Swish Civil War

Swish Civil War
Map depicting the Beginning of the Swish Civil War with the Swish Socialist Union being represented by the color red and with the Swish Democratic Union by the color blue.
Date 18th of March 1921 - 31st of August 1925 Location Swinas Result Democratic Victory
Belligerents
Swish Democratic Union	Swish Socialist Union
Commanders and leaders
General Dierk Mann General Kuno Bauer	General Seppo Ahonen General Johannes Lehtosalo  †
Strength
21,380 Infantry 538 Artillery 63 Gunboats	19,587 Infantry 489 Artillery 75 Gunboats
Casualties and losses
5,289 Casualties	6,659 Casualties

The Swish Civil War was a conflict that occurred in the country of Swinas. The war was fought between two factions, the Democratic Union, who supported the existing government, and the Socialist Union, who sought to overthrow the government and establish a new regime. The war began in the year 1921 and lasted 4 years, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. The Democratic Union were eventually able to defeat the Socialist Union, and the country was able to return to a state of peace. The war had a profound impact on the country and its people, and its aftermath is still being felt today.

Situation Before the War

Before the Swish Civil War began, tension between the Democratic parties of Swinas and Socialist parties of Swinas were high. The president before the war, President Michael Jenkins had begun making it an effort to begin riling up the Swish Population against Swish Socialism. Fortunately for the Socialists, the indigenous population of Swinas largely accepted the idea of Swish Socialism, and would go on to help greatly in the war.

The War Begins

Though tension was high between the Democratic and Socialists of Swinas, it would all change in January 21st, when official arrests were conducted on top Swish Socialist officials. This act would result in Swish Socialists protesting in Goatford and demanding the release of the officials. This request would be denied and the Socialists would begin taking more drastic measures. The protests, which were originally seen as harmless quickly turned violent and about 20 casualties were reported just from the protest. And in February 27th, the Socialists would rush to take control of provinces in West Swinas, and afterwards would declare war on the 18th of March, 1921.

Early War

This action taken by the Socialists would come as a surprise to the Swish government, and 2 weeks after the war started, President Michael Jenkins would resign, and his Vice-President, Berthold Wehner would take his place and begin getting to work on fighting off the Socialists. He would begin by conscripting all men above 18 into the army to fight in the war. He then began a campaign to establish complete control over the Cape Cresta peninsula.

Despite the relative peace on Nordinsel's shores, the island played a crucial role in the naval aspect of the war. The Swish Socialists, having a superior navy, launched numerous attacks on the Swish Democratic Navy in the waters surrounding Nordinsel. Despite the Socialist's advantage in naval power, the Democratic Navy was able to hold their own and successfully defend against many of these attacks. As a result, the island became a focal point for naval battles, with both sides heavily invested in securing control of the waters around Nordinsel.

Berthold's campaign into Cape Cresta would later be recognized as the Cape Cresta Offensive, and would begin with cutting of the Socialist part of the Peninsula from the rest of the Socialist Union. This would allow the Democratic Army to squeeze the Socialist Army stationed on the peninsula and insure a Democratic Victory. Attempts were made to stop this by trying to retake the land taken from the Spearhead to cut off the Peninsula, but it was no help, as the Democratic Armies rushed to secure complete Democratic control over the peninsula. This would be the first of many offensives by the Democratic Union into the Socialist Union.

After the capturing of Cape Cresta, the Democratic army made it an effort to push back the socialists further by disconnecting them completely with the Talsar Coast. This would allow them to secure complete control over Nordinsel, and possibly get some more naval ships on their side. The Talsar Campaign was furious and lasted 3 months until eventually, they successfully captured the rest of their Talsar Coast, giving them the opportunity to take the Nordinsel island.

After the loss of Cape Cresta and their Talsar coastline, the Socialists felt a need to make a comeback. And they found an opportunity in their Southern Front, which happened to be closeby to Tharbarn. So, General Johannes Lehtosalo ordered a spearhead towards the city, and this took the Democratic Union by surprise, and since they had just finished their Talsar offensives, they hadn't finished regrouping after the offensives, and the Democratic Union Armies in the south were overran by the overwhelming Socialist Armies rushing towards Tharbarn. Fortunately for the Democratic Union, they had about 2,000 men stationed at the city, and the men stationed at the city, and the men rushing towards the city were about to face one of the biggest battles in the Civil War.

As the Socialist Armies were rushing to the city, the 2,000 men stationed there had set up defenses, and by the time the Socialist Armies had arrived, they were unable to locate most of the Democratic units. And once the Socialist Armies assumed the city was abandoned, the Democratic Armies opened fire and more than half of the Socialist Army was decimated. Luckily for the Socialists, General Johannes Lehtosalo and 500 of his units were able to successfully escape. As for the rest of the men who weren't killed nor escaped, they were taken as prisoners of war and were put in prison for the rest of the war.

After having more than half of their army decimated, General Johannes Lehtosalo and the rest of his army began quickly retreating back into the Socialist controlled territories. And while they were doing so, the Democratic Armies were tailing them, and were eventually cut off from the rest of the Socialist controlled terriories and were eventually encircled and all killed. The Battle of Tharbarn and the Great Retreat was considered a devastating loss for the Socialists, and this would be the beginning of the Socialist's downfall.

Once the Democratic Armies had captured all of Swinas' Talsar coast, they began a campaign to not only secure Nordinsel, but also secure some Socialist gunboats. This campaign began around February 1922, and lasted for 2 months. It began by attracting Socialist divisions to the frontline, before landing troops in the West of the island. The landings required much naval organization on the side of the Democratic Union, but it was able to be done and soon were able to encircle a few Socialist divisions in the center of the island. Eventually, the pocket was closed and the island was fully under Democratic control, and would be another step towards a democratic victory.

After having received many territorial losses, the Socialist armies focused on a defensive doctrine, and this doctrine would last them for around 6 months. During that time, both Armies took the time to reorganize and regroup their armies, and prepare for any offensives or defensive that would come. Also during this time, the population of both sides would begin to question the need for a war if the army was going to sit in a stalemate. However, this all came to a change when the Socialist army fired shots at a local Democratic battalion patrolling the border between the 2 side's borders.

Middle of the War

The middle of the war is considered to be the worst period of the already brutal event of the Swish Civil War. The Middle of the war consisted of horendous battles between the two sides, as well as countless deaths of the swish population. By the end of the war, over 11,000 casualties were recorded. During the stalemate, the Swish Socialists created a 3-prong attack strategy that consisted of an assault on Goatford, Nordinsel, and if all goes well, Tharbarn. The city where the Socialists lost General Johannes Lehtosalo.

The 3-prong attack strategy proved to have major success. In March of 1923, the last Democratic Soldiers in Nordinsel began to evacuate the island, leaving it to the Socialists. The next successful attack, though not completely successful was the attack on Goatford. The attack on Goatford was nearly a fatal battle for the Democratic side. In the peak of the battle, the Socialists controlled nearly 3 quarters of the entire city. However, things came to a stalemate after they were pushed back to the outskirts of the capital.

The final city was Tharbarn, they attacked the city in February of 1924 and began to encircle the town completely. Soon, the city began to fall, with over 200 soldiers, who were stationed in the area leaving. The city was quickly taken by the end of February. With the Democratic army becoming weaker, many began to debate whether or not they should just surrender. And the Democratic army almost did, but the president, Berthold Wehner would prevent such surrender from taking place.

End of War

Wehner, instead of surrendering ordered a large-scale charge onto the socialist front. Many top tier generals warned him of failure, but he "had a hitch it would work". The push-backs proved to be successful as the Socialist Army ordered their men to stand their ground. However, this caused many of them to be killed by Democratic Soldiers, and this doctrine would backfire, as the Democratic Army rushed for their capital city, which was stationed in the middle of the desert.

By 1925, towards the end of the war, the Democratic Army pushed the Socialists back to the point where Sandtürmstadt, the Socialist capital wasn't too far. Many Socialist armies began surrendering with the most remarkable one being the surrender of General Seppo Ahonen, a remarkable General who pioneered the Socialist offensives into the Democratic land. Seppo Ahonen had even recieved a medal in 1923 for his bravery.

After the surrender of General Seppo Ahonen, the war would soon be over and just a month later, the socialists surrendered after the Democratic armies began an attack on Sandtürmstadt. After the surrender, some Socialists would continue to fight until 1926, when the former Socialist side was under the complete control of the Democratic army. After the war, Socialism became a hated ideology, and Swish who were under the Socialists were beaten and abused after the war by non-socialists. It wasn't until 1930 where these beating were outlawed. Some effects of the war are still present in modern-day Swinas, and the Civil War was an event that shaped Swish culture around socialism and war in it's early independence.