Civil War And How to Prevent It

[Advo-san]

Since I ve lost the first two campaigns (HRE+English) I ve ever played due to devastating civWars, I ve done some research and here's what I came up with:

1) Causes of Civil Wars
Civil Wars are caused when your king's influence is reduced. Low influence is the only thing that can cause massive general disloyalty, thus leading to CW.

2) Why does it usually get so ugly later in the game?
The larger your empire is, the larger your armies have to be. The larger your armies are, so is the number of your generals. The manier the generals, the manier the potential "rebels" and "rebel armies".
But it goes further than this. The larger your empire is, the more difficult it is to forge alliances, that would have boosted your influence.
And more, as time goes by, it takes longer and longer to complete constructions, and so aquire the Builder, Great builder, Magnificent Builder virtues that boost general and people loyalty.

3) The recipie for a CivWar
-You have an extended empire and a great king. You r feeling strong and you don't care that even the Pope is at war with you, cause your NUMBERLESS troops and people adore you...
-But then again, life is a bitch...And you are dead.... Your heir haven't fought a fight in his life, he is a medieval total ass, but he became King because he was your son! Well, that is not enough to gain him some influence..
-Since you r so expanded and rich, you don't fight.Since you r too strong none won't ally you (everyone-hate-the-big-guy-phenomenon). Since most building need more than ten years to build, no construction is completed for years. No influence is granted to your sorry king.... Your mighty generals grow disloyal, so does the people. CivWar is ante portas....

4) How to prevent it?
You have to keep boosting your young king's influence, till it reaches a decent level.
-Fight, fight, fight. Even if you don't plan to annexe the region, nothing boosts your influence more that a retreating enemy army...But do not lose, you 'll have instant CW...
-Build fast, even if you don't need the buildings.
-Try making an alliance, you never know...
-Try to build up the heir's profile BEFORE he becomes king.
-Try to keep your army as small as possible.
-If you have a spare daughter, give it to a mighty general whose loyalty is questionned. That 'll cheer him up.