I am Spain 1660, I have an unruly Venice as junior partner - how to reduce their LD below 100%?
Hello friends, I am very new to the game (150 hours over the past few weeks since buying it) and have managed to create a very favourable map as Castile>Spain, but I have a persistent problem I need help with. I will set the scene:
I got the Burgundian Inheritance early on (incl. Sussex and Kent for some reason), Portugal is my junior partner (currently at 56% integration and taking forever) and a couple colonies in Mexico and Ivory Coast. I have warred France 4 times and they are now a shell of their former selves - they still have colonies, however their mainland is totally carved up (Champagne and Auvergne released as sovereign nations either allied or vassalized by me, Spain-owned provinces on the channel, Bordeaux, and other provinces to connect my Burgundian territories). Their junior partner is Two Sicilies (broke away from Aragon during a war with France before I could PU them) but it's at 100% LD and I'm supporting their independence. I mention this because France is pretty weak and an easy target - I have several strong allies including Austria, Savoy and Denmark that often join my wars and help wreck France.
Venice changed to a monarchy some time ago and through a royal marriage they became junior partner in a PU. However, my problem is that for most of this time their LD has been over 100%. I say over because their independence is supported by several powers and they've concluded that the total power of all these states is 300% greater than mine. To fix this I warred Great Britain (it and a couple HRE minors were supporting Venetian independence), which I concluded with war reps, however Morocco and an Indian state called Ducan or Ducat have now filled the void, and then Britain went back to supporting independence after the truce ended anyway! So Venice is 100% LD and no matter what I do (support loyalists, develop, relationship at max, etc), nothing seems to reduce it!
So - how can I rein in Venice's LD and get them under control, with a view towards eventual annexation? I realise integrating Portugal will help but that's taking so long. Should I perhaps take more territory from France to bolster myself? Or launch a war on Morocco to get them to stop supporting independence? Any help would be appreciated!
TL;DR: Venice's LD is over 100% and since it's independence is supported by several powerful states I can't seem to reduce it.
EDIT: I have the subscription so all DLCs.