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Vitelski -> RE: Wish List: Suggestions for a future patch (7/11/2005 11:32:34 PM)
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Finland was christianized by Sweden in the 1200's and had been a part of Sweden ever since. Virtually all towns in Finland were founded by swedish kings, the finns had representation in the swedish parliament from the 1500's and the second university in Sweden was founded in Abo (Turkku) in 1640. While the rural population was almost exclusively finnish, the swedes dominated in the towns. Finland was quite simply a province in Sweden.
So, like Frodon I don't understand why Finland is being portrayed as a protectorate in the game. Change, plz?
Second, the feudal level for Sweden is set relatively high, at 50%. This too seems a bit strange as Sweden never was feudalized in the way continental Europe, and even Denmark, were. Most of the peasants owned their own land, paid (steep) taxes to the king and they had their own representation in parliament as the fourth estate. There were swedish nobles, but, in 1521 the danish king Valdemar the tyrant chopped off the heads of all the major ones except one - who proceeded to rebel, liberate the country and crown himself king Gustav Vasa.
(Ok this is getting a bit long but I'm having fun so I'll carry on. I'll get to the point shortly. And yes, I am swedish.)
Seeing that Valdemar had done away with most of the internal opposition Gustav was able to centralize power to a degree I think was unmatched in Europe during the 16th century. This gave Sweden military capacity out of proportion to its population, and this centralization, or un-feudalization was the foundation on which Sweden's status as Great Power during the 17th and early 18th centuries built.
Once the last absolute monarch, Charles XII, had been shot with a uniform button in 1718, Sweden became a constitutional monarchy, ruled by bickering political parties. The government had to manufacture a stamp to get the king's signature for their decisions (the king being far too occupied with turning snuff-boxes to be bothered with simple politics). Attempts were made to revitalize the country with government-sponsored investments in manufacturing and trading, but there wasn't enough capital to go around, and the swedes were to few and poor.
The point? I think Sweden's feudal level could be set to the same level Britain has in 1792, and Finland could be a domestic province of Sweden. To compensate for this I guess the provincial incomes might be lowered, and possibly the abilities of the swedish diplomats could be weakened. (Denmark voluntarily submitting to Sweden? Noooooo way...)
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