"Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor" - A Michael the Brave Romania Wank
- Thread starter Zagan
- Start date
Will Greece be fully independent again?After it caused so much trubles ...
Also I don't think a great power would allow a smaller country at it's border to ever grow to powerfull, especially one with delusions of grandeur, but Romania continued to give them territories.
Also I don't think a great power would allow a smaller country at it's border to ever grow to powerfull, especially one with delusions of grandeur, but Romania continued to give them territories.
Zagan
Donor
Fully independent again? Sure, just not very soon...
The Great Powers wanted a small Greek State at the Southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula because of:
- the classicists' fondness of the Ancient Greeks;
- a desire to limit the power of the already greatly expanded Romania.
After the Greeks tripled their territory and quadrupled their population, almost nobody was fond of them anymore, especially because of their constant agitation and trouble-making.
The Greeks should have been very content with the extent and power of their State. However, they wanted it all: the old Byzantium resurrected! It was obviously impossible and it spelled their doom.
The situation now: "Romania, your child has not behaved properly. Please make sure it does not happen again."
So, Romania will not annex Greece but will be responsible for its armed forces, defense and external politics.
The territories annexed to Greece:
1. Crete and the Southern Ionian Islands (from Venice / Italy) - taken by force, aided by local uprisings. Romania intervened and stopped the Greeks acquiring the two Northernmost ones (Corfu and Paxi);
2. Aegean Islands and Cyprus (from the Ottoman Empire) - taken by force, aided by local uprisings.
3. Salonica and the Chalcidic (from the Ottoman Empire) - given at the Peace Conference after the Second Anti-Ottoman War, having been already assigned to Greece since the First Anti-Ottoman War;
4. Littoral Macedonia, Romanian part of Thessaly and Preveza area of Epirus (from Romania) - transferred after the Second Anti-Ottoman War per an older bilateral agreement (areas populated mainly by Greeks and important to link to Salonica and not have it as an exclave);
5. Mikrasia (from the Ottoman Empire) - ceded by the disolving Ottoman State in conjunction with a complete population transfer to get rid of all its remaining Greeks (impossible for the failing Ottoman State to keep under control anymore).
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I just finished reading this and I just want to say this one of my favorite timelines! Keep it up!
I can't wait until the next update!
I can't wait until the next update!
I.52. The Italian Imbroglio
Zagan
Donor
"What would my grandfather have done in this situation?
This is the only question I need to ask myself!" Empress Iulia
This is the only question I need to ask myself!" Empress Iulia
The Italian Imbroglio
Antoine de Puis, "L'imbroglio italien de 1641", "L'Hebdomadaire", 5 September 1649, Paris, France
One could rightfully wonder what were the Italians thinking. Did they actually hope to evict both our armies and those of Spain all by themselves? Maybe, however farfetched it might have been. But could they, even for a moment, let themselves be fooled by the idea that the two most preeminent Great Powers of Europe would just simply accept the indignity of having their armies routed by a bunch of revolutionaries? It is difficult to believe. It would have been easy, even for them, to realize that more French and Spanish armies would have arrived in the Italian Peninsula to restore order.
What might their plan have been at that time? Did the Italians plan their so called National Revolution while expecting help from our enemies? Could that be nothing more than an elaborate ploy of Germany, Romania and Britannia to get us out of Italy? It certainly seems so.
Were the Italians stupid? Or had they foreknowledge of the incoming foreign intervention? Not even Italians are that stupid, so we must acknowledge that they knew they were going to get help. They knew that, one by one, all European Powers would get dragged into that catastrophic war. And they did still start it! [...]
Who are then guilty for the death and destruction unleashed upon the Old Continent? The Italians.
Did they get punished for the adventure which ended in millions of deaths and unprecented ruin all over Europe? No! They were instead rewarded with a state of their own which is now aspiring to Great Power Status!
What about France and Spain, which were merely defending their armies and possessions from brutal unprovoked attacks? Were we compensated for our losses? No! Instead, we lost Flanders and some of our hard earned colonies! [...]
This is the kind of "justice" served by the so called Great Powers Council, nothing more than a subservient tool in the hands of the victors!
We, the people, ask our government to stop bowing to our enemies' demands and immediately quit the now proven useless Council.
Alliances in the Second European War
(in chronological order)
Ibero-French Alliance:
- Iberia (against Greece, Italy, Romania, Britannia, Germany)
- France (against Italy, Germany, Britannia)
- Croatia (against Italy, Romania)
- Hungary (against Romania)
- Russia (against Sarmatia)
- Turkey (against Greece, Romania, Armenia, Georgia, Persia)
- Syria (against Romania, Persia)
- Mesopotamia (against Armenia, Persia)
Pro-Italian Alliance:
- Italy (against Iberia, France, Croatia)
- Greece (against Iberia, Turkey)
- Romania (against Iberia, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Syria)
- Germany (against Iberia, France)
- Britannia (against Iberia and France, only on the Seas)
- Scandinavia (no actual fighting)
- Sarmatia (against Russia)
- Armenia (against Turkey, Mesopotamia)
- Georgia (against Turkey)
- Persia (against Turkey, Mesopotamia, Syria)
Neutrals:
- Slovakia
- Morocco
- Egypt
- Arabia
Theatres of the Second European War
(in chronological order)
1. The Southern Italian Theatre (Italy, Iberia, Greece, Romania)
2. The Greek Theatre (Greece, Iberia, Romania)
3. The Adriatic Theatre (Italy, Croatia, Romania, Hungary)
4. The Naval Theatre (Iberia, Greece, Italy, France, Britannia, Romania, Germany)
5. The Northern Italian Theatre (Italy, France, Iberia, Germany, Romania)
6. The French Theatre (France, Germany)
7. The Sarmatian Theatre (Sarmatia, Russia)
8. The Oriental Theatre (Turkey, Syria, Mesopotamia, Romania, Greece, Armenia, Georgia, Persia)
1. The Southern Italian Theatre (January 1641 - February 1642)
After the Iberian armies evicted the Greeks and the Italians, no further fighting took place in Southern Italy for the remainder of the war.
The Italian uprisings in Naples, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica were contained during 1641, despite occasional flare-ups in the following years.
2. The Greek Theatre (February 1641 - April 1642)
After the Romanian army forced the Iberians out of Greece, the situation remained stable until the start of the Oriental War. All of Greece remained under Romanian occupation and administration, with the exception of Cyprus and Crete, held by Iberia until the end of the war.
3. The Adriatic Theatre (March 1641 - November 1642)
Dalmatia and Istria had been targets of Croatian expansionism since the independence of Croatia due to the significant proportion of ethnic Croats living in those territories.
March-April 1641
The Adriatic Theatre of war was opportunistically opened by Croatia with a successful invasion of Dalmatia and Istria while the bulk of the Venetian armies were fighting against Iberia in the Italian Peninsula.
May-September 1641
After conquering with relative ease most of the continental parts of Dalmatia and Istria, the Croatians lost momentum and the fighting slowed down.
The Venetians kept Pola, Capodistria, Zara, Spalato and Cattaro easily supplied by sea, while the Adriatic Islands were completely invulnerable because of the lack of a meaningful Croatian navy.
The only major city captured by the Croats was Ragusa, where the locals rebelled and opened the gates to the Croatian army.
October-November 1641
After consulting with Germany, Romania invaded Croatia and Dalmatia with about 100,000 soldiers and quickly pushed the 40,000 strong Croatian army towards the Adriatic Sea.
After six weeks of fighting, the Romanians were in full control of Dalmatia, relieving the besieged Venetian cities, and of most of Eastern Croatia, getting closer to Agram (Zagreb).
December 1641
Romania invaded the Venetian cities of Zara, Spalato, Cattaro and Valona and the Adriatic Islands, in order to complete the conquest of the Eastern Adriatic Coast up to Croatian-held Fiume.
Venice protested the Romanian invasion but ordered the local Venetian authorities to offer no resistance.
Despite the clear orders, the Mayor of Cattaro refused to surrender the city and the Romanians had to take it by force. Around 1000 Venetians and 300 Romanians died in the short battle of Cattaro, one of several small battles fought by nominal allies which took place during the Second European War.
January-March 1642
After her coronation, Empress Iulia arrived with more Legionnaires in Croatia and managed to occupy the entire country in a swift and flawless campaign.
Croatia surrendered and was placed under military rule. Prince Zvonimir I was taken into custody.
April-June 1642
The Romanian Navy attempted two invasions of Iberian-held Southern Italy both of which ended in disaster.
Romania occupied Istria and negotiated the army's passage through the German State of Triest.
July-August 1642
Tens of thousands of Romanian legionnaires poured through Triest into Northern Italy, entering the Northern Italian War Theatre.
With the Romanians fighting far away from home, in Italy and Asia Minor, Hungary entered the Ibero-French Alliance and invaded Romanian occupied Croatia in order to cut the Romanian armies in Italy from the supply bases in Romania.
September-November 1642
The Hungarians stood no chance with the much larger, better armed and trained Romanian Army, but the three months needed to fully occupy Hungary with armies diverted from the main front in Italy were important for the Ibero-French war effort.
Hungary was placed under military rule, but Prince Stephan V and the Hungarian government managed to flee to neutral Slovakia and were granted asylum.
Romania protested but did not violate Slovakian neutrality. However, the affront was not to be forgotten.
4. The Naval Theatre (April 1641 - March 1643)
The naval part of the war saw limited and inconclusive campaigns fought by the relatively small Greek, Italian, Romanian and German navies, while most of fighting took place between the Iberian and French navies and the huge British Navy, augmented after the First European War by the absorbtion of the former Dutch Navy.
1641
The British Navy neutralized the Atlantic Iberian Navy and started to capture the Caribbean Islands and the Indian and East Indies Iberian Colonies.
After the French entry into the war, the Atlantic French Navy was defeated as well. The French Colonies in India and North America were invaded.
1642
The British Navy enjoyed absolute supremacy on the World's Oceans.
The conquest of New France was finalized. Parts of Iberian America were occupied as well.
The British Navy began to operate freely into the Mediterranian Sea, capturing Gibraltar, Ceuta and Malta and sinking more Iberian and French ships.
By the end of the year, the British were virtually unopposed on the seas.
5. The Northern Italian Theatre (May 1641 - the end of the war)
Northern Italy witnessed the most vicious fighting and terrible destruction. No less than four Great Powers fought in that war theatre, bringing death and devastation to one of the most rich and populated European areas.
May-August 1641
The Iberians captured Rome and pushed the Italians towards the Po.
The Pope was removed from the Vatican and relocated to Seville, ostensibly for his own safety, in reality a prisoner of the Iberians in all but name.
September-December 1641
The German army crossed the Alps and helped the Italians push back the Iberians to Rome, but failed to retake the City.
January-April 1642
After one year of vacillations, France allied with Iberia and attacked the German and Italian forces from the rear and managed to take Milan, Genoa and Florence. The Germans and the Italians retreated towards Venice.
May-June 1642
France had to divert troups to the German border, because of the opening of a second front in Flanders, Lorraine and Burgundy. The war in Northern Italy entered a lull.
July-December 1642
The Romanian intervention was inconclusive, mainly because of the distraction in Hungary.
January-October 1643
1643 was the most intense phase of the war, with the Italian, German and Romanian armies slowly pushing the French towards Piedmont and the Iberians towards the State of Naples.
November 1643
The Romanian Army took Rome by force and Iulia entered the Eternal City in triumph. The Romans cheered their liberator: "Evviva l'Imperatrice!" Iulia was delighted.
December 1643
While forcing their way Southwards, the overextended and exhausted Romanian Army suffered a massive defeat. 30,000 Romanians, including the Empress were taken prisoners of war.
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Zagan
Donor
aww yeah, British empire!
what a cliff-hanger though!
As in OTL wars, Britain will not keep everything it occupied during the war.
The other powers will not want this and Britain cannot get rogue / pariah.
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She is a monarch and we are in the 1600s. She will be treated fairly, but she will still be seen in contempt, due to her being the leader of an enemy country. The Spaniards will also try to get her as far away as possible, in a safe place where she can't be rescued by Romanians.
Zagan
Donor
Yeah... Something like this.
Madrid maybe. It is far away from both Romania and any coast (British ships).
The next update is taking shape. Most things will get clarified soon.
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I just caught up yesterday with this magnificent work so far after your intriguing post in Azure Main (I think?). Thank you for mentioning it!
I was hoping that Princess Maria grew up in time to stop Iulia/Cristina doing too much damage... It would, of course, be a shame if something... unfortunate... happened to the Empress in Rome.
I was hoping that Princess Maria grew up in time to stop Iulia/Cristina doing too much damage... It would, of course, be a shame if something... unfortunate... happened to the Empress in Rome.
Zagan
Donor
Wow! I received some praise before (alongside lots of criticism) but "magnificent" is overwhelming to me.
I do not usually advertise my TLs in other people's TLs, but in this particular case, I answered a very specific question.
Iulia and Cristina have the potential of doing lots of damage... to Romania and its neighbours. Maria will be Empress, albeit later.
Iulia will "enjoy" a time in captivity and some other adventures.
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... cleaving her way through the ladies in court?
in the gilded cage she's probably to be placed in in Madrid (Lisbon might be considered to exposed to a potential naval attack by combined Britannian/Scandinavian naval assault)
Zagan
Donor
I am unsure about what should I post next and in which order...
1. The other theatres of the Second European War (1641-164x), ignoring Mihai, Iulia and Romania.
2. The death of Mihai, coronation of Iulia and various events in Romania (1641-1642), ignoring the far-away war theatres.
3. The adventures of Iulia (1643-164x), separate of the other events.
4. The revolutions in various European States and the chaotic last part of the war in Europe (1643-164x).
5. The peace treaties (164x) and the post-war situation.
6. The mess in the Middle East (164x-16yz).
7. The accession of Maria to the Romanian Throne, summary of Romania, summary of Europe and the rest of the World, tables, maps, miscellania and the end of Part One. (around 10 to 12 chapters left of Part One)
I will try to make up my mind, but any suggestions are welcome.
1. The other theatres of the Second European War (1641-164x), ignoring Mihai, Iulia and Romania.
2. The death of Mihai, coronation of Iulia and various events in Romania (1641-1642), ignoring the far-away war theatres.
3. The adventures of Iulia (1643-164x), separate of the other events.
4. The revolutions in various European States and the chaotic last part of the war in Europe (1643-164x).
5. The peace treaties (164x) and the post-war situation.
6. The mess in the Middle East (164x-16yz).
7. The accession of Maria to the Romanian Throne, summary of Romania, summary of Europe and the rest of the World, tables, maps, miscellania and the end of Part One. (around 10 to 12 chapters left of Part One)
I will try to make up my mind, but any suggestions are welcome.
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Zagan
Donor
I did keep the story flow chronological... usually.
Sometimes (now included) it would have been way too difficult / convoluted.
I asked in the thread and other readers told me that the geographical aspect was more important, so I have already started to present the current war in this way.
Jumping from Italy to Greece to Russia just because unrelated events happen in the same time makes it difficult to follow as well.
I think that some kind of a middle way is the best approach here.
Anyway, after the end of the current complex geopolitical situation, the full chronological presentation will be duly resumed.
About summaries, I do write them... albeit sparingly (as you suggested).
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