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 Chapter 19: The Crimean War (1550 - 1560) Relations with Morocco continue to deteriorate, as Rafiq continues to neglect his duties as ruler.  Direnc Fatemi criticizes him harshly for his neglect in front of the Moroccan delegation. Unlike his more forgiving ancestor, Rafiq is unwilling and unable to let such an insult go unanswered and has Direnc executed.  Also sent to the chopping block is his brother-in-law, the husband of his younger sister, who is accused of having shared state secrets with Persian agents.  With the executions over with, Rafiq returns to the only governance task he takes seriously: Building up Azerbaijan's military infrastructure.  In 1551, war breaks out between Armenia and Thessalonica, and Rafiq sees a chance for glorious conquest.  Not against Armenia though, who have their independence guaranteed by the Russians, but against the tiny Principality of Cherson on the Crimean peninsula.  War is declared and Azerbaijan, Morocco, Erzerum, Kurdistan and Russia go to war with Rhodes, Thessalonica, Armenia, Crimea and Pereyslavl.  Rafiq immediately marches north to engage the Crimeans, but is defeated in battle outside Kharkov.   Armenian and Rhodian armies are swarming into Erzerum, and Rafiq decides to let the Turks fend for themselves, concentrating all his armies against Crimea.  The army of Cherson is defeated and destroyed in the Battle of Azow...  ... and not long thereafter, the Crimean army is destroyed by the combined forces of Azerbaijan at Kharkov.  With the enemy armies gone, Rafiq sends siege forces to begin the occupation of Crimea and then turns back south.  In Abkhazia, he attacks and destroys the Rhodian army, which had boldly advanced deep into Azeri territory.   Pressing further south, he routs and destroys an Armenian army of 22000 men at the Battle of Imereti.   This defeat is enough to convince the Armenians to sue for peace and withdraw their armies from Erzerum.  Cherson falls after a siege lasting almost two years.  With no enemies left to speak of, Rafiq is free to dictate whatever peace he desires. His terms are harsh: The annexation of Cherson and the ceding of the entire Crimean peninsula to Azerbaijan.  Rhodes, alone left in the war, quickly ratifies the peace, ending the Crimean War.  The provinces conquered are wealthy land, with some of the richest soil in the known world, and should prove fine additions to the Azerbaijani empire once the unrest settles.  Returning home to Tabriz, Rafiq celebrates his victory by using the war spoils to increase the size of the standing army, from 32000 to 40000 men.  He also resumes his military reforms, improving the general quality and discipline of the army.   News arrive of a new faith spreading quickly through India. The 'Sikhs' as they call themselves have gained renown as fierce warriors, and the Raja of Mysore is rumored to have converted to Sikhism in the hopes that their military techniques will help him remain independent of the Mughals.  A long war with Denmark has left Sweden exhausted to the point where their northernmost territories have broken off, proclaiming the independent Principality of Sameland.  Rafiq passes away n 1559 and his son Muhammad takes the throne.  After drinking most of his youth away, Muhammad was transformed by a near-death experience that left him in mortal fear for the state of his soul. He now surrounds himself with holy men and lives in constant fear of sickness and injury. His newfound religiousness has left him intolerant of heathens and heretics alike, and he immediately raises taxes on Azerbaijan's non-Shi'a subjects and enacts a number of laws that restrict the construction of churches and synagogues.  His intolerance also damages relations between himself and his subject nation, who are less than happy at being referred to as 'unbeliever heretics'.  His brother Murad is the heir apparant, a man who lives a secluded life in the harem and of whose personality and talents little is known.    (That's still Mali, new color to better tell them apart from Morocco) Wiz fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Oct 8, 2011 |
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Oct 8, 2011 01:34
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No! Our tolerance!
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Oct 8, 2011 01:40
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Some excellent developments in Crimea. Though Russia's probably less than happy about us blocking their southern expansion.
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Oct 8, 2011 01:41
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Kill the intolerant bastard!
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Oct 8, 2011 01:46
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Pakled posted:Some excellent developments in Crimea. Though Russia's probably less than happy about us blocking their southern expansion. Something tells me Azerbaijan isn't going to be able to hold onto its new conquests what with the new crackdowns the sultan is instituting.
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Oct 8, 2011 01:52
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Wiz posted:
Have you thought about doing something similar for Great Britain/Burgundy or are you just assuming Burgundy will form France soon?
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Oct 8, 2011 01:55
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Tsaedje posted:Have you thought about doing something similar for Great Britain/Burgundy or are you just assuming Burgundy will form France soon? I don't really want to change either of their colors because they fit the country so well.
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Oct 8, 2011 01:56
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How close is Burgundy to Francing it up?
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Oct 8, 2011 01:59
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BklynBruzer posted:How close is Burgundy to Francing it up? They need Bordeaux, so they would have to annex Gascony.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:01
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Seems kind of dumb that you need Bordeaux to form France when historically the french kings never held that territory or even had it held by a vassal.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:11
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The France forming represents unifying the whole French territory though, not just the region around Paris or whatever.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:13
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The Saurus posted:Seems kind of dumb that you need Bordeaux to form France when historically the french kings never held that territory or even had it held by a vassal. Yes, except when it was captured by France in the Hundred Years War and then effectively annexed in 1653.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:14
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Frionnel posted:Yes, except when it was captured by France in the Hundred Years War and then effectively annexed in 1653. France expanded into the provence region during the albigensian crusade too but the point is it's not land that would have been considered necessary for the crown to hold to legitimise itself. Glad we expanded into Cherson though, looks like my proposals always get followed by a smart ruler  Is there any chance of converting our land at this point, or are we still on minus-missionary production per year?
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Oct 8, 2011 02:17
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The Saurus posted:France expanded into the provence region during the albigensian crusade too but the point is it's not land that would have been considered necessary for the crown to hold to legitimise itself. Yes but the form France decision is less about crown legitimising itself and more a major reward for unifying all the important parts of France, which includes Bordeaux in this timeline. Like Germany, its a difficult but very rewarding tag to form.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:19
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Saurus, we'll never have positive missionaries unless we adopt Divine Supremacy or make slider moves away from Innovative.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:24
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The Saurus posted:it's not land that would have been considered necessary for the crown to hold to legitimise itself. Well, that depends on the path French history is taking, doesn't it? Land that historically was integral to France may be less important; land which was not necessarily a part of France for some time may be more so. In this scenario, the crown of France represents the merging of the courts of Gascony and Burgundy, and so I'd say the King of France would need to rule at least Bordeaux, Paris and Dijon (or whatever the Burgundian capital is in this timeline), and possibly Normandy as well to represent having kicked the English out.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:25
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Speaking of the English, Normandy+Brittany is a pretty strong powerbase, even without the Vendee. If Burgundy eventually does smash the Gascons and forms France, we'll have a much-delayed but more spectacular than normal Hundred Years War. (Admittedly probably not lasting 100 years)
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Oct 8, 2011 02:28
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I just wanted independent Occitania ok  Also I think France would be much more interesting if it was bordering by British Normandy and Gascony instead of the big secure blob it usually is.Bulgaria is turning out to be a massive multi-ethnic empire - This timeline's Austria-Hungary? What countries can form Byzantium if they take Thrace, Wiz? I would hope Bulgaria could because of the Hriz dynasty from earlier on itt. The Saurus fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Oct 8, 2011 |
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Oct 8, 2011 02:29
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The Saurus posted:I just wanted independent Occitania ok Oh you got that in Hohen, come on. The Saurus posted:Also I think France would be much more interesting if it was bordering by British Normandy and Gascony instead of the big secure blob it usually is. I expect Britain to hang on to Normandie and Brittany.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:41
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Do you still have a mission to vassalize Erserum? Also are they Muslim or Orthodox? The religious map you posted doesn't quite show.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:42
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Kuntz posted:Do you still have a mission to vassalize Erserum? Also are they Muslim or Orthodox? The religious map you posted doesn't quite show. Yes, Sunni.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:43
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The Saurus posted:I just wanted independent Occitania ok It can rebel later (As Toulouse, i hope).
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Oct 8, 2011 02:46
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BklynBruzer posted:Oh you got that in Hohen, come on. It failed horribly and got swallowed up by France and the Hammadids though.
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Oct 8, 2011 02:56
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I like the way MEIOU does formables: there is a claim_on_COUNTRYNAME variable that tracks how many provinces in the appropriate region is owned by either you or your vassals, and in order to form that nation you will need to have a high enough claim plus whatever other conditions are appropriate. Most countries still require some essential provinces, but a few like the Netherlands, Ireland or the Mongol Empire can be formed from any combination. @Wiz: Can Azerbaijan currently afford to keep its army maintenance high for rebel-hunting purposes?
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Oct 8, 2011 02:58
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Welp, if we're gonna vassalize some Sunnis we're gonna need to research ecumenicism. What are the reqs for LEF?
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Oct 8, 2011 02:58
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is anybody guaranteeing the independence of our grey neighbor on the other side of the Caspian? steppe politics might be kind of fun to be involved in not necessarily next decade though
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Oct 8, 2011 03:27
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Necroskowitz posted:What are the reqs for LEF? Off the top of my head, about 150 or so more years at least. (It's a really high-tech idea, if memory serves. Assuming Wiz hasn't changed anything in the meantime, anyways.) Edit: Just checked the wiki. In In Nomine, anyways, it requires Production tech 53, which, on average, comes around in 1780. So, a while. Also, on the subject of the update, I can only imagine how much worse things would be if we DIDN'T have pre-existing traditions of tolerance to check the worst excesses of the new Sultan. Tomn fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Oct 8, 2011 |
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Oct 8, 2011 03:36
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Well, at least our new ruler looks keen for some narrowmindedness, so we might get some missionaries 
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Oct 8, 2011 04:00
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What the hell, why is there a British colony on Terra del Fuego?
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Oct 8, 2011 04:01
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Veloxyll posted:Well, at least our new ruler looks keen for some narrowmindedness, so we might get some missionaries You're an enemy of tolerance. Guards, arrest him!
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Oct 8, 2011 04:02
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The correct adjective for the armies from Rhodes should be Rhodian, not Rhodesian. The correct adjective for Rhodesia is Zimbabwean. I would have just started a flame war on the Paradox forums. The Rhodesians are just as bad as the Balkan nationalists but they've got a hint of white supremacism in there too!
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Oct 8, 2011 04:15
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seal it with a kiss posted:The correct adjective for the armies from Rhodes should be Rhodian, not Rhodesian. The correct adjective for Rhodesia is Zimbabwean. Ahem, Mutapan armies have clearly marched from Africa to the Crimea. And Cecil Rhodes was born a few centuries early and decided to be a... military advisor or something.
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Oct 8, 2011 04:19
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Um. Are we going to try and claim the Black Sea like Serbia did in their LP? I did not expect us to expand north considering Russia is so close and all.
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Oct 8, 2011 04:27
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i81icu812 posted:What the hell, why is there a British colony on Terra del Fuego? Falklands were taken, we needed to have a weirdly placed South American holding somehow.
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Oct 8, 2011 04:28
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i81icu812 posted:What the hell, why is there a British colony on Terra del Fuego? It's a good colonial range spot if Britain is planning on going for Chile or even California (or, eventually, the Pacific Islands).
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Oct 8, 2011 04:46
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Smoky Bandana posted:Falklands were taken, we needed to have a weirdly placed South American holding somehow. Sure, the desolate islands in the rear end end of nowhere that had multiple abandoned settlement attempts is already taken. Let's go settle the uttermost part of the earth instead! It's only 1559, surely Italy and Britain would be better off in Africa at this point? These subarctic islands weren't really settled till the nineteenth century. It's not like either nation has an overseas empire or whaling fleet or giant global navy at this point.
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Oct 8, 2011 04:52
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Can we avoid a really ugly border in Terra Del Fuego? Splitting that island in half is really really unelegant.
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Oct 8, 2011 04:58
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I'm loving this universe's pretty borders (particularly the colony system - I'm so keen for your mod, Wiz). Alt-history speculation is always fun, too. I'm actually amazed Ragusa has lasted this long, particularly being Gnostic. Are they guaranteed by any major powers, Wiz? Fantastic balance of power going on in Europe, I foresee interesting Great Power dynamics for Vicky. Hopefully Bulgaria comes into its own as this TL's Austria-Hungary and some New World powers show up by the end of EU3. Franconian domination of the HRE might lead to a pretty straightforward German unification too.
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Oct 8, 2011 05:21
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i81icu812 posted:Sure, the desolate islands in the rear end end of nowhere that had multiple abandoned settlement attempts is already taken. Let's go settle the uttermost part of the earth instead! In this timeline, there was not much of a dark ages, and every nation seems more advanced and well off. I can believe the rapid expansion in the Americas.
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Oct 8, 2011 05:23
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Inca's holding up. Why do they keep my hopes up of a Native nation surviving until Vicky?
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Oct 8, 2011 05:26
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