Talk:Second Great War: Difference between revisions

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, infuriatingly losing half of its territory to the new nation of [[Veltorina]], but [[Urcea]] gained the new Kingdom of [[Talionia]], giving the Levantines a toehold on mainland [[Sarpedon]]. Later, the Levantines gained the [[Legatation of Ankivara]] and [[Port de Vent]]. 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 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.

A massive opportunity presented itself in the 1890s with the rise of [[Gréagóir FitzRex]] in [[Urcea]] and beginning of the [[Red Interregnum]]. Caphiria offered its full support to FitzRex, providing materiel and volunteers to fight against the now-hated [[House de Weluta]]. The prospect of a FitzRex victory was promising not only due to the destabilizing nature of regime change but because his desire to destroy socialism and secede from the [[Holy Levantine Empire]] lined up with Caphiria's own goals, and FitzRex indicated that if he was victorious, he may be willing to surrender [[Talionia]] and would not interfere in [[Veltorina]]. The [[Imperial Naval Fleet]] began to actively interdict the [[Navy of Burgundie]], which impeded the Legitimist cause significantly. FitzRex began to embrace socialism in order to court lower class revolutionaries, allowing socialists to win a majority in the [[Concilium Daoni]] in 1900. Caphiria, bitterly disappointed, continued to support the regime with limited vigor, and their gradual withdrawal led to the [[Fall of Cana]]. The collapse of FitzRex's Crown Regency and the rise of the short-lived [[Urcean Republic]] led [[Venceia]] to reluctantly recognize the restoration of [[House de Weluta]], but it had learned lessons during the war. Its preparations lead to the successful strategy described above in the Levantine theater; the full-blown civil war within the collapsing [[Holy Levantine Empire]] finally gave [[Caphiria]] the perfect opportunity to strike.