STGOD! OOC Thread.

[Comrade Tortoise]

By the way CT, just for reference, you don't have any historical or policy-based information in your OOB either, so I feel little pity for you there.

On that note, you've not posted anything really about the history or policy of Germany at all anywhere, in your OOB, in this thread, or in the older locked one.

Just an FYI.

I do intend to. Just on vacation and not at the computer much.

Most of my policy decisions that are historical are above board though, I have made them plain in the chat etc.

[Comrade Tortoise]

I got my dad a book on Ungern-Sternberg for Christmas. Hadrianus, you're a bloody maniac.

The jews in my government are not going to like working with the russians at all... and not just for that (should we find out)

[Comrade Tortoise]

Do we have established law regarding the extend of a nation's territorial waters?

I ask because I control an island chain, and am wondering if my territory extends between those islands, and to the mainland of Venezuela, or if there are International tracts of ocean between those landmasses.

[Steve]

Hrm, dunno, I don't recall when treaties were signed to such effect. You might be able to claim such for clearly internal waters but I can see some things making this... iffy (Rome, for instance, could and probably would claim all the Med as Roman waters, something France and Spain may not take kindly to).

Edit: Wiki article, take it as you will.

[Hadrianvs]

I got my dad a book on Ungern-Sternberg for Christmas. Hadrianus, you're a bloody maniac.

In defence of the Bloody Baron, his reputation has been much maligned by people with agendas. My favourite example is the amusing myth that his head was too small and his brain under-developed.

This could get awkward.

Most of the Europeans have decided that they're going to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Asia is where the action is at.

The jews in my government are not going to like working with the russians at all... and not just for that (should we find out)

I have a bureaucracy the size of a small country, I'm sure we can find open-minded government officials to deal with German envoys.

[Hadrianvs]

I ask because I control an island chain, and am wondering if my territory extends between those islands, and to the mainland of Venezuela, or if there are International tracts of ocean between those landmasses.

Depends on the island. Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, the Morrocoy Archipielago, the New Spartan islands, Trinidad, Tobago, and maybe Granada could all be considered to have their territorial waters meeting the territorial waters of mainland Venezuela, so there would be no international waters separating them.

[Comrade Tortoise]

I have a bureaucracy the size of a small country, I'm sure we can find open-minded government officials to deal with German envoys.

It is less that than "Rommel... we are working with the Russians? The one's who still keep my people in ghettos and have regular pogroms just to keep them on their toes? Why?" sort of thing

[Hadrianvs]

It is less that than "Rommel... we are working with the Russians? The one's who still keep my people in ghettos and have regular pogroms just to keep them on their toes? Why?" sort of thing

There where no ghettoes in Russia, and pogroms only became a regular thing after the assination of Aleksandr II and the promulgation of the May Laws by his son. Neither of those things happened in my Russia. Basically the authorities are walking a thin line between maintaining enough ethnic tension to divide and rule, but not quite so much that it causes civil disorder.

EDIT - Well, it probably helps the cause of civil order that Tsarist authorities have a reputation for breaking-up violent mobs with extreme prejudice. Usually the state controlled papers will blame the Jews for causing the mob, which tends to cause another mob, which is forcibly broken up, which continues the cycle until someone puts 2 and 2 together and goes, "Wait, guys, don't riot. That's what the Jews want us to do!"

[Cynical Cat]

In defence of the Bloody Baron, his reputation has been much maligned by people with agendas. My favourite example is the amusing myth that his head was too small and his brain under-developed.

That's a petty insult, not a slur on his reputation. He was a sadistic, genocidal, death camp running megalomaniac who happens to be well thought of in Mongolia because of the part he played in driving out the Chinese. His reputation is therefore better than he deserves.

[Hadrianvs]

He was a sadistic, genocidal, death camp running megalomaniac

Genocide and death camps are new ones on me. Most of what I've read on the subject talks of wanton murder and pillaging in an atmosphere of general anarchy.

happens to be well thought of in Mongolia because of the part he played in driving out the Chinese.

It's not just driving out the Chinese, that period of Monglian history is seen as a great spiritual cleansing.

His reputation is therefore better than he deserves.

That rather depends on what proportion of the accusations leveled at him are true. Several of the atrocities attributed to him may well have been committed by others.

[Slacker]

*notes decision to extend Polish/Swedish religious tolerance was a good idea*

[Cynical Cat]

Genocide and death camps are new ones on me. Most of what I've read on the subject talks of wanton murder and pillaging in an atmosphere of general anarchy.

Last time I looked trying to kill all the Jews you can find is genocide, not that he confined himself to killing merely Jews. The prisoner of war camps he ran before he went to Mongolia during the Russian Civil War were de facto death camps that disgusted other White officers (that was before he split off from the Whites).

It's not just driving out the Chinese, that period of Monglian history is seen as a great spiritual cleansing.

That's true. Insane given how corrupt Mongolia's Buddhist leadership was and what a mad dog Ungern-Sternberg was, but tragically true.

His reputation is therefore better than he deserves.
That rather depends on what proportion of the accusations leveled at him are true. Several of the atrocities attributed to him may well have been committed by others.

Actually, it just leaves him guilty of slightly fewer horrific crimes.

[Hotfoot]

By the way, I really like the summary idea that Hadri just threw in, so I'm going to start doing the same with my posts, with the New York Times being the sort of "catch all" for public information, what would clearly be known by anyone who would pick up a newspaper.

[Steve]

Kings of Britain and Pacifica and History Relating to the Succession:

1603: Queen Elizabeth I of England dies, and with her the Tudor dynasty. James VI of Scotland inherits the throne of England by right of bloodline through his grandfather James V's mother, Margaret Tudor, daughter of England's Henry VII; becomes James I of England. Stuart Dynasty unites the thrones of England and Scotland.

1600s: James I's heir Henry dies of Typhoid fever. His fourth child and second son Charles becomes heir and King Charles I. English Civil War happens as OC, resulting in Charles I's execution. As historical the Cromwellian Republic does not outlast Oliver Cromwell and is destroyed in favor of a restored monarchy under Charles II. When Charles II dies his brother becomes James II and VII. Fears in England grow of a Catholic dynasty ruling over a non-Catholic, indeed anti-Catholic, nation.

Diversion Point:

Gradually: the Cromwellian Republic does manage to give England a slightly more powerful population of Puritans, who will remember the Republic fondly in their communities and pass such on to their children.

Willem of Oranje does not marry Mary of England but instead a lady of the German Empire; Mary instead marries into the Roman nobility. Due to this Mary, who does bear heirs, bears heirs of Roman upbringing and mentality, unacceptable to Spain, France, or Germany for sitting in the English and Scottish thrones. As a result any attempt at a historic Glorious Revolution would inevitably result in a massive, devastating European War between Rome and England on one end and France, Germany, and potentially Spain on the other.

Faced with the risk of a new civil war that might claim his life as the last claimed his father's, James II reluctantly agrees to concessions to the Protestant-dominated Parliament, including a Bill of Rights similar to the OTL one signed by William and Mary as part of William's negotiations to rule as a King in his own right and not as a mere consort, to guarantee his continued possession of the crown and that it would pass to his Catholic-raised son. James II does however wrangle a concession granting religious liberty to Catholics, which inflames the Puritan population, but the support for the deal amongst Anglicans and the elite - given the risk of European War - keeps this from becoming a danger... for now.

From this point on, the list of British royalty changes, though the Act of Union is still signed in the early 18th Century.

September 1701: James II dies. His son is proclaimed James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland.

1720: James III has heir.

1739: James III's son Charles Edward has heir, Charles James Edward.

1759: Charles James Edward, Prince of Wales has heir, Henry Edward.

January 1766: James III dies. His son Charles Edward is proclaimed Charles III (OTL Bonnie Prince Charlie).

1767: Charles Prince of Wales dies. Henry Edward is proclaimed Prince of Wales and heir-apparent to his grandfather Charles III.

1775: War of Indepedence in North America breaks out as historical. Tensions rise in England as Puritans proclaim the conflict sparked by the Catholic monarchy's oppression of their co-religionists in New England.

1778: Battlefield defeat and frustration in fighting the Continental Army spark uprisings in England. King Charles and Parliament argue over taxation and appropriations for the military campaign, being conducted with arguable incompetence by the King's hand-picked officers. By the end of the year the 2nd English Civil War has ignited in full force.

1779: As the Civil War escalates, the effort to put down the rebellion in America nearly ceases. Troops retreat to Canada and then ship to England, save deserters who remain to protect Cromwellian-sympathizer settlements in Ontario.

1780: Due to battlefield defeats and the loss of nearly all England to the Protestant revolt, 18 year old Henry, Prince of Wales, is ordered by his grandfather Charles III to leave the country with his newly-wed wife, the Infanta Dona Maria, daughter of Spain's King Carlos III, and to seek Spanish aid. After a stay in his father-in-law's court in Madrid attempting to win Spanish support for the Crown in England (this fails due to growing Spanish preparation to exploit the growing Roman Civil War), Henry is made Duke of California by Carlos and offered a chance to settle with the Loyalists of both Britain and the American Colonies in the growing Spanish colony of California. In a move that will decide the dynasty's history, Henry decides not to follow the requests of his father's court emissaries - to return to Scotland and make a final stand to at least save their dynasty's homeland - but to accept the Spanish offer. In several fleets from Ireland and Scotland (even England) via Spain, settlers seeking to avoid the harsh theocratic nature of the Puritan dictatorship growing in England or persecution from the same gave up their homes and, carrying all they could, sailed across the Atlantic to Mexico and Panama, where they were taken by wagon trains and river boats to the Pacific Coast and north to the colony in California. A similar route was taken by Loyalists from the American Colonies who, opposed to living in Canada and the Puritan-dominated colonies there, flee via Loyalist-held ports and the Vasan port of New Stockholm (OTL Halifax) to Havana and westward.

1783: After three bitter years of warfare in Scotland that leaves that nation battered and broken, the armies of Charles III are surrounded at Culloden and forced to surrender. Charles III attempts to escape but is captured by English troops. He is paraded back to England in chains and, like his namesake great-grandfather Charles I, beheaded after a show trial by the victorious Puritans. The trial of Charles III was considered so unfair and such an egregious violation of English common law and custom that the American Continental Congress would cite it as a major reason for rejecting a Puritan offer for a "United English Commonwealth" that would span the Atlantic, opting to maintain their independence.

In light of his grandfather's death, Henry is proclaimed Henry IX of England and Ireland and Henry I of Scotland. Spain recognizes him as the legitimate ruler of the British Isles (OOC: the other European states can decide if they did at the time).

Sometime between 1790-1805 (need to consult with GenHav): Rome decisively defeats Spain in a bitter war, prompting a partial collapse of the Spanish Empire. Mexico goes independent and Bourbon Loyalists are driven out of Mexican territory. They swear loyalty to Henry, who is moved to declare himself King of California in 180X. Various sections of California are divided into Duchies and given to the most loyal and skilled of Henry's retainers and advisors. Spanish peers are considered Counts, not Earls, as a break from the English and Scots traditions. (Uncertain of the history of Spain and if the Roman victory led to the fall of the Spanish monarchy or a switch in Houses). California expands to include the desert reaches of northwestern Mexico, including the modern lands of Utah, Arizona, and Sonora, all of which Henry IX is recognized as Duke of.

1800-1820: A new wave of settlers from the British isles arrive, fleeing the repression of the Second Commonwealth. Scots and Irish predominate, and a number begin settling the northern frontier, trading with local native tribes. New Edinburgh (RL Portland) is given the first Royal charter as a city in the area granted Parliamentary representation. On the 10th anniversary of the declaration of the Kingdom of California, King Henry IX is styled "King of Cascadia", the northern lands being named for the mountain range of the north. Additionally, earlier waves of Roman immigration - primarily deposed Roman nobility from the restoration of the Republic at Napoleon's order, as well as their retainers, supporters, and loyalists - are augmented by new numbers as the Republic entrenches and all hope of a return to the prior Kingdom fades. Immigration spreads even further by the discovery of gold in multiple areas of central California, eventually leading to the valleys of central California becoming one of the Continent's great breadbaskets.

1821: King Henry IX dies. His son becomes King Henry X of England, Ireland, California, and Cascadia, King Henry II of Scotland.

1840: King Henry X dies. His son becomes King James IV of England, Ireland, California, and Cascadia, King James IX of Scotland.

1844: Queen Caroline dies giving birth to James IV's heir. The distraught King vows to never marry again, island off the northwest coast is re-designated Queen Caroline Island in her honor. James IV withdraws from public life, focusing on raising his son and on spiritual matters.

1860-1880: Gold in the Cascadian lands, in Nevada, Utah, and in Zealandia and Australia promote large-scale emigration from across the world. This is aided by developments elsewhere, such as the US Civil War and the following conflicts with Mexico that saw the short-lived Confederacy disintegrate and return in part to the Union it had spurned and the Fall of the Qing in China and the rise of the heterodox Christian Taiping monarchy. Pacifica would eventually recognize this new monarchy upon numerous victories that ensured the new state survived, though it maintained relations with the original central Chinese authority and what eventually became the Xian Dynasty. Pacifica has as of yet not recognized either claimant as the true Emperor of China.

1863: The Russian Empire, needing funds to finance the reforms involving the abolition of serfdom and the continued standoff with the Vasa, offer to sell Russian America - the land of Alaska - to the Kingdom for a light sum of £5 million.

1865: Sacramento becomes new Capital to move center of government closer to the growing lands of the north. King James names new Palace in Sacramento for his late wife.

1870: King James IV abdicates to enter a monastery. His son becomes King James V of England, Ireland, California, and Cascadia, King James X of Scotland.

1875: Status of the growing territories overseas, including local political crises that require Parliamentary review, leads to the reorganization of the state. Not wishing to repeat the experience of the prior century with the Atlantic American colonies, the government in Sacramento signs the Act of Reorganization: Australia and Zealandia (the islands of New Zealand plus New Caledonia) are proclaimed Kingdoms and given seats in both Houses of Parliament, and the formal title of United Kingdoms of California and Cascadia is turned into United Kingdom of the Pacific, rendered Pacifica for short. King James V is named James V of Australia and Zealandia, as both are primarily English and Irish in population.

1884: The former King James IV dies. There is an immediate movement, led by his son, to have him beatified that will strain relations with the Catholic Church centered in Mexico, which had begun promoting less "monarchial" lifestyles. (Need to talk to Swept. It's possible the Church accepts the request, meaning that in-game there may be some question about miracles attributed to the late James IV that would qualify him for sainthood; if not this would become one of the critical moments that finally splits the Stuarts from the Catholic Church as it has become, reinvigorating the Anglican Church as a separate entity.)

1889: King David I Kamehameha of Hawai'i becomes King of Samoa in an election by the Samoan chiefs, backed by Pacifican interests. In the same year, various American (all American nations) and European planters in the Hawai'ian islands attempted an uprising to impose a proposed constitution that would have denied most natives voting rights in the national legislature and turned the islands into a planter-dominated oligarchy. Suspectiing influence from the old Southern plantation class of the US at work and danger to control of Pearl Harbour, a vital link in Pacifica's line of communications to Australia and Zealandia, Pacific Marine detachments sortied into Honolulu and put down the uprising with minimal bloodshed. Sensing risk and opportunity, Pacifica mandated milder alterations to the existing constitution and that the King of Hawai'i and Samoa, who owed his continued power to the United Kingdom, accept James V as his suzerain. After weeks of careful deliberation David I accepted the Pacifican term, bringing his two nations into the Pacific Kingdom as a subordinate but still self-ruling nation.

1890-1895: In light of the fact that the internationally-recognized King of Hawai'i and Samoa had accepted the Pacifican King as his suzerain, a movement quickly gathers steam to proclaim James V as an Emperor. Initially reluctant to do such, the spread of the realm's holdings to many other islands in the Pacific finally prompts the King to accept in 1894, and on New Year's Day 1895 a special ceremony is held in which James V accepts an Imperial crown and the title Emperor of the Pacific.

1895-1902: The aggressive expansion of the Kingdom - now Empire - in the Pacific and conflicting claims in Australia promote hostility with the Sultanate of Klavostan. This breaks out into the Klavo-Pacifican War in 1896, which results in Pacifica forced to accept Klavostani ownership of most of the island of New Guinea but Klavostan expelled from Australia. The peace between the two nations remains tense to this day.

1910: James V lives more than long enough to see his grandson and future King Alexander I and IV born as Prince Charles James Stuart. On June 23, 1910, James V's forty year reign ends with a peaceful death. His son becomes King Henry XI of England, Ireland, California, Cascadia, Australia, and Zealandia, King Henry III of Scotland.

1928: King Henry IX dies. His son becomes King Alexander I of England, Ireland, California, Cascadia, Australia, and Zealandia, King Alexander IV of Scotland.

[frigidmagi]

I should note that both Taiping China and Xian China claim to be the central authority.

[Steve]

I know. I didn't intend to contradict that.

The timeline needs some changing, Frig's pointed out that the American War of Independence won't be much of a war if the English Civil War breaks out in 1776. I'll probably make it 1778 or 1779, but I don't want it any later because I sorta want the exiles settled by the time GenHav has Spain utterly pasted.

[frigidmagi]

I'm willing to go with a time of troubles for Spain post their ass kicking by Napleon but there has to be enough of a functional Spanish Army to keep Rome from annexing them entire.

My thought is after Spain loses, Mexico Rises. This kicks off all manner of problems as Spain fights to hold on to what's left of the Empire and put down uprisings at home. Let's say the King was knocked off and there was confusion as to the Heir during all of this.

[Steve]

Works. I figured the Spanish Bourbons simply lose the throne, and with the French monarchy deposed they have nowhere to go. Maybe have the House of Braganza, from a line that didn't marry into the Bourbons and give them the historic claim, claim the throne in the end. I was at one point going to propose that if Lonestar failed to post they could've relocated to Argentina; as it is they could still do so to Peru, if Angelod's out. An exiled Bourbon dynasty ruling the Kingdom of Peru in what would've been Angelod's state.

Note they wouldn't necessarily have perfect relations with me; not only would the Stuarts have a claim on the Bourbon titles through Henry IX's wife Dona Maria, but the Spanish Bourbons themselves could also consider the Stuarts traitors and usurpers who seized Spanish territory instead of defending the crown that had aided them in exile, even if their Mexican loyalists have generally become Stuart supporters. I leave it up to the relevant mod to determine if this idea carries through.

[frigidmagi]

Angelod is most definitely out.

[Hadrianvs]

You know, you could just copy and paste the real life Carlist Wars.

When the Borbones inherited the Spanish throne they brought Salic Succession Law with them, meaning that females weren't allowed to inherit the throne, in order to keep the Habsburgs from re-claiming Spain. This law was never put into effect as all subsequent monarchs until Fernando VII has at least one son. Fernando VII had two daughters, and knowing that it was unlikely he would produce any more children, he issued a Pragmatic Sanction which restore traditional Spanish succession law. This meant that the eldest daughter would inherit if she had no brothers. Fernando's brother Carlos was not happy to find himself disinherited by decree, so when Fernando died he declared himself the rightful King of Spain.

The ensuing civil war, known as the First Carlist War, lasted from 1833 to 1839. There were two other subsequent Carlist Wars, but they did not amount to much more than regional insurrections.

[Steve]

Dunno, this would be right after Spain got its ass kicked by Rome. Totally different situation. Also possible that the Bourbons would have no need to institute Salic Law as there was no War of Spanish Succession, quite possibly, and there are no Habsburgs. Rome would probably be militarily exhausted and faced with Franco-German invasion if it tried to exploit a Spanish Civil War in the 1798-1805 timeframe, so that means Spain can batter itself as the Bourbons and Braganzas have a succession dispute that becomes a war.

[Hadrianvs]

If there are no Habsburgs then the Braganzas are the Kings of Spain. Remember, we unified Spain by having Isabel of Castille marry the heir to the Portuguese throne. The Bourbons only inherited Spain because the Habsburg Carlos II willed the throne to his great-nephew, who happened to be a Bourbon. Likely Spain is dominated by Castillians as in OTL, because of demographics, but I doubt they ever bothered to move the capital. Lisboa is as far away from Rome as they can get without leaving Europe.

[Steve]

Eh, still possible the Bourbons could've briefly ruled Spain through the inheritance of the thrown by a female Braganza, who marries a Bourbon prince. Then their heir becomes King. Granted, it'd be the House of Bourbon-Braganza then. Carlos III could be the second-to-last ruler of this line, with his incompetent son being the last and overthrown in a struggle for the throne with the other Braganzas.

[General Havoc]

In the timeline I was thinking up, the Third Hispanian War (as the Romans call it) was a Roman victory, but took place in the middle of so much chaos and disorder for Rome in general that Rome was unable to capitalize on whatever sort of insanity Spain went through during that period. The war was sparked by a Spanish invasion of Aragon sometime around 1795-6. Rome had just finished with a fairly gruesome civil war between rival branches of the House of Rienzus that sputtered off and on for fifteen years and left the Roman military in disarray and much of the nobility and officer corps dead. The invasion caught Rome flat-footed and the Spanish were able to overrun most of Roman Iberia fairly quickly, which I'm sure led to other countries looking at Rome and wondering which parts of her Empire they should rip off.

Basically only two things saved the Empire from being completely torn apart. One was Napoleon. He showed up on the scene in Iberia and re-constituted what was left of the Roman army with provincial (including Turcian) auxilliaries, and contrived to shatter the Spanish invasion forces in a series of fast campaigns in Spring and Summer of 1798 that eventually culminated in a march on Madrid. The Spanish government fell, Mexico revolted, and Napoleon was able to more or less dictate terms of peace to what authority was left in Spain that included the ceding of Spain's remaining Caribbean colonies and Gibraltar. Given time or united Roman support, Napoleon might well have just annexed Spain entire to Rome, but he had neither of those things. The French and Germans were pulling themselves together into another coalition against Rome, the embers of the civil war were still burning, and on top of all that, the last King of Rome got it into his head that Napoleon was scheming to seize the throne from him, and ordered his arrest. Historians are still debating if the King was just being paranoid, or if he had actually gotten word of an impending coup. It turned out not to matter, as Napoleon turned back and kicked the King out, fought a lightning series of campaigns across the Empire to consolidate his control, and made it back in time to confront the Franco-German invasion of 1804. Napoleon crushed the invasion, but died in the process, and by the time his successors had sorted everything out regarding how the new Repiblic was supposed to actually function (Napoleon set it up, but died before it could really get off the ground), Spain had (I assume) pulled itself sufficiently back together that Rome was discouraged from resuming the war. After all, by that point (1805-6) Rome had been engaged in pretty much non-stop war both within and on the borders of the Empire, for nearly twenty years. She was simply exhausted, and had plenty of new territories to digest already.

Hrm, dunno, I don't recall when treaties were signed to such effect. You might be able to claim such for clearly internal waters but I can see some things making this... iffy (Rome, for instance, could and probably would claim all the Med as Roman waters, something France and Spain may not take kindly to).

Rome has always intentionally left the precise legal status of the Mediterranean unclear, but her policy in practice is that the Med is her personal property, and nobody else's. There's a slightly different situation regarding the Mediterranean than with colony spheres of influence though. Rome's Empire, heartland and colonies both, is spread around the periphery of the Med, and thus the Med, to Rome, is basically the heartland of the Empire, the avenue over which goods and supplies and military forces flow internally. It's not generally a matter of international laws or whatnot, Rome regards the Med as a region of immediate and vital national security, and acts accordingly should anyone get it into their heads that they should deploy heavy forces there. I would imagine that wars have been fought over this very issue. It's standing Roman policy that any military deployment that threatens Rome's control over the Mediterranean is regarded as a justified reason for war. Whether or not international law backs that up as legitimate, it's been Rome's policy for centuries.

[Steve]

In these eras there was no such law. The general consensus was a three mile "national waters" limit (determined literally by cannon shot range I believe) and the rest of the sea properly being "free", but certain powers (Britain!) continued to assert their own rights on the high seas that included seizing other nations' shipping if it was suspected of providing supplies to any nations Britain was at war with, and Britain tended to apply a very loose definition to the concept of "contraband".

Rome would apparently behave the same way, though obviously only in the waters of the Med. Logically a point of contention with Hungary and France primarily, as all of Spain's good remnant ports are Atlantic-side.

And hrm, that means I figure the wave of Roman immigrants, primarily upper class ones on the wrong side of the civil war, would probably be 1795-1810 I guess. And it's possible that the House of Braganza out-maneuvers the related House of Bourbon-Braganza in holding the throne after their defeat at Napoleon's hands, maybe using the last King of the latter's line signing that embarrassing treaty with Rome as a spur. Historically the heir of Carlos III was rather dimwitted and I figured history could repeat here. Might even be Carlos III's death that sparked the Spanish attack; for years he allows preparations but resists it, not willing to stake his whole kingdom on such a gamble without guaranteed Franco-German aid, but upon his death his dimwitted heir becomes a tool of the generals who launch even with France having the Revolution.