Great War (Pacifica)
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The Great War was a series of interconnected wars and spin-off wars in the South Pacific that lasted from 1949 to 1955. It involved two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Imperialists and their respective allies. The major participants engaged their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in the war effort. It was the deadliest conflict in human history with over xx military and civilian casualties.
The Great War began on 27 August 1949 when Karnetvor under Stjepan Masić invaded the TCC from Tasternine. Subsequently, Sedunn, Ryccia and Stoina - dubbed the Allies, including the TCC - declared war on Karnetvor. Tekarai honoured its alliance with Karnetvor, and were collectively called the Imperialists.
Background
Sub-Capricorn
In the 1940s the political situation in the southern half of the South Pacific Ocean (i.e. the Sub-Capricorn) had been relatively stable since the collapse of the expansionist Karnetvorian Confederacy in 1928, which had been replaced by a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. However, the Kingdom of Karnetvor was becoming overpopulated and the new welfare system struggled. In 1944 Stjepan Masić of the Social-Democratic Party was elected on a platform of social reforms, an expanded welfare system and a revanchist foreign policy. To solve Karnetvor's problems, he argued for securing control over the southern half of the South Pacific Ocean to provide the necessary goods and raw materials to his population and land for repopulation.
On 24 October 1944, Karnetvor and Tekarai signed a non-aggression pact. Tekarai was a colonial empire and had recently annexed Ubesii on the southeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where Tekarai wished to expand further.
The Tasternine Archipelago was a main hub for trans-Pacific trade as well as for Karnetvorian power projection in the region. It was considered to be in a vulnerable position due to its proximity to Termina, located to its south. Since the Karnetvorian Confederacy had annexed Tasternine there had been calls to control the Terminan city states (TCC) along the Crabrian coast, and several proposals had been made to the TCC to let Karnetvor rent ports and build bases there, which had all been turned down, but not unanimously. Some city states favoured Karnetvorian control for the business opportunities it provided. Karnetvorian authorities sought to exploit the divide. By 1949, tensions were high.
On 23 August 1949, the Karnetvorian crown prince and his wife travelled to Clocktown, Termina, for trade negotiations. During a tour of the city, an immigrant called Alexandro Petro got on top of the car's hood and shot the Crown Prince in the chest three times before moving onto his wife, which he also shot three times, killing the couple. Petro was apprehended and taken to a prison where he would be executed. The TCC chancellor sincerely apologised for the murder. The following day, Karnetvor started mobilising in secret.
Supra-Capricorn
Similar to the Sub-Capricorn, the sub-equatorial region above the tropic of Capricorn colloquially also known as the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, saw the rise of political turmoil as well. In northeastern Cordilia, the Father States took control over the Ikaranarean states and Pastrala in 1880. Upset about the failures of the Triangular Empire, they had overthrown the governments of Ikarn, Narus and Ranaras, forcing the royals to flee to Reizen in the Frost Empire. In the Father States, expansionism was a means of acquiring new populations to increase production. Eventually, the Father States would be able to lift the burden of production off of the Indavral populations and instead on to other populations. Indavra was already rich in resources, but the labor of production could be pushed onto less resource rich areas. However, their first course of action was to "Restore their natural borders." This culminated in the annexation of Constadia and Tzardas (Tarnese: Țardaș), two Stoinian exclaves in 1932 and a full scale invasion of Losavra in 1945, leading to the capitulation and annexation of the country of more than 100 million in just 2 weeks. In 19XX, they signed a nonaggression pact with the Frankists and started militarizing more and more, building up all branches of the military for what they assumed would be a major war as they prepared for an invasion of Cadíæ following its civil war and Nea-gy.
Cadíz was in a precarious situation. The Cadisian Civil War saw the abolishment of José Bernal 'El Comandante' Espinosa's dictatorship over the time span of 1944 to 1947. The conflict saw the first appointment of a female army General named Yolanda Mayara and the eventual restoration of a democratic monarchy under Yunel Soto. The royalty that had fled to Stoinia returned, but the political situation still remained unstable due to political tensions with political opposition through the Popular Party led by Espinosa's former right-hand man, Diego Montesinos. These situations contributed to the Father States priming their interests of industrial expansion with the Cadisian populace.
Stegăroian Deterrence
The Kingdom of Stoinia, saw a period of rapid military modernisation between the 1930s & 1940s under General Andrei Stegăroiu who was appointed Chief of Defence Staff in late 1932. The modernisation was motivated in large part because of heightened tensions with neighbouring states following the Marsh Wars with Ezervulge and annexation of Constadea and Țardaș by the Father States following skirmishes in 1932. Stoinia under the King Mihai III saw the centralisation of leadership in both King and Prime Minister with the appointment of General Andrei Stegăroiu in 1941 as Prime Minister. Prioritising a deterrent foreign policy under military expertise, a renewed focus was given to the protection of Stoinian overseas territories in Cordilia and the Central Islands. Furthermore, the overseas ground forces saw modernisation up to the standard of Metropolitan Stoinia. This policy was intended as a deterrent to neighbouring nations who might have dreams of claiming Stoinian overseas territories as their own.
This stance of military deterrence saw heightened tensions with Huawanese political factions who wished to reclaim the territories in southern Corinia inhabited by Paeonisian and Garanian. This saw several skirmishes on remote islands in the Gulf of Kringalia prior to the Great War in the Shai Kong region which was a strategic port in the northern area of the Gulf of Kringalia. The Stoinian Royal Navy saw a massive expansion of 340 warships from 1935 to 1947, one of Pacifica's most well-known naval build-ups in history. Furthermore, Stoinia dedicated large amounts of resources to the modernisation of the Stoinian Royal Navy, being amongst the first to introduce naval aircraft carriers, and partaking in the Stoino-Ikaranarean naval arms race its shipbuilding infrastructure and modernisation of army equipment. It also saw wide recruitment campaigns of native overseas soldiers through the creation of the Garāori, Islander and Pētean Army Corps (GIPAC) in 1934 to bolster the ranks in overseas territories.
With the outbreak of the Weissersteiner Civil War, Prime Minister Stegăroiu committed to the monarchist cause in the civil war. The {Cordilian conflict served as proving grounds of new Stoinian military equipment, tactics and doctrine. Mechanised and armoured units evolved to a more fast-paced form of warfare which was in stark contrast to the attrition tactics of the Marsh Wars. Instead, the Stoinian Armed Forces adopted a doctrine named Bellica Incessante (Austral: Ceaseless Warfare) pioneered by the Catanian Major General Giovanni Scirano during the Weissersteiner Civil War, favouring combined arms and battering enemy forces without giving them a chance to rest. When there wasn't an offensive, the Stoinians resorted to large-scale artillery fire or air strikes to never allow their enemies to rest. To sustain this type of warfare, the Stoinian arms manufacturing industry boomed and tripled in size from the early 1930s by the end of the Weissersteiner Civil War.
Although Stoinia has always claimed to have switched from a reactive stance to a proactive one since the Giurescu Concessions, at the time other nations and even internal political opposition have claimed that this form of 'Stegăroian Deterrence' has led to further polarisation of neighbouring states. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Andrei Stegăroiu has always remained adamant in his belief stating that it was a necessary step for Stoinia to pursue if it was to preserve its place in the South Pacific. Calling Stoinia one of the last true democracies as the world succumbed to Imperialist influences. Nowadays, this belief is hailed by many as the truth and seen as a golden era of Stoinia's prominence as a democracy.
Gianlucian Empire
Mainly through trade with the Austral Empire and Sedunn, the industrialisation was introduced in the Gianlucian Empire in the early 1800s. The economy, which was formerly based on the exploitation and selling of natural resources globally, transitioned towards an economy processing said goods to higher-quality products in larger quantities than before. The newly achieved scientific progress and wealth led to philosophers like Karl Friedberg and Friedrich Teufel to formulate theses on the future development of capitalism and colonialism and the calling of the proletariat to rise up globally against the old structures to demand a fairer organisation and distribution of work and profits gained through work.
In many colonies of the Gianlucian Empire workers started to organise based on that and similar manifestos, often combining their wishes to receive "a fair share" with nationalist demands for independence from the Empire. From the mid-1800s forward, the Gianlucian Empire has lost all of its colonies except for Hazelia and Neu-Faburg until the 1920s. This created several economical problems for the Empire. Firstly global trade routes of the Empire were mostly severed, which meant that it had to refocus its economic strategy mainly on the extended Frastinian area, in which most countries had imposed protectionist policies against it. Secondly, the decolonisation meant worse access and thus a lack of resources to continue to produce products in the desired quality and quantity for the world market. By the start of the 1920s the Gianlucian Empire has gotten into an economic recession because of this, which meant rising costs of living and high unemployment rates. At the same time, the democratic parties in the 'Reichstag' and the reigning Emperor Gianluca III were seen as weak and not keeping their promises to curb the recession anytime soon.
After publishing the bestseller book Für die Ehre ("For Honour") in 1923 and using militant extremist groups to spread terror throughout the country, Meinhard Frank took advantage of the situation and rose to power with his National and Socialist Party of Frankist Progressivism (NSPFP). In 1935, backed by military leaders and thousands of militant and civilian supporters, he demanded successfully from the Emperor to transfer all powers to him, manifesting himself as the Führer ("Leader") of the Gianlucian Empire through the "Enabling Act". What followed was a restructuring of the Gianlucian politics, economy and society (frankification) and, between 1940 and 1948, a diplomatic and industrial preparation of a war. The result were non-agression pacts and cooperation treaties with future imperialist actors in the war and a participation in the Weissersteiner Civil War with the infamous Legion Pelikan ("Pelican Legion") to test the new military abilities prior to the war.
Course of the war
War breaks out (1949)
Sub-Capricorn
05:00 hours, 27 August 1949 the Karnetvorian navy and air force launched strikes against TCC ports and airfields (Operation Raven). Airborne and marine troops were deployed to secure airfields, ports and other strategic infrastructure to create beaches and airheads for the bulk of the invasion forces. Some TCC city states openly sided with Karnetvor, offering favourable concessions to the detriment of the city state where the assassination happened. A formal state of war was declared, citing the assassination of the heir to the throne of Karnetvor as casus belli.
On the same day, Sedunn, Ryccia and Stoinia, all being important naval powers in the South Pacific Ocean and liberal democracies, declared war on Karnetvor, wanting to preserve the balance of power in the region and save Termina from annexation. Johnathan Fletcher, supreme leader of the Dominion of Tekarai, honoured the alliance with Karnetvor and joined the war, seeking to dominate the Mediterranean Sea and cripple its rival Sedunn in particular.
On 28 August, Sedunn pulled back naval forces from the Remetull Islands to concentrate them in the Mediterranean Sea to take on the Tekarian navy in order to prevent it from joining the Karnetvorian forces in the ocean, despite knowing about the Karnetvorian plans to invade the strategically important islands. The main harbours were destroyed to prevent Karnetvor from making strategic use of the islands, which also reduced Sedunn's capacity to supply its naval forces in the region. Ezervulge mobilised its military to potentially take advantage of the situation and avenge its defeat in Peter I's War.
Karnetvor made rapid gains against the TCC and was able to transfer several hundreds thousands of troops by ship and air, having supremacy at sea.
Supra-Capricorn
Taking advantage of the outbreak of the war between allied and imperialist forces, the Ikaranarean Father States launched a surprise attack on 1 September 1949 against the unstable neighbouring Cadíz which was still rebuilding five years after its civil war. The former Stoinian colony which gained independence during the Elbonian Wars, still held many cultural ties with Stoinia. As a result, the mother nation of Stoinia declared war on the Father States on the following day. Despite the Stoinian declaration, the initial push by the Father States had gained them significant swaths of land in Cadíz and they were able to eventually conquer the entire country in a period of one month. The exhausted Cadisians were quickly overrun by the invading war machine and in some cases were conquered before they were mobilised. A majority of the Cadisian navy would escape however to Carraca with both royals and politicians who formed a government in exile in Stoinia.
North Cordilia
After tensions between the Kingdom of Snolland and the Gianlucian Empire rose since the start of 1949, Gianlucian troops took their first shots at Snolland as of 3 October 1949, 3:00 AM. Frank has declared war on Snolland following an alleged attack on a Gianlucian vessel en route to Puerto Pollo and argued, the war declaration was to protect the Gianlucian people, including the minority living in Snolland. With this the last imperialist power joined the war, albeit with little acknowledgement by the major allies in the beginning.
Sub-Capricorn (1949-1950)
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In October, the Sedunnic navy engaged and thoroughly defeated the Tekarian navy in the Second Naval Battle of the Strait of Saint Michael, dealing a crippling blow to the Tekarian war effort in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sub-Capricorn. Ezervulge demobilised and declared strict neutrality which meant that Sedunn and Stoinia could redeploy units that had been intended for the defence of the homelands. Karnetvor invited Techganet to join the war on its side, offering territory in Crabry such as the Stoinian ports of Sulina, Vudesque and Lonfar in Actora. Techganet accepted. Sedunn's navy was strained from the previous battles and patrolling and needed to recover. Additional ships were ordered on a massive scale. Stoinia helped build ships.
Meanwhile, The Sedunnic army and rapidly raised militias repulsed several Karnetvorian landing attempts on Piel Island. In what was to be known as the Gentlemen's War, the Karnetvorian and Sedunnic commanders avoided excessive force and informed each other when they were about to destroy equipment or buildings so that they could evacuate their personnel. This was due to the old friendship between high ranking officers in the nations.
In January 1950, Karnetvor invaded and annexed Government Island after having repulsed the Allied naval taskforce dispatched to protect the island. The entirety of the population was deported. The island had great strategic value and was to be used as a stepping stone for the planned invasion of the Siculites later.
Mediterranean (1949)
Sedunn, being largely unopposed in the Mediterranean Sea, supplied Ubesian rebels with weapons. Ryccia managed to send naval reinforcements through Imperialist blockades (either Gianlucan if north or Tekarian if south) which arrived in Stoinia and Sedunn.
By May 1950, Sedunn was ready to resume large-scale naval operations. Sedunn, supported by Stoinia and Ryccia defeated the Karnetvorian navy in the Battle of the Sea of Sedunn and Allied forces under Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto succeeded to accomplish a strategic victory in the Third Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea by winning a decisive victory through the liberation of most of the Central Islands, the allied forces effectively cut off the Siculites and Government Island from Karnetvorian supply lines. With the eastern half of the Sub-Capricorn mostly secured, the Allies (Sedunn, Ryccia and Stoinia) started sending reinforcements to Termina, and the Karnetvorian advance was stalled.
Defence of Corinia (1949-1950)
At the outbreak of the war, the Stoinian Corinian Defence Fleet was largely ordered to maintain a defensive position in Corinia while troops could be mobilised overseas following the demobilisation of Ezervulge. On October 17th however, Corinia would see its first conflict, ending the one month of waiting. The Imperialist fleet lead by Karnetvorian Admiral Vojkan Karanović consisted of roughly 42 and 31 {Karnetvorian and Techanarean ships respectively. The joint task force was meant to cripple the Corinian Defence Fleet in a swift stroke. It would come face-to-face with multiple contingents of 65 ships of the Corinian Defence Fleet patrolling near the island of Taiping which belonged to Stoinia. What ensued of the Battle of Taiping was a major Stoinian defeat as the sparse patrol detachments without naval aircraft carriers were picketed off one by one and swiftly outgunned by the Imperialist fleet. Mainly Stoinian screen ships were sunk, but ship losses included 10 cruisers, the battlecruisers HMS Milescu and HMS Reghea, and the battleship HMS Cetus. In total, the Stoinians had lost 52 ships with the Imperialists only lost 13 ships in one of the first battles using carriers.
Following the Battle of Taiping, the Imperialist fleet believed it had destroyed the Corinian fleet and Admiral Karanović in his pride decided to instil terror on Shai Kong before docking in its ports. As such, the Imperialist fleet came near the shore of Shai Kong earlier than what normal protocol would dictate. This would prove to be a mistake by the Imperialist fleet as the Shaikongers alerted the surviving elements of the Corinian Defence Fleet stationed in Carao. The most senior officer was Commodore Ryuk Dae-Jung. Scrambling the remaining docked ships in Carao, Commodore Dae-Jung set out to defend Corinia from the Imperialists. As the First Naval Battle of Shai Kong started, Commodore Dae-Jung would eventually overcome the odds and defeat the Imperialist task force through surprise tactics relying on the aircraft of his ships. Commodore Dae-Jung would suffer minimal losses while the Imperialist fleet of the remaining 59 ships was completely sunk. Admiral Karanović would not survive the battle.
In the following months, Commodore Dae-Jung fought off multiple attempts by Imperialist forces to conquer Shai Kong and Corinia, totalling 15 military engagements from October 1949 to June 1950. The defeat of the Imperialist forces was in large part due to the inadaptability of the Imperialist naval officers when faced with Commodore Dae-Jung's use of aeroplanes against which they were mostly ill-equipped. Nonetheless, the Corinian Defence Fleet valiantly continued to defend the Stoinian territory on Cordilia. Commodore Dae-Jung would be hailed a national hero for his achievements and be given the highest order of Stoinian military decorations. In addition, he was named the Lord Admiral of Corinia by King Mihai III, becoming the first Paeo-Garanian to receive the honour, gaining him much renown with the Shaikongers. His authority as Lord Admiral would also include the ships that would come to reinforce Corinia later on. However, Lord Admiral Dae-Jung would not rest his fate to stalled reinforcements and in accordance with the Governor of Shai Kong Aleroma Beverino, would start converting transport vessels into light aircraft carriers to bolster the Defence of Corinia while awaiting for the larger Stoinian naval reinforcements after the Second Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea.
Operation Nighthawk (1949)
The Karnetvorian and Techanarean Imperial Navy would, however, be able to swiftly conquer the port cities of Sulina, Vudesque and Lonfar in Actora from Stoinia under the command of Admiral Hakin Myaunalki who sieged the cities on the night of October 28th. Operation Nighthawk (Karnetvorian: Операция Ястреб) as the military offensive was called, was another early decisive Stoinian defeat and morale booster of Sub-Capricorn Imperialist forces. The military operation Although the Stoinian fleets were easily outgunned and sunk, the local populace continued to fight the occupation. However, the occupation under Admiral Myaunalki would prove a reign of terror which would be cemented in the conscience of the port cities which would eventually lead to the handover of the cities in 1975. The port cities would however be liberated by Lord Admiral Dae-Jung in August 1952 following the consolidation of the Stoinian Royal Navy in the Sub-Capricorn territories on Cordilia and Crabry.
Supra-Capricorn Theatre (1949-1950)
Preliminary Imperialist offensives in the Central Islands (1949-50)
Stoinia was in a precarious position as it now was at war with Karnetvor, Techganet, Ubesii, Ikaranarean Father States and the Gianlucian Empire. Although allied with Sedunn, Termina and Ryccia the Stoinain Royal Navy despite its size was forced to spread over multiple fronts in the Mediterranean, Sub-Capricorn and Supra-Capricorn. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Stegăroiu vowed to protect the Stoinian territories of Carraca, Pētea and the Lile Uile Islands as well as guaranteeing the independence of Conaro. It would see the first Imperialist attempt to conquer the strategic Central Islands under Admiral Radomir Zorić who was an old friend of Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto, the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. A large fleet, 122 strong, set sail from Tasternine and arrived in the Brevero Sea on October 15th 1949. There it clashed with the Stoinian Royal Navy under Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto's Pacific Fleet in the First Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea. The battle was a pyrrhic Stoinian victory with many losses on both sides with 65 and 72 Allied and Imperialist ships sunk. One of the sunken ships was the HMS Proteus, a prominent battleship of the Stoinian Royal Navy and considered by some as the pride of the battleships. The First Battle of the Brevero Sea would prove the first strike in a one-two punch. However, with the Mediterranean Sea being threatened by Tekarai, Stoinia committed a large portion of its navy to help Sedunn to neutralise the Tekarian naval threat, leaving the Central Islands largely undermanned for subsequent offensives.
In December 1949, continued raids and harassment campaigns by the Karnetvorian Imperial Navy, the Stoinian Royal Navy had been severely depleted of its strength. Sedunn's and Stoinia's navies were strained from the previous battles and patrolling. Both nations needed time to recover and reinforce their spread-out navies. Additional ships were ordered on a massive scale in both Sedunn and Stoinia. Despite this, naval warfare was remarked to have been relatively tame compared to other naval battles due to the brotherly bond between the two naval commanders, often saving enemy sailors from drowning and pilots tipping the plane at downed pilots in aerial combat. This was a rare participation of a Stoinian officer joining in the Gentlemen's War as both Admiral Zorić}} and Fleet Admiral Barreto had forged a bond in a military training exercise prior to Karnetvorian imperialism between Karnetvor, Sedunn and Stoinia. Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto would, however, prove to be an exception to this rule as most Stoinian officers preferred to incorporate Bellica Incessante tactics which emphasised creating as many military casualties as possible. It also saw the modernisation of naval warfare relying on naval carriers as the decisive dcotrine.
Imperialist invasion of the Central Islands (1950)
As the situation stabilised in Termina by February 1950, Karnetvor still wasn't in full control yet as the capital was not in their hands yet. Following its surprise attack on Kanaka Harbour in the Lile Uile Islands on January 14th, the Imperialist forces of Karnetvor, Techganet and Tekarai under the command of Admiral Radomir Zorić engaged Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto in the Second Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea. This time the Imperialist forces had gained the upper hand and landed on the Siculite Islands as well as Pētea and the Lile Uile Islands. Not even the native stronghold of the Garāori in the Carracan archipelago, Matakana Island, was spared. In a month, they defeated the Ryccian defenders, but the Ryccians and the natives fought a guerrilla campaign, that was not fully defeated until April. Similarly, the Stoinians and native islanders held valiant defences for a couple of months but were outnumbered in the end before resorting to sleeper cells. Karnetvor officially annexed the islands, but the Second Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea had seen no decisive victor in the Central Islands and a stalemate on the Carracan main island followed. However, the Principate of Conaro decided to join the war effort through the Conegasque Expeditionary Corps as Stoinian officers had trained Conegasque volunteer troops since the beginning of the war. Although only adding roughly 24,000 troops to the larger war effort, the Conegasque Expeditionary Corps consisted of 5.7% of the Conegasque population and would become one of the most lethal military units throughout the war.
Seeing their ancestral islands being occupied and their peoples abused instilled a fire within the Garāori, Islander and Pētean Army Corps' soldiers who mostly comprised of the natives of the Central Islands. Under Lieutenant-General Paul Celăreanu, GIPAC forces would cross the Raukawa Strait between Kihei and the Carracan island on the dawn of May 5th 1950. This signalled fellow Gipac sleeper cells who remained undercover on other islands to attack as well. This lightning attack by the Gipacs instilled terror within the stationed Imperialist forces as the Gipacs engaged zealously in surgical precise guerilla warfare utilising the knowledge of their native lands. This would bring in a response from the Imperialist forces which Allied forces exploited in the Third Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea on May 15th. Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto lead the Allied Pacific Naval Task Force and after conferring with Lord Admiral Dae-Jung, he heavily emphasised strengths of the newly built Stoinian aircraft carriers to exploit the weaknesses of the Imperialist navies. This proved to be the decisive doctrine that lead to the defeat of the Imperialist forces commanded by Admiral Radomir Zorić. Admiral Zorić, having been decisively defeated, raised his white flag and surrendered to Allied forces.
In the following months, the GIPAC forces joined in the liberation of Government Island, Pētea and the Lile Uile Islands, gaining much renown and admiration from both Allied and Imperialist forces. Similarly, the Conegasque Expeditionary Corps achieved reputable achievements to a lesser extent as well in this campaign, though Imperialist forces were known to surrender upon sighting GIPAC forces. These battles established the Garāori, Islander and Pētean Army Corps as one of Stoinia's most elite military units. Despite liberation efforts, the Imperialist forces on the Sicullite islands remained heavily fortified and isolated. Instead of risking high casualties, Allied forces decided to weed out the Siculites over a longer period of time by demoralising the Imperialist forces. Making it a unique stronghold within the Central islands throughout the war. This campaign would continue until the liberation in May 1953 by Ryccian and Sedunnic forces. The Karnetvorian lead Imperialist forces would however dare sporadic efforts to pierce through the Allied blockade of the northern Central Islands to resupply the Siculites. However, the Imperialist encryption coding system called Zagadka (Karnetvorian: загадка), would be decrypted by the Litanian mathematician, computer scientist and cryptanalyst Abilio Torrado which prevented any more successful Imperialist advancements into the Central Islands. Typically by intercepting the messages and deploying Stoinian aeroplanes from its aircraft carriers to sink Karnetvorian warships without necessarily revealing they cracked the Zagadka Code.
As the Stoinian Royal Navy recuperated from the Third Naval Battle of the Brevero Sea, Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto was promoted to Lord Admiral of the Pacific and unified multiple national fleets, including the remnants of the Cadisian Navy, under one command. Bolstered by the numerous offensives in the Central Islands, the Ikaranarean Father States deployed the Narussian Navy to conquer the strategic islands after the Karnetvor-lead forces had failed to do so. In addition, Ikaranarean leadership was eager to prove its naval dominance following the Stoino-Ikaranarean naval arms race. With modern warships and a new doctrine, the Narussian Navy engaged the Stoinian Royal Navy on June 16th in the Fourth Battle of the Brevero Sea. What followed was a continuous stalemate in the Brevero Sea between Allied and Imperialist forces.
The various battles saw the reliance on aeroplanes in modern naval warfare from both sides. However, the Allied forces under Fleet Admiral Alonso Barreto continued to weaken the bulk of the Narussian Navy. Especially once the Emeraldian Navy bolstered the Allied forces with new naval elements, saw the tide slowly tip towards the favour of Allied forces by March 1951. Until the breaking of the Narussian Navy, the Father States were able to keep eastern Allied forces at bay.
Frankist advances in North Cordilia (1949-1951)
Western front (1949)
During the Weissersteiner Civil War, the Frankist armed forces have tried out a new warfare tactic based on speed called "blitzkrieg". With the help of this tactic, the Gianlucian army was capable of taking over Snolland and, after breaking the cooperation treaty with them, also Atlantis in only three weeks. In line with a policy of "forced auto-submission", Frankist administrations tasked to politically and culturally assimilate the occupied territories were established in both countries on 25 October 1949.
To secure the Western border from a potential intervention of communist forces from Bruuma or military of the Austra, Frank has dropped plans to invade the Bruuman islands. Instead money and weapons were covertly provided to the communists during the Bruuman Civil War and thus secured the West for the time being of a military intervention by allied forces.
The quick advances in the West were followed up by an invasion of Eflad via the Astro Sea as of December 1949. The mission ended shortly before arriving in their capital Münnen in February 1950, when Frankist forces had to accept a stalemate in face of the capable military force they have found in the country. This was not ideal for Frank as he had planned to achieve his main goal, the annexation of Besern by attacking from two sides, the North as well as the South, mainly with his army and air force, that were relatively stronger than his navy.
Operation Poseidon (1949-1951)
A strategic refocus has put exactly this navy into the spotlight however, as Frank presented the plan of Operation Poseidon. After a thoroughly planned invasion of Holy Free from March to May 1950, Frankists forces were to gain full naval supremacy in the North Pacific Ocean, Rainbow Sea and North-Western parts of the South Pacific Ocean. With the surrounding waters of Besern and the Frastinian region full under the Frankists' control and with the countries in the West being either neutral or otherwise tied by Gianlucian forces in the war, a quick Besernian surrender as soon as Gianlucian troops crossed the broder was expected.
To gain the naval supremacy, Frank considered it paramount to preemptively make sure, the Frost Empire could not obstruct the operation. The empire did have an interest in securing their trade routes though, which they did since the start of the war by escorting civilian ships with military. On 7 May 1950 the Gianlucian military has, in a first show of force, sunk the civilian cruise liner Taiyo-maru and heavily damaged the escort vessel Yushin. After that followed an undeclared war made up of several nayal and aerial skirmishes between the empire and the Frankists.
In June and July 1950, the Frankists have taken control of the East Cordilian islands, using forces stationed in Hazelia. The sinking of a refueling Sedunnic navy ship during the five day invasion of Transsuneria eventually led to the declaration of war by Sedunn and Stoinia against the Gianlucian Empire. Following this event, Sallodesian President George C. Barrett would convince the Sallodesian government to join the anti-imperialist side also. On 2 July 1950, the Republic of Sallodesia seized the opportunity and formally attacked the Gianlucian colony Neu-Faburg, striking a decisive blow to potential military operations of the imperialists outside of Cordilia.
As of August 1950 until the end of the year, invasions of the Rainbow Islands have followed. The loss of Neu-Faburg as a colony was balanced out by Frank creating a cooperation agreement with the Antarchi on FiHami in December 1950, which gained him advantageous deals for raw materials and cheap Finixi labour forces from an officially neutral country in exchange for a non-Frankist governorship of the island nation, which was considered acceptable until the main goal of the war, the annexation of Besern, was achieved. Like in the Crabrian theatre, the year 1951 was mostly stagnant. The Gianlucian army prepared for their main attack and frankified occupied territories. At the same time, the Frost government worked on plans to limit the Gianlucian dominance near their territory, which also came at the cost of secure trade routes and a couple of hundred dead civilians and military troops.
Central Bailtemmic Front (1950-1951)
Crabrian stagnation and rise of rebellions (1951-1952)
The frontlines in Termina were stable in 1951 thanks to both sides being able to send reinforcements. Imperialist air forces launched an unsuccessful bombing campaign on the Sedunnic west coast from Government Island and the Carraca. On March 5 1952 the Sedunnic King Hevv died and Queen Yemms Sperallu replaced him. It is not known if the cause was natural.
Sedunn and Ryccia launched a top-secret plan to develop nuclear weapons.
Rebellion in Ubesii
By June, it was becoming evident that Tekarai was struggling to maintain order in Ubesii and a new law was passed, which deprived Ubesians of their citizenship and forced many of them to live in closed-off ghettos. This sparked an armed rebellion, which slowly gained momentum.
Rebellion in Huawan
During the first two years of the war, the Peocracy had been strictly neutral. Then through the agitation of Mikhail Aerinn, the country started questioning the role of The Peony and its decisions, plunging the country into a civil war in August 1951. Three sides rose: one faction supported the Imperialists, being sympathetic towards the Karnetvorians avenging the crown prince and harbouring anti-Sedunnic sentiments, one that supported the Allies, and one that supported the status quo (which was the stance of the Royal Palace).
In July 1952 the civil war in Huawan was resolved with the infiltration of the shogunates of Huawan, and the Peony regained complete control. Evidence of Sedunnic agitation, and private calls for alliance with the Imperialists were uncovered. But The Peony maintained the court, and assured that "no further blood was to be spilled", and that she would not join the war.
Rebellion in Arnchow
Allied Supra-Capricorn offensives (1951-1952)
Breaking of the Narrussian blockade (1951)
Operation Sovereign - Stoinian invasion of the Father States (1952)
<--Prior to Operation Sovereign (Tarnese: Operațiunea Suveran), Stoinia had decided it needed a nearby airport for the battleplans of Sovereign. Consequently, the Stoinians invaded Hazelia alongside UKED in September 1952-->
Landed in Cadíz September 24th 1952. Conegasque Expeditionary Corps General Iuliu Măcărescu
Operation Trinitas (1952)
Despite global tendencies, the Supra-Capricorn saw a major development with a Stoinian amphibious campaign in the heart of the Ikaranarean states through Operation Trinitas. General Iuliu Măcărescu
Invasion of Huawan and entry of Izaakia (1952)
Fearing that the Peonic Navy could still enter the war on the Allies' side, the Imperialists took pre-emptive action to ensure that the ships would not enter the ocean. After a rejected ultimatum to join the Imperialist side, Imperialist forces landed on Hai Men Island in August 1952 and airborne troops landed in the Shogunate of Minnan that was trying to secede from Huawan, taking advantage of the Stoinian naval campaign to liberate the conquered port cities east of Crabry. By controlling the island of Hai Men, the goal was to close the straits between the island and Huawan Seaside and block vessels from leaving Huawan. The Imperialists rapidly gained ground, but never completely controlled the island due to the fierce guerilla fighting and support from the Izaakian garrison in Hai Men City. However, the Imperialists established control over the straits for a time and managed to damage some of the Peonic ships at dock.
Izaakia declared war on Karnetvor and invaded the Karnetvorian Antarctic to reclaim territories lost in 1883-1885 and 1915. In October 1952 Izaakia had initial successes against the Karnetvorians in Keyli, liberating Manta City, but their advance was halted by Techganet reinforcements.
Ikaranarean counter-offensive (1953)
Failed invasion of Besern and allied counter-attacks in North Cordilia (1951-1953)
Invasion of Besern and entrance of the Frost Empire (1951-1952)
On 7 December 1951, the Gianlucian Empire declared war on Besern. Together with troops from occupied Holy Free, the Friean-Besernian border was crossed by thousands of soldiers, that were able to quickly take the city of Ostravia. On the same day, in what was planned to be the final strike against the Frost Empire, Paladin Harbor was attacked in a Frankist air raid. The harbor located near Frost City was the biggest and most important maintenance site of the Frost Empire's navy. The attack inflicted severe damage to the base and sank seven cruisers, however apart from damaging three battleships, the Frost navy's core was still fully intact. On the following day, the Frost Empire has formally declared war against the Frankists as a reaction to the attack.
Similarly to the invasion of Eflad, the Frankists were meeting a strong resistance against their occupation from the Besernians. The result was a stalemate after roughly a third of Besern's territory could be occupied in two months, most notably the entire Northern coast of the country. The Besernian occupation saw the Gianlucians committing several war crimes, including the brutal besieging of major Besernian cities and setting up death camps for all "Zenevian" people.
From January 1952 onward, the Frost Empire has started smuggling members of its special forces and naval intelligence office into the Frankist-occupied territories in North Cordilia through clandestine paradrops and submersible insertions. To prepare a planned counter-attack against the Frankists on the main land and wreak havoc behind the lines of the enemy, ties with local partisan and resistance groups were cultivated through effecitve psychological warfare and weapon deliveries. A first success of that strategy was visible in Eflad, which managed to push the Frankist occupiers out of their mainland territory by October 1952.
As of April 1952 the Frost Empire has started its island-hopping campaign in the Rainbow Islands, focusing its liberation efforts on islands directly controlled by the Frankists. Shortly later, as part of the preparation of the invasion of Ikaranara, the Stoinian armed forces (together with Ryccia?) freed the East Cordilian islands from Frankist rule between July and September 1952.
Military victory against the Frankists: The Digrace of Nieuwfrost (1953)
The huge territorial losses and the stagnating war in Besern came at a cost. The Frankist navy was officially not in a constitution to prevent any possible offensive from enemy forces. In a last attempt to save the dire situation for the Frankist armed forces, a preemptive attack on Frost positions in Holsani and in the sea near Nieuwfrost was ordered at the end of January 1953. Operation Deich (Operation Embankment) saw the entirety of the Frankist navy and huge parts of the air force having moved towards the area between the two islands to engage in a long, bloody and costly battle over definitive dominance in the North Pacific Ocean. However, on 19 February 1953, the Frost Empire could declare a decisive victory over the Frankists and a decimation of the Frankist's navy by over 80%. The Disgrace of Nieuwfrost (Alman: Schmach von Neufrost) subsequently went into history books as the moment, the allies have won against the Gianlucian Empire militarily.
With no possible fallback to rely on anymore, the Frost Empire could cooperate with the Besernian armed forces as of March 1953 to fight off the Frankist occupants and free prisoners from the death camps. On 6 June 1953, the Besernian-Friean border was crossed by the allies and the liberation of Holy Free began. In the meantime, the Frost Empire (and Ryccia?) prepared plans on invading the core of the Gianlucian Empire to once and for all defeat Frankism in North Cordilia. Influenced by noticing the Gianlucians fighting fiercer the closer the allies came to the pre-war borders of the empire and also taking the civilian support of Snovian and Atlantic resistance groups into account, an invasion from the West via Snolland and Atlantis became the favourable variant of a common operation by the allies.
Allies gain momentum (1953–1954)
In August 1953, Imperialist forces finally laid siege to the TCC capital, having pushed a costly advance for almost six months. The battle was brutal, as it quickly degenerated into house to house fighting. In October, the Imperialists had taken half of the city, but could not replace their losses as easily as the Allies. On December 3, the Allies counterattacked, destroying the Imperialist divisions that defended the outskirts of the city. The Allies then surrounded the Karnetvorian forces. The situation became dire, as they were left without food, water, or ammunition, and supplying the besieged Karnetvorians became impossible. They were annihilated. The Battle of Clocktown, the most bloody battle of the war, ended on February 4th, 1954, when the remaining Karnetvorians surrendered to the Allies and the devastated city was liberated. The Imperialist survivors were captured and sent to POW camps. They only returned home after the end of the war. The battle proved to be the turning point of the war, the Imperialists could never resupply their forces properly. Remaining Imperialist forces started retreating towards Tasternine, fighting a successful delay campaign against the Allied forces, implementing a scorched earth policy; the Imperialist soldiers burned villages, destroyed railways and roads, killed civilians, and looted or destroyed anything that could help the enemy. In Karnetvor, Prime Minister Masić was given emergency powers, allowing him to take decisions without parliamentary oversight. In Tekarai, the government started the "Final Solution" to the "Ubesiian problem", deporting Ubesians to concentration camps, and killing them by shootings or gas.
As the battle for Clocktown dragged on, the Allies ramped up their naval campaigns. During the Battle of the Tasterninian Sea, July 19 1953, the Sedunnic, Ryccian, and Stoinian navies destroyed Karnetvor's Tasterninian Fleet, cutting off the Imperialists in Termina from Tasternine. The Allies landed in Tasternine, which fell a month later, on August 25th. Tasternine was the first core Imperialist territory to be captured by Allied forces.
In August, combined Peonic-Izaakian forces were also successful against the Imperialists. The Imperialist forces on Hai Men Island surrendered after a series of battles. Meanwhile in southern Huawan, the Imperialists were defeated in the largest battle of the war in southern Cordilia. The Peonic Navy could finally leave its ports. Huawan officially joined the war on the Allies' side.
On December 14 1953, Allied forces landed on the Siculite Islands, liberating them almost without resistance, as the demoralised Karnetvorians had run out of supplies due to the fall of Tasternine. The Karnetvorians surrendered three days after the landings. The same month, Ubesii declared its independence from Tekarai following the advance of the rebels. <--In January 1954 the Karnetvorian forces on Piel Island surrendered without a fight, being totally cut off and outgunned.-->
Supra-Capricorn offensive
Allies close in (1954)
On February 10, 1954, the new Republic of Ubesii had defeated the Tekaraian Army and stopped the Ubesiian Genocide. Tekarai, faced by a possible Allied invasion, informed the Allies of their decision to surrender. Karnetvorian Prime Minister Masić took the news as a betrayal, and severed relations with Tekarai. Ubesii, now enjoying international recognition, declared war against Karnetvor. Ubesii sent its own units to fight with the Allies.
Imperialists in occupied territory were low on supplies and morale, which the Allies took advantage of. Government Island was liberated by the Allies in March. Large-scale bombing campaigns of Mainland Karnetvor were initiated, targeting the industry and naval and air bases. On May 13th, the surviving Imperialists in Termina surrendered. In September 1954, Allied naval forces defeated a joint Imperialist navy in the Battle of Foreseas. The joint navy was the last time the Imperialists managed to deploy a larger naval force. Protests and strikes against the government happened in Karnetvor.
Collapse of the Imperialists (1954-1955)
As conditions had worsened for the Techanerean economy and due to a lack of battlefield success and the loss of most of its naval forces, Techganet decided to negotiate a separate peace with the Allies on new years eve, 31 December 1954. All territories gained in Crabry were ceded to the Allies, and the Techanerean king was required to broadcast a formal apology for Techganet's involvement in the war. This significantly weakened Karnetvor's ability to defend its home waters and the Allies gained total supremacy at sea.
Due to the timely surrender of Techganet, the Allies were confident enough to land troops on Mainland Karnetvor on February 1, significantly bolstered by Peonic land and air forces. The invasion shocked the Karnetvoiran government as well as the population. Prime Minister Masić tried to convince the Karnetvorian people to fight to the death for their country, but they had had enough. Behind the scenes, General Dragov, King Peter II, and the opposition had started plotting to overthrow Masić and end the war. In an emergency session on February 5, the Parliament adopted a motion of no confidence in Masić's government, with most members of his own party voting in favour. Masić contacted the army to evaluate his options, but Dragov had convinced the Armed Forces to remove Masić by force if the plan failed. King Peter officially deposed Masić on February 6th, and ordered his arrest on charges of abuse of power, violating the Constitution, and war crimes, which was carried out the same day. Dragov was appointed Interim Prime Minister by the King. Due to his earlier support for both the war and Masić's government, the King's position became untenable, and, to avoid a general uprising, he abdicated in favour of his daughter, Princess Zelda. The next day, February 7, 1955, Karnetvor surrendered to the Allies, ending the war. The Arnchow Rebellion would continue to drag on violently for another year after the capitulation of Karnetvor until the weakened Republic of Arnchow capitulated to the Allies through the signing of the Treaty of Jalan Mulut Timur on July 11, 1956 during the Siege of Hsi'an.
Aftermath
More than xx million people died on the war. It is the deadliest war in South Pacifican history.
Karnetvor was under Allied occupation for ten years. Karnetvor was declared to be the main perpetrator of the war. As such, it lost all of its colonies (Karnetvorian West Keylian Territories to Izaakia, Marresa to Ryccia), with the exception of Tasternine; half of the Tasterninian population was (and still is) of Karnetian (Karnetvorian native) descent. Karnetvor also renounced all claims on Termina, and lost its status as a major power. Princess Zelda was officially crowned Queen on January 1st, 1956, and elections were held two weeks later, resulting in an Opposition victory. The Imperialists were also forced to pay war reparations to the Allies, which were completed in the 1970s. In 1989, after the fall of the monarchy, the new republican government in Karnetvor announced it would not respond to any more reparations claims, due to the debt being already paid.
In Sedunn the policy of combatting expansionism in the South Pacific was questioned, and in the 1960 elections the Moderate Party promised to pursue a less "extraverted" foreign policy and refrain from policing abroad and to reduce military expenses. However, with its infrastructure and industry largely intact, the Sedunnic economy entered the post-war era in a strong position.
To this day, the war is a controversial topic in Karnetvor, and Prime Minister Masić (who was released in 1969, dying three years later) is a controversial figure, with some praising him for defending the country's interests, and others condemning him for bringing it to ruin.
However, the war also resulted in limited decolonisation of Stoinia mainly through the efforts of the Garāori, Islander and Pētean Army Corps. King Mihai III was so impressed by the performance of the Gipacs that He granted the local authorities to hold referenda and consult the will of the natives. The Islanders voted in favour of independence while the Peteans voted to become independent but wished to live under the Stoinian King. Remarkably, the Garāori chose to remain within Stoinia as many believed they had become Stoinian over the course of the war. Nonetheless, the Gipac legacy continues to this day through the Commonwealth of Realms and the harbouring of overseas Stoinian Royal Naval bases. One particular naval base is Kanaka Harbour which became a joint Stoino-Sallodesian naval base as both countries vowed to protect the Lile Uile Islands, establishing Sallodesia as a growing naval power in the South Pacific.
See Also