Pardarian Civil War

Pardarian Civil War
Part of Zorasani Post-War Crisis
Date 10 April 1948 - 5 August 1950 (2 years, 3 months, 26 days) Location Pardaran Result Sattarist victory Unification of Pardaran under the Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command Establishment of the Free Zorasani Republic Beginning of Zorasani Unification
Belligerents
Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command	Shahdom of Pardaran (1947-1949)	Rasfanjani Clique Shamshiri Clique Republic of Ashkezar Local walords and bandits
Commanders and leaders
Mahrdad Ali Sattari Farhad Mirza Navzar Ali Husseini Abdullah Al-Tawani Yazdandad Jandhari	Ahmad Reza Shah  † Gholamali Beheshti Mohammad Shahbakhti  † Eskandar Pardarani  †	Mirhussein Rasfanjani  † Rashid Ali Khan Sayeed Ashtiani Khosrow Shamshiri Farouk Mousavi Haidar Salami Murad Hosein Zand  † Ali Asghar Bhajadzadeh Mahmoud Sadr Esfahani
Strength
880,000 soldiers 400 tanks 200 aircraft	525,000 soldiers 202 tanks 98 aircraft	~200,000 soldiers ~120,000 soldiers 226,000 soldiers 100 tanks 146 aircraft ~50,000-60,000 local militia under warlords
Casualties and losses
67,583 killed 118,300 injured 4,328 missing	104,584 killed, injured or missing	80,000-90,000 killed injured or missing 25,000-40,000 killed, injured or missing 75,000-100,000 killed injured or missing 21,508 killed injured or missing
228,583 civilians killed in fighting or indirect causes 3.5 million displaced

The Pardarian Civil War (Pardarian: جنك داخلی, Jang-negee Pārdariāni; Badawiyan: الحرب الأهلية السورية‎, al-ḥarb al-ʾahlīyah as-pardarīyah) was a multifaceted civil war in Pardaran fought between the Imperial government of the Shahdom of Pardaran (SOP), the Ghowmee Tudeh Party-led Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command (PRRC) and numerous warlords lasting intermittently between 1948 and 1950. Though particular attention is paid to the period between 1948 and 1949, when the PRRC forces defeated the Shahdom of Pardaran, the war continued with the PRRC defeating opposing warlords and breakaway regions, culminating in the unification of Pardaran and the beginning of Zorasani unification, which would be completed in 1979 with the defeat of the People's Republic of Irvadistan and the establishment of the Union of Zorasani Irfanic Republics. Between ‭602,258‬ and 612,258 people were killed or injured and devastated large tracts of central and eastern Pardaran. The war saw numerous atrocities committed by both sides, though most historians apply blame to PRRC forces for the use of mass executions, torture and starvation as weapons of war.

Background

Etrurian colonialism

Prior to 1853, much of modern-day Zorasan had been ruled by the Gorsanid dynasty, a Pardaran based monarchy that up until the late 18th century had maintained Zorasan as a capable power. However, owing to entrenched traditionalist interests, repeated power struggles and unrest, the empire had steadily fallen behind its Euclean rivals. This backwardness was made apparent in the Sadavi War (1796-1798) against the First Etrurian Republic.

Following the Caltrini Restoration in 1810, the empire found itself facing renewed Etrurian aggression and the rising influence of other Euclean powers, specifically Estmere and Werania. This external pressure only deepened domestic woes, with numerous rebellions by disaffected nobles facing weak and ineffective Shahs. Over the next forty years, Zorasan would face numerous Etrurian incursions along the northern coast, with the First Etruro-Zorasani War (1832-1837) seeing the destruction of the Zorasani fleet and the ceding of virtually all Zorasani-Badawiya, alongside the port cities of Bandar Shahidi, Bandar Qassem and At-Turbah. The war further advertised the crippling weaknesses of the Zorasani state.

In 1848, Ali Ardashir became Shah and through a series of brutal purges and attacks secured unparalleled control over the imperial state. He began to seek out Euclean support in modernising Zorasan, often asking for advisers in exchange for economic concessions. In 1845, he signed the Treaty of Sabarvan with Werania, securing military advisers and weapons in exchange for access to Zorasan’s silver deposits in the south. Fearing a modernised Zorasan and oversized Weranian influence, Etruria launched the Second Etruro-Zorasani War (1846-1853).

The second war would devastate both Zorasan and Ali Ardashir personally. The Etrurians would rout his armies at every battle, inflicting heavy losses and demoralising his barely trained officers. The Etrurians continued to push toward the imperial capital at Razdavar, before ultimately besieging the city in 1852. Simultaneously, the Etrurians used money and promises of wealth to divide the Shah from his nobles, they secured a Badawiyan tribal revolt in 1849. In 1852, the Etrurians funded and supported a revolt by Qassem Shah in the north west. Both these events drew away valuable imperial forces, facing a besieged capital and a collapse in his armies morale, Shah Ali Ardashir surrendered on April 2 1853.

Partition and Etrurian rule

In wake of Zorasan’s collapse and surrender in 1853, Etruria sought to consolidate its control by partitioning the former empire. In June 1853, the defeated Shah signed the Treaty of Villa Barbarigo, formalising the Etrurian victory. Zorasani-Badawiya, alongside north-Western Zorasan were annexed directly and by 1860 had been reformed into Badawia Etruriana and Zorasan Etruriana respectively as colonial administrations. The Badawiyan tribal belt though within BE territory were granted significant levels of autonomy. Between both colonial territories, the Shahdom was continued through the newly established Shahdom of Pardaran, under Etrurian protection. The Gorsanid family were detained, with the House of Khorjandani put in power by Etruria. The Shahdom would have its foreign policy and defence managed by Etruria, with the colonial power further guaranteed exclusive economic access and large influence over its governance and administration.

Factions

Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command

Main article: Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command

The PRRC first emerged during the Great War as a Xiaodongese backed and supplied resistance movement against Etruria. The high level of support in training, arms and political assistance, resulted in the emergence of Seven Pillars ideology. The ideology drew many components from Xiaodongese nationalist theories and traditions.

The PRRC, mostly confined to southern Pardaran during the Great War proved a highly motivated, armed and competent fighting force. The PRRC’s continued resistance to Etruria during the Solarian War only enhanced its standing among Pardarians, but also Badawiyans across eastern Zorasan. The PRRC throughout both conflicts rejected the authority of the Shahdom, condemning it as a puppet regime of Etruria and regularly accused the Shah of being a collaborator in the “rape of Zorasan.”

Toward the end of the Solarian War, the PRRC occupied vast section of southern Pardaran and an estimated 36% of the population. The PRRC’s political organisation of its territory was highly competent and stable, enabling them with Xiaodongese assistance to establish some level of industry. The PRRC’s military forces exceeded all its rivals, making use of Xiaodongese equipment and captured Etrurian vehicles and aircraft. By the onset of the war, the PRRC had an estimated 300,000 soldiers.