Sudmoll Island Conflicts: Difference between revisions

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 Burgundian territorial waters around Sudmoll. Although diplomatic complaints soon arrived from Burgundie, it was not until 1928 that the Burgundians from Sudmoll replied with any sort of force. This was when Stenzan and Burgundian 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.

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 Burgundian resistance was met, with only a [[List of aviso classes of the Navy of Burgundie|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.

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 Burgundian 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 Burgundian waters. Most of these attempts did not return in violence however, seeing the arrival of Burgundian forces would mean a retreat of the Stenzans during these confrontations. This situation would persist until the early 1950s.