G'day Victorians and a Happy Thursday. This is Chris, Narrative Designer, and this will be my first dev diary here at Paradox.

So, welcome to Dev Diary 157, where you will be presented with a variety of difficult hills within the upcoming Immersion Pack National Awakening. As you read about the upcoming content, dear player and reader,  you may consider which hill you would most prefer to die upon. 

Our first hill today is Mount Lovćen, the Black Mountain of Montenegro. 

Montenegro

We have sensed, even up here in our lofty wizard's tower, a general desire to add more variety to the way different countries play in Victoria 3. The Montenegrin campaign is an experiment designed both to represent the country's vibrant and violent history, and to provide a particularly unique experience. We selected Montenegro with the hope there will be something satisfying about climbing from such extremely humble beginnings towards a great modern nation. 

You begin in dire straits: the treasury draining fast, a measly 2 spare units of arable land and a woefully low standard of Living. As in history, women are working the fields so that more men can fight, but during peacetime this leaves a huge number of not-strictly-employed men eating away at resources. Starvation is put off by aid from Russia, delivered through the Austrian port by the coast. The literacy rate in-game is 0.6%. This is likely above the historical figure, as the Njegoš family personally educated a small clique, while they themselves were educated abroad. (Petar II acquired the nation's first modern printing press in the 1830s, which he used to print his own poetry, and possibly the bible.)

Times is hard. There will be no spamming iron mines until you pass Laissez-Faire. There are, however, a few modifiers and law-variants that may help you survive. (Please note, as always, that the exact numbers may change before release.)

Off to a rough start

So we begin, and hope to shake the world.

As you can see, we start with some interesting views on Tax Collection

Montenegro's law-variants are terrible long-term, but they keep the country from starving at the beginning of the game.

How did such a situation come to be? As far as the Ottoman Empire was concerned, Montenegro was not an independent state but a Christian group practising religious freedom on top of the mountain, with a habit of killing tax collectors to the point where it was simply easier for everyone involved to stop sending them. This was why Montenegrin rulers were given the title Prince-Bishop and (since Bishops cannot marry) rule tended to be handed down to a convenient nephew rather than a son.

The Montenegrins, however, saw themselves as an independent Serbian state. With little arable land, they were forced to raid to survive. There was a tradition of headhunting, literally collecting the heads of Ottomans they killed in battle as trophies. To be fair, the Ottoman Pasha on the other side instructed his men to do the same. When some do-gooder Westerner came in to try and talk both sides out of the practice, each side replied they would love to stop cutting off heads, but they could only consider it if their enemy stopped first. So the violence continued.

These constant raids should have given the Ottomans an excuse to invade and end the rebels once and for all, but the Great Powers, particularly Russia, were protective of their fellow Christians. It was thus Montenegro's small size that allowed them to raid the Ottomans without facing oblivion. In a century when such antiquated violence within Europe would normally have escalated into a full-scale war or a multinational diplomatic crisis, the Great Powers insisted on guaranteeing Montenegro's independence. Meanwhile the raids were not impactful enough on the greater empire for the Sublime Porte to justify disregarding Russia's request and exterminating the Christians on the hill.

For all their support, the Great Power still made it clear they would really, really appreciate if Montenegro would behave themselves and shape up into something that looked like a modern state. To this end, the Montenegrin campaign is defined by two Journal entries, one about earning the respect of the Great Powers, including transitioning into a formal monarchy. The other about raiding and pillaging Ottoman lands, preferably until the empire is entirely destroyed. The player must balance the nation's future between these two paths.

Try to stop raiding too early, and one's nation will quickly go bankrupt or starve. Raid too aggressively, and not only will legitimacy drop to the point of being unable to pass laws, but one's relations may decrease with the Great Powers until one fails the Rebels to Nation Journal Entry, leaving no ally to guarantee Montenegro's independence against Ottoman invasion. 

Falling out with your benefactor Russia is a risky proposition for such a small nation.

Along the journey towards civility, you may need the Landowners (for once), in order to pass Monarchy. A chain of historical events can also help you along the way as Prince Danilo makes it very clear he has no intention of becoming a bishop, and every intention of establishing himself as a monarch. 

The options beyond avoiding ordination and getting married go beyond Danilo's own known choices, though they suit the brash and uncompromising reputation that led to his assassination by a fellow countryman.

Danilo really was confronted with the need to marry to prove he was certainly not a bishop and therefore a prince, and therefore Montenegro was a state, and therefore it deserved land and protection. Darinka, though ostensibly not as wealthy nor carrying a high title compared to his other prospects, had the closest family ties to Montenegro, and perhaps love had something to do with this choice after all.

However you navigate Montenegro's precarious situations, should you succeed in the following the Njegoš footsteps in establishing Montenegro as a state, the Great Powers will reward you with the land necessary to cease raiding and establish a functioning economy, if you but put down the rifle and stop raiding. Feel free to trick them and continue raiding anyway, but know you likely lose your only ally against the Ottomans should they come knocking.

You could of course take the land AND keep raiding, but Russia will no longer guarantee your independence.

If you intend to lay down the sword, you will likely be desirous of a port to access the wonders of the World Market. Here you may succeed where the Njegoš family failed. By convincing Austria you are trustworthy, certainly not a Russian puppet, and that there is no risk of giving Russia access to the Mediterranean, they may return the port of Kotor (Cattaro) to you and demonstrate the same good sportsmanship they demanded from the Ottomans in recognising you as a state.

Finally, you may be able to complete the last of Petar and Danilo Njegoš' ambitions. These men always saw themselves as Serbians. Indeed, Petar II's poetry speaks highly of the heroic deeds of Serbian knights at the Battle of Kosovo, from which legend says all Christian Montenegro is descended. Should both states be free from the Ottoman's subjugation, and share a common border, the great Serbian nation can unite once again.

On unification, there are options as to which nation's rulers and laws should take precedence.

From there, there is no limit to the ambitions of the Njegoš family, perhaps all the way past the Eastern Crisis and Balkan Wars to forming Yugoslavia (now a major unification).

With states both in the Ottoman and Austrian empires, forming Yugoslavia is going to be quite the challenge for any Balkan nation

Montenegro was just the first of our Balkan hills to die upon. Let us have a quick look at what happens if you start the game as their Serbian kin under the Houses of Karađorđević and Obrenović. 

"Serbia Serbia Serbia!"

Our next hill to die upon is Dedinje, in Belgrade, where the Karađorđević family established their royal residence after taking power from the Obrenović dynasty, who had resided in Topčider Park at the bottom of the hill. 

The struggle between the two dynasties is represented by the Throne of Thorns Journal Entry. The current ruler may launch a campaign to build up support, offering various incentives to communities or interest groups in return for their loyalty.

Should the country fall on hard times, the other dynasty may sweep away support.

Should one house lose control, the other begins their own similar version of the Journal Entry, so power can change hands a series of times until someone finally gets Dynastic Loyalty to 100% and cements their power.

The ruling dynasty, of course, is under no obligation to play fair.

The feud is deep rooted within the military

As well as the church.

After dealing with this domestic strife, Serbia can particularly benefit from the recent changes to Liberty Desire to seek its independence. Building a large army can give a significant boost, though with the Ottomans having so many troops, perhaps it may be best to use the Support Separatism diplomatic action covered in Dev Diary 154 to inspire a Serbian movement within Ottoman territory, sparking the Eastern Crisis. 

Greek Bavarocracy

The next hill to die upon is Lycabettus Hill, Athens, overlooking the palace of King Otto, the promontory of Bavarian pride in Greece. Rejoice Bavarians! Coming along with National Awakening is also a brand new starting Journal Entry for Greece: Bavarocracy. This journal entry models the highly contentious rule of Otto, the young, and only (spoiler alert) Bavarian King of Greece. The King, and the Bavarian clique surrounding him, assumed the rule of Greece in 1832, following the successful Greek War of Independence against the Ottomans. 

Otto was not the first pick of the Great Powers for the post, that honour would belong to the later King of Belgium, Leopold I, nor was he theGreek choice, as the Greeks were not even consulted on the matter. But he was judged to be sufficiently disconnected from Great Power rivalries to be an acceptable candidate for the throne, and thus assumed the throne of Greece at the grand old age of 17.

Initially a somewhat popular monarch, the devoutly Catholic Otto was quickly viewed with skepticism by his more devout Orthodox subjects after it became clear he had no intention of converting. Like many contemporary philhellenes, he seemed more interested in the activities and ideas of the Greeks of antiquity than those of his actual subjects, and his overreliance on Bavarian aides and ministers did little to endear him in the hearts of native Greeks.

The authoritarian rule of the Bavarians in Greece would eventually lead to much unrest and a few uprisings, and even the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1843 would not be enough to save the king, who would be ousted from the throne some two decades later. 

This Journal Entry will allow you to either let history play out in a somewhat historical fashion, with Otto being deposed and replaced by a Dane (shudder), or explore alt-history scenarios like Otto clinging on to power, other candidates assuming the throne, or the early rise of a republic.

While securing Othonian rule over the country will not be an easy task, there are steps you can take to facilitate it. Securing the loyalty of the Klephts by enrolling them into the army and doing your best to realize the so-called 'Megali Idea' will work wonders in terms of ensuring the stability of Otto's rule. 

While entrenching Othonian rule in Greece will hold rewards of its own, arranging for his downfall may prove advantageous to the country in the long run.

Greece also benefits from the free updates to its content covered in Dev Diary 155, and later is one the nations forming the Balkan League. Perhaps you will turn on your erstwhile allies to restore Byzantium. Certainly, Greece stands to benefit from a certain crisis to the east… 

The Eastern Crisis

Our next hill is the peak of the Eastern Crisis which faced the Ottoman Empire in the 1870s, leading to war with Russia, the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, and the release of Bulgaria. 

Uprisings were nothing new in the Ottoman Empire, but after raising taxes to cover the debts used to modernise infrastructure and reform the navy (3rd biggest in the world in 1875), an unprecedented wave of revolts sprung up in the Balkan Territories. 

The brutality of the Ottoman response, especially to the April Uprising of 1876, published in the Western Press as the "Bulgarian Horrors" and the "Crime of the Century", severely harmed Ottoman relations with the British. The below flavour text is a historical quote from the time, though in our game such an event can occur after cutting down any separatist movement.

If the Infamy penalty here seems harsh, note that the British government had a policy of protecting the Ottoman Empire against Russian advances, and it was largely due to the Ottomans' horrific reputation after these war crimes that England did not intervene during the Russo-Turkish War 1877-78.

In-game, the Eastern Crisis journal entry has similar effects to the Springtime of the People covered by my colleague Victoria last week. An added difficulty, however, is that the empire's subjects will receive +0.35 weekly liberty desire, amongst other benefits.

Each movement will be boosted by the following for the duration of the JE:

And each subject:

Rebels may be the least of Ottoman concerns however, as Russia also will receive a Journal Entry encouraging them to liberate Bulgaria and seize Kars.

Meanwhile, should Russia make their play, Austria is unlikely to stand idly by. They too, if they have an interested lobby, will receive a journal entry encouraging them to join the frey and seize control of Bosnia.

Should the Ottoman player survive this gauntlet of rebellion and warlike neighbours, they will be rewarded for their efforts, though perhaps the greatest reward is survival itself.

And should the Ottoman Empire fail to keep Rumelian Integrity (see screenshot further above) together within 10 years, expect the crisis effects to continue, slowly fading away over the next decade.

So many Ottoman hills to die on, and they haven't even met the Buglarians yet. 

Bulgaria: Prussia of the Balkans

In 1836 the nation of Bulgaria finds itself in the sorry position of not even having a hill to die on, for they aren't yet back on the map. 

Would you be inclined to remedy this, there are a couple of ways you can go about it. The quickest and easiest way of course being to simply start as the Ottomans and release Bulgaria as an independent nation. Alternatively, you may opt into either provoking a Bulgarian secession and siding with the subsequent rebellion, or liberating Bulgaria as Russia, which will fire a new event that allows you to switch to the young Bulgarian nation afterwards amongst other options.

Upon independence, Bulgaria will have to face its first choice on whether to declare a monarchy or to pursue the path of Republicanism:

Depending on when the above event takes place, you may have one or several historical candidates as an option, including a monarchy led by either Alexander von Battenberg or Ferdinand von Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as well as a republic under Stefan Stambolov. There are also generic fallback options for either a monarchy or republic, should none of the historical candidates be available at the time.

While the nation has now been liberated, its sovereignty is by no means secured, and the Ottomans will not go down without a fight. If that wasn't enough, rival claimants in the Balkans can be found in any direction, competing with Bulgaria for control over their shared homelands.

To deal with the looming threat, Bulgaria will have to establish a formidable army to defend its borders and stake its claims, which finally leads us the to the Prussia of the Balkans Journal Entry:

To complete this Journal Entry, one will have to engage in a process of rapid militarization and juggle the needs of the civilian economy with those of the army to become the uncontested powerhouse in the Balkans.

Of course, having a huge army means nothing if you are not willing to use it, which brings us to the event that will fire upon successful completion of the Journal Entry and militarization process:

Bulgaria makes its ambitions clear to the world.

The first option sets you on the path of war, with the end goal being to ensure that Bulgaria stretches from the Ionian to the Black Sea in the form a new Third Bulgarian Empire.

Bulgaria in its greatest extent and all its glory

Alternatively one may perhaps embrace their inner Yugoslav and seek out a unified nation for all Slavs of the Balkans. Choosing this option unsurprisingly enables the ability to form Yugoslavia which Bulgaria is otherwise barred from:

Should you form Yugoslavia as Bulgaria you will not only retain your Bulgarian primary culture in addition to all the other Yugoslav cultures you will also be greeted with a new map color and unique set of flags

The flag of monarchist Yugoslavia as formed by Bulgaria

And of course, if you're happy with your secured independence, and don't want to die on the hill of forming Bulgarian Yugoslavia or the Bulgarian Empire, you can simply choose to invest in your nation and try to better the lives of your citizens. 

That is, until your neighbors come knocking with an inclusive invitation… 

The Balkan League

As Ottoman power went downhill (pun very much intended), their ex-subjects saw an opportunity to band together in an effort to recover the rest of their homelands, a summit they seemed very much willing to die upon. 

The Balkan League, an alliance of Montenegro, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, waged the First Balkan War in 1912, successfully conquering most of the Ottoman Empire’s remaining European Territory.

1912 is fairly late game in terms of Victoria 3. We've designed the Balkan League content to be more generalised to accommodate for the cuts and tears that you, dear player, may have cut through the tapestry of history. At any point, if the four historical members of the league (provided they are on the map at that time) are all free from subjecthood, and the Ottomans are in the Eastern Crisis or at war with a Great Power, then the league can form.

In our testing, we generally find that these nations have a much harder time against the Ottoman Empire than they did historically. Thus we've added a few tools for the smaller nations to stand a chance.

Dedicated Military Research: This will level the technological playing field by giving the Balkan League any military technology the Ottomans may have that they don't possess themselves, provided they can convince a Great Power to give it to them. However, this will stifle their civilian research for some time.

Expand the League: This allows you to add Ottoman subjects as allies in the upcoming war. However, first you'll need to support them with a Support Independence treaty article.

Overwork Arms Industries: Making your workers work until they drop is not good for their health, though it is great for making the weapons you'll need to provide your troops.

Muster Conscripts: These nations were famously dedicated to the war effort. Once the war starts, players may pull men from the fields to increase their conscriptable battalions and training rates, though there is some risk your forces starve if you haven't prepared accordingly.

Countries can always Resign and beg for mercy if the cause is hopeless.

Otherwise, it's time to Start the War. If the Ottoman Empire's strength seems insurmountable (here they are allied with the British Empire) it may be wise to seek your own allies amongst the Great Powers.

One could see if any Great Powers are supporting the independence of Ottoman subjects, in which case you may be able to bring them to your side by inviting said subject to the league. For example, here Wallachia's independence was guaranteed by Russia. After also guaranteeing their independence and adding them to the league, it looks like our side now has a chance:

In this particularly alternate-history, Wallachia has indeed been the turning point that starts the war.

Each nation will receive wargoals to return their homelands, or independence for the newly added members (like Wallachia in this example).

Sweet Victory.

Sweet rewards.

Historically, before the 1st Balkan war had even been concluded, tensions between the allies began to chafe. There were disagreements as to who should receive which newly conquered hills and how much to honour pre-war agreements. It wasn't long before Bulgaria, which had only been a nation again for 35 years, found itself at war with the rest of the Balkan League.

The events of the Second Balkan War were the inspiration for the Spoils of War Journal Entry:

Recovering all your homelands goes a long way in securing the loyalty of your patriotic citizens.

Next week we will be joined by the art team who die on their own hills - probably adorned with vineyards or tea plantations, with the clouds above opening up to spotlight their beautiful work.

That prickly precipice of national pride is the last hill I will die on today. In the meantime here's one last word from Narrative Design Lead Victoria, who is shouting down from a sierra of books.

May your sacrifices be glorious, and have a Happy Thursday
-Chris

Hello. This is Victoria. One may wonder which hill I would die on. The answer to this requires an image.

This is a pile of physical books that we have read over the course of the development of Update 1.10 and National Awakening. We have received some requests for source lists on the subject matter, and so we are pleased to provide our bibliography.

Primary Sources:

Bradford, Thomas Gamaliel. 1835. A Comprehensive Atlas, Geographical, Historical & Commercial. Boston.

Imperial and Royal Ministry of the Interior. 1857. Statistical Overviews of the Population and Livestock of Austria. Vienna.

Marx, Karl. 1852. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. New York.

Popovici, Aurel. 1906. The United States of Greater Austria. Political Studies About the Solution of the National Questions and Legal Crises in Austria-Hungary. Leipzig.

Popovici, Aurel. 1910. Nationalism or Democracy: A Critique of Modern Civilization. Bucharest.

Scott, Howard. 1933. Science vs. Chaos. Chicago.

Spann, Othmar. 1921. The True State: Lectures on the Demolition & Reconstruction of the State. Vienna.

Secondary Sources:

Akarli, Engin Deniz. 1972. Ottoman Population in Europe in the 19th Century: Its Territorial, Racial, and Religious Composition. Master’s Thesis. Madison, WI.

Aliprantis, Christos. 2019. “Lives in Exile: Foreign Political Refugees in Early Independent Greece (1830–53).” Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 43(2). 243–261. Cambridge, UK.

Anderson, Benedict. 2006. Imagined Communities. London.

Barker, W.R. 1934. The Formation of Yugoslavia. Master’s thesis. Los Angeles, CA.

Bassett, Richard. 2016. For God and Kaiser: The Imperial Austrian Army. New Haven, CT.

Bilinski, Adam. 2013. Landlordism and Democratization in the Balkans before World War I. PhD thesis. Gainesville, FL.

Black, Jeremy and North, Jonathan. 2011. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War I. Dayton, OH.

Dalakoura, Katerina. 2011. “The Moral and Nationalist Education of Girls in the Greek Communities of the Ottoman Empire (c.1800–1922).” Women's History Review. 20. 651-662.

Glenny, Misha. 2000. The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, 1804-1999. New York.

Hobsbawm, Eric. 1962. The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848. London.

Hobsbawm, Eric. 1975. The Age of Capital, 1848-1875. London.

Judson, Pieter M. 2018. The Habsburg Empire: A New History. Cambridge, MA.

Jovanovski, Dalibor. 2022. “The Speech of Ioannis Kolettis and the Emergence of the Greek 'Great Idea.’” Annual of the Faculty of Philosophy in Skopje, 75(1). 91-107. Skopje.

Karpat, Kemal H. 1978. “Ottoman Population Records and the Census of 1881/82-1893”. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 9(3). 237-274

Karpat, Kemal H. 1985. Ottoman Population 1830-1914: Demographic and Social Characteristics. Madison, WI.

Katsikas, Stefanos & Krinaki, Anna. 2020. “Reflections on an ‘Ignominious Defeat’: Reappraising the Effects of the Greco-Ottoman War of 1897 on Greek Politics.” Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 38. 109-130.

Komlos, John. 1983. The Habsburg Monarchy as a Customs Union: Economic Development in Austria-Hungary in the Nineteenth Century. Princeton, NJ.

Lloyd, Nick. 2024. The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War. New York.

Mazower, Mark. 2000. The Balkans: From the End of Byzantium to the Present Day. London.

Mazower, Mark. 2002. The Balkans: A Short History. New York.

Miller, James Edward. 2009. "Introduction: Manifest Destiny Meets the Megali Idea" in The United States and the Making of Modern Greece: History and Power, 1950-1974. Chapel Hill, NC.

Miloradović, G. 2014. “Losses of the Serbian Army in World War One and the Creation of Yugoslavia: Contribution to the Interpretation of the Causes and Circumstances of South Slav Unification.” Transcultural Studies. 10(2). 1-16.

Nielsen, Christian. 2009. “Policing Yugoslavism: Surveillance, Denunciations, and Ideology during King Aleksandar's Dictatorship, 1929-1934.” East European Politics & Societies. 23. 34-62.

Rapport, Mike. 2008. 1848: Year of Revolution. London.

Roberts, Elizabeth. 2024. Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro. London.

Saleh, Mohamed. 2013. “A Pre-Colonial Population Brought to Light: Digitization of the Nineteenth Century Egyptian Censuses”. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History. 46. 5-18.

Siemann, Wolfram. 2023. Metternich: Strategist and Visionary. Cambridge, MA.

Spyra, Andrzej. 2021. Villains or a Few Words About Austrian Secret Police. Częstochowa.

Tanir, Engin Deniz. 2005. The Mid-Nineteenth Century Ottoman Bulgaria from the Viewpoints of French Travelers. Master’s Thesis. Ankara.

Temperley, Harold William Vazeille. 1919. History of Serbia. London.

Vučković, Aleksa. 2021. The Serbian Revolution: 1804-1835.

Not included are the uncountably numerous webpages that we visited over the course of our research, of which we have not kept records. Also not included are works with which we did not engage with beyond quoting for flavour text. For those interested in the latter, we typically include attributions within our localisation files, appended to the string in question.

Were I to ever die, I would like to do so in a comfortable armchair, several minutes after completing the last incomplete book in my collection. This is the closest I may come to fulfillment.