War of the Century

Endelaus War

The Endelaus War (11 March 1905 - 25 November 1958) was a conflict fought between the Order of the Kalythian Star and a large assortment of coalition powers, following the earlier Azure War which took place strictly between Kalythia and the Empire of Sarlaiya. The latter included support from a multitude of vassal and client states. The war, which initially developed from disputes regarding the sovereignty over several archipelagos in the Endelaus Sea, intensified into a major global conflict after both nations ordered numerous illegal attacks against civilian merchant vessels of neutral nations suspected of aiding the other side.

Kalythia-Sarlaiya relations had remained poor since the beginning of the 20th century as a direct result of ideological disagreements between the generally republicanKalythians and monarchist Sarlaiyans. Both countries vied for uncontested control of the Endelaus Sea along with the body's major oil and natural gas deposits. Concerned about Kalythian naval superiority in the region, Sarlaiya initiated the conflict by preemptively sailing a naval task group over the Endelaus Sea and attacking numerous Kalythian coastal military installations, before launching an amphibious assault on the Kalythian southern coast.

The Azure War is sometimes grouped together with the larger Endelaus War by historians and the overall conflict is subdivided into three major phases. The first phase (1905 - 1917) is characterized by the initial Sarlaiyan land invasion along with the various naval skirmishes that occurred in the Endelaus Sea at the same time. The second phase (1918 - 1930) saw a stalemate develop on land as large Kalythian naval incursions interdicted Sarlaiyan supply ships