Hittite Empire Timeline: Grand Union
OTL equivalent: Most of Anatolia, except for its southeastern part. | ||
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The Hittite Empire at its height.
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Capital (and largest city) | Hattusa | |
Official languages | Nesite, Luwian, Egyptian, Enetian | |
Demonym | Hittite | |
Government | Absolute Monarchy |
History[]
In the 20th and 19th centuries BCE, the Enetian government frequently used the Hittites for cheap labor and sold many into slavery. While this made Eneti rich, it pushed many of the native Anatolians south. Early Hattusa basically collapsed in the 1900's BCE, with a separate capital city being formed in the south (also called Hattusa, after the other lost city). City states emerged, some using smuggled military material from Eneti and Egypt. The Hittites fully unified in 1793 BCE, and quickly grew to subjugate most of the other native Anatolians. King Hattusilis I quickly gained land up to the border with Egypt, where they agreed to make peace.
Over the next hundred years, he continued to expand, even building up relations with Greece. A short lived colony in OTL Italy was formed, but quickly collapsed and became semi-mythical in future recountings of the situation. After the conquest of north Anatolia, the original city of Hattusa was restored and rebuilt. Trade with the Greeks picked up significantly, and many people flocked into the Hittite Empire to gain some of its riches and technology. By 1660 BCE, they made a border with Eneti. Tensions continued to rise more and more, until the first war between Eneti and the Hittites broke out.
Hittite-Eneti Wars[]
The First Sack of Eneti began the Hittite-Eneti War, as well as beginning the first ever major war on Enetian soil. The city of Eneti, which formed the center of trade and culture for the nation of the same name, was completely collapsed by the surprise Hittite invasion. It was taken over and subsequently renamed Peiraieos, and many of the Enetians were exiled east. While the king of Eneti at the time attempted to flank the Hittites from the east, the Hittites had the upper hand. Though instead of attempting to capture any of the fleeing refuges from the city, the soldiers were to busy destroying buildings and looting various goods.The first peace was established, but it was quite shaky compared to what was to come. This peace would be broken nearly 200 hundred years later, by vengeful Enetians.
In the 1500s BCE, the nearby Hittite Empire were reluctant to invade Eneti the eastward expanding nation a second time, as they needed more time to raise a new army. However, that did not stop the rogue hordes of tribal Hittite invaders from entering Enetian lands. The Enetian Border War was a major series of fights from 1560-1559 BCE, when these rogues formally fought with the Enetian troops stationed at the periphery of Enetian lands. After the skirmishes ended, it would be almost another century before the next major war between the two powers.
The current emperor of the Hittite empire during the 1440s BCE was very wary of the rising Eneti threat in the east. They heard news of a very popular emperor, rallying his people together to claim back their homeland from the Hittite. To prepare for the eventual conflict, the Hittite Emperor decided to send a warband to the edge of Enetian territory. Eneti, seeing this as a threat, did the same. Before long, a skirmish broke out, and a new war began. The Hittite forces quickly swarmed the heartland of Eneti, and, before long, they took the city of Eneti itself in the Second Sack of Eneti. The Hittites were much more prepared for the sack, and Hittite warriors made sure to kill every Enetian they saw. After four years of fighting, (1442-1438 BCE), the Hittites conquered Eneti. It wouldn't be until the rise of the Neo-Enetians that things would finally change for the better.
A Brief Moment of Peace[]
The Hittites fell into obscurity over the next two centuries. After expanding as much as it could, it barely seemed to do anything productive from 1350 BCE onwards. They became surrounded by the small states in Mesopotamia and the Aeagan. During this time, they work on modifying the governmental system for future expansion, as rebels in Eneti and Eastern Anatolia were rising. They added the introduction of Autonomous States in 1296 BCE, with Eneti and Malatia gaining special rights in the Empire. Rebellions lowered not because of the governmental changes, but because it had been over a century and a half since the absorbtion of Eneti. While their government may have been slightly ahead of it's time, it was still on the decline. When it was attacked by Egypt in the 1100's, it would fall apart without much pressure.
Egyptian-Hittite War[]
With the stagnating Hittite Empire, many leaders tried to do advance the empire in anyway possible, though this caused a lot of pride and stubbornness amongst the leadership. One of these leaders would eventually cause the downfall of an empire due to pride and arrogance. A rogue Hittite commander believed he would be able to take a portion of the Northern Levant from the mighty Egyptian Empire. Believing that the Egyptians were still recovering from their century long war and would be able to protect the region. He also was specifically counting on the fact they could not quickly reinforce the region fast enough to mount a counter offensive. Though the initial invasion was successful, the Hittite had not planned on a strange new tactic never seen. A beach landing. The current Egyptian Pharaoh, Userkare, and his military advisors devised a plan to strike the Hittite in two places. An army marching from the south would face the Hittite invaders head on in combat. Meanwhile two different groups would be launched from the island of Cyprus, launching a beach landing behind the invading Hittite forces, and the third group landing along the southern Anatolian coast. Marching straight to the Hittite capital of Hattusa. Both naval landings crippled the Hittite military as they were now the one's unable to launch a counter offensive against the Egyptians, as their forces were now separated by miles; and those small forces that banded to fight the invading Egyptians were brushed aside with ease. The Sacking of Hattusa would be added to another one of Egypt's finest accomplishments, as they had not only routed the Hittites, but also collapsed an empire that threatened their power in the region. The Hittite would eventually fall and collapse only to become a mere puppet to the Egyptians. Losing most of their land to the small provinces led by local leaderships. Then the most crippling blow met them, the Enetians taking back their land and home from the people who forced them to flee.
Successors[]
Listed in the order that the states gained independence.
- Second Kingdom of Eneti
- Bithynia
- Biga
- Pala
- Hattusa
- Malatya
- Isuwa
- Acem
- Arzawa
- Mogola
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