Fall of Lithuania: The Stage (AAR)
Lithuania reached recognition at the dawn of the 12th century when the Baltic tribes united as one ruling government. A pagan nation surrounded by a thoroughly Christianized Europe; Lithuania was subject to ridicule and slander by its neighboring catholic countries. As if to prove their jibes wrong, Lithuania continued to swell. Soon it had grown large enough to threaten the holdings of the Republic of Novgorod and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became a reckoning force among the northern European states.
Two orders, however, would rise to challenge this pagan nation. The northern lands separating the Grand Duchy from Novgorod, known as Estonia, was put under the control of a Christian army known as the Livonian Order. To add to Lithuanians troubles was the rise of the Teutonic Order. An organization of fanatical Christian warriors, they saw Lithuania as little more than a haven for heathens and thieves.
The Teutonic’s hatred only grew when the Lithuanian Dukes won the decisive Battle of the Sun and tossed the Livonian Order into chaos. Never ones to let opportunity slide however, the Teutonic Order offered their swords to the surviving Livonian Order and absorbed them into their movement.
By the mid-half of the 12th century the Teutonic Order had developed into its own demi-nation and was making destructive raids into Lithuanian territory at the behest of Poland. Hoping to weaken Lithuanian to further its own gains, Poland had requested the aid of the Teutonic Knights, in hopes of abusing their religious fervor. However, it would be the Teutonic Order, not Poland, that would gain from Lithuanians misfortune and it soon became apparent that the Teutonic’s were in a position to overshadow Poland as they took up holding to the east and north of Lithuania. Poland could only sit and stew, as it paid deep penance, for the demons it had unleashed.
Meanwhile, in the far north regions of Europe, the lords of the Baltic States of Denmark and Norway, set aside their internal feuds and placed their eyes on conquest outside their lands. Though the Nordic people had abandoned their pagan ways, their warriors were still every bit as blood thirsty, and ferocious as the famed barbarian pirates of old. It would simply be a matter of time before their long ships appeared on the horizon, and only a matter of time before the city streets of the Baltic coast ran red with blood.
Meanwhile, in the northeast, the sleeping giant of the Republic of Novgorod began to stir. This powerful and independent state was beginning to stretch its legs once more and make full use of its trade and mercantile strength. A mercantile strength that if used correctly, could quickly become a military one…
In the south, the outriders of the great Mongolian Empire settled in the foreign European plains in what had once been the territory of the Hungarian Empire. Though a mere token of the force brought to bear against countless other nations during the rise of Genghis Khan, these settlers were still a threat worth respecting.
Finally, in the far west, sat the the outer holdings of the Holy Roman Empire. Just as the Livonian Order was the arm of the Teutonic Order, so too was the Teutonic Order an arm of the Holy Roman Empire. As the Teutonic Knight’s grew in strength and daring the Holy Roman Empire rubbed its hands in glee and smiled widely with bloodstained teeth. The last pagan nation in Europe would soon fall, and they would reap both the spoils of god and man in compensation for their efforts.
The year is 1284. Lithuania stands upon the edged of destruction. As the nations of Eastern Europe marshal their armies, and draw their lines of battle, only one thing could be cetain certain.
This would be an age of Total War.