91 years after the first self-proclaimed Kaiser laid out his plans to his council, Austria has advanced further than anyone thought possible. With nearly 150,000 troops at his back, drilled to perfection, the Austrian Empire is the dominant power in Europe. In the past 40 years or so, Austria has gone through several radical changes to ensure its survival. The occupation of Baden and Wurttemburg went remarkably well, with both nation-states throwing their weapons down to welcome their Austrian overlords with open arms. Of course, both vassals now live in complete safety against any oppressors and their citizens were given the full rights of Austria, entitling them to live on farms and work the land for the Kaiser.
Something was troubling the Kaiser, however. The Italian people that had been conquered by his grandfather were restless. While open rebellion had not yet broken out, they were clearly not happy with Austrian rule. To prevent any future unrest issues, the Venetian Doge was contacted and the lands were given to a nation which styled itself as having the ability to unite the Italian peoples. This helped the Austrians out immeasurably; no longer did they have to worry about poor quality Italian troops being conscripted into the Imperial Army, a tidy profit of 300 ducats was made for the loss of the lands and the Southern border was secured against the aggressive unifiers of Italy. This was not the only time the Austrians had been involved in Italy, though. The Swiss Army marched into Lombardia way back in 1419 and made the region their own, but the Venetians were angered by this. Despite the Kaiser telling the Swiss he would guarantee them, this one time he would have to fail them. The Venetian army charged into the Swiss mountains without any Austrian troops to resist them, confusing the Swiss and sending their armies into disarray, as they lacked the support of their allies. The Venetians took Lombardia back into what they called "rightfully Italian lands" and as a gift, Croatia, Görz and and Krain were ceded to the Austrian Empire.
With the death of the 3rd Kaiser came the incredible news of the lands united. The Hungarian, Ansbachian, Palatinate and Bavarian nobles felt compelled to join forces fully with the Austrian Empire, consolidating the Empire into a glorious force that stood watch over Central Europe. With a combined force of 100,000 troops, this was quickly raised with the help of 50,000 Bavarian "volunteers" to bolster the ranks. With the loss of the Palatinate as an elector, the Kaiser declared himself an elector of his own Empire, a truly stunning diplomatic move which all other Holy Roman Empire states entirely agreed with. But trouble was brewing in the North. The Failed Crusaders were pushing against the Austrian's borders, angering the Austrians incredibly. For 3 months straight, talks were conducted in neutral ground; Frankfurt, Trier, Paris, Rome were all meeting places for the two opposing powers. Eventually the Crusaders caved in, handing over Wurzburg to the Austrian Crown but the tensions remained high for the rest of the year. It took a wild party in Mainz to reconcile the two leaders.
And now for the war on Burgundy. Many European leaders criticised the Kaiser for this stroke of genius, and the Kaiser would like to take the time to explain his actions in this bi-centennial report. It was noted that the Burgundians were making a grab for the Imperial throne, guaranteeing them a strong military base to recruit from and the infrastructure to maintain those troops for a comparatively low cost. This would have thrown the balance of power in Europe into complete disarray, shifting all power to the West. Moving power to the Burgundians would have destabilised the Spanish bid for Southern France, resulting in a weak Spain and a stronger Burgundy. Austria would be weakened immeasurably, leaving Central Europe open to any power hungry neighbours and the independence of the Swiss would be thrown down the proverbial toilet. Further, the Baltic Crusaders would be at the mercy of the Russians. This simply could not be tolerated, and so information was gathered on the state of the Burgundian armies and a huge force was gathered to be thrown into the French heartland. Spain was notified of the upcoming invasion and they stormed the southern Burgundian lands, annexing them for their own gain. The Austrian armies launched into their favourite type of warfare, storming the citadels of France and looting and pillaging as they went. Their demands were simple: the release of several HRE states and forcing the Burgundians to stop influencing the state of Trier. Russian armies had not learnt their lesson from the previous Russo-Austrian war and have sent 50,000 troops into Eastern Hungary in a bid to stop the war. This will be met on the battlefield and the Russians will be sent running back to their mud huts in the Urals. Only when Burgundy has been prevented from altering the balance of power in Europe can peace be made. Until next time...
Onwards, glorious soldiers of the Reich!
Re: Euopa Universalis EU/US Multiplayer
Originally Posted by IZob
Austrian dominace in the HRE is only alive because good nations allow it.
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