The Genoese Conquest of Savoy {Part of The War of Austrian Succession/Short Summary}

In the early days of the War of Austrian Succession, the Italian front was very much divided, Italy itself being a cluster of states under different varied rule and types of rule, had some fighting among themselves. The Italian front itself was more-over just a wide variety of states trying to get back at each other for the end-goals of revenge.

This cumulated in an 'Italian Front' of the war of Austrian Succession, with Savoy, Venice, Naples, Genoa, and, of course, the Papal States each taking respective stances on the war.  Genoa had - for a good few years - been in the process of attempting
 to expand deeper to secure their stance in the region, which was mainly contested by Modena, Savoy, and Milan, the latter being the most powerful in the region.

The Genoese were given a great chance to do this when Savoy, along with Naples, decided to take the stance of the Bavarian claimant. This news came around the same time that Venice and the Papal States decided they would support the Austrian claimant, Empress Maria Theresa. This left the Genoese in a stance where they could declare neutrality, as Milan, Sicily, and a few others had, or they could declare war on Savoy. Except, there was a problem, the Genoese had no military to fight a French-supported force, neither did they support the HRE or what it stood for.

So the people were at an impasse, sure Genoa was a Republic, but it had long been known that maritime commanders had been running the show in the government. So on 1741, the Genoese declared neutrality. A month after the declaration, the Genoese sent an invasion force to pillage a village on the border. After the Savoyards found out, they openly confronted the Genoese, to which they cited that they weren't the ones who committed the crime against the Savoy-ards. Whence the Savoyards commenced a retaliatory invasion against the Genoese, the Genoese then stated that it was uncalled for to be invaded, and then proceeded to carry out their counter-attack.

The French failed to reinforce the Savoyard armies, although not for the reason the Genoese presumed, in fact, much of the nearby nations saw through the Genoese lie. The main European allies disregarded their Italian allies as a whole. At this point in time, a major 'European' war, was not about maintaining a status quo, but about individual gain, no one nation entered the war unless they could gain something more than they had before the peace, this included disregarding previous alliances in hope for more to gain.

The Genoese easily steamrolled the Savoyards and forced the Savoyards into a surrender. The Surrender only being accepted upon an assimilation of Savoy into the Genoan Republic, forming the Costadella Republic. 

To appease the countrymen of Savoy, the Genoans adopted the Costadella flag as a sign of inclusivity while containing most of their structure.

The War of Austrian Succession {Part 3}

{Map of Europe by July 1743}*

By July 1743, the 'Second Act' of the war had started, many had taken strong sides, and while some had tried to seek out peace agreements, many had failed. The War had already taken a good few civilian lives but had devastated the countrysides of Silesia and Southern Austria. The goal, although changed, hadn't been achieved yet. These nations knew that whoever won wouldn't be inherent of the throne of the HRE, and even if they would be, that wouldn't mean anything at this point. In fact, it was getting to a point as to where there'd be clear discontent with carrying the name due to the dragging of certain states, regardless of this the war raged on.

On August of 1743, a joint Danish-Swede force invaded Bremen-Oldenburg and Hamburg, owned by the Dutch and the Prussians respectively. The Danish & Swedes had not declared war on either, and it came as a tremendously unpleasant surprise for the Dutch, losing Bremen-Oldenburg nearly a month after. The Prussians, on the other hand, although surprised, managed to hold off and keep a hold of Hamburg due to logistical planning failure on account of the Danish-Swede army. This resulted in the siege of Hamburg, originally planned to be completed merely a week after the Bremen-Oldenburg area had been captured due to a planned sever of the supply lines to the city.

At the same time, the Polish armies invaded Transylvania in an attempt to gain footing against Empress Maria. Maria saw through this, the Polish hadn't taken an official side, and Maria knew that with Silesia that they might seek to establish a certain power by invading her country. The Greater Hungarians fought back the invasion at a relative ease, although the Polish managed to keep a foothold in the area. 

The English publicized their official declaration of war on October, bringing along Hannover and the Dutch along with them. To which followed an invasion of the Flanders. The Hanoverians had not arrived in Flanders until after the Siege of Koln {October 13th - November 3rd, which was a very much pyrrhic victory for the Hanoverian side, losing much of their supply and almost a third of their army securing the town. Even more so upon the Ransack of Koln, which left the city in crumbles, following the mass genocide, looting, and other dishonorable acts. Preventing the Hanoverian command from seizing valuable supply, in terms of rations, from the city. The Hanoverians split their army into three, keeping one in a patrol of their newly-gained city, sending one down to support the Flanderian invasion, and retreating the last one to Hanover. 

The Flanderian Invasion was presumed to be an easy task, especially by the Dutch, who had recently kicked the inhabitants out of power within their government. This however turned into a disaster, upon the Hanoverian arrival in Southern Flanders/Northern Wallonia, they had found that the locals had kicked out the Belgians in support of the Flanderian government to be in rule. The Flanderians routed the Hanoverians after constant Guerilla Skirmishes against the invading army. The Dutch on the other side commenced a blockade on Zeeland with the help of the British and proceeded to invade Flanders. This backfired completely, the Flanderians had managed to bring up a formidable line of simple Mortars and fortifications upon the Waal river and harassed the Dutch before meeting with them on the battlefield in the Second Siege of Zaltbommel**. The Siege of Zaltbommel was a Decisive Victory for the Flanderians, and set them as a force that would not be taken from their newly-made home.

{The Second Siege of Zaltbommel}

On the Southern end of Central Europe, the Wurttemberger-Swiss Union had merged into the Swabian Union, following a takeover by the Wurttemberger King under the guise of an alliance. The Wurttembergers invaded and occupied the town of Liechtenstein, due to the Swabian population in the area of Tyrol, which had pledged allegiance once to the Swabian Union. This, however, had not satisfied the hunger of the Swabian King, and he believed that to become truly Independent that he must re-unite Baden with the newly-founded union. 

The Armies of King Frederick lined outside the French border, the French had previously taken a Neutral stance with the Wurttembergers on account of a respected border. The Armies marched into the French territory and captured Karlsruhe {January 8th, 1744} easily, given the reluctance of the Badens to French rule upon their French occupation early in the war. Not sitting well with the French, they set siege to Karlsruhe, which was broken by the Battle of Roppenheim, in which King Frederick brought the French into a Baited Artillery Flank, to which the French army's cavalry was rendered useless by the Grapeshot of the Wurttembergers. The French Coalition, as well as the Wurttembergers, signed the Treaty of Baden. To which the French and Austrians gave up Baden, Tyrol, and Sudtirol in exchange for Haute-Savoie, and a non-aggression agreement.

The first Peace Treaty of the War of Austrian Succession was signed. Although this was only inching closer to the end of the War.

The Prussian Counter-Offensive of February 1744 was the first major campaign undertaken by the Prussians since the beginning of the war and was to retake the areas surrounding Hamburg, as well as gain an advantage against the Dutch, and Danish-Swedish armies. On January 2nd of 1744, the Prussians managed to break the siege of Hamburg and started gathering their western Armies. A month later, the Invasion of Danish Jutland was commenced. The Danish had not prepared well for a war lasting over 6 months and had almost certainly not prepared on being invaded, this led to the rout of the Danish-Bremen occupation, in an effort to stop the Prussian advance. This was to no avail, the Prussians and the Danish met on the Battle of Jutland, to which a cornered Danish force of their last few armies, as well as one Swedish army, surrendered to the Prussian forces after a day of fighting.

On the Bremen front, the Prussians had split up a small force in order to take the recently unoccupied front. The Dutch, however, had the same intentions, and they met the Prussians at the Battle of Oldenburg. To which the Prussians led a backhand flank and silenced the only recently recovered Dutch force for the rest of the war. With the Dutch Netherlands simply further acting as a landing point for the coming English Invasion of Koln {April 19th 1744 - July 2nd 1744}.

The Eastern front of the war had been a stalemate, especially at the Tri-Border between the Polish, Hungarians, and Austrians. In which there had been multiple sieges of Sosnowiec, Saxony, Prague, and Budapest. Yet none had been successful, and many inconclusive skirmishes continued to occur as progress was made in the Western fronts.

The English until then had only believed the Danish-Swedes were to be only after a Greater-Jutland unification, but this had turned out to be the opposite of the case since the Polish had been found to be collaborating with the Swedes for support since the beginning of their participation in the war. While this information changed nothing, the English still found themselves unable to gain Naval superiority in the Northern Sea, which would be essential for supplying a Prussian Invasion.

On this end, the Genoans still were preparing a supportive Italian conquest in support of the Hungarians, which included an invasion of the Papal States.

The Second Act of the War was finally drawing to a close.

The Dutch Question {Part of the War of Austrian Succession}

In the midst of the War of Austrian Succession, in 1743, the Dutch had to answer a very loud cry made by their people. At that point of time, time being February of 1743, the Dutch had a majority Orangist rule, following a take-over of the seats the previous year. This is normal for the Dutch and had been a part of annual life, the Orangists vs the Republicans. 

At this point of time, the Dutch were leaning dangerously close to a breakout of war against the French-Bavarian coalition in the War of Austrian Succession. This being an especially popular opinion among the Unitists, people in the Orangist party who wished to unite with the English, as opposed to the Orthodox Orangists who were mostly against entry to the war. The Republicans, who believed in a non-prince head of state, themselves were divided between two groups, the Pacifists, and the Restorists. The Pacifists being those who wanted to keep the peace between all Europeans and the Dutch. The Restorists were those who wanted to take back Austrian-controlled Belgium in an effort to unite the Nederlands or Low Countries.

This led to a divide where Restorists and Unitists united against the Orange-Republicans, those for war, against those against war. The Restorists had longed to take back Flanders and Waloonia, which had been occupied by the French as an invasion of Austrian-controlled Belgium. While the Unitists didn't oppose this idea, they managed to convince the Restorists that to do so would mean an alliance at the least with the English. 

This fierce divide led to the Maand Gratis Bloed, the name given to the month of March of 1743 where the Restorists and Unitists would perform acts of tarring, arson, and vandalism against known supporters of the Orange-Republicans. The Orangists in power responded by sending the head of the Restorists, Roelof Dirks, to the gallows. The cycle repeating for much of the month of March, up until the 5th of April. On the 5th of April, upon a carriage ride to Binnenhof*, William IV - Prince of Orange-Nassau was ambushed and killed by members of the Restorist-Unitist coalition.

The debate over whether or not the Dutch should enter the war quite ironically ended at the beginning of a Civil War.

The Restorist-Unitists made it clear that they were not going to let the Orange-Republicans stop a war against the French-Bavarians. Upon multiple minor battles and skirmishes, they were able to regain from the county of Friesland, all the way down to Utrecht. From there the lines broke, cavalry was ineffective and artillery would get stuck in the Dutch Wetlands of Holland/Utrecht. Small skirmishes would lead up to massive charges where no one would gain the advantage. The Restorist-Unitists managed to rack up a surprise landing of the northern Holland, which included taking The Hague, over the course of three months the Orange-Republicans were pushed down to Zeeland and Northern Flanders. 

By August of 1743, the Restorist-Unitists had taken full political power, the Orange-Republicans still controlling Zeeland and Flanders**, although at this point standing no chance at controlling the Dutch people anymore, simply being a refuge for their previous supporters to flee into upon the start of the 'Augustus Bloedvergieten'***. 

Although the Restorist-Unitists had Won the Dutch Civil War, the Orange-Republicans weren't gone, and would certainly re-establish themselves in one way or another!

The War of Austrian Succession {Part 2}

{Map of War of Austrian Succession by June 1742}

By April of 1742, many had assumed the war to be over. While the HRE was still split in two, there was an overwhelming consensus over much of the non-involved states that the HRE was now headed by Emperor Charles VII. Although this assumption was founded on simply looking at the war from a two-sided perspective, while in reality, there had been a third side that was claiming the throne. That had been the side of King Augustus III of Poland, better known as the Husband of the claimant Empress Maria Amalia.

In the first act of the war, they had stayed mostly silent, while they had intended to re-take silesia from Empress Theresa, they were beaten to the punch by Emperor Charles' coalition. Maria Amalia's goal was simply to unite the Poland-Lithuanian union with the Electorate of Saxony and re-establish the HRE under a Polish rule. The plan of execution was simply a brutal show of force in Silesia, but since the Prussians had taken it first, they had a rash decision to make; give up their claim, or declare war on both the Empress and the Emperor. By Mid-Summer of 1742, there had been a clear triumphant out of the first act of the War.

On July of 1742, the Polish-Lithuanian/Saxony coalition of armies started building up their armies on the border of Silesia. The Prussians had accepted the perception of Poland-Lithuania not going to join the war. Naturally, this meant the Prussians were off-guard in the region. 

The Silesian Offensive of Prussian Silesia was commenced on early August. The Saxons marched and met the polish armies with relative ease and little resistance. They set siege to the town of Breslau and proceeded to rout the Prussians in the Battle of Lubin, to which the Prussians were routed with relative ease due to their lack of an efficient Artillery force. Breslau fell on September 3rd, which following it led the Polish-Lithuanians on a campaign to cut off the Prussians on the Northern Oder.

While this had the effect of playing into the advantage of the Poland-Lithuanians, this sparked reactions throughout Europe. At this point, they believed that Poland-Lithuania was conspiring with the Hungarian-Empire (Former HRE), in an attempt to restore Maria Theresa as Empress. Maria Theresa assumed Maria Josepha had simply decided to retake Silesia, and used this as a ploy to use her newly-trained Hungarian conscripts and set a marching path for Graz. The English, assuming that Maria Josepha was on the Hungarian side, Declared War on France, Prussia, and the Holy Roman Empire. The Hanoverians and Dutch took the English side and declared war as well. The Wurttembergers seized this opportunity to seize the Swabian lands of Northern Tyrol and declared war on the Holy Roman Empire, which inspired their fellow Swabians, the Swiss, to form an alliance in an effort to retake Swiss lands from Habsburg hands. All of these followed in the same week, a week which would come to be remembered as the 'Week of Widows'.

The War of Austrian Succession had now become a Free-For-All for the livelihood of the continent of Europe.

A Thousand Views

Thank You All!

It has not been easy posting regularly now, but it certainly has been fun! Thanks to you guys we are hitting our first big milestone at 1,000 Page-Views, almost all within the past two months! Please consider following the blog!

-Zachariah Bouanani-

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The Kingdom of Wurttemberg {Part of the War of Austrian Succession}

{Map of War of Austrian Succession by January 1742}

In February 1742, the heir to the Duchy of Wurttemberg, Carl Eugen, vanished. The Wurttemberger people had previously not supported the takeover of the Bavarians, yet the regent of the throne refused to get militarily involved in supporting Empress Theresa. With no rightful heir in sight, there was a power vacuum inside of Wurttemberg. Yet, this power vacuum didn't last for very long. The Self-Proclaimed 'King of Wurttemberg' who had been ignored by authorities and the HRE for being a mad street-rambler, had started gaining support. The Wurttembergers had enough of being treated like ants under the HRE throne and being involved in the senseless drama that they weren't allowed to have a say in no matter how hard they tried.'King' Carl Frederick started trying to legitimize his claim, he would hold street rallies, gaining a good following of his doctrines when he is named king. Eventually, this landed him not on the throne, but in a cell. To Rot. Or so the Regent of the throne presumed. Little did he see that what followed was an armed siege of the jail by Carl's supporters. 

The Regent, Charles Rudolph (who had just barely survived a bout of catarrh a year prior), sought to quell the rising tensions. He did this in a way he had been known for, making an example of one of the participators of this movement. A public execution was held for a supporter he had picked out of the street, the execution had consisted of hanging the supporter from a badly tied rope, so he would suffer instead of dying immediately. This, however, had the polar opposite effect of what the regent had hoped. King Carl Frederick used this to rally a greater percentage of people, citing Charles as a "Bloodthirsty, empire supporting, threat to our people".

{Die Volksflag}

The Wurttemberger Revolution starts on April 21st, 1742. King Frederick had little to no resistance in taking over, with the exception of a few skirmishes, and one siege. The Siege of Ludwigsburg Palace {May 2nd, 1742-June 5th,1742} or "The Duke's Palace". While some might presume this kind of siege would be relatively short, they would be wrong. The defenders, behind Regent Charles Joseph, fought valiantly, and with various pieces of artillery stationed inside the palace, it was almost as if King Frederick were besieging a land-ship. After multiple waves of men trying to break the defenses, he finally managed a week from the start of the siege. From there, harsh interior battling occurred, the Regent not willing to surrender, even used the artillery he had stationed inside the building, to prevent Frederick and his army from moving further. The siege took the lives of many due to rupturing of eardrums, the significant amount of smoke in the air, which caused many to pass out of Nitroglycerin poisoning, and short contained fires which would occasionally occur. The siege ended when the Regent passed due to a large uncontained fire which occurred on June 1st. Following this, as more defenders learned the news, they surrendered to the besieging army. 

The Kingdom of Wurttemberg is born

The King of Wurttemberg declared complete independence from any Imperial claims. He called upon the Swabian people to join his nation - nay - movement. His ultimate goal to unite the Swabian people under one flag, and nothing and no-one was going to stop this from happening.