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Venice was another one of those Dip spaces that never quite lived up to its name. There was nothing particularly serene about it, and it certainly was not a republic in any sense of the word. A doge by any other name is still a duke. Still, it is one of the most fascinating cities on earth and one of the most intriguing, in every sense of the word, places on the Diplomacy board. Here’s my take on why that’s so. This brief essay talks about Venice’s role in Diplomacy, both the game and hobby, with an occasional comment or illustration from Venice’s geographical and historical place in world history. Another essay with deal in more detail with those subjects later. One of the lessons I hope you, gentle reader, will take away from this essay is the realization that it is impossible to separate the Venice of Diplomacy and the Venice of reality. They are much too intermingled, for better or worse, to be separated. Did I say reality? A strange word to use in describing Venice, don’t you think? Every writer worth a damn has given us his or her thoughts on Venice. The quotation books are filled with their words. And in every case, reality has been seduced by the magic of Venice. I found it happening to me as I penned these original opening words for this essay, “She rises out of the lagoon like some sort of Disneyesque creation, not of the East, but not quite of the West either.” The geopolitician in me came up with, “Venice has fascinated geographers and historians, travelers and tourists, and diplomats and Dippers for a long time.” And finally the dip&Dipper and Peeriblah artist penned, “For nearly a thousand years the strategy, tactics and diplomacy of Venice confounded the other Great Powers of Europe and the World. For over forty years the strategy, tactics, and diplomacy of Venice have confounded the other Great Powers of Europe.” But cutting to the chase, as David Hood and others would do, one is left with this simple fact: For Venice the game follows historical reality. And therein lies our tale. During the First Golden Age of Diplomacy (e.g. pre-1968) most key hobbyists were Renaissance men, masters or dilettantes of most hobby skills. It wasn’t enough to be a player or a games master or a publisher. One expected to do all these things, as well as write copious amounts of press releases, come up with at least one proposal for a hobby organization, design numerous variant games and, above all, come up with some kind of rule interpretation for the rather pathetic first edition of Diplomacy’s Rules. All of this, and an extensive and intensive communications system linking hobbyists by postal mail, phone, and face to face meetings (Yes, things were primitive then, but they were oh so much more creative and civilized!) led to many interesting developments. Players were quick to grasp the importance of the fact that Venice and Trieste were the only two supply centers owned by two different Powers that directly bordered on each other. Every possible consequence of moving this way or that during those crucial 1901 seasons was explored. And then the “What ifs…” began. Conrad von Metzke was the first to suggest adding a space between Venice and Trieste. He never bothered to name it and as a non-supply center it merely served as a buffer between the two centers. It was used in a few FTF games and perhaps a PBM game and then forgotten. I expanded on Conrad’s idea, making the space a supply center and giving it a name, Peerijavo. It was featured in a 1967 PBM game that was won, surprise, by Italy, played by Jack Greene, Jr. of the LTA if I remember correctly. For years Italy languished, usually stuck in a useless war with France or a frustrating one in Austria, occasionally sneaking into Munich to upset the central European balance of power. And then, in one brilliant stroke of imagination (Perhaps his last, who knows?) Edi Birsan created the Lepanto Opening and things changed forever. Well, almost forever, because then came the Reverse Lepanto. Edi’s opening gave Italy many more options than just attacking Turkey. It made Italy a real power in the Mediterranean and controlling the Med was one nearly certain path to victory. Italy’s ranking in the charts went up, up, and up. Venice was, of course, the prime mover and doer in the original Battle of Lepanto and it’s worth digressing for a moment (OK, I’ve been digressing ever since I started, but so what?) to consider the historical facts juxtapositioned on top of the gaming ones. Venice’s power was based on three things: 1) a secure home base, 2) trade, and 3) a navy to protect its trade. Sort of reminds you of another naval power, huh? During the two hundred years or so of its peak power, Venice was the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean and the dominant trading power in the world. The two went hand and hand. Both were supported by an institution known as The Arsenal, a potent creator of military might that was the envy of Europe’s other Great Powers. The Arsenal was Venice shipbuilding center. During its peak it produced one galley per day and employed some 16,000 workers in a city of 160,000 people. Venice had no army to speak of. If it needed one it bought one to use temporarily. It strength was in its fleets. They were its defense and its offense. It was those fleets that enabled the Republic to project its power into the Adriatic, Eastern and Western Mediterranean, and beyond. Sort of makes you cringe when you see Italy building an Army in Venice in Winter 1901, doesn’t it? Interestingly, after years of neglect The Arsenal is being restored. Where galleys used to be built, artisans and craftsmen are constructing new weapons of conquest, designed to separate tourists from their euros. But, as a reminder of the darker days past the famous quotation over the entrance of the Arsenal remains, “Happy is that city which in time of peace thinks of war.” It’s interesting to note that Venice was never conquered. Instead, when her fleet could not longer protect her base and her treasuries could no longer buy off her enemies she simply surrendered to Europe’s Man of the Hour, Napoleon. And so, after a thousand years, the Republic became, temporarily, a part of his empire. Napoleon spent the rest of his time in power trying to buy the affection and loyalty of the Venetians. A part of the famous San Marco piazza was of his doing, as was a gorgeous park on one of the entryway islands to the city --- a park no self-respecting Venetian will visit to this day. Venetians may surrender but they do not forgive. I’m finding myself using the terms Venice and Italy interchangeably in this essay and given the nature of the game that’s not too unnatural. However, in reality Italy is a myth created by monarchists and such in the modern age. No self-respecting citizen of Venice, Rome, or Naples would admit to being an Italian first. They are all citizens of their own city. Italian is their language, not their country! This is something to keep in mind, especially if you happen to travel to an Italian Diplomacy event. Be that as it may, Diplomacy has produced its fair share of Italian players, perhaps the most famous in recent time was the late Kathy Byrne Caruso who combined the requisite tactical, strategic, and diplomatic skills needed to be a superb Italy in nearly every game she played, friendly, tournament or postal. Had she chosen, I’m sure she’d have been a superb PBEM player as well. How good was she? Perhaps the ultimate compliment she received wasn’t in the rating systems, but in a variant one hobbyist designed called “The Kathy Byrne” variant. It consisted of five Italys, all interconnected, surrounding a neutral Switzerland. Perhaps Edward can find a copy of it and post it. The bottom line, women play Italy well. Venice plays them well. Many Dippers, especially those playing Italy and Austria fail to study their history before launching an attack on each other. Anyone familiar with the Isonzo or Caporetto Offensives of 1915 and 1917 will know just how futile a land battle along the Italian-Austrian border can be. And the Italian-French border in Piedmont isn’t much better. And more lessons poured in during WWII: Albania, Greece, and North Africa. Sort of reads like a litany of Italian disasters past and present on the game board. If history has taught us anything, it is that Italy and Venice have done best when they’ve stuck to their oars and not their guns. I wonder how many Dippers have learned that lesson? Finally, in closing let this wordsmith yield the last word to Mr. Wordsworth.
A Brief Interview with Edi Birsan:Larry asks, "In what year did you dream up the Lepanto?" Spring of 1966, it was first used in a face to face game in New York City against Gene Proznitz ((who just died last year)). It was known in both NY and then in Youngstown with my contacts with Koning. I think the actual article was not written until 1970. What was the first PBM game that used it? Who won? I actually don't know.... How about the Reverse Lepanto? Meaning the Turks convoy to Apulia... this was never an article but a common enough technique when available. Maybe you are thinking about the Key Lepanto where Jeff Key suggested that the Austrians let the Italians into Trieste in Spring 1901 and then down to Serbia in the Fall, in exchange for the Italians moving right to the Eastern Med in Fall 1901. The Austrians then go to the Ionian so they can convoy the army into Syria in the Spring of '02 rather than the Fall.
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