Talk:Second Great War/Old
Great War (1927-1935)
On the morning of March 12th, 1927, a large flotilla of Caphiria's Imperial Naval Fleet was detected by the Navy of Burgundie and landed in the Imperial state of Loreseia, one of the sites of the unrest. The Caphirian ships landed a large army of Caphirian-armed and trained Derian nationalists; these nationalists linked up with local cells and provided them with Caphirian arms, and then these "Legions" as they were called began to fan out. Large parts of eastern Dericania were taken by the Legions by the end of the month, establishing various free states. The Emperor held back no more; the Royal and Imperial Army - more than 250,000 strong with many more forces mobilizing - entered the Kingdom of Dericania on March 29th, 1927. In response, the Legion-controlled states formally declared war on the Holy Levantine Empire generally and Urcea specifically. The first phase of the Second Great War had officially begun, though the scope of the coming conflict would not become clear for several years.
With the presence of large Derian nationalist armies present in eastern Dericania, the Royal and Imperial Army's top priority was the defense of eastern Burgundie and preventing civil bloodshed between Derians and Bergendii, as had occurred in the First Fratricide. The Royal and Imperial Army garrisons aimed at intervention in the Kingdom of Dericania were ill-prepared to mount a defense in Burgundie's east, and by the end of April, 1927, the province of Marves had been overrun by the Derian nationalists. The Royal and Imperial Army arrived in force by May, but it was too little, too late. The Derian advance into Estia was halted with the advent of trench warfare by the hastily raised Tropes della Metropol, whose access to machine guns and Urcean heavily artillery meant that the Derians were severely outgunned and had to dig in opposite the Burgoignesc lines. With the war bogged down in the east, the Royal and Imperial Army was gradually able to disengage in metropolitan Burgundie and focus elsewhere. In June, the Royal and Imperial Army successfully defended Corcra and drove the nationalists back east. The victory was short-lived, however, as Drusla - a state near Burgundie - fell to the nationalists. Drusla severely compromised the existing lines of trenches and defenses in Burgundie, requiring another infusion of Urcean forces into the country. In July, the Navy of Burgundie and Royal Navy announced it would begin actively interdicting any supply ships or convoys sailing into Levantine ports not bearing a national flag. This policy was expanded in November 1927 to be a full blockade of eastern Dericania. Though the lines had solidified in the west and allied navies held firm in the east, supplies and implicit support from Fiannria kept the "Legions" on their feet through the end of 1927 and all of 1928. The war continued through 1928 without clear result, as campaigns from the Royal and Imperial Army in Dericania were successful in the north but continued to give ground in the south, further putting the still-mobilizing Burgundie at risk. By August of 1928, every principality in the Kingdom of Dericania not directly occupied by allied forces had been overthrown and established as a free state. In November, the various Legion-occupied and revolutionary states - many of them with drastically different political and ideological programs - announced the formation of a provisional Deric Republic to prosecute the war effort. In 1928, an international incident known as the "Order Affair" proved Caphirian involvement in the war in Dericania, nearly drawing Urcea into a war with Caphiria, but leadership of the Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea did not believe Urcea ready, so the Emperor allowed the matter to drop. Also in 1928, a series of allied states in Audonia began a war with Burgundie, which they perceived as weak due to the invasion of the country by the Derian nationalists. The Government of Urcea reluctantly promised to enter the war in Audonia by 1930 if Burgundie did not have the matter settled. Small portions of the armed forces were diverted to Antilles, drawing criticism from the National Pact.
Brian, Prince of Halfway assumed control of the Apostolic Kingdom in 1929 as regent; he would ascend to the throne later that year
In May, the Royal and Imperial Army - now supplemented by a few divisions of Derian loyalists - broke through in the north and pushed to the Levantine Ocean near Alba Concordia, cutting off the Deric Republic from supplies from Fiannria to the north. The offensive stretched the Imperial lines thin, however, and in June the Deric forces broke through to the Fiannrian border, cutting off a large number of Royal and Imperial Army forces who needed to be evacuated by sea. On June 29th, the forces of the Deric Republic captured Corcra, a major blow to the legitimacy of the Imperial cause. The prince-electors of the Empire - mostly all deprived of their electorates by now - took up residence in Urceopolis. Most of their descendants would remain in the city up through today. Despite several key victories, the Deric Republic would again be cut off by the middle of July, as Faneria invaded Fiannria to reclaim lost territory from the 1880s, necessitating an end to the covert support for the Derian cause. In the key parts of the line - especially centered on Corcra - trench warfare set in and would not abate for another two years. The Royal and Imperial Army had been able to win some critical victories and outmaneuver the opponent, but the new Emperor Brian VIII recognized the only way to win militarily in Dericania was to entirely overwhelm them using the entire might of Urcea. The Emperor also had notions that a political and diplomatic conclusion to the conflict could be reached, an opinion he expressed in first his address to the Imperial Diet. The solution to the present crisis, the Emperor offered, was not merely in the supremacy of arms but in the efforts of the princes themselves; that if they proposed and implemented reforms, the nationalist cause would be starved of manpower. Brian would not make the mistake of offering Dericania to the nationalists like August did, but proposed some centralized institutions for the Kingdom of Dericania, institutions that resembled what would later become those of the Confederation of Dericania. The princes were incredulous at the suggestion, and the Emperor dropped the matter for the time, but the address had a major effect on the politics of the Empire. The reform-minded and liberal members of the Diet believed they had a new champion, and the conservatives felt betrayed. The Emperor assured all parties that his top priority would be the restoration of the princes, easing tensions for a time.
Mass production of the SAV-5 allowed for major Urcean breakthroughs in Dericania beginning in 1931
The Second Great War in 1930 would see the calcification of defensive lines and the failure of the Royal and Imperial Army to make a meaningful advance. With the loss of Fiannrian support, a new Caphirian smuggling operation emerged in an effort to bring heavy artillery, machine guns and other implements into Dericania to ensure the Deric Republic's forces were not out-gunned. Many of the smugglers were simply flying into Dericania on one-way supply runs, but most simply smuggled weapons in among legitimate goods. The new weapons meant that the Deric Republic could wage its own brand of trench warfare, and by the middle of 1930 a massive series of trenches and fortifications ran from the border of Fiannria to the border of Burgundie, running just west of Corcra. The Royal and Imperial Army began training full tank divisions in the summer of 1930 using the new, mass-produced SAV-5 tank, but these units would not be ready for another year. Prior to the SAV-5's deployment, Urcea had no armored divisions and its tank doctrine was typically concerned with using tanks as a mobile border defense unit; it had obtained a number of tanks prior to the production of the SAV-5, but these were mostly of foreign design or kept in reserve for defense of Urcea. The Emperor planned to gain the upper hand in the war and then reach a negotiated settlement. The Emperor's planned settlement was the one he proposed to the Diet in 1929, which he would present to the Imperial Diet as a fait accompli. The Emperor's planned trump card - the armored divisions - were still being prepared, but in February 1931 the Royal and Imperial Army began a line-wide artillery bombardment which would last for three weeks. Called Operation Onslaught, the barrage succeeded in gaining the Royal and Imperial Army's artillery corps valuable experience, and, although it didn't substantially alter the strategic outlook in the Kingdom of Dericania, it did allow advances of the Royal and Imperial Army along some parts of the line, and the barrage additionally demoralized the Deric forces. Various offensives throughout the rest of 1931 failed until early October, when the Royal and Imperial Army launched Operation Princeps. Ten armored divisions broke through the Deric trenches in a pincer move and collapsed their line, with the armor then surrounding the city and the infantry launching a full frontal assault. Though the Royal and Imperial Army incurred heavy casualties with the infantry charge, Corcra fell on October 8th. For his role in retaking Corcra, which he set as the top priority for the Army and expedited the deployment of the armored divisions, the Imperial Diet gave Emperor Brian VIII the title of "Restitutor Orbis", or "restorer of the world". Though the apparatuses of the Imperial government wouldn't relocate to Corcra until the crisis had passed, the recapture of the nominal capital of the Empire proved a huge morale boost. With the center of the Deric line having collapsed, the armored divisions spearheaded several more offensives before the end of the year, but most of the tanks had broken down by December of 1931. Despite the forward movement having stalled, Imperial forces made large gains. While Urcea was pushing the offensive in northern Dericania, the Tropes della Metropol finally ejected Derian nationalist forces from Burgundie in November and recaptured Drusla in early December. Elsewhere in 1931, the Royal Navy began monitoring Caphirian shipments to Audonia in order to support the war effort against the Levantines there, but due to the state of still-neutrality Caphiria maintained, the Royal Navy was reduced to an intelligence and reconnaissance role. Additionally, Urcean forces in Antilles began to strike at Audonian forces to ensure clear access to the Gulf of Kandara. Land-based aircraft of the Royal Air Force began experimental naval bombings against the Audonians, but the experiments were considered mixed at best and the use of air power on the sea was ruled out for another four years. The Royal Navy saw some of its first true combat experience in Audonia in 1931, but most of its deployments were with outdated ships such as the Coria-class cruiser. The experience gained by its sailors, however, would be invaluable in the coming years with major naval deployments between Halfway and Urlazio. Also in 1931, Faneria and Caphiria agreed to a formal alliance, leading to Urcea sending provisions and supplies to Fiannria with the promise to send more once the war in Dericania was complete. While the Holy Levantine Empire maintained considerable enmity towards Fiannria in the early 1930s due to its role in fanning the flames of revolt in the Kingdom of Dericania, Urcea had no choice but to aid Fiannria and curb Caphirian influence in Ultmar. In response to the alliance, Urcea publicly condemned Faneria as a rogue state, leading to the severing of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
As Urcea's focus shifted further afield than Dericania, and with a major victory having been achieved as the foreign-trained Legions of the Deric Republic were been mostly broken, the Emperor began secret negotiations with the reformists and liberals within the Republic. Though the city of Corcra itself fell, the Free State of Corcra took the lead within the pro-peace faction. Since late 1931, supplies from Caphiria had been cut off due to Caphirian preparations for war in Sarpedon and supplies going elsewhere, such as Faneria and, beginning recently, Audonia. The various leaders of the Deric Republic were quarreling nearly daily, and the peace faction emerged out of those who opposed both extremist nationalists and socialists. Major campaigns began in February of 1932, with Urcea again on the offensive. Several minor victories convinced the peace faction that ending the war was preferable to the defeat and ravaging of the Kingdom of Dericania by foreign powers. The dire situation within the Deric Republic worsened with Caphiria's declaration of war on Veltorina in August of 1932, with Venceia having believed the Levantine powers were distracted enough to prevent their intervention. Deric leaders realized that no further supplies or aid could be expected; the peace faction successfully convinced many moderates that they had been deceived, and that the Deric Republic was little more than a designed speedbump for Levantia before fighting began in Sarpedon. From the Emperor's perspective, it was now absolutely imperative to end the war in Dericania; the National Pact believed the war in Sarpedon to be the priority, since Urcea was treaty-bound to defend Veltorina according to the peace treaty ending the Veltorine War of Independence. Consequently, in September, the Emperor and factions within the Deric Republic agreed to a framework truce called the Peace of Ardaire. In it, Urcea formally recognized any "free state" of the Deric Republic that abjured the radical nationalist proposition and would agree to a truce. The peace included the promise of recognition of Dericania-wide institutions (similar to what the Emperor proposed to the Diet in 1929), and also promised a future settlement on the status of the Holy Levantine Empire and Kingdom of Dericania. Several free states agreed to the peace and defected to the cause of Urcea and Burgundie. Outraged members of the Imperial Diet and several princes whose claims were now not recognized by Urcea began a riot in Urceopolis, burning down a part of Oldtown until the members and princes were arrested on September 19th. With the arrest and imprisonment of dissenting members of the Diet, it functionally ceased to operate as a formal institution; its remaining members were all loyalists of the Emperor, and from 1932 onward the Emperor of the Levantines, Brian VIII, functionally ruled the Empire alone. Not only was the peace a geopolitical win for the Emperor given that it guaranteed a victory in Dericania in the future, but it was also a political one. The leadership of the National Pact felt that the King had kept his promise from the December 1930 meeting, and its leadership agreed to renew King Brian IV's authority to prosecute the war in Dericania indefinitely. A further secret meeting in late 1932 between the National Pact's leadership and the King was held; the Procurator told the King that, independent of the Emperor's war, the Government of Urcea intended to declare war on Caphiria by no later than 1935, and it was absolutely imperative that the war in Dericania come to a close by then in order to prevent a two front war. The King agreed to this and promised the war would be functionally over by 1935, and that a permanent settlement for the Empire would be agreed to by then. The Government of Urcea, in turn, made a secret promise to the government of Veltorina that it would come to its aid fully in 1935. 1932 came to a close with the beginning of arms shipments to Veltorina via Talionia, a policy that was neither publicized nor official but nonetheless played an important role in keeping Veltorina fighting. On the logistics and supply front, Urcea condemned Caphiria as a rogue state for its invasion of Veltorina, giving Urcea the diplomatic cover to declare an end to the Odoneru Ocean supply line from Caphiria to Faneria. Patrols of the Royal Navy - aided by the navy of Paulastra - shut down formal supplies from Caphiria traveling north.
The Government made efforts to reinforce its existing possessions, deploying additional forces to the Far Eastern squadron of the Royal Navy. In February, Antilles was besieged by the Audonian League's forces. Antilles, which had been a possession of Urcea since the Great Confessional War, had been fortified and increasingly militarized since 1929 in addition to the reinforcements sent earlier in the year. The initial siege of Antilles went poorly, and the Audonians abandoned the siege by the end of March, 1933. Elsewhere in the Audonian theater, the Royal Navy and Navy of Burgundie would engage in a series of battles with the Audonian navies, especially some of the first battles of the Barbary Straits and the Aab-e-Farus. Back in Levantia, the Royal and Imperial Army made steady progress but ultimately no offensives as dramatic as those in 1932. The armored divisions of the Royal and Imperial Army encountered severe supply and logistical problems as the SAV-5's began to break down in the field, causing a halt to most offensive operations. Further, the battle lines were unclear given the concordat reached with some Deric free states in 1932, making the Royal and Imperial Army hesitant to advance in the face of multiple Derian states undergoing coups to determine their disposition for the remainder of the war. Consequently, no major offensives were launched for most of 1933, but Urcea continued to send supplies and arms to its allies, which now included some of the states of the Deric Republic. The 1934 campaign season was similar to the preceding year for Urcea as few major offensives were launched, but the liberal Derians launched several major offensives and by the beginning of 1935, the ultranationalist faction - centered around the remaining core of the Legions landed by Caphiria in 1927 - were reduced to a border roughly equating to the modern territory of Loreseia in the eastern region of Dericania. As the fighting between the Derians continued, King Brian felt confident enough in the situation in Dericania to appear before a meeting of the Concilium Daoni and ask for a formal declaration of war on Caphiria on behalf of the sitting Government of Urcea. The Daoni granted his request on February 3rd, and Urcea formally declared war on Caphiria the same day; Faneria, in response, declared war on Urcea, bringing the Apostolic Kingdom into the northern war. All unofficial smuggling and supply operations were now subject to seizure on the seas and any traffic coming past Halfway from the Urlazian Sea was stopped. The loss of smuggled supplies further weakened the Deric Republic's legions. Rather than immediately move for a decisive blow, however, Urcea began sending an increasing amount of resources and personnel to Tromarine and Halfway in preparation for the war with Caphiria, leaving a reduced presence in Dericania. As military planners began to switch focus to the war with Caphiria, the Emperor was reliant on an increasingly reduced number of forces in Dericania and a series of uneasy allies, turning to the diplomatic front to bring a total end to the fighting. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy scored a decisive victory at the Battle of the Adonáire Strait against Caphiria, securing naval dominance for the remainder of the war and choking off remaining supply routes into Levantia. While Faneria could continue its war effort largely on its own, the Deric Republic could not. On May 1st, 1935, forces from the Royal and Imperial Army, Army of Burgundie, and allied Derian forces decisively defeated the Legions, cutting them off from one another and surrounding them following heavy casualties. On the 2nd, the Legions and government of the Deric Republic surrendered, bringing the war in Dericania to its effective conclusion. Despite the victory for the Emperor and his allies, the reputation and institutions of the Holy Levantine Empire were critically damaged. Although Urcea shared co-belligerency with Fiannria due to the war with Faneria, the Republic nonethelesss announced its intention to become independent of the Holy Levantine Empire, and it additionally announced it would resist any effort by Urcea to reestablish Imperial governance in Dericania. Reestablishment of the Kingdom of Dericania was viewed by Urcea's Derian allies as an unacceptable conclusion to the war, stating that some kind of Derian Confederation would be necessary but the medieval institutions of the Kingdom were neither acceptable nor necessary. Viewing the Holy Levantine Empire as formally defunct outside Urcea and the ambivalent position of Burgundie on the issue, the Emperor decided to accept the inevitable. On May 20th, Emperor Brian VIII issued an Imperial proclamation "forever relinquishing...the responsibilities and administration of Imperial Governance in the Kingdoms of Dericania and Culfra", functionally renouncing any claim to Imperial institutions or authority beyond Urcea's border. The Concilium Daoni recognized the proclamation and end of the Empire's institutions on May 28th, followed by Burgundie on June 1st. Despite this proclamation, a formal treaty was necessary to end the conflict, and delegates met in Corcra to discuss the terms of the end of the war. By September, the Treaty of Corcra was signed by Urcea, Burgundie, the Deric Republic, and Fiannria, and it was ratified by the rump Imperial Diet on September 10th. It acknowledged the right of the Apostolic King of Urcea to retain the style, privileges, Regalia, and status of Emperor of the Levantines in perpetuity, formalized the end of Imperial authority beyond Urcea, provided for the dissolution of the Deric Republic, ceded territory to Burgundie, and established the framework for the creation of the Deric States and final mediatization of the Kingdom of Dericania, though this last clause would not be fully complete or implemented until after the end of the Third Fratricide nearly two decades later.
Great War (1935-1953)
The conclusion of hostilities in Dericania saw Urcea's attention shift definitively west. By July of 1935, the Royal and Imperial Army had deployed nearly fifty divisions - nearly a half a million men - to Tromarine, Talionia, Halfway, and its territory in Urlazio for defensive purposes, though relatively few of these were veteran units who had previously served in Dericania. Deliberations between the Government of Urcea, the Apostolic King of Urcea, and the high command of the Urcean armed forces in August of 1935 lead to the adoption of a definitive strategy. First, Sarpedon would be the primary theater of war for Urcea, diverging from Burgundie who began to focus its efforts on the war in Audonia. Second, the continued buildup efforts meant that a full-scale deployment in force in Sarpedon capable of defeating the enemy could not be achieved until the middle of 1937 at the earliest realistically, and most likely in the first half of 1938. Consequently, a three-pronged strategy developed which would buy the allies the necessary time until Urcea could fully enter the war in Sarpedon. First, Urcea would begin shipping additional war materiel to Fiannria, not only disrupting Caphirian ally Faneria's war effort, but also providing a "proving ground" for new Urcean weapons. Second, Talionia and Halfway would be used to disrupt the Caphirian war effort via air and naval strikes in order to slow or stop their advance into Veltorina. These strikes would include strategic bombing of Caphirian industry in addition to tactical support of Veltorine defenders on the ground. Third, and most critically, Urcea would deploy an additional forty divisions of Dericania veterans to Urlazio and wage a "phony war" there in order to pull Caphirian divisions away from Veltorina. Many of these divisions were not full strength or were otherwise suited only for defensive purposes, but it was hoped that such a buildup would preclude further offensive operations in Sarpedon for the time being.
As Urcea devised its wartime strategy, it also negotiated and agreed to the Istroya Pact with Burgundie. The Pact replicated the open borders and common market institutions of the Holy Levantine Empire between the two nations, both as a wartime expedient but also as a continuation of the beneficial conditions afforded under the Empire. Intended to be a temporary measure, the length of the war would lead to the Pact's existence for another two decades until it was replaced by the similar Levantine Union after the end of the Great War, coinciding with the end of the Third Fratricide.
The early winter months of 1935-36 saw the rapid deployment of veteran Dericania divisions to Urlazio. These forces had a nominal strength equaling about 400,000 men, but documents declassified in the 1960s indicate it was likely no more than 215,000 soldiers capable of fighting. Royal and Imperial Army intelligence began a campaign to confuse Caphirian intelligence to shield the true size of "Army Group West". This initially included positioning non-functioning tanks with fresh coats of paint in Urlazio followed by new, inflatable vehicles for visual reconnaissance purposes. By March 1936, the pace of fighting on mainland Sarpedon had slowed to a stalemate as it became clear the Urlazio gambit had worked - Caphiria's military apparatus took the threat on Urlazio very seriously, buying Veltorina the critical time it needed to refresh its fighting forces and allowing Urcea additional time to mobilize and prepare.
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With public opinion turning and pressure from the King, the Government of Urcea opened back-channel negotiations with the Government of Caphiria on October 15th, 1952. Urcea's main allies in the conflict - Cartadania and Burgundie - had determined to end the war with a settled peace earlier in 1951, and the assassination in Urcea turned Burgundie's attention from its commitments in Audonia to the ongoing Third Fratricide. Consequently, the initial back-channel negotiations had evolved into public negotiations in neutral Kiravia between four of the five members of the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association and Caphiria. Veltorina was excluded from peace negotiations, and several of Caphiria's allies - such as Faneria - joined the negotiations by January. On 18 February 1953, the powers had agreed to a cease-fire pending a final settlement of the conflict, though low level fighting continued on several fronts, most notably between Burgundie and militant groups in Audonia. Negotiations concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Kartika, which brought the war to an end on 19 May 1953. Caphiria and other powers recognized the Treaty of Corcra and the soon-to-be-formed Levantine Union as well as acknowledging any settlement with the Deric States that the Levantia and Odoneru Treaty Association allies agreed to. Caphiria acknowledged war guilt in Levantia while Urcea controversially acknowledged war guilt in Sarpedon, with both powers pledging to pay reparations to other associated powers on either side. Urcea had both gained and lost much from the final outcome of the war; most divisive was the agreement by Urcea to the annexation of Veltorina by Caphiria in exchange for the independence of and unification of the lands of Valcenia, which would retain Iulia's place in LOTA. Urcea agreed to host the Veltorine government-in-exile, but many veterans and Veltorines felt that Urcea had betrayed Veltorina in exchange for peace in the Deric States; the betrayal would sting for a generation to come. The Treaty settled other theaters of the war with less Urcean involvement, and in Audonia, Burgundie managed to dictate the terms of the peace. All powers involved agreed to form a League of Nations in order to prevent such a war - and such a delayed, controversial peace - from occurring ever again.
Third Fratricide
More Information: Third Fratricide
Urcea did not wait for the treaty negotiations that would lead to the Treaty of Kartika to conclude. The ceasefire functionally ending the shooting phase of the Second Great War in Sarpedon was sufficient, and by 1 June 1953, 70 divisions of the Royal and Imperial Army were mobilizing in Eastvale and Burgundiemarch. On the King's request, the Concilium Daoni formally declared war on the Derian Liberation League and its member-states on 10 June 1953, formally entering Urcea into the Third Fratricide. Intending to support the states of the Derian National Congress, the Royal and Imperial Army crossed the border on 11 June, and many divisions were deployed to the capital cities of Hollona and Diorisia and Vorenia, both of which had been threatened previously. The Royal and Imperial Army then divided its forces; the "Southern Prong" focused on the full liberation of Vorenia in order to allow forces from Burgundie to enter the Deric States, while the "Northern Prong" would push to Corcra, much of which was overrun by Liberation forces. The Royal and Imperial Army had begun to pull most of its forces out of Sarpedon by 5 June, and by summer 1954 it planned to have a full 200 divisions deployed to the Deric States.
The focus on the continental war for the last two decades and subsequent return to war in Levantia was a major blow for the National Pact, who had won each election since 1930. Though the general populace felt that the Pact deserved another term in 1950 to complete the war, by 1948 most Urceans were skeptical of how Sarpedon was of any concern to Urcea. The assassination of the King, combined with a reopening of hostilities in Dericania, turned the public decidedly against the Pact. Consequently, National Pact leadership began an aggressive plan to finish deployment of the 200 divisions promised by January of 1954. As these plans unfolded, existing Royal and Imperial Army were joined by freshly redeployed forces from Burgundie in September 1953 and defeated Liberation Army forces decisively at the Battle of Albiga, pushing them out of the country and freeing all of Vorenia from organized socialist resistance forces. The "Southern Prong" offensive was incredibly successful, allowing allied forces to enter the Deric States from the south and west, but the "Northern Prong" was less successful. The Royal and Imperial Army had been bogged down at Rendana, a city in Corcra, and failed to break out by 10 November, meaning that all operations were canceled until the promised 200 divisions arrived. Urcea and its Deric allies spent much of the winter planning the next year's offensives while engaged in a major disagreement over strategic bombing in Dericania. Urcean command argued it was necessary to subdue the Liberation forces while the Deric allies believed it would be detrimental from a morale point of view and would hamper the Deric States economic development in the years after the war.
Over the winter, the Royal and Imperial Army reorganized campaign forces in order to create a rational military command structure. With considerable hesitation, the forces of the Derian National Congress agreed to be subsumed into a single military hierarchy and command structure, an important precursor to the establishment of the later Levantine Union. The allies decided the best approach would be to push to the Levantine Ocean by capturing Loreseia and splitting the Deric States in half, marginalizing the Liberation forces. Organized Liberation operations collapsed following the successful March Offensive in Loreseia, though fractured cells and units remained in pockets throughout the Deric States. In April, the Liberation League officially disbanded and its remaining constituent members - the Socialist Republic of Vinesia and the Democratic Socialist State of Allaria - unconditionally surrendered on 17 April 1954. Both states refused to surrender to the Deric States, so Urcea accepted Vinesia's surrender and Burgundie accepted Allaria's. The six allied Deric States, Urcea, and Burgundie convened at Electorsbourg from April to July 1954, eventually agreeing to and signing the Treaty of Electorsbourg. The Treaty established the Deric Confederation of all of the states of the former Kingdom of Dericania excepting Burgundie. It established the Confederation as the legal successor of the Kingdom of Dericania, and additionally finalized border changes and Mediatization called for but not implemented in the Treaty of Corcra.
The Treaty of Electorsbourg formally brought to an end a generation of war for Urcea. At war since 1927, a large percentage of the population could not remember a time before hostilities began nearly three decades before. Critically, it laid the groundwork for negotiations later in 1953 that would transform Urcea and Burgundie's Istroya Pact into something including all of the former members of the Holy Levantine Empire. The bloodshed and considerable socio-economic disruption in Dericania lead to the conclusion that the former Empire's flaws could be reformed away with the creation of a free union between its member states. Following months of negotiations, the Levantine Union Treaty was signed on June 1st, 1954 and came into effect the same day, creating the Levantine Union between Urcea, Burgundie, Anglei, and the newly established ten Deric States. Fiannria would agree to join later in 1955, reuniting the entire 1935 Holy Levantine Empire into a new union.
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Levantine Theater
Background
Starting with the First Fratricide and Third Caroline War, 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 started with the Fiannrian White Revolution in 1823 when the Kingdom of Culfra was effectively dissolved and the Republic of Fiannria took its place. In the south, the Recess of the Julii continued as the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea had acted autonomously of the Empire since the Second Caroline War, dramatically reducing the resources and manpower available to the Empire. The Empire, and especially the Derians, tried to isolate Urcea in turn, and most of the Electors greatly resented the Urcean Crown since the War of the Caroline Succession temporarily stripped them of their authority in the later half of the 18th 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 and created a generation of veterans in Dericania who had been exposed to some of the Crown Liberalism ideas of the Urceans while captive as prisoners of war. As a consequence of the Imperial Court in Corcra, many Derians in the Kingdom of Dericania found themselves chafing under what Imperial authority remained, and particularly, the Derian bourgeois found that their Kingdom was falling behind the rest of the crumbling Empire in terms of liberalization. By the People’s Spring of 1848, formidable groups had formed in 15 states and formed their own protests, revolts, and organized labor actions. These were brutally suppressed by the Emperor, Louis XI.
In the 1880s Fiannria was invaded and the Emperor enforced a non-engagement order, barring any of the Holy Levantine Empire states from coming to Fiannria’s defense. This breach of the long standing mutual defense custom of the empire led many to hold the court in Corcra in contempt and once again sparked the flames of dissent in the Kingdom of Dericania. As a result of the Third Caroline War, many Derians had long feared that Urcea would attempt to consume the Kingdom of Dericania and its constituent states, and Derians now felt that the only thing keeping the Urceans away - the Imperial Court - would no longer protect them. The breach of the mutual defense custom flamed these fears as some speculated that Corcra would attempt to keep the “northern liberals” out of “southern politics”.
In the 1890s, the Red Interregnum broke out in Urcea, and this destructive civil war lead to the Depression of 1900, which destabilized the Empire and lead to mass uprisings in the Kingdom of Dericania. It also renewed an enmity between Caphiria and Urcea that would be an important undercurrent for the conflict in Catholic Levantia to come. Members of the Empire, and eventually the Empire as a whole, intervened in the war on behalf of House de Weluta against the Crown Regency of Gréagóir FitzRex, which sought, among other things, to have Urcea secede from the Holy Levantine Empire. FitzRex was replaced with the left wing short-lived Urcean Republic, which created an ideal radical socialist state from which Derian revolutionaries were inspired. With the de Welutas restored to the Julian Throne, the Recess of the Julii came to an end, temporarily strengthening the Empire despite the severe economic depression and uprisings. During the conflict, there were isolated shooting incidents between the Levantines and Caphirians, who supported the Crown Regency. These skirmishes would prove to be a prelude to the coming conflict.
In 1909, the Grand Duchy of Anivania was gripped by violence as republican forces took control of the ducal palace and declared a republic. By 1911, they concluded a civil war and formalized the Serene Republic of Anivania. Utilization of “Serene” to emphasize the sovereignty of the state was not recognized by most other Imperial states, but its success in achieving and maintaining autonomy sparked other movements later. In 1920, as it became clear violence and instability was gripping the Empire, the Collegial Electorate did what would have been unthinkable a century before and elected King James VI as Holy Levantine Emperor in a last ditch effort to stabilize the Empire. It was thought that Urcea's muscle behind the Empire may give it the resources needed to hold itself together. The next year, in 1921, the Electorate of Aescarata faced a socialist revolt. Urcea intervened and soon the intervention became an occupation. By 1925, the region was considered a "powder keg", waiting for the right spark to explode. Seeking to capitalize on the internal strife in the Empire and to stem "Levantine Creep", in 1922, Caphiria began to send agents to foment unrest in the Holy Levantine Empire. Caphiria was motivated not only by an enmity for the Empire but by a renewed sense of Derian nationalism, seeking to unify the Latinic world in the orbit of Venceia. Caphiria's interest was not in Dericania per se, but rather eastward, in Veltorina, whose independence was guaranteed by Urcea and other Imperial states.
The 1925 election in the Republic of Lutsana saw the majority of seats in the legislature go to the Lutsana Worker’s Party and the appointment of a communist Prime Minister. Emperor James III and the Imperial Diet suppressed the results and called for a new election with more “acceptable” results, fearing that the excesses of the Worker's Party may lead to another iteration of the Urcean Republic. A movement of seeking more self-determination, that had long been simmering across the Derian States, erupted. The Lutsana Worker’s Party refused to heed the demands of the Diet and the Emperor. The Army of Lutsana’s high command sided with the Emperor and announced they would arrest any member of the Worker’s Party who attempted to enter the parliamentary chambers. The Worker’s Party formed an army of workers and stormed the parliament building, challenging the will of the soldiers to shoot upon their countrymen. The soldiers retreated, and the matter was dropped. In February 1926, a syndicalist government was elected in Geneseo; the Duke of Geneseo validated the election results and then fled for Corcra. Again, the Emperor demanded a recount and sent detachment of the Royal and Imperial Army. They arrived at the border of Urcea and the Margrave of Novaustramark and were fired upon when they refused to stop. The incident sparked a border conflict between Urcea and Novaustramark, in which Urcea insisted that Imperial troops could not be barred from passage in any territory in the Holy Levantine Empire. Several Derian states pushed back declaring that they maintained the right to control their own borders and admit and deny who they chose. In turn, the Emperor began to mobilize the entirety of the Royal and Imperial Army. The mobilization was enough to quell the disquiet for the moment. The Army was stationed along the border of Urcea and the Burgundian territories of Faramount, both to intimidate rogue Deric states but also to emphasize a show of support for the government of Burgundie, which was viewed with increasing antagonism from the other state of Dericania. Additionally, the dissenting states were leveled with the price of the mobilization and billeting as punishment for their recalcitrance. As the price tag grew so too did the discontentment. The Imperial Diet erupted into fist fights almost daily as the smaller states vied to get out from under the new Imperial tax.
In July the Grand Duchy of Loreseia exploded with a rash of violence towards the Imperial tax collectors. 13 of them were killed and 4 more were beaten heavily. The Imperial Bank branches were robbed and set of fire in 3 cities. In the Duchy of Upper Verecundia a mob attacked the Ducal Palace and burned one of its wings to the ground. August saw an escalation of violence across the region. Violent street brawls became common in the streets of major cities as political parties and anti-monarchists attempted to control important sectors and pieces of infrastructure. The Emperor declared his intention to restore order, but acted hesitantly in order to avoid further conflagration in Dericania. By August, the Grand Duke had fled to Urceopolis and a provisional government was established.
Meanwhile, Caphiria hosted a secret meeting of Derian nationalists in order to strategize how to break the Levantine Imperial system. Under Caphirian guidance, the nationalist groups formed two field armies which were to be trained and supplied by Caphirian Imperial Legion attachés. The Loreseian provisional government volunteered as the landing point for the armies and to host the joint headquarters. On March 12, 1927 a massive flotilla of the Caphirian Imperial Naval Fleet landed the newly named Allied Armies of Dericania. The field armies, the Northern and Southern Liberation Legions, set out to southern Loreseia where they would divide and move to their respective theaters to encourage other state armies to join them and stand up against the Imperial Government and seek national sovereignty and autonomy. A minority of the leaders also sought the total dissolution of the Kingdom of Dericania or the entire Holy Levantine Empire.
Second Fratricide (1927-35)
1927
The Northern Legion which landed in Loresia to start the conflict was numerically superior technologically inferior and relatively untrained compared to the forces they would face. They numbered several hundred thousand infantry soldiers and officers and an impressive amount of cavalrymen, and lacked any consistent form of mechanization and comprised of only a sparse number of artillery pieces, as it was hoped local forces may defect and provide the heavy artillery necessary for a campaign. Their cavalry units were primarily armed with 19th century carbine patterns like the Mannlicher M1888 and the Berthier rifle. Artillery support was limited to light and medium field guns as most large bore artillery pieces were built into forts and city fortifications and they lacked the logistical train to move and support them. The Northern Legion was supported by a machine gun corps that focused its power around its Tachankas to remain mobile with its infantry. The Southern Legion, a relatively small force of approximately 42,000 infantrymen and 8,000 cavalry included 6 squadrons of armored cars and a well-armed artillery element. A system of railways supported them to keep their logistical needs met. The Legion's infantry were provided with a great variety of small arms, requiring a complex logistical effort that slowed the Legion significantly, rendering the railways mostly unusable as the army tried to keep its 14 or more different calibers supplied. Machine guns from the Army of Anivania and the Balloon Corps from the Army Air Service of Cannella were provided to the Southern Legion.
Upon hearing of the landing the Royal and Imperial Army demanded that all parties lay down their arms, and the Emperor made a direct appeal to the states of Dericania to muster their armies and gendarmes to quell any dissent and halt the invasion. A few weeks of awkward mobilizations and posturing started to see battle lines being drawn across Dericania. On March 29th, the Allied Armies of Dericania declared war on the Holy Levantine Empire and the Northern Legion marched on Drusla. The Duchy of Drusla, a strong ally in the region of Burgundie, called upon the Empire for aid. Upon consultation with the Emperor, the Army of Burgundie was set to deploy a division of freshly recruited militia to Drusla, but a telegram from the Government of Fiannria informed Burgundie that their forces entering the other states of Dericania would be considered a violation of Imperial law and the neutrality of Dericania, which Fiannria could not accept. The abstention of Fiannria from formally joining the Imperial Army and its threat was viewed as another fatal blow to Imperial stability and viewed as a tacit support for the nationalist movement in Dericania. Imperial diplomats were sent to Brídhaven to negotiate a deal and the Burgoignesc troops were stationed on the border of Burgundie as negotiations pressed onward. (This doesn't make sense anymore in light of the Derian-Burgundian element). The Northern Legion arrived at the capital of Drusla, however, before the Burgoignesc forces could cross the border. The city fell without a fight and the Army of Drusla was disbanded. The Free State of Drusla joined Loreseia as the first two self-declared independent countries in Dericania.
1928
In 1928, campaigning throughout Dericania continued without clear result, though many of the remaining principalities of Dericania were overthrown by socialists, liberals, and nationalists groups, who sometimes worked in tandem and in some states opposed each other. A civil war erupted between militant nationalists and liberals in the former Electorate of Aedanica and Caphirian diplomats had to step in to prevent the entire project from collapsing as a consequence. It was in this context that the Urcean government intercepted and decoded telegraph instructions from Venceia for the diplomats. The so-called "Order Affair" nearly led to direct war between Urcea and Caphiria, but Urceopolis ultimately backed down in an attempt to avoid a two-front war it did not believe itself prepared for. In November of 1928, the various Derian free-states and Legion-occupied principalities bound themselves together into the provisional Deric Republic, putting both legions under its command hierarchy. Despite the vastly different ideologies and political programs of the different states of Dericania, the Republic managed to remain unified for a period of time with the focus on the war effort.
1929
In 1929, the Emperor died, and his son, Brian, was elected Emperor of the Levantines as Emperor Brian VIII. Many members of the Collegial Electorate, some of whom were now in exile, perceived that the Urcean Crown was acting with some hesitation, leading to disagreement among its members as to whether or not to continue the so-called "Urcean Experiment". In the final meeting of the Collegial Electorate however, King Brian IV received a plurality of twelve votes among five different candidates chosen by the thirty electors. The new Emperor had to forego the ceremonial coronation due to the emergency gripping the Empire and opted for the Pope to crown him in a small ceremony in St. Peter's Archbasilica. Earlier that year, Faneria, looking to reverse its losses from the Fourth Kin War in the 1880s, invaded northwestern Fiannria. Diplomatic correspondence between Urceopolis and Brídhaven proved Caphirian involvement and support behind the Fhainns' decision to invade. As a consequence, Fiannria stopped its diplomatic and alleged materiel support of the Derian nationalists in order to focus on defending itself from a potential Fhainnin incursion, and formed a national emergency unity government.
Matavista Campaign
Hoping to capitalize on the withdrawal of the Fiannriai support, the Burgoignesc III Army Corps advanced to the foot of the Matavistas Mountains, in the Republic of Lutsana. The Burgoignians threw themselves against the lower slopes with enthusiasm. After quick gains in the foothills, the soldiers faced the steep rises and formidable terrain of the mountains. This gave the advantage to the Lutsanan and Jasonian Alpini. The Burgoignesc called upon their own alpine troops to dislodge the defenders. The 3rd Beaumiota Alpine and 8th Ouitelier Specialist Engineer Battalions were brought but the trenchworks and well-placed artillery saw them defeated within a month. The Army Air Service attempted bombing raids on the lower artillery emplacements but were thwarted by anti-aircraft batteries on higher peaks. The Raulie Bushrangers were called to the front and put to action. Their aggressive training on Mount Vitroluire in Burdeboch prepared them well for the harsh environment of the Matavistas Mountains. Arriving in October of 1929, the Bushrangers had taken the fight to the Lutsanans and Jasonians by mid-December. The front bodged down as winter set in. The Raulie Bushrangers were supported by the entire Beaumiota, Courmont, and Martiseau Alpine Regiments. As the early thaw of 1930, crept into the mountain ridges, the action resumed. Sappers readily dug and blasted deeper into the rock. Cannonades were constant. The highest elevations of the Matavistas were forever altered as summits were blasted, crevices and valleys were filled in with intentional landslides. The majority of the Burgoignesc III Army Corps moved on to other but the various Alpine units of the Army of Burgundie and its Burgoignesc Foreign Legion cycled through the Matavistas through the end of the war.
1930
Up through 1930, the conflict took the form of the last semi-Maurician War, as soldiers fought in loose formation and cavalry charges were expected to be battle-ending blows, but it was clear from 1928 onward that these tactics were growing more ineffective with each battle, especially as Urcean industry began to roar to life as Emperor Brian recognized this conflict as the beginning of total war based on many of the lessons learned during the Red Interregnum. By 1930, the Caphirian government began an effort to ship more machine guns to Levantia in order to prevent the two Legions from losing parity on the battlefield with the better equipped Royal and Imperial Army. By August of 1930, trench warfare had set in as the two Legions formed a very long defensive line surrounding the core region of the Deric Republic, including Corcra. The rest of the year would see both sides struggle to advance, though Urcea began to deploy prototype mechanized and armored units by the Fall of 1931, breaking the line in some places and allowing for a slow advance, though the unreliability of these new units would mean Urcea's advance would remain slow. While tactics were still adjusting to the technological realities of the 1930s, the Royal and Imperial Army's artillery core gained valuable experience with most units coming out of the Second Fratricide as veterans; consequently, the power of artillery began to shift the fighting in favor of the Royal and Imperial Army in the situations where its new technologies had not.
With the Royal and Imperial Army on the advance, secret meetings began to take place in Urceopolis between delegates of some of the rebelling states and the Imperial government. The rift between the Caphirian-supported nationalists and the liberals, as well as the socialist states, had grown significantly in the three years since the Order Affair, and many of the liberal Derians were interested in peace, chief among them being the provisional government of Corcra. The Derian delegates argued that their goals and the Urcean ideology of Crown Liberalism were not incompatible and that the liberals had no desire to find themselves under Caphirian suzerainty. Negotiations continued in secret through most of the 1932 campaign season, as Caphiria finally felt confident enough in the turmoil in Levantia to declare war on Veltorina. The spread of hostilities to Sarpedon gave Urcea an extra incentive to end the fighting, and the fears of the Collegial Electors from 1929 were realized when Emperor Brian, seeing a possible end to the war, agreed to terms with the liberal states to recognize their reorganization. Emperor Brian also agreed to discuss a later settlement on the final state of the Empire and Kingdom of Dericania, and agreed to peace - these terms were echoed in the Treaty of Corcra. Dozens of disaffected princes in exile in Urceopolis began to riot and were promptly arrested. The final phase of the war, following the so-called Liberal Shift, would see fighting between Derians as many of the liberal states joined the Royal and Imperial Army against both radical nationalists and socialist republicans in Dericania.
By 1935, the Northern and Southern Legions were confined to a territory roughly equaling the Grand Duchy of Loresia and spent much of the time campaigning against socialist insurgents in Loresia and from other Derian states rather than Imperial forces. With the end of the Levantine front in sight, the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea declared war on the Imperium of Caphiria on February 3rd and began to actively interdict Caphirian supply shipments to Dericania, though Urcea had been actively supplying Veltorina with arms and advisers for about three years. On May 2nd, the Northern and Southern Legions surrendered to the Royal and Imperial Army. Despite his victory, Emperor Brian surveyed Levantia and found a Fiannria undefended by the Empire, a Burgundie hopelessly engaged overseas, and a war-weary Kingdom of Dericania. Fearing an attempted resurgence of Imperial power, Fiannria announced its secession from the Holy Levantine Empire on May 10th. Accepting the inevitable, the Emperor issued a formal proclamation "forever relinquishing...the responsibilities and administration of Imperial Governance in the Kingdoms of Dericania and Culfra", effectively recognizing the collapse and end of the Holy Levantine Empire. Urcea, Fiannria, Burgundie, and the states of Dericania agreed to the Treaty of Corcra. In the Treaty, all states acknowledged the "end" of the Empire and the Deric states pledged to end any association with Caphiria, and the treaty recognized the Empire's continued existence only inclusive of Urcea. The Treaty also promised a future permanent settlement with regards to Dericania, though this would not come to fruition until 1953 with the establishment of the Deric States. With a separate peace found in Dericania, the Royal and Imperial Army was sent west to focus the Kingdom's entire efforts against the war with Caphiria while sending arms and materiel to Fiannria. Despite the end of the larger conflict between great powers in Dericania, the Third Fratricide between the new liberal regimes and socialist insurgents would continue into the 1950s, leaving the former Kingdom of Dericania devastated from decades of warfare.
Veltorina-Urlazio Theater
Background
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.
Continental Front
Having sufficiently caused a major conflict in Levantia which would distract Urcea and the Holy Levantine Empire from affairs elsewhere, Caphiria declared war and crossed the border of Veltorina on August 1st, 1932. The forces of Veltorina had long been preparing for such an invasion, which Urceopolis believed to be imminent, and the Imperial Legion spent much of 1932-1934 attempting to break through the heavily fortified borderlands with limited success. Caphiria's declaration of war with Veltorina would also draw in the Kingdom of Pantora which had held an alliance with Velot An attempt to break through in Balatum in the spring of 1935 was successful but saw Veltorine forces temporarily contain the Legions.
In February 1935, Urcea formally declared war on Caphiria although it had been responsible for providing war materiel and advisers since the beginning of hostilities in 1932. Thinking quickly, the Imperial Legion high command determined that it needed to break through the Veltorine defense line immediately, before the arrival of reinforcements from the Royal and Imperial Army or the war could potentially be lost. An extremely high-casualty all-out offensive in modern Sucalagio in July 1935 was waged and by the end of the month the Legions had broken the Veltorine defense lines, although it's estimated a quarter of a million Caphirians were killed in the fighting. The so-called July Offensive also saw the first major use of the Imperial Aerial Defense Force in a revolutionary coordinated land-air operation, informing Caphirian commanders for how to wage aggressive campaigns later in the war. The pioneering use of aircraft in the July Offensive - they had previously been used primarily for reconnaissance and strategic bombing - led all parties in the war to scramble to build tactical bombers and ground-attack aircraft based on the lessons learned during the offensive.
The static border defenses were immediately demolished, and the Legions spent the remainder of the year attempting to regroup before furthering their advance.
Urcea's Royal Navy, with logistical support from the Navy of Burgundie, began to interdict trade between Urlazio and mainland Caphiria in February 1935, and began launching raids and strikes on key areas in hopes of baiting Caphiria's Imperial Naval Fleet into open combat in the Sea of Urlazio. The Royal and Imperial Army began rapidly reinforcing the Urcean-occupied portions of the island in preparation for a Caphirian assault. No assault came, however, as most of the available reserves had been pooled on the continent for the July Offensive. Despite the lack of an invasion, the Imperial Naval Fleet launched a campaign in March of 1935 intending to destroy the Royal Navy's Sarpedon Squadron, opening up a potential attack on Halfway. The loss of Halfway would cut Urcea's ability to resupply in Veltorina or Talionia, leaving them open to invasion by Caphiria. The Imperial Naval Fleet believed it could destroy the Sarpedon Squadron by concentrating most of its forces against it, employing a defeat-in-detail strategy that would render the Royal Navy useless, allowing the Imperial Naval Fleet to focus on the Navy of Burgundie. On March 19th, 1935, the two sides met at the Battle of the Adonáire Strait after two weeks of probing attacks by the Imperial Naval Fleet. Despite the concentration of forces and superior numbers, it became clear by the afternoon that Caphiria had drastically underestimated the capability and technological sophistication of the Royal Navy, and by five in the afternoon the two forces had fought to a draw, with none of Urcea's ships severely damaged and a small handful of Caphirian cruisers having been lost. One of Urcea's Canaery-class aircraft carriers, which had been in use primarily for reconnaissance purposes, decided to employ its experimental jury-rigged torpedo adaptation on its planes. Launching from HMCMS Aedanicus Carolinicus, twenty torpedo bombers inflicted severe damage on the Imperial Naval Fleet, which heretofore had not equipped its ships with anti-air complements. The twenty jury-rigged planes implemented severe losses on the Imperial Naval Fleet in a few sorties. At the end of the day, four Caphirian battleships, ten battlecruisers, and a handful of light cruisers were severely damaged or sunk. The battle signaled the dawn of naval air power, but also severely weakened the Imperial Naval Fleet and left it functionally a non-factor in the Sea of Canete for the remainder of the war, establishing naval supremacy for Urcea and Burgundie.
Peace Negotiations
Legacy
Despite decades of bloodshed affecting the vast majority of the world's population, the war came to an inconclusive end. Caphiria managed to annex Veltorina but was largely unable to make any headway against Urcea in Urlazio, parts of Veltorina, and Talionia and was forced to cede large areas of land to the newly created Valcenian Confederation, including the Konstandina Canal. Urcea could not prevent the collapse of the Holy Levantine Empire, but managed to stabilize the continent and close it to Caphirian influence, paving the way for the establishment of the Levantine Union. While the Royal and Imperial Army could not meaningfully defeat Caphiria in the field, the Caphirians were likewise unable to challenge the naval and air superiority of Urcea and Burgundie. Caphiria also failed to break the diplomatic, economic, and political importance of Urcea and Burgundie in Levantia, which was its primary goal in the late 1920s. The late stage of the war saw both of these powers rapidly escalate the conflict in an effort to establish themselves as the sole superpower, which neither was able to do, leading to the eventual Occidental Cold War. While the failure of arms to establish dominance in the Occident was the primary takeaway in both Venceia and Urceopolis, the decades of what many perceived to be meaningless bloodshed lead to the establishment of the League of Nations in an effort to prevent future conflict.
In addition to the geopolitical ramifications of the conflict, military thinking and technology were entirely revolutionized over the course of the quarter century-long war. Early war fighting in Levantia continued to use 19th-century doctrines of mass assault based on large-scale infantry assaults only employing small arms and, in some circumstances, equine cavalry. The proliferation of machine guns by 1930 changed warfare completely as military tactics officers were trained in proved largely irrelevant. By the end of the Second Fratricide, the trench warfare situation had largely been broken by pioneering use of artillery joined by the new technologies of mechanized transport and armor, lessons that were not lost in Sarpedon as Caphiria began rapid mechanization to prepare for the eventual direct war with Urcea. Many historians have noted that the effect on warfare the Great War had can be easily perceived based on the fact that, before the war, every Great Power relied on horses to move supplies and artillery around. By 1940, each of the great powers was fully mechanized and motorized, revolutionizing logistics in a relatively short 13-year span. The average infantry kit was revolutionized as well. To enter the war, Urcea was employing bolt-action rifles, such as the SR-9 and SR-9C by 1929. By the time hostilities concluded, many LOTA forces - especially those of the Royal and Imperial Army - were using either selective-fire assault rifles, such as the SAR-40, or advanced, semi-automatic battle rifles.
Military developments were not limited to revolutionizing land warfare. The importance of air power became evident during the conflict as all sides scrambled to develop and mobilize a workable air force. The Levantine powers initially focused on strategic bombing via the use of airship until it became apparent that these were easily countered by nascent fighters and ground-based artillery. On the sea, naval warfare was changed forever following the advent of torpedo bombers at the Battle of the Adonáire Strait gave Urcea a clear advantage, demonstrating the value of aircraft carriers and portending the impending decline of battleships and other surface warfare ships. The use of strategic air power grew exponentially by year, and by the end of the war it allowed Caphiria to detonate the first ever nuclear bomb dropped from an airplane.
Technological developments during the war were not limited to military advancements. The invention of rudimentary military rockets during the war was refined during the late war and 1950s allowing for the creation of various space programs throughout the world. The advent of nuclear fission not only provided the great powers with a weapon of unimaginable destructiveness, but it also provided the ability to tap into nearly unlimited nuclear power for civilian applications. Logistical concerns of shipping supplies to various far-flung combat theaters lead to the rapid advancement of refrigeration technology, and by the end of the war refrigerators were readily available for civilian consumption and were in most homes. The development of the jet for military applications soon lead to very early civilian jetliners entering rotation by the war's end. The race to motorize and mechanize lead to major advancements in automobile technology, making them easier to construct, faster, more reliable, and cheaper for civilian consumers.
Remeberance
In southern Levantia the war is commemorated with the wearing of the chrysanthemum. This tradition started in the mid 60s when veterans returning the battle fields in Lutsana and northern Burgundie found them covered in these flowers. Since so much of the gorund had been disturbed and no deep rooted plants, shurbs, or trees survived, wildflowers like the chrysanthemums had become the dominant plant life in these fields. It is common for veterans to wear a real or fake chrysanthemum on their lapel during the dates of battles or on anniversaries of the death of family members or friends who died in battle.
In Burgundie it also became a symbol for reactionary youth and support for Operation Kipling in the context of The Great Tumult.