Operation Marco

A man standing amongst the ruins of Rayenne, which was near-totally destroyed by Soravian bombing.

Operation Marco (Soravian: Операція Марко; Operatsiya Marko) was the codename for the major indiscriminate bombing campaigns conducted by Soravia on the western front of the Great War in 1934, the details of which remained classified until 1991. Soravian bombing campaigns targeted major industrial centres, population centres and any other important locations, with the intent to cause as much damage and disruption to life as possible.

After the surrender of Ravnia in 1933, Soravian military focus shifted entirely towards Gaullica. With Free Estmerish and Weranian forces in the north and Etrurian forces in the south, Gaullica's supply lines were already badly overextended and lacked the capabilities to fight on another major front. Marco was originally devised as a plan to neuter remaining Gaullican industrian centres, but quickly shifted to a policy of maximum destruction in an attempt to shorten the conflict, though some have argued that the operation should be considered a war crime. The operation began in support of the Horn Offensive in February 1934.

Targeted cities included Brigançon, Dinesie (Dynsk), Soleil Couchant, and Rayenne (referred to as the Marconian Four within the operation), but hundreds of other towns and cities across modern-day Champania, East Miersa and Gaullica were badly affected by bombing. Around 35,000 tons of bombs were dropped throughout the campaign, making it the largest continuous bombing campaign of the war. Around 90% of Rayenne was destroyed, along with roughly 80% of Brigançon, Dynsk, and Soleil Couchant. Casualty estimates vary greatly, but most estimate that at least 250,000 died as a result of the bombings.

The exact details of Operation Marco were shrouded in secrecy after the war, but with the heavy allied involvement in the post-war rebuilding of Gaullica, pushes to investigate the nature of Marco for war crimes were led by postwar leaders Wolfgar Godfredson of Estmere and Teddy Bruun of Scovern, but opposition by Etruria, Senria, and Werania meant that the investigations never occurred. Following the 50th anniversary in 1984 coinciding with the dissolution of the UPSR, increased international pressure was put on Soravia to declassify documents pertaining to Marco, which occurred in 1991. There has since been no official apology on behalf of the Soravian government.

Background and development

Lt. Gen. Stefan Kopisky was the main architect of Operation Marco as commander-in-chief of the Soravian Air Force for the duration of the war.

Soravia had fought the Battle for Ravnia predominantly in the air, with developments in aerial combat and bombing capabilities during the sieges of Kremina and Syrnitsa, the Battles of the Vikna and the siege of Ulan Khol. After air superiority was achieved in Ravnia, bombing was used extensively to support the advancing Soravian ground forces. After Ravnia's surrender in 1933, Soravia looked to employ similar tactics in combination with a growing number of tanks and armoured vehicles to quickly advance through the Monnes valley and complete a swift offensive past the Eleutherian Lakes while Gaullican forces were entrenched on the northern and southern fronts, particularly after the liberation of Morwall in 1933.

Marco in its final form was ultimately the brainchild of Gen. Arthur Belomestim and Lt. Gen. Stefan Kopisky, army general and commander-in-chief of the air force respectively. Belomestim and Kopisky believed that the sheer amount of civilian damage would force Gaullica into capitulation out of "desperation to prevent total societal collapse".

By 1934, the Grand Alliance already had substantial air superiority over metropolitan Gaullica. Several major cities in western Gaullica were chosen for constant air raids to severely degrade civilian morale. In East Miersa this was planned to be coupled with the dropping of pamphlets that advocated for a popular uprising in favour of Miersan reunification as a new sovereign republic within Soravia, but this never came to fruition.

A Soravian bomber emerges from a pillar of smoke after a successful bombing raid of an armaments factory in Talança, Casavie (now Champania)

Execution

The Marconian Four (Brigançon, Dynsk, Soleil Couchant, and Rayenne) were subject to almost four months of constant aerial attacks; where the objective was invariably total destruction. Major landmarks and buildings were purposely targeted to erase urban identity, including the Rayenne Technical Institute, National Congress Place in Brigançon and Museum of Miersa in Dynsk. Bombing continued throughout the night in urban locations to further hamper civilian morale.

Industrial centres were also heavily targeted to halt the production of military equipment for the front. Factories were targeted across Western Gaullica producing aeroplanes, anti-aircraft guns, armaments and tanks as well as centres of radar and sonar technology. The aim was not only to hinder Gaullica's ability to produce equipment for fighting on its fronts, but also to incapacitate it against Soravian air raids in future.

Millions of bombs were dropped throughout Marco, amounting a total weight of around 35,000 tons. Around 3,500 aircraft participated in varying levels throughout the operation.

Aftermath

The Old Rayenne Monument is comprised of the entrance to a Catholic church that survived Operation Marco. It was the only structure still standing on the Rayennois coast at the end of the war.

Around 8-9 million people were displaced as a result of destruction caused by bombing raids as part of Operation Marco, and death tolls range from 250,000 to as high as 1.5 million. A dominant fraction of these were in Rayenne, which was completely destroyed by the end of the war and had to be totally rebuilt. After the surrender of Gaullica, Vladislav Pudovkin was the first statesman to visit the now-destroyed city. Infrastructure was completely destroyed and had to be rebuilt from the ground up, ultimately contributing to Gaullica's extensive modern-day public transport network. Rayenne was mostly constructed in the New Classical architectural style, aiming to preserve the city's extensive cultural and intellectual heritage.

In Brigançon and Dynsk, which became socialist republics after the war, reconstruction was mainly in brutalist and totalitarian styles, though some buildings such as the Romauld Theatre in Dynsk and the National Congress Building in Brigançon were restored or reconstructured to replicate the original buildings.

Status as a war crime

Operation Marco was and continues to be extremely controversial regarding its status as a potential war crime. International humanitarian law at the time generally decried the intentional act of killing of harming civilians in situations where it was avoidable. Despite this, there were no official laws prohibiting indiscriminate attacks until the signing of the 1937 Rimso Conventions in the aftermath of the war. Post-war President of Estmere Wolfgar Godfredson, addressing the Community of Nations General Assembly in 1938, states:

What is clear is one thing: Soravia is a state of tyranny and a state of war criminals and crooks. The events of Operation Marco are inexcusable, and an embarrassment to the ideals of liberty and freedom that so many in allied countries fought and died for.

Similarly, Scovernois premier Teddy Bruun exclaimed

Why tiptoe around the obvious? Now that the [1937 Rimso] conventions are signed, what obstacles are there to finally admitting and recognising that the events of Marco were plainly against international law? I may even say that there was no real difference to Operation Marco to the deplorable events in Senria.

though his comparison of Operation Marco to the Senrian Genocide garnered considerable additional controversy, particularly amongst his Senrian contemporaries.

Several organisations such as the International Federation of the Blue Crystal Movement, the Maria Furelli Association, and Liberty House maintain that Operation Marco should be considered a war crime, particularly after declassification in 1991 proved that civilian destruction was the primary goal.