The Dawn of a New Century The Dawn of a New Century (Crisis Simulation)(Crisis Simulation)

Study GuideStudy Guide

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Welcome to Crisis at YorkMUN 2021

Honourable Delegates,

It is our pleasure to welcome you to the YorkMUN 2021 Historical Crisis simulation. The

topic this year will be ‘Europe 1700: Dawn of a New Century’ which will outline the War

of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War that took place in the beginning

of the 18th century. Whilst this may seem deeply rooted in military, the diplomatic and

political aspects will be just as important due to the nature of the conflicts.

This year, we will be innovating by introducing dynamic cabinets and letting delegates

control their own nations and will have the ability to choose which alliance they wish

to join (keeping historical rivalries into account). As these two wars had essentially all

the major powers of Europe involved, delegates will not be given generals, diplomats, or

foreign ministers but rather Kings and Queens of their respective nations instead.

In this guide, you will find both the historical background you will need on the conflicts

and the nations involved but also the mechanics of the crisis and some advice on how

to approach aspects such as military and diplomacy. As with the nature of the crisis, we

will be listing all the major events in history up until our start date which will be January

1698. Thus the study guide will not go beyond that point as history will be rewritten in

this timeline depending on what actions the delegates take.

Best of luck to you all and please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Badshah Kazi - Crisis Director

Peter Magill - Assistant Director

Your ChairsBadshah Kazi - Crisis Director

Badshah is currently a final year Civil Engineering student at

UCL. He has been active at MUN for over 9 years at this point

and has held several roles, including being Crisis Director six

times prior and YorkMUN 2021 will be his 45th conference

overall. Despite being an Engineering student, Badshah loves

to read about History which is one of the main reasons why he

went into crisis instead of regular committees. Badshah has studied the topic extensively

and is very excited to direct the upcoming crisis covering Europe in 1700. This will be

the largest scale crisis he will be attempting to direct so far and is quite excited to take on

the challenge! Outside of studies and MUN, Badshah can usually be found reading about

history, playing Europa Universalis IV, or tutoring highschool students in Mathematics.

He’s also recently began to love Star Wars again and you can expect to find him making

references to the Clone Wars during the crisis.

Peter Magill - Assistant Director

Peter is a PhD student at the University of Nottingham, cur-

rently studying British Defence Policy. So far in his crisis career

he has burned down many a city (sorry Venice) and started

several wars. Some of that may not have been strictly necessary

but he certainly enjoyed it. Having been an avid sower of chaos

in previous conferences he is now relishing the opportunity to

help oversee all manner of shenanigans across eighteenth cen-

tury Europe. You may also recognise him as both the Hansa ambassador and Archbishop

of Canterbury from YorkMUN 2020, two roles he played with gusto and will totally not

try to work into the crisis again! As a massive history fan Peter has a keen interest in this

historical period and what is probably an unhealthy fascination with European diploma-

cy and dynastic politics. This interest has manifested itself in over 1000 hours on Europa

Universalis IV. These things combined make Peter incredibly excited to help direct the

most ambitious crisis of his MUN career.

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Section 1: Delegate GuideWhat is a crisis committee?

A crisis is a simulation of the world which focus on a specific issue or time period in

history. There are several different types:

1. United Nations Crises: Delegates represent countries as normal MUN committees.

2. Single Cabinet Crisis: Delegates represent individual people with everyone in one

committee. E.g. Council of Elrond or Soviet Politburo

3. Joint Cabinet Crises (JCC): Delegates represent individual people or organisations

within a country with everyone in multiple committees. Normally a JCC has more

than two cabinets in different countries / organisations. E.g. Third Crusade or Italian

Wars.

Aims of each delegate in a crisis:

• Stay within your character and act as they would

• Try and achieve your character’s goals

• Try and achieve your cabinet’s goals (distinct from second point)

• Enjoy yourself!

Who participates in a Crisis?

1. The Crisis Staff

The Staff are the people who run the conference. Their role includes the jobs of answer-

ing directives and deciding what has and hasn’t happened. They introduce events that

occur and keep charge of what can happen. In short, if the Crisis Staff are not aware of

an event and do not agree that it has happened, then to put simply it hasn’t. In this way,

any disputes can be settled by the Crisis Staff. The Staff are also in charge of choosing the

topic and assigning character biographies. They should be committed to overseeing and

creating well organised events that are fun and interesting for everyone participating.

2. The Delegates

In this crisis, there is a special twist. Traditionally, delegates are given characters within

a nation such as a General and a Foreign Minister and you have to listen to your Mon-

arch or Leader, who is typically the chair. Here, each delegate will be playing a monarch

or elected leader and the chair will be an alliance partner. This gives delegates a lot more

autonomy (except in a few special cases) and puts more emphasis on diplomacy. The

Crisis Staff can misinterpret or decline any requests you send as they see fit. However,

you will not be forced to do anything you don’t want to but messenger’s being killed or

your guards misinterpreting your orders can happen so try to be as detailed and specific

as possible.

You are encouraged to use your powers that are given as much as possible. This is done

in the following ways:

• Sending Directives: You can send notes to the Crisis Staff requesting for actions to be

taken. E.g. “Mikhail Gorbachev would like to request the KGB to hire 50 new spies

and they are to be sent to Afghanistan and are instructed to gather Intelligence on

American activities. They are to remain hidden when gathering intel and are to carry

a day’s worth of supplies whenever they leave.” (In the context of a USSR based Cri-

sis). The more detail you write, the more likely your directive is to succeed. All Direc-

tives are sent through the Crisis Software. More details on this below.

• Press Releases: This can be done individually or through a cabinet. Press Releases are

generally statements or propaganda pieces written and are published for the world

to see. This can be used to send a message publicly to the other cabinet or diffuse

tension internally if there is unrest. Alternatively, it can be used to spread fake news

about someone within your cabinet as well.

• E.g: “Cesare Borgia is a liar and a murderer! All he has gained is through deceit and

corruption! Do not fall for his lies and take up arms against the Borgias! We shall

take back what they have stolen and give it to the people!” - Ludovico Sforza, 1499

(War rally by Sforza to gain support against the Borgias)

• Diplomacy: You can send a directive to ask for a meeting with an NPC (Non-Playa-

ble Character), another delegate in a different Cabinet, or hold a secret meeting with

someone in your cabinet. Note: The meeting will not take place until it is approved by

the backroom and until all parties agree to meet. You can send messages to delegates

in different cabinets through the Crisis Software.

• We strongly discourage the use of external media such as Facebook Messenger or

Whatsapp in order to communicate with different cabinet members. Keep in mind,

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all deals and agreements have to be done in presence of a Staff member. So if you

come to a trade deal with someone in a different cabinet via Facebook, it is likely to

be rejected by the staff as they have no record of you communicating with the other

person.

• Alternatively for meetings, wait for a Staff member to collect you before you go. If

you waltz into another Cabinet unannounced, the other chair has the right to arrest

and potentially kill off your character. If you are meeting with an NPC, a Staff Mem-

ber will be playing that character.

• E.g.: “Mikhail Gorbachev requests a meeting with the American Foreign Minister to

discuss matters of nuclear disarmament. The meeting is to be held on neutral territo-

ry.”

3. The Chairs

In UK Crisis, the chair is the midpoint between a staff and a delegate. Though not always

the case, the chair is generally the most powerful person within their Cabinet and is nor-

mally the Head of State, Revolution Leader, or Monarch. The chair is a character within

the crisis who has their own goals. However, they have other roles as well:

• Ensuring the cabinet work together: This includes making sure everyone manages

to get a chance to speak and ensure everyone has something to do in committee.

This also includes keeping track of the agenda and everything the cabinet is trying to

achieve / has achieved.

• Communicating with the Crisis Staff: In case of a large attack or plan, chairs should

ideally let the Crisis Staff know in advance to ensure they aren’t overwhelmed.

• Helping decide awards: Self-explanatory. NB: Chairs are unable to win awards them-

selves.

4. NPCs

Any person or organisation that is not represented by a delegate within the crisis will

be played by backroom. You can choose to meet NPCs depending on their relevance by

using the means detailed above. The Crisis Staff will have them act at their discretion,

staying within realistic boundaries. For example, the Director of the CIA may choose not

to meet a Junior Minister in the UK Government.

DirectivesThere are several different types of directives you can write for different scenarios. The

following options are available to you on the Crisis Software. These are done in two

steps:

1. Who is sending the directive?

You have the following options available:

• Individual - Your character alone is sending the directive. This only concerns you.

• Committee - Your entire cabinet sends the directive. This has to be approved by the

chair.

• Multiple - You and other delegates within your cabinet are sending a directive. One

person writes it but it is sent on behalf of everyone involved. Crisis Staff do trust dele-

gates not to abuse this. Only select the people that you know have agreed to the plans.

Do not select someone’s name if they haven’t agreed to it. If the Crisis Staff find out

you have been submitting multiple directives without someone else’s approval, there

WILL be consequences.

2. Type of Request.

You have the following options available:

• Communication - Request to meet or send messages to NPCs or other delegates.

• Diplomatic - Sending an emissary to a different cabinet or meeting with NPCs.

• Economic - Used to set up new trade routes or improve your personal or your cabi-

net’s economy.

• Intelligence - Used to set up spies in different locations. (Make sure you write these in

detail!)

• Internal Affairs - Self-explanatory

• Personal - Used to appoint bodyguards and personal security.

• Military - Self-explanatory

• Strategic - Putting plans in place for the future. E.g. Changing your location

• Other - If your plan doesn’t fit in any of the other categories.

A more detailed guide on how to write directives can be found later in the guide.

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CommunicationCommunication occurs in various ways in the Crisis:

1. Within Cabinets:

Talk to each other within your cabinet. The chair can decide whether it would be in for-

mal debate or otherwise. Generally, there is no formal debate in Crisis and delegates can

speak up whenever they wish as long as they are not interrupting or being rude to each

other.

2. Between Cabinets:

Communication between cabinets is generally done through the backroom. See Diplo-

macy section above for more details. Cabinets can choose to send an ambassador to

another cabinet to send a message if they wish to.

3. From the Crisis Staff:

The Crisis Staff will be communicating to you by answering your directives that you sub-

mit online via the Crisis Software. Also, occasionally Crisis Staff will visit in person to let

your cabinet know of important events that have happened. Alternatively, Staff may visit

individual delegates to clarify some details about a directive they sent.

In general, you can visit the Crisis Backroom if you wish depending on whether you

want clarification on one of your responses. Although, do knock first before you go as

the Staff may be discussing important details in the meantime.

NB: Some conferences may choose to not let delegates visit the backroom. More details

of this will be released by your Crisis Director.

4. From the rest of the world:

Throughout the crisis, you will receive news updates regularly which will help keep your

cabinet busy. Although, keep in mind that some news updates may not be relevant to

your cabinet. Also, if you have spies set up, you can ask for Intelligence Reports via di-

rectives.

TimeOne thing to keep in mind is that time does not operate linearly in Crisis. One second in

real time =/= One second in crisis time. As a matter of fact, there is no relationship. How

time operates is up to the discretion of the Staff. Generally the crisis will operate within

a few years, however there might be time jumps occasionally. The Staff will generally let

you know in advance and this will take place in between breaks. When you go on lunch

breaks or the committee session ends, the directives will be frozen. This means you will

not be able to submit them until they are re-open. Alternatively, if the Crisis Staff is

overwhelmed and needs to catch up then they may freeze directives to clear the backlog.

However, you will generally know if this happens. A Staff member will post online or it

will be communicated to you via the chairDo keep in mind that some of your plans will

take time. For instance, if you set up a new school training spies or build a giant military

vessel, you may not receive it instantly. The Staff will contact you and let you know of the

time frame if that is the case.

Take note, everything in history before the start date of the crisis has taken place. If the

crisis is set in the future, you will be informed of the events that happened in between of

the present and the start date. One thing to keep in mind in historical crises is that you

cannot reference future events that happened in real history because they haven’t hap-

pened yet. You make the history in this simulation. E.g: There was a historical crisis of

the Cuban Revolution in which Raul Castro, the current Cuban President, died in July

1953. The future is in your hands.

AwardsThis depends on each conference but awards are done in two ways:

• One Honourable Mention and one Best Delegate per Cabinet.

• One Honourable Mention per cabinet and one overall Best Delegate across the Crisis.

The awards are decided on the following basis (in no particular order):

• Contribution towards front room discussion

• Quality and amount of directives written

• Impact throughout the Crisis

• Whether you have stayed in character

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If Crisis Staff make mistakes…In a perfect world, all the Crisis Staff would be omniscient and will never forget your di-

rectives but keep in mind, they are human just like you. They may miss out some details

you have written and may have forgotten about some measures which lead to you being

negatively affected. Whilst it is easy to get annoyed in this situation, please try to remain

calm.

Getting in a shouting contest with the Staff never ends well and the best way to go about

this is to politely approach the backroom and inform them of what’s gone wrong. Gen-

erally what has happened will stay as decisions cannot be reversed but you will be com-

pensated if you have lost resources or troops in the process. I (the writer of this guide)

have personally been in this situation and being diplomatic is the best way to go about

this. Being aggressive with the staff will almost never work out well for you or your char-

acter.

What happens if your character dies?As most nations are monarchies, killing a delegate in this crisis will generally make no

difference as the next in line to the throne will simply ascend. Delegates who have been

killed will typically be offered to play the next incoming monarch so their research is still

useful unless they request otherwise. If they want to play a new country, this needs to be

agreed upon by the Crisis Directors. However, spies and assassins will still be useful to

gather information.

But that being said, there are a few special countries where the ruler does not have a des-

ignated heir or is currently in a fragile union with another country. An assassination in

that case would be extremely devastating and could be enough to knock the country out

of the crisis entirely. Delegates will have to figure out who these special targets are.

General Tips• Occasionally you may achieve your character goals halfway through the conference.

If this happens, well done! But in order to stay busy, make your own goals (remember

to stay within your character!) or help further your cabinet goals.

• Know the time period. The Study Guide will not cover everything so it is imperative

that you read up in advance on how people in the time period live.

• Increase your own influence. The more proactive you and your cabinet are, the better

you will do in the Crisis. Keep in mind, you are competing against other cabinets so

give them issues to worry about!

• Make sure you stay concentrated. Crisis is more intense than regular MUN Commit-

tees. If you do not submit directives for more than an hour, your character will fall

significantly far behind everyone else and it may result in your death if someone tries

to assassinate you.

• Survey the room and other delegates and make a note. Some people will be experi-

enced and others less so. Making allies and working together is key in Crisis.

• Building on from the previous point, a cabinet of moderately experienced delegates

will beat a cabinet of one or two experienced delegates. Keep in mind that you have

to work as a team.

• Appoint bodyguards! Extra security never hurts anyone! Although do try to stay

reasonable. You will attract more attention and go bankrupt if there are 500 guards

following you at all times. My advice is generally have between 3-5 bodyguards and

around 50 additional guards for security (keep in mind additional security =/= body-

guards).

• Watch your back. Never trust anyone in Crisis (the writer of this guide is speaking

from experience).

• Be specific. Most directives have the issue of not being detailed enough. One tip is

imagine you are receiving the order. If you are writing details of how to assassinate

someone, imagine you are the assassin and think of how much detail you will need

to carry out the plan. That being said, you cannot just assume the assassin knows the

‘perfect plot’ without saying what it is yourself.

• Have fun! You are paying to be here. Make sure you get the most out of the confer-

ence.

Good luck and be prepared to make history!

Badshah

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The following guide is inspired by the general guide to Crisis first used for the Cam-

bridge University International Model United Nations conference [and the work of Jesse

Harrington]

To further supplement this guide, an additional guide for how to write directives can

be found here: https://www.helpmymun.com/how-to-write-a-mun-crisis-directive/?fb-

clid=IwAR2IK1SsWROGZEF7H5vZYBE99IuZgCOjby0Brsvjfocd-2goR_4EUAvZBMI

Section 2: General Military Notes and TacticsMilitary tactics in the early 18th century were derived from the ‘Line Infantry combat

tactics’ that were first derived by Gustavus Adolfus in the Thirty Years War. Typically be-

fore men moved fought in small groups or in columns but as artillery has become more

deadly and widely used, these tactics were changed so that now men fight in one single

line and open fire simultaneously.

These were common because the rifles used in this time period were muskets which are

notoriously inaccurate. They are completely useless at 150 yards, somewhat accurate at

100 yards, and good at 50 yards range. Typically armies stand and trade fire in the 100

yards range as the army which advances closer first was typically the one to get obliterat-

ed by the enemy. As these tactics are quite complex to explain in writing, we will highly

encourage anyone reading this guide to watch the following videos as they cover the

basic rules which you need to know for the crisis:

• Why line infantry combat is common?

• Infantry Tactics

• Cavalry Tactics

The Infantry Tactics video is from the Napoleonic Wars however the same tactics were

used here. Infantry combat and tactics essentially didn’t change at all up until the Fran-

co-Prussian War in the 1870 as rifles were developed to be far more accurate than how

they are in this time period.

Note: We have intentionally left out the video on Artillery tactics as those changed mas-

sively by the Napoleonic Wars. In this time period, artillery was very rarely used offen-

sively and was rather used for defensive measures and covering an army’s retreat or to

be used to siege an enemy fortress. Of course, delegates with the benefit of hindsight will

want to try and use artillery similar to how Napoleon did but keep in mind, your troops

and officers are in the year 1700. They have never used artillery like that and thus things

are bound to go wrong unless you train them extensively before.

Crisis Combat SystemOne issue with line infantry combat is that the factors which ended up deciding who

won a battle were mainly the skill and discipline of the troops combined with errors

made by officers on the field. Unfortunately, there is no way to reliably simulate this in a

crisis as a lot of these are ‘luck based’.

For the crisis, we have designed a new combat system that will emulate these by intro-

ducing several variables and combat that is based on dice rolls. It is a bit unfortunate to

use dice as at the end of the day, it is RNG dependent but we feel this is the best way to

simulate battles and calculate casualties instead of the Crisis Staff deciding on an arbi-

trary number and saying “You have taken this amount of casualties because we say so”.

As a result, every country will be given scores in the following category to their armies:

• Discipline score - How well drilled and skilled your soldiers are. The higher your

discipline, the more damage you deal. You can increase discipline of your troops if

you choose to drill them instead of using them to fight. Drilling troops means they

practice combat maneuvers but are unable to fight in that time or used for battles. For

armies that drill for 2 hours in real time, they will gain 1 discipline point. Note: This

value may change but we will let you know if it does.

• Equipment score - Self-explanatory. Basically outlines how good your equipment

is. This also determines how much ammunition and powder troops can carry. The

higher quality your powder is, the less you need to fire and thus troops are able to fire

more shots. Delegates who wish to get better equipment, the best way to do it is sim-

ply by spending more money (more on this in the next section). Combined with this,

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you will get values for your Force Limit, combat ready troops, and reserves.

• Force Limit is the total amount of troops you can field.

• Combat Ready Troops are your troops ready for war (most countries will start at

Force Limit).

• Reserves are troops who can be called into war if you have lost troops but will need

some time to get ready (typically one or two hours).

How battles will work?:

Battles themselves will be mostly straightforward and quick. If two armies are nearby,

their scouts will find each other and delegates will be informed about a potential battle

taking place (although one side can retreat if they want to). Delegates will be informed at

which point they will be called into the backroom.

The Crisis Staff in charge of the battle will explain the terrain and if one side has an ad-

vantage. Delegates will then take turns and tell the backroomer how they will form the

troops at which points the battle will begin. Each firing sequence will constitute a ‘phase’.

In between each phase, delegates can try to update their plans, focus their fire on specific

enemies, or call for retreats.

With regards to battles themselves, we have prepared an in depth guide in a spread-

sheet along with a few example battles. This is slightly complex so please take your time

in reading if you want to understand how everything works: https://docs.google.com/

spreadsheets/d/1LSP744L-H0LkGZA6LzpnwWWhEB0yCvTCp2FP2kENMCo/edit?us-

p=sharing

If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Directors about this. We will be

explaining this in depth in the conference itself. We will also send a condensed one page

help sheet so you can reference this information quickly in the crisis.

Section 3: Military Troops, Technology and Mercenary SystemsMilitary Troops

In the crisis, we will be following through a simple composition of Infantry, Cavalry, and

Artillery. This is a bit ahistorical as you had several variations within each class but we

are more interested in keeping the crisis accessible for the delegates.

The only variation worth keeping in mind is Light Infantry divisions. If you do not know

what these are, please refer to the Napoleonic Infantry Tactics video in the previous

section. 10% of all Infantry will be allowed to be used as Light Infantry. However, you do

not have to use them and you can keep them as regular infantry if you wish or if there is

no suitable terrain for them to be deployed.

What happens if I lose my army?

Naturally in a war, you lose men. Thus there is a system created which will allow dele-

gates to replenish their troops to a certain degree. For each nation, they are given the

following three numbers in terms of their army:

• Force Limit - How many troops you can field at one given time. This is due to logis-

tical constraints. Realistically, a small nation such as Liege physically can’t field an

army of 100,000 soldiers at one given time. Thus they are given a force limit to take

this into account. Ways to increase force limit is dependent on the size of the nation

and its economic capabilities. France has the largest population out of any other

nation in Europe however cannot field millions of troops as they are unable to do so

economically. Likewise, the Dutch Republic is extremely wealthy however they don’t

have enough men to field a gigantic army. In order to increase your force limit, you

need to ensure you have both the population capabilities and economic power to pay

your new army.

• Standing Army - Self-explanatory. These are how many men you have currently ready

to fight at the start of the crisis. Most nations will start at Force Limit.

• Reserves - Troops that are capable of fighting but are not currently employed by the

army due to them being at force limit or to save money. If you do end up losing too

many troops, you can call upon your reserves and replace your army quickly. How-

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ever, this is not instantaneous as organising an army is challenging and will take one

hour in real time for the new troops to be ready.

• Warning - If you do end up losing your army and your country is under occupation

(i.e. You left your homeland undefended and the enemy troops have captured your

main cities), you will not be able to make any new troops.

• Warning 2 - Due to balance reasons, we will not be allowing delegates to ‘call on an

emergency levy’ and get more manpower for free. This is due to both crisis reasons

and logistically in real life.

The crisis reason is simple, we do not want wars to drag on forever and we want dele-

gates to feel the consequences of their actions. If you end up losing your entire army and

have burnt through all your reserves, that is a very problematic situation and we will not

be allowing delegates to press a magic panic button that will undo the progress of their

enemies entirely.

Also, wars were difficult enough to fight as is and it was unheard of at the time for a na-

tion to press an emergency levy and rebuild their army fast enough to take on the enemy

without getting completely occupied first.

Mercenaries

If you find yourself in the situation where you have lost a significant portion of troops

and have low reserves, what you can do is hire mercenary companies. Each country will

be given an economic score that allows them to buy these. Once you buy a merc compa-

ny, they are yours to command for the rest of the crisis. However, they are expensive so

this should be a last resort option as most countries already begin on forcelimit.

Mercenary companies also have their own scores for discipline and morale however they

cannot be replenished for losses unless you buy another company. This may seem a bit

unrealistic and more ‘gamey’ and we admit it is but we introduced this as a contingency

if delegates have messed up badly at the start and lost too many troops early on.

Note for mercenary companies: If too many countries end up buying mercenaries from a

single company, the company will increase its prices and will demand more money from

those whom they are employed from. If you refuse to pay the additional fee, the mercs

will disband and fight for someone else.

How to improve Equipment and Discipline scores

• Discipline - As mentioned in the section before, this is quite straightforward. You

need to drill your troops in order to make them better at fighting. But it’s worth men-

tioning that whilst they are drilling, they cannot fight and it leaves them in a vulnera-

ble position if the camp in which they are drilling in is attacked. For every 2 hours in

real time in which troops are drilling, they will gain one discipline point.

• Equipment - This one is very straightforward; spend more money. The conversion is

quite simple; for every 1,000 units, you need to spend 1,000 ducats to increase their

equipment score by 1 point. So for example, if Austria has 30,000 men with an equip-

ment score of 7, they would need 30,000 ducats to increase their score to 8 or 60,000

to increase it to 9.

Money System

As you might have noted above, we will have a monetary system in place. But fear not,

we will not be asking delegates to micromanage their entire economy as we understand

that it’s tedious and generally just not fun.

As such, the only thing you have to worry about is troops and paying them. The only real

interaction which we’ll be keeping with regards to money is for improving equipment,

buying mercenaries, or bribing other delegates.

However, if you do find a creative use for money, your plans are more than welcome. But

remember, you will not need to divert taxes from other things to fund your war chest as

that has already been done for you.

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Section 4: Siege Warfare:Over time, siege warfare evolved just as fast as infantry tactics innovated. The key reason

for this was just how effective cannons were. The Ottomans showcased how fortresses

that were thought to be impregnable such as Constantinople and Nicosia were overrun

in a matter of weeks due to the immense firepower of cannons.

As such, fortifications had to innovate as cannons were becoming commonplace

throughout Europe. To put in simple terms, cannons are most effective when they are

fired perpendicular to a fortress’ walls. To illustrate this, we will use a figure of Constan-

tinople in the Byzantine period:

The arrows denote ideal locations to fire cannons from. The mighty Theodosian walls of

the city were good to protect against an enemy trying to assault the city but were out-

classed by artillery. The walls have very little curvature which makes them extremely

vulnerable to cannon fire. To counteract this, military engineers began a design of a ‘Star

Fort’ to limit the effectiveness of cannons. This is a rough example below:

The bastions of each corner effectively are impenetrable by artillery as the cannons

would need to be placed at an awkward position and would need to be extremely accu-

rate in order to hit the fort. The attackers can ignore the bastions and focus on the walls

themselves but troops stationed on the Bastions can easily pick off the attackers trying to

storm the breaches in the wall.

And to increase the defenses, moats and trenches were often dug around the bastions

which would make it extremely difficult for attackers to assault the city. The Ottomans

figured this out the hard way in the Siege of Vienna in 1683.

The city had been renovated and redesigned by the Habsburgs in order to make it as

defensible as possible against the Turks. A diagram of the complex defense system can be

seen below.

As a result of these fortifications, the defenders at Vienna were able to hold out for

nearly two months against the Ottomans who assaulted the city continuously in the time

period. But the defenders had a massive advantage and managed to wear down the Turks

long enough for the Holy League to liberate the city from the siege.

We will not be going through siege tactics as we want delegates to come up with their

own plans. However, we will highly recommend watching the following video series on

the Siege of Vienna in 1683 as that will give an idea of what to expect when sieging for-

tresses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxZ9coEkd-U&ab_channel=ExtraCredits

The video has three parts which are around 10 minutes each. The second video is key as

it outlines how the siege progressed.

20 21

Section 5: Naval WarfareThe eighteenth century would bear witness to what historians have come to term as

the “Golden Age of Sail”. Our crisis will begin just prior to this golden age. It was the

innovations in naval tactics and design spurred by the War of the Spanish Succession

that would help usher in this era. As such you will be tasked with navigating your fleets

through this period of change as you seek to dominate the high seas.

Ship Classes

Ships in this crisis shall be divided into four broad categories:

• Heavy: These are usually Ships of the line, large multideck vessels that will form the

bulk of your fighting forces. They are most effective in the open seas where they can

be brought to bear in large numbers.

• Medium: Frigates comprise the majority of your medium ships. These vessels are too

small to be effective in line of battle formations, but they are effective at guarding

your coasts and harassing enemy formations.

• Light: Light ships such as sloops-of-war are primarily utilised for raiding or pa-

trolling duties. These nimble vessels can effectively raid enemy convoys or escort

transport vessels across the seas. They will also be effective in shallower waters such

as the Aegean or Adriatic Seas where their smaller size gives them an advantage over

larger more cumbersome vessels.

• Transports: These are largely unarmed and used for transporting land forces from

place to place. If left unaccompanied they could be picked off pretty easily by oppos-

ing forces.

Naval Tactics

The mainstay of most navies in this period is the line of battle. In a line of battle ships

of the line form up into a large line and take turns to fire volleys at the enemy fleet. The

purpose of this tactic is to unleash sufficient firepower that you cripple the opponent’s

fleet before they can cripple yours. As such most admirals would only seek battle if they

knew they outnumbered the enemy fleet. When two opposing fleets were roughly equal

in size, battles could be relatively indecisive as neither side was able to inflict enough

damage to knock the other out.

To counter this, enterprising commanders would often deploy unorthodox tactics when

outnumbered or when attempting to inflict maximum damage on their opponents. Hit

and run tactics were particularly effective against fleets that were still at port. Small-

er slips could raid a port and inflict maximum damage and then slink away before the

enemy fleet could ready itself. Equally if a commander could break his opponents gun

line and get in amongst the enemy fleet then it was possible to rapidly turn the tide of a

battle.

Section 6: Cabinet Structures and DiplomacyThis crisis will be a bit special in terms of how cabinets will work. Traditionally in a

crisis, cabinets are pre-decided where each one will typically consist of delegates who are

playing Foreign Ministers, Generals, or Diplomats and the chair is the most powerful

character (in a normal crisis). Here, the crisis will run slightly differently.

The first key difference as mentioned above is that each delegate will be running their

own nation or independent group. Apart from some who are Junior Partners in a PU,

they will have no one to answer to except themselves and can run their own independent

operations.

When the crisis begins, all the delegates will start off in the same room or ‘cabinet’ which

will be the European Theatre. This way, everyone can interact with each other and begin

to form their own alliances. For balance purposes and to help the delegates settle, war

will not be allowed until lunch time on Saturday to ensure delegates make the most of

the ‘diplomatic’ phase.

We want delegates to form their own alliances or join an existing one. To those who have

done regular committees, we expect this phase to be similar to forming a bloc before

writing a resolution (except there is a lot more at stake here).

Once at least two large enough alliances are formed, the delegates will be asked to final-

ise them at which point they will form their own cabinet and will be given a separate

room. So the new thing which we are trying is giving delegates a lot more autonomy and

letting them choose which side they wish to fight for. Delegates will be given a ‘policy

22 23

sheet’ which will outline rivalries, goals, and other important information that will help

you decide.

“What happens if I haven’t joined an alliance and the cabinets have formed?”

This is a possible scenario, for this we will have a third room for ‘neutral parties’ where

delegates can spend more time to decide which side they wish to join. However, take a

word of caution. If you are sandwiched between two alliances and opt not to join either

one, there is nothing stopping either of them from storming your country if you are on

your own. This can lead to you being forced to accept a very humiliating peace treaty or

just having your territory annexed entirely. So we would recommend joining an alliance,

even if you are truly neutral, as it would provide you with much needed protection.

Diplomacy and Negotiation

As seen above, diplomacy is a very key element of this crisis as delegates will have to

ensure they are on top of their game. If you see a bloc being formed and are a medium

sized or small nation, we would recommend approaching them rather than wait for

someone to come to you. Not being active with diplomacy can result in you being left

without allies at which point you are an extremely vulnerable target.

Signing a Peace Treaty

We expect war to break out and if that happens, nations will want to sign a peace deal

and may do so independently and abandon their alliance. Alternatively, the larger co-

alitions can also sign a temporary peace or call a truce if both sides have eroded their

troops and economy but still want to carry on fighting.

With regards to signing a peace treaty, if you are in the unfortunate position where your

country is fully occupied then you have no choice but to sign a peace treaty even if your

army is untouched. This is due to the fact that your people are the ones supplying the

army with ammunition and food and if those lines are cut off completely, your army

can’t continue to fight unless you make a deal with another country. However, even if

that is the case, your troops may desert as keep in mind, their families are under the

mercy of the enemy.

In a peace treaty, the only limitation is a delegate’s imagination but can take the follow-

ing options as examples:

• War Reparations

• Territory

• Forced Demilitarisation of their army and navy

• Forced to send annual tribute in terms of men for the army

• If the country is an Elector in the HRE, they can be forced to vote for someone else in

the next Imperial Election

• Annul existing alliances

• Force a truce

Note: This is not an exhaustive list and delegates can demand essentially anything as long

as it is possible.

Further Notes

Delegates can break terms of peace treaties if they wish and even ignore truces. However,

this will have consequences.

If you break treaty terms, the opposing nations that signed the treaty will get a Casus

Belli to attack your country again although your people might even support you in some

cases. However, if you break truces, this will have severe consequences and the mini-

mum that can happen is that your troops will suffer a discipline penalty of -2 and the

worst that can happen is a revolution to overthrow the existing monarch or government

authority.

There are a few reasons for this; war isn’t something you plan overnight. Most nations do

not have professional armies as they can’t afford to pay the soldiers all the time and the

soldiers are normal people leading their own lives. So if those soldiers just fought a war

and were told there would be a truce, then were called to war again then their morale

will be affected.

Also, typically nations levy extra taxes in order to fund the war effort thus this would

also be an unpopular decision with your people.

24 25

Breaking truces and treaty terms is something delegates can do but be prepared to face

the consequences if you do so.

What happens if I ‘ruin’ my nation?

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position where you have lost your entire army,

bankrupted your nation, and are taken out of the crisis entirely, you can still play a part

in the crisis.

One note, the starting nation will be taken out completely with no way of them coming

back into the conflict. This is very bad for your alliance as you have less resources to

work with. You will then get a new assignment where you will be playing as an existing

subject of a nation and you will help the other delegate or chair manage their country.

For example, if Savoy is ruined and taken out of the crisis entirely, the Savoyard delegate

can be reassigned to France at which point France will have two people managing it as

opposed to one. However, at that point the original Savoyard delegate will be a subject of

the French King already there and will lose a lot of autonomy as they will have to obey

their monarch as opposed to being allowed to do whatever they want.

Section 6: General History of EuropeThe 17th Century in Europe was among one of the most eventful the continent had ever

seen. In the guide, we will be covering the key events that are important to our crisis and

not everything that happened. Delegates are welcome to do their own research in addi-

tion to what is covered in this guide.

Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)

The Thirty Years’ War was one of the longest and deadliest wars in European history.

Over 8 million people lost their lives and some German states lost more than half their

population. The conflict began as a religious struggle but gradually transitioned into a

Political conflict into who would be the true great power of Europe.

Decades of religious tensions in Europe had come to a boiling point. The only nation

that had managed to find ‘peace’ between Catholics and Protestants was France in this

era by proclaiming the Edict of Nantes following the French Wars of Religion. However,

the rest of Europe saw this conflict continue as the intolerant Habsburgs crushed Protes-

tants uprisings wherever they could.

This came to a boil when Ferdinand II ascended to the throne of Holy Roman Emper-

or who signed a decree to force members of the Empire to Roman Catholicism, despite

Religious Freedom being granted by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555.

Defenestration of Prague and Bohemian Revolt

After Ferdinand’s decree, the nobility in Bohemia were less than thrilled about the pros-

pect and did not take to the Emperor’s request lightly. As a result, the Emperor’s repre-

sentatives sent to read out the decree were thrown out of the palace windows in Bohe-

mia. The Emperor, being less than thrilled about this, removed the religious freedom

given to the northern Bohemian states who were Protestant which further fragmented

the realm. This conflict naturally spun out of control as the Protestant Union (which

were primarily made of princes in Germany) and Denmark declared support for Bohe-

mia.

In response, Ferdinand II called on support of his nephew, King Phillip IV of Spain.

This led to more and more sides joining the conflict as soon the Bohemians managed to

convince the Ottomans to enter the conflict who in turn fought the Polish-Lithuanian

Commonwealth that were supporting the Habsburgs.

Catholic Victory in sight

In response to the Protestant League, the Emperor formed his own ‘Catholic League’

which garnered support from Spain, several princes in the HRE, and even France. At

the start, the Catholics were victorious and quelled the rebellion and managed to win

a series of victories. Even with the support of Scotland, the Danish King Christian IV,

who was leading the Protestant Union, conceded to the Emperor and ceded territories in

Northern Europe.

26 27

The Lion of the North

Seeing the Protestant Union in disarray, this concerned the remaining Protestant lead-

ers in Europe. One such monarch was Gustavus Adolphus, the King of Sweden. Having

previously beaten and extracted heavy war reparations from the Polish-Lithuanian Com-

monwealth, Sweden had fielded a sizable army and pledged their support to the Protes-

tant Union in 1630.

The Protestants being led by the Lion of the North managed to fight back the Imperials

and regained much of the territory lost by Denmark previously. However, he was killed

in 1632 at the Battle of Lutzen and the Protestants lost their momentum and by 1635,

had once again lost their territories as the Imperial Army vanquished the remaining

Swedes. There was an attempted peace treaty which was called the Peace of Prague but

it was refused by the Protestants and as religious tensions were still high, the fighting

continued.

French involvement

Seeing as how the Protestants were beaten back firmly, the French were happy to an

extent as the Protestant insurrection would end. However, they were also unhappy as it

meant that the Habsburgs would be left unchallenged as their main enemies would be

eliminated. Thus as a result, the French pledged support for the Protestants and joined

the conflict against the Imperials.

However the start went poorly for France as the Imperials nearly sieged Paris in 1636

however the alliance recovered and pushed them back. The following years saw a stale-

mate as the French-Protestant alliance would gain territory, then would be pushed back

by the Imperials, and this would continue and the results were inconclusive.

However, 1640 was a turning point as the Portuguese, who were under a union under

Spain, revolted against their overlords which forced Spain to turn their forces back. See-

ing the weakness, the Swedish re-entered the conflict with new forces which bolstered

the morale of the Protestant Union.

The Tide Turns

1643 was a pivotal turning point. The Protestant Union was making significant gains

but the Danish King, not to be one-upped by their Swedish counterparts, joined the side

of the Emperor and fought for the Catholic League. Around this time, the French King

Louis XIII died and the throne was left to his 5-year-old son, Louis XIV.

Despite the French King’s death, the French forces carried on fighting and together with

Sweden, they won a decisive victory in the Battle of Herbsthausen and even besieged

Vienna in 1645, but were unable to capture the city.

However, the Imperials managed to repel the Protestant Union and liberated Austrian

territories which forced the Swedes and the French back into Bohemia, where the con-

flict had started. The Imperials attacked Prague in a last ditch effort but were ultimately

defeated and the Prague Palace was captured by Sweden. At this point, only Austria was

not under occupation by the Protestant Union.

Peace of Westphalia and Aftermath

After both sides had reached their breaking point completely, negotiations began in 1648

and the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years’ War. The peace ended

the reign of terror of the Emperor and gave increased autonomy to the princes in the

HRE and Spain lost its grip over Portugal and the Dutch Republic.

Furthermore, the influence was the Catholic Church and the Pope was radically reduced

and increased power was given to the monarchs instead. Also, the war had significant

economic consequences as the HRE was completely eroded financially. Some cities such

as Magdeburg were razed to the ground and its entire population slaughtered, bringing

about horrors never seen in Europe reminiscent of the invasions of the Mongols and

Timur in the 13th and 14th century.

28 29

Franco-Spanish War and Portuguese Revolt (1635 - 1659)

Sensing weakness during the Spanish involvement in the Thirty Years’ War, France

declared war on Spain, and by extension, the Holy Roman Empire in 1635 to weaken

Habsburg rule. The goal of the French was to weaken Spanish holdings in the Spanish

Netherlands and thus they were assisted by the Dutch Republic. However, the start of the

war went very poorly for the French as they were nearly besieged in Paris but Phillip IV

had to retreat as their supply lines were cut short.

The French proceeded to counter attack and captured Spanish holdings, attacking them

in the Lowlands, Lombardy, and Portuguese possessions in Africa and the Americas.

Spain was unable to contain all these attacks and more importantly, defend Portugal’s

colonies which caused a significant unrest in Portugal.

As a result of Spanish incompetence and increased damage to their economy, Portu-

gal openly revolted in 1640 along with Catalonia, both of whom were supported by the

French. The following few years were back and forth for both sides with Spain slowly

losing their grip over Portugal and dealing with continuous unrest in Catalonia.

The first phase of the conflict was over in 1648 as the Peace of Westphalia was signed but

fighting soon carried on. Phillip IV prioritised saving Catalonia over Portugal but finan-

cial constraints of both the French war and the Thirty Years’ War meant Spain had to

declare bankruptcy twice; in 1647 and 1653.

Although France had its own problems as they had their own short civil war in 1653.

Whilst Louis XIV was technically the monarch, he was too young and the true power

behind the throne was Cardinal Mazarin and unrest against him hit a boiling point. But

the revolt was quelled by the French.

The Spanish managed to then recapture Barcelona and strengthen their border in the

Pyrenees. France meanwhile tried to capture Milan but were ultimately unsuccessful.

The following years provided a stalemate as neither side made significant gains however,

in 1657 the English Commonwealth joined the French in exchange for France renounc-

ing support for the exiled Charles II. England also joined to prevent their fleets getting

privateered by the Spanish and striking a decisive blow with the French seemed like the

best way in the time.

In 1658, the French and English captured Dunkirk and the Spanish called for peace.

However Mazarin refused but this was changed as Cromwell died which led to chaos in

England and their allies, Savoy and Modena, signed a truce with the Spanish.

In the peace treaty, France gained territories in the Spanish Netherlands, France re-

nounced support for the Catalonian and Portuguese Rebels, and signed a marriage con-

tract between Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain, the eldest daughter of the Spanish

King Philip IV. This royal marriage began the basis for the French claim to the Spanish

throne in the War of the Spanish Succession.

Great Turkish War (1683 - 1699)

The conflict here spanned decades and is rooted when the Russian Tsardom took terri-

tories from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Eastern Ukraine. Polish separatists

led by the Cossack Leader, Petro Doroshenko, wanted to join his realm with the Otto-

mans and rebelled against John Sobieski, who was the local commander at the time. The

Ottomans, seeing that Poland was going through internal conflicts, attacked and cap-

tured Kamianets-Podilyski, a large city on the border.

The Ottomans were ultimately successful as the Poles tried to beat them back but with

no success. In 1676, a peace treaty was signed and the city was ceded to the Ottomans.

After a few years of truce, the ever ambitious Mehmed IV realised beating up Poland

wasn’t going to be his legacy and decided on a campaign against the Habsburgs to cap-

ture Vienna. This would cement him as one of the greatest Sultans ever to live, putting

him in line with Osman I, Suleiman the Magnificent, and Mehmed the Conquerer.

The Turks besieged Vienna in 1683 but the city was able to hold out for two months

against a gruelling siege. However, John Sobieski, still bitter from his defeat from earlier,

30 31

led a Christian alliance and liberated the city in the Battle of Vienna which delivered a

crushing defeat for the Ottomans.

The Pope decided to end the Ottoman hegemony in the Balkans and formed a Holy

League, composed of the HRE States and led by Austria, the Polish-Lithuanian Com-

monwealth, the Venetian Republic, and the Russians who joined in 1686. Russia joining

the coalition was the first time they had formally allied with other European powers and

would mark the beginning of Russian expansion and the Russo-Turkish Wars that would

take place over the next century.

The Turks managed to hold off the Polish frontier but were decisively beaten in the sec-

ond Battle of Mohacs in 1687. This led to the Turks slowly losing ground over the follow-

ing 10 years. This culminated when the Ottomans held the defensible position of Zenta

in 1697 but were ultimately crushed by the coalition, led by Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Having suffered not one but three humiliating defeats (Vienna, Mohacs, and Zenta) the

Ottoman army was utterly destroyed and this forced the Sultan to sign a very humiliat-

ing peace treaty against the Holy League. This included losing Hungarian lands and the

Principality of Transylvania. They would cede Podolia to Poland-Lithuania, cede Azov to

Russia, give Morea and Dalmatia to Venice, and Montenegro independence.

This would be a turning point in history which marks the decline of the scourge of Eu-

rope and halt Ottoman Expansion.

War of the Grand Alliance (1688 - 1697)

There were a few other wars in Europe between Franco-Spanish War and this one how-

ever due to the interests of keeping the guide short, we will be omitting them and plac-

ing the rest in a recommended reading section at the end of the guide.

France fought the Dutch in 1678 and once again, they emerged victorious. This had

made Louis XIV the most powerful man in Europe; an absolute monarch who had com-

plete control over his nation. Furthermore, he felt strong enough to revoke the Edict of

Nantes in 1685 which deteriorated his relations with Protestant nations across the Holy

Roman Empire.

In 1688, Louis XIV tried to extend his influence into the HRE but was resisted by a

coalition of the Dutch Republic, England, the HRE, Spain, Savoy, Portugal, and briefly

Sweden. To make things worse for the HRE, they were also fighting the Ottomans who

declared war and were attacking their possessions in Hungary and Austria.

James II attempted to bring back Catholicism to England but his subjects were mainly

Protestant. As a result, the Glorious Revolution took place, James was ousted, and Wil-

liam of Orange was invited to take the British throne. Naturally this meant war with the

French. The aims for the French were to not only expand their influence but also to sup-

port James II, who had been ousted by William III of Orange, back to the throne. James

was friendly to the French so having him as the English Monarch would mean one of

their greatest rivals would be pacified into being an ally.

The fighting itself was very back and forth with the majority of the fighting taking place

in the Spanish Netherlands, Catalonia, and the Duchy of Savoy. Neither side was able to

score a decisive victory as French fortifications held up the allies completely whilst the

Alliance forces prevented the French from advancing too far. Furthermore, the HRE and

their allies were also fighting the Ottomans which meant their troops could not fully

commit to this war.

By 1696, news had reached all powers of the Spanish Monarch, Charles II’s deteriorating

health. This would normally not be an issue but a problem was he had no heir and this

worried all of the great powers in Europe. Furthermore, Savoy had signed a truce with

France whilst everyone else was financially strained. As a result, the French conceded

defeat but only gave minor concessions. France retained Alsace but returned Lorraine

and gave up their claims on the Rhine. Also they recognised William III as the British

monarch. However, none of this would matter in the long term as the War of the Spanish

Succession is about to begin.

32

Further Reading

As mentioned above, this is not an exhaustive list of everything that took place in Europe

in the 17th century and we have mentioned the key conflicts which we feel are the most

relevant to everyone in the crisis. Each delegate will also get a summary of their own

country’s history which will be more focused on them rather than looking at the wider

picture. If delegates would like to know more about the picture in Europe, we would rec-

ommend reading about the following articles / watch the following documentaries:

• French Wars of Religion.

• Thirty Years’ War documentary playlist.

• Franco-Spanish War of 1635 summary.

• Franco-Dutch War of 1672 summary.

• Glorious Revolution summary.

• Siege of Vienna (1683) documentary playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxZ9coEkd-U&s&ab_channel=ExtraCredits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxOufHD_Nxw&&ab_channel=ExtraCredits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CouQMh_PUo&ab_channel=ExtraCredits

Section 7: Sources

• Thirty Years’ War, History.com, HISTORY, https://www.history.com/topics/reforma-

tion/thirty-years-war, Accessed 01-10-2020

• ‘European Warfare: 1494-1660 (Warfare and History)’, 2002, Jeremy Black

• ‘King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV’, 2019, Philip Mansel

• ‘L’édit de Nantes, 1598’, 1997, Bernard Cottret

• ‘The New Cambridge Modern History VI: The Rise of Great Britain and Russia 1688–

1725’ Cambridge University Press, 1971, Bromley, J. S. (ed.).

• ‘Diplomacy, and Imperialism: 1618–1763’, 1973, Symcox, Geoffrey (ed.). War, Harp-

er & Row,

• ‘Venice, Austria, and the Turks in the Seventeenth Century (Memoirs of the Ameri-

can Philosophical Society’, 1991, Setton, Kenneth Meyer.

• ‘The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715’, 1951, Wolf, John B.