Second Great War

The Second Great War, also sometimes called the World War, was a global war that lasted from 1934 to 1943. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the Great Powers of the time - were involved. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people and resulting in over 64 million deaths. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. It is marked by massive strategic bombing campaigns of industrial and civilian centers, trench warfare, the rise of mechanized warfare, and the only use of nuclear arms in war prior to the Final War of the Deluge. It remains the deadliest conflict in human history. =Background=

Caphirian Expansionism
Beginning in the 17th century, Urcea and the Holy Levantine Empire began to directly confront Caphiria and worked proactively to prevent its spread into Levantia. The Levantine powers began intervene in various conflicts and international incidents on Sarpedon, which Venceia had long considered its prerogative. In the Veltorine War of Independence in the 1770s and 1780s, Urcea on behalf of the Holy Levantine Empire intervened, aiding the eastern provinces of Caphiria in their quest to secede. Not only did Caphiria lose that war, losing much of its eastern territory to the new nation of Veltorina, but Urcea gained the new Kingdom of Talionia, giving the Levantines a toehold in Urlazio. Out of these developments, the conspiracy theory of Levantine Creep developed - and Caphirian policymakers were determined to make any moves necessary to disrupt and dislodge the Levantine powers, actions it claimed to take in self defense.

The independence of Veltorina was considered a grave affront to the prestige and independence of Caphiria, but with guarantees on its independence from members of the Holy Levantine Empire, Caphiria was unwilling to take on the Empire by itself. Throughout the 19th century, Caphiria made contact with agitators and rebels throughout the Empire and especially within Dericania. Famously, 1848 revolutionaries in Dericania following the Second Caroline War refused to accept Caphirian assistance, hoping to curry favor with the Emperor of the Levantines, a strategy that failed. Caphirian concerns with Veltorina were escalated dramatically with the Tyrian Revolution in 1864, which turned its eastern neighbor into a socialist state. Despite this development, the Levantines refused to abandon Veltorina. Caphirian policymakers began to develop a long-term plan on how to proceed, and would spend the next several decades waiting for an opening.

First Great War
During the First Great War, Urcea's ruling regent, Gréagóir FitzRex, found it prudent to secretly promise cession of Talionia to Caphiria in exchange for continued military support of his regime. Once FitzRex was removed from power in 1902, Caphiria began to prepare an invasion of the territory, but the final Legitimist victory in Urcea combined with the end of fighting abroad canceled the campaign. The broken promise had the effect of significantly agitating notions of Levantine Creep and general anti-Levantine sentiment among Caphiria's ruling class. Although it ended the war having successfully conquered Veltorina, Talionia remained a threat that Caphiria would spend decades attempting to address.

The Ten Year Plan
In 1911, Magasevetus became Imperator of Caphiria. The 1910s were a period of significant domestic reform in Caphiria, temporarily halting its foreign ambition. The decade specifically focused on the integration of Caphiria's new territories, as Magasevetus and his advisors deemed it prudent to develop what it already had. Caphiria had also felt the effects of the Great Depression, and although many hawks sought a second confrontation with the Levantines, Magasevetus sought to avoid conflict for the time being. In the 1920s, however, Caphiria was once again ready to begin agitating towards unifying Greater Caphiria. In the late 1920s, it began to spend significant funds on rearmament in preparation for military conflict within the next decade. Caphirian leaders knew the parameters of the next war would be greatly different than the first one, as Urcea was unified and possessed a modern, capable military. Accordingly, keeping Urcea distracted once again as it went to war in Sarpedon was the greatest foreign policy priority of Caphiria. In 1928, the "Ten Year Plan" was adopted, envisioning a strategy of engagement with Deric nationalists to terminally undermine the Holy Levantine Empire and distract Urcea to the extent that Caphirian annexation of Talionia would have to be accepted as a fait accompli. It was necessarily assumed in the Ten Year Plan that Caphiria would also be waging a defensive war against Cartadania and Pelaxia, as Caphirian leaders correctly assumed that both were chafing under post-First Great War Caphiric hegemony. The initial Ten Year Plan presumed that neither nation were a military threat to Caphiria, a decision many historians have referred to as a "grave afterthought".

Levantine engagement
A key portion of the initial Ten Year Plan involved engaging geopolitically in Levantia, specifically with the Deric nationalists in Dericania. Urcea's obligations to the Empire would require it to suppress any rebellion against the integrity of the Empire in Dericania, and the region was a hotbed of existing nationalist agitation and ethnic strife. Caphirian leaders had previously tested the concept with support for a socialist uprising in the small Deric principality of Anivania in 1925. Although the uprising was a failure, the Royal and Imperial Army was deployed in force.

Reactions to Caphiric hegemony
After the First Great War, Caphiria was functionally unrivaled on Sarpedon, and accordingly Cartadania and Pelaxia specifically were required to give significant continental obligations to the Imperator. This situation was viewed by leaders in both countries to be chafing, but both countries were largely devestated by the first conflict and unable to contemplate military action against Caphiria until the 1920s. At that time, both countries learned of Caphirian rearmament and agreed to a mutual defense pact in 1927. In 1929, Burgundie signed on to the defensive agreement to the surprise and contempt of Caphiria, necessitating an expansion of the Ten Year Plan.

Plan expansion and Alshar engagement
The sudden alignment of Burgundie with its First Great War allies caused alarm among Caphirian leadership, requiring the Ten Year Plan to be expanded dramatically to account for the possibility of global, rather than Occidental, war. Like with its ongoing and planned engagement with nationalists in Dericania, the expanded Ten Year Plan opened relationships between Caphiria and nationalists in Alshar and Audonia, the heartland of Burgundie's overseas empire. Caphirian leaders reasoned that, if sufficiently supported, a general uprising in Alshar and Audonia could take years for Burgundie to put down, and that Burgundie would first act to preserve its empire rather than the territorial integrity of Cartadania and Pelaxia. Accordingly, Caphiria began to provide clandestine arms and funds to Alshar and Audonia beginning in 1930 in addition to Dericania.

Caphirian leaders felt blindsided by Burgundie's alignment in Sarpedon, requiring further corollaries to be added to the plan. Although Fiannria had not engaged with Sarpedonic geopolitics in a meaningful way, its position as the third major power within the Holy Levantine Empire merited attention in the plan. Accordingly, Caphiria began to open secret negotiations with Faneria regarding a military alliance in the event of a general war in the Occident. Faneria, who had been badly beaten in the Fourth Kin War in the 1880s, sought to regain lost territory and defeat its long time nemesis. Caphiria began to provide some funds and materials to Faneria, but by 1931 its resources were limited as it had obligations in Dericania, Alshar, and to its own military in rearmament.

Decline of the Holy Levantine Empire
Starting late in the 18th Century (in some scholarly opinions, as early as the mid-18th century), the Holy Levantine Empire entered a period of terminal decline in terms of influence over its members and the working of its core institutions. Despite the best efforts of the Imperial Court in Corcra, members of the Empire were rapidly liberalizing and eschewing centralized power in favor of various levels of devolution outside of the Imperial power structure. This process had started with the War of the Caroline Succession, after which the power of many Electors in the Empire had been stripped, particularly the Derians. The events of the subsequent Second Caroline War did little to improve the divide between the Urcean and Derian states, which later spiraled into a decline in earnest beginning with the Recess of the Julii, during which the the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea began to act autonomously of the Empire's institutions in light of its inefficiency in maintaining order in central Levantia. These and other events served to dramatically reduce the manpower, funds, and political capital available to the Empire throughout the 19th Century. Urcea's conquest of Carolina and defeat of most of the Kingdom of Dericania in the Third Caroline War proved another body blow to the authority of the Empire along with long-running political upheavel in Fiannria. The Third Caroline War's aftermath culminated in the establishment of Burgundie as part of the First Fratricide, creating genuine ethnic and cultural animosity within Dericania that would persist through the end of the Empire. Events further concerning Anglei and Hollona and Diorisia in the 19th century undermined the previous authority of the Empire by the time of the First Great War.

Urcean reorientation
After the First Great War, Urcea reoriented its outlook vis a vis the Holy Levantine Empire. This happened in part due to Imperial support for the cause of Patrick III during the war but also due to a general need for stability on its eastern border in order to focus its efforts on protecting against Caphiria. Patrick, and his son Niall VI both participated in the Collegial Electorate and were supportive of the efforts of Emperor August I. His failure as Emperor of the Levantines precipitated a political crisis in the Empire that was solved only by the election of Niall VI as Emperor Niall II in 1920 - an unimaginable event just two decades prior. His election completed Urcea's reorientation toward the Empire and put it largely responsible for preserving its integrity and institutions.

Formation of the Nationalist Association of the Orient
=Levantine Theater=

Beginning of hostilities
Beginning in summer 1933, various nationalist groups in Dericania began to send representatives to a secret conference in Corcra which would come to be known as the Provisional Assembly. This group wrote a proclamation and provisional constitution for the Deric Republic, a new state which would serve as the culmination of the Derian national idea. The various organizations remained autonomous from one another, but agreed to degrees of coordination and a specific date for the issuance of the proclamation, 1 April 1934. The Republican Front, also sometimes called the Republican Army, was established on that date as a coordinating apparatus for the various militias, cells, and other would-be combatants, and the Republican Front began to purchase weapons and ammunition as well as distribute stockpiled weapons from Caphiria. Unexpectedly, Fiannrian government officials made clandestine contact with Republican Front leaders beginning in November 1933, providing a limited degree of arms and funding. Fiannria did not pledge to recognize the new state, but its intelligence services had been tracking Caphirian activity in the region for some time and intended to use the Derian uprising as pretext to establish its official independence from the Holy Levantine Empire.

March 1934 saw a flury of militia activity throughout Dericania, alarming the authorities of the various principalities there. Due to limited central control, some cells loyal to the Republican Front began a series of terror attacks on 14 March 1934. On 17 March, the State Treasurer of Verecundia was killed in a car bombing, precipitating the need for Imperial action. The Imperial Diet met on 24 March 1934 in Urceopolis rather than Corcra due to threats in the city. The Diet gave the Emperor authority to deploy the Royal and Imperial Army to Dericania in order to combat the terror crisis. Deployments were scheduled to begin on 2 April, accelerating the need for the Republican Front to take action. Accordingly, the Provisional Assembly of the Deric Republic issued its Proclamation of the Deric Republic on the morning of 29 March 1934 and issued orders for a "general insurrection of the Derian nation". By the end of the day, the majority of principalities in Dericania were actively combating Republican Front militia forces, signaling the beginning of open war. Who fired the first shots remains a point of contention, but it is generally accepted that Republican Front militia in the city of Mesellianum began firing on palace guards at 8:48 AM Urceopolis time, making them the first shots of the uprising. Although the uprising appeared to be relevant only to Dericania and Levantia, these shots are regarded by most to be the first shots of the Second Great War.

The uprising occurred strongest in the Lapodard speaking portions of Dericania, and by the end of April 1934 roughly two thirds of modern Lapody were in the hands of forces loyal to the Deric Republic. Pro-Imperial forces were more successful in the Rhotian speaking portions of Dericania in the first months of the war, resisting total state collapse in many places for several months; despite this, the uprising was strong and numerous here as well. The scale of the uprising surprised Imperial authorities, and the intended 2 April deployment of the Royal and Imperial Army was insufficient in scope to combat the entire uprising. A general mobilization was proclaimed in Urcea on 10 April. The forces immediately available and en route to Dericania were halted in western Rhotia, both to secure the border of Urcea as well as to reevaluate where forces were most needed. Burgundie would eventually require significant aid. The first of the Deric principalities to collapse was Hollona and Diorisia, whose elector fled to Urceopolis in early May. As of late April, Fiannria was still actively involved in the distribution of arms and funds to the Republican Front.

Burgundie falters
The proclamation of a unified Deric state caused significant concern in Vilauristre, causing Burgundie to issue an official proclamation denouncing the Deric Republic on the afternoon of 29 March. The proclamation did not, however, commit Burgundie to any particular course of action; though the Derians were sworn enemies of the Burgoignesc people, the nation was completely unprepared for war and traditionally maintained a very small military presence in Levantia vis a vis its overseas possessions. Despite this semi-neutral position, the relative weakness of Burgundie at the moment of the uprising as well as historic enmity led Derian militias, particularly from Lapody, to begin small incursions into eastern Burgundie on 4 April. In some places, the incursions took the form of a disciplined military occupation, but in most places it was paired with atrocities against ethnically Bergendii civilians. On 8 April, the Great Prince met with senior advisors from the Army of Burgundie who told him the small Metropole Forces would not be able to retain control of most of the country and that it would take time to redeploy its considerable colonial forces from Alshar and Audonia. Accordingly, they were pulled back to a defensive position within the Belrac caldera with National Gendarmerie forces joining them, functionally conceding the northernmost part of the country to the advancing Republican Front forces. On 9 April, the Great Prince issued a formal request to Emperor Brian VIII asking for Imperial forces to intervene. The Emperor granted this request and, with the approval of the Urcean government, redirected XII Corps of the Royal and Imperial Army from western Rhotia to eastern Burgundie, arriving there within a matter of days. XII Corps and the small Metropole Forces managed to solidify the defenses of the caldera and expand outward from its passes, reclaiming some of northeastern Burgundie. On 10 April, the Great Prince ordered the gradual redeployment of the Foreign Legion to Levantia, intended to be rotated out gradually in order to avoid the appearance of weakness in its colonial possessions. These redeployments were discovered by Corummese intelligence beginning in July 1934, and such redeployments later in the year would inaugurate the beginning of the Eastern Theater of the war in September. A general mobilization was declared in Burgundie also on 10 April. On 20 April, Urcea and Burgundie signed the Pact of the Sea of Istroya, referred to as the "Istroya Pact", which pledged common cause in this war and also allowed for later integrations of the militaries and economic apparatuses of both countries. After the war, this Pact would form the basis of the Levantine Union.

Embargo declared
Almost immediately after the beginning of fighting, it was patently obvious that many of the rebels were armed with forces manufactured in Caphiria, with many even being surplus Caphirian military arms. After two weeks of debate, on 14 April the Urcean government, in consultation with the Emperor and Imperial Diet, proclaimed a formal embargo of all trade goods coming in and out of the Holy Levantine Empire from Caphiria. The Royal Navy was deployed to form a blockade around Dericania and Burgundie. Caphiria issued several formal protests, both on the grounds of disruption of legitimate trade as well as for accusations against its national honor. Notably, the embargo did not cover Caphirian traffic to Zaclaria given the official neutrality of both countries, enabling continued supply to parties who would eventually be combatants in the Eastern Theater. The Royal Navy's interdiction efforts were largely successful even as smugglers occasionally managed to continue to land crates of supplies in and around Alba Concordia. The embargo forced Caphiria to direct arms and funds to Faneria, who would then direct them across the Vandarch into Hollona and Diorisia. The sudden influx of arms and resources into modern day Rhotia greatly weakened the Imperial cause there.

The new northern supply line created an inadvertent diplomatic crisis that would slightly undermine Caphiria's plans in Levantia. Fiannrian intelligence reported, as of around 1 June 1934, that Caphirian arms and resources were flowing into its chief rival, Faneria. Fiannrian leaders understood the purpose but also were concerned that plans for another Kin War were afoot, delaying Fiannria's decision to declare independence from the Empire and halting the supply of Fiannrian arms and ammunition to Derian rebels. The Fiannrian supplies ceased not only due to the realization that Fiannria may need the Empire's continued existence in the event of war with Faneria, but also due to need for itself to rearm. Historians believe that Caphiria had no intention to spark a northern war, and that Faneria was intended purely as a pass-through; the record shows, however, that Faneria did indeed retain a significant amount of arms and ammunition intended for the Derians for itself. In light of clear Fanerian rearmament, Fiannria pivoted to a state of declared neutrality and that it would not recognize the Deric Republic "unless so recognized by either the Holy Levantine Empire generally or Urcea and Burgundie specifically", but also that it would not render aid to the Empire. These maneuvers effectively ended Fiannrian support for the Derian cause and laid the groundwork for the eventual opening of the northern theater of the war.

Nationalist summer
The late spring and summer of 1934 saw a gradual solidification of the war's eventual lines of battle in Dericania, as those regimes who would be toppled were largely ousted by Republican Front forces by July and pro-Imperial principalities had solidified control by around the same time. In a few instances, local princes and the Imperial authorities were able to make accomodations with nationalist groups in modern Rhotia, leading to the defection of a small number of Republican Front forces in exchange for liberal reforms. In one case, Orclenia, the local ruling Duke agreed to transition the duchy to a republic upon his death.

During this period, fighting was constant, but large scale battles had yet to occur as neither side was able to achieve a satisfactory concentration of forces. Republican Front forces struggled to unify their militias as they overcame local resistance, while Urcean mobilization slowly increased their deployment in Dericania to a full eight corps, spread out thinly throughout the country. Large scale skirmishes occurred throughout Dericania, producing some casualties and large scale exchanges of territory due to opposing forces retreating. Republican Front forces managed their first large concentration of forces and artillery at the Battle of Marmande in early September. Marmande, a small town north of passes through the Belrac caldera, was a vital railway junction for the region north of the caldera. Derian forces won the battle, sending a combined force of Urcean XII Corps and Burgoignesc National Gendarmerie into full retreat into the caldera. The military disaster was the first major Derian victory of the war. The loss inaugurated the "Fall of Sorrows" in Burgundie with the beginning of the war in Alshar and Audonia on 28 September 1934.

In the earliest part of the war, Urcea employed the use of a full Armored Division, the innovation of Yonderian advisor Benno de Caryale. The Division, where employed, was a major success, defeating both Republican Front militia as well as disorganized Republican Front tankers operating in support of infantry. After the disaster at Marmande, The Armored Division was transferred to XII Corps, though over the objections of the unit's commanders and de Caryale, it was primarily used in a defensive capacity for the remainder of 1934, a decision derided by the military historian Stephan D'Ambrosio as a "massive waste of potential...the shelving of a unit which was a potential war winner in this early stage." Despite its temporary sidelining, the Armored Division was noted by many international observers and is pointed at as a pioneer in international military doctrine.

Northern escalation
Early fall 1934 saw the war expand, first to the detriment of allied forces with the opening of a theater in Alshar and Audonia in late September 1934. However, closer to the current theater of fighting, two major participants would enter the war. In the summer, Fiannria adopted a position characterized by historians as a "nervous neutrality", backing away from its previous support for Derian rebels while keeping Urcea, Burgundie, and the Holy Levantine Empire at arms length. Meanwhile, Faneria had been mobilizing in secret, partly using arms and supplies from Caphiria intended for the Derians. Years earlier, Caphiria and Faneria had concluded a secret alliance in the event of Fiannrian intervention in Dericania, an agreement Faneria had incorrectly read to mean a "". Given Fiannria's diplomatic isolation, it believed that Imperial forces, who were also otherwise distracted, would not intervene in the event of a war between Faneria and Fiannria. Additionally, Fanerian nationalists had attributed the nation's loss in the Fourth Kin War as a unique weakness of the nation's ruling monarchy. Accordingly, by October 1934, it appeared the perfect window of opportunity had arisen. Without declaring war, on the morning of 13 October 1934, Fanerian forces crossed the border and launched a surprise invasion of Fiannria. The Fiannrians were caught completely by surprise with many of their border forces routed or encircled and subsequently captured. The "Fifth Kin War" had begun.

The ramifications for the invasion were significant. The Fanerian ambassador was personally summoned to meet with Caphirian leader Galdo Bertocca and Magasevetus on the evening of 13 October, and according to eye witnesses the ambassador was lambasted by both men for nearly four hours. While Caphiria was confident that Faneria could defeat Fiannria alone, the preemptive invasion of the Fanerians would likely have the effect of unifying, rather than further dividing, the large powers within the Holy Levantine Empire. These fears came true nearly immediately on 15 October, when Fiannrian officials submitted a request to Emperor Brian VIII for protection and Urcean intervention. The Emperor and Urcean leaders held an all day conference with Burgoignesc officials on 16 October and reluctantly agreed to offer the support to Fiannria, and the latter signed an agreement with Urcea and Burgundie jointly on 17 October. Fiannria refused to sign the more deeply integrated Istroya Pact, instead opting for a looser military alliance. The Tripartite Agreement would form the basis for the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association that would be signed in the coming years. Urcea, Burgundie, and Fiannria jointly declared war on Faneria on 17 October. Fanerian leaders expected Caphiria to honor their secret alliance, and were extremely disappointed to learn that Caphiria would not join the conflict for several months.

=Sarpedonian Theater=

Cavosia and end of the war
=Cronan Theater=

Intervention in the Cape
Operation Lightfoot

Operation Forefront

War in the Orixtal
TBA =Eastern Theater=

Burgoignesc weakness
Due to the ongoing military crisis in Burgundie beginning with the general Derian uprising in spring 1934, Burgundie required large numbers of men redeployed to Levantia. These redeployments, staged in such a way as to appear to be cycling men and arms out for normal duty, managed to evade detection until July 1934, when Corummese intelligence services managed to deduce that garrisons throughout Burgoignesc eastern possessions were drastically reduced. At the 2 August meeting of the Nationalist Association of the Orient leaders, the Corummese delegates presented their findings and argued that it was the perfect time to strike, especially given the divided attention of the Burgoignesc. The Association Council reached a split decision, with the Council resolving to reinvestigate the matter next month to see how the situation in Dericania unfolded. Undeterred, the Corummese government informed Venceia that the Council had, in fact, resolved to go to war, and that urgent supplies of arms and money were required. Throughout August, large shipments arrived in Zaclaria from Caphiria and were distributed among the various parts of the Association by Corummese agents, with a plurality of resources being taken by the Corummese themselves. On 20 August, the Corummese government determined to launch a secret program of mobilization, as the government decided it would go to war against Burgundie alone if the Council refused.

In early September, allied forces suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Dericanians at the Battle of Marmande. An emergency meeting of the Association Council was held on 18 September. Corummese delegates successfully persuaded their colleagues to declare war, stating that Corummese forces were already prepared and that a declaration could go out in as little as ten days. The Council agreed to declare war but asked for more time, but Corummese officials forced the matter by stating that the best opportunity had already come and that, with our without the Association, it was going to war on 28 September. The Council assented to this timeframe.

On 28 September 1934, Corumm issued a declaration of war on Burgundie on behalf of itself ans the Nationalist Association of the Orient, revealing the existence of the latter to the public. Due to their agreement of 1929, both Cartadania and Pelaxia declared war on Corumm and its allies on 30 September, but pledged only limited resources due to ongoing concerns about Caphiria. Urcea honored the terms of the Istroya Pact it had signed earlier in the year and declared war on 1 October, immediately deploying Royal Navy assets to Antilles.

=Peace Negotiations=

Treaty of Kartika
=Impact=