17th century

[SwordsMaster]

His Most Catholic Imperial Majesty Philippe III wishes to congratulate the parties involved in the peace negotiation for the swift resolution. While His Most Catholic Imperial Majesty is pleased that peace has been restored to the Empire, Spain wonders why the separation between Rome and Vienna is so abrupt.

His Most Catholic Imperial Majesty will await the embassy of Ferdinand Habsburg to arrive to Madrid with the guarantees that previous relations have not been harmed, and the outline of the new policies governing the Empire.

Until that moment, Spain will deal with Ferdinand as Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Austria and King of Bohemia and will not recognise the title of Emperor of Germany.

OOC: This basically means that I hope Bopa PMs me with some more details of the peace treaty, and what does this mean as far as religious tolerance, political model, and constitution of the new empire goes...

[Incongruous]

The New Government of Germany.

We wish to make clear our independance from the Spanish. No blood ties shall chain us to you're wishes and want's. We are our own state, and thus have no need to inform you of our state policies.

We wish to remind Brandenbourg that you wer'e indeen responsible for funding the Rebellion in Bohemia.

We will make the payment to the French as soon as possible, we also wish to make sure you give the soldiers whom you killed in cold blood are given proper Christian burial by you, before you leave Germany. We are no friends of you.

We ask that the Spanish withhold any diplomatic meanderings until the Christian army is assembled in Vienna. Then Ferdinand will travel personally to Madrid.

The Pope has shown himself to be utterly useless as a political figure in Germany, his promises to the last Kaiser caused nothing but death. The Catholics of course still accept his primacy, but only in religous matters.

If the Primate has issue with this change of polotics, we give him a chance to travel to Vienna, with escort to make his case known.

F.H

[SwordsMaster]

The New Government of Germany.

We wish to make clear our independance from the Spanish. No blood ties shall chain us to you're wishes and want's. We are our own state, and thus have no need to inform you of our state policies.

We wish to remind Brandenbourg that you wer'e indeen responsible for funding the Rebellion in Bohemia.

We will make the payment to the French as soon as possible, we also wish to make sure you give the soldiers whom you killed in cold blood are given proper Christian burial by you, before you leave Germany. We are no friends of you.

We ask that the Spanish withhold any diplomatic meanderings until the Christian army is assembled in Vienna. Then Ferdinand will travel personally to Madrid.

The Pope has shown himself to be utterly useless as a political figure in Germany, his promises to the last Kaiser caused nothing but death. The Catholics of course still accept his primacy, but only in religous matters.

If the Primate has issue with this change of polotics, we give him a chance to travel to Vienna, with escort to make his case known.

F.H

OOC: That's fairly aggressive of the Kaiser.... He just LOST a war, and somehow still manages to be arrogant...

IC:

His Most Catholic Imperial Majesty Philippe III is disappointed with the Kaiser's ingratitude. Blood is very strong, Ferdinand, and you cannot reject it at a whim.

It is also very easy to shed, and I remind you that a tongue, as opposed to a sword cannot be put back into a scabbard, and once unleashed the words will be beyond your control and the consequences might be tragic.

I also wish to remind you that thoughtless action cost Kaiser Matthias - God have mercy on his soul - dearly, and You have only so much Germany to give away.

I will wait for your embassy, and hope that it is the tension of imminent attack that makes you be less careful in choosing your words.

[IrishArmenian]

Phillipe, now that you will have to march through French lands to attack your nephew. The King of France is just and good, and shall not allow your attacking the German forces on a whim.
Tsar Vasili, being a Christian sovereign, names his intentions: the true Tsar, Vasili, shall be recognized as such. Wladyslaw shall return to Poland with no harm done to his person. The Tsar will be given his lands in a respectable manner, and Phillipe will not touch a hair on Ferdinand's head!

[SwordsMaster]

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the new chapter when posting this, this refers to IrishArmenian's last post... Fuelling dissent in the East...


Whose side are you on, boyar? First you are allied to the Turk, and now you defend the Emperor.

And what do you know of my intentions for war? That I advise my Habsburg brother to measure his words before he speaks them is no more business of yours than your intentions for marrying your daughter is business of mine. I advise you, boyar to stay away from my family's intentions - You have your hands full fuelling dissent among the nobles of your own country.

And maybe you should also decide, for once who are you, a Christian who wants to be muslim, or a muslim who disguises as a Christian?

[Rodion Romanovich]

CHAPTER 13 - it is now: March 1st, 1615 AD
...the decisions made will affect the events from March 1st, 1615 AD to August 1st, 1615 AD

In the Holy Roman Empire, the war is drawing to an end. After the Kaiser negotiates peace with Denmark and the Netherlands, giving up moderate amounts of territory to appease them, only France and Brandenburg remain at war with the Kaiser. At the same time, the rumors of Ottoman forces approaching the weakened defenses at Vienna start circulating, culminating in an Ottoman declaration of war. The Pope tries to mediate between France and the Kaiser, officially in order to force a quick end to the war so the Catholics can face the approaching threat, but after failing to convince the French to announce their terms of peace and repeated French refusals to allow negotiations or announce any terms to the Kaiser's offers of surrender, excommunicates the French leader, officially for schism, heresy and apostasy, for aiding a Coalition of Protestants in fighting a Catholic Kaiser to enforce Protestant dominance in the Holy Roman Empire, then refusing to announce the terms of surrender to the Kaiser, then refusing to negotiate peace with the temporary self-proclaimed Kaiser Ferdinand until elected, thus not only aiding the Protestants against the Catholics, but also prolonging the war such that the city of Vienna ends up almost unguarded against the expected arrival of Ottoman forces. There are rumors of additional inofficial reasons weighing heavier than the schisms between Catholics caused by the French actions - including the Papacy attempting to gain control over matters of state by plotting with the Kaiser, taking advantage of the Kaiser's previous desperate military situation. The excommunication loses some of its impact by failing in timing, because by the time the excommunication is announced, the self-proclaimed Kaiser Ferdinand has already managed to solidify his position as Emperor-Elect by arranging a quick election, at which time the French have agreed to offer negotiations for peace. However the excommunication is well timed with the rising unrest among nobles - mainly Catholics - in France. Despite the legal measures to prevent Huguenot or Catholic nepotism in the assignment of offices in France, the Huguenots have in the last few years gained disproportionally much power and the Catholic nobles are increasingly discontent about the war in the Holy Roman Empire, which has gone from being a war against the Habsburgs to gradually become a war serving only the interest of the Huguenots and Protestants. There is huge discontent among French Catholics about a war whose terms of peace include no gain of land for the nobles, no weakening defeat of the Kaiser, ruthless pillaging of Catholic German cities but merciful treatment of the Protestants encountered. An almost strictly religious war fought in defense of Protestants against Catholics, using mostly French Catholic lives, to grant wealth and power to few but the French Huguenots.

In response to the excommunication, the French quickly reorganize their government to remove the excommunicated Sully from power in order to outmanouver the Pope. Contrary to Sully's intention, this only taken as a sign of weakness by the Catholic nobles in France, however they do not revolt but instead put their hopes to the now almost mature heir, King Louis XIII, whose rise to power they initially support. Louis XIII however quickly turns out determined to continue negotiating with the Kaiser on the terms suggested by Sully, and begin his reign by challenging the Pope and ignoring the demands of the French Catholic nobles. Seeing this, the Papacy offers to coronate the new Emperor-Elect of the Holy Roman Empire to Emperor by the traditional coronation ceremony that existed before Charles V. Ferdinand accepts the offer, and the kings of Spain and Poland announce that they will attend the ceremony. The French king, trying to further challenge the Papacy, responds by changing their terms of peace with the Emperor-Elect, now forcing a more humiliating than weakening peace treaty whose conditions include German separation and isolation from the Pope and the Catholic church, and forbidding Ferdinand from attending the coronation in Rome. The German Catholics can't accept this, and the Catholic League quickly declares the peace treaty, along with the Emperor-Elect Ferdinand, invalid and illegal. As the French troops withdraw to the garrisons of Strassbourg, Trier and Metz to wait for the Kaiser to assemble the tribute for the war, the power balance in the region shifts in favor of the Catholic League, whose army is significantly stronger than any of the forces controlled by either the Protestants or the Emperor, and they gather many new recruits among the refugees from Trier and Mainz. Also many of the Protestant are hesitant to the terms of the peace, which while promising decentralization and religious tolerance for Protestants, are humiliating enough to make sure that peace can't last for long. The relations in the Protestant Union between Brandenburg and her allies are also severed as Brandenburg makes separate peace with Ferdinand on the conditions of independence for Brandenburg, ignoring all of the wishes of the remaining kurfürsts in the Protestant Union. In January, in the Protestant North, the remaining parts of the Protestant Union, along with Rhineland-Pfalz to the south, declare their independence from the Holy Roman Empire, hoping that the Emperor-Elect will be unable to respond to their revolt, weakened by the current situation. The French terms forbidding the coronation of Ferdinand in Rome also stirs up discontent abroad, after both the Spanish and Polish kings have arrived in the city with their courts and gifts only to find out that the Emperor-Elect has been forbidden to attend the ceremony. Afraid that this humiliation would direct the increasingly cordial Pact of Catholics for the defense of Vienna (denoted "The Holy League" by the Pope) against both France and her allies, the Swiss Confederation withdraws their permission for French troops to send supplies through their territory, and the Swiss forces who took part in the war are also called home shortly before the time when they were to be formally disbanded. By the withdrawal of the support from the Swiss, and the French departure from the Holy Roman Empire (including departing from the Protestant allied forces from within the HRE), the French forces are reduced by 10,000 men, to slightly above 45,000 men. 15,000 French men quickly withdraw to garrisons in Franche-Comte, Luxembourg, Metz and Trier to wait for the Kaiser to assemble the tribute for the war. With the growing unrest at home, the partly threatened supply, and the reduction in numbers, General Duc de Rohan orders the remaining over 30,000 men into a forced march back to France to assist the loyal garrisons - La Rochelle, Navarre, and the King's Guard de la Gascoigne, and preventing the other garrisons from joining the now open Catholic revolt. The French king, having misjudged the magnitude of the discontent, has refused to take any further measures to strengthen his position at home, and soon the garrisons in both Marseilles and Paris are threatened. By late February, the troops returning from the Holy Roman Empire pass through Franche-Comte and Luxembourg, before splitting up to march for Marseilles and Paris, respectively, by the direct orders from the king. Duc de Rohan leads half of the remaining over 30,000 men (after leaving arrisons in Luxembourg and Franche-Comte) towards Paris, but the march is plagued by desertion and undisciplined pillaging and he is forced into taking harsh measures to enforce the discipline among the remaining troops. The splitting of the army into two parts weakens his control over the lack of discipline in the southern army, and it is with little information about the condition of the total armed forces that he retreats towards Paris, giving command over the southern force to another Huguenot.

At the same time, the Catholic forces for the defense of Vienna, by the Pope denoted "The Holy League", assemble near the city. The Austrian forces have filled the city with stockpiles and evacuated many of the civilians. The approximately 3,000 men who are already garrisoning the city are reinforced by 5,000 Austrian volunteers and a core of 500 professionals from the Catholic League. Outside the city, Ambrogio Spinola assumes overall command of the forces, including a small force of Polish husaria, Spanish tercios, Austrian and Catholic League forces, joined by a 250 men large force of Papal Swiss Guard, nominally serving under the Spanish King in order to not break the peace treaty of the French-German war. Hetman Stanislaw Zolkiewski takes direct command over the assembled cavalry forces outside the city. The Holy League forces inside the city thus number 8,500 men, while outside the city there is so far less than 10,000 Imperial, 10,000 Austrian and Hungarian of which many are mere levies, 1,000 Polish levies, 2,000 husaria and 20,000 Spanish troops, for a total of 43,000 men. The Ottoman force arrives in the middle of February, announcing their arrival by loud trumpets and drumrolls. Zolkiewski quickly scouts out their position and estimates them to nearly 150,000 men, including musicians, war elephants and a huge set of heavy artillery. They are also accompanied by a small force of around 5,000 Transylvanian troops, among which 2,000 are Hungarian hussars. The Ottoman force consists of around 30,000 Jannissaries, 30,000 light cavalry, 5,000 heavy cavalry, 50,000 levy infantry, 45,000 support troops of various kinds, 11 war elephants and a huge amount of artillery pieces. The Ottomans set up camp close to the city and begin siege. Initial patrol skirmishes between the cavalry forces end in several minor victories for the Holy League forces, who have set up camp far from the city to be able to prevent being forced to commit to a field battle. By the end of the month, the Catholic League sends 5,000 men to reinforce the army of the Holy League, but not long afterwards the Ottomans are reinforced by 5,000 more Transylvanian troops, including 3,000 Hungarian hussars.

In the beginning of the winter, the Savoy also draws the attention of both the Spanish and French Kings. A marriage between Spain and the Savoy is announced, and Spain demands the Genoese exile government, the Medicis, exiled from Savoy and handed over to Spanish authorities. However shortly after the marriage is announced, the French king increases the French garrison present in the Savoy by an earlier agreement - 3,000 French troops enter Nice. Shortly afterwards, the Medicis escape from the Savoy into France. The Duke of Savoy denies involvement in their escape, referring to the weakened Savoyan military presence at home due to the war in the HRE. The French send an expedition to Corsica, and find the island empty. They return with French forces at about the same time that also Spanish forces land on the island. The French withdraw immediately after seeing the Spanish presence on the island.

In Russia, Wladyslaw takes a loan from France, corresponding to the upkeep cost of 3,000 mercenaries. Around 3,000 men are left to garrison Moscow, while almost 10,000 march into Tver and set up a Wladyslaw-loyal garrison there, then continue towards Pskov, putting the city under siege. In the meantime, Vassili takes Novograd by force with a mere 2,000 men, putting a small rebel garrison in the city. In Poland, the Sejm agree to a tax raise in October. At Riga, the situation remains a deadlock. Although some Polish troops leave, the Polish force is still of superior strength for a field battle, and sets up camp near the city. Light cavalry patrols all ways out of the city, and the Swedish force is compelled to use their ships to supply their forces. During the night, Polish infantry try to destroy Swedish ships by small fireships. One Swedish warship is set on fire and starts tilting after being unable to immediately put out the fire. In the morning, some of the Swedish ships run into underwater obstacles and several ships nearly collide. While the Swedish ships try to solve the chaos by turning around and sailing out onto deeper water, the Polish forces launch an assault on Riga, sending in first the infantry mercenaries, then the Polish troops. Although not all of the defenses of Riga are repaired, the Swedish light cannons inflict casualties at a high rate on the mercenaries who lead the assault. The Polish assault is aborted quickly enough to keep casualties below 200 men, most of them among the mercenaries. The underwater obstacles are difficult to clear in the cold water, and the supply situation of the Swedish troops gets critical. In November, the ships eventually manage to clear the underwater obstacles and make contact with the garrison again, after it has considered surrender. Later during the siege, the Swedish troops make attempts to bring their artillery forward or even march out with cover of the many waterways, but are unable to inflict more than a very small number of casualties until compelled to withdraw by the aggressively patrolling Polish light cavalry formations. The Polish main camp is set up next to open ground that is ideal for the Polish cavalry.

Danish troops are moved to the newly acquired territories to garrison Lübeck and Hamburg while also covering the construction of a series of forts at the Elbe west of Hamburg, and another at the Flensburg-Sonderborg line further north. The project is aided by Dutch engineers payed 200% of their normal wage. Danish-Norwegian settlers found a small city on the northern Baltic coast as per the treaty with Sweden of 1611 AD. An expedition of 3 warships and 2 merchants is also sent to Greenland for reconnaissance. A Danish-Norwegian East India Company is founded. It is state-independent, however King Christian IV holds a large percentage of the shares. The Company buys 5 merchant ships from Denmark. Denmark also sell 2 warships to Brandenburg and 1 warship to Spain according to treaty. Simultaneously, Dutch troops occupy the lands ceded from the HRE by the peace treaty. Dutch use harsh actions to counter pillaging and lack of discipline. The Stadtholder also confirms the Dutch law of no state religion, and declare that there will be harsh punishments to all further religious conflict. The armed forces scatter riots in several cities and capture 300 men and women taking part in the unrest. On the North Sea, Protestant Coalition ships from Denmark, the Netherlands and England take part in a naval manouver in January. Almost 30 warships take part in the exercise.

Apart from the operations at Vienna, there are also operations against the Ottomans being carried out in the Mediterranean. Privateers and Spanish ships raid Ottoman ships, and in February a small Spanish force lands at the Suez, while another, larger, Spanish force is landed on Cyprus. The force on Cyprus quickly captures several strongholds by the element of surprise and scatter a smaller Ottoman militia army of 4,000 men, taking numerous prisoners. The Ottoman militias fight guerilla warfare while Spanish naval forces raid the coastlines of the Middle East to supply the land forces on Cyprus. Another, small, Spanish force is landed near Athens, where its supporting warships try to intercept and sink Ottoman transports from Anatolia to the forces at Vienna, while the land forces try to capture and garrison the city. The Spanish naval forces are scattered and isolated from each other.


BRANDENBURG

1. the Protestant Union is disappointed that you declared separate peace with Ferdinand and ignored their wishes entirely in the peace treaty, while negotiating for your own independence. Your peace treaty could however still not be declared anything but a defeat, now that you have to pay a tribute to the Kaiser.
a. support the other revolting parts of the Protestant Union. Together you could muster maybe 10,000 men, 15,000 men at most, hopefully holding back the Kaiser long enough to make it impossible for him to resist the claims of all of you for independence, and ending his claims for tribute from you. Hopefully Denmark will refuse to intervene despite their peace treaty including an obligation to assist the Kaiser in case Brandenburg breaks the law and breaks the peace
b. as a, but also try to rally foreign support for the renewed war. Denmark, England, France, the Netherlands or Sweden could perhaps assist you
c. don't support the rebels. This will mean losing most of your influence in the Protestant Union, but make the Kaiser lose his casus belli towards you. You will be able to use the peace to recover from the previous war
d. as c, but change your mind and start supporting the rebels if the Kaiser attacks you again. If he doesn't attack, proceed as in c
e. something else, specify what


ENGLAND

1. the situation in France and the HRE. The French king could end up being pressured hard by the Catholics and be forced to flee to the Huguenot strongholds, from where he will have to fight the Catholics until reestablishing the order in the country. If he and/or the Huguenots lose, ruthless persecution of the Huguenots may follow. Defending the French King and the Huguenots could weaken the Pope and the Catholics, as well as ensure Huguenot dominance in France. Choose one or more compatible options:
a. send the French King your support, and try to rally support from the rest of the Protestant Coalition
b. as a, but make demands on the French king, now that he is weakened
c. take advantage of the situation to conquer the previously French claimed territories in South Africa, and/or part of their colonies in America
d. attack French ships having joined the Catholic rebels, seeking to capture as many of the ships as possible. Do it under the pretence of helping France, but keep the ships
e. attack ships of the French navy that haven't rebelled. Beware that because the French have made all merchants obliged to serve with their ships in the case of war, you are formally also allowed to attack French merchants. However doing so could still have negative consequences, changing the present international naval policy of giving free passage to merchants into a policy of more total war

2. the Ottomans
a. use the war as an opportunity to retake Cork from Spain, and/or attack the Spanish silver fleet (if they are sending any this year, they may have cancelled it due to the operations against the Ottomans in the Mediterranean)
b. don't do anything
c. send a small force of say 2,000 mercenaries to formally assist the Holy League at Vienna
d. send a large force of say 10,000 mercenaries to assist the Holy League for one year


FRANCE

1. the revolts. Duc de Rohan is on the way to Paris with 15,000 men, but you know little about the current situation regarding how many troops that are still loyal and which letters with orders have at all reached the different garrison commanders over the country and not been intercepted by rebels. The Guard de la Gascoigne, and the garrisons of Navarre and La Rochelle are still almost certainly loyal and the contact with them in still intact. The reason for the revolt seems to be just as much a desire for increased influence among the nobles, as discontent with the rather anti-Catholic policy. The excommunication probably had little direct effect, but in the eyes of the less educated, its timing together with a revolt which was going to take place anyway could very well have the effect of strengthening the prestige of the Pope. The excommunication also had indirect effects in the growing cordial relations between other Catholics, which adds fear of foreign threat to discontent and greed among the Catholic nobles. If the revolt continues for too long, it could draw outside powers to interfere with it, undermine the prestige of the French King, and/or make it impossible to provide the forces necessary to collect the tribute from Ferdinand
a. flee to La Rochelle or Navarre. The garrisons, along with most of the naval forces outside, are still loyal and this will ensure your safety for now, however makes it likely for you to lose influence among the Catholics since La Rochelle is both symbolically and literally the center of the growing Huguenot dominance in France
b. negotiate with the rebels before it's too late. Assemble the Estates-General, do anything to delay the revolts from reaching Paris, before Duc de Rohan arrives. Once he arrives, quickly assess the situation, gain more information about the revolt (this will come as a PM before next turn if you choose this option, or any similar option), and try to beat it by equal shares of force and acceptance to their demands
c. flee eastwards, to meet up with Duc de Rohans' army. If you don't find it you could end up caught in hostile territory, but if you find it you could lead it in person against the rebels. Since the army contains Catholics, it would lower the risk of accusations of being anti-Catholic and pro-Huguenot compared to fleeing west to La Rochelle or Navarre
d. something else, specify what

2. relations with the Pope and the accusations of anti-Catholic policies
a. try to appease the Pope. The current unity of the other Catholics at Vienna could develop into something dangerous for a France that has been remarkably anti-Catholic for the last years. A "walk to Canossa" of some form could end the danger of the Holy League alliance turning on France. It would strengthen the Pope's authority somewhat, but also leave him no choice but to recall the excommunication and actively make sure France doesn't become victim of Catholic wrath. Finally, it would undermine those elements of the revolt that are against anti-Catholic policy.
b. don't appease the Pope. It's likely that he will wish to interfere in more state matters than this particular incident if he gains too much influence. Do nothing about the matter yet, and concentrate on putting down the Catholic revolts in France by other means first
c. suggest the foundation of a French state church, much like the Anglican church. This wouldn't end the danger of the Holy League alliance, and with the more difficult borders France as opposed to England has to defend, along with the strong Catholic majority in France, it would be a much more risky manouver than the foundation of the Anglican church was. At worst it could turn France into a mess of outside interventions and civil war, at best it would undermine the prestige of the Pope and strengthen France
d. use your fleet to land troops in Rome. Try to besiege the Vatican and capture the Pope. At the same time harshly put down the revolts at home. The operation would require at least 7,000 loyal troops, 22 merchants for transport, and a few warships to escort them. The choice of loyal troops however presents a problem - while the Huguenots are likely to support this anti-Catholic policy, a capture of the Pope by an almost purely Huguenot force would undermine the effect of the whole operation, while finding Catholics willing to carry out the mission could be difficult until the situation at home is better assessed, especially if the revolts are put down too harshly and without plenty of measures taken to appease the nobility
e. try to get Protestant assistance from abroad for enforcing your policies against the Catholic noble revolts. This would anger the Catholics even more, and perhaps turn the Holy League against you, but secure Huguenot safety, but also Huguenot dominance. However as long as the Huguenot nepotism doesn't occur in combination with anti-Catholic policies, the situation will probably not spiral into revolt. Both the Netherlands and England could perhaps be prepared to assist you in this fight.
f. force those Catholics in your court and government that are still loyal to assist you and convince the nobles to end their revolt. This will cost influence with them. Do this in combination with any of the other options

3. the Holy Roman Empire/German Empire. Collection of the tribute, the Catholic League and the German revolts
a. secretly support the revolting Protestant Union regions and try to convince Brandenburg to do the same
b. send back large forces to France as soon as possible to be able to collect the tribute, or hire mercenaries to strengthen the garrisons at Metz, Strassbourg and Trier
c. with your garrison in Trier, capture the Archbishop there. It takes 4 votes to unseat the Emperor-Elect and since the last vote was won by no more than 4 votes, the captured Archbishop, who most likely voted for Ferdinand, would then prevent the necessary 4 votes for unseating this Emperor-Elect, who has made clear that he will pay the tribute to France and perhaps is better than whatever alternative is chosen
d. don't do anything, just passively wait for the tribute, and defend the garrisoned cities if they come under attack

4. the defense of Vienna
a. don't send any support
b. send a small force of maybe 2,000 men for the sake of propaganda. They won't affect the result much
c. send a large force, maybe 10,000 men or more.

5. the Medicis and relations with Spain. The Medicis being in France, along with the revolts in France, could be a casus belli for Spain, and presents a good opportunity to strike a weakened France. How will you solve the situation and please Spain, if they demand the Medicis exiled?


HRE and AUSTRIA

1. you have no choice but to be a puppet of either France, or the Catholic League for the coming year or so. Next to the French army, which has mostly left now, the Catholic League army constitutes the largest force in the area. They demand that you revoke the terms of the French peace, including reestablished connections with the Papacy and Spain, as well as continuing to pay the taxes to the Holy Father. They offer to send 10,000 more men to the battle of Vienna if you grant their wishes. You can negotiate with the Catholic League by PM before deciding exactly what to do. They also suggest putting down the revolts of the Protestant Union before they grow in strength, offering 7,000 men for the task
a. do as the Catholic League demands. Break all parts of the French peace treaty, attend the coronation in Rome, and declare the treaty illegal by the word of the Holy Father and all true Catholics. Retrieve the tribute from Brandenburg as per the peace treaty, and let the Catholic League send 7,000 men to punish the revolts of the Protestant Union kurfürsts, but don't attack Brandenburg unless they try to break the peace treaty and assist the revolting kurfürsts. See option 2 for more info about the revolts. Rewrite the constitution, but rewrite it to be almost exactly what it previously was
b. try to balance between the incompatible demands of France and the Catholic League. Promise France that you are continuing to assemble the tribute, and call yourself German Emperor, but only do so until coronation to Kaiser by the Papacy - this would not formally mean breaking the alliance. Keep relations and taxes with the Papacy, gather the tribute from Brandenburg as per the treaty and recognize their independence, and allow the Catholic League to put down the revolts, while receiving more of their military assistance at Vienna. Rewrite the constitution, but rewrite it to be almost exactly what it previously was
c. follow the treaty with France, trying to request outside support for the defeating the Catholic League. Explain to France that you can't pay the treaty while the Catholic League forces ambush and take over the waggons carrying the tribute. Also try to gather support among the Protestant princes you were previously at war with. Perhaps they will forgive you and help you
d. officially pretend to cooperate with the Protestants while letting the Catholic League know that you don't. Ask for the French king to keep his troops in the Empire to help you enforce the treaty and defeat the Catholic League. If he withdraws, you have a good excuse to break all the terms of the peace treaty. If he doesn't withdraw, you will risk that your current problems get even worse
e. some other combination of all these things, specify what

2. the revolts
a. take advantage of the situation to renew your claims for defeating and outlawing the Brandenburg Elector. This would be against all the peace treaties, but if nobody can react it would be a sign of strength
b. put down the revolts but don't touch Brandenburg. However if Brandenburg supports the revolts, you could appeal to the treaty with Denmark in which they were obliged to assist the Kaiser if Brandenburg broke the law. It's possible that they after your negotiations by PM decide to send their assistance. Since Brandenburg is now independent, you could offer to divide Brandenburg with Denmark. Brandenburg has hopefully lost much of its support among the Protestant Union after their separate peace and ignoring the wishes of the other Protestant kurfürsts, so once the revolts are beaten, march for Brandenburg
c. ignore the revolts for now, but prepare to deal with them later
d. accept their declaration of independece, and try to forbid the Catholic League from putting down the revolts. Try to gather outside support from France
e. some other combination of all these things, specify what

3. plans at Vienna. Discuss with Spain and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth what plans to use for the coming season. Or simply leave overall command to Spinola as previously arranged (this means Spain will decide how your troops are used)

4. the new constitution. If you opted to make a new constitution, how would you suggest it to be?
a. keep it as much as the old one as possible. The consequences are then easiest to foresee
b. as a, but suggested which changes to make. Any change upsetting the current balance between Catholic and Protestant influence would be a controversial change which would be likely to cause revolt. However if not changing anything at all so that the Protestant influence remains smaller than the Catholic one, unless you can keep the Catholics more defensive and less offensive, it will mean continuation of the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism
c. suggest something new, it could create greater stability than the current one. Be careful to balance the various interests and their demands for guarantees of their safety

5. relations with Spain. You have a good chance of reestablishing good relations with Spain, now that they have sent their assistance to Vienna. Many also have the impression that the statements of your distancing yourself from France have been forced upon you by the French peace treaty. The possibilities to improve the relations will be gone if the rhetorical fights with Spain continue for too long. The current relations must after all be considered quite good, given the massive Spanish support at Vienna and the diversionary attacks in the Mediterranean.


NETHERLANDS

1. what to do about the people captured in the riots?
a. release them, granting full clemency
b. kill them all to make examples
c. inprison them for a while longer
d. something else, specify what

2. policy regarding French and German revolts. Use PM, public statements, or some option of military intervention

3. policy regarding Vienna


OTTOMAN EMPIRE

1. strategy at Vienna
a. try an assault as soon as possible, before your forces are worn down by the siege and raided supply lines
b. try to continue sieging the city, and force an engagement with the opposing force close to Vienna if possible. If not possible, just starve the garrison out.
c. send a detachment of your army to engage the Spanish forces who landed in Greece. They number about 12,000 men in total, but are highly professional and especially skilled at fighting cavalry. Decide the composition of your force to send there

2. assault & battle. Which troops will cover the rear during the assault? What will the tactics be for assault? Also, if there is a field battle with the Holy League, what will the tactics be?

3. strategy in the Mediterranean. Some suggestions for targets to consider:
i. defending the supply from Anatolia
ii. Greece - assembling a massive fleet to cover Greece and cut off the Spanish land forces there. If the Spanish naval forces remain scattered, and the force at Greece is forced into an engagement in the archipelagos outside Greece, the Ottoman galleys will be at their best, and likely to be victorious
iii. Cyprus - transport land troop support to defend the island before the last garrisons have been forced to surrender
iv. avoid battle altogether with your war fleet, if you think they are of more worth as a reserve. This could be done by keeping them in the Black Sea

4. Suez and Egypt. Within 2 months you would be able to assemble maybe up to 20,000 men including 10,000 Mamluks for the defense of the area . They could rather easily destroy the Spanish force at the Suez within 3-5 months of siege. Decide what to do and what goals to give the local commanders in the area


POLAND

1. Catholic refugees are requesting permission to settle in Poland after the conflicts in the HRE
a. give all who come permission to settle, but don't invite any more
b. as a, but invite more to come

2. make plans for the coming season at Riga, or a peace treaty

3. make plans for the coming season for Wladyslaw, unless you're pleased with his current plans

4. discuss with HRE and Spain about tactics at Vienna. Spain has overall command over the forces outside the city, but Polish Hetman Zolkiewski has overall command over the cavalry and raiding of the Ottoman supply and exposed forces and artillery until it is time for battle


RUSSIA

1. war with Wladyslaw. Make plans for the coming season
a. put the main effort at Novograd, Tver and Pskov, to strenghten your economical base and prevent Wladyslaw from doing the same. This would require sending at least 16,000 men, preferably more, to be able to have a chance to match Wladyslaw's troops in this region
b. put the main effort at besieging and assaulting Moscow, hopefully before Wladyslaw's campaigning troops return from the region at Tver, Pskov and Novograd. The raids in the area have ended, so your supply should be decent. You probably need to send at least 25,000 men here to be able to fight the garrison, the fortifications, and the risk of Wladyslaw's campaigning troops returning to defend Moscow
c. do nothing, for the fear of increased Polish intervention. This would cost influence among both the rebels and boyars on your side

2. Vienna. The forces you sent to aid the Ottomans seem to have deserted on the way.
a. send more troops, specify how many
b. don't send any more yet, Moscow must be retaken first


SPAIN

1. plans at Vienna. Make plans for how to defeat the Ottoman force outside the city. It has plenty of heavy guns, sapping charges, and military engineers, so it will likely be able to threaten the city quite fast. So questions to consider:
i. what is to be done in case the city falls?
ii. in case the city is assaulted?
iii. how much should the Ottoman forces be worn down before you should consider field battle with them?
- The other participants may have suggestions too, but Spinola has the overall command

2. make continued plans in the Mediterranean. Some targets/regions of campaigning to consider:
i. Greece
ii. Ottoman transports from Anatolia
iii. Cyprus
iv. raiding coastlines
v. the Ottoman war fleet
vi. protecting, supplying and cover your land forces, as well as guaranteeing you can navally extract them if needed
vii. scouting out the Ottoman naval forces with your smallest, fastest and most manouverable ships

3. the Medicis and relations with France. The Medicis being in France, along with the revolts in France, gives a Spanish casus belli, and presents a good opportunity to strike a weakened France. However outside attack may also strengthen the unity and end the internal conflicts faster. How will you solve the situation and force France to exile the Medicis?

4. the possible Savoy conflict. Will the French 3,000 man large garrison in the Savoy be tolerated after the royal marriage?
a. immediately try to have the French troops removed from Savoy
b. wait until after the marriage, then demand the French troops to leave
c. let the 3,000 French troops remain, but try to negotiate for the right to keep 5,000 Spanish troops there
d. don't bother about the situation
e. declare war on France over this issue, as well as formally also using their intolerance towards Catholics as excuse
f. something else, specify what


SWEDEN

1. plans at Riga. Withdraw? Hold with minimal force? Try to raid elsewhere? Note that your ships have learnt from the previous underwater obstacles and fire ships, and aren't likely to be taken by surprise similar to the last time if it is repeated at Riga. 1 of your ships were heavily damaged and has been sent to Revala where it is being repaired, while the remaining ships are outside Riga.

2. plans for aiding Vassili, before he loses his support over being unable to retake Moscow, or is forced to form an independent Nizny Novograd and accept Wladyslaw's Russia a separate country that he is unrelated to

3. the Danish movements at the North Baltic Coast
a. it is in accordance with the peace agreement from a few years ago, and should just be ignored
b. it could be the start of plans for a new war. Send a small force to pillage and burn farms in Scania to prevent Danish armies from supplying for a move on Stockholm
c. temporarily raise a stronger force for the home garrisons, by recruiting more homegrown forces as well as mercenaries


VENICE

1. intervene with the war against the Ottomans in any way? If so, how? Or intevene on their side? The war will disrupt almost all trade with the Ottomans for all countries for as long as it remains, so a quick end to it is probably benefitial for you.

2. relations with Spain, France and the Papacy. You could intervene in any of the existing conflicts or try to negotiate for more friendly relations with any of the countries involved in this. Spain could get dangerous if Venice doesn't adopt a policy of weakening her, but if she has no intention of hurting Venice she would go from harmless to dangerous if any policies of strengthening the enemies of Spain and weakening their allies were to be adopted.