Relazioni Estere (Foreign Relations)
(Estratto dalle fonti raw locali; il testo originale è mantenuto in larga parte in inglese per preservare termini e formulazioni. Le note tra parentesi quadre sono riferimenti presenti nelle fonti.)
Foreign Relations
Old World Diplomacy
The forces of Chaos in the Northern Wastes and internal Chaos corruption is not the only problem the Empire and its ruling nobility face. Other realms surround the Empire, and its relations with them have often proven contentious.[1h]
At the same time, the Empire has maintained tentative allegiances, or at least states of peaceful coexistence, with the other major realms of Men in the Old World -- Bretonnia, Kislev, and Tilea -- for many years in recent decades.[32a]
Over the centuries, the Empire's diplomats have constructed a complex network of treaties and obligations. These treaties promise military support to almost every Human nation in the Old World against nearly every other nation. Additionally, these agreements allow the emperor to request aid from other nations.[34b]
In practice, these written promises often carry little weight, but they provide a pretext for the nations of the Old World to forge and dissolve alliances as they see fit, supporting first one nation and then another. It has been known for entire nations to switch sides midway through a war, using their convoluted treaty agreements as an excuse to join the winning side. In extreme cases, this can even lead to two Imperial forces clashing with each other, as occurred during the Battle of Remasalia.[34b]
Bretonnia
Despite the current peace, the Empire's relations with Bretonnia have not always been harmonious. In the days of Sigmar, the Bretonni tribes refused to join the Heldenhammer's alliance. While the Empire was founded only a year after the Battle of Black Fire Pass, it was 980 years until Gilles le Breton united the Bretonni tribes and founded a new kingdom.[1h]
Since the Empire is the elder state by nearly a millennium, its rulers have often taken an arrogant approach in their dealings with Bretonnia, one the noble descendants of Gilles le Breton have not appreciated. During the Great War Against Chaos, the Bretonnians declined to send aid to Magnus the Pious, leaving the Men of the Empire and Kislev to defeat the Chaos incursion without the aid of the other major Human realm of the Old World.[1h]
Kislev
Kislevites still remember their alliance with the Empire that brought victory during the Great War Against Chaos some two centuries ago, when Magnus the Pious came to their aid.[1h]
Not all in the Empire bear Kislev goodwill, however. The Elector Count of Talabecland remembers his province's ancient claims to large portions of Kislevite territory. Trade between Kislev and the Empire moves mainly along the River Talabec.[1h]
Skaven
"Ignorance is the best shield the Empire has, the ratkin themselves our best allies against the threat of the skaven. While man remains ignorant of their world, the skaven feel safe to war amongst themselves, pursuing their petty intrigues and vendettas. Given a common foe, given a common purpose, their entire race would unite into a single horde and smother the world of men beneath their numbers. For the survival of the Empire, the underfolk must remian a fable told to children."
— Jeremias Scrivner describing the policy of the Empire against the Skaven.[16a]
The Empire's refusal to acknowledge the Skaven as anything more than myths and children's tales frustrates the people of the southern realms of Tilea and Estalia. Taverna gossip on the subject ranges from the grim to the absurd, in some cases claiming that Imperials refuse to acknowledge the ratmen's existence because they are actually in league with them![14a]
The reason for that is simple: Higher-ups in the Empire are aware of the ratmen threat, but also that, if the knowledge about the Under-Empire would spread, not only mass panicks would follow, but also, the Skaven would find a common foe. They would galvanize into a single horde which would overrun the world beneath their numbers. For the safety of the Empire, knowledge of the Skaven is suppressed by members of the Grey Order to keep the Skaven divided, so that they spend their forces by warring on each other and sabotaging themselves.[16a] Others believe in the Skaven, but are unaware of the extent of the threat they pose.[17a]
For their part, the Skaven and their agents work to inflame tensions between the realms of Men in the Old World so the stories of their existence are greeted with greater skepticism, and what the Skaven cannot discredit, they will seek to embellish to such a degree that it becomes an amusing, outlandish children's tale, thus keeping the Humans of the Old World's greatest nation from acting to thwart their schemes to achieve the Great Ascendancy.[14a]
Tilea
"I’m proud to wear the Imperial eagle on my armour. We’re the greatest nation in the Old World! If he’s an Empire man born and bred, even the most stinking thief in my cells is twice the man of a perfumed Bretonnian or wheedling Tilean."
—Johan Strauss, Altdorf Harbour Watchman[11a]
Far from the immediate concerns of the war against the Chaos tribes of the north, the Tilean city-states continue their blithe habits of arguing, fighting, and trading with each other, when they are not arguing, fighting, and trading with the Estalians or the Arabyans.[1h]
Although once, long ago during the reign of Emperor Gunthar II "the Faithful", the Empire ruled much of northern Tilea, contact between the two realms is largely confined to trade via the middlemen of Marienburg, though some Tilean merchant houses, especially from the cities of Miragliano and Remas, have taken advantage of the recent discovery of the River of Echoes from northern Tilea to Wissenland to set up trading offices in Nuln, Pfeildorf, and other southern Imperial towns. The Tilean merchants hope to use this as a reliable route to bypass Marienburg and cut costs, since the mountain passes are frequently blocked by snow.[1h]
With the coming of war with the forces of Chaos, Tilean influence has increased in military affairs. Tilean mercenaries, particularly their crossbowmen and pikemen, were always a common sight in the Empire, but, more and more, priests and priestesses of Myrmidia, the southern goddess of war, are taking positions of influence with southern and western Imperial nobles, as advisors and even field commanders. Weakened in the fighting against the forces of Chaos, the Cult of Ulric looks askance on this challenge to their influence.[1h]
Despite this, the Empire has maintained tentative allegiances, or at least states of peaceful coexistence with the Tilean city-states for many years.[54a]
Norsca
Far across the stormy Sea of Claws, small Norscan kingdoms generally friendly to the Empire cling to the coasts, trying to hold out against the Chaos-aligned barbarians and berserkers that dominate the interior of Norsca.[1h]
Border Princes
To the south and southwest of the Empire, the lands of the Border Princes have long been both a thorn in the side of the Empire and a safety valve for its malcontents. The princes and petty lords of this land must deal with frequent raids by Orcs and Goblins, some of which are large bands trying to reach the Empire. The local rulers fear that, if the Greenskins raise enough trouble in the Empire, then the Elector Counts of the southern Grand Provinces may decide that the time to reannex these lands has come.[1h]
Marienburg
Marienburg, for all the occasional noises from the Empire and the Cult of Sigmar about "reclaiming lost provinces," has good if quiet relations with the Empire. The similar culture and shared history of the Empire and its wayward city-state helps, as do the regular payments on the debts owed to Marienberg merchants and bankers by several Elector Counts, lower Imperial nobles, and free towns. Marienburg also relies on the Empire to be a counterbalance to Bretonnian ambitions. Thus, the current weakened state of the Empire has the ruling Directorate of Marienberg deeply concerned.[1h]