Alexander The Glorious:

The Rise of Prussia​





Alexander von Braunschweig-Luneburg was born on November 14 1563, into at the time when Prussia was considered a regional power. Ever since he was young Alexander was told he would be special, as legend around him formed as many astrologers spoke that someone born into a noble house and would rule a mighty kingdom on the date of Alexander's birth. Alexander's early life was consumed by the story of the Religious war that seem to tore the empire apart, and the betrayal of Austria of proclaiming catholic supremacy. The war left a mark on the young Alexander believing Austria was not to be trusted.By the age of 15 Alexander had grown to towering six foot tall young charismatic teen who many around him remarked as a gifted individual. However when Alexander took the throne upon his father's death in 7th of May 1579 still reeling from the Religious war, instability problems from the removal of the Monastic system, and inheriting a war his father started against The Hansa. The young Duke took control of the army managed to smash through The Hansa and Danish forces earning the respect of the Swedish King and formalized an official alliance, calling it The Northern Alliance. And by years end the Alexander secures and forced the The Hansa to give up their capital of Lubeck effectively tripling the trade Prussia has received. Using the money gained from Lubeck Alexander to change several government policies and practices to provide better efficiency in an effort to restore the stability of the government.Despite these initial success the Alexander's early reign was still marked by strife as many people in the Grand Duchy was still resisting the removal of clergy leadership, while others still held religious differences. In one such occasion a Bailiff was earning a reputation of abusing his authority becoming a greedy and cruel person. Wishing to make an example of the Bailiff, Alexander quickly arranged a trail and had the Bailiff executed in 1582.Even with the official policies of open dialog between religious groups, conflicts between the Johannist and the Protestants still broke out. In one incident Alexander was forced intervene to prevent out right bloodshed of a rebellion.And in 1st of January 1584 while at war with the remnants of the Lithuania and Poland, the nobles protested the war. Not because lost of manpower but defensive counter attacks left the nobles seeing little opportunities for glory; something that would echo in young Alexander's mind as many of the Army's tradition was left within the nobility.So on the January 1585 launched an invasion of Moldavia (a vassal of the Golden Horde) to gain control of the vital pathway towards the Balkans. However the invasion of Moldavia was complicated by the Swedish invasion of Russia, as thus Alexander's invasion was placed on hold, proclaiming “Nothing can go wrong in invading Russia in the Winter”, and thus Alexander positioned his troops to guard his western borders. However much to the dismay of his nobility Alexander gave general order of defensive posture and not to pursue the Russians into their border, and instead only engage if they cross allied borders. However on the 1st of May gave his generals the orders “At em boys” proclaiming the invasion of Russia by the Prussia would commence.Even despite the freeing of the men to engage the Russians on their home turf, Alexander remained overly cautious as not peruse the Russian military deep into their territory and instead inch their way closer to Moscow believing it's best not to stretch supply lines too deep. Because of overly cautious approach by Alexander many blame him for the war lasting until 1595 a full 10 years of war.With the war with Russia over, Alexander quickly positioned his army in the south and launched an invasion into the Ottoman Empire, proclaiming several lands that belonged to the Margrave of Moldavia and thus actually belonged to Prussia. And thus the first Prussian-Ottoman war began as full on invasion of the Balkans with Austria. Nevertheless even after success in the initial battles against the Ottomans many people began to believe the Apocalypse was coming with the strongest believers in Chelmno, but little did they know that for many the Apocalypse was coming but not for another 20 years.By December 1601 the Austria called for end to the war and thus Alexander was forced to sign a peace treaty. However in a bold move that angered the Austrian Emperor, Alexander signed the peace treaty as King of Prussia instead of Grand Duke. And because the Treaty of Moera also gave land to Austria, the Emperor was unable to protest the treaty and hold the land they gave. Instead Austria cancled their alliance with Prussia and announce they were rivals. Alexander in a bold move claiming that if Austria doesn't like the treaty they can returned the land back the Ottoman, and that Prussia will continue the war. In the meantime Prussia released the lands gained from the Ottomans and invited the exiled Palaiologos family to return and rule Moera and Edrine. However with no army and bordering a very hostile Ottoman Empire the return of the Roman Empire was forced to seek protection from Prussia and thus was effectively a vassal of the Prussian Kingdom.With control over Contantine Palaiologos XII eyed the Ottoman Empire as they claimed much of the Roman territory still recognized by the catholic church. However officially in only two years due to dejure drift treaty the Roman Empire would have to give up its claim of these territory. And as result Alexander broke the truce between Ottoman Empire in following year on December 1st , citing that the war never ended as Austria never ratified the treaty and thus the nation was still technically at war. And now this is where we leave off with the first half of Alexander the Glorious, come back next time for when we talk about the second half of Alexander's rein including the Apocalypse War.