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

[guinazacity]

Michael you fucking magnificent bastard.

This can only get better.

 

[Zagan]

What I can certainly promise is that it will not get dull.

Something unexpected, out of the ordinary, preposterous etc will happen on a fairly regular basis.

I will try to write a chapter every day or least every other day during these summer holidays. After the beginning of the school year, they will probably get a little rarer. Let's hope my students will let me work on TTL during the breaks!

 

[Zagan]

http://www.romania-insider.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/romania-1601.gif

http://historymaps.ro/wp-content/uploads/Harti_ftp/mai/istorice/Tarile_Romane_1600.png

Just for reference.
You may notice that there are some differencies between them. (mainly de facto / de jure stuff)

Text on maps is in Romanian (sorry).

 

[Zagan]

Recapitulation

POD: In the morning of 9 August 1601, on a field near Turda, Transylvania, Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave) has a complex prophetic dream and thwarts an attempt on his life (OTL he is murdered).

He decides to thoroughly unite the three Romanian Principalities: Wallachia, Transylvania and Moldavia (Moldavia was still under Polish occupation) and create a new country, the Romanian Lands. (the 1600 Union was only a personal union)

Losing no time, he immediately starts to develop symbols, laws and institutions for the united country.
He sends envoys and embassies inside and outside the Romanian Lands.

On 12 August, he enters Alba Iulia in triumph, frees the Romanians in Transylvania and makes them equal citizens, proclaims the Union, disolves the Diet and executes all its members.

In the following days he consolidates his rule in Transylvania and Wallachia and attempts to bring Moldavia again under his rule. He plays a difficult game, making contradictory promises to the peasants, boyars and clergy in the three countries. Some are bought, some are fooled and some are scared away or executed. The peasants rise in rebellion first in Transylvania then in Moldavia. The countries plunge in chaos.

His external policy manages to confuse the Poles and Ottomans. Emperor Rudolf is nearly assasinated by Mihai via a clever trick. In the mean time, Mihai further organizes the country and strengthens its army. He still has at least one month to prepare for the certain Habsburg invasion. He hopes to avoid a concurrent Ottoman or Polish invasion.

 

[Guilherme Loureiro]

Regarding the maps, I thought "Tara Româneasca"(sorry, don't have the keyboard to represent all the diacritics) referred to all Romanian lands, instead of just Wallachia? At least that was the impression I got when I visited the National Military Museum last year.

 

[Zagan]

Regarding the maps, I thought "Tara Româneasca"(sorry, don't have the keyboard to represent all the diacritics) referred to all Romanian lands, instead of just Wallachia? At least that was the impression I got when I visited the National Military Museum last year.

Țara Românească is singular = Land of the Romanians / Romanian Land.
It was the name of Wallachia in Romanian; only the foreigners called it Wallachia.

Țările Române (Românești) is plural = Romanian Lands. It was a collective name for Wallachia, Moldavia and (at least in Romanian parlance) Transylvania.

Funny, I was going to make a post about naming conventions / issues and endonyms / exonyms.
I chose to answer you first and I will post the complete one later.

 

[Zagan]

Terminology​

The terminology regarding the names of the Romanians and their countries can be very confusing. There are several reasons:
1. There were many different names used simultaneously;
2. Endonyms (names used be the Romanians themselves) were very different from exonyms (names used by others). This situation is similar to that of the Germans (Deutsch), Finns (Suomi), Hungarians (Magyar) etc;
3. A separate level of complexity is added by the confusion between the nouns Romanian (Român) and Roman (Roman) and the adjectives Romanian (Românesc) and Roman (Roman) with their declensions.


I. Names of the Romanians

1. Endonym: Romanian (noun and adjective)

In Romanian language: (masculin singular, feminin singular, masculin plural, feminin plural)

1.1. Noun
- Român, Româncă, Români, Românce
Example: Sunt Român (I am Romanian)
- Rumân, Rumâncă, Rumâni, Rumânce (archaic)
- Armân, Armâncă, Armâni, Armânce (dialectal - Aromanian)
- other dialectal forms

1.2. Adjective
- Român, Română, Români, Române
Examples: Limba română (Romanian language); Națiunea română (Romanian nation); Poporul Român (Romanian people); Țările Române (Romanian Lands).
- Rumân, Rumână, Rumâni, Rumâne (archaic)
- Armân, Armână, Armâni, Armâne (dialectal - Aromanian)
- other dialectal forms

1.3. Adjective (variant)
- Românesc, Românească, Românești, Românești
Examples: Cultura românească (Romanian culture); Țara Românească (Romanian Land).
- Armânescu, Armânească, Armânești, Armânești (dialectal - Aromanian)
- other dialectal forms

1.4. Adverb
- Românește
Example: Vorbesc românește (I speak Romanian)
- Rumânește (archaic)
- Armâneaște (dialectal - Aromanian)
- other dialectal forms

2. Exonyms: Vlach (and lots of other terms and variants; never used by the Romanians themselves)


II. Names of the Romanians' countries

1. Romania
- both endonym and (recently) exonym.
- generic term of any region / country inhabited by a Romanian or other Roman descended people.
- used by Greeks / Byzantines as well.
- România
- Rumânia (archaic)
- Armânia (dialectal - Aromanian)
- other dialectal forms

2. Romanian Lands
- Țările Române
- Țările Românești (variant)
- Țĕrrile Românescĭ (TTL old Romanian)

3. Wallachia
- Țara Românească
- Bassarab-Wallachia, Ungro-Wallachia, Wallachia Transalpina, Istro-Vlachia etc.
- Regions:
--- Muntenia (Greater Wallachia)
--- Oltenia (Lesser Wallachia)

4. Moldavia
- Moldova
- Țara Moldovei
- Bogdano-Wallachia, Moldo-Wallachia, Mauro-Vlachia, Moldo-Vlachia, Russo-Vlachia etc.
- Regions:
--- Moldova proprie (Moldova proper, inside OTL Romania)
--- Bucovina (Bukovina, OTL split between Romania and Ukraine)
--- Basarabia (Bessarabia, OTL split between Republic of Moldova and Ukraine)

5. Transylvania
- Transilvania
- Wallachia Interior etc.
- Regions:
--- Ardeal (Transylvania proper, central)
--- Maramureș (OTL split between Romania and Ukraine)
--- Crișana (Partium, OTL split between Romania and Hungary)
--- Banat (Wallachia Cisalpina, OTL split between Romania, Serbia and Hungary)

6. Other territories north of the Danube:
- Moravian Wallachia (in Moravia, now Czech Republic)
- Pocuția (Pokuttya, in Poland, now Ukraine)
- Edisan / Transnistria (in Ottoman Empire, now Ukraine)

7. Other territories south of the Danube:
- Dobrogea (Dobrudja, OTL split between Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine)
- Timoc / Tribalia (Timok Valley, OTL split between Serbia and Bulgaria)
- Lots of "Wallachias" inhabited by Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians, Morlachs etc: White Wallachia, Great Wallachia, Small Wallachia, Sirmium Wallachia, Black Wallachia, Upper Wallachia, Old Wallachia etc. (in OTL Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania)


III. Titles of Romanian Leaders

- Io (untranslatable).
- Mare Voievod / Mare Voevod (Great Voivode, Dux Bellorum, Bellidux)
- Domn / Domnitor (Lord, Dominus) and Doamnă (Lady)
- Rege / Crai (King, Rex; archaic form Crai is derived from Carol / Charlemagne) and Regină / Crăiasă (Queen, Regina)
- Împărat / Împĕrat (Emperor, Imperator) and Împărăteasă / Împĕrăteasă (Empress, Imperatrix)
- Dictator (Emergency powers, temporarily rules without an assembly, see Latin Dictator)
- Boier (Boyar) and Boieroaică


IV. Administrative Units

- Provincie (Province, the former countries / regions)
- Județ (County)
- Scaun (Seat, Saxons and Szeklers in Transylvania, as of OTL & TTL 1601 at least)

 

[Zagan]

No one has ever done so much in so little time.
On 9 August, there was nothing; on 4 October there was a country.​

The Making of a Country​

16 August 1601, Alba Iulia, Romanian Lands

Mihai is reunited with his family, Doamna Stanca (Lady Stanca, his wife), Prince Nicolae (his son) and Domnița Florica (Lady Florica, his daughter). Formerly imprisoned by Bathory in Făgăraș, they had been freed by Mihai's victorious army.

Mihai proclaimed the Romanian Lands to be a male-preference cognatic primogeniture thus ending the old customary inheritance rules. Prince Nicolae was presented to the people of Alba Iulia and hailed as Crown Prince.


23-31 August 1601, Romanian Lands

Representatives of the Wallachian boyars and clergy, Saxons, Szeklers and Moldavian boyars and clergy loyal to Mihai converge in the Capital for the 1 September opening of the Romanian Senat.

The peasant uprisings in Transylvania and Moldavia start to calm down. All Hungarian nobles are either dead or gone to Austria. All their lands have been appropriated by the state. Loyal boyars and clergy from Wallachia and Moldavia are given land in Transylvania. The Romanian peasants from all over the Romanian Lands are promissed small plots of land. However, the difficult agrarian reform drags on, having to surmount many obstacles raised by men's generally suspicious nature.

The situation in Moldavia is extremely tense. The province is still in rebellion against Mihai with an open conflict between his opponents and supporters looming. Mihai's armies massed along the Carpathians and the lower Sireth are still reluctant to invade. The Polish army starts to retreat towards Hotin, leaving Ieremia Movilă virtually unprotected.

Members of the Wallachian, Moldavian and Transylvanian Orthodox Synods meet in Kronstadt (Brașov) to discuss their merger and autocephaly. The debates are very complicated and intense, given the historic importance of their decision.


25 August 1601, Alba Iulia

Mihai abolishes all former laws of Transylvania, all grants, privileges and titles, nullifying all acts ever emitted by the Hungarian Crown or the Transylvanian Diet.
All the administrative divisions of Transylvania, Banat, Partium and Maramureș are disolved and all the territory is divided into județe (counties) like in Wallachia and Moldavia.
The Saxons and Szeklers are promissed new accomodations in the Romanian Lands. Negotiations begin at once.


25-31 August 1601

A state of war is proclaimed between the Romanian Lands and the Habsburg Emperor.
Mihai's armies invade Crișana (Partium) and Maramureș and quickly capture or root the token Habsburg occupying forces found there.
Baia (Baia Mare), Carei, Satmar (Satu Mare) and other towns and cities in the Romanian parts of Habsburg Royal Hungary are conquered as well.

Mihai's army reaches Tisa after a 40 kilometer march encountering very little resistence. All the lands on the left shore of the Tissa are annexed to the Romanian Lands. Crișana and Maramureș are also reintegrated. (they were only under Austrian occupation, but de jure were Transylvanian lands)


31 August 1601

Mihai calls Oastea cea Mare (the Great Army), consisting of all peasants and townpeople capable of bearing arms. It was frequently called during the times of Ștefan cel Mare and Vlad Țepeș, but rarer in the later period.

Mihai promises to each future veteran of the following victorious war, as much land as he and his family can work.
The word is quickly spread by the Church in all corners of the Romanian Lands.
Tens of thousands of Romanian peasants from Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania answer the call and begin the long journey towards the Hungarian border. Most of them had already seen combat against the Hungarian nobles and Moldavian boyars.


1 September 1601, Alba Iulia

The first Senat of the Romanian Lands in inaugurated in the Romanian Capital of Alba Iulia. The role of the Senat is purely consultative as long as Mihai is Dictator. Mihai vows to renounce the position of Dictator when the Romanian Lands would be finally at peace.

The diverse members of the Senat get to know each other and discuss all sorts of more or less important matters. The Voivode usually attends for a few minutes and is afterwards briefed of the proceedings.

Two important proposals are made.
The first proposal is to make the Romanian Lands a Kingdom and crown Mihai as the first King of the Romanians. Mihai thanks the Senators but declines, explaining that it would needlessly anger the Turks and prevent any sort of future understanding with them.

The second proposal concerns the name of the country. Seeing Romanian Lands as being rather long, potentially confusing and too similar with the name of Wallachia (Țĕrrile Românescĭ versus Țara Românească), the simple ancient name of Romania is suggested.

Mihai grants his assent and from 1 September 1601, the Romanian Lands were also known as Romania (România).
The new name entered widespread use rather slowly and for a while both names were used.

Mihai insisted that no further mention of the old countries be ever made so his title was simply: Io Mihailŭ Mare Voevod și Domn al României. (Io Michael Great Voivode and Lord of Romania) This was by no means set in stone. Sometimes, instead of al României (of Romania), al Țĕrrilor Românescĭ (of the Romanian Lands) or even al Românilor (of the Romanians) were used.


3 September 1601, Eașĭ (Iași), Moldavia

The unionist Moldavian faction finally pulls a coup d'état. The Moldavian Divan is seized, some adversaries are killed and the country is declared dissolved, its territory becoming an inalienable part of the Romanian Lands.
Eremia Movilă, his brother Simeon and a handfull of Moldavian loyalist boyars flee towards the safe haven of the still Polish-held fortress of Hotin.
They have never managed to get there. Near Suceava, they encounter a large army of peasants marching towards Transylvania to answer the call of their Voivode. Neither the Movilești, nor any of the boyars survived. It was not a pleasant site...


5 September 1601, Brașov

The representatives of the Romanian clergy from all three Romanian Lands elect a Romanian Orthodox Synod.
The Wallachian, Moldavian and Transylvanian Orthodox Churches are united into one: The Romanian Orthodox Church.
The Moldavian Metropolitan Bishop, Teofil, is elected the first Patriarch of Romania.
The Romanian Orthodox Church proclaims its autocephaly. All payments to the Greek Monasteries are ended. An ecumenical delegation is sent to Constantinople in order to negotiate an understanding with the Greek Church. Unknown to them, a delegation from Constantinople was on its way to the Romanian Lands. It would arrive the following day to the fait accompli.


6 September 1601, Alba Iulia

An agreement is finally reached between the Voivode and the leaders of the Saxons and Szeklers. They receive the same rights and obligations as the Romanian majority, plus some form of regional autonomy in their seats as well as representation in the Romanian Senat. They do not get their former privileges back but still benefit from some tax exemptions and the lack of any tariffs inside the vast Romanian State.


7 September 1601, Alba Iulia

Patriarch Teofil declares Mihai's Dream to have been sent to him by God and therefore a miracle. He puts myhhr on the Voivode's forehead and blesses him.

His Great Army continues to assemble on the left bank of the Tissa.
The Habsburgs are in for a nasty surprise. Instead of some disorganized principalities with virtually no army, they will find a huge centralized country almost as large as theirs with a hundred thousand soldiers eager to fight for their most cherished price, a piece of arable land.

Mihai was proud and happy. And for good reason. In a matter of just one month, less than a blink of an eye in human history, he managed to create a country apparently out of thin air. And to have this country firmly at his side.
"Asta-i pohta ce-am pohtit eu!" (This is the wish I wished - a tentative translation)

 

[Zagan]

The Romanian Lands in September 1601​

Legend:
Diagonal lines: Disputed - Wide Lines has de facto control over the area.

Note: Hotin still has a Polish garnizon (too small to show on the map).

 

[Zagan]

In 1601, Romania was nothing more than a theoretical construct.
In a matter of years, it would turn into one of the most centralized states in Europe.​

Overview of 1601 Romania​

Territory

1. All the territory of Wallachia (Oltenia and Muntenia), including the former Ottoman kazas of Turnu, Giurgiu and Brăila / Brŏila (ethymological spelling, derived from Proilabum).
The three Danube ports had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century and liberated by Mihai during his war against the Ottomans in the last decade of the 16th century. At the victorious conclusion of the war when the Ottomans acknowledged Mihai's rule and the independence of Wallachia, no mention was made of the three cities. Mihai considered them to be reverted to Wallachia. The Ottoman position about that issue is unknown.

2. All the territory of Moldavia, including Basarabia[1] (Bugeac / Budjak) with the former Ottoman kazas of Chilia / Qŭilia (Kiliya), Cetatea Albă (Bilhorod-Dnistrovski / Akkerman) and Tighina / Tigŭina (Bender).
Basarabia had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century and liberated by Aron Vodă (Aaron the Tyrant) in the last decade of the 16th century. Even if still de jure Ottoman territory it is nevertheless under Romanian administration and control.
The fortress of Hotin (Khotin) is still manned by a small Polish force. It is however an undisputed Moldavian / Romanian territory.

3. Almost all the territory of Transylvania, including the Saxon and Szekler Seats, Maramureș, Partium / Crișana and the eastern third of Banat (around Caransebeș).
Maramureș and Crișana, de jure parts of Transylvania had been occupied by Austria until the end of August, when Mihai liberated them.
Satmar and other regions up to the river Tisa had been liberated by Mihai at the same time. Although de jure belonging to Habsburg Hungary, Mihai Viteazul annexed them to Romania. The Romanians were probably a (significant) minority in that territory back then.
A small region of Partium, north of Arad was still under Ottoman occupation, but de jure part of Transylvania. Negotiations with the local Pasha about its release were going on.


Claimed Territories (in order of importance / forcefulness of claim)

1. The western two thirds of Banat with its Capital Timișoara / Temișoara, under Ottoman rule.
2. The western part of Crișana between the western border of Partium and the River Tisa, under Ottoman rule.
3. Edisan (southern Transnistria), under Ottoman / Tatar rule, controlled by Moldavia in the past.
4. Pocuția (Pokuttya), part of Poland, controlled / claimed by Moldavia in the past. Mihai offered to forget about it in exchange of Polish recognition and alliance. No answer has been received yet.
5. Dobrogea (Dobrudja), under Ottoman rule, controlled by Wallachia in the past.
6. Timoc (Timok Valley), under Ottoman rule, controlled by Wallachia for a short time in the past.
7. Most or all of European part of the Ottoman Empire, including Constantinople.
8. The Tatar Lands in Taurida (Kherson and Crimea), an Ottoman vassal, promissed to Poland as well. Maybe Azov and other territories.
9. Ottoman Hungary and Habsburg Upper Hungary and maybe other Habsburg territories. Slovaks in Upper Hungary were also promissed independence when they rebelled against Habsburg rule in the fall of 1601.


Borders

Clockwise: the Black Sea (between Cetatea Albă and Qŭilia), the Danube Delta, the Lower Danube up to Orșova (with Ottoman Empire), through Banat and Crișana (with Ottoman Empire), the Upper Tisa (with Austria), the Northern Carpathians (with Poland), the Ceremuș River (with Poland), the Nistru (Dniester) River (with Poland and then Ottoman Empire / Tatars), the Black Sea.


Area

Around 290,000 kilometers square (112,000 sq mi)
- a little more than OTL Romania;
- almost like OTL Greater Romania 1919-1939;
- a little less than the Habsburg Crown Lands;
- around a quarter of Poland-Lithuania;
- around a tenth of the Ottoman Empire.


Population

Between 1 and 2 million inhabitants (no census ever)
Density: 4 - 7 per kilometer square. (9 - 18 / sq mi)
- the Romanian Lands at that time were severely depopulated by incessant wars, famine, disease and other hardships.
- Romania's neighbours had each between 4 and 10 times as many people.


Ethnic Composition

- Romanians (a solid majority - more than 90% in Wallachia and Moldavia, 40-60% in Transylvania)
- a few Bulgarians, Serbs, Greeks, Albanians, Armenians in Wallachia
- a few Ruthenians (Ukrainians) Poles and Jews in Moldavia proper
- some Tatars and a few Turks in Bessarabia
- Hungarians, Saxons (Germans) and Szeklers in Transylvania proper
- some Ruthenians in Maramureș
- Hungarians in Partium and Satmar, plus some Germans (Swabians)
- some Serbs and Hungarians in Banat
- a few Croats and Slovaks in Banat and Satmar
- Gypsies scattered around the country.

Western Banat and Western Crișana (Ottoman): Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, Serbs, Turks, others.

Edisan (Ottoman): Tatars, Romanians, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, others.

Pocuția (Polish): Ruthenians, Poles, Jews, Romanians.

Dobrogea (Ottoman): Romanians, Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, others.

Timoc (Ottoman): Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Turks.


Languages

Romanian (official), Latin, Slavonic (in Churches, phased out), German (in the Saxon Seats), Hungarian (in the Szekler Seats), other minority languages.


Religion

Romanian Orthodox (official), Greek Orthodox (phased out), Lutheran (mostly Saxons), Catholic (mostly Szeklers and Hungarians), Islam (Tatars and Turks), Judaism (Jews).


Symbols

Flag: The Romanian Quadricolor (4 horizontal equal bands of Blue, Yellow, Red and Black)

Coat of Arms: Combined coat of arms of Wallachia (Eagle), Moldavia (Aurochs) and Transylvania (Castles).

Anthem: None. One has been planned however.

Motto: None.

Patron Saint: Saint Andrew, protector of Romania (Sfântul Andrei, ocrotitorul României)


State

Capital: Alba Iulia

Government: National Unitary State (Principality / Voivodeship)

Ruler (Great Voivode and Lord): Mihailŭ I / Mihai (surname: Pătrașcu; House: Basarab / Drăculești; cognomen: Viteazul).

Legislature (consultative): Senat (appointed).

Formation: Wallachia (1330), Moldavia (1346), Transylvania (1570), Personal Union (1599 - 1600), United Romanian Lands / Romania (1601).

Currency: Ban (silver coins, from 1601), foreign gold and silver coinage (Austrian, Polish, Ottoman, other).


Other

Foreign Relations: Embassies sent to Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire (no answers yet); Envoys sent to Rome, Venice and Holy Roman Empire.

Military:
Small Army (Oastea cea Mică) of around 3000 Romanians, 2000 Szeklers, 400 Saxons, 1700 foreign mercenaries. Around 2000 horses, 150 cannons, muskets, wagons, small arms.
Great Army (Oastea cea Mare) of around 50,000 to 100,000 untrained Romanian peasants, ready to gather when called to arms.
The army is the top priority of the fledgeling Romanian State and is increasing and modernizing quickly. A very generous budget helps this.

Budget: Mostly unknown but probably quite large (a lot of wealth looted from the fleeing Hungarian nobles in Transylvania etc).

Economy: Mostly subsistence agriculture and animal husbandry, fishing, forestry, mining, manufacturing, comerce.

Infrastructure: Almost none. Few roads and in very bad shape, few functioning ports, few cities and in a very poor condition. There is a plan to build better quality roads (the Roman example, etc).

Education: Primary schools around Churches. Very few secondary schools / Gymnasiums / Lyceums. No Universities (Alba Iulia University is planned). The number and quality of schools is quickly increasing.

Healthcare: Few doctors. Even fewer adequately trained doctors. Heelers. Midwifes. No hospitals. A leper colony. Plans to build public baths (the Romans again).

Culture: Beautiful Churches and Monasteries with painted walls and icons.


Notes:

1. OTL Basarabia (Bessarabia) before 1812 and TTL Basarabia means the Southern part (Budjak / Bugeac) only. The name was extended to the whole territory between the Pruth and the Dniester after the 1812 Russian conquest of Eastern Moldavia.

 

[Zagan]

A Wikipedia Infobox for TTL Romania (1601) would be nice.

I have looked at these threads and tried my skills at wikipedia but the results were less than satisfactory.

Could someone knowledgeable on this topic help with one?
Thank you in advance.

 

[Zagan]

In retrospect, the survival of Emperor Rudolf might have been the worst thing
that could have happened to the beleaguered Habsburg Monarchy.​

The Path to War​

25 August 1601, Prague, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire

Emperor Rudolf II looked at the last page of the letter in utter disbelief.

"The sentence had been carried out. God have mercy upon your soul."

Mihai must have lost his mind. I am still alive, am I not?
And then comprehension struck. I have been poisoned. The bastard lowered himself to such an despeakable act. He maintained his composure and called for help.

Doctor: "Yes, Sire. Is anything wrong?"
Rudolf: "Yes. I have been poisoned."
D: "Do you feel ill, Sire? I am afraid I need more information..."
R: "The Wallachian Voivode sent me this letter. Don't touch it! It is poisoned. I moistured my finger in order to turn the pages and thus ingested the poison."
D: "And do you feel anything out of the ordinary?"
R: "No, not yet. What poison may it be?"
D: "I don't know, Sire. Are you even sure that there is actually poison on those sheets of paper?"
R: "What else can you understand from this ending?"
D: "Yes, Sire, it seems so. What I can say for certain is that it is not cyanide. Your lips and finger would have been blackened... And you would have been..."
R: "Already dead. I know that at least. I am not asking you what poison it is not! Tell me what it is and hurry up!"
D: "There are many poisons which act slower. We may never know. Your Majesty may be strong enough..."
R: "So you are telling me that there is nothing to be done? That I am as good as dead?"
D: "Oh, no, Sire. I will give you a strong emetic and I will also let some blood. And pray."
R: "Yes, let's do that. And send that letter to the alchemists to check it. Maybe they find what the poison is and provide an antidot. Or let a convict eat it."
Courtier: "Yes, Sire."
R: "And arrest the envoy who brought it. And have him questioned."
C: "I am afraid, Sire, that this would not be possible. Their party left yesterday."
R: "No! Send scouts to find them, block the roads, check the inns. Do something and I mean everything to catch them and have them stand in front of me for questioning and punishment!"


25-27 August 1601, Bohemia

While the scouts have been looking for them on the roads leading towards Romania, Mihai's envoys slip undetected into Saxony, embarking on a diplomatic mission in several German States.

The alchemists' research on the letter produces no results whatsoever.
The convicts who have been forced to eat fragments of the letter feel fine.
The Emperor's health is good, except for some awful bouts of melancholia.
After more than 48 hours with no symptoms, the Doctors begin to believe that everything is nothing more than a hoax and the letter was not poisoned after all. However, doubt is still lurking.


28 August - 27 September 1601, Habsburg Monarchy

A huge army is slowly getting assembled in Royal Hungary. Tens of thousands of soldiers from Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Austria, Croatia, Hungary as well as mercenaries from Switzerland and the German and Italian States are preparing for the pending Romanian campaign.

The Ottomans are getting restless and start preparing for the defence of Ottoman Hungary. However the core regions of the Ottoman Empire are far away and the mobilization is slow and ineffective. They feel understandably relieved to realize that all those soldiers are actually supposed to crush Voivode Mihai.

What had started as a peasant uprising in Upper Hungary quickly morphed into the Slovak War of Independence.
Helped by some 500 Romanians, the Slovaks push the imperial army out of Eastern Upper Hungary. They would eventually manage to control a little more than half of the Slovakian Lands.

On 10 September, the sovereign Voivodeship of Slovakia is proclaimed in Kassa (Košice). Mihai is offered the crown of Slovakia which he duly accepts. The locals form a government and begin to rule the country in Mihai's name.


7 September 1601, Prague

After what appeared to be a common cold, Emperor Rudolf is finally diagnosed with smallpox, a real health menace at the time.

Rudolf insists that Mihai's letter has been poisoned with smallpox. However, the two convicts who ate parts of it were executed and the rest of the letter being disolved in acids by the alchemists testing it for known poisons.
The doctors and other scholars hotly debate if a sheet of paper could be in anyway poisoned with a disease and transmit it.
Rudolf takes a sheet of paper and applies on it the contents of some of his ruptured lesions. It is given to be eaten by other convicts.


25 September 1601, Prague

Rudolf feels much better. Despite being horrendously disfigured, he is almost certainly out of danger. His state of mind is not so good, though.
The scientific test has also been successful. All three convicts which ate the sheet of paper infected by Rudolf fell sick with smallpox.

The preparations for war were in full swing. Almost 70,000 men, congregated near Pressburg, were ready and eager to go to war.
Finally the long awaited for order was issued and the huge Habsburg army began to move Eastwards.


28 September 1601, Upper Hungary

The Habsburg army reaches the westernmost outposts of the Slovak rebels and some small skirmishes define the starting point of the first major war fought by the new Romanian State.


9 October 1601, Warsaw, Poland-Lithuania

King Sigismund III: "So, we have a consensus. We shall be neutral in this war. If the Chocim (Khotyn) garrison is threatened in any way, they shall leave the fortress and retreat to our realms. If Voivode Mihai completely loses the war we shall attempt to occupy Moldavia before the Austrians arrive there. Anything else?... Session is adjourned."


12 October 1601, Buda, Ottoman Empire

Sultan Mehmed III arrived in Buda after a long and tiresome journey from Constantinople. Preparations begun in earnest for a renewed campaign against the Habsburg Lands, while the main Habsburg army was battling its way through Transylvania.


8 September - 4 October 1601, Romania

Mihai used those 4 weeks of relative calm to train the almost 100,000 peasants as effectively as possible. They were not actual soldiers, of course, but were much better than nothing.
The lack of sufficient firearms meant that a head to head battle was impossible to win. Mihai started to develop alternative strategies.

For most of this period, Mihai was camped in Satmar far away from the Capital. However the Senators were extremely unlikely to challange his rule. Most of them were truly on his side and the others were simply too afraid to try anything. Not after what had happened to the former Diet.
However, the massive legislative project was temporarily suspended, until more urgent matters would have been solved.

In the mean time, Mihai's laws and proclamations as well as the Romanian idea were popularized all over the vast Romanian Lands by the Church and the loyal boyars.
The printing presses were working full time, printing Bibles, lithurgical books, laws and regulations. Those few presses extant in Wallachia and Moldavia were converted for the use of the new Latin based alphabet.

The newly independent Romanian Orthodox Church was quickly enforced. The dissenters were silenced or forced to leave for Constantinople.
It was decided that the only language of the Church would eventually be the Romanian language. All texts in Old Slavonic were to be gradually phased out.

The negotiations with the Ottomans were protracted. No firm guarantees of any kind were obtained. The Ottomans recognized neither the existence of Romania nor Mihai's rule, but did not explicitly oppose either. The only success was the return to Transylvania of a small area around Bichiș (Békés) occupied a few years earlier. A gesture of good will as they framed it.

The Poles were also noncommital. While acting friendly, no actual treaty was signed and no official recognition of any kind was granted. They blamed the liberum veto for the slow pace of the negotiations.
The papal envoy never arrived. No one knows what happened to him.
No official answer was received from Germany either. It could have been too early to expect one, though.

On 4 October, the mighty Habsburg army reached the right bank of the river Tisa and immediately started to prepare for its crossing due the following day.
The next months would prove to be crucial for the Romanian State and Nation.

 

[mlp]

Can Romania into occupying all of Danube River basin?

 

[Zagan]

Can Romania into occupying all of Danube River basin?

Absolutely NOT.

Anyway, not in the foreseable future (current century).
Later... (no spoilers)

A little too much to the west, don't you think?

 

[Zagan]

The Habsburg-Romanian War

The war has started!

Options:
1. Total, easy, undisputed Romanian victory. (not very likely)
2. Protracted, bloody war; final Romanian victory.
3. Phyrric Habsburg victory; Romania survives.

I am still thinking... Any thoughts?

 

[Gian]

Go for option 2

 

[Summoner]

Go for option 2

Option 2 agreed. The resulting peace treaty will demand more payment for damages as well as territorial annexations.

 

[Zagan]

Go for option 2

Option 2 agreed. The resulting peace treaty will demand more payment for damages as well as territorial annexations.

Thank you.
Your oppinion will be considered.
Expect an update tonight.

 

[GdwnsnHo]

To be honest, the full recognition of the Slovak territories will be an impressive victory in and of itself - and an unexpected addition to say the least.

It could very well encourage the Bulgarians to rebel in favour of Mihai if he proves an amiable ruler, having control of the lower Danube is going to be much easier, and more profitable, with Bulgarian support.

Looks like Romania might have the beginning of a Orthodox powerhouse in the heart of Europe!

I'll resist pushing for the throne of Caesars. As tempting as Contantinople is, it isn't feasible at this moment in time, but with an educated, nationalistic Romania with claims to be their heirs of Rome in the mix - we could see a change in the Balkans (assuming a victory over Turkey)

 

[Zagan]

To be honest, the full recognition of the Slovak territories will be an impressive victory in and of itself - and an unexpected addition to say the least.

It could very well encourage the Bulgarians to rebel in favour of Mihai if he proves an amiable ruler, having control of the lower Danube is going to be much easier, and more profitable, with Bulgarian support.

Looks like Romania might have the beginning of a Orthodox powerhouse in the heart of Europe!

I'll resist pushing for the throne of Caesars. As tempting as Contantinople is, it isn't feasible at this moment in time, but with an educated, nationalistic Romania with claims to be their heirs of Rome in the mix - we could see a change in the Balkans (assuming a victory over Turkey)

Something like this... but:

1. Slovakia is supposed to be ruled by the Slovaks with Mihai as Voivode / figurehead. It is not going to be annexed to Romania or the Slovaks made into Romanians. There aren't enough Romanians in Slovakia (less than 2%) and the Slovaks are not Orthodox, so very difficult to assimilate.

2. The Balkans are a very different thing altogether. Excluding the Turks (Mihai is not going to have any Muslims in his Orthodox Realm), the Romanians are about a quarter of the population between the Danube and the Pindus Mountains. The area can be assimilated into Romania (the fact that the Slavic population is Orthodox as well can only help).

3. Yes, Romania will take the role of OTL Russia - the protector of all the Orthodox people and the heir of the Eastern Rome. Being way closer to Constantinople then OTL Russia can only help.

4. Constantinople is obviously not feasable now and will remain out of reach for a very long time. However this is a very good thing. You see, having Slavs in your lands is kind of ok. Greeks are not ok. They have an older and superior culture and tend to assimilate others, not being themselves assimilated. The Roman Empire conquered Greece and in a few centuries its Eastern part was mostly speaking Greek. A small and weak Greece may be better than absorbing 2 million Greeks into a multiethnic Empire.

5. A decisive victory over the Ottoman Empire has to wait. Anyway, the period of Ottoman decline will start sooner than OTL and the decline will be steeper.

6. Romania can have all the luck and get recognized in all its territory between the Tissa, Nistru and Danube. It will not be a great power however. Not sooner than one or two generations anyway. The population needs to grow (and without invasions and wars it most certainly will), a decent infrastructure has to be build, the economy has to grow etc. All these take time.