Chanwan War

Chanwan War
Part of Chanwan-Xiaodongese conflict
[[File:in Guoshan against Xiaodongese rule in 1988; Xiaodongese FT-32 attack helicopter with troops on the Huashan mountain range in 1990; Han Guanzheng entering Caofang after its liberation in 1994; Chanwan troops on patrol in Shiwen in 1992; government buildings in Hejintao being shelled during the Battle of Henjintao in 1993|frameless|upright=1]]
Date 26 July 1988 – 25 March 1994 (5 years, 7 months, 3 weeks and 6 days) Location Autonomous Province of Chanwa, Xiaodong Result Xiaodongese Victory
Belligerents
Xiaodong File:Xiaodongese Self-Defence Corps.png SDC	Chanwan Republic File:DPLF flag.png CPFL File:Workers' Army of Duljun.png WAC
Commanders and leaders
Qian Xingwen † Yang Zhengming Qing Hongshu † Wang Xitong Liu Desheng File:Xiaodongese Self-Defence Corps.png Zhang Zhenhua	tba
Strength
Xiaodong 150,000 (1988) 870,000 (1996)	Chanwa 100,000 (1988) 520,000 (1996)
Casualties and losses
100,000-400,000 soldiers killed	150,000-300,000 soldiers or militants killed
275,000-1,500,000 civilians killed 2,000,000 displaced

The Chanwan War was an armed conflict within the territory of Xiaodongese Chanwa held between the armed forces and affiliated militia groups of the Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong and the breakaway Chanwan Republic from the declaration of independence of Chanwa in July 1988 to the defeat of the Duljunese separatist forces in March 1994.

Following the Orchid Revolution in January 1988 the Xiaodongese government under Qian Xingwen promised to grant devolution to Chawa, holding elections in the region in June 1988. The elections were won by the pro-independence Chawan People's Liberation Front (CPFL) under tba. Despite threats from the central government to deploy the Xiaodongese Defence Force, the Chanwan government declared the independence of Chanwa on the 26 July, resulting in the State Presidium to declare martial law and deploy troops to the region, officially starting the Chanwan war.

The war saw the formation of pro-independence and pro-unionist militia's in Chanwa, mainly split along ethnic lines. A badly planned offensive by Xiaodong in 1989 and a successful Chanwan one almost saw the collapse of Xiaodongese forces in 1991, before the better equipped and trained army started to advance between 1993-1995. The siege of Henjintao from 1995-1996 saw the fall of the city to Xiaodongese forces, leading the conflict to enter an "insurgency phase" which ended with the capture of the rebel city of Caofang in March 1996. The was as a whole was characterised by bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing and systematic mass rape committed by both Xiaodongese and Chanwan forces. The most infamous incident was the 1993 Chunjian massacre by Chanwan paramilitaries that saw the death of 9,000 ethnic Xiaodongese people.

The Chanwan war had a profound effect on the region, altering its ethnic makeup and leading to the crushing of Chanwa's separatist movement. The war saw very high casualty rates with between 100,000-400,000 Xiaodongese killed and 150,000-300,000 on the Chanwan side, whilst 275,000-1,500,000 civilians killed and 2,000,000 displaced.