Vilcasuamanian Bush War

Vilcasuamanian Bush War
Part of the Phoney War
File:CENEPA.jpg
Date 1 May 1961 - 12 December 1991 (30 years, 7 months, 1 week and 4 days) Location Vilcasuamanas Result Government victory New Haven Peace Accords Legalization of the Cooperativist Party Liberalization and move towards democracy in Vilcasuamanas
Belligerents
Vilcasuamanian government Organization of Asterian States Nuxica Marirana Nuvania Valentir Right-wing militias	DVSF (until 1976) RDVA Cooperativist Party (until 1976) VTSP (until 1981) PAC (until 1980) Chervolesia (material support) L-27 (until 1975)
Commanders and leaders
Mauricijus Sprogys Kazys Drusutis Salemonas Sakatauskas Adolfas Svirelis Lauras Lagūnavičius Ansas Pranskunas Vilius Preikavičius  † Paolo Vinciguerra F.A. Vredeling	Antanas Bisikirskas Vytis Bajarunas  † Saulius Kiuras  † Jonas Sprindis Balys Bajalis Domas Leita   Skirgailas Pakalnis   Faustas Kristonaitis
Casualties and losses
70,000–80,000 (total Vilcasuamanian dead); 2,000 disappeared; 550,000 internally displaced

The Vilcasuamanian Bush War (Ruttish: Vilkasuamanos Krūmo Karas) was a conflict between the government of the Republic of Vilcasuamanas and various left-wing movements and armed groups. The conflict began in the early 1960s and quickly escalated into a full-scale guerilla war. At its height, the war drew in several states from Asteria Inferior and Superior alike, as well as Valentir, with involvement ranging from material support to active intervention. The Na Naoimh Peace Accords in 1976 demobilized most of the guerilla forces, while forcing the military government to concede significant steps towards democratization; certain factions, however, such as the Revolutionary Democratic Army of Vilcasuamanas (RDVA) would continue the fight until 1991.

Open conflict broke out on May Day, 1961, after a crackdown on trade union leaders sparked an uprising in the commune of Marketalas. It was a reaction to the repressive policies of military dictator Mauricijus Sprogys, who had ruled the country since 1958, but was caused by deep-rooted issues such as land reform, anti-indigenous policies, corruption, and income inequality. In 1963, the Workers and Peasants' Solidarity Front (Ruttish: Darbuotojų ir Valstiečių Solidarumo Frontas, DVSF) was formed as a loose, ideologically-heterogenous alliance of rural guerilla groups, as well as the urban, Tiberian 27th of July Movement (L-27). The conflict became characterized by unconventional warfare, particularly in the Scythian rainforest region of the country. Foreign involvement, initially in the form of military advisors, would escalate dramatically as part of the anti-leftist measures of the Phoney War; Vilcasuamanas invoked the mutual defense clause of the Joint Defense Force, and by 1972 there were several thousand Federation, Mariranan, and Nimearian troops "in-country".

The government-aligned forces conducted vast search and destroy operations against the rural guerillas; these bloody tactics were controversial in both the Federation and in Vilcasuamanas, as their effectiveness against the insurgents was dubious. From 1974, Federation troops began a gradual withdrawal, straining the Vilcasuamanian armed forces that had relied on Federation support. Fearing the unpopularity of the war among his supporters threatened to undermine his regime, Sprogys made concessions to the L-27 movement, restoring the Seimas and releasing hundreds of political prisoners. This brought the DVSF to the negotiating table as well, and the New Haven Peace Accords of 1976 officially ended the conflict, with Sprogys pledging to hold free elections. In 1976, the first general elections were held, with the military relinquishing power and allowing for presidential elections shortly after Sprogys' death in 1978. However, the CAL refused to demobilize and broke with the DVSF following the New Haven Agreement, continuing a low-level asymmetric conflict for fifteen years.

Although estimates vary, scholars believe around 75,000 Vilcasuamanians were killed in the course of the war; approximately 6,000 foreign troops were also killed between 1970 and 1976. The war was also notorious for the human rights violations committed on both sides; the rebels forcibly recruited child soldiers, the government launched indiscriminate strategic bombing campaigns, and all combatants regularly executed civilians believed to be collaborating with the enemy. In the initial stage of the conflict, the Vilcasuamanian dictatorship significantly cracked down on civil liberties; Sprogys' government is thought to be responsible for nearly 2,000 forced disappearances during this period. The war precipitated a vast refugee crisis as disaffected Vilcasuamanians migrated to Nimear and Satucin, leading to tensions in both of those nations. However, the return to democracy in Vilcasuamanas can also be credited to the conflict, as both the insurgents and the government's allies pressured the Sprogys government to liberalize and return to traditional party politics, initiating the Fifth Republic.

Background

Sprogys dictatorship

Marshal Mauricijus Sprogys led the Republic of Vilcasuamanas from 1958

First phase (1969-1976)

Government crackdown and escalation

Vilcasuamanian forces in combat against a VTSP stronghold

Velykų Offensive

X troops clearing a rebel held village

Second phase (1976-1991)

CAL steps up campaign

CAL guerillas lie dead in the town of Šv. Steponas, Juodopė