I am playing Austria in a GC and it is now early 1867. My world rankings (according to the screen you get sent to when you hit the F10 key) are: Economy 1, Military 3, Commerce 4, Technology 7 (though this one seems to vary quite a bit from turn to turn). My average contentment is 60% but I do have a few areas in the 39% to 49% range. The militancy of all my areas is 1 or less except for Lombardia (14) and Venezia (4). The loyalty of Lombardia and Venezia to Austria is also very low (ie 15% and 25% respectively). I assume this is scripted but if there is any way to improve loyalty I would love to know what it is. I am supplying my population with 100% of the food and common goods they require, but only about 25% of the luxury goods. The problem with the latter is that there are very few luxuries on the market. I am maximizing my production of luxury goods and gems, but gold and opium are not being produced in any sizeable quantities anywhere. Neither Italy or Prussia have declared war on me yet and I suspect they never will. I still hold all of my original provinces, but have not gained any new ones.
So my question is what do I do now and in particular how do I gain the prestige points I need to win the game? I am currently sitting in 5th place. There are areas outside my Empire that I gain prestige points for if I control, but I do not have claims on any of them. My understanding of the Rules is that if I do not have a claim I can not demand the province in a Peace Treaty no matter how high my War Score; is this right? If I forge a casus belli on another nation will this give me a claim to one of it's provinces? If not how else do I gain these claims? Do I have to wait for a scripted event? Any advice would be appreciated.