The War of The Spanish Succession/Great Northern War

[Stig]

Got a question, what is the exact starting date?
After all Willem III reign in England ended it 1694.

Or am I playing as the small alliance England and the Dutch had?

[Lord Winter]

The starting date is 1700.

My sources say that it was just his wife that died in 1694, are you sure?

[Stig]

Yeah his wife died in 1694, which, according to our Dutch history books meant that he was no longer king of England, they however maintained an alliance against France, which attacked in 1701.

[Lord Winter]

This states actions of William after the death of Mary II. The next queen, Anne also did not asscend the throne untill 1702 (williams death). However if you think that it's more historcal to split them that can certainly happen to.

[Stig]

Well it will allow for another nation, and people really seem to be wanting to play this game.

[Csargo]

A.Can't really find anything about it.

B. Consists of mostly large Junker estates controlled by the nobles. The government collected l,533,000 thalers in 1689 from taxes. The government's monopolies on such things as salt and silk helped them increase the size of the standing army over the years. The army was used in turn to build structures and things like canals, ect.

C. The Army 80000 well trained proffesional soldiers and the navy I haven't found yet most likely extremely small.

D. None that I'm aware of other than the fact that Brandenburg is cut off from Prussia because of Poland's ownership of the strip of land between them. Also, the fact that Brandenburg is surrounded by powerful states: France, Austria, Poland, and Sweden.

I couldn't find anything about the Diplomacy of the time or about the navy.

[Lord Winter]

I am going to split England and The Netherlands, Stig can have first choice on which one he wants.

Don sorry to hear you won't be playing, Banquno sweden is open for you if you want it.

[SwordsMaster]

If Russia is still free, I'll take it...

[Warluster]

Bavaria

Leader

Maximilian II Emanuel
Maximilian II Emanuel (July 11, 1662 - February 26, 1726) was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last Governor of the Spanish Netherlands and duke of Luxembourg. An able soldier, his ambition led to conflicts that limited his ultimate dynastic achievements.

He was born in Munich to Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy (d.1676). His maternal grandparents were Victor Amadeus I of Savoy and Christine Marie of France. Christine Marie was the second daughter of Henry IV of France and his second wife Marie de' Medici.
House of Wittelsbach

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Regional Titles Owned:
Elector of the Holy Roman Empire
Duke of Bavaria
Governor of the Spanish Netherlands

Bavaria Info
Its capital if Munich. It borders Austria and the region of Switzerland. Also borders Hesse.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(From Wikipedia)

Diplomatic Stance
Is allied with France.
Is allied with Spain.
bad Relations with Austria,Britain and the Ottoman Empire.
Good relations with Brandenburg-Prussia.
Neutral with everyone else.


Economic Situation

Bavaria is flourshing, having just entered into a alliance with France, and closely allied with Spain because of marriage. The economy is enough to sustain Bavaria for many more years.

I could not find exact details.

Bavarian Military

Bavarian Orders
The principle orders and decorations of the Kingdom of Bavaria for military personnel were, for officers, the Military Order of Max Joseph and the Order of Military Merit and, for non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel (including officer candidates), the gold and silver Military Merit Medals and the Military Merit Cross. Unlike several German states, Bavaria had no decoration which was awarded without regard to rank (and thus comparable to the Prussian Iron Cross).
In addition to these awards, the Kingdom of Bavaria had a number of other orders . Among these were the Order of St. Hubertus (Haus-Ritter-Orden vom heiligen Hubertus), Bavaria's highest order, founded in 1444 and revived in 1708; the Order of St. George (Militärischer Haus-Ritter-Orden vom heiligen Georg), founded in 1729; the Merit Order of St. Michael (Verdienstorden vom heiligen Michael), founded in 1693 and revived in 1837 as Bavaria's principle peacetime merit order for services to the Crown; and the Merit Order of the Bavarian Crown (Verdienstorden der Bayerischen Krone), founded in 1808. More on these orders may be found here. Another order, although military, is not covered here due to its rarity, though I hope to remedy that at some point. This is the Military Medical Order (Militär-Sanitäts-Orden).
(From www.home.att.net)

I can't find anything on bavaria's Military.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

I'm very sorry to inform you that I'll be away for about ten days. If you could wait for me to return, it would be great. If not, then feel free to replace me if you so wish. My sincere appologies for any inconvenience caused.

Ruler
Peter the Great has been our ruler since 1682. He ascended to the throne the death of his weak and sickly half brother - Ivan V. His early reign has been eventful with many wars and conquests, especially against the Ottoman Empire and the Swedes. He dreams of revolutionising our country into a modern, significant, European power - based upon the styles of the West.

Diplomatic Stances
Russia is currently at war with Sweden.
Poor relations exist with the Ottoman Empire whom we have been at war with for many years previously. Most of the fighting was over ownership of Ukraine and the Crimea. Currently, a twenty year ceasefire exists and will expire in 1719.
Attempts have been made to ally with England, The Netherlands and Brandenburg. These were cut short when a plot was launched against our ruler, Peter the Great.
We are currently allied in the "Anti-Turkish League" with Poland and Austria.

Economic strength
Russia economy is poor. Although we are a large country we have a rather small population and very few people live in our rather small towns. Our grain yields are far behind those of the West, forcing most of our population to farm rather than work in any industries. We are, however, implementing large taxes upon peasants and on similar classes to create a larger national income.

Army and Naval Organization
Peter the Great, our Tsar, has modernised our military forces to a more Western European style. Our army is 300,000 strong and is made up of men conscripted into our forces for life by our feudal system. The majority of them are, however, poorly equipped. We have one naval base which allows us access into the Black Sea.

Russia's Problems
Our country's farming output is poor and our economy is not modernised like that of the west - we are still using a form of the outdated feudal system, which is not used in most modern European countries. Also the lower classes are dissatisfied with the high taxation and lack of freedom, the state has extreme control over almost everything, which has resulted in several uprisings over the past few decades. One of which almost resulted in the fall of our dynasty. Due to our rather primitive outlook, we are considered to be a backward and outdated state. We will need to update our systems if we are to survive economically in the contemporary world - we are reassured, however, that Peter the Great and his ambitions will solve many of these problems and aid us in reforming and improving our economy and it's outdatedness.

Sorry if this isn't quite right - I can't seem to find much on Russia's history.

[Tran]

This map of Europe at 1700 might help?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Or alternatively this one:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...urope_1700.jpg
.

[Franconicus]

Excellent maps!

This one may help too:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

DoH: Will there be an end of the game, a year when the story reaches its end? Will there be targets for the players?

[Tran]

Kingdom of England (in personal union with Scotland and United Netherlands/Provinces)



William III held England and the UP in a personal union, but it would be silly to say it formed one state. This would only have been the case if William had been an absolute monarch. On the other had we see that in the era of William III the armies and some leaders of it had become intertwined. Though William's death in 1702 would severe all formal ties, their common interests created a lot of goodwill and by it a very intense co-operation.

In this war we see them jointly hiring troops and bringing allies into the war and supporting them through subsidy treaties. To foreign politicians they appeared as a confederacy nicknamed the 'seapowers'. This close co-operation rested primarily on the co-operation between Heinsius and Marlborough that had already started before William's death. In their correspondence we can see them jointly directing foreign policy and coordinating the war effort of the two nations. John Churchill, later made Duke of Marlborough would also become the military leader of the joint armies (see 1702 for particulars). This is why 'the seapowers' continued to exist as an entity in international politics.



Since the peace treaty of Rijswijk in 1697 the position of William's Junto ministers had considerably weakened. From that time William and his government had been attacked on issues such as the size of the army, the influence of foreigners (Dutchmen and Huguenots) at his court, and his grants to his favorites. By the 1699-1700 session of Parliament it was clear that it would no longer be possible to govern with the Junto ministers.

The hostility of this parliament as long as the Junto was in power showed itself in many ways. From the start it had busied itself with an investigation into William's land grants in Ireland, and tacking it to a tax-bill. To the modern observer this might seem to have been a noble cause, but it was not. The Whig defense of the king was that if parliament was in anyway sincere it should also investigate the grants made in the reign (James's) that had been declared illegal. It did not and the Commons soon showed to be after the booty for itself. Anyway, a law annulling the grants of William was soon in the making. The insistence on the irresponsible reduction of the army was another affair that given its theoretic foundation (a standing army was seen as a tool of absolutism) can be explained as directed against the king. To top it of the Commons petitioned on 10 April 1700 that William should evict all foreigners from his councils. William did however get something useful out of 1699-1700 session, and that was the Common's ratification of the second partition treaty in March 1700. However sharply Portland and others were attacked for signing it without their knowledge. William was probably quite sick and tired of the Commons when he prorogued parliament on 11 April.

Perceiving the fact that his government would sink to impotence if he did not appoint Tories to take responsibility in government, William was prepared to change his course signaled by Somers dismissal. This became even more necessary when Queen Anne's only child died in July, overthrowing all plans for his and Anne's succession, and opening up perspectives for the pretender. After his return from the United Provinces in October 1700, William then held talks with Godolphin, Harley and Rochester. In these it was probably decided to appoint bring the Tories into the ministry, to make a new settlement for the succession, and to make some constitutional changes. When Philip of Anjou was proclaimed as king Felipe V of Spain on 16 November 1700 parliament was not willing to go to war. This probably had a lot to do with the financial troubles that had originated from the previous war. Parliament was thus all to willing to be reassured by Louis XIV's reassurances of not uniting the two empires, and Louis' envoys reported that the England would recognize Felipe V. Parliament was then dissolved on 19 December 1700

The English army

Short history of the English Army
From 1660 to 1684

Britain is an island and therefore has always had far more need for a strong fleet than for an army. For a long time this circumstance had naturally stiffened the English Parliament in its opposition to the idea of a standing army. The English Army was therefore of a quite recent creation. Apart from Cromwell's New Model Army the traditions of the British Army go back to 1660 when the Commons authorized the raising of a standing army to protect the restored King Charles II. This was the composition of the English army from 1660 till 1685:

* First Foot Guards, formed in 1656 by combining two older regiments 1)
* The Lord General's Regiment of Foot Guards, which had been Monck's Regiment of Foot of the NMA

* Royal Regiment of Foot, which returned to England for the restoration, Renamed to 1st Foot in 1751
* The Tangier Regiment was raised in 1661, In 1663 it absorbed two others Renamed to 2nd Foot in 1751
* The Holland regiment was formed in 1665 from English troops serving the Dutch. Renamed to 3rd Foot in 1751
* The 2nd Tangier regiment was raised in 1680. Renamed to 4th foot in 1751

* Four troops of Horse Guards (4th disbanded in 1683)

* The Earl of Oxford's Regiment, this was a cavalry unit of the NMA which became the Royal Horse Guards Blue in 1750
* The Tangier Horse, formed in 1661, in 1751 named 1st Regiment of Dragoons

From 1685 to 1688

The Monmouth rebellion was the opportunity James II needed to raise a larger army. He raised 9 new infantry regiments and 7 cavalry regiments. Raising extra regiments in times of crisis had been done before, but this time James succeeded in holding on to these extra units. The British army had become a serious military force after these units had been added:

* The Royal Regt of Fuzileers, in 1751 renamed to 7 Foot
* The Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment, in 1751 renamed to 8 Foot
* Henry Cornewall's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 9 Foot
* The Earl of Bath's Regiment, in 1751 renamed to 10 Foot
* The Duke of Beaufort's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 11 Foot
* The Duke of Norfolk's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 12 Foot
* Earl of Huntingdon's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 13 Foot
* Sir Edward Hales's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 14 Foot
* Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot, in 1751 renamed to 15 Foot
* The Queen's Regiment of Horse, in 1751 renamed to 1 Dragoon Guards
* Earl of Peterborough's Regiment of Horse, in 1751 renamed to 2 Dragoon Guards
* 4th Horse (Earl of Plymouth's), in 1751 renamed to 3 Dragoon Guards
* Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Horse, in 1751 renamed to 4 Dragoon Regiment
* Earl of Arran's Regiment of Cuirassiers, in 1746 renamed to 1 (Irish) Horse
* Shrewsbury's Horse, in 1746 renamed to 2 (Irish) Horse
* Duke of Somerset's Regiment of Dragoons, in 1751 renamed to 1 Dragoon Regiment

From 1688 to 1697

After the Glorious Revolution William III enlarged the army still further and began to engage it in serious warfare. The first pitched battle the English Army fought in Ireland was the battle of the Boyne. Here at least 15 infantry and 11 cavalry regiments fought the French and Irish. Other major engagements were the siege of Athlone and the battle of Aughrim. On the continent units were fighting in the war of the League of Augsburg. Here they fought in the battles of Walcourt, Steenkirk and Neerwinden and the 1695 siege of Namur. By the time of the peace of Rijswijk in 1697 England had a considerable and experienced army.

From 1697 to 1702

After the peace of Rijswijk parliament was bent on economizing. In December 1697 it stated that the English Army should count 7,000 men, the army in Ireland would count 12,000 men and that all regiments should consist of native Englishmen 2). Roughly this meant that excepting the abovementioned regiments all troops would be dismissed. It also meant dismissing 6 Scotch regiments (Lauder, Murray, Colyear, Strathnaver, Mackay and Hamilton), the Brandenburg Regiment, The Gardes du Corps (Blue Guard) and the (Dutch) Horse Guards, all of which returned to Dutch establishment. Especially cold hearted was the dismissal of the Huguenot regiments that had fought so valiantly for England.

Though the dismissal of the foreign troops was indeed executed we cannot be so sure about the native troops. Of the native English infantry regiments that William III had erected (later 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32) we find that most still existed in 1751, even though 5 had been disbanded for a time. This of course says nothing about the strength of these regiments or the number of companies they contained. Anyway, to me the actual effect of the Commons' dictate seems to have been somewhat less dramatic than one would expect.

The English Army in 1702

When the crisis of the Spanish Succession escalated the Commons were of course somewhat more motivated to invest in the army. Recently disbanded regiments were hastily reformed and new ones established. This meant that on 1 January 1702 the English army was composed like this: (Look here for an exact Order of Battle 3))

* The Household Cavalry; consisting of 5 independent troops and 1 regiment
* The Guards; consisting of 2 regiments of Foot Guards
* The Cavalry consisting of 12 Dragoon Regiments
* The Infantry consisting of 22 Foot regiments (14 regiments would be added in 1702)

Obviously the information is incomplete, and I might update them once I have found reliable sources
OOC: It looks like I'm going to have uneasy time with France

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

sure is quite here and in my PM box :-)

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Russia is concerned over a war which may result with Sweden. I wish to call another diplomatic conference which will hopefully result in a strong and meaningful ceasefire being signed between Denmark, Austria, Poland and Russia with Sweden. I, despite my current allegiances, do not want war and will only declare it if an attack is launched upon myself or one of my allies.

[Lord Winter]

Chapter II: A Brewing Storm


The following takes place between January 1st,1700 and March 31st, 1700

The pact to attack Sweden comes to nothing as no offensives are launched by Russia or Saxony. However the most shocking blow to the coalition is not the lack of any attacks but Denmark's attack on Mecklenburg with Swedish aid. An army of 16,000 Danish infantry, 4,000 Danish cavalry supported by 4,800 Swedish infantry and 1,000 Swedish cavalry crosses into the Duchy of Mecklenburg in late January. The advance at first is hindered by a Mecklenburgian army of 10,000 raiding its supply lines, but this obstacle is shattered at the battle of Wismand on February 23rd. By the end of March the main city of Rostock has fallen and the Duchy is in Danish hands. Danish forces have lost 900 infantry and 200 cavalry. The Swedes have lost 200 hundred infantry and 100 hundred cavalry.

Sweden has been aggressive on the Diplomatic Front, sending missions to Poland and Saxony. Both of these missions are aimed to raise distrusts in Augustus of Saxony
. The Polish mission tries to raise fear of the great Swedish army and promises that if Poland doesn’t follow their king in war it will be spared. So far the mission has had no effect besides a small decrease of support for Augustus in the Polish Diet. However in Saxony the mission to increase the anti Catholic feelings of the Protestant country meets more success, as a few riots by some of the Zealous Protestants occur. The Saxon Army manages to quickly restore peace and for now the riots are over. Sweden has also sent an mission to India to ask for permission from the Moughol empire to establish trading bases. The permission is granted for a payment equal to the upkeep of 5,000 men for the start of the year and a payment for the upkeep of 500 men ever year after. In Africa Sweden also establishes a colony to enter into the slave trade.

To the east the Austrian Empire has also launched its own offensive into Agusburg with an army of 10,000 foot and 2,000 cavalry. Augsburgian forces, of 7,000, mount a brave defense raiding supply lines and resulting to scorched earth tactics to slow the Austrian army. With the winter conditions these tactics are especially effective costing the Austrian army 1,200 causalities. By March the Austrians have forced the now weakened Ausbrugian army into Augsburg, which they now lay siege to.

The controversy over the Spanish throne has continued. Austria has demanded that Italy be handed over to them in payment for their candidate being passed over. So far Spain has only offered the Spanish Netherlands in return for the recognizing of Phillipe and help in paying off their debts. Europe has begin to take sides with Bavaria, Cologne, Savoy, Portugal and Brunswick-Wolffenbuttel siding with the two crowns of France and Spain. On the other side lays Austria, the rest of the German states and Brandenburg. The Seapowers have remained quite on the issue, although England has landed an army of 30,000 in the Netherlands. Hightning the tensions, France has begun to mobilized its war time army.

In the mean time the French and the English have been aggressive in colonizing the Islands to the south of Florida. Sweden also sends a colony and manages to colonize a few of the Islands that the French and English haven't already taken. France and Russia have announced the transfer of 9,000 Russian peasants a year to live in French North America in exchange for French instruction in Civil enginnering for 50 Russians. The new governor of the French Colonies has instructed to increase the infrastructure of the colonies and begin to Assimilate the Natives. France has also established a base in South Africa for repair and resupley on their Indian bound Ships. In addition a French mission has begun to colonize the small islands in the Indian ocean. France has also declared that all Indians will have the same rights as French citizens

In other news the Ottoman empire has begun a reformation of the army, by switching to the flintlock and shifting more power away from the Janissaries. The process will take years but it will be aided by a payment of 5,000 French muskets a year and French help in training for the French right to establish bases at Benghazi, Crete, and Aden. Spain starts construction on a new fortress, to guard Gibraltar. The construction will be overseen by the French genius Vaubun. Sweden and france has started work on improving the canon and musket. France also begins to look into changing the design of their war ships. An academy of the arts is founded in Sweden, while an science academy is established in Paris. The French academy is part of an overall push to improve education. It is also marked by the introduction of compulsory education. Spain also opens a military academy.

[Lord Winter]

Notes: Unless if you speficy that that you want recuritment announced I did not include it. If you want more info PM me about it, If your nation knows it I'll answer it. I will also begain PM'ing descsions so I can put more info in them.

[Tran]

You can just look at the map in the first page...

[Lord Winter]

Trans right from the south theirs an aproch.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

This was my first IH. I was Austria. Good times .