"Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor" - A Michael the Brave Romania Wank

[Ryan]

ooh very nice!

can't wait to see the peace terms of the war and the new borders of Europe

have you thought of putting your maps in the map thread btw?

 

[Sian]

Shouldn't Constantinoble, qua their earlier agreement from the time where Princess Flora married into Poland, be transferred to Sarmatia?

 

[Zagan]

ooh very nice!

1. can't wait to see the peace terms of the war and the new borders of Europe

2. have you thought of putting your maps in the map thread btw?

1. I am sorry, but I am afraid that you will have to wait a little for that.
The plan is to post first about Romania during the war (important stuff, that I left away in order to keep the parts about the war coherent, like the death of Emperor Mihai, the Coronation of Iulia, the captivity in Spain, war in the Middle East, etc).

So, you will have to expect the Peace Treaty and Europe after the War in about... I don't know, let's say 2-3 weeks.
I really can not provide a final Peace Treaty and borders without the chapters about the events in Romania and especially in the Middle East.

But... if you really want to, I can send you a private message with the most important parts of the Peace Traty + post-war political configuration of Europe (except the Middle East perhaps).

If you would like that, just say so.

2. I should do that, shouldn't I? Well, perhaps I will. It will also be some nice advertising for TTL.

Shouldn't Constantinoble, qua their earlier agreement from the time where Princess Flora married into Poland, be transferred to Sarmatia?

Well... It should.
But... It won't.
Because of many reasons:
1. That agreement was mostly informal.
2. It was an agreement between Mihai and Sigismund, not between Romania and Poland-Lithuania. Both of them are now dead.
3. It was a fairy tale in the first place. Sarmatia could not have really hoped to maintain an Exclave so far from its mainland and so awkwardly placed, without a proper navy and strong economy, which it now both lacked.
4. The Great Powers Council unanimously declared that Exclaves / Enclaves are bad for the European Peace and should be avoided at all costs (and the few already existing ones should be dealt with).
5. Sarmatia was on a down slope, militarily, economicaly and demographicaly. It could not afford any more (and had to concede) its former influence in Slovakia, protectorates in Finland, Georgia and Armenia, quasi-colonies in Abkhazia and Circassia, etc. The problem with the still Orthodox Ruthenes (and proper Russians as well) was severe and was there to stay for the forseable future, draining all the resources of the State.
6. Romania had shed copious amounts of blood and money in its wars against the Turks (about 20 times more than Sarmatia).
7. Officially, Constantinople was not part of Romania, yet. It was a still separate State, ruled by the Turks, albeit under Romanian protection and military occupation (more about this in the following chapters). Romania had no right (officially) to cede it to Sarmatia or anyone else.
8. Sarmatia did not want it anymore (realistically).

Whew.

 

[gianni_rivera]

Why did romania get the asia minor?

 

[Ryan]

1. I am sorry, but I am afraid that you will have to wait a little for that.
The plan is to post first about Romania during the war (important stuff, that I left away in order to keep the parts about the war coherent, like the death of Emperor Mihai, the Coronation of Iulia, the captivity in Spain, war in the Middle East, etc).

So, you will have to expect the Peace Treaty and Europe after the War in about... I don't know, let's say 2-3 weeks.
I really can not provide a final Peace Treaty and borders without the chapters about the events in Romania and especially in the Middle East.

But... if you really want to, I can send you a private message with the most important parts of the Peace Traty + post-war political configuration of Europe (except the Middle East perhaps).

If you would like that, just say so.

didn't mean to sound like I was rushing you, just excited for updates but that sounds good

ooh, if you're offering that would be great!

 

[Zagan]

Why did romania get the asia minor?

Romania conquered it during / after the war, but:
- it is not all of Asia Minor / Anatolia, only a small strip of land on the Asian shore of the Sea of Marmara;
- it is not part of Romania, but only a dependency (colony) like the Holy Land for example.

More about the War in the Orient / Middle East (concurrent with the general war) in the following chapters.

I should have probably posted the map after the relevant chapters, but I had some difficulty in writing parts of them and wanted to give you something anyway. Sorry for the spoilers.

As for the why, Romania wants to get all of the Asia Minor and indeed all of the Middle East, Persia, Eastern Africa, etc.
Why? Pure and simple expansionism / colonialism, of course.

And that strip of land is extremely important because it seals off the Sea of Marmara and the (formerly) Turkish Straits, surrounds Constantinople (going to get annexed soon enough as well), etc.

How did it get it? Please wait for the following chapters and enjoy the Maps and Tables in the mean time.

 

[Zagan]

didn't mean to sound like I was rushing you, just excited for updates but that sounds good

ooh, if you're offering that would be great!

It's ok. Thanks.

I will send a P.M. to you as soon as I can.

EDIT: Message Sent.

 

[Zagan]

Some planning...

In the next 2-3 chapters, we will discuss mainly about Romania (1640 - 165x) and we will finally catch up with the rest of Europe (already in 1645).

The final 2-3 chapters of Part One (conclusions, recapitulation, various data, etc) will be followed by more maps, tables, etc.

And then, we shall get ready for Part Two!

See you!

 

[Zagan]

Long time, no see...

The Board Upgrade messed up some of my posts (font tags all over the place, code boxes almost completely destroyed, bad font sizes, etc).
Luckily, the unlimited editing time allowed me to correct all those issues.
All the posts are now corrected!

I have also made lots of minor edits and added lots of thread tags.
Since now only the O.P. (me) is allowed to add / edit the thread tags, please suggest new tags and, if reasonable, I will add them.

Oh, and the Table of Contents! Because the first post stays editable now, I have pasted the ToC there, where I will update it in place whenever necessary.

However, because the thread is becoming difficult to navigate (approaching 1000 posts / 50 pages / 50 years since the POD), I will post a Story-Only Thread soon (and link it in the first post as well).

I know, I know... I haven't posted any updates in a long time. Please have a little more patience with me.
Hopefully, I will begin updating TTL soon. Hopefully.

Thank you all, my faithful readers / commenters.
The Author.

 

[Ryan]

sounds good, not being able to easily read old posts in tl's is the only problem I have with the upgrade.

no need to rush, a couple of months between posts isn't a problem, some tl's have huge periods of silence.

 

[Summoner]

Eagerly awaiting the next update!

 

[Zagan]

sounds good, not being able to easily read old posts in tl's is the only problem I have with the upgrade.

no need to rush, a couple of months between posts isn't a problem, some tl's have huge periods of silence.

Eagerly awaiting the next update!

Thank you. I will update, but... There is one big, ugly, problem: TTL is based on a thread located in Test Messages Forum, which contains Maps, Tables and other data as attachements. Those attachements are then linked here. But now, after the Board Upgrade, that forum (Test Messages) allows everyone to edit everyone else's posts, for reasons I do not understand. The result is that my thread from Test Messages is being vandalized as we speak and there is nothing I can do to protect it!

I have reported the vandal, but I doubt that the issue would simply go away. Even if that vandal is stopped, another one may vandalize that very important thread later. I will have to upload again all my maps, tables and other images directly into this thread (where they will be free from vandalism) and scrap (delete or forget about) my test thread and the whole Test Messages Forum.

All this will take a lot of time and effort, but it has to be made, because this way something else may show instead of my maps.
I will post a thread about this serious issue in the Help Forum as well. Some other members may be in the same unfortunate situation like me.

 

[Ryan]

oh that sucks

hopefully the mods can undo the changes and you can get your stuff back.

 

[Zagan]

Just to stay on the safe side:
I deleted all my ~150 Attachements from the Test Messages Forum Threads and reattached them where needed, in my TLs.

The opperation took about 24 hours, but:
- I am feeling safer now;
- I uploaded some better quality / corrected / improved Maps instead of some of the older ones;
- I edited / corrected some of my older posts, mainly FONT, FONT SIZE and CODE BOX issues.

I will completele delete the whole Test Thread, now useless.
Thank you.

 

[Zagan]

I added all these links at the end of the first post, which is now organized like this:
- Title and Subtitles
- Picture (Mihai)
- Some text
- Collapsible Table of Contents for Chapters (spoiler)
- Collapsible Table of Contents for Images (spoiler)

I will edit both Tables of Contents when needed (in the first post). I will not edit this post anymore and I may delete the links from here because of being redundant.

I hope all these to be useful, especially to the new readers.


Romanian Flag: Waving, Flat
The Romanian Lands in September 1601: Post, Map
Romanian-Habsburg War of 1601: Post, Map
Pressburg Peace Treaty: Post, Map, Map (result)
Romania after the Pressburg Peace Treaty: Post, Map
The Tatar War: Post, Map
Partition of the Crimean Khanate: Post, Map, Map (result), Map (detail)
Romania after the Tatar War and the Treaty of Colomeea: Post, Map
Europe in 1604: Post, Map
Poland-Lithuania (Sarmatia) in 1619-1622: Post, Map, Map (result)
Germany in 1612, just before the start of the German War: Post, Map
Germany during the War: Post, Map
Germany During the Ceasefire Period: Post, Map
Lisbon Treaty: Post, Map
Semaphores Chart: Post, Image
The Anti-Ottoman Crusade: Post, Map
Administrative Map of Romania after the Anti-Ottoman Crusade: Post, Map
Romania and Neighbouring Lands after the Alba Iulia Peace Conference: Post, Map
Alba Iulia Peace Conference Aftermath: Post, Map
Europe in 1626: Post, Map
1625 Census Data: Ethnicity: Post, Table
1625 Census Data: Religion: Post, Table
1625 Census Data: Status / Occupation: Post, Table
1625 Census Data: Citizenship: Post, Map
Brussels Peace Treaty Map: Post, Map
Germany after the Brussels Peace Treaty: Post, Map
The Iberian Empire, the Italian Confederation and Croatia in 1627: Post, Map
Flags I: Post, Iberia1, Iberia2, Iberia3, France1, France2, Britain1, Britain2, Germany, Sarmatia, Romania1, Romania2
Flags II: Post, Scandinavia, Russia, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece1, Greece2, Italy1, Italy2, Italy3, Hungary
Flags III: Post, Georgia, Armenia, Ottoman, Persia, Morocco, Egypt, Arabia, Israel, Peace-Truce, Europe
Northern Europe around 1630: Post, Map
World Map ~1630: Post, Map
European Countries in 1627: Post, Table
Pie Charts: Post, Ethnicity, Religion, Citizenship, Europe by Population, Europe by Area
The Political Structure of the Population of Romania: Post, Venn Diagram
Europe during the Great Powers Conference (1626-1627): Post, Map (overlay), Map (plain)
Family Tree of Emperor Mihai: Post, Image
Old Map of Europe: Post, Thumbnail, Full Map
Exclusive Colonial Rights for the Great Powers I: Post, Thumbnail, Full Map
Exclusive Colonial Rights for the Great Powers II: Post, Arctic, NW Africa, N America
Territorial Evolution of Romania (1601 - 1630): Post, Map
Territorial Evolution of Greece (1625 - 1630): Post, Map
The Ottoman Empire in 1630-1631: Post, Map
The Ottoman State and Its Neighbours in 1635: Post, Map
Romanian Theatre of the 1629-1630 Romanian-Ottoman War: Post, Map
The Orient in 1635: Post, Map
Administrative & Ethnographic Map of Romania: Post, Map
Romanian Colonies in the Middle East around 1640: Post, Map
Comparison of Romania in 1625 and in 1640: Post, Table 1625, Table 1640, Map 1625, Map 1640
The Italian War: Post, Map (before), Map
Michaelia Iulia - Capital City of Romania: Post, Map
Second European War - Greek Theatre: Post, Map
Europe in 1640: Post, Map (overlay), Map (plain)
The Second European War: Post, Animated Map
Summary of Europe's Countries around 1650: Post, Table
Administrative Units of the Romanian Imperium: Post, Huge Table, Text Version
Romania and its Empire around 1650: Post, Thumbnail, Full Map (overlay), Full Map (plain)
...

 

[Zagan]

Map Tutorial

I take an OTL map (in those cases the 1600 Euratlas Wikipedia map) and:
- Open it in a free editor which allows working with layers (Paint.net)
- Add several transparent layers over it: country colors, coastlines & rivers, borders, labels, war arrows, etc.
- Draw on these layers, for example follow the coastlines, etc, with the benefit of seeing everything under it.
- Hide the original layer, save it as png and optimize it (optiPNG.exe)

I intend to make a tutorial about this. It is not extremely high-quality but rather fast and very easy to modify later.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE my TL seriously needs MAPS.

I have finally posted that tutorial. (after about 10 months; I am quite a procrastinator, am I not?)

You can find it here.
.

 

[DumbersTC]

What resource books did you use to create this TL?

 

[Gwrtheyrn Annwn]

What resource books did you use to create this TL?

I would like to know this as well.

 

[Zagan]

What resource books did you use to create this TL?

I would like to know this as well.

I did not read any history book lately.
I did not use any specific history book for writing TTL.
I used:
- the history I knew so far from school;
- old Romanian history books which I read 20-30 years ago (I have almost perfect memory);
- some of my own previously written materials;
- statistical / mathematical data and simulations;
- old historical maps;
- Wikipedia articles about historical OTL royal characters which make an appearance in TTL.

Sorry if this is a dissappointment.
Anyway, I am not a historian. I am a Chemistry Professor and Software Programmer.

 

[Zagan]

It seems that everything about the Imperial Pilgrimage was somehow wrong.
The facts simply do not add up.​

In the Holy Land​

Spoiler: Sorry

First of all, I apologize to all my readers for the very long time passed since the latest update.
Thank you for your understanding.

The next several chapters are almost ready and I hope to be able to post them in rapid sequence.

Spoiler: Note

The 1640's were an extremely complicated decade with lots of important events taking place all over Europe and the Middle East:
- the many theatres of the Second European War;
- the revolutions / unrest in several European States during the later phases of the war and in its aftermath;
- the death of Emperor Mihai and the accession of Empress Iulia to the Romanian throne;
- the adventures of Iulia as a prisoner of war and after her release;
- profound changes in Romania;
- the Peace treaties and the post-war European landscape.

All these events could not have been presented in a single chapter or even in a clear chronological order. I had to split it into three main chunks:
1. The Second European War and the Revolutions (the previous 3 chapters).
2. Romania during these times (this chapter and the next 1-2 chapters).
3. Europe (and Romania) after the war (another 2-3 chapters).
I thought that this way the material might be easier to follow. A summary will be provided anyway.

Fragment from "România lui Mihai Întâiul" (Mihai I's Romania), Iancu Basarabeanu, 1814

In the 17th Century of the Christian Era, Romania was indeed a strange place, full of intrigues, superstition, unsolved misteries and unusual events. [...]

Even if not flattering for our national ego, we have to admit that, during the aforementioned century, the whole Country and especially the Dynasty were viewed by the rest of Europe as at least a little odd.

To be fair, that period was indeed teeming with odd historical events:
- the well-known Dream of our First Emperor;
- Emperor Mihai's List of priorities from the following morning;
- the execution of all the members of the former Transylvanian Diet;
- Emperor Mihai's diplomatic correspondence;
- the extremely rapid unification of the Country;
- the immediate and total abolition of the three centuries-old Romanian Principalities;
- the total disregard of countless old laws and customs;
- the revolutionary rhetoric of Emperor Mihai;
- the birth of Nationalism and Nation States;
- the empowering of the masses and the end of the feudal structures;
- the attempt to kill Emperor Rudolf with a smallpox infected letter;
- the seemingly unstoppable succession of Romanian military victories;
- the transformation of a medium-sized country into an Empire spanning three continents in less than half a century;
- Emperor Mihai's successful marriage with the much younger Christine of France (future Empress Cristina), a very interesting historical figure herself;
- Crown Princess Iulia's kidnapping and the subsequent anti-Hungarian actions;
- Her later rape and the rape trial that followed;
- the banishing of Princess Maria;
- Empress Cristina's covert accession to power during the later years of Emperor Mihai's life;
- the pilgrimage to the Holy Land of the, by then, extremely old and frail Emperor;
- the circumstances of the Empeor's death;
- the fact that the Crown Princess and then Empress Iulia was leading armies into combat;
- the so-called revolution of 1642;
- the saga of Empress Iulia's capture and subsequent voyages;
[...]


11 March 1641, Alba Iulia

Emperor Mihai was 83 years old and in the twelve years passed since the first stroke, his health had deteriorated significantly.
The fact that it was Empress Cristina who was signing the laws and actually ruling the country was an open secret.

Patriarch Nicodim: "Your Majesty..."
Empress Cristina: "Yes, Your Holiness."
N: "Doesn't Your Majesty think that a pilgrimage to the Holy Land would be appropriate, as the Holy Land is now, by God's infinite mercy, fully pacified under our most Christian Rule?"
C: "Umm, sure, but I think that the Emperor needs me..."
N: "I would not have dared to suggest that Your Majesty travel alone, but only alongside the Emperor."
C: "I am sorry, but I think that Your Holiness is not well informed about the state of the Emperor's health."
N: "But exactly because I am extremely well informed of our Emperor's ailments, I do strongly suggest that the Emperor visit the Holy Land and pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre..."
C: "I am sorry, what are you saying, exactly?"
N: "Well, if you want me to speak frankly, I will, with your Majesty's permission. We both know that the Emperor is old and suffering from various normal earthly ailments. But we also know about his other kind of problem, let's say the otherwordly ailments..."
C: "I am not following you. Please, could you speak more clearly?"
N: "Very good, if you wish so... People have started to talk about the Emperor's hand... The one that is moving by itself..."
C: "Oh, no! I cannot believe this! Are you suggesting that it is something unnatural about that particular disease? Jesus Christ! It is a disease and nothing more! A disease of the nerves which are causing that trembling... There are no demons tormenting Mihai, I can assure you of that!"
N: "You mentioned the word demons, not me. But alas, let's say that we do not know what is causing the Emperor's arm to move without being moved by him."
C: "You may not know, but I do. The doctors say that it..."
N: "The doctors have their ways and we have ours. What is really important here is that the people are talking. And we have to do something to quell these very unfortunate rumours."
C: "I cannot believe that you are against science..."
N: "I am not against science per se, do not understand me wrongly. But, to be fair, what can we say about that particular scientific problem? No, please, let me finish. The science of medicine can neither understand that disease nor cure it. And only in this situation does the Church intervene. Because we believe that we are confronted by a disease of the soul and we might have a cure for it. Devout prayer in the Land made Holy by the presence of our Lord. So, Your Majesty, the situation is, in fact, quite simple: The Emperor has a problem, the doctors can not solve it, your subjects are worried and the Church may have a solution. Now it is your call. What do you choose? Alienate your subjects and the National Church or follow the friendly advice of a poor servant of God and undertake a safe, fast and confortable voyage alongside your husband?"

Cristina understood it perfectly. Even if she had always known that she was not an absolute ruler, it had never been so obviously painful.

In Romania, power was, de facto, shared between the Empress, the Church, the Army, the Senate and the People (actually the public opinion, shaped by the Press).


28 March 1641, Southern Transylvania

Cristina woke up scared in the middle of the moonless night.
Nothing new, yet another nightmare. And the voyage has just begun!
She should have been just fine. She was young and healthy and she loved to travel. And the couch was actually extremely confortable, those springs inserted between the wheels and the body of the carriage worked wonders to make the ride as bumpless as possible.
Yet, she was feeling uneasy, without a clear reason. She remembered the difficult conversation with the Patriarch, the preparations for the three-month voyage which has just begun, the discussions with her faithful counsellors and the omenous farewell from Iulia who cried like a little girl while embracing her grandfather. And she actually said it while kissing her goodbyes between sobs: "I will never see granddaddy again, Cristina, I know it, I simply know it."
Cristina was mortified. She looked at Mihai with unbounded affection and grew calmer seeing him sleeping peacefully beside her.


April 1641, Romania

After crossing the Carpathians and arriving in Rîmnic, the Imperial couple boarded a small ship and cruised down the Olt to Turnu where they transferred to a larger and faster ship.
But, before continuing their journey to the mouths of the Danube, Cristina wanted to see for herself the designated Romanian Capital of Michaelia Iulia.

Mihai and Cristina spent a full fortnight in Michaelia Iulia, marvelling at the sheer scale of the monumental construction works undertaken on both banks of the mighty Danube - dozens of castles and palaces, roads, fortifications, churches and the both ancient and modern wonder of engineering, the Trajan's Bridge.

Being content with the pace of the works, the Imperial couple left Michaelia Iulia hoping for a inauguration of the new Capital sometime in 1643.


22 May 1641, Jaffa, Holy Land

After a nearly one month long voyage on the Danube, the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranian Sea, the flagship of the Romanian Navy arrived in Jaffa and the Emperor of the Romanians and his Empress set foot for the first time in their colony of the Holy Land.


June - July 1641, Holy Land

Mihai and Cristina travelled through the Holy Land, visiting Jaffa, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
They prayed at the Church of the Nativity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Calvary, the Olive Mountain and in other religiously significant places.

Cristina grew less worried about the health of Mihai who was feeling rather well, despite the unforgiving heat. She had to worry though about other dangers while doing her best to shelter Mihai of the bad news which kept coming from Europe. Because Europe was once more at war. And the war was creeping closer to Romania by the day.

Note: See Chaper 51. The Fall of Greece for more information.

By the end of July, the looming perspective of a war with Iberia over Greece made Cristina decide to cut short the pilgrimage in order to return to her Capital.


5 - 12 August 1641, Jaffa, Holy Land

Mihai and Cristina left Jerusalem and arrived in Jaffa on 5 August in order to take a ship back to Romania Proper.
The seven long days in which no ships docked in the Jaffa Harbour coupled with the lack of fresh news from war-torn Europe made Cristina increasingly anxious.


13 August 1641, Jaffa, Holy Land

Seven Romanian warships, some of them clearly damaged by recent fighting arrived in the Jaffa Harbour.

The situation was severe:
- The Iberians had occupied important parts of Greece and had cut off Athens from the rest of the country;
- Some kind of turbulence had occured in the besieged Capital leading to the death of the Greek Prince Constantine;
- The collapsing Greek State had asked for Romanian help;
- The Greeks offered Iulia the Crown of Greece;
- Iulia had accepted the offer, without even consulting the Romanian Senate;
- Iulia had led a Romanian army across the border, into Greece;
- It seemed that Iulia and the Romanian Army ruled both Romania and Greece;
- Romania was at war with the Iberian Empire;
- The High Seas were apparently not safe;
- The Captain of the Romanian Flagship declared that he could not assume the responsability of safely transporting the Imperial Couple to Mainland Romania.

Cristina almost fainted. They were stranded in the Holy Land!