Second Great War
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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.
| Second Great War | |||||||
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 Clockwise from top left; Burgoignesc infantry in the Audonian desert; Occidental civilians massacred by Daxiaese forces; Fanerian troops walk through ruined Fiannrian city; Battle of the Adonáire Strait; Dericanian city following extensive strategic bombing; Caphirian submarines on patrol | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Urcea Burgundie Cartadania Fiannria Pelaxia Alstin Vithinja Caergwynn Arcerion | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Military dead: over 26,000,000 Civilian dead: over 40,000,000 Total dead: over 56,000,000 |
Military dead: over 20,000,000 Civilian dead: over 28,000,000 Total dead: over 48,000,000 | ||||||
The conflict, primarily between the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association and its allies (collectively referred to as the "Allies") and a loosely aligned set of anti-Levantine countries, including and especially Caphiria, Daxia and Faneria, was fought for various reasons which depended largely on the particular combatant and theater. The Levantine theater was largely fought over the continued existence of the Holy Levantine Empire, as well as the borders of its northernmost nation, Fiannria. The Sarpedonic theater focused on Caphirian hegemony, both contemporary and planned, and was driven in part by the theory of Levantine Creep. In Alshar and Audonia, Burgoinesc colonialism was the central factor which drove fighting. Together, these disparate issues broadly categorized the two competing sides into "pro-Levantine" and "anti-Levantine" factions, though these classifications are generalizations and should not be considered definitive descriptions of the motivations or extent of each faction.
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 Lariana, 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 Lariana 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, Lariana 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 Lariana 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. This reorientation set it on a collision course with Derian nationalists, setting the stage for what looked to be an inevitable war between Urcea and the nationalists. The seeming inevitability of conflict led to significant reforms to the Urcean military and Royal and Imperial Army specifically, ensuring that the next conflict would involve both the most modern and deadliest techniques and technology available.
Anti-colonialism emerges
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 Rheydt 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 Daxiaese 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 1st 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.
The war in Dericania would grind to a bloody stalemate by the end of 1934. As summer gave way to fall, both sides reached sufficient concentration of forces in central Dericania that lines of control became relatively static. Both sides also deployed significant amounts of artillery; this artillery had greater range and firepower than the antiquated cannons in common use throughout the First Great War, and commanders on both sides had to adjust accordingly. Both sides were equipped with sufficient amounts of heavy artillery to prevent a major enemy offensive, with Royal and Imperial Army batteries anchoring that of the pro-Imperial forces while the Derians were equipped with state-of-the-art Caphiric heavy guns. By the end of December, Urcea's deployment in the region escalated to fifteen corps.
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 "blank check". 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.
Divided attention
Although the war had settled into static lines in Dericania by the end of December, the situation would not remain static for long. The sudden entrance of Caphiria into the war on 17 January required a withdrawal of six of Urcea's fifteen deployed corps in Burgundie and Dericania as of the middle of January, greatly weakening the pro-Imperial forces in the region. The diversion of forces led to both conscription in Urcea as well as a shift in focus to more qualitative, rather than quantitative, military approaches for the first half of 1935. The 1st Armored Division, attached to XII Corps for defense of Burgundie, was once again shifted north to modern day northwestern Lapody, where the Derian nationalists had no real answer for its offensive and counteroffensive capabilities.
The invasion of Lariana would also have unintended consequences on the eastern theater of the conflict. Urcea had been preparing a three-corps sized Oriental Expeditionary Force (OEF) at the request of Burgundie to help provide enough manpower across Alshar and Audonia in order to allow the Burgoignesc to go over into the offensive. The OEF was officially canceled on 6 February and instead slated to redeploy to Urlazio. In order to meet the needs of the Burgoignesc, however, Urcean diplomats reached a novel solution. Urcea induced Fiannria to deploy its garrison forces in Soirwind, which were considerable, in support of Burgundie. The influx of Fiannrian manpower by March would stabilize the far eastern front.
By 15 February, Urcea was without an overriding strategic vision. Although it was now gearing up for total war, as principal allied combatant in Urlazio and Dericania it presently had insufficient resources to achieve victory on either front, and for a month Urcean military leaders had been fighting just to preserve status quo in both theaters. King Brian IV and leaders in the Conshilía Daoni intervened, calling senior military leaders to Castle Welute on 15 February. At the "Castle Conference," it was decided that Urcean forces must secure victory in Dericania first before engaging with Caphiria in a broader global conflict. A Dericania-first strategy necessarily required a status quo, defensive strategy to be fought in Lariana. Dericania first was adopted, in part, because of Urcea's diplomatic obligations to its Imperial colleagues, but also due to the calculus that the Deric Republic could be vanquished first. Accordingly, the Conference determined that the canceled Oriental Expeditionary Force would be sent to Urlazio, but no additional major reinforcements to that theater of the war would be forthcoming. Until fully mobilization was achieved, the size of the Army tripled, and victory appeared likely in Levantia, Lariana would largely be on its own. The Oriental Expeditionary Force would arrive in mid March, just in time for the upcoming Caphirian offensive there.
Diplomatic war and fall of Corcra
The success of the Armored Division led to major pro-Imperial gains by late February, repulsing a Republican Front drive on Corcra and retaking most of northern Rhotia. Other armored divisions were entering combat around this time, but the Derians had also begun to develop effective anti-armor techniques, decreasing their overall utility. Extensive fighting also meant these early tanks broke down more often, also decreasing their use. Off the battlefield, Urcean and Burgoignesc diplomats began to open back channel negotiations with individual component states of the Deric Republic. The negotiations centered around recognition of local revolutionary authorities combined with the previous ruling lord dropping their claims to the territory in exchange for an end of hostilities. Both Urcean and Burgoignesc negotiators insisted on the continued existence of the Holy Levantine Empire, in some form, as the basis for these negotiations, and due to this insistence these early proposals all failed.
In late winter and early spring, the nationalists waged a large scale offensive in mid-March as the mud began to dry. Earlier Imperial successes had led to extensive and often exposed lines running from the landward facing side of Burgundie to the Finnan border. By 20 March 1935, Corcra sat at the tip of the largest Imperial salient. Several large skirmishes across the lines on 21-22 March convinced senior Imperial generals that the forces there were likely about to be cut off. The political importance of holding the city, the nominal seat of the Empire, required the decision to withdraw by approved by the Emperor himself. Though the Imperial Diet, Imperial Armory College, and most other institutions and offices of the Empire had been evacuated to Urcea by January 1935 ahead of the Republican Front's winter offensive, it still held significant symbolic value to the war effort and maintenance of the Empire. Emperor Brian VIII thus hesitated until the early morning hours of 23 March to consent to issue the order; Imperial forces consequently struggled to escape the salient and only did so barely. On 25 March, Republican Front forces entered Corcra to applauding crowds. The statue of the Emperor outside the Imperial Palace was smashed, though Republican Front forces successfully managed to prevent wider looting of the Palace's "Derian national treasures."
Sarpedonian Theater
Caphiria makes its move
As of 2 January 1935, it was evident to leadership in Caphiria that the Ten Year Plan was proceeding more or less exactly as envisioned. The Urcean Royal and Imperial Army was nearly entirely tied down in Dericania putting down the Deric Republican revolution there. Its primary allies, Fiannria and Burgundie, both faced existential threats in Levantia and abroad. It appeared the moment had arrived to execute the primary thrust of the Plan, the invasion of Lariana. Caphirian forces had been preparing for some time in Urlazio and were ready to begin an offensive. The decision to launch said offensive was ultimately tied up in several assumptions. At this point in the fighting, Caphirian leaders viewed it as basically assured that Urcea would not fight to reclaim Lariana if it were overrun. Additionally, though the Ten Year Plan had accounted for them being included in the war, Caphiria did not believe Cartadania and Pelaxia would intervene on behalf of the allies. The reasons for this are hotly debated among historians and unclear in correspondence and surviving official documents from the time, but it appears that both Galdo Bertocca and Magasevetus believed that the greatly weakened Burgundie presented too much of a risk to Cartadania and Pelaxia. Additionally, it seems that Caphirian intelligence had determined neither nation were mobilizing despite officially being at war in Alshar and Audonia with Daxia, suggesting that their political and social will to support Burgundie was lukewarm at best. Accordingly, Caphiria deviated from the Ten Year Plan and deployed many forces intended to protect its western border in Urlazio instead, hoping that the additional concentration of forces would allow Lariana to be overrun quickly.
Invasion of Lariana
With its forces in place and decisions made, Caphiria formally declared war on the Kingdom of Lariana - but not Urcea - on 17 January 1935, beginning its invasion the same day. This declaration was considered a diplomatic ruse in order to portray Urcea and Burgundie, who would clearly declare war on Caphiria in response, as the aggressors in the coming conflict. Urcea and Burgundie obliged on 18 January, and Caphiria declared war on both on 20 January. The entrance of Caphiria into the conflict precipitated the beginning of commitment to total war and mass mobilization in Urcea, including conscription; these measures had been implemented in Burgundie a month previously. After significant internal political debate, Cartadania and Pelaxia jointly declared war on Caphiria on 25 January, honoring their treaty obligations. This declaration caught Caphiria by surprise, requiring the offensive operations in Lariana to halt after a week as portions of its offensive force would be diverted to Caphiria's western border, precipitating a total reorganization of forces. On 27 January, Vachena joined Caphiria and declared war on all the allies, expanding the northwestern front of the war in Sarpedon.
The first week of advances had seen the Imperial Legion destroy twelve of the forty divisions of the Larianan Royal Army, taking roughly a third of the Kingdom's pre-war borders and much of its economic base. Six corps of the Urcean Royal and Imperial Army were pulled from Dericania, but the first units would not arrive for a week and a half from the date of the invasion. Accordingly, the Larianan Army conceded further territory to pull back into defensive positions closer to the Sea of Canete. The Caphirian advance halted on 25 January to reorganize its forces following the entrance of Pelaxia and Cartadania, allowing the Larianans precious time to reorganize themselves, entrench, and provide time for the Royal and Imperial Army to arrive. Caphirian forces resumed their advance by 29 January but faced stiff resistance, bolstered by additional divisions of the Royal and Imperial Army which arrived daily. By 7 February, the Imperial Legion was functionally halted and lost its initiative. The initial invasion of Lariana had destroyed around a quarter of the Larianan Army about half of the country and almost all of its interior portions but failed to deliver a "knock out blow" to the Larianan defenders, now supplemented by Royal and Imperial Army forces. In the subsequent lull in the fighting, Urcea's would-be Oriental Expeditionary Force arrived in Lariana. The three corps (including XXXV Corps) force combined with the six corps on the ground and outstanding twenty eight divisions of the Larianan Royal Army to form the Department of the Odoneru, an ad hoc formation command that would be responsible for allied operations in eastern Urlazio for the rest of the war. The new command redeployed most of its forces to strong defensive positions around the coast, where the ships of the Royal Navy could provide fire support as well as consistent resupply.
The western front opens
The first month and a half of the war in mainland Sarpedon was characterized by low level skirmishing. Beginning with the declarations of war by the western allies in late July, both the allies and Caphiria were generally unprepared for large scale fighting. The western allies declared immediate mobilization, which would take time, while the Caphirians were caught generally unaware and had to divert a significant portion of its concentrated forces in Urlazio west. Both sides took advantage of the other's general unpreparedness with quick strategic raids, destroying power plants, railway junctions, and other important infrastructure in the borderlands. Cartadania, in particular, used a high volume of these small raids to shield their true intentions, namely, a major buildup on their border with Vachena rather than on the Caphirian border. Caphirian and Vachenan intelligence both believed that a major Cartadanian offensive into western Caphiria or along the Urlazian border were imminent, both due to successful deception as well as the belief that the allies sought to relieve pressure on Lariana. The potential additional requirements to the west induced Caphiria to launch one last major Urlazian offensive on 18 March, which failed to destroy the Kingdom but succeeded in bottling up allied forces along a narrow front.
Invasion of Vachena
Cartadanian military leaders viewed their deception as largely complete by 20 March with the 18 March offensive on Lariana. Cartadania's true intentions became clear on 24 March when the majority of the country's forces crossed the Vachenan border, beginning a full invasion of the country. The Vachenan military was largely caught unprepared, and by 27 March they had withdrawn about 75 miles from the border to the next available defensive line. The invasion had the effect of frustrating Caphirian aims of continuing to concentrate resources on Lariana. In order to relieve pressure on Vachena, a large number of Imperial Legion divisions were ordered to western Urlazio on 26 March. Legion commanders, under pressure from political leaders in Venceia, organized a general offensive against the Cartadanian provinces of Triessa and São Andreas to begin no later than 5 April 1935. The resulting offensive, hastily assembled, began on 5 April as intended with significant logistical and operational issues. Despite the issues, the Caphirian offensive on Urlazio is believed by many historians to have potentially saved Vachena from being completely knocked out of the war at this relatively early juncture, requiring a halt of Cartadanian offensive operations in the country by 7 April.
Urlazio loses priority
The national redoubt
War at Sea
The naval war in the Occident began in earnest with the entrance of Caphiria into the war in mid-January 1935. Once Caphiria was a declared combatant, it allowed allied forces to begin interdicting shipment of supplies and funds to Dericania. Minor naval skirmishes began almost immediately, with Caphirian armed escorts now accompanying the supply ships. After weeks of trickling losses of ships in these shipments, the Imperial Naval Fleet informed the government that supply runs to Dericania were no longer feasible due to the rate of destroyers being lost, and accordingly the convoy escort program fully diverted all assets to supplies to Zaclaria and Faneria beginning 3 February. Shipments to Zaclaria were halted by the end of the month, leaving the cross-Odoneru shipments north as the safest lane by which Caphiria could resupply its allies. After threatening to not interfere as a diplomatic measure, the Royal Navy began to concentrate its available ships in Levantia for a steady interdiction of the Ododneru trade by 25 February.
Skirmishes and supply lines
Urlazio Strait campaign
Unrestricted submarine warfare
Cavosia and end of the war
Eastern Theater
The war expands
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 Daxiaese 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 Daxian 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 Daxian 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 Daxian agents, with a plurality of resources being taken by the Daxian themselves. On 20 August, the Daxian 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. Daxian delegates successfully persuaded their colleagues to declare war, stating that Daxian 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 Daxian 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, Daxia issued a declaration of war on Burgundie on behalf of itself and 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 Daxia 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, Huadao, and Rapa Rapa.
Burgoignesc strength
Due to the large membership of the Nationalist Association, a broad offensive against Burgoignesc possessions began on 29 September across Alshar and Audonia. The initial phase of attacks focused on the state apparatuses of official Burgoignesc protectorates. These "princely states" retained small military forces, and accordingly most of them began piecemeal assaults on Burgoignesc legations and military positions on the 29th. From 28 September through around 10 October, Burgoignesc forces and local allies executed a large redeployment under fire, moving from interior trade stations and strongpoints to coastal, littoral, and riverine locations, often concentrating multiple garrisons at those points. This concentration was successful as of 11 October, as though the Burgoignesc had surrendered ground, its series of fortresses and legations allowed it to control most axis of movement throughout the internal and coastal parts of both Alshar and Audonia. Many of these position were well fortified, and in most cases the artillery contained within or moved there was far more modern and better-supplied than those of the princely forces. Accordingly, by around 15 October, most of these "princely offensives" stalled completely, having gained ground but having failed to neutralize the Burgoignesc military presence in any meaningful way. NA-aligned militia forces were integrated within many princely forces by the end of October, but despite having been reinforced all Burgoignesc positions continued to hold out.
On their part, the Burgoignesc high command in the east recognized the situation would approach crisis point by mid-1935 if offensive operations were not pursued in this theater. Many of its internal riverine garrisons could be cut off by the construction of new fortifications up- or down-river by the native forces. However, due to the real ongoing crisis in Levantia, new forces required for offensive operations would likely not be available for some time. Accordingly, Burgoignesc forces were directed to adopt an opportunistic raiding approach for the time being, striking out at weak or non-concentrated local forces in unpredictable increments. This strategy was not intended to necessarily weaken the enemy, but instead to maintain the initiative and keep enemy forces cautious and non-committal. High command also began to prepare the Royal Air Service in the event that any of their riverine outposts were cut off; in most cases, these missions were intended to resupply these areas by air rather than evacuate them, a difficult proposition given the climate of much of the interior of the continents.
The "main" powers of the Nationalist Association, chiefly Daxia, spent the early months preparing for a full offensive in December, the peak of campaign season in Alshar and Audonia. Although relatively inactive in the first months of the war in the east, Daxia began shelling Ayermer forty five minutes after the declaration of war was proclaimed. Local concentration of forces essentially allowed the Daxian to blockade the island, putting it under a state of siege. Lifting this early siege became the top priority of the Navy of Burgundie in early October 1934. The Daxians also tried and failed to capture Huadao with limited forces in mid-October.
Although stretched thin on land, the complete lack of a Derian naval force combined with the supremacy of the Urcean Royal Navy in and around Levantia ensured that Burgundie had a plethora of naval assets to dispose of by the time war in the east broke out in September 1934. Accordingly, a massive share of Burgundie's naval forces were diverted from the Occident and locations abroad to the Middle seas region, with a portion of those committed to keeping sea lanes between Levantia and the east open for both commerce and military purposes. By late October 1934, sufficient operational strength had been mustered to allow the Navy of Burgundie to begin offensive operations in various places, as well as stationing small flotillas around its coastal strongpoints to provide heavy artillery support. A major portion of the navy's offensive capacity were sent in the first week of November to Ayermer, where it destroyed a smaller force of Daxiaese ships and lifted the month-long siege of the island. On 14 November, a Daxian defeated a Burgoignesc force to a draw near Salarive, requiring additional ships to move to the south Middle seas area to ward off the Daxian navy. For the remainder of 1934 and early 1935, the Daxian and Burgoignesc navies largely skirmished without a decisive engagement. The arrival of Royal Navy ships at Antilles plus additional Urcean ships guarding the sea lanes gradually allowed the Navy of Burgundie to shift more of its ships to the combat theater.
Daxian offensive
On 14 December 1934, the Daxiaese Army launched an invasion of Pukhgundi, one of the few "loyalist" states in the Burgoignesc eastern sphere. The invasion, launched over land, was initially very successful, with Pukhgundian and Burgoignesc forces pushed back from the border with heavy losses as of 1 January. The Daxian force outnumbered the allied forces nearly 2-to-1, requiring allied command to concede most of the country and pull back to Pukhgundi's southwestern peninsula. There, a strong line of defense combined with naval support fire stopped the advance, and Daxian forces switched over to the defensive.
Zaclaria enters the war
The formal entrance of Caphiria into the war on 17 and 18 January 1935 necessarily invited action against Zaclaria by allied forces, although in the initial phase of the conflict the Caphirian protectorate attempted to remain neutral. The end of Caphiric neutrality allowed both the Navy of Burgundie and Urcean Royal Navy to begin interdicting Caphirian trade and supply to the east, seriously disrupting the flow of arms and materiel to the Nationalist Association. Many of these ships were flagged as Zaclarian, and the sudden seizure and occasional sinking of Zaclarian-flagged ships induced the country to issue several formal diplomatic objections before eventually declaring war on Urcea and Burgundie on 10 February 1935.
Zaclaria entering the eastern war essentially amounted to a Caphirian eastern escalation of the conflict. Caphirian military assets stationed in Zaclaria, as well as the native Zaclarian military greatly expanded Daria as a theater of conflict. Together with belligerent Umardwal which recently seized a Burgoignesc possession, the Caphiro-Zaclarian forces posed a serious threat both to Burgoignesc interests in nominally neutral Bulkh as well as the Burgoignesc islands of Chaukira. Despite Daria becoming a warzone, the entrance of Caphiria and Zaclaria into this theater became a net positive for Burgundie, as it induced Urcea to commit a significantly larger portion of the Royal Navy to the eastern theater of the war. By late February 1935, the allies established naval supremacy in the sea lanes between east and west. The large Levantine naval presence in the east, although largely comprised of older ships, required the Daxiaese navy to end its skirmish policy, instead shifting to a policy of opportunistic engagement with select segments of the Levantine navies.
Fiannria and Urcea swap places
Caphiria entering the war in the Occident significantly complicated Urcea's plans to reinforce Burgoignesc possessions in the east. The Burgoignesc still required additional manpower and unit flexibility in order to switch to the offensive in most parts of the continent. The Oriental Expeditionary Force of the Royal and Imperial Army was formed for this purpose, but were subsequently diverted to Lariana. Accordingly, Urcean political and military leaders sought other solutions to provide additional resources to the Burgoignesc in the east. On 18 February the Urcean government suggested to Fiannria that it should deploy most of its sizable Soirwind colonial garrison further south in support of Burgoignesc possessions. While Fiannria met this proposal with lukewarm reaction at best, Urcea offered two inducements for doing so. First, it suggested that the Royal Navy's interdiction of Caphirian supplies to Faneria would be "delayed", in part due to difficulties in the east. Second, it gave Fiannria a promise of a future delivery of an equivalent number of rifles and infantry supplies to those men currently deployed in Soirwind as well as a significant cash delivery immediately. The thinly veiled threat of no naval assistance combined with cash sufficiently persuaded the Fiannrian government, and on 28 February 1935 the Fiannrian garrison in Soirwind began to mobilize for an upcoming deployment south.
While the redeployment of Fiannrian land forces to Burgoignesc possessions further south would take time, the Fiannan Commonwealth Air Force would see significant action in early March 1935. The Fiannan Oriental Air Squadron (FOAS), a relatively small force, redeployed from its airfields in Soirwind to airfields in Salarive on 1 March 1935. The FOAS featured the Air Force's most elite pilots and latest planes, and in several engagements with the relatively primitive Daxian Air Fleet it managed to establish superiority over the enemy over the Pukhgundian peninsula. Additionally, the ROAS employed pioneering dive bombing techniques in both Pukhgundi and Bulkh, giving Burgoignesc forces the ability to strike out in aggressive raids and crippling Nationalist Association supply lines for a period of time.
Peripheral Theaters
Crona
Intervention in the Cape
Operation Lightfoot Operation Forefront
War in the Orixtal
TBA
Vallos
Invasion of Vespera
Arctic
Antarctic
Peace Negotiations
Treaty of Corcra
Treaty of Loughlin
Treaty of Kartika
Impact
Casualties and war crimes
Occupation and liberation
Technological and social developments
Diplomatic developments
League of Nations
Levantine Union
Legacy
Third Fratricide
Leucine Rebellion
Remembrance