Prussian Ascendance​





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Aside for the Lubeck riots/rebellion much of the reforms made by Wilhelm Friedrich I was well received, despite this one nagging feeling had plagued Wilhelm Friedrich I’s mind. Much of the Hanseatic league was still outside of Brandenburg’s sphere of influence, especially the jewel of the league; the Free City of Hamburg. With its alliance with Sweden, and its status as a Free City, Hamburg seemed to be well protected. Nevertheless, Wilhelm Friedrich I looked for a way to integrate the Jewel of Hansa. One such opening came with the when the county of Stade ruled by Verden allied with the Free City of Hamburg. Thus on 2nd of May 1487 sent a declaration of war toward Verden calling in Hamburg as a co-belligerent, stating that Hamburg also violating borders of Brandenburg just as Verden was violating Brunswick borders.With an allied army of nearly twice of Verden-Hamburg alliance network could muster, the early of the war for Wilhelm Friedrich was to quickly remove the minor Holy Roman princes from the war. Because of this, Brandenburg cornered the Oldenburg in the outskirts of Hamburg as the Oldenburg made their way home to protect home territories.With Teutonic Order reinforcements, General Heimrich Schittern split the Brandenburg forces and leaving behind a garrison to siege the city of Hamburg while the rest marched on with General Ludwig von Aderkas from the Teutonic order to head west to push into Oldenburg and Friesland, resulting in the Battle of Oldenburg.With the war going well and overall administration of the various reforms under Wilhelm Friedrich and the respect of his fiefs resulted in great overall opinion of the Brandenburg.While the war was going well on land, on sea it was a different matter, as Sweden still controlled the sea with large galley force. As such many Burghers were finding it difficult to turn a profit and asked the crown for aid. Realizing that should the Burghers collapse, Brandenburg could lose a large share of trade and access to goods (such as clothing grain, and even Iron), as such Wilhelm Friedrich sent aid for the merchants who had lost ships because of the Swedish attacks on 8th of December 1487.But in exchange the Burghers would have grant Export privileges to Saxony in a bid to further cement the alliance, between Brandenburg and Saxony.After nearly two years the City of Hamburg finally fell to Brandenburg on 3rd of February 1489. While the leaders of Hamburg proclaimed Imperial Immediacy in a bid to avoid annexation as it had done with fall of the Hansa League, but Wilhelm Friedrich ignored the document citing that because of Hamburg’s intervention it had violated it treaty with Brandenburg when it cut its trade deal, and thus Brandenburg would occupy Hamburg until it could be trusted to uphold its treaties despite the Imperial Immediacy.With no set date for the end of the occupation of Hamburg, it effectively became an annexation. And with the annexation of Hamburg came access to its ports, goods such as the horses of a local noble in Hamburg who held a stock of horses who were among finest in Europe at the time. Which quickly became the ancestors of the Prussian horses we know of today.Even as the war rages on, questions on how to finance the war (which at this point of time had become largely between Brandenburg and Poland against Sweden) and future wars, was the question of selling noble titles to help offset the cost of the war. However, citing that this would devalue the nobility and that Brandenburg’s coffers were healthy at the time of the proposal, the sales of titles was officially outlawed in Brandenburg on 28th of May 1490 by Wilhelm Friedrich I.Nevertheless, with the war spilling over into Lithuania, the need for more efficient communication once more became apparent. Using the gold taken from Hamburg’s coffer, Wilhelm Friedrich set up a series of network of courier rest stops to deliver word to and from the front lines. However, with these rest stops had started to take in letters from other individuals gradually expanding and until it was commissioned as an official postal service of Brandenburg and Prussia.But as the war dragged down Wilhelm Friedrich I started to reevaluate the troops performance and further implement further military reforms taking advise from Prussian Academy in Ermland mimicking the discipline of the Teutonic Order. Though not as successful the elevation and well funding of the troops had instead raise the moral of the troops comparable to those seen in France.On the 7th of August 1942, the war with Verden and Sweden was over, forcing Verden to give half its tariffs made on trade and a hefty war reparation as the annexation of Hamburg and Riga had already angered much of the community.With Brandenburg’s annexation of Hamburg, Wilhelm Friedrich I turned his attention south towards Bohemia. With Brandenburg’s rise of power and wealth, Wilhelm Friedrich I looked at Bohemia with envy lacking the title of king. When Bohemia petition the Imperial court to remove the Hamburg occupation, Wilhelm counter sue to revoke Bohemia’s title as King. But rather than wait for courts to decide, Wilhelm Friedrich launched an attack Bohemia on 14th of September 1492 to claim Silesia in an effort to reduce Bohemia to a duchy.Slightly outnumbered and the implementation of cannons from Bohemia, Wilhelm Friedrich I, looked for more troops to even the odds. As the result of need for troops, more troops were starting to be drawn from West Prussia to serve as Brandenburg’s army.Naturally this resulted in increased peasant tensions as now they would have to be drawn upon two different military arms. Revolts finally broke out in Osterode on 2nd of May 1494 resulting in Brandenburg redeploy its troops from Bohemia towards Osterode.In the meantime, Brandenburg was making head way with the courts as it protected its right to uphold the occupation of Hamburg.By the 16th of June 1494 the Ostrode revolt was put down and established and troop contributions were placed as a permanent policy much to the anger of the Prussian peasants under Teutonic rule.It was during this time as Venice conquered the last remnants of the Roman Empire in Morea that many of those who later became Byzantine had made their way to Prussia despite the war. With them they brought over several manuscripts and several lessons learned in fighting the Turks that came too late.By 19th of February 1495 Wilhelm Friedrich the courts issue a verdict to end the war with a partial decision of Brandenburg continuing to occupy Hamburg, upper Silesia and county of Niederlausitz, in exchange Bohemia would remain the only kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire.Angered by the imperial court’s decision, Wilhelm Friedrich I was described by his court as out right furious as he crumped the official notice from the Empire. Ignoring the advice of his council, Wilhelm Friedrich drafted a decree that while Bohemia would be the only Kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire, Prussia would become a Kingdom outside of the Empire. While Wilhelm Friedrich I would continue to rule as Duke of Brandenburg, he would be a King in Prussia, establishing Brandenburg-Prussia. After convincing his uncle Jan the King of Poland (who just so happened to be visiting his nephew at the time) to support his title as King in Prussia did Wilhelm Friedrich I send delegates the Emperor.-----------------------------------------------------------Ok so Ottomans had taken Constantinople early on but left Byzantium with Morea region. Venice than decides to eat whats left of Byzantium decades later.After winning upper Silesia from Bohemia, I was able to increase my government ranking to Kingdom but at the same time I can't form Prussia. So instead I explained it as just becoming King in Prussia and establishing Brandenburg-Prussia.