| This article covers a war or battle
|
After being asked numerous questions about the topic, I decided to create this page, the Hessian Wars. It details the events regarding Northern Germany, Albion, and later, the HRE as a whole through the early years of the 16th century. This is supposed to be a collaborative project between all members who were involved in these events.
Years Of The Hessian Wars[]
This area describes the years of the Hessian Wars and the different events within them.
Pre-War Years (1500-1501)[]
In the first years of the 16th century, a Hessian-Hamburger agreement came into effect. In a war with Hamburg, Scandinavia had taken land that was bought from them by Hamburg a number of years earlier. They won the war, and in agreement with Hesse, sold Hesse the land. Hamburg and Hesse then agreed that the land would be returned to Hamburg in the year 1500. However, in 1500, the Treaty of Berlin was signed. It ended a massive war between the HRE, Scandinavia, and Russia. All nations involved got a massive hit to their economy. Hesse was neutral in the war, and had now the best economy in Germany. It refused to give Hamburg the land back, stating that it needed to hold onto it longer until Hamburg's economy rose. This started aggression between the long time allies, but it was not full blown war yet.
Invasion of Hamburg (1502-1504)[]
Hesse before the war.
Hesse after the war
In the year 1502, Albion declared war upon Hamburg and invaded. Albion was an ally of Hesse, but so was Hamburg. They both requested help. Normally, Hesse would have stayed out of such a conflict (such as the numerous wars between Scandinavia and Hamburg, both Hessian allies). This time, however, they offered to help, but for a price. They proposed multiple requests that the Hamburgers give Hesse land, all were refused, not matter how much land was being taken. Princess-Regent Eva I, then ruler of Hesse, had enough. She invaded Hamburg, who she disliked due to their demanding attitude, plus their refusal of help. In a few short years, the Hessian and Albionic armies marched triumphantly into Hamburg. The Treaty of Hamburg was created. This ended the war, resulting in defeat for the Hamburgers, and victory for Albion and Hesse. This started the fire of the Hessian war machine.
Vassal & Colonial Expansion (1505-1508)[]
Showing the Ludwig Insels
Showing Neu Bremen
Hesse, not wanting to get into another war so soon, began vassalizing the nation of Munster. It was all going well, and everyone was fine and happy for the most part, except for the conquered Hamburgers. The war gave Hesse a coastline. Already losing their coastline before, Hesse was glad it finally had one again. It began sending colony ships out, colonizing multiple places. This lead to the expansion of the Neu Bruchhausen colony in Africa, and the creation of the Ludwig Insels colony and Neu Bremen colony. However, something went wrong while they were trying to vassalize Munster.
Munsterian Resistance (1509)[]
Hesse in it's glory days. This is the biggest and most powerful Hesse has ever gotten, and probably won't be like this again for a while. Picture year is 1465. Green is vassals and blue is Hesse as a whole.
In 1509, the last year of vassalization for Munster, Munster decided to resist Hessian influence. it stopped the vassalization, and caused Hesse to be flung into an angry rage over the whole ideal. It wanted Munster back, from when it was in it's glory days (The 1460s)
Hessian War (1510-1513)[]
Hesse invaded Munster in 1410, causing Koln to be called in. Hesse's armies were successful in taking down the coalition's forces at first. The most successful battle the Hessians fought was the Battle of Dortmund.
Western Front/Westphalian Campaign (1510)[]
Battle of Dortmund[]
The Hessian forces, after invading Munster, met heavy resistance, but it was ineffective, as it was mostly peasants. The trained and battle-hardened Hessian Army was too much of a match for the Munsterian peasants. The Hessian Army then met the Munsterian Army at Dortmund. The Hessian Army, which included the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions, commanded by Margrave Keitel. The Munsterian Army's numbers were unknown, and so is their commander, and division. However, the Munsterians were very disorganized, and new to fighting. The veteran 1st Division easily swept through the center of the city, accompanied by the other two divisions, wiping out a large chunk of the confused Munsterian Army. From then on, the Munsterians were on the run.
Battle of Marienheide []
The Koln armies were kept at bay by the 6th and 7th divisions. The 6th and 7th divisions held a stiff resistance to the Kolner Armies. This is shown clearly at the Battle of Marienheide. The 6th division set up camp to guard the western flank of the main army group (1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions). They were then attacked at night by a Kolner force. Though outnumbered, the leadership by Count Helmuth von Lippe pulled the 6th through to the end of the night, where they were reinforced and managed to beat back the Kolner forces.
Battle of Bergische Gladbach[]
The 6th and 7th divisions moved up through Koln, facing minimal to moderate resistance after Marienheide, and finally got to the outskirts of the city itself. Bergische Gladbach was a fierce battle. The 3rd Corps held out, fighting for two weeks on the outskirts of Koln. However, at this time, the Bavarians declared war and were invading from the east, through Thuringia. The 1st and 3rd Corps were withdrawn from the Westphalian front.
Eastern Front/Bavarian Campaign (1510-1512)[]
The 1st Corps headed out to eastern Hessen to engage the Bavarians, who were currently tied up with fighting through the multiple Hessian forts on the eastern front. Neither the 2nd nor 3rd Corps saw action on the eastern front. Most of the eastern front fighting was slow and very rare, as the Bavarians would not engage the Hessian forces directly, instead being blocked by the eastern forts Hesse had built years earlier, dating back to the Saxon War (1429). Due to the lack of fighting, and overconfidence in the eastern forts, the 1st Corps was withdrawn from the front, and instead, placed elsewhere. However, in 1513, the Bavarians made a breakthrough. Due to the 1st Corps being withdrawn, the Bavarians swept across eastern Hessen, before troops were sent into stop the Bavarians.
Northern Front/Burger Campaign (1510-1511)[]
The 2nd Corps was dispatched to the north, to Hamburg and Oldenburg. The 2nd Corps faced little fighting, as the Hamburger forces were all crushed still from the last war, and the Oldenburger forces were small in number. After their forces were dispatched, the 2nd was relocated to somewhere useful.
Southern Front/Austrian Campaign (1510-1512)[]
After the Austrians declared war, the 3rd was relocated to Frankfurt to deal with the Austrian invaders. The 1st Corps also moved in after they were withdrawn from the Eastern Front. The Austrians had too many men, and pushed the Hessians back constantly, although Frankfurt switched hands multiple times, before the Hessians were pushed back to Central Hessen. This also made the Austrians attack the Eastern forts, resulting in a force merge between the Austrians and Bavarians.
Home Front/Holy Roman Campaign (1513)[]
By this time, the 2nd Corps had already arrived from the north, but the amount of troops that the Bavarians and Austrians had were overwhelming. Fighting continued, with Nassau being taken in a matter of days. The Hamburgers and the Oldenburgers merged forces, and took Bremen, Bruchhausen, Lippe, and merged with Bavarian forces to take Gottingen. The Hessian forces were on the run, all converging onto Ludwigsburg. Princess-Regent Eva I, then ruler of Hesse, declared that all peasants were to stand and fight for the Grand Duchy. Peasants went to fight, but were easily killed. These improper militias were dispatched with ease, and had no connection to the nobles directing the defense. The Corps were broken into divisions for the defense.
Battle of Marburg[]
The 6th and 7th Divisions were sent to the defense of Marburg. They were outnumbered around 3 to 1, and could not hold for long, but bought time for Ludwigsburg defenses to be brought up. The Austrians and Bavarians attacked for two days, before the garrison was surrounded. The 6th and 7th continued to fight until Hesse's surrender. Unneeded Austrian and Bavarian forces were sent to Ludwigsburg to try and seize the capital.
Battle of Wetter[]
The 5th Division was in charge of defensive operations in the town of Wetter. They faced a Bavarian-Oldenburger-Hamburger force, and they were outnumbered 6 to 1. However, using the river systems around the town as natural defenses, they managed to hold off before they were surrounded and the attackers attacked northern Ludwigsburg.
[WIP]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
