Got my first taste of the new League Wars mechanics. And that first taste was gooooood.
In 1530 the Ottoman Empire fought and won against Austria, and was able to take Gorz in the peace deal, connecting by land to their north Italian holdings. Since then the Austrians and Ottomans have mostly stared at each other across the border. A brief flare up occurred when the Ottomans attempted to aid their Urbino vassal by taking their core lands from Sienna in 1561. The emperor was not amused, and he called his allies Spain and England. When the plan to blockade the straights of Gibraltar failed it meant an inevitable stalemate. Neither side could muster decisive force, and despite their best efforts the Ottomans could not get any party to withdraw. The Austrians and Ottomans did the bulk of the fighting, with neither side able to successfully siege the other. After 4 years a costly white peace was obtained, mainly by virtue of the complete occupation of Sienna.
It was at this point that the Protestant Leagues started to come into their own. Formed earlier by a Protestant Bohemia, and with multiple electors also converted, it was now headed by a Sweden that dominated Scandinavia. Here the Sultan Cem saw his chance. Eager to join he would bide his time. Though he had no love for these Protestant princes, they had caused much religious turmoil by converting northern Italy and Croatian provinces several times, he despised the Austrian Emperor more.
So he waited.
A plan occured in the mean time. It would not be possible to defeat Austria while they allied Spain and England. Two of the three could be taken at once, but all three spelled disaster. Declaring war on Spain, seeking to claim Cordoba in their mission to unify Islam, would draw in Austria and Portugal. This would be a winnable fight, if properly prepared for. So the Sultan moved half his armies to Grenada, the other half to Istria and Fruili. When the moment was right he would strike. He would personally lead his armies in Spain.
He waited.
Austria declared war on Wurtenburg, Spain got involved in a colonial war in Africa with Benin.
Cem sprang into action.
Spain proved to be tough, but Cordoba fell within the year. It would be two years before another Spanish province fell, but it didn’t matter. The king would repeatedly parry the Spanish and Portuguese combined attacks, though doing so would require his armies to recover as well. Austria was a different matter. Their distraction with Brandenburg and Wurtenburg, as well as the special siege armies with 12 cannons each, meant that Wein fell within a year, and much of the Alps would fall within two. By the time the Austrians moved to counter the Ottoman sieges they were positioned in defensive ground. Within 3 years half of Austria was occupied, the Austrian armies were 1/4 of their former strength and their manpower gone. A peace was signed breaking ties with Spain, England, and Sienna as well as a payment of 600 gold. It was less than the Ottomans may have gotten had they continued, but the real prize was southern Spain. Quickly those armies were moved into Italy where they were ferried across to the Iberian Peninsula. This would finally break the Spanish resistance. The fresh influx of troops allowed some to break into Portugal and force them out of the war for some gold, and Spain had provinces falling by the month.
It was at this point the Protestant league realized their position. Austria was weakened and isolated. Their only allies of note on the Catholic side were Poland and Lithuania. The French were on the Protestant side with Sweden, as was the entire northern half of the HRE.
Sweden took their opening, and in 1577 the first War of the Protestant Coalition commenced. Sultan Cem smiled when he heard the news during his siege of Toledo. It would be the last good news of his life, as he died valiantly during the siege when the Spanish armies attempted to relieve the city. Though the Spanish were repelled and suffered catastrophe losses, it was a sad day.
His heir wrapped up the war in short order, claiming most of southern Spain, as well as Ifni. Opportunity presented itself for more conquest, and so in quick order Pisa, Naples, Sienna, and Rome were all added to Urbino while the Emperor was facing full occupation and unable to intervene. Mantua also went to the Sultan. Now most of Italy fell under his sway. The religious wars ended in 1581 with Austria vanquished. Savoy was elected the new Emperor. Austria had not lost any territory, but her power was broken. Spain had lost 1/5 of her Iberian lands. Venice and Milan were all that existed of independent Italian states. And the emperor was weak. The Ottomans had laid the ground for a religious war in the empire, and the rapid pace of it proved they had laid the ground well. Though they had not participated directly, despite their presence on the league, the Sultan knew this was his handiwork. Now all that stood between the sultan and his dream of a fully Ottoman Mediterranean was France, and their time would come.
Ok, sorry for that. But I love how much my long game plan worked. It took me 50 years of planning and prep, but using the League Wars mechanic to decimate Austria was supremely satisfying. Granted this plan also means that I’ve got a massive coalition of France, Austria, Hungary, Savoy, Venice, and Milan. But for taking roughly half of Italy in less than a year (including Rome) it’s well earned. I’ll let that simmer for a while and go back to beating Persia out of the Mughals. But this is why I love EU4. I had many ways to reach my goal of defeating Austria, and through smart planning it worked out great. When I went off without that I had to fight to reach a white peace.
