German Confederation and Corpus Evangelicorum with time evolved to be one and the same, whilst the "ceremonial" head of it all gradually became the same person as the "Duke of Pommerania". The Duke of Pommerania being also the King of Sweden. As said before, the wars with France and Poland and the rebellions forced Sweden to increase its ties with the German states, and albeit the final step - that of uniting the two - would not be taken until well into 18th century after Europe was shaken by certain immense political and military events. Within the Confederation, kingdoms of Brandenburg and Bohemia were the strongest, whilst Austria and Saxony were definitely in decline. But even those two kingdoms didn't dare move against Sweden.
Italy was, for the most part, aligned with France, apart from the neutral, declining Venice and Genoa. The Pope was also moving between neutral and pro-French, but it were Savoy, Milan and Naples, the three most significant Italian countries, that were on French side. All smaller states thus had no choice, at best they could maintain a pro-French neutrality.
Poland was undergoing a brief resurgence, rather undone by the ravages of the First Rhenish War. Jan III Sobieski was crucial to both the rise and the fall, being an energetic and popular ruler, and managing to manipulate the divided Sejm. Absolute monarchy never was restored to Poland, but in this time it was as strong as ever during the Royal Republic.
Ottoman Empire was in its zenith. Hungary was subdued, and albeit rare rebellions and haiduk risings threatened the Ottomans there and in Romania, the Ottomans managed to consolidate their gains and to entrench in them. The Koprulu Viziers undertook capable reforms that made the administration of the Ottoman Empire more possible, and wisely stayed out of major European wars for the most part, apart from a minor border war with Poland using the First Rhenish War. The wars with Russia were largely inconclusive, with the fortress of Azov changing hands several times. The Turkish power during this period was rather concentrated on expanding in Africa (conquest of Morocco) and wars with Persia, eventually resulting in the conquest of Aizerbadjan (OOC: meaning the Greater Aizerbadjan, including a large northwestern part of Persia) and Abadan, as well as confirmation of Turkish sovereignity over Transcaucasia. But already, Ottoman Empire was beginning to suffer from weakening commerce and overstretchment... This will result in great damage to Turkey, but much later.
And on the fringes of Europe, there was Russia. Here, Absolutism was unchallenged, and indeed Russia was hardly "European". It did modernize and adopt many European ideas, but Westerner influence in culture was restricted (i.e. Modernization without Westernization - think Meiji Japan). Powerful tsars kept their alliance with Sweden, instead concentrating on wars with Poland and Turkey, and China in the Far East, but tensions steadily increased between the Swedes and the Russians. Also, there was religious and political strife (not nearly as much as in OTL, though - remember, Patriarchate and Tsardom are united, not too unsimilarily from OTL England's arrangement with the king being the head of church). Reformists threatened Church integrity when Tsar-Patriarch Fyodor IV bitterly resisted calls to revise the church books (written in Church Slavic, literally translated from Greek and thus, combined with occasional scribe mistakes, "imperfect"), whislt cossacks and peasants occasionally rebelled to resist further enserfment (different people in charge - no Morozov - enserfment still increases, but not as much as in OTL, de jure at least). But all rebels were put down, if only because of their internal disagreements.
So, the pieces are in place, the game begins anew. In late 17th century, there were two more major European wars - the Eight Years War and the First Rhenish War. Albeit alliances were not completely static, the general idea remained the same - France, Portugal, England, Denmark-Norway, Savoy, Milan, Two Sicilies and Poland were opposing Sweden, Holland, Scotland, most German states, Spain and Russia. In the Eight Years War, however, the French also found an... unlikely ally - Habsburg Austria.
Eight Years War started in 1666, but its hard to say whether it started on May 9th, when Admiral Gerard's English fleet refused to salute before the Dutch fleet, and instead started a battle where the English lost three ships while the Dutch, losing only one ship, nonetheless retreated after it became clear that their luck has ran out, or if it instead started on June 1st, when the French government, claiming that Lorrainean "troops" (Lorraine hardly had something that can be called an army, albeit a small force was kept) commited incursions into French enclave around Metz, declared war on Lorraine. German Confederation and Sweden declared war on France, and the rest you can guess.
Anglo-French troops tried to invade Scotland, but faced surprisingly determined and capable resistance led by Douglas Inveraray, who defended Edinburgh succesfully for seven months until the Swedish reinforcements arrived. With Swedish help, Scotts, albeit losing Ulster to the Engish forces, suceeded in capturing Carslisle and Newcastle, though further advance was prevented by Warrington's Anglo-French troops at Humber in 1668. The war here degenerated into minor skirmishes afterwards, albeit in 1671 there was an attempted Swedish landing in Belfast. The eventual Treaty of Westphalia restored status quo here, albeit the English were obliged to limit presence of their troops in Ireland.
Spain fought with France mostly to avenge its defeat and to regain Catalonia. There was much irony in the situation - this time, France was posing to be the "protector of Catholics" and fought with Protestant Sweden, and Spain in spite of its religion was on the Swedish side, whilst in the Thirty Years War it was the other way around. Reformed Spanish armies did surprisingly well, defeating the French at Sabadell in Catalonia. But the expected pro-Spanish risings never came, the invasion of Portugal was defeated at Elvas, and eventually the French forces, triumphant in the Mediterranean, forced Spain out of the war with the 1672 capture of the Balearics and Valencia; Spain didn't lose territory aside from Sardinia, which was annexed into the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, but it also had to pay an indemnity.
Denmark-Norway was handed several decisive defeats very fast, albeit the Swedes failed in their assault on Copenhagen in 1667. Eventually, Denmark-Norway had to cede Skane and Bremen-Verden in 1671, unable to fight on under the great pressure, intensified by the Dutch commerce raiding.
But the three main theatres were in Germany, more or less. The Rhenish Theatre was also extending into Holland, whilst the Baltic Theatre extended into Swedish Livonia and Poland; Danubean Theatre was solely in Germany, however.
French forces quickly crushed Lorraine overcoming what little resistance there was, and succesfully conspired with the Trier and several other anti-Swedish princes, starting a rebellion in Germany. The rebellion failed to gain momentum in most of Germany, but in the west and the south (in the latter it was less of a princely and more of a popular Catholic rebellion) it scored several victories, helping the French. Conde's forces defeated the Bohemians at Cologne (Bohemian Wittelsbachs still did control Cologne and the Palatinate; after the war, they agreed to cede Cologne to the Dutch to deal with their overstretch) and before Sweden could respond properly outflanked the Dutch army, which already was hard-pressed by Anglo-French forces in Flanders, losing Ghent. Stadholder William III rallied the Dutch in a defense and opened the dikes, flooding the Dutch lowlands in order to stave off the French invaders. This worked, and the Dutch, reinforced by Sveldssen's Swedish troops, pushed the French back into Cologne. Brussels and Ghent, however, fell before they could be relieved, and by 1669 both armies settled in a stalemate in Flanders; thus the main war here took place in Rhine, where the Swedish forces reestablished control and threatened the flank of the French forces in Cologne. The French won the Battle at Koblenz, but their war effort eventually declined when Swedish-Bohemian forces succesfully, in 1671, captured Trier. The French still managed to regain the initiative in 1673, but as their plans for a maritime invasion of Holland were upset back in 1671 by Ruyter, they could only attack effectively in Trier and the Palatinate, making some headway and getting favorable peace in 1674 in Westphalia, where France was confirmed in its gain of Lorraine, Alsace and Trier, but withdrew from elsewhere, leaving Holland intact. The Swedes, however, were recognized in their domination of Germany, allowing them to further consolidate their power there - leaving garrisons in several major German cities and limiting the freedom of the foreign policy of the confederate states.
When in 1667 it became clear that the knockout victory against Holland was no longer feasable, the French decided to open another front, allying with Austria and sending troops through Italy to the Danubean Theatre. Combined with rebels in Bavaria, the Austro-French forces, commanded by Turenne (he died in the fighting and was replaced by Davout) and Hardenberg, achieved many initial successes, but their attempt to link up with the French forces on the Rhine was defeated in 1669 at Heilbronn. Further defeats followed, Bohemian-Swedish forces captured Vienna and a Protestant rebellion ousted Habsburgs. Eventually, the French in 1673 had to completely retreat out of Austria. After the war, Austria was never returned to the Habsburgs, instead going to the heretofore extremelly insignificant (well, more like since 14th century, but even then they held only a puny county) Zahringen Dynasty. With the loss of Lorraine, Trier and Alsace to France and the forceful reformation of Austria, there were no Catholic principalities left within the German Confederation.
The "Baltic Theatre", where the war with Poland was waged, immediately saw some Polish victories - albeit at sea, their small navy was grounded, on the land they took Konigsberg, Memel and Riga. An offensive into Pommerania was beaten back, though, and Danzig held out during the siege; still, the well-trained Polish armies, adjusted to the lessons of the previous war, managed to hold their ground against Sweden most of the times - not counting 1672, when the Swedes captured Cracow, but they were in the same year repulsed by rebellions and Polish troops. Thus, the Poles preserved the status quo here in spite of the fact that they were threatened from all directions at once.
Also, Poland fought this war with Russia, making much headway due to instability in the latter and the superior Polish training. The peace treaty would see Podolia returned to Poland, albeit Kiev and Smolensk remained Russian.
The main consequence of the war, apart from the strenghthening of Sweden's grasp on Germany and the continued rise of Holland as a naval power, was that the French and their allies, having gained much territory, still remained hungry for more. Thus 1683 brought the First Rhenish War, so-called because Louis XIV felt that the natural border of France should go along the Rhine and, evidently due to this provoked a Catholic revolt in Flanders and supported it. But this time, the Swedes were prepared, the Catholic rebellions in Germany failed, and the Anglo-French armade was annihilated at Dover in a daring attack. On the land, the French made some gains in Rhineland, but were stopped at Brussels by the Dutch-Swedish armies (who greatly fortified Belgium since the last war), whilst the Scottish armies held strong against the English, even attacking in Ireland. In Spain, though, the French did very well at first, very nearly in spite of all the modernization efforts taking Madrid and generally wrecking havoc - but eventually, they were stopped short of victory here. The Poles fared very badly as well - albeit they did well at first, eventually the Russian army, much improved since the last war, combined with the Swedish one to push the Poles out of Courland and Greater Lithuania, and in the west the Swedes pillaged the vital core areas of Poland on the Vistula. Venice, in Italy, eventually sided with the Swedes, being promised Mantua (and getting it eventually), and here too the French faced defeat. They fought on until 1687, but it became clear that Louis overestimated his kingdom's power - the Swedish armies were stronger then before, reinforced by well-disciplinned armies of Brandenburg and Bohemia, and won the great battle at Zell. France could have fought on for longer if not for the major revolts that filled the country and the bad financial situation, and eventually France agreed to a peace treaty, conceding Trier to a local dynasty and granting independance to Catalonia (under the Claris dynasty). Disillusioned and depressed, Louis died in 1692, to be succeeeded by... Louis. Only this one was Louis XV, who swore revenge and begun to greatly reform the French army and fleet, and who had Vauban construct numerous forts. Poland, meanwhile, signed peace, ceding Podolia and eastern parts of Greater Lithuania (OOC: meaning the eastern half of OTL Belarus, with Minsk a Polish border city) to Russia and Courland to Sweden... England ceded a northwestern chunk of Ireland to Scotland, whilst the Swedes, apart from getting confirmed in their predominance of Germany, also grabbed Holstein-Gottorp, Trondheim (they did try to take it in OTL) and all Norwegian lands further north and east.
Thus the 18th century begun with another war in preparation...
1700-1728. Planet Earth.
18th century, a time of enlightenment, war, and many other things besides, old and new alike, a time of suffering in some regards greater and in some regards lesser then before (technologic progress raised life standards, though slowly, but it also enabled even more brutal wars then before), but also a time of trade, of commerce. Slave trade, spice trade, sugar trade, tea trade (the latter being especially prominent for the Dutch)... the great Age of Mercantilism was over on paper, but de facto the trade was now even more profitable then before. Also a time of less patient, more quick and more risky ways to prosper - though to some extent piracy, in the Carribean and in the Yellow seas was declining as the naval power of the empires grew, it still existed, whilst on a more legal side, gold and other strikes drew population and caused development of such previously backwater, sparsely-populated regions as Portuguese Brazil and Russian Chukotka (more specifically, Mato Grosso and Kolyma).
Colonial expansion was perhaps at its greatest. The Portuguese, after a victorious colonial war with Spain in 1711, extended their reign all the way to River Plate (i.e. the Portuguese succesfully captured Uruguay ITTL, to compensate for the loss of north Brazil). The Dutch meanwhile, competed with Portugal in the Amazon Basin, fearful of a possible Portuguese outflanking. Spain, for its part, vigorously extended its rule further inland in Latin America, especially in the north, where it increasingly came into conflict with France - French expeditions to Rio Grande being looked upon as at a most alarming development, causing the expansion into Tejas. Russia and China still strifed during the time, fighting in the Ussuri basin (the Chinese won, and the Treaty of Nerchinsk confirmed Sakhalin and Ussuri Region as Chinese, though Amur Region remained Russian), whilst using the power vacuum in Central Asia to expand there (OOC: from what I could discern, there was no real reason apart from other preoccupations that prevented Russia from extending its rule into Central Asia much earlier then in OTL - and here, it is driven by conflict with China). The process, as of 1728, was not yet finished, but Russia and China alike during this Scramble for Central Asia eventually grabbed huge lands, China taking Sinkiang and the vast Bukhara Sultanate whilst Russia took Kazakhstan, Khiva and the rest. Many tribes fled from Russian and Chinese armies, and caused even more havoc in the already unstable lands of Persia and India - those tribes were collectively known as the Afghans, albeit in reality the Afghans were only the most prominent of those.
But these were only the most spectacular examples of colonial expansion. Perhaps less spectacular, but just as significant was the consolidation of Dutch rule over the East Indies and Sudafrika (OOC: Insane Panda, by the time you read this, I do hope you regain your fear of the word "Sudafrika". No reason for me saying this in particular), slow, steady carrot-and-stick colonization. In North America, France, England, Holland and Virginia extended their reach as well. Border between New England and New Holland remained on the Connecticut, but the border of New France and New England solidified on the Appalachians. New Holland's borders with French colonies were far from clear, but the border with Virginia was along the Potomac and Kanasaha, with a more-or-less straight line between two rivers. Virginian-Carolinian border was yet undefined, and a source of many border clashes, but eventually the PRIMARY - eastern part of the - border was declared to be Cape Fear river. West of it was a land still being settled and claimed - Virginia was the most energetic in those efforts, and this caused English Carolina to speed up its own expansion. But as the expanding state and colony both extended west, they came into some conflict with France, with the frontier stabilizing on the Appalachians, though not indefinitely. France itself ruled in name a vast area, though its real holdings weren't small neither - only sparsely-populated, as most colonists joined the profitable fur trade rather then the dull life of colonial cities. Which is not to say that said cities didn't rise - Nouvelle-Orleans, Sent-Luis, Niagara, Montreal and Quebec were slowly, but surely gaining size. But it was hardly comparable with the staggering population growth of English, Dutch and Virginian possessions.
Culture advanced back in Europe (and in the Far East), as Enlightenment spred. But not only the harmless ideas, encouraged by the monarchs, became widespread - a political ideology of republican radicalism, inspired in part by the late 17th century philosophy of the English refugee (living in Swiss Confederation) John Locke (OOC: basically the same as in OTL, but a more embittered and radical version) and in part by the existance of the Scottish Republic (and to a lesser extent of Virginia), which, albeit not exactly an utopia, saw a greater level of social mobility then most absolutist powers, became dangerously widespread, with significant republican factions rising in much of Europe outside of culturally-foreign Russia and Turkey. Repression of the said factions gave short-term benefits to the absolutism at best and in most cases produced dangerous martyrs. Still, even in 1728 it seemed to the majority of the people that the republican movement is unlikely to gain power in any of the great powers, any time soon at least...
Scientifically, the Enlightenment was also important, as the scientific method was furthered, as academies were founded and as progress became considerably faster then before. The development of technology both assisted in and was sped up by the neccesities of War.
First seventeen years and two months of the century saw minor colonial wars, some insignificant rebellions (the most important of those was a two-year rebellion in Hungary, brutally put down) and some obscure wars in Italy and the Balkans, the latter being mostly a disastrous Venetian attempt to conquer Morea. A few minor wars between Russia and Turkey confirmed the former in the possession of Azov and in the right to build a fleet there. Outside of Europe, the Afghan Empire in East Persia and Northwest India (mostly OTL Pakistan, but also some regions of northern OTL India, not including Delhi) rose to prominence during this time, albiet its instability would result in a collapse... later. In what remained of a Persia hemmed in between Turkey and the Afghans, chaos raged, with warlords and pretenders on the rampage. The Turks expanded into Arabia, taking over Hejjaz and al-Hasa. Mughals fell apart in India, with Afghans, Sikhs, Marthas and Mysorians the four new dominant powers on the subcontinent, whilst the European influence extended across the coast, with England, France and Portugal blocking the Dutch expansionism... for now. Siamese armies of King Maha brought order to the three warring states of Laos - Siamese order, ofcourse.
First seventeen years and two months of the century saw a gradual buildup, as Jan IV (or rather the powerful Konrad Poniatowski, the strongman of the Sejm) and Louis XV prepared for the grand revanche, as were their lesser allies. King Charles X of Sweden and Bohemia (litteraly a fruit of years of careful intrigue - a son of a Bohemian queen and a Swedish king who united Sweden and all of Bohemian Wittelsbach scattered possessions), Stadholder William V of Holland, Prime Consul Arnesby of Scotland and Tsar Fyodor V of Russia, the four leaders of the anti-French coalition, were preparing as well. On March 1st 1718, as something of a tradition already, the Second Rhenish War begun with a rebellion in South Holland, where the Catholics still were present in large amounts, and another Catholic rebellion in Bavaria and Austria. An assembly of nobles in rebel-held Ghent proclaimed Louis XV king of the new Kingdom of Flanders. After "hesitation", Louis, "outraged by mistreatment of his co-religionists that were driven to rebellion by their rulers", accepted the new crown. The anti-French coalition - the usual one, but joined by Venice and Catalonia - declared war on "the usurper". But they underestimated the French military strenght...
The Anglo-French armade soon inflicted a painful defeat on the Dutch-Swedish fleet at Walcheren Island, albeit in 1719 it was avenged in the Battle of Three Days. Marshall Bartas energetically led the French and rebel armies, and succesfully assaulted and captured Maastricht within the first two weeks of the war. The coalition forces anticipated the main blow to come against Holland, especially after its naval defeat, but Louis XV knew that this was what they expected. Instead, he ordered Bartas to secured Cologne and press on east, into the heart of Germany. Another French army, based in Alsace and led by Duc d'Strasbourg struck out for Stuttgart, defeating Morner's Swedish-German armies with surprising ease at Karlsruhe. A third army, that of Chatelaux, bogged down in Venetian territory, and thus failed to link up with the Austro-Bavarian rebels. Albeit eventually only Venice itself held strong against Chatleaux, his incompetence, combined with the well-prepared state of Venice, cost Louis XV his "victory in four months".
But even so, Swedish situation looked very grim, especially as Poniatowski routed Swedish-Brandenburgian army at Schwiebus, utilizing once more the superior quality of Polish cavalry. Louis XV managed to start another German rebellion, inciting most local princes, discontent with Swedish domination as they were, to overthrow the Swedes and create a Kingdom of Germany east of the Rhine, with a Bourbon king greatly limited by a feudal Diet. Bohemia (ruled by the Swedish king, so its no surprise), Austria, Brandenburg and Brunswick were the only four major German states that supported Sweden completely; a fairly large amount of the princes basically sat on the fence waiting for the events to fold out and the rest were pro-Bourbon.
On the other fronts, news were also uninspiring. Sir Oxford took Edinburgh and Glasgow with rather low casualties, and though the Highlanders bravely defended the Republic whilst the Lowlanders also started occasional rebellions, the outlook was unpromising for Scotland. The Catalans and the Spaniards pathetically failed at forming a single front, and thus Barcelona fell in a swift attack by Marshall D'Evreux, who exploited this victory with an offensive towards Madrid. Spain, riddled with corruption, populated by unloyal peasants, soon enough was faced with rebellions in the face of the government's weakness and the defeat of the army. King Phillip VI surrendered himself to the French in panic, fleeing from an angry mob in Madrid. Admittedly, same rebels later caused lots of problems for the French army which captured Madrid, forcing it to eventually - in 1721 - withdraw to the Ebro, leaving Spain in turmoil. Phillip VI was by then "rescued" and forced to abdicate in favor of the weak-willed Carlos III, who accepted a liberal constitution (sparking off a civil war) and signed a separate peace treaty with France, withdrawing from the anti-French coalition. Russo-Swedish forces in Lithuania fared well at first, taking Vilnius, but at Juozapine the Poles forces fought them into a stalemate, whilst Poniatowski managed to win over the Left Bank Cossacks to his side, promising greater autonomy under Polish rule. The Cossack rebellion came in an inconvenient moment - a moment of another Cossack rebellion in the east, in alliance with Orthodox Church Reformists and serfs. The Danish forces in Norway were routed - but the siege of Copenhagen drained Sweden's resources badly. German rebels were defeated time and again, most notably Saxony was occupied and thoroughly looted, but in the western parts of Germany, the rebels are still strong. In the colonies, the war goes rather better, but even there defeats happen. The English offensive in New Holland was broken on the Hudson, but the French captured the Virginian city of Morgan (OTL Greensboro, North Carolina), linking up with Carolina English and threatening Virginia Proper. Another French force used Spanish weakness to establish control of Brazos River (after the war, it became the new colonial border). English forces land in Cuba, and though they suffer badly from disease there and fail to take Havanna they DO manage to capture Florida, joining it to Carolina after the war (the Spanish, who as already said were busy rebelling against Habsburgs and the French alike and afterwards fighting each other, were not in position to protest). Good news came in Lesser Antilles and in Brazil, where the Dutch were winning on the land and the sea, however - not only were the Portuguese attacks fought back by the brilliant Rudolf Cronje, but a counteroffensive forced the Portuguese to pursue a separate peace treaty returning Brazil to status quo - and conceding several African and Indian possessions to Holland, most of which the Dutch conquered by force anyway, most importantly Mozambique and Calicut, whilst the Chinese, who for some time now were at good terms with the Dutch and at bad terms with the Portuguese, retook Macao (and kept it) in an effort to centralize trade and reportedly because the Emperor disliked the presence of a foreign colony within China itself - he saw it as something of an insult and something of a bad precedent.
And on the main front, the French, boosted by various German princes, advanced as far as Kassel, Frankfurt-en-Main and Ulm by 1720, the slow pace owing to the capable leadership of the Swedish general Siegbahn, who, bolstered by Bohemians, also defeated the French at Regensburg, pushing them from Bavaria. Chatleaux was by then replaced by d'Arles, who nonetheless failed to take Venice, coming under Austro-Swedish pressure. Luckily, by then, the Polish luck (no pun intended) begun to run out - Turkey allied with Sweden, the eastern Cossack-Reformist-serf rebellion of Taras Glenka was crushed (albeit the western one lingered on) and Poniatowski perished at Riga. Silesia also firmly decided to support Sweden now, and Poznan was captured by Charles X. On the French front, in 1722, the restoration of maritime supremacy, regionally at least, allowed a Swedish army to seize Ghent, where it all begun. East of French-held lands in Germany, the rebellion finally begun to decline.
Still, the French forces DID continue to attack. In 1723, they once more besieged Venice, and a concentrated effort of d'Strasbourg and d'Arles, combined with a local Catholic insurgency, allowed the two to link up in the mountainous Tyrolia. Elsewhere, the French armies were checked at Eichsfeld, but only checked, nothing more. The Scotts managed to hold Aberdeen against Sir Oxford. By then, however, a new factor set in - warweariness. The trade was suffering, the finances of all nations, especially Poland, France and Sweden went to supplying the armies. Finally, as the French were defeated at Bolzano and at Waldeck in 1724, their king, rather then risk an open rebellion of his subjects, agreed to negotiate. In the Treaty of Prague, all sides had to make concessions.
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