Karsk Sea War

Karsk Sea War
Battle of Okhotsk Island (1860), by Ivan Sukhodolski. Oil on canvas, 1901
Date 2 February 1860 – 14 October 1863 (3 years, 8 months, 1 week and 5 days) Location Eastern Lavaria and the Karsk Sea Result Dulebian victory Treaty of Ulich Dulebian occupation of several cities in Eastern Lavaria Dulebian occupation of the Okhotsk and Carra archipelagoes in the Karsk Sea Establishment of Dulebian hegemony in the Karsk Sea Start of the Dulebo-Lavarian arms race Territorial changes Duchies of Bravana and Ust-Borovsk, Okhotsk Archipelago, Carra Archipelago ceded to Dulebia, colonial port of Dongdao sold to Dulebia
Belligerents
Dulebian Empire	Lavaria Albeinland
Commanders and leaders
Paul II Pavel Rzhanevsky Nikolay Gorchakov Daniil Grossmann	XX YY
Strength
120,000	ZZ
Casualties and losses
8,700 1,542 dead 5,298 wounded 1860 captured or missing	XX

The Karsk Sea War was a military conflict that took place between February 1860 and October 1863 in Central Berea between the Dulebian Empire on one side and the coalition of Lavaria and Albeinland on the other. The war was caused by the rising tensions between Lavaria, a major great power in Berea, and the Dulebian Empire, a rising power at the time, that sought to gain complete control over the Karsk sea in order to establish itself as continental great power. The conflict was the culmination of four decades of rivalry between the two states after the Cuthish Revolution. Between 1858 and 1860, Dulebia grew a powerful navy and began contesting both Lavarian and Albish possessions in the Karsk sea, resulting in a military alliance formed between the latter two states in 1859.

The conflict was sparkled after a number of provocations by the Dulebian navy and several raids on Albish merchant shipping on the Okhotsk Archipelago. After an ultimatum to hand the islands to Dulebia, Albeinland declared war on Dulebia in the first days of February 1860, soon followed by Lavaria. The first months of the war involved only naval warfare in the Karsk sea: in August 1860 the combined Albish and Lavarian navies were completely destroyed by the Dulebian navy in the battle of the Okhotsk Island, leaving their possessions in the region unprotected. Dulebia used the situation and started several naval invasions on the Okhotsk and later Carra archipelagoes, capturing both island chains and the Albish fortresses and trading ports based there. After 1861, Dulebia engaged Lavarian forces on the border of the countries, at first with limited success. After a major invasion in 1863 on the Lena river, and the following bombardment of the Lavarian capital city Aniarro, both coalition members were forced to the negotiations table in October 1863. As a result of the conflict, Dulebia gained full control over the Karsk Sea, practically turning it into its inner sea, and kept two Lavarian duchies captured in the last year of the war. Dulebia also obtained control over the city of Dongdao, a colonial port of Lavaria in Nanzhou, with the city becoming the second colonial asset of the empire in Eastern Pamira and Melanesia.

The Karsk Sea War saw the first massive use of several new technologies, including the telegraph, high-explosive naval shells, and new types of medicine. The railways played a vital role in the fighting in Eastern Lavaria, giving the Dulebian side a significant advantage in terms of tactical mobility, as well as the first massive use of conscript armies by great powers.

The war played a significant role in the history of Dulebia and the Berean continent as a whole. The outcome of the conflict was the establishment of Dulebia as a major power on the continent, and a new rival to the old colonial powers. The rise of Dulebia followed the previous Ressurrection of Cuthland as a great power, a process that shifter the balance of power in Berea and laid the foundations of the future Central Alliance and its counterpart, the Armala Coalition. The rivalry between Dulebia and Lavaria would see a new round that escalated into a full-scale arms race that would continue into the 20th century.

See also

- Great War - major military conflict in the 20th century