As HRE Emperor, can I give myself independence?

[Oaks]

I am the king of Bohemia, ruler of the Czechs. I am a loyal vassel to the emperor, yet dream of an independent Bohemia.

If I manage to get myself elected as HRE Emperor, can I somehow grant myself and the Bohemians independence? Or is a war of independence with the current emperor the only option?

[pauloandrade224]

If you are emperor u are automatically independent since theres no higher title you can be a vassal of.

So yes independence war only.

[brownacs]

I suppose you could technically become Emperor, grant all the other Kingdoms independence and then destroy the HRE title (EDIT: or just destroy the HRE title. That'd probably do it). That'd end with you as the King of an independent Bohemia.

[Oaks]

Good info, thanks folks!

Originally posted by brownacs:

I suppose you could technically become Emperor, grant all the other Kingdoms independence and then destroy the HRE title (EDIT: or just destroy the HRE title. That'd probably do it). That'd end with you as the King of an independent Bohemia.

Whoa, that sounds chaotic. I like it.

[JollyJa5on]

Originally posted by brownacs:

I suppose you could technically become Emperor, grant all the other Kingdoms independence and then destroy the HRE title (EDIT: or just destroy the HRE title. That'd probably do it). That'd end with you as the King of an independent Bohemia.

I believe that you're not allowed to destroy your primary title. In order to destroy the HRE title, you'd have to become emperor of a 2nd empire, make that your primary title, and then destroy the HRE. Then I suppose you could give independence to all the former HRE rulers and continue on as whatever other empire you ended up forming. Seems roundabout and silly to me but that's what this game is about sometimes.

[brownacs]

Originally posted by JollyJa5on:

I believe that you're not allowed to destroy your primary title. In order to destroy the HRE title, you'd have to become emperor of a 2nd empire, make that your primary title, and then destroy the HRE. Then I suppose you could give independence to all the former HRE rulers and continue on as whatever other empire you ended up forming. Seems roundabout and silly to me but that's what this game is about sometimes.

Yeah I thought this might be the case, should probably have said something (don't have the game installed right now so I can't check easily). My other thought was to just rename the HRE the Holy Roman Empire of Bohemia (the HREB) or even just 'the Kingdom of Bohemia (but bigger)'. Easy.

[Oaks]

I haven't played too far into any one king yet. Does eventually an opportunity to declare an independence war present itself?

That is to say, do the highly developed empires start to break down at some point, or does the HRE usually stay strong in later start date?

[JollyJa5on]

Originally posted by Oaks:

I haven't played too far into any one king yet. Does eventually an opportunity to declare an independence war present itself?

That is to say, do the highly developed empires start to break down at some point, or does the HRE usually stay strong in later start date?

In my limited experience, the Italian vassals like to start independence factions often. I don't know if it's just the different culture group penalty that puts them over the edge or not but I've seen it a lot. Heresies can also cause some unrest if it spreads to enough vassals as well.

If you feel that the empire is particularly weak, or has a bad emperor, you could start the faction yourself so you have control of when it presses its demands. Then just wait for other rulers to join. I know you can use hooks to get other rulers to join claimant factions, I'm not sure about independence factions though but if you can that's a good way to give your rebellion some extra strength.

Bohemia is also an elector, so you could try to get a crummy or weak ruler elected. That would probably be difficult and also dependent on the current emperor kicking the bucket. If the opportunity is there though, that could help your goal.

[Jackochainsaw]

Why not just go for an independence War rather than waiting for your election to Emperor of the HRE? If you wanted to be independent Bohemia, that's a thing. the HRE will still be around without you. I tend to find if someone puts up a faction for independence I tend to join it and if it gains some headway it's go time. Normally the Emperor or Empress doesn't have enough troops to fight a suitable sized uprising (and you can cheese it anyway as long as the Emperor/Empress doesn't siege down your capital straight off the bat). To get even more steam, find ways to get hooks on your fellow HRE vassals then add them forcibly to the Independence movement.

If you don't want the HRE to exist at all, its a bit more involved. The only way you can dismantle the HRE (outside of restoring the Carolingian borders or being Austria) is by being Emperor of the HRE, taking another Empire title and destroying the HRE title. You can destroy the elective secession and simply rename the HRE title if you wanted something different, but the only way to have your nice Bohemian gold colour is to be independent Bohemia.