Sudmoll Island Conflicts

The Sudmoll Island Conflicts is a collective name for numerous border clashes between the Stenzan People's Collective and Burgundie over the island of Sudmoll, which lies just off Stenza's coast. Although the conflicts never escalated to a full-scale war, tensions have been frequent and high around Sudmoll throughout recent history, with naval forces of both sides coming close to armed or even engaging in confrontation multiple times.

Fishery disputes (1922-1934)
One of the first issues the Stenzan People's Collective faced after its independence from Corumm during the Stenzan Civil War was defending its borders from possible foreign intervention. The new country's opinion was that Sudmoll was occupied Stenzan land, and as such should end up under Stenzan control eventually. These claims were officially declared in 1924, after which Stenzan fishermen started to disregard any claim of Burgoignesc territorial waters around Sudmoll. Although diplomatic complaints soon arrived from Burgundie, it was not until 1928 that the Burgoignesc from Sudmoll replied with any sort of force. This was when Stenzan and Burgoignesc fishermen started fighting over fishing spots around Sudmoll. The situation remained relatively peaceful bar a handful of incidents between fishermen over the coming years, with both sides frequently objecting the presence of each other's fishermen in 'their' territorial waters.

First clashes (1934-1951)
Tensions rose in 1934. While the Great War was kicking off and devastating other parts of the world, Stenza was neutral and had finally accumulated enough naval power to take a stance on the Sudmoll affair. After being sufficiently pressured by the fishing industry, the Stenzan Navy's 2nd Squadron, which at the time consisted of four destroyers and a light cruiser, set out to Sudmoll with a marine division in tow on December 13th, 1934. This force, which intended to take Sudmoll and absorb it into the collective, was initially successful in its mission. Only token Burgoignesc resistance was met, with only a Chiondi class Aviso standing in the way of the Stenzan naval force. The Aviso was sunk during a brief naval battle, after which the Stenzan fleet steamed ahead with the intention of landing the marines.

The invasion would have meant Stenza's entry into the Great War if it were not for the alarming warning from within the Party that taking Sudmoll might mean facing the wrath of not just Burgundie, but also its allies. Stenzan military leadership was promptly ordered to cancel the assault, and the fleet returned home with Sudmoll in sight. This brief state of conflict set the stage for future clashes to follow.

Stenzan forces laid low for the rest of the Great War out of fear for LOTA retaliation, with the closest calls being Stenzan aircraft buzzing Burgoignesc and other LOTA naval vessels while the Stenzan Navy protected Stenzan fishermen in international waters. Stenzan forces became slightly more aggressive again after the Great War, with Stenzan Navy ships poking territorial waters around Sudmoll and sometimes trying to protect fishermen fishing in Burgoignesc waters. Most of these attempts did not return in violence however, seeing the arrival of Burgoignesc forces would mean a retreat of the Stenzans during these confrontations. This situation would persist until the early 1950s.

Continued clashes (1951-1983)
Starting in 1951, the Stenzan approach to the Sudmoll affair became more aggressive, with frequent Stenzan military incursions into Sudmoll's territorial waters and airspace to emphasize Stenza's belief that the island is theirs. This, in response, led to a buildup of Burgoignesc forces on the island, with Stenzan aircraft being intercepted and escorted home by Burgoignesc fighters, and Stenzan ships being met by their Burgoignesc peers to be guided out of Sudmoll's waters. These incidents became a sort of routine for both nations, with incursions happening as often as weekly. While the bulk of these incidents were resolved peacefully, it was not uncommon for either side to not back up until warning shots were fired or the risk of violence became imminent.

The naval altercations during these years led to quite a bit of damage on both sides, with naval collisions being quite common when both sides were adamant about their courses and unwilling to change course. Jury rigged solutions to these incidents became common during the 1960s and 1970s, with Stenzan warships operating near Sudmoll being seen having strengthened bows and other means of structural reinforcement. Smaller, faster craft were known to dart in from of larger enemy ships, dragging heavy lines that would foul the propellers and render the ships useless, having to be towed back to their respective ports. The frequency of these incidents also meant a near-continuous stream of diplomatic protests, with both sides spending a lot of time in various international courts trying to gain compensation for the damage caused.

The incidents during these years were not only military in nature, however, with the fishery disputes continuing throughout the decades. Stenzan and Burgoignesc fishermen were commonly seen fighting overfishing spots in international waters, with both nation's naval forces and Coast Guards being busy dealing with maritime law enforcement in the area.

Operation Kipling
Main article: Operation Kipling From 1966-1983 Burgundie and its allies (namely Urcea) were fighting a series of anti-communist civil wars in Audonia and Alshar that later became collectively known as Operation Kipling. There was genuine fear that this would spill over into the Okatian Sea, which neither the Stenzan People's Collective or Burgundie could afford. The era was characterized by a massive build-up of Burgoignesc intelligence units in Sudmoll, tasked to discover the extent to which Stenza had nuclear weapons or manufactory capabilities. On a number of occasions Burgoignesc spies were caught in Stenza and pushed that government to further and further into isolationist policies. As a reaction Stenzan counterintelligence operations became commonplace in Sudmoll.

On the high seas, every interaction was regarded as a potential igniter for a full-scale war between the two nations. It was later estimated that 1 in 5 ships operating in and around Sudmoll in the 1970s was an electronic listening ship from either side of the conflict. Damage to ships was limited to collisions and fouling and both sides were sure to steer clear of arming or firing weapons in a way that was unmistakenly provocative. Not to say that live fire didn't occur, it was just most often nowhere near the opponent's vessel.

In the air things were not as intense. The flyers of the Stenzan Air Force were pretty cavalier and conducted flyovers of Sudmoll's airspace and would buzz Burgoignesc ships. This came to a head in 1967 after Burgundie had installed a complex new radar-activated anti-aircraft defense system. The system had only been activated a week when a Stenzan bomber did a flyover along a common flight path. While technically a violation of Sudmollese airspace, the flight path was known by all parties and was considered an allowable risk. The radar-activated system picked up the bomber and launched two missiles. The bomber crew was stunned and activated their flares a little too late, only deterring one of the missiles. The second missile hit and downed the bomber. The Stenzans protested citing past precedent and not being informed of the new triggers for engagement. The world court sided with Burgundie as it was a textbook violation of their airspace and cited that adversarial nations do not, and should not, disclose defensive systems parameters. In 1973, another aerial catastrophe occurred. In a series of escalating shows of strength both navies called in air support. As the seas and clouds became more and more congested with ships and planes, a pair of Stenzan and Burgoignesc fighters collided mid-air killing both pilots immediately. Commanders on both sides immediately recognized the danger and ordered their subordinates to stand down. A diplomatic effort was made and both sides agreed to hold the other blameless.

Okatian Maritime Retrofit Program
Due to the increasing frequency of marine interception carried out by both sides and the escalation of collisions, minor ramming, and propeller fouling, in the late 50s and early 60s, individual ship captains of the Navy of Burgundie and the Revenue Guard started to protective materials onto the gunwales of their ships and boats. In 1964, the Navy instituted the Okatian Maritime Retrofit Program (OMReP). OMReP was as much about research and development as it was about damage mitigation. The Program evaluated hundreds of ideas between 1964 and 1972 on how to reduce damage from ship-to-ship collisions and anti-fouling technology. In 1968 they recommended the construction of enormous air-filled fenders to be thrown over in the event of an imminent collision. When the Stenzan maritime forces started to reinforce their prows and crush the air-filled fenders, the OMReP experimented with water-filled fenders. They were successful but incredibly heavy and reduced maneuverability, making the ships even more dangerous to operate. In the early 70s the program returned to the air-filled solution but went to a rapid inflating blister design that could expand to an even larger size than was previously possible with the rigid design of the previous decade. Minor design improvements have been made since the Patron 74 Gardefange Maritime OMReP, but the system of rapidly expanding blisters remains functionally the same in modern retrofits for Burgoignesc service in the Okatian Sea.

1984 Sudmoll Conflict
July 27th, 1984 marked a flare-up in the Sudmoll. A routine incident between a Stenzan destroyer and a Burgoignesc Frigate escalated when the Stenzan ship fired its torpedoes at short range, devastating the Burgoignesc warship before it could mount a response. The act of aggression turned out to be part of a larger plan, for a larger Stenzan naval force moved in to clear the way for a mounting amphibious force. Throughout the day, Stenzan and Burgoignesc naval and air forces exchanged fire with low intensity, climaxing in a Stenzan air raid on Burgoignesc naval facilities on Sudmoll.

The day ended with multiple aircraft and ships destroyed on both side, with the defending forces losing two Frigates an an Aviso while the Stenzans lost two Frigates and a Destroyer. Tensions were rising swiftly, with both sides preparing for a full scale conflict. The threat of a larger Burgoignesc reaction over the small island was enough to scare the Stenzans, and conflict was avoided through swift diplomatic action. Stenzan Party officials and the Burgoignesc met throughout the night, with both parties eventually agreeing to return to the status quo as a better solution to all out conflict.

After the conflict (1984-2022)
Things returned to relative normalcy after the conflict, with the four years after its conclusion being peaceful enough by standards of the last few decades. The late 1980s saw the Stenzans picking up the pace again when it comes to aggression, with pre-conflicts incidents becoming commonplace again into the 2000s.

The early 2000s saw the Stenzan government spend more time on internal affairs than external ones, with the Stenzan navy toning down its aggression. As a result of this, the waters around Sudmoll gradually became more peaceful.

Current day (2022-Present)
The fall of the Stenzan People's Collective and the rise of the Republic of Stenza meant a formal peace agreement between Stenza and Burgundie that outlined the immediate cessation of any remaining hostilities and opening of diplomatic ties between both nations. Going forward, those from Stenza and Sudmoll would be able to travel freely between both territories while trade was encouraged. The availability of Stenzan commodities lowered the cost of living in Sudmoll, which no longer had to rely on nations further away for trade.