Request to be annexed

[CaptainPatch]

With the large number of City States available, and the fact that there's no better safety in the hard, cruel world than to be in the family with a powerful Big Brother, it strikes me that undoubtedly, _some_ of the CSs would **want** to become part of a nearby civ. In the Real World, there have been a fair number of minor nations that come to mind. (Texas and Hawaii for example.) So what about incorporating a mechanism in Civ V?

There would of course be pluses and minuses. On the minus side there's the fact that the player would be losing some "puppet" votes in the World Congress. On the plus side is the fact that he would no longer have to be throwing money at, and performing tasks just to stay on the CS's good side. Further, once part of the empire, the former CS would henceforth be giving the player ALL of its Research points, Culture, Faith, et al.

Off-hand, realizing that it is NOT entirely historically correct (Hawaii for example), the CS requesting annexation would need to share a common border with the civ it wants to be annexed by. (Makes it easier to tie it into the civ's infrastructure.

As to _why_ the CS wants to be annexed, obviously, the civ's Influence with the CS would have to be astronomical. Shared religion could be a requirement. And maybe a world class "Do this for us" task might be required.

 

[householder]

In the Real World, there have been a fair number of minor nations that come to mind. (Texas and Hawaii for example.)

I don't want to shoot down your idea, because it may have merit. I think having a shared border would be necessary for such an annexation.

However, I do question your examples. In both cases, the governments were dominated by rebels who were trying to consolidate their advantages against domestic opponents (Hawaii) or against a country from which they had recently seceded (Texas.) California also fits this profile as does the Green Mountain Republic (Vermont,) which was an independent country for 14 years before agreeing to annexation with the US in 1791.

This leaves me wondering, how many city-states, which have been sovereign for more than three generations, have voluntarily given up their sovereignty? The 19th nationalist movement in Germany and Italy are the only ones I can think of off-hand. But this sort of nationalism requires a common identity, which would mean the cultural influence of the civ (whether player or AI) would have to be dominant. Since city-states typically do not generate large amounts of culture, they would be at a serious disadvantage under the current culture system. So special rules for cultural influence over city-states would probably be necessary.

You have floated an interesting idea. I am not sure it is viable, but it will be interesting to discuss.

 

[CaptainPatch]

I acknowledge the stipulation, but in both cases the rebels had taken control of their governments. In the case of Texas, the big concern was that Mexico would be coming for them sooner or later. They hoped that if the USA took possession, then Mexico would back off. (Rather, it prompted Mexico to declare war on the _USA_ -- which turned out as would be expected.)

In Civ V terms, that would be like a civ using a spy to foment a coup to make the replacement government more favorable towards that civ. But going a bit further and having the CS petition for annexation. (What a coincidence that in the cases of Texas, California, and Hawaii, the large majority of "rebels" were American emigrants. A tried-and-true strategy perhaps?)

If you want to see a LOT of CSs switching allegiances, go back to Ancient Greece and follow the city migrations between Athens (Delian League)and Sparta (Pelopponnesian League) .

 

[fyar]

I would like the idea as a very rare game mechanic, but it would effectively take away the U in UA for Austria and Venice, so I vote no. Sorry.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

This is what the pledge to protect is supposed to do.
However it is too weak, it should require you to denounce any attacking/bullying civ to maintain the pledge

 

[troublmaker]

This just smells like another way for the computer to cheat. "Oh Mongolia I notice your army is huge" *Mongolia instantly annexes 12 city states*

 

[El Caballerion]

I think this mechanic could work very well if perhaps you shared a border with the CS and were allies with it for about 100 turns. Then it could assimilate? Maybe 5 turns before this took place, a warning could go out to other players, telling them that in 5 turns the CS would be annexed to give time to the other players to attempt to 'buy out' and ally the Civ before assimilation.

 

[DonStamos]

I acknowledge the stipulation, but in both cases the rebels had taken control of their governments. In the case of Texas, the big concern was that Mexico would be coming for them sooner or later. They hoped that if the USA took possession, then Mexico would back off. (Rather, it prompted Mexico to declare war on the _USA_ -- which turned out as would be expected.)

While I think Polk is a criminally underacknowledged president in history classes, his administration went out of its way to engineer that war.

They originally offered Mexico $15 million for California (roughly the areas covered in the Mexican Cession), but Mexico said no. So Polk ramped up American settlement in Texas, leading to skirmishes (he also did this in California), while supporting US annexation of Texas in Washington, hoping it would tick Mexico off enough to declare war. He was right, got his war, then got the territory he wanted.

When the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo was signed and that land was transferred/Texas' annexation acknowledged, the US paid Mexico that original $15 million for it. Pretty cold, if you ask me.

What startled me even more is when I went to do a research paper over the Mexican War and discovered various suggestions to take more states from Mexico, like Tamulipas (sp), Mexico itself to a certain point, or all of Mexico as a result of the war.

 

[Chemical Toilet]

I would like the idea as a very rare game mechanic, but it would effectively take away the U in UA for Austria and Venice, so I vote no. Sorry.

That's fine, Austria's UA needs rewritten anyway. It's a cool idea but it doesn't really have any advantages.

 

[danieladler]

In many of my games the citystates are very passionate about being annexed by the AI civs. They literally lay down their arms for them. Could it be that all the AI civs and CS´s are conspiring against me? All the illuminati foil hats would love this game

 

[Callonia]

I'm fine with this suggestion. Its start of something interesting to think about.