de Mercy's mind, the best way to get his victory was to go straight down the highway of Piedmont. Either the Sardinians would have to confront him or he would be outside Turin by end of the campaigning season. On the other side, Victor Amadeus and his army were left battered and humiliated by their retreat. Within the court of Turin, the discontent over and disdain towards the King's failure were palpable, and the ambitious and cold-hearted crown prince seemed to be reveling in his father's more recent fumble. With such a hostile homefront, Victor Amadeus knew that although he could afford to concede some of Piedmont's outer defenses he could not afford to lose someplace of real significance such as Cuneo or Casale. In such a case, Victor Amadeus might not just lose the war but also his throne [3]. As a result of these two perspectives, a true showdown of the two Italian armies was destined before spring even turned into summer.

    In line with de Mercy's plan, the Hapsburg campaign began in late May with a march straight towards the town of Novi near Piedmont's outer reaches. Lacking much in the means of defense, the town was overrun with ease by the Hapsburg army. From there de Mercy continued on to Tortona and its citadel. Although Victor Amadeus could have made an effort to defend Tortona he opted not to. Tortona although possessing good fortifications lacked the inherent defensibility and strategic worth to make fighting over it a smart decision. Indeed, Tortona's citadel hardly made up for the fact that the Hapsburgs outnumbered the Sardinians 30000 to 22000, almost 3 to 2. However, Victor Amadeus did elect to leave behind a few hundred soldiers just to slow down the Hapsburg advance. Due to the gigantic disparity between the size of the garrison and the size of besieging force, the town was forced to surrender after ten days of bombardment. However, once the town had fallen the Sardinian soldiers fell back into the citadel and now proved more difficult and irritating for the Hapsburgs. With strong walls and plentiful supplies, the Sardinian garrison refused to surrender and aimed to draw out the siege as long as they could, and for twenty long days, they did. Yet on the twentieth day, the bloodthirsty and impatient de Mercy decided that enough was enough and ordered a full-on assault of the citadel to forcibly put an end to this farce. With thousands of Hapsburg soldiers surging towards and up the walls of the citadel of Tortona, the Sardinian garrison had no choice but to surrender after just over an hour of fighting.

    Although Tortona had annoyingly delayed de Mercy it had not changed the strategic situation before him nor his desire to show Victor Amadeus his place. For this purpose, de Mercy sought to conquer the famed fortress of Bassignana, the guard of the highway of the Po and of the city of Alessandria. If Victor Amadeus allowed de Mercy to have the fortress then Alessandria would fall and Casale would be under threat. If Victor Amadeus chose to defend it then de Mercy would have his battle. Looking at the same facts as de Mercy, Victor Amadeus made the same conclusions. In spite of the fact that de Mercy's army still significantly outnumbered his army, Victor Amadeus chose that he would in fact accept de Mercy's challenge and fight him for Bassignana. Victor Amadeus understood the risk he was taking but felt that with Bassignana's formidable fortifications and geography that victory would be attained and the Hapsburgs ejected. In light of Victor Amadeus' new-found mettle, de Mercy slowed his approach towards Bassignana and deployed a screen to prevent any Italian mischief. However, de Mercy's caution was unnecessary as Victor Amadeus was intent on waiting for de Mercy at Bassignana, there they would their showdown. Thus in early-July the Hapsburgs were permitted to reach the environs of Bassignana without any combat outside of a few skirmishes.

    Once near Bassignana, de Mercy could see the fortress and its surroundings for himself. Bassignana was situated on a sideways triangle that was guarded along its northern edge by the Po River and its southern edge by the Tanaro River with their confluence forming its eastern vertex. Fortunately for the Hapsburgs, the geography of Bassignana was not unassailable as the Po and Tanaro rivers featured numerous crossings and fording points, and a plain laid to the west of Bassignana. With this geography before him, de Mercy could unravel the complexities of taking Bassignana. Quickly it became clear to de Mercy that to take Bassignana, he needed to control the western plain. There he could cut off and prevent an easy escape of the Sardinian army to Turin. Instead, the Sardinians would be forced to cross the Po or Tanaro and try to maneuver east or south, neither direction would be particularly welcoming for the Sardinians. At the same time, de Mercy recognized that the Sardinians being native defenders would also realize the necessity of the western plain and very well might leave the safety of Bassignana's tall walls to stop de Mercy from taking the plain. So long as de Mercy could effectively cross the river such a scenario could prove very favorable and become the victory that de Mercy lusts for.

    On July 21st de Mercy established batteries along the southern bank of the Tanaro to cover the crossing of his army towards the plain. The Sardinians immediately recognized this for what it was and sent some cavalry and infantry to harry this process. These raiders quickly ran back when the Hapsburgs deployed in force to stop them. Meanwhile, the rest of the Sardinian army began the hard work of digging trenches and building cheval de frises for the oncoming battle [4]. Once the Hapsburg artillery was set up, however, the bombardment soon followed and the Sardinian effort was stymied. By the end of the day, both armies had positioned themselves on opposite sides of the bank and the stage for the Battle of Bassignana was set.

    On the morning of July 22nd, the two armies began to set their lines but each found itself hampered by the artillery of the other. Ultimately at 10:30 am the battle began in earnest as the Hapsburgs approached the bridge in strength and fierce exchange of gunfire began. De Mercy gradually poured more soldiers into their focal point and Victor Amadeus responded in kind. Finally, as de Mercy felt that Victor Amadeus' focus was well and truly on the bridge, he began to have elements of his left flank ford the river to the west of the bridge. In reply, Victor Amadeus redeployed soldiers from his own left flank to reinforce the attacked right flank. Steadily but bloodily, the Sardinians pushed back the Hapsburg left flank and sensing a potential victory Victor Amadeus unleashed his reserves and the Sardinians began to cross the Tanaro themselves. Now with Victor Amadeus' mind fully occupied with the combat on the bridge and to its west, de Mercy completed his battle plan. Using the fording points revealed by the attempted Sardinian raid the previous night, de Mercy sent his entire right flank and much of his cavalry straight at the weakened left of the Sardinians. In this manner, the Sardinians pushed across the river to the west of the bridge while the Hapsburgs did the same to the east. However, unlike Victor Amadeus, de Mercy still had reserves at his disposable. Ever the reckless risktaker, de Mercy did not use the reserves as most other generals would have [5]. Rather than just deploy these reserves to stabilize his left flank, de Mercy sent all his reserves and himself to his right flank so that he might punch into the Sardinian line and break it. On his left, all de Mercy did was give his subordinate Wirich Philipp von Daun full command and his best wishes. In the succeeding sequence of actions, Daun could not reverse this western tide on his own. However, Daun did manage to hold on long enough for de Mercy's effort to the east to overwhelm and shatter the Sardinian left flank. As Victor Amadeus' right flank scattered, he realized that the battle was very much lost and ordered the retreat. However, the simple realities of the battle meant that this retreat was not close to as organized or good-fashioned as Victor Amadeus hoped for. With the left flank already broken, those Sardinian soldiers struggled to do much more than run. Meanwhile, the Sardinian right flank was caught in a terrible position as it was split between two sides of the Tanaro River and the centre was already retreating. Although the Sardinian commanders among the right flank did their best, they could not prevent the panic that overtook those soldiers fighting on the southside of the Tanaro as the army to their north began to pull back. Amid this localized panic, Daun and de Mercy were able to build upon this victory with many more enemies being captured or killed. Ultimately by 4 pm, the Sardinian army had left the vicinity of Bassignana with only a few troops left within the fortress to defend it.

    Looking back at the battle, although de Mercy's skill and daring had seen the Sardinian left flank obliterated the real reason the Hapsburgs had claimed victory was simple mathematics. With a numerical advantage of nearly 8000 men, the Hapsburg army's sections were all considerably stronger than their opposite number. Even though Victor Amadeus had reinforced his right flank and deployed his reserves to his right flank, the Sardinians did not gain the massive advantage one would expect simply because of their initial inferiority. This fact mitigated the pressure Daun was under and allowed him to survive the relentless Sardinian attack. Furthermore, Daun was able to depend on supporting fire from the Hapsburg centre since they outmatched the Sardinian centre and could afford to do so. Without these numbers, de Mercy's reckless and bloodthirsty nature might have been punished and repulsed. However, blame needs to be placed on Victor Amadeus. All Victor Amadeus needed to do was defend Bassignana. By launching a counterattack across the Tanaro, he was going beyond what was necessary and putting his army at risk when it did not need to be so. Additionally, the retreat of the Sardinian army was poorly managed mainly as a result of Victor Amadeus being overly frightened by de Mercy's success in the east. Although the battle was certainly lost at that point had Victor Amadeus been willing to stand his ground for some time then his right flank's escape could have been performed properly. In the end, the Hapsburgs secured a good although bloody victory. For the cost of 2800 men, they had taken 7000 of their foes [6]. In other words, the Hapsburgs had lost under a tenth of their army to take nearly a third of the Sardinian army. On top of the numbers within the battle, the battle also afforded the Hapsburgs a number of gains after the fact. Within a week of the battle, the great fortress fell and Piedmont opened itself up to the Hapsburgs like a flower. By the end of November, Alessandria, Casale, and Asti were all in Hapsburg hands. As a consequence, the Hapsburgs were now in control of a third of Piedmont and in position to threaten either Turin or Cuneo in the following year.

    In spite of how good this victory at Bassignana was, going back to the initial point of this chapter it was not celebrated as it should have been. Bassignana had the misfortune of quickly following Munster and Soltau and then being followed by the Spanish landing at Sardinia. The sister battles of Munster and Soltau were obviously grander in scale, significance, and in the minds of Europe's courts. Meanwhile, the Spanish landing at Sardinia was more daring and shocking. This poor timing combined with the natural disclination of European courts towards Italian combat led to de Mercy's victory at Bassignana being lessened and diminished. In contrast to Hordt or Bellhiem which turned nothing into everything. Indeed, in Vienna, although Emperor Joseph was proud to have another victory for the Hapsburg Realm, he did not celebrate it with the same energy and luster as he did with Bellheim. Bellheim was the first Hapsburg victory of the war, was against the ancient Hapsburg enemy in France, and against the acclaimed Villars. Bassignana even though it was bigger, realer, and led to actual territorial gains did receive the same treatment. Overall, Bassignana was just too normal of a battle relative to the rest of the war. Thus even though Eugene of Savoy was writing extreme compliments to de Mercy for his victory, the rest of Europe was not so exciting [7].

    [1] In the Italian update, a Meaningless March to Milan, the campaign ended with de Mercy's army being reduced from 40000 men to 30000 men.
    [2] Within half a decade de Mercy was almost blind so I imagine he is already having some issues with eyesight and other physical difficulties.
    [3] OTL Victor Amadeus abdicated a few years from now and when he tried to return to power he was imprisoned by his son and no one batted an eye. Here there is more discontent and its more obvious which makes Victor Amadeus more cognizant of the fragility of his position.
    [4] In this case the cheval de frises are the long bars of wood with wooden stakes attached in the form of x's.
    [5] De Mercy's character is that of a risky, reckless, and headfirst general who seeks confrontation and battle.
    [6] Much of these Sardinian casualties are from the mop-up of the retreating forces.
    [7] To be clear, Bassignana is recognized as a major battle and as a major victory. In Vienna, Joseph loves another victory but he does not treat it like his baby of Bellheim. He celebrates it and calls it another example of Austrian excellence but he does not publicize it as much nor push its narrative as hard as he did Bellheim. In other countries they are obviously more concerned with their own victories or defeats. Spain of course has Sardinia; Russia, Prussia, Britain, and Denmark have Munster; and France sees it as a sign of Savoyard incompetence and looks on with disgust.

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    16: Finland's Fall
  • 16: Finland's Fall
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    Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn

    1727 had seen the Hanoverian Alliance suffer twin reverses against the Russians in Finland, both at sea and on land. At sea, the renowned Royal Navy had been given a bloody nose and a true defeat by Fyodor Apraksin and his crew off of Kymmendale. On land, the well-aged Alexander Menshikov had whipped the young Charles Emil Lewenhaupt at Fredrikshamm. This pair of defeats for Sweden only reinforced the existing opinion in the Riksdag that Sweden had been hasty to throw itself into a war with so many uncertainties. As a consequence, the Swedes spent the end of 1727 and the beginning of 1728 just as they had spent the beginning of the war: trying to talk Russia into a good peace. Since the border had already fallen to the Russians, the Swedes were now more willing to be generous as they offered the Russians a favorable border readjustment to end the war. The Russians, however, were unwilling to make peace just yet or more importantly the Russian, Menshikov, was unwilling to make peace. Even though Menshikov was riding towards Germany for his glory he still wanted a war to be fought at his rear and close to home. As Menshikov understood it, a war all the way in Germany was of little real worth to Russia and if that was the only war being fought he would steadily see his opponents surge in his absence. However, if Menshikov maintained a war only tens of miles away from the capital and against one of Russia's oldest foes, Sweden, then he could at least maintain the illusion of the necessity of the war while he chased after fame and fortune elsewhere. Thus Menshikov instructed the foreign minister, Andrey Osterman, to reject all Swedish peace missions until otherwise instructed, and so Sweden's diplomatic efforts once again failed in the face of Russian hardness.

    As Osterman was instructed to deny Sweden's diplomacy, the Russian general in Finland, Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn was commanded to continue onwards and stomp out all the Swedish resistance in his path. Under this simple order, Golitsyn resumed the offensive in June after the weather permitted him to and he had been reinforced to a full 30000 men. Golitsyn's opponent, Lewenhaupt, had also been reinforced but only to meager 14000 men. Unlike the previous year, this year did not feature Lewenhaupt being so bold as to attempt to challenge an army more than twice the size of his [1]. Instead, Lewenhaupt slowly withdrew in the face of Russian superiority. Initially, the Swedish army fell back to its supply depot at Borga while skirmishing with the Russian vanguard. However, once there a quick review of the military base's defenses left Lewenhaupt completely unsatisfied. As a result, Lewenhaupt and his staff elected to continue the flight towards Helsingfors, where they had a greater probability of at least stalling the Russian conquest of Finland [2].

    Once the Swedish army finally arrived in Helsingfors they immediately began to prepare themselves for the long siege that would follow. Within a week, the Russians also arrived at Helsingfors and cut all its land connections before beginning to establish their siege lines. Just as the Swedish army had been cowed by its defeat in 1727 so had the Swedish navy. However, while the Swedish under Lewenhaupt was at least willing to try to carry on the war with some dignity and gallantry, the Swedish navy was not so obliged for when Apraksin and the Russian Navy approached the Swedish navy fled with all haste. To be fair to the Swedish navy, they were inferior in numbers and in quality especially with Russia's additions of the Retribution, Kymmendalen, Moonsund, Anna, and Elizaveta [3]. These powerful British-built ships completely outmatched the Swedish ships of the line and when it game to lesser vessels such as galleys and prams Russia had those in abundance. Still, the lack of any effort on the Swedish navy's part was shameful.

    Without any actual naval opposition, the Russian navy was given full leeway to sail into the Archipelago Sea to the east of the Aland Islands. Using this position, Apraksin ferried over several troops of Russian soldiers onto the Aland Islands. Over the course of the following week, the Russian men subdued the important island chain gave Russia strategic supremacy in the Gulf of Bothnia, Aland Sea, and the Archipelago Sea. Furthermore, control of the Aland Islands meant that the naval blockade of Helsingfors could be effected and the stranglehold of the Swedish garrison could be completed. Finally, from out of the Aland Islands, Apraksin launched a series of raids on the Swedish coast and even bombarded Stockholm a few times [4]. Russia reigned supreme in the Eastern Baltic.

    Cut off from all hope of relief or respect, Lewenhaupt's situation was hopeless. Still, Lewenhaupt knew that his garrison could hold out for some time and that each week that he held on was a week that the Russians could not otherwise spend wasting Finland and threatening Sweden. Therefore, Lewenhaupt resolved to hold on for as long as God might allow him to. Should Lewenhaupt survive till winter there was even chance that the Russians could have to retire towards Borga and defer their siege till the succeeding year. However, Marshal Golitsyn was more than willing to drag the siege through the summer if it meant that he did not have to throw away the lives of his men in a costly assault. Thus through July and August, the siege of Helsingfors prolonged with only the occasion sortie breaking the monotony. Eventually, in September after three months of sustaining heavy bombardment from all sides, the will to fight on any longer among the Swedish defenders had withered away and died off. As far as Lewenhaupt was concerned, three months of Russian time wasted was enough. Without these three months, the Russians almost certainly could not enter into Sweden proper and probably could not finish their conquest of Finland. Hence on September 23rd, 1728 Lewenhaupt offered his conditional surrender to Golitsyn, which Golitsyn accepted. Under these terms, the Swedish army was to be disarmed and imprisoned in Finland [5].

    Now that Helsingfors had finally fallen, Golitsyn was able to pivot towards completing the occupation of Finland unhindered. However, Lewenhaupt's plan to delay the Russians had succeeded as they were only able to occupy Southern Finland before the weather made military operations too difficult [6]. Still, the Russian progress over the course of 1728 was immense and the Swedish situation had just grown more direful with each passing month. At this point, to many observers it seemed obvious that the coming year of 1729 would only be filled with more Russian achievements to succeed the likes of Munster. Many expected that under Peter Lacy and Menshikov's command that the Russians would throw the Danes out of Schleswig, and across the sea, Golitsyn and Apraksin would complete the take over of Finland before directly assaulting Sweden itself [7]. Yet these expectations proved wrong for news from Saint Petersburg promised to dramatically change the course of the war [8].

    [1] In 1727 at Fredrikshamm, Lewenhaupt attacked more than 20000 Russians with just 10000 Swedes. This year, Lewenhaupt has perhaps learned his lesson.
    [2] Helsingfors is modern-day Helsinki.
    [3] Respectively these ships are the HMS Britannica, HMS Revenge, HMS Canterbury, HMS Lion, and HMS Southhampton.
    [4] Stockholm's naval defenses are not particularly impressive. For this reason, the city was under naval threat repeatedly during the 18th century. It's also one of the reasons that Stockholm was not the main base of the Swedish navy.
    [5] OTL when the Swedes surrendered Helsingfors in 1742 they achieved more favorable terms. Here, however, Golitsyn pushes a tougher line and the Swedes decide to fold and accept his terms.
    [6] By Southern Finland I don't just mean the Southern Coast, I mean the entire southern two-thirds of Finland.
    [7] Obviously, the Danes think they can beat Menshikov as they are more familiar with the harsh terrain of Schleswig than international observers.
    [8] Spooky, this is the next update.

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    17: Treaty of Vienna
  • 17: Treaty of Vienna
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    Andrey Osterman, the stateman behind the Treaty of Vienna

    Alexander Menshikov returned to St. Petersburg from the Schleswig front on January 21st, 1729. Despite the brevity of Menshikov's absence, the Russia which Menshikov came home to was quite different from the one he had left. Without his powerful figure close at hand, the enemies of Menshikov had managed to gain a foot in the door to real power in Russia. The Golitsyn family had turned the military success of Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn into absolute triumphs in Empress Catherine's eyes. Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn had so vividly and vibrantly described Mikhail's victories that Catherine had felt it necessary to name Mikhail to the Supreme Privy Council of Russia [1]. This promotion turned the already heroic and honorable Mikhail from a celebrated person in Russian affairs to a potential leader in Russian politics, which essentially created a foil to the personage of Menshikov. Additionally, the allies of the Golityns, the Dolgorukovs had risen back to the top. After months of carousing the Empress, Vasily Lukich Dolgorukov had managed to convince Catherine of his indispensability to the functioning of the Russian state and earned himself a place on the Supreme Privy Council [2]. Using this new position, Vasily Lukich secured the title of Field Marshal for his kinsman Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov [3]. Overall, Menshikov's enemies gained two council positions and now constituted half of Russia's field marshals. The only saving grace was that Menshikov's personal enemy, Pavel Yaguzhinsky was still far away in Poland struggling to manage the Sejm's politics [4].

    Confronted with strengthened enemies, the reason for Menshikov's return was all the more worrying. Once again, the Empress, Catherine, had fallen ill and provoked concern for her well-being. Menshikov had left Schleswig with the hope that he might return once he defeated any of his rivals' plans to take advantage of Catherine's weak health and mental state. However, now that Menshikov was home he first saw just how dangerously powerful his opponents had grown and next witnessed that Catherine was not merely ill but perhaps nearing her demise. Under these conditions, Menshikov understood that there was no place for him on the front; instead, Menshikov needed to be in St. Petersburg, the center of all the empire's intrigues and plots. In the capital, Menshikov could personally oversee the transition of monarchs upon Catherine's death and ensure that no matter who replaced Catherine on the throne that he remained the man behind the throne. Otherwise, the all-powerful Menshikov might, in fact, end up being the latest political exile in Siberia.

    Since Menshikov was no longer going to fight Empress Catherine's War allowing Russia to fight in the war any longer immediately became less worthwhile to Russia's first man. No longer was it possible for the Generalissimo to add to his personal. Instead, only his rivals, the Duke of Holstein and Mikhail Golitsyn, stood to gain glory from a continued war. Furthermore, without the triumph of victories, what did Menshikov's Russia stand to win from more combat. Already, Russia's war effort had achieved its primary objectives as laid out Empress Catherine when she proclaimed that "she would destroy Hanover and crush Britain and all its allies". Hanover had been conquered, Britain had been trounced at Kymmendalen, Sweden and Denmark had both been pummeled. The only war goal that Russia had not accomplished was the reconquest of Schleswig. However, the Russians had already liberated Holstein for Charles Frederick, which certainly was enough for Russia to feel that it had honored her alliance with the German duke. All in all, there was no reason for Russia to fight on and so Menshikov decided that Russia would not.

    Typically in this age, despite fighting wars alongside allies countries would quit wars without them. Indeed, Spain had done just this in 1728 with the Treaty of Madrid and Russia had previously done the same in 1721 with the Treaty of Nystad. However, to end Empress Catherine's War Menshikov did not feel that the typical approach was appropriate. Although Russia could certainly secure an honorable exit to the war with a separate treaty that was not Menshikov's concern. Throughout Russia's history, foreign powers have consistently intervened in Russian politics. Since Catherine was expected to die soon Menshikov desired to avoid provoking the ire of either the Holy Roman Emperor or the King in Prussia. If either monarch had reason to harm Menshikov then their agents might interfere with the delicate process of a Russian succession, which might be in the key factor in Menshikov ending the year of 1729 in a Siberian cabin. Rather than risk that fate, Menshikov sent Osterman on a mission to Vienna to confide with the Emperor and Prussia's diplomats so that all three powers could make peace as one [5].

    Considering the might and influence which the title of Holy Roman Emperor still held in 1729, Osterman came to Vienna prepared and expecting to make a number of concessions to Emperor Charles VI in order to create a set of peace terms which both the Emperor and Menshikov were happy with. Despite Osterman's expectations, Charles VI asked for little at all. Even though the Hapsburg armies had won the great victory of Bassignana and a political victory of Bellheim Charles asked for no land for his realm. Instead, all Charles VI saw fit to suggest to Osterman was that each signatory of the final peace treaty also guaranteed the succession of Charles' daughter, Maria Theresa, to the Habsburg family's territories. Additonally, Austria would accept the terms of the Treaty of Madrid, including Don Carlos' rights to Tuscany, so long as Spain too agreed to guaranteed Maria Theresa's succession. Besides this pragmatic sanction, the only thing Charles asked for was that the Maritime Power's restrictions of the Ostend Company were lowered. Overall, neither of these terms was particularly difficult to accomplish which made Osterman wonder why the Holy Roman Emperor had not made peace already [6].

    After discovering and acceding to the desires of the Holy Roman Emperor, Osterman needed to handle Prussia's interests. For this purpose, Osterman and the Hapsburgs approached Prussia together as both were concerned by the steady rise of the Prussian state. King Frederick William I's diplomats conveyed to the Imperial powers that Prussia wanted both Swedish Pomerania and the Electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg as the price for its army's efforts. The first request was necessary for Prussia's expansion and the second request was meant to humiliate Frederick William's personal rival, King George II of Great Britain [7]. Russia and the Hapsburgs readily agreed that Pomerania was Prussia's by right of conquest but flatly rejected the idea that Prussia should gain a piece of Brunswick-Luneburg let alone all of it. The next several weeks saw Prussia slowly convince both the Imperial powers to at the very least grant the County of Danneberg to Prussia.

    Regarding the other German allies, the Holy Roman Emperor sought to offer each of them a just reward for their services. The smallest member of the Viennese Alliance, the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel was to be greatly expanded by the annexation of the Principality of Calenberg. However, part of Calenburg, the Principality of Grubenhagen, would be split off and given to the Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong, in recognition of Saxony's contribution. The main prize of Saxony though was that the Holy Roman Emperor and Osterman agreed to support the candidature of Frederick Augustus, Augustus the Strong's son, to the Polish throne upon his father's death [8]. Another son of Augustus II also stood to gain from this peace. Since Menshikov was eager to keep the young, excellent general Maurice out of St. Petersburg he designed for Maurice to become the Duke of Courland in his own right so long as he married Anna Ivanovna. Although Augustus, a famed lover, was reluctant to force his illegitimate son into a marriage he supported Menshikov's scheme as it meant that Maurice would be a ruler and that Courland would retain some connection to Poland-Lithuania. The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin would be augmented by the Duchy of Lauenburg. Lastly, the Wittelsbach electors of Bavaria and Cologne were awarded with the election of the Prince-Archbishop of Cologne to the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabruck [9].

    For Russia herself, Menshikov had the following items in mind. First, Menshikov had to please the pride of Empress Catherine, by demanding that the King of Great Britain formally apologize for the illegal attack upon Admiral Apraksin's fleet in the Baltic. Second, Menshikov sought to appeal to Catherine's love for her daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, and her son-in-laws, Charles Frederick and Charles Augustus, by securing them German lands. Charles Frederick would have Holstein and Schleswig restored in their entirety to him by Denmark-Norway, and Charles Augustus would gain the Duchies of Bremen and Verden from the Electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg [10]. Third, Sweden would cede Finland to Russia. This last item was for Menshikov himself as he intended to turn Finland into his own private estate [11].

    Having collected all the peace terms of the Viennese Alliance, Osterman delivered these terms to the British and French ambassadors in Vienna. From Vienna, both ambassadors sent the proposed peace home and waited for further instruction. In London, the reaction to Osterman's peace was outrage. Robert Walpole immediately attacked Spencer Compton for coordinating so horrid of a war effort that these terms were even considered within reach by Britain's enemies. Despite the scathing reviews Compton received from Walpole and the opposition, he did not break under the pressure and was able to determine for himself that such a treaty went too far. For Compton, his main points of contention were allowing the Ostend Company breathing space, which would damn Compton receiving any support from the merchants, and complete butchering of Brunswick-Luneburg, which would damn Compton in the King George's eyes. Across the Channel, in Paris, the reaction was strikingly different. Cardinal Fleury was desperate for an exit from the miserable war as he did not foresee a way to defeat the Hapsburgs so long as Russia could put an army in Germany [12]. Behind France's premier, King Louis XV also had lost his fervor for war after the defeat at Bellheim. Despite France's wish for peace, Fleury agreed with Compton to refuse the Viennese Alliance's terms. Even if the Franco-British alliance had failed to perform in this war Fleury was not yet ready to abandon the alliance.

    The refusal of the first peace offer of the Viennese Alliance was to be expected as very few wars ended without an extended negotiation. Once Osterman relayed Britain and France's answer to Menshikov, the Russian strongman quickly began to trim down his term sheet. Firstly, Menshikov instructed Osterman to remove the demand for Schleswig since Russian arms had not actually conquered it. Next, Menshikov decided that a British apology was not necessary because Menshikov was already appeasing Catherine by giving both of her daughters' husbands land. Lastly, Menshikov offered that it might be a good idea to convince the Hapsburgs to drop the Ostend Company from the treaty or the Prussians to drop the annexation of Dannenberg. Either revision would make the treaty more acceptable to the British Parliament. However, when Osterman approached the Hanoverian Alliance again after having dropped both Schleswig and the Ostend Company from his demands, he was again rejected [13].

    The reason for the second rejection by the Hanoverian Alliance was that they begin to sense the possibility of chaos in Russia upon Empress Catherine's death. In spite of the fact that Menshikov was still Russia's first man, France's agents in St. Petersburg had taken note of the growing strength of Menshikov's opposition. As mentioned earlier, in Menshikov's absence the conservative Golitsyns and Dolgorukovs had rerisen to a challenging position. More significant, however, was the emergence of a Holstein party in St. Petersburg. Thus far Menshikov had seemed predisposed toward the idea of Tsarevitch Alexei's son, Peter, succeeding Catherine. This provoked anxiety in Peter Tolstoy, the man who was responsible for capturing Tsarevitch Alexei and bringing him to Peter the Great to be killed. Rather than chance that the young Peter would forgive Tolstoy for this crime, Tolstoy decided to lot against the succession of Peter Alexeyevich. The main candidate which Tolstoy wanted to raise to the throne was Catherine's second daughter, Elizabeth [14]. Other members of the court of St. Petersburg supported the idea of circumventing Peter Alexeyevich's rise and Menshikov's continued but they believed that Catherine's first daughter, Anne, should succeed to the throne. The source of disagreement over which daughter to support was not due to the merits of either daughter but rather the merits of their husbands. Elizabeth's husband, Charles Augustus, was an almost completely unknown character to the Russian nobles, which presented a number of risks should he become the emperor-consort. However, Tolstoy deemed those risks acceptable since Anne's husband, Charles Frederick, was known not just be competent but to be ambitious and formidable, which meant that Tolstoy might be replacing one devil with another [15]. Of course, in an unclear succession alternative candidates are to be expected. The reason that these alternative candidates were concerning to Menshikov and interesting to the Hanoverian Alliance was that the Holsteiners were currently at the head of a Russian army in Schleswig alongside Peter Lacy and Maurice of Saxony. Thus there was potential for both the Holsteiners to lead the Schleswig army and for Mikhail Golitsyn to lead the Finland army against Menshikov in a succession struggle upon Empress Catherine's death [16]. So long as the Hanoverian Alliance could envision this future, they could negotiate for more favorable terms. However, Menshikov also saw this possibility.

    The way in which Menshikov decided to approach this possibility to command both the Russian army in Schleswig and the Russian army in Finland to position themselves aggressively and to launch some spring raids against the enemy. In doing so, Menshikov sought to both distract the armies of the Holsteiners and Golitsyns as well as to reapply the pressure of war upon the Hanoverians. Soon enough both Peter Lacy and Mikhail Golitsyn complied with their orders and sent out war parties against their Scandinavian opponents. In neither case were these raids militarily significant. However, they did successfully remind Britain and France of the state of the war: Russia was winning. Additionally, Menshikov had arranged for Charles Frederick to be personally in charge of the Schleswig raids, which made Britain and France less confident about the strength of Russia's Holstein party. In St. Petersburg, the Holstein party was indeed weaker than the British or French imagined, however, the main factor behind this weakness was their lack of consensus over which daughter and thus husband to choose. Still, Menshikov was antsy to have peace before the Holsteiners could actually organize themselves.

    In light of this situation, Osterman pressed the British and French for peace again. This time the British and French were more delicate in their response even if the response remained negative. As Osterman attempted move negotiations forward the British and French began to delay and dawdle in hopes that they could prolong negotiations long enough for Catherine to actually die so that they could actually see how Russia's succession played out. However, the man whom Britain and France's diplomats were contending with was one of Europe's premier statesmen so he caught on these delaying tactics rather quickly. Considering that Menshikov was urging Osterman to wrap up the peace process and that Osterman himself wished to be in Russia for the succession, Osterman only had one card left to play: an ultimatum. Consequently, just as Osterman had done at Nystad, Osterman delivered an ultimatum to the British and French diplomats that they must accept the Viennese Alliances now or war would be had for at least another year if not more.

    Upon being presented with the ultimatum, the British and French both panicked just as Osterman had hoped. Lacking the time to contact their respective leaders of state, the negotiators needed to make a peace and needed to make it right away; however, the negotiators felt that if they accepted the terms as they stood that the peace treaty would be rejected once it went west. In that case, the war would continue, a war which the Hanoverian Alliance lacked the military power and political will to win. Over the course of the night, the negotiators loudly argued and traded barbs over what sort of peace they accept. By midnight, the negotiators had agreed to ask that Prussia not receive Dannenberg, however, Brunswick-Luneburg would forfeit the rest of the demanded territories. The question of Finland hung heavy over the negotiators. The negotiators were smart enough to realize that a cession of Finland to Russia would effectively cede Sweden as well since the Russian Navy could easily descend from Helsingfors upon Stockholm. This capability would mean that Sweden would be helpless against Russian aggression and thus would be forced to become subservient to Russian interests. However, the negotiators were also smart enough to realize that Russia fervently desired Southern Finland as a buffer for St. Petersburg. Ultimately, around 4 a.m. the French had suggested to and convinced the British of the idea of separating Finland from Sweden and giving it to the House of Holstein-Gottorp. In this fashion, Britain and France could create a buffer for both Sweden and Russia. Through these two counterproposals, Britain and France's negotiators hoped that they would not anger Osterman but also avoid the wrath of their rulers at home.

    When Osterman was presented with Britain and France's acceptance of every term save for Dannenberg and Finland, he was presented with a choice. Either Osterman could back down from his ultimatum to continue negotiations, which would dangerously damage his credibility and prolong his stay in Vienna, or Osterman could take the peace offer as it stood and risk putting himself at odds with Menshikov over his failure to secure Finland. Ultimately, Osterman felt that he could better serve his own interests in St. Petersburg than in Vienna, so Osterman accepted the counterproposal [17]. The document which the British and French negotiators and Osterman signed on April 18th, 1729 was designated the Treaty of Vienna. The treaty's terms are as follows. Every signor of the treaty will accept and guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, should any state try to violate this sanction each guarantor will come to the aid of the Hapsburgs. The Holy Roman Emperor nominates the Prince-Archbishop of Cologne to the vacant Prince-Archbishopric of Osnabruck. The Kingdom of Sweden will cede its Pomeranian possessions in its entirety, including Rugen, to the Elector of Brandenburg. The Electorate of Brunswick-Luneburg will forfeit the Principality of Calenberg to the Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, the Principality of Grubenhagen to the Elector of Saxony, the Duchy of Lauenburg to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the Duchies of Bremen and Verden to the Prince of Eutin. The Kingdom of Denmark relinquishes all claims to the Duchy of Holstein and returns it in its entirety to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp relinquishes all claims to the Duchy of Schleswig. The Kingdom of Sweden frees Finland as the Kingdom of Finland. The Duke of Holstein-Gottorp is recognized as the King of Finland. The King of Great Britain and the British Parliament will issue an apology to Empress Catherine for the misdeeds of Admiral Norris in the Baltic. All prisoners are to be exchanged and all occupied land not mentioned in these terms is to be returned to its initial owner. Lastly, the Kingdom of Spain is invited to sign this treaty. If Spain does so then the Holy Roman Emperor will accept the Treaty of Madrid in its entirety [18].

    When the treaty did arrive in London, Compton felt that its best that he could have accomplished. Although the treaty marked a definite defeat for Britain she had avoided the complete cession of Brunswick-Luneburg and protections of a rival trading company. The Parliament demonstrated its agreement with Compton's assessment by ratifying it quickly after it was put before them. This ratification, of course, was accompanied by another series of attacks upon Compton by Walpole, however, these ones were almost half-hearted as Walpole also yearned for Britain to be at peace. In France, the feeling of resignation toward defeat led to quick acceptance of the treaty. The Duke of Savoy having lost Bassignana and much of his land afterward giddily accepted a treaty that required nothing from him but a promise to the Holy Roman Emperor. The Dutch Republic was also happy to end the expensive and pointless war. The Scandinavian members of the Hanoverian Alliance were less excited. In Denmark-Norway, General Reventlow felt that he might be able to retake Holstein or at least parts of it. Meanwhile, in Sweden, they hung on to the fact that not all of Finland had actually been conquered. However, with both Britain and France pressing down upon them, the Scandinavian kingdoms acceded to the peace treaty. Thus the Hanoverian Alliance agreed to the Treaty of Vienna.

    Among the members of the Viennese Alliance, there were also some ranged reactions to the final treaty. The Holy Roman Emperor was saddened to see that his diplomats and Osterman could not work the Ostend Company into the treaty. However, the acceptance of the Pragmatic Sanction was a significant victory in Emperor Charles VI's eyes, which made the whole war worth it. The Elector of Bavaria, Charles Albert, and his brother, the Prince-Archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August, accepted the treaty because they expected further rewards to come from Charles down the line. King Augustus II was content with what the treaty included in its written terms but mainly accepted the treaty due to the secret agreement with the Hapsburgs and Russia that accompanied that treaty. The minor German princes were all more than happy to see their small efforts rewarded with great prizes. The only German prince who was disappointed was the King in Prussia. Actually, King Frederick William felt betrayed since Osterman had failed to inform Prussia that Dannenberg was being removed from the treaty. Unfortunately, with everyone else leaving the war Prussia did not feel that fighting on alone was advisable.

    Finally, in Russia and among its high circles, the treaty was also received in a mixed fashion. Obviously, Menshikov was irritated by the fact that Osterman had not only not gained Menshikov Finland but had given Finland to Charles Frederick. However, Menshikov did see some ways to take advantage of Charles Frederick's new occupation and intended to use them to their fullest extent. Regarding the rest of the treaty, Menshikov had much to be proud of and made sure that Empress Catherine in her waning days felt the same way. Among the Holsteiners, Charles Frederick was perhaps the least excited man to ever be named a king while Charles Augustus was extremely happy to find out that the Russians had even deemed worthy of being granted land. In Charles Frederick's case, the lack of excitement mainly came from the fact that his quest for Schleswig had been cut short and now he was expected to venture back east rather than toward his restored home of Holstein [19].

    In this manner, Empress Catherine's War finally came to a conclusive end. The war had begun on February 11th, 1727 when Spanish soldiers started a siege against British-held Gibraltar. However, for months this war remained nothing but an Anglo-Spanish conflict until May 23rd of 1727. On that day, the Royal Navy fleet of John Norris engaged the Russian fleet of Fyodor Apraksin in what turned a Baltic blunder. Over the course of the next month, both Great Britain and Russia escalated this naval battle in a full-blown war by calling up their respective allies from the Treaty of Hanover and the Treaty of Vienna. However, importantly, the Kingdom of Prussia chose against fighting on Britain's side and instead joined the Russo-Austro-Spanish alliance. In the first year of the war, the Viennese Alliance won a number of battles both small and large, which handed them the initiative and they never let go. In the second year of the war, the Viennese Alliance struck the Hanoverians hard and devastated them at Munster, Bassignana, Kymmendalen, and more. These powerful blows shattered the already weak will of the Hanoverian Alliance and made peace an imminent prospect. The first country to quit the war was actually the one to start it, Spain. The Kingdom of Spain quit in glorious fashion as the Treaty of Madrid restored to them Gibraltar, Sardinia, and a northern Italian domain. Over the course of the winter that followed, the illness of Empress Catherine, for whom the war is named, cut back the aggression of Alexander Menshikov and prompted peace talks. These talks spearheaded by Osterman ended rather speedily, in just three months, due to the growing pressure caused by Catherine's worsening health and Britain and France's weakening willpower. Ultimately, the Treaty of Vienna put an end to Empress Catherine's War and greatly changed the balance of Northern European politics while also interestingly tying almost all of Europe's powers together in a guarantee of Maria Theresa's rights to the Hapsburg Realm [20].

    [1] Mikhail is Russia's most prestigious military commander besides Menshikov (even if Peter Lacy is the best military commander) so his joining the Supreme Privy Council is not too surprising, especially with his victories in Finland. However, he does not actually do anything on the privy council in this update due to him being in Finland.
    [2] Vasily Lukich Dolgorukov has been a top Russian diplomat for years who served under Peter the Great. He's an important figure in Russian politics and OTL was the one to defeat Menshikov, which is why he is able to maneuver so successfully.
    [3] Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov OTL soon got the title of Field Marshal anyways, so Vasily Lukich is just speeding this process up slightly.
    [4] Pavel Yaguzhinsky was a pupil of Peter and OTL was a big rival of Menshikov. However, during this time he got stuck in Poland which limited his ability to combat Menshikov heavily.
    [5] Despite Menshikov's powerful position, he and everyone else can always end up in Siberia and he knows it. Menshikov is a cocky guy but his confidence is ebbing during this succession crisis. Once the succession is resolved and done with then Menshikov's high-level of confidence will return.
    [6] Holy Roman Emperor has not made peace yet because Austria needs Russia. This war has proven to Austria the strength of Russia and the ability of Russia to project that strength into Germany. Although Austria does have to be a little bit concerned about Russian power in the Baltic, the threat of Prussia and Bavaria is more immediate and more clear to Austria. For this reason, Austria wants to cooperate with Russia and retain it as an ally.
    [7] During this time period, Frederick William and George II had a deep, personal distrust and acrimony which caused numerous problems for attempted British-Prussian friendship.
    [8] This agreement is important. OTL, Austria and Russia actually agreed to put a Portuguese candidate on the throne at first. Only after a bit did they decide to support Augustus III. An earlier acceptance of Augustus III as "the candidate" can go a long way.
    [9] Bavaria and Cologne don't ask for much. Neither has much to gain from Brunswick-Luneburg but they have a lot to gain from the Holy Roman Emperor. They expect that these rewards will come later in the form of more bishoprics and the Southern Netherlands.
    [10] Charles Augustus is being granted land to keep him away from St. Petersburg. If only Charles Frederick gets land then Charles Augustus and his wife-claimant to the Russian throne might stay in St. Petersburg. To avoid that, Menshikov wants Charles Augustus to be tied down to some land in the west.
    [11] Menshikov OTL gained a lot of Mazeppa's land after the Battle of Poltava. However, Menshikov's corruption was found out by Peter the Great and much of his estates were taken away. Of course, Menshikov gained many of them back but he is still a greedy man wanting more. Finland is more in this case.
    [12] Fleury joined this war for the purpose of curbing Hapsburg power. However, due to Russian strength, which Fleury did not foresee, the goal of curbing Austrian power is unattainable in Fleury's eyes. Rather than fight on Fleury wants to get out and reset.
    [13] Osterman doesn't actually change all the items of the treaty as Menshikov recommends. This is because Osterman is a tough diplomat who thinks he is one of the best (he is), so he wants to prove it constantly and wants to push through this hard treaty on the enemy.
    [14] OTL Tolstoy also wanted Elizabeth to succeed Catherine. OTL Elizabeth was unmarried due to Augustus' death. In this case, Augustus is alive. However, since Augustus is a wildcard but Frederick is a competent, trained politician, Tolstoy is more willing to risk Augustus in power than Frederick.
    [15] Charles Frederick spent some years under Charles XII, lost everything, came to Russia, managed to get a marriage to one of Peter's daughters, and now has Catherine fighting to get him his home back. Charles Frederick is an ambitious danger to Tolstoy's interests.
    [16] OTL when Catherine died there was a concern that Golitsyn and his army of 60000 men would march on the capital and arrest Menshikov. Golitsyn didn't do this obviously but many observers held their breathes because they thought it had a reasonable probability of occurring.
    [17] To be clear, both Osterman and the Hanoverian negotiators think they can do better. However, under this sort of time pressure and not wanting any more war this is the best they can come up.
    [18] Tag for the Treaty of Madrid and its terms.
    [19] Charles Frederick has yearned so long for his home, all of it including Schleswig. However, now Charles Frederick will not have Schleswig and won't even be able to spend as much time in Holstein as he would want.
    [20] Here is a brief overview of the war.

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