Two Sicilies

Two Sicilies
Government type	Absolute monarchy
Ruling party	Restaurazionisti (reactionary)
Capital	Naples (ID 754)
Population	1.89 million
Primary culture	South Italian
Accepted cultures
Religion	catholic
Literacy	35%
National value	Order
Tech school	Traditional academia
Status	Civilized

The divided Italian states in 1836

Two Sicilies is the most southern of the Italian states. It starts as a Secondary power and has the largest army, navy, and population in the Italian Peninsula, as well as huge industrial potential. Together with Sardinia-Piedmont, it's one of the only two Italian states that doesn't in a sphere.

All in all, Two Sicilies makes a decent candidate to form Italy.

Background History

During the Napoleonic Wars, Naples was captured by the French. After the capture of Naples, the Neapolitan kingdom became the Parthenopaean Republic, a French client state. After Napoleon's downfall, King Ferdinand was put back on the throne by the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of Vienna also created Two Sicilies, a unification between Naples and Sicily.

Initial position

Initial military situation

Two Sicilies has the biggest starting fleet in the Italian Peninsula, as well as the best military, but it is still hard to attack any surrounding nations as they are all sphered by the Great Powers of France and Austria (with the exception of Sardinia-Piedmont, who starts at friendly with France instead).

Two Sicilies has a single unique decision in The Royal Order of Francis I, which gives a small amount of free research points. It is available as long as Two Sicilies is an Absolute Monarchy and has at least 25 prestige. In practice, it is far more common for Two Sicilies to convert to Prussian Constitutionalism before they gain enough prestige to take this decision.

Initial Economy

At the start of the game the treasury is in deficit, and while this can be fixed, Two Sicilies' relatively large army and navy will still burden their finances in the game's early years. However, one should not be tempted to disband it, as such an army will come in handy when one begins to unify Italy.

The production is mainly based on fruit and fish, but there are on the island of Sicily. Ufortunately there is not any coal, and the acquisition of such should be a priority.

To help with finances, naval spending can be cut. One can also consider manually stopping the import of clippers and steamers, although this will attrition your fleet down to near-uselessness and it may just be more efficient to disband your fleet instead. Alternatively, commerce technologies can be used to levy more effective taxes on the population.

The surrounding great powers

Diplomatically, build French relations to the maximum, 200. Once Italy forms, it'll share borders with France, and the last thing Italy wants is French aggression. Austria is the other GP one will eventually border as Italy, though since Italy will typically have to fight them at least twice to get all their cores back, high relations with Austria would actively hurt Italian ambitions.

Once relations with France are high one should improve relations into Sardinia-Piedmont and the Papal States. This will help keep France out of Sicilies' business by eventually removing them from the French sphere. This investment will also help when one tries to influence these Italian states later on during the quest to unite Italy.

War and Infamy

Since part of the charm of Two Sicilies is forming Italy, it can be tempting to expand on the peninsula itself. There are two problems with this idea. Firstly, Two Sicilies doesn't have any cores on other Italian nations, so taking states will cost 11 infamy each - meaning that Two Sicilies is limited to 3 states in a single bite if they get lucky with their CB justification. It's also an inefficient use of infamy as, if one follows the diplomatic route to annexation, Italy will get everything infamy free. The other complication is that, as previously mentioned, all other the Italian nations start out allied or sphered by Austria or France, and these two states can easily put a stop to early Silician ambitions.

However, infamy is there to be used and Two Sicilies is positioned just off the African coast. Some possible areas to expand:

• Tunis can be annexed for no more than 10 infamy, is decently good for soldiers and grain, and offers a border with the Ottoman Empire for future conquest (or aid, if one wishes to be sphered by them).
• Morocco's Taza region - which has a Precious Metal RGO - can be picked up for just five. However, one must watch out for Spain as they want the same region, and typically take it (and Sphere Morocco!) within the first 20 years of gameplay.
• Morocco's Atlantic Coast regions can also be picked up for no more than 5 infamy and offer ports closer to potential colonial sites.
• Algeria can cost up to 22 infamy but has several iron RGOs, provides a port closer to future potential colonization, and might help stem French expansion.
• If one is prepared to look further afield (and doen't mind getting the fleet damaged due to attrition) then there are several good targets in India and the rest of Asia. Choose targets that will provide with resources, taxes, soldiers and better positioning for more colonial expansion. It might be easier in these instances to wait for the Suez Canal to be constructed instead, but the option is always there.

Becoming a Great Power

The main problems with the Two Sicilies are that it is a mostly agrarian country with no industrial base, low literacy, low-end Secondary Power status and an absolute monarchy.

Technology and research

Romanticism will help with prestige score, which is an easy way to secure Great Power status.

The tier two culture techs all benefit greatly; better clergymen (higher literacy faster), greater plurality (boosts research rate), faster reinforcements, more national focus slots, and higher prestige. Army technologies are however also important, as one may have to fight many wars against technologically strong nations.

It is advised to keep a government that favors state capitalism, as Two Sicilies will not have many capitalists for a long time. Producing Wine and Liquor will be a good choice for much of the game as distilleries generate a lot of profit, are cheap to build, and they match with what the Two Sicilies has in terms of (fruit and grain). One can also encourage craftsmen and manually enlarge factories.

As with other European countries, Two Sicilies will face many events regarding Liberalism early on in the game. If one wants to liberalise the government, it is recommended to choose the option which makes people more liberal. Two Sicilies will also face rebel pressure from the Revolution of 1848 event, however it should be noted that Two Sicilies' military strength is usually more than enough to crush any rebel army which may arise.

Becoming Italy

There are two conditions one must meet in order to take the Avanti Italia! decision and form Italy. The first of these is frustrating and time-consuming, while the second could risk annexation of Two Sicilies. Firstly, one must get all the other Italian nations into their sphere of influence. At the beginning of the game these are the Papal States, Lucca, Tuscany, Parma, Sardinia-Piedmont and Modena. To make the task harder, most of these are already sphered by Austria and France, so one has to remove Austrian/French influences. Researching Market Structure will help greatly, as it will give +0.2 diplomatic influence. This is a long game of bait and switch and avoiding discredits.

The second condition involves war with another great power: Austria. At the beginning of the game Austria holds Lombardia, which is Italian-cored, and these cores are needed to form Italy. Partnering with Prussia/NGF/ Germany will help tremendously as Austria will have a hard time fighting a two front war. Just be sure to quickly get those provinces, as the AI sometimes likes to limp out of wars quickly.

These two conditions can be met in any order, so one may find it useful to get Italy's cores from Austria before sphering everyone. This gives Two Sicilies a land border with Sardinia-Piedmont and Modena, making it easier to gain influence on them. However, it's recommended that the Papal States are sphered by this point, because military access to reach Austria is easier and less risky than transport by sea. If the Papal States are not called to war immediately, it is possible to dodge in and out of "safe" territory if a larger Austrian army arrives.

If all this sounds too daunting, one may also receive a "Crown from the Gutter" event because one of the other Italian states as fallen to Garabaldi's rebels. It allows Two Sicilies to unite Italy. However, this event does have a tendency to choose Sardinia-Piedmont instead of Two Sicilies, so it might be the end of the game, if one is unlucky.

Italia Irredenta!

Once Italy is formed one can enact the Italia Irredenta decision that gives cores on three more Austrian states including Venice. If Austria has already been beaten once, it should not be a problem to do it again.

After a few wars, Italy now is its proper size! The world lies ahead!

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