Zagan
Donor
I see. I seems I have to do more research, because my knowledge of pre-modern Chinese history is very limited.
Thank you.
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"Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor" - A Michael the Brave Romania Wank
- Thread starter Zagan
- Start date
I see. I seems I have to do more research, because my knowledge of pre-modern Chinese history is very limited.
Thank you.
removing the uterus stops any and all fertility short of prehaps present day technology if someone was willing to throw enough money at it and wait another 5-10 years
I.42. Empress Cristina
Zagan
Donor
The ethnic minorities got another reason to assimilate into the Romanian Nation:
the personal example of their Empress.
the personal example of their Empress.
Empress Cristina
14 April 1629, Alba Iulia
Christine: "You scared me very much yesterday, Mihai. Do not ever again do anything like that to me! Please... I do not want to lose you."
Mihai: "I am fine. Don't be worried. It was nothing... Really."
C: "How can you say it was nothing? The Doctors say you had an attack of apoplexy. People do die because of that."
M: "Those Doctors... What do they know? Apoplexy means certain death and I am still here, am I not?"
C: "I trust our Doctors very much, Mihai. How could I not trust them after what they managed to do for me?"
M: "You may be right! However, I believe that your surviving that surgery was a miracle. An Act of God."
C: "An Act of God? Sure, Mihai, it was certainly an Act of God which saved me. Only that God did not perform His miracle last month but rather three years ago."
M: "What do you mean by that?"
C: "God does always have a plan. And He plans everything well in advance. This way He does not need to use supernatural means in order to achieve His Goals. Please, let me finish. Omniscient God knew that I was supposed to die in childbirth. So, what does He do? Does He send a Chariot from Heavens to save me? No, He acts more subtly. God knew there was a Country in this World, the only Country in the whole World, where I could be saved from my untimely death. Saved by science, by skilled Doctors, in the best Country there is, the most advanced Country of all, lead by the best Emperor that ever ruled on this Earth. And the best husband of all."
M: "But..."
C: "No, Mihai, don't be modest. You don't have to. It is obvious that should I've been in France or in any other country for that matter, I would have certainly been dead by now. Three years ago, Louis asked me to travel with him to Prague in order to meet you. My first reaction was not to. Why marry an old man from a far away country? A savage from a backwards Oriental country! How stupid of me! And that was the moment when God decided to help me. I changed my mind and I accompanied Louis to Prague to meet you. That's why I am alive now. I am only alive because I married you and I came with you to live in this marvellous Country!"
M: "I am really feeling overwhelmed."
C: "Don't be overwhelmed, because there is even more. I saw in your eyes how proud you felt when I told you that Romania was the best and most advanced Country in the World. I think that you were proud because of your people, but actually Romania is You, Mihai! You made it from scratch, Mihai! You gave your people a Country and then you gave them 18 years of peace in a row! No other country has ever experienced such a long period of peace, at least from the fall of the Roman Empire! And then everything has become simple. This is how a country advances, if it is prosperous, safe and free from the disasters brought by wars and invasions!"
M: "Thank you very much, Cristina. Nobody has ever talked to me like this."
C: "Thank you, Mihai. I thank you for my life. Remember that I am alive now because of you and this Country!"
16 April 1629, Alba Iulia
Paul Hereș, the Mayor of Alba Iulia was reading the newspaper in his office, starting what he thought to be yet another uneventful day.
Suddenly, his Secretary entered the office and almost shouted:
Secretary: "The Empress! Her Majesty the Empress is here!"
Mayor: "Excuse me?"
Christine: "Good day, Gentlemen! Thank you for receiving me so quickly."
Both Men: "Your Majesty..."
C: "I am here for a simple matter. I would like to apply for Romanian Citizenship."
M: "But... Your Majesty is French... The Law..."
C: "Oh, no! Am I really more familiar with the Law of Citizenship than you?! Let's see: I am a free person, I own property, I know how to cypher, I can read and write in several languages, including Romanian, I speak Romanian fluently and flawlessly, as I do at home with my husband, daughter and step-granddaughter and I feel Romanian. So, I think that I am no longer French, but Romanian. Like so many other Romanian subjects of other ethnicities I have been thoroughly Romanized. I am a good Romanian and I solemnly swear to be a good and faithful Romanian Citizen. Have I forgotten anything?"
M: "No, Your Majesty. You are absolutely right. My Secretary will prepare the documents and we shall send them to the Imperial Palace."
C: "Oh, that will not be necessary. I am in no hurry and I will wait right here in this fine office of yours. Unless it is inconvenient to you..."
M: "Oh, no, Your Majesty. Certainly not. It is an honour for me to have Your Majesty as my guest in my humble office. If Your Majesty does not mind a piece of advice... There is another little thing Your Majesty should do in the near future."
C: "And what would that be?"
M: "All Romanians are required by Law to adhere to the Romanian Orthodox Faith..."
C (smiling): "I have already secured an appointment with His Holiness the Patriarch of Romania for tomorrow morning."
M: "Your Majesty is more skilled in the field of Law than some jurists. May I ask Your Majesty the reason for this decision... To become a Romanian?"
C: "Sure. It is very simple. It is Pride. I want to be a proud member of the most extraordinary Nation on the face of the Earth!"
M: "And we are extremely proud ourselves to be blessed with Your Majesty as our Empress."
************
M: "The papers are ready. Will Your Majesty please sign here."
C: "Oh, one little thing though. Since I am Romanian now, I shall have a Romanian name. Change Christine into Cristina, please. My family calls me Cristina anyway and I am used to it."
M: "Certainly, Your Majesty. Cristina, Împĕrăteasa României."
17 April 1629, Alba Iulia
The Patriarch of Romania: "Your Majesty."
Cristina: "Your Holiness."
P: "Do you want to confess your sins?"
C: "Oh, sure, but the reason I wanted to see you today is because I have decided to convert to Orthodoxy."
P: "Your decision fills my heart with joy. I welcome you Cristina, Empress of Romania into the Romanian Orthodox Church. God be praised."
C: "That is all? No baptism or something?"
P: "That would not be necessary. You are already a Christian, even if baptised in the Catholic Creed. Nobody should ever be baptised a second time. It is like Crucifying Christ for a second time. Joining the Romanian Orthodox Church is for any Christian nothing more than a personal decision. The Church does simply take note of this decision and welcomes the believer into the fold of Orthodoxy. I will however take the opportunity to anoint you with Holy Oil and Myrrh. But first, a full confession would be necessary. Please kneel, not in front of me, but in front of God."
************
P: "God has forgiven your sins, but try to sin no more. You may now receive the Holy Communion."
************
C: "I am so glad that God has opened my eyes and made me revert to the true unadulterated Christian Faith!"
P: "Be glad, Your Majesty, since it really seems that God Himself has instilled those thoughts in your mind."
I am now a Romanian Citizen and a Romanian Orhodox! Mihai will be so happy!
Even if Cristina had only thought to please her husband, an unintended but easy to foresee consequence of her actions was an enormous increase in her popularity amongst the Romanian populace.
19 April 1629, Alba Iulia
Mihai: "I am very proud of you, my darling. Now you are a true Romanian Empress!"
Iulia: "I am too! Well done, Cristina. I love you! All the Romanians love you!"
Cristina: "Excuse me, but how would the people know?"
M: "From the papers, of course! Don't you read the newspapers?"
C: "The newspapers... Do the newspapers write about us?"
M: "Sure. The newspapers write about whatever the public might be interested in reading. Of course, they only write about us with utmost consideration."
C: "Sure, but still... I think that I do not like to be the subject of peasant gossip..."
M: "Come on, Cristina. The peasants talk about their Emperor and Empress regardless of what they may read in the newspapers. And we prefer them to know the truth instead of having to make up things in order to entertain their curiosity, don't we?"
C: "Do we, at least, have some censorship?"
M: "Well, it is mostly not necessary, because the journalists know better what would be appropriate to write and what not."
C: "I see. I think I would like to see some newspapers now, if you do not mind."
M: "Of course, Cristina. Just ask a servant to provide you with a bunch of newspapers."
I: "Cheer up, Cristina! I don't like to see you upset. Let's go and play something, please."
26 April 1629, Carpathian Castle near Alba Iulia
Cristina: "Do you still like me, even with this scar on my belly?"
Mihai: "Don't be silly. The cut that made that scar saved your life!"
C: "It does not hurt at all anymore. I think it is safe for us to try and have another baby."
M: "Ahem. Cristina, I think that it is a little too early for that. The Doctors said we should wait at least a few more months."
C: "Yes. I myself don't think I can get pregnant right now. But a little practice won't hurt, will it?"
************
C: "Mihai, do you think I will ever be able to get pregnant again?"
M: "The Doctors said that it might be more difficult..."
C: "We shall try anyway and pray to God!"
************
I can't tell her. I simply can't. She would be devastated.
30 April 1629, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Sultan Mehmed IV: "How is the situation in Rhodes, brother?"
Pasha Ahmet: "Rhodes fell yesterday. Our whole garrison there was massacred. And we could do nothing to save our men. It is a disgrace!"
M4: "Our Navy is a disgrace. The Greeks have more ships than we do, not to mention that the Romanians might easily interdict all our naval traffic in the Aegean if we sink a few Greek ships."
PA: "I do not think that the Romanians are very fond of the Greeks. They might not agree to the rapid expansion of the Greek State."
M4: "Do we still control any Islands in the Aegean?"
PA: "Only some of the smaller ones."
M4: "I see. And the situation in Smyrna?"
PA: "On the mainland we still have everything under control. And in Cyprus as well."
M4: "Three decades ago we were the Masters of the Balkans and look at our Empire now! A string of incapable Sultans and that Romanian Devil who took advantage of our desolute internal situation... But we still have hope. Allah is great! Is it true what their newspapers write, that Mihai is ill? Or is it a ruse?"
PA: "Our contacts say that he might be really ill. It is amazing however that the newspapers are allowed to talk about their King's illness!"
M4: "It is their dimokratia! The supposed rights of the common people! Let us hope it will serve them the same as it served Athens 2000 years ago!"
PA: "Yes, Allah be praised!"
M4: "Let us focus on military matters. Would the Romanians attack us if we decide to end the Greek Problem once and for all?"
PA: "What do you mean?"
M4: "Let's face it: we have already lost the Aegean! Nobody will give us our Islands back. We must make sure that we keep what we have. We must get rid of the Greek Millet now."
PA: "But will Greece accept them? There are at least one million Greeks in our Empire!"
M4: "I have no intention of deporting them. All the Greeks, and all the Christians for that matter, must be completely exterminated!"
PA: "But the Holy Koran says that..."
M4: "The Holy Koran does not say to let our whole Country be stolen from us by the Infidels! We must act now or there will be nothing to be saved later!"
PA: "The Romanians will surely invade us!"
M4: "And for how long shall we be afraid of them? Our army is much stronger now and we have all those newly built fortifications in Thrace. Are you telling me that we would not be able to resist an invasion?"
PA: "I do not know. We might."
M4: "Then so be it. We shall start today with the Greek Patriarch himself!"
29 May 1629, Alba Iulia
Those Greeks! I told them a hundred times that they shouldn't expect us to pull their chestnuts out of the fire! But they wouldn't listen! They had to anger the Turks as well after those short successful wars with the Venetians. But can't they look on a map and see how large the Ottoman Empire is compared to Greece or to Venice? And now they are killed by the thousands every day. As if they hadn't seen it coming!...
Cristina: "Calm down, Mihai. The Doctors said that you should not..."
Mihai: "I am preoccupied, my dear. Matters of the State."
C: "I cannot stand seeing you so stressed and tense. I am afraid that you might have another apoplexy!"
M: "What shall I do then? Take a holiday and let someone else decide the fate of our soldiers? If not me, who could I trust do that? Those cowards in the Senate? The brazen generals? Who?"
C: "Tell me what the trouble is. I might be able to help you."
M: "Women shall not interfere in politics or in the military matters."
C: "What about when Iulia will be Empress Regnant?"
M: "I am not dead yet."
C: "Of course not, Mihai. Don't get mad at me, please. I would only like to know what role should I have in the State as your Empress."
M: "Well... To be my companion, to represent the Country, I don't know, do what other Queens and Empresses usually do."
C: "Bear children, Mihai?"
M: "Of course, that too..."
C: "Just that I cannot bear children anymore..."
M: "What are you saying?"
C: "Yes, Mihai, I know. I talked the Doctors into admitting it to me. I am completely sterile Mihai and you have known it."
M: "I did not want to..."
C: "Yes Mihai, I know. You wanted to spare me the grief. But some changes in my body made me think that something might be wrong."
M: ...
C: "So I am useless now, am I not? I cannot bear your children and I should not be interested in the matters of the State... Are you going to divorce me, Mihai?"
M: "Don't be so silly, dear! Short of betraying me or the Country there is nothing you could do to make me divorce you."
C (crying): "Oh, Mihai..."
M: "Don't cry. Come here, let me wipe those tears..."
C: "Will you explain the situation to me?..."
Women! I am 71 and they are still bewildering me! Perseverare diabolicum or perseverare feminam?
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While Romania would probably join up (Ottomans probably screw up inviting them, by attacking someone they shouldn't have had attacked) I might be somewhat concerned that Greece is going to get delusions of grandeur believing themselves much stronger than they actually are, and in return getting completely smashed in a later war, probably against Venice or prehaps Spain (by them having illogical designs on southernmost Italy)
Yes, the greeks are being exterminated. But at a extremely high price. To the end of the day they have to save their Orthodox brother.
Zagan
Donor
Sure. But let's see the level of enthusiasm the Romanian troops will display in fighting to bail out the Greeks compared to fighting for Romania and their fellow Romanians in the previous war!
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Zagan
Donor
Because of some unforeseen problems, this Chapter will be online a little later.
I'd better not make such prediction anymore.
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I.43. The Greek-Ottoman War
Zagan
Donor
What could Romania have done in those circumstances?
Let the Ottomans murder one million innocent Christian civilians
because of the actions of several thousand hot-headed revolutionaries?
Let the Ottomans murder one million innocent Christian civilians
because of the actions of several thousand hot-headed revolutionaries?
The Greek-Ottoman War
Background
The Principality of Greece appeared on the Map of Europe in 1625, as a consequence of the Ottoman Defeat in the First Romanian-Ottoman War.
It was a small State, having an area of 55,000 km sq and a population of about 500,000 people, almost all of them Greeks.
At that time, around 1,500,000 ethnic Greeks lived outside the borders of the Greek State, in the Ottoman Empire (~ 1,100,000), Romania (233,000 - Census of 1627) and Venice (~ 200,000).
In 1627 and 1628, a series of anti-Venetian uprisings (covertly helped by the Greek State) managed to dislodge the Venetians from Crete and most of the Ionian Islands, subsequently recognized as Greek sovereign territory.
At the beginning of 1629, Greece had an area of 66,000 km sq, a population of almost 700,000 people and it could raise less than 100,000 soldiers.
The Ottoman Empire, although reduced in size and severely weakened, still spanned more than 3,000,000 km sq, had a population of more than 15,000,000 people of which at least 10,000,000 Muslims and it could raise an army in excess of 1,000,000 soldiers.
Under those circumstances, the small Greek State risking war with its much more powerful neighbour seemed almost unfathomable, yet that is exactly what happened.
Starting just before the Christmas of 1628 and continuing into 1629, the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire raised against the Turkish rule, first in the Aegean Islands, then in Cyprus, Ottoman Macedonia, Ottoman Thrace, Asia Minor and even in Constantinople itself.
In 1629, Greece and the Ottoman Empire were in a state of undeclared war.
Between January and April, successful Greek uprisings in Lesbos, Rhodes, Chios, Lemnos, Samos, Karpathos, Cos and other Aegean Islands liberated those Islands and brought them under Greek control.
The Greek takeover of the entire Aegean Sea had been made possible by the Greek Navy which operated in the Aegean with virtual impunity, the severely depleted Ottoman Navy cocconed in the Sea of Marmara avoiding any direct confrontation.
At the same time, the Greek uprisings in Cyprus, Salonika, Smyrna, Constantinople and elsewhere fared less well, some being already crushed by the Ottomans while the others having no clear prospects of victory in the foreseeable future.
This was the situation in the Ottoman Empire when Sultan Mehmed IV decided that he had had enough and all the Greeks must be exterminated.
Starting with May 1629, thousands of Greek civilians, men, women and children, were slaughtered each day by the Ottoman Army all over the Empire in what became known as the first modern ethnocide.
The news of the massacres were received in Athens with a mixture of horror, rage and panic. Something had to be done.
15 May 1629, Athens, Greece
In a solemn session of the Greek Parliament, Prince Constantin I of Greece was crowned King Constantin XII of the Hellenes (Κωνσταντῖνος XII, Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων) while strangely the country remained officially a Principality lest it should break the 1626 Treaty of Platamona with Romania (which mandated that Greece be a Principality) and the 1627 Ruling of the Great Powers Conference of Prague (that small States cannot be styled Kingdoms or Empires).
After the Metropolitan Bishop of Athens anointed the newly proclaimed King, the Parliament declared Constantinople the Capital of Greece, declared a Holy War against the Ottoman Empire and called for general mobilization.
Finally, plenipotentiaries were sent to Romania and to the Great Powers Council to lobby for support in the Anti-Ottoman War. The Greek diplomats would highlight the horrible plight of the Ottoman Greeks and call for the outright dissolution of the Ottoman State.
May 1629, The Aegean Sea
The Greek Navy captured the rest of the Aegean Islands after some intense fighting with the beseiged Ottoman soldiers which had by then known that they were fighting for their very lives. The Greeks took no prisoners; all the captured Turks were slaughtered and, in some cases, viciously tortured.
Sadly, history has not been fair with the Turks and, until recently, the atrocities perpetrated by the Greeks have not been mentioned at all, while the attempted ethnocide of the Asia Minor Greeks has been featured in all history books as a proeminent example of Asiatic barbarism. Vae victis!
3 June 1629, Cyprus
The Greek Navy debarked 4000 soldiers on the beaches of Cyprus.
The fighting which had previously entered a lull, reignited in earnest all over the Island. The 5000 strong Ottoman garrison was however completely outmatched by the combined forces of the Greek regular army and the local Greek revolutionaries.
After less than a week of particularly savage fighting, the whole Island of Cyprus was securely under Greek control.
14 June 1629, Smyrna, Asia Minor
30,000 of the best Greek soldiers were debarked near Smyrna at night and stormed the City the following morning. It was by far the biggest amphibious operation ever attempted so far in the history of warfare.
The Ottoman forces garrisoned in Smyrna were busy killing the until then helpless Greek civilian population and were taken completely by surprise, having no intelligence on the impeding attack.
Confused and scared by the sudden turn of events, the Pasha ordered his army of 25,000 to retreat and evacuated the City during the same day. He was to pay for that decision with his head.
17 June 1629, Salonica, Ottoman Macedonia
The Greeks were understandably elated. It seemed that they were decisively defeating the Ottoman colossus by themselves, without any outside help, at least so far.
The Invasion of Salonica proved however a disaster. The City held on and, after sustaining horrific casualties, less than half of the 30,000 Greek soldiers debarked in the Chalcidic Peninsula managed to cross the border into still neutral Romania to fight another day.
20 June 1629, Great Powers Council
After less than ten days of heated arguments, the Great Powers presented the Ottoman Empire with the following declaration:
Conditional Declaration of War
The Christian Powers of Europe have taken note with extreme concern and utter horror of the barbaric and immoral act of ethnocide perpetrated by the Ottoman authorities against their own Greek Christian population.
The indiscriminate killing of millions of innocent subjects of the State, men, women and children alike, is totally unacceptable in our age and sadly reminiscent of the behaviour of the Mongols.
If the Ottoman Empire does not immediately stop the slaughter and refer the resolution of its conflict with Greece to the mediation of the Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire can consider itself being at war with all of Christian Europe.
The likely consequence of this last Crusade will be debellatio, i.e. the total destruction of the Ottoman State.
Signed by the plenipotentiaries of:
The Iberian Empire, ....................
The Kingdom of France, ....................
The Kingdom of Britannia, ....................
The Empire of Germany, ....................
The Commonwealth of Sarmatia, ....................
The Imperium of Romania, ....................
The Commonwealth of Scandinavia, ....................
The Italian Confederation, ....................
The Principality of Croatia, ....................
A.D. MDCXXIX, June 20
30 June 1629, Alba Iulia
Romania called the general mobilization of its Great Army and reluctantly started to prepare for an undesired war.
The result was deeply worrying and completely unexpected: if in 1621, Little Romania managed to field more than 300,000 soldiers, in 1629 only around 90,000 Romanians answered the call to arms.
The reasons were multiple:
- The war was generally seen as completely useless.
- Years of nationalist propaganda meant the Romanians had no love for the Greeks and little interest in saving them.
- The horrors of the latest war were still fresh, making the Romanians unwilling to fight again so soon.
- The recent increase in taxes made the population unhappy.
- The two main motivations for going to war were to defend the Country and to receive a plot of land. Both of them were missing in 1629, because Romania was not percieved to be in any danger and most of the Romanians already owned land.
Still more worrying was the fact that the Ottomans were clearly aware of the trouble Romania had gathering its army.
8 July 1629, Smyrna
The Ottoman Army reconquered Smyrna after several failed assaults. The Greek Navy managed to save several thousands Greek soldiers from the besieged City. The rest met a grousome fate and the Ottomans began to systematically destroy the whole City of Smyrna to the horror of the civilized World.
20 July 1629, Great Powers Council
Having received no answer from the Ottoman Empire and with the massacres reportedly going on unabated, the Crusade was unanimously declared.
Iberia, France, Britain, Germany, Sarmatia, Romania, Scandinavia, Italy and Croatia declared war to the Ottoman Empire and pledged the following forces to the common European cause:
- Iberia - 20 ships and 20,000 men;
- France - 16 ships and 10,000 men;
- Britain - 16 ships and 5,000 men;
- Germany - 4 ships and 5,000 men;
- Sarmatia - 40 ships and 150,000 men;
- Romania - 70 ships and 100,000 men;
- Scandinavia - 10 ships and 8,000 men;
- Italy - 2 ships and 2,000 men (no contribution from the main Italian State - Venice);
- Croatia - 2 ships and 3,000 men.
Greece had its entire Navy and Army fully involved in the titanic conflict with its archenemy: 27 ships and 140,000 men, the revolutionaries included.
The Ottoman Empire had 18 ships sheltered in the Marmara Sea, 300,000 men in Europe, 300,000 in Asia Minor and 200,000 in its other provinces.
The West European contribution to the collective war effort was clearly minimal and it would prove to be of very little significance to the outcome of the war, mainly because of its extremely belated deployment as compared to the unusually short duration of the hostilities.
In the end, besides Greece and Romania, only Sarmatia's involvement would be of any real usefulness.
1 August 1629, Eastern Thrace, Romania
During their entire history, the Romanians had suffered countless invasions, mainly due to their unfavourable geographic location.
However strange that may sound, one can even say that they got used to a certain cyclicity of the invasions, since rarely a decade passed without one.
For most of their history, the Romanians were more or less defenceless and used to hide in the forests and in the mountains and simply wait for the invaders to finish plundering their Lands and depart. There had been certainly exceptions, like the glorious reigns of the Voivodes Mircea the Elder, Stephen the Great and Vlad the Impaler who managed to repel the invaders on several occasions. But even then, the threat of an invasion was always there, lurking in the background.
In 1629, the situation was clearly different. For almost three decades, no foreign army had crossed the borders of Romania. Most of the Romanians had never witnessed the horrors of an invasion and the concept was foreign to them. For the first time in their history, women and children felt safe in their homes, sheltered by the powerful Romanian State and its Army.
All the nationalist rhetoric of the last decades and the stunning victories of the previous wars had conviced almost everyone of the invulnerability of the Romanian Imperium.
That false sense of security was brutally shattered by a monstruos Ottoman preemptive invasion, the biggest ever, with more than 250,000 Ottoman soldiers pouring into a deeply shocked and inadequately prepared Romania.
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After the Metropolitan Bishop of Athens anointed the newly proclaimed King, the Parliament declared the Capital of Greece to be the City of Constantinople, declared a Holy War against the Ottoman Empire and called for general mobilization.
Finally, plenipotentiaries were sent to Romania and to the Great Powers Council to lobby for support in the Anti-Ottoman War.
When I read till here, I just think they are a bit too cute.
And wow, the Sultan must be very capable as well as very crazy. He just does not know how to back down.
Finally, plenipotentiaries were sent to Romania and to the Great Powers Council to lobby for support in the Anti-Ottoman War.
When I read till here, I just think they are a bit too cute.
And wow, the Sultan must be very capable as well as very crazy. He just does not know how to back down.
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I think this is a bit unrealistic.With the loss of most of their European territory,supplying and concentrating so many Ottoman troops in Europe would have been utterly impossible without being detected by Romanian agents.
Zagan
Donor
The Greeks are really... As I said in this Chapter: elated.
The Sultan is actually right in his apparent madness: The Ottoman Empire is absolutely doomed if it just does nothing. It would simply prolong the agony, but it certainly has no future.
And so he decides to try something desperate:
1. Maybe we can get rid of the troublesome Greeks once and for all.
2. Granted, the Europeans will probably attack us.
3. But if we act quick enough and the Romanians are unprepared, maybe we can knock them out of the war.
4. The other powers will then probably agree to a negotiated peace.
It was a gamble. Now or never! Act decisively when we still have the resources to fight them! Later it will certainly be too late.
On the other hand, the Sultan may be actually crazy. After all, his father was Sultan Mustafa the Deranged, who had been in OTL and in TTL really mentally deranged. It may have been genetic.
European Turkey in TTL before this war was quite large: almost three times as large as OTL present day European Turkey, close in size to OTL Czech Republic.
Several hundreds of thousands of soldiers would certainly fit easily in there.
To put things in perspective, the population of TTL 1629 European Turkey was close to 2 million!
They have probably been detected by Romanian agents, but:
1. Romania had trouble with the conscription, so it could do very little to stop the Ottomans.
2. Nobody really believed that Romania can be actually invaded. Or, better said, that the Ottomans would have the guts to invade.
3. The purpose of that Ottoman army was supposed to be an invasion of continental Greece, which was separated from European Turkey by only a few miles of Romanian territory in Thessaly (territory inhabited by Greeks).
4. The Romanian Generals thought that Romania should not help the Greeks in any way and were actually disposed to let the Ottoman Army pass through those few miles of Romanian territory with only mild harrasement (for the eyes of the Emperor and of the public opinion).
These considerations cannot be inferred from the text in any way and thus should be somehow mentioned in the next chapter for clarification.
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Problem is that trying to supply so many troops when they don't even have control of the seas is impossible.It's almost impossible to do that unless the Turks planned a war many years in advance and store enough supplies for years in Constantinople.Turkish supply to Europe would be cut off the moment a war's fought.You also have to take into account that the Turks' remaining territories in Europe are highly urbanized,so they couldn't help produce food either,and are net importer of food as well.Next is there's hundreds of thousands of troops amassing near your border.Yes,it's a ridiculous amount of troops right on your border.No commander with a right sense of mind would ignore that.Realistically,the Romanian government would be frantic when they found out that 500k worth of Turkish troops have amassed near the border.They would try and raise troops by any means possible including mass conscription.
Zagan
Donor
The Turks enjoy total control over the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits.
European Turkey was not that urbanized at that time. Besides Constantinople, Adrianople and Salonika there weren't other really big cities there.
European Turkey was populated mostly by Greeks at that time.
That army (which I will edit to be smaller) was busy fighting the Greek insurgents.
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Even if they aren't as urbanized as you claimed,there's still no way two million people can supply hundreds of thousands of troops. Another thing is that with the Ottoman navy being nearly non-existent(to the point where even the Greek navy can bully it),it would be extremely hard to maintain control over the Sea of Marmara and the Turkish Straits.In OTL,the Turks got f#$ked up badly when the Russians simply just blocked them.It caused food riots in Constantinople.
By the way,I just checked,the population of Constantinople/Istanbul in the 1600s was 700,000.So yes,they are utterly f#$ked.They will be crippled by supply issues.