I'm sure the polish thought the same back in this period too.

As Poland, I built a land-based economy, by turning all ports into fishing or military ports (mainly fishing ports, at first - I didn't need a navy). Enemies can't kill your economy by blockading your trade port, if your trade doesn't go through a trade port.

I expanded slowly and carefully south towards the Mediterranean Sea, trying to avoid being in too many wars at the same time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deluge_(history)

What are you struggling with specifically

Originally posted by Alwyn:

As Poland, I built a land-based economy, by turning all ports into fishing or military ports (mainly fishing ports, at first - I didn't need a navy). Enemies can't kill your economy by blockading your trade port, if your trade doesn't go through a trade port.

I expanded slowly and carefully south towards the Mediterranean Sea, trying to avoid being in too many wars at the same time.

I like this strategy

I will try that but every smaller country I have tried always seems to get taken over in the end. Just cannot support the military needed to protect your lands