Senrian-Xiaodongese War
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| Senrian-Xiaodongese War | |||||||
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| Part of Volatile Century | |||||||
 Clockwise from top left: Katurou Imahara with his generals; Senrian civilians evacuating from Sakata in 1929; Xiaodongese troops entering Sekiguti; the destroyed city of Ukyou in 1933; Xiaodongese scientists performing experiments at the Itinoseki Extermination Zone; Senrian troops drilling for a planned invasion of Xiaodong in 1933. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Senria Tuthina |
 Xiaodong Occupied Senria | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Katurou Imahara Isao Isiyama Hatirou Nakayama Sintarou Miyu Nobuyuki Youiti Isoroku Nomura Ienobu Miyazawa † Hisahiro Nisinoya Mituyosi Tanaka Soukaku Sioda Akitosi Hanayama Itirou Tadatomo Iesugu Yosiyama Muneyasu Yasunori Isima Walis Mrqwan Resak Suunkot Masanori Padasi Naymwul Pulkmith |
Shanrong Emperor † Taiyi Emperor Qiu Hanjie  Ren Xilian † Zai Quanyou Jiang Yunkuan Qian Shaozheng Xu Deming Lu Keqian Qing Qishuo Liao Yinzhi † Shen Jinping Zhou Hongkui Shao Yuzhang Yao Xiangxi Wang Chengwu Yosito Otuzi Yukio Miyazawa † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
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1,015,000 soldiers 100,000 soldiers |
1,582,214 soldiers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 347,000 soldiers | 568,000 soldiers | ||||||
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3,800,000-4,500,000 Senrian civilians killed 150,000-250,000 Xiaodongese civilians killed [TBA] internally displaced persons or refugees | |||||||
The Senrian-Xiaodongese War (Xiaodongese: 千龙国晓东战争, Qiānlóngguó Xiǎodōng zhànzhēng; Senrian: 썬류우교우또우썬쏘우, Senryuu Gyoutou Sensou) was a military conflict in Borea and Lahudica between the Republic of Senria and the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire that lasted from the Xiaodongese invasion of Senria in May 1927 to the Treaty of Keisi in April 1933.
The war traced its roots back to centuries of mutual distrust and conflict between Senria and Xiaodong, both of whom in the 19th century underwent political, economic and social modernisation in the Keiou Restoration in Senria and the Baiqiao Revolution in Xiaodong. By the early 20th century Xiaodong had remained politically stable and militarily powerful whist between 1918-26 the Senrian Revolution resulted in political chaos in Senria, as the country's monarchy was overthrown in favor of a republican regime; this new republican regime, however, was divided between a populist faction led by Isao Isiyama and a nationalist faction under General Katurou Imahara. During the same period, Xiaodongese leaders had sought to expand their sphere of influence, including annexing the port concession of Sakata- located in Senria- in 1909, as the government under the Shanrong Emperor became increasingly ultranationalist and totalitarian.
In November 1926 the Senrian government ordered the unilateral annexation of Sakata, prompting Xiaodong to invade Senria in May 1927 amidst fears of the new Senrian regime would curtail Xiaodong's imperialist ambitions. From 1927 to 1929, Xiaodong made significant advances, seizing control of most of the island of Kitasuu, attempting assaults on the islands of Sadaisuu and Okasuu, and destroying much of Senria's fleet. In regions occupied by Xiaodong, occupying forces implemented genocidal policies to the local population, interning large numbers of Senrian civilians in concentration camps called "extermination zones", where they were used for hard labor, subjected to medical experimentation, and murdered en masse to prepare Senria for settlement by ethnic Xiaodongese.
In late 1929, Senrian forces- led by an "government of national preservation", formed as a compromise between Imahara and Isiyama- mounted a series of counterattacks, whilst Tuthina sent its navy to end Xiaodongese sea dominance after a series of negotiations broke down. While Senrian forces were able to eliminate Xiaodong's limited presence in Sadaisuu and Okasuu and Tuthina hampered Xiaodong's supply routes, they failed at making anything beyond minor gains in Kitasuu. Senria's new government also began a program of "mass production, mass industrialization, and mass mobilization", aimed at rebuilding Senria's military capacity. Senrians in Xiaodongese-occupied territories also began organizing guerrilla resistance groups, taking advantage of Senria's rough and mountainous terrain. Xiaodong attempted a second offensive beginning in early 1930, and retook some territory in Kitasuu; but this offensive was hampered by continuing Senrian guerrilla activity and the increasing power of Senrian industry, and eventually devolved into a stalemate. Xiaodong was forced to halt its offensive altogether in February 1931 with the start of the Ukyou Uprising; while Xiaodong ultimately put down the uprising, it was a pyrrhic victory for Xiaodong and prevented them from continuing any offensive operations. A few days after the uprising Tuthina sent in land troops to Senria, dealing another blow to Xiaodongese morale.
By the time that Xiaodong might have been capable of resuming offensive operations in 1932, Senria had reconstructed its navy and alongside Tuthina was able to completely sever the supply lines between Xiaodong and its troops in Senria. An attempt by Xiaodong to regain naval supremacy was halted by Senrian admiral Ienobu Miyazawa with the Battle of Hurasima Strait; while Miyazawa was killed during the battle, the Xiaodongese navy was obliterated and Senrian and Tuthinian naval superiority was effectively unopposed for the remainder of the war. Xiaodongese troops in Senria, left without supplies and opposed on all sides, attempted to hold out; by June 1932, the Senrians had reclaimed the entirety of the Senrian archipelago from Xiaodongese control. With all of the archipelago reclaimed, Senria now turned its attention to Xiaodong itself; the Senrian military used its naval superiority to begin a blockade of Xiaodong, and Senria's air force began a campaign of bombing aimed at destroying Xiaodong's industrial capacity and targeting civilian morale. After several months, a clique of Xiaodongese military officers overthrew the Xiaodongese government in the March 8 Coup, with the new government surrendering to Senria, signing the Treaty of Keisi in May 1933. The Treaty stated that Xiaodong bore sole responsibility for the war, and agreed to pay extensive reparations to the Senrian government as compensation for the Senrian Genocide.
The Treaty of Keisi resulted in the overthrow of the Xiaodongese government by nationalist officers in the Corrective Revolution, which saw the Treaty abrogated by the newly-formed Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong. The Senrian-Xiaodongese War also resulted in the Xiaodongese Civil War that lasted between August 1933-December 1936. The Senrian-Xiaodongese War has left a lasting legacy on both sides, with both countries accusing the other of failing to apologize for war crimes and atrocities committed in the war; Xiaodongese refusal to pay the reparations has been a major sticking point in relations between the two countries. The war also established Senria and Xiaodong as rivals and enemies in the modern era; this rivalry has manifested in war scares like the Coastal Crisis and in the assassinations of Senrian Prime Minister Tokiyasu Kitamura and Xiaodongese First Minister Sun Yuting.
Names
In Senria
- Senryuu Gyoutou Sensou (썬류우교우또우썬쏘우): Literally translating to "Senrian-Xiaodongese War", this term is generally used in official documentation and is regarded as a politically neutral term.
- Sengyou Sensou (썬교우썬쏘우): A contraction of the war's official name, used in common parlance by modern Senrians.
- Youkou (요우꼬우): Literally, "Yao invasion". Similar in construction to Kyoukou ("Xiang invasion"), Toukou ("Tao invasion"), and Soukou ("Jiao invasion"), the names used in Senria for the three prior Xiaodongese invasions of Senria. Rarely used.
- Sinryaku-koku ni Taisuru Sensou (씬랴꾸꼬꾸니때쑤루썬쏘우): Literally, "war against the aggressor nation". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict. Was also used commonly by Senria during the rule of Takesi Takahata, though it has since fallen out of usage.
- Kokka Hozen no Sensou (꺾까호선노썬쏘우): Literally, "war of national preservation". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict.
- Aikoku Teikou Sensou (애꼬꾸떼꼬우썬쏘우): Literally, "patriotic resistance war". Commonly used in Senrian propaganda during the conflict. Frequently used as an alternative name for the conflict.
In Xiaodong
- Qiānlóngguó Xiǎodōng zhànzhēng (千龙国晓东战争) - Literally translates to "Senrian-Xiaodongese War". Most commonly used within Xiaodong and by government officials.
- Wěidà de zhànzhēng dào jiěfàng Qiānlóngguó (伟大的战争到解放千龙国) - Literally translates to "Great War to Liberate Senria". Used extensively during the war by Xiaodongese propagandists.
- Fǎn zéi yùndòng (反贼运动) - Translates to "Anti-Banditry Campaign". Also used during the war by Xiaodongese propagandists and during the 1960's-1980's under Li Zhaozheng and Sun Yuting. Used in recent editions of Xiaodongese history textbooks.
- Zhànzhēng shōuhuí Bǎntián (战争收回阪田) - Translates to "War to retake Bantian". Commonly used in Xiaodong.
In Tuthina
- Eng'pi Hwaychyen (櫻貔𣌭𣥭) - A Literary Tuthinan term that is generally translated as "Senrian-Xiaodongese War", but literally translates to "Cherry-Panda War" (a result of the Literary Tuthinan trend of giving foreign countries two names, a fauna name used for active actions and a flora name used for passive actions, with the panda referring to Xiaodong and the cherry referring to Senria). Used in official documents and as a neutral term.
- Uranipa në Punsaki - A Vernacular Tuthinan term that translates to "the Squabble in the Backyard". A common popular nickname for the conflict.
Background
Previous Senrian-Xiaodongese conflicts
The Senrian-Xiaodongese War was the fourth war between the two countries, which had a history of military conflict stretching back 1,400 years. The first military conflict between Senria and Xiaodong was the Kyoukou War, which began in 469 with an invasion of Senria by the Xiaodongese Xiang dynasty. Though Xiaodong scored several initial victories at Masakado and Subuse, the tide of the war turned following Senrian victories at Ogasawara and Kanegasaki. By 501, Senria had successfully driven Xiaodongese forces out of Senria at the Battle of Siogawara and was launching its own invasion of Xiaodong, with Senria scoring victories in the battles of Zhonghe and Yinbaolei. The war ultimately ended in 503 with a Senrian victory.
Xiaodong, now under the Tao dynasty, invaded Senria again in 1104, triggering the Toukou War. At this point in Senria's history, it was heavily divided between local lords, with the emperor holding little central power; this division severely hampered Senria's ability to wage war, as several daimyou refused the imperial call to arms, and the armies of the daimyou who did participate were disorganized and rarely cooperated with each other. While Senria did score some victories- including a pyrrhic victory at Sizugatake- most battles, such as the Siege of Gosigawara and Battle of Utidehama, were Xiaodongese victories. Senria surrendered in 1112, and Xiaodong won the nominal loyalty of the daimyou lords of the island of Kitasuu, though he exercised little actual authority over them and any semblance of loyalty to Xiaodong had utterly collapsed by the late 1200s.
Xiaodong invaded Senria a third time in 1651, triggering the Soukou War. Now under the Jiao dynasty, Xiaodong landed troops in Kitasuu in an attempt to force local daimyou to resume payment of tribute to Xiaodong after a four-century lapse. Senria won several naval victories during the Soukou War, including the Battle of Akamagaseki, Battle of Isibasiyama, and Battle of Minatohama; Xiaodong, however, won victories on land at Tikukogawa, Tatigawara, and Okehazama. Senria scored its first major land victory in 1653 with the Battle of Surigawara, and saw another naval victory at the Battle of Onikiribe, but its forces continued to struggle against Jiao troops on land. Xiaodong was forced to pull out of Senria in 1655, however, after rising dissent and unrest within Xiaodong turned into open rebellion against the Jiao dynasty, forcing them to sue for peace with Senria.
Keiou Restoration and Baiqiao Revolution
Both Xiaodong and Senria underwent extensive periods of social, political, economic, and military modernization during the late 19th century, manifesting in Xiaodong as the Baiqiao Revolution and in Senria as the Keiou Restoration. Of these, the Baiqiao Revolution occurred first, beginning in 1856. Prior to the Baiqiao Revolution, Xiaodong had been ruled by the Toki Sougunate. Following the collapse of the Jiao dynasty in 1667 a Senrian mercenary Toki Sinzou had been employed by a Xiaodongese warlord, but eventually rose to power himself within Xiaodong and declared a sougunate in the name of the Senrian emperor, though the Senrian emperor never recognized the title. Xiaodong was as such ruled by a small clique of ethnic Senrian elites for much of the 1600s and 1700s.
As the 1800s progressed, Xiaodongese nationalism began to spread among the ethnically Xiaodongese members of the elite, who were resentful of their continuing inferiority to the Senrians and with Xiaodong's growing cultural and technological backwardness, which they blamed on continuing Senrian cultural influence. The Toki Reform Movement in the early 1850's led to ethnic Xiaodongese landlords to abandon support for the Toki and begin to advocate Xiaodongese nationalism. In 1856, food shortages in the city of Baiqiao provoked a series of rice riots; Xiaodongese nationalists led by prince Yao Qinghong used these riots to depose the local feudal government and proclaim the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire with Yao named as the Xiyong Emperor, which laid claim to the territories of the entire Toki Sougunate.
While the Toki Sougunate was initially able to hold most key strongholds and urban centers, the newly proclaimed Xiaodongese state seized large regions of the countryside, cutting off food supplies to the cities under the control of the feudal dominions. Food shortages and the ensuing rice riots, coupled with anti-Senrian pogroms, paralyzed the ability of the sougunate to wage offensive war against the Xiaodongese nationalists. With the seizure of the major port city of Rongzhuo in 1857, which effectively prevented Tuthina from sending supplies or reinforcements to the Sougunate, and with Senria refusing to provide any support to the Toki dynasty, the newly-declared Xiaodongese state gained the upper hand in the war.
In 1858, Sougun Toki Hayato unilaterally surrendered to the Xiyong Emperor, who in turn declared himself Emperor of Xiaodong. In the wake of the revolution, the Xiyong Emperor initiated a period known as the Zhengfeng reforms, which saw Xiaodong develop an industrial capitalist economy, centralize power in the hands of the Emperor effectively culling the power of the aristocracy, creating a national army and oversee a cultural renaissance. Effectively, Xiaodong became a modern state.
Senria's Keiou Restoration began shortly afterwards in 1869, with the ascension of Kazuhito Imagawa to the Senrian imperial throne. Prior to Kazuhito's ascension, power in Senria- officially held solely by the emperor- was largely head by powerful local lords known as daimyou. Under the earlier sugo system, local officials had been appointed by the emperor; under the daimyou system, which arose in the 10th century, these local lords were instead hereditary titles. Attempts by previous emperors to weaken the daimyou and return power to the imperial throne had generally been unsuccessful; while a few emperors managed to restore imperial power within their lifetimes, power invariably returned to the daimyou after the emperor's death. While Senrian culture and cultural expression had flourished during the centuries preceding the Keiou Restoration, known as the Yowai period, the weak and decentralized daimyou system had caused Senria to stall technologically and politically.
In 1869, Kazuhito Imawgawa succeeded his father as Emperor of Senria. Kazuhito embarked upon a program of military modernization and, in 1871, demanded that all daimyou travel to Keisi, swear their fealty, and return the power they held to the emperor. While some of the daimyou acquiesced, many refused the demand; Kazuhito declared war. Kazuhito's Imperial Senrian Army- which had been trained in Western methods of combat and equipped with modern firearms and equipment- was vastly superior to the more traditional armies of the daimyou. By 1872, Kazuhito had reestablished imperial authority; shortly thereafter, he wrote a document known as the Keiou Constitution, which established a formal absolute monarchy in Senria. Kazuhito rewarded his supporters and allies by granting them lands and titles confiscated from disloyal daimyou.
Having modernized the military, Kazuhito embarked on an ambitious program of modernizing Senria economically, including improving farming techniques and beginning industrialization. Buoyed by improved farming techniques and the ensuing food surpluses, Senria's population increased dramatically during this period, rising from roughly 34,000,000 in 1870 to roughly 47,000,000 in 1900. In 1897, however, Kazuhito died without issue, and the throne passed to his brother, Atuhito. While Atuhito continued his brother's programs of industrialization, he did not continue them with the same intensity, and Senria's progress towards modernization slowed as a result. Atuhito himself died in 1902, and was succeeded by his son, Hisahito; Hisahito, like his father, slowed Senria's modernization process.
Great Borean War
As Xiaodong modernized during the late 19th century it began to adopt a militaristic, imperialist form of government shaped largely under the wishes of the Xiyong Emperor, who wished to make Xiaodong into the most powerful Monic nation as Namor declined. During the 1860's Xiaodong conquered the kingdom of Duljun and the region of Lhogrong from Tinza, whilst expressing imperialistic ambitions across the rest of the continent. The defeat of Tinza, previously seen as a check on Xiaodong's regional ambitions, led to increasing disquiet of Xiaodongese actions threatening the established east Borean order.
Senria- as Xiaodong's neighbor and traditional rival, and a continuing ally of Tuthina- quickly became one of the main target of Xiaodong's imperial ambitions following the defeat of Tinza. The increasing stagnation of Senria's modernization process, especially in comparison to Xiaodong's, also made Senria an appealing target for Xiaodong. The Xiyong Emperor famously called "the subjugation of Senria one of the necessary steps to the crowing of Xiaodong as the pinnacle of civilization" calling for a "Greater Xiaodongese Order" (大晓东地区命令; Dà Xiǎodōng Dìqū Mìnglìng) which aimed to encompass the whole Monic world under Xiaodongese rule.
Escalating tensions within the Borean region between Xiaodong and its neighbours due to its desire for a "Greater Xiaodongese Order" led to fears amongst policymakers within the region of Xiaodong creating a new regional hegemony, leading to a series of alliance building between Tuthina, Senria, Min and after the defeat with Lhogrong Tinza. This was accompanied by various projects of Xiaodong to affirm its ambitions - in 1880 the Xiaodongese government passed several reforms in the Imperial Navy intended to create a naval force strong enough to ultimately challenge Tuthina for naval superiority. This led to the start of a naval race, resulting in Xiaodong to construct the dreadnought Lukeng' in 1891.
Territorial demarcation disputes between Min and Xiaodong resulted in constant border skirmishes on the Xiaodongese-Min border. In 1893 Thianchinese nationalists staged an attack on a Xiaodongese division, resulting in Xiaodong equating this act to a declaration of war by Min starting the Great Borean War. Alliances between Tuthina, Min, Senria and later Tinza resulted in Xiaodong to fight these nations - despite suffering from numerical inferiority Xiaodongese forces were more technologically advanced and benefited from tactical innovation amongst its general staff. Between 1893-4 Xiaodong made large advances into Min and Tinza before a combination of poor terrain in Tinza and an infusion of Tuthinian and Senrian expeditionary forces into Min led to the offensive to stall.
In 1895 the Min frontline collapsed completely entrenching Xiaodong's superiority on land, and by 1896 Xiaodong deployed several new ships to counter-attack Tuthinian naval hegemony. The destruction of half the Tuthinian Imperial Navy's largest ships and practically the entire of the Senrian one under Xiaodongese Grand Admiral Qing Dejiang during the Battle of the Sennan Straits, partly thanks to the Lukeng, saw Xiaodong achieve naval superiority. Xiaodong started a naval invasion of Senria, landing troops in Utimura and Sakata whilst shelling Keishi with artillery.
Fears of further invasions into Senria and a possible future push into the Tuthinian home islands led to Tuthinian officials to begin to lobby for peace for Xiaodong. The Xiyong Emperor alongside Prime Minister and Chief of Staff Mao Zhaojian believing Xiaodongese forces were overstretched agreed to peace negoiations known as the Congress of Rongzhuo - the Congress saw Xiaodong extract numerous concessions from the allied powers. These included commitments for these powers to reduce the size of their navies and armies, pay reparations either in their foreign reserves or industrial goods and granting Xiaodongese companies and citizens preferential rights within the countries. There were also territorial concessions - Tinza to also ceded Tinzan Duljun to Xiaodong and were forced to having its coastal provinces placed under a Xiaodongese client authority, Min ceded the region of Thianchin and Senria ceded the city of Sakata, a port city located on the island of Kitasuu. The war resulted in Xiaodong becoming the most powerful nation within the East Borean region at its end.
Xiaodongese troops moved into Sakata fifteen days later, renaming the city Bantian, the Xiaodongese language translation of the Syodongmun characters used to spell its name. Xiaodongese companies also took advantage of the newly gifted preferential framework to practice rampant economic imperialism, with Xiaodongese companies moving assets and production to Senria in an attempt to re-orient Senria to be so dependent on Xiaodong that it would be reduced to a de facto client state.
Within Senria, the concession of Sakata provoked widespread public outrage, provoking a series of riots known as the 1900 Concession Riots; a total of 417 separate interests across the country resulted in the deaths of 103 people. Calm was only restored after a brutal crackdown in which another 250 people are believed to have died.
Anger over the concession and Xiaodongese economic imperialism, mixed with discontent based in Senria's continuing status as an absolute monarchy, also led to the formation of the Senrian Republican Association by Ryuunosuke Miyamoto on January 10, 1910; on July 21, 1914, the Senrian Republican Association rebranded itself as the Republican Party, establishing itself in opposition to the monarchist Constitutional Association, or Kenseikai. Tensions between monarchists and republicans in Senria continued to rise throughout the 1910s, before ultimately reaching a breaking point in 1918 with the start of the Senrian Revolution.
Senrian Revolution
In late 1917, the leadership of the Republican Party under Ryuunosuke Miyamoto began preparing to organize a series of marches, protests, and strikes that would begin on April 7, 1918. The date would mark the 128th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of the Rights of the People- an early Esquarian human rights declaration drafted during the Aucurian Revolution, one of Esquarium's first republican revolutions. The Republicans planned for these rallies to be held simultaneously across the country, with the hope of mobilizing enough people to force the government to make concessions to the republican movement; the concessions sought by Miyamoto and other leading republicans included the creation of a legislature and the transfer of executive authority from the emperor to an elected government.
On April 7, as planned, the Republicans launched a series of nationwide strikes and protests. The largest of these marches took place in Keisi, where as many as 3,000 individuals marched, led by Republican party leaders. As the marchers approached the Keisi Imperial Palace, however, they were halted by municipal police and by the Imperial Senrian Army. Keisi's police chief, Yosimasa Tiyoda, issued a demand that the protesters disperse; when the protesters refused, the soldiers and policemen opened fire, killing as many as 300 people. While this temporarily crushed republican activity in Keisi itself, news of the killings caused the protests in other regions of the country to turn into full-fledged riots. On April 8, Emperor Hisahito ordered the arrest of Miyamoto and several other leaders within the Republican Party; Miyamoto, however, was able to successfully flee Keisi and regroup with other Republican leaders in the northern city of Ukyou. A prominent general within the Senrian army, Souzirou Okada, tendered his resignation to the emperor on the 8th; he resurfaced in Ukyou the following day. On April 10, Miyamoto issued the Declaration of the Senrian Republic via radio, establishing an ad interim republican government. The interim government was heavily modeled off of the government of Montecara, with the executive role filled collectively by a council known as the Council of the Senrian State. The six-seat body consisted of Miyamoto, Okada, Sigenori Hirabayasi, Isao Isiyama, Mitio Morioka, and Yosito Otuzi. While all six were ostensibly equals on the council, Miyamoto- as leader of the Republican Party- quickly became the de facto head of the body.
Initially, the Senrian Republic mostly held territory on the islands of Kitasuu, Hiyokusuu, and Okasuu; most of the island of Sadaisuu, Senria's largest, remained held mostly by imperial forces. Most initial battles- including the First Battle of Koriyama, Battle of Yosigahara, First Battle of Kaziwara, and Battle of Susaka- were also imperial victories. During this period, the Imperial Senrian Army had several advantages over the Senrian Republican Army; imperial troops were better-trained and better-equipped than their republican counterparts, had more support infrastructure behind them, and held naval superiority that was crucial in transferring troops and supplies between Senria's major islands. The Senrian imperial army was also buoyed by its highly competent officer corps, and by a group of highly skilled generals including Noriyosi Horigome, Tutomu Abe, Katurou Imahara, Itigo Nakagawa, Nobuyuki Youiti, and Isoroku Nomura.
On May 5, 1919, Emperor Hisahito was assassinated by a member of the Republican Party, Akane Takenaka; Takenaka fired at the emperor as the imperial motorcade was travelling between the Keisi Imperial Palace and Tokiyori National Military Academy, where the emperor was scheduled to inspect a class of cadets. Hisahito was succeeded by his son, Katuhito of Senria. Katuhito- only seventeen when he took the throne- proved to be an incompetent commander. Fearing for his own safety, he ordered massive numbers of troops to be stationed in Keisi and around the Imperial Palace, reducing the number of troops that could be sent to the front. He spent money fortifying government buildings in Keisi instead of using it to provide rations or upgraded equipment to soldiers on the front lines. He also frequently overruled his generals and commanders, instead ordering imperial troops into situations where they could be ambushed by republican forces.
Following the ascension of Katuhito, the war began to turn in favor of the Republic of Senria. Between 1919 and 1920, Republican forces were able to drive all imperial troops off of the islands of Kitasuu, Hiyokusuu, and Okasuu with the battles of Hisakawa, Fukuda, and Kuriyagawa. Several battles on the island of Sadaisuu between 1919 and 1924 were also victories for republican forces, including the Second Battle of Koriyama, Battle of Hagiwara, Battle of Sibakoya, Battle of Iwase, and Battle of Aomizuumi. Nevertheless, imperial forces continued to control a large area of Sadaisuu stretching from Simada to Utimura.
By 1924, Miyamoto was 64 years old and was beginning to suffer from poor health and periodic illness; on February 22, 1924, he disclosed his intent to retire from the Council of the Senrian State when its six-year term expired on April 10, 1924. Many expected General Souzirou Okada- immensely popular for the role he had played in securing republican military victories over imperial forces- to succeed Miyamoto as de facto President of the Council and as leader of the Republican Party, but shortly thereafter Okada announced his intent to retire as well. Two main candidates arose to succeed Miyamoto, Isao Isiyama and Yosito Otuzi; a potential third candidate, Sigenori Hirabayasi, cast his support behind Isiyama on March 3. Isiyama and Otuzi were longtime rivals, and a deep animosity existed between the two; there were some fears that the Republican Party would be torn apart by one if the other was elected president. On March 10, the Council voted to have Hosato Korematu and Yatarou Kuroda fill in the vacancies that would be created by Miyamoto and Okada retiring. On April 10, following Miyamoto's formal resignation, the Republican Party voted to name Isao Isiyama leader of the Republican Party; the following day, the Council of the Senrian State voted 5-1 to name Isiyama President of the Council. Otuzi, disgusted, resigned his seat on the council and his membership in the Republican Party. By the end of the month, his seat on the Council had been filled by diplomat Nobusuke Takeo.
On the field, republican forces continued to score further victories in the battles of Simada, Hamamatu, Ueda, and Higasioka. On December 6, 1925, the problems facing the Empire of Senria were further compounded by the Great Sansuu Earthquake, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake that devastated large areas of Keisi and surrounding cities like Aoyama, Kakogawa, Itimura, Saeki, and Kasuura. The earthquake also caused several firestorms, landslides, and a tsunami in the Sisou Inland Sea; it is estimated the earthquake and related events killed an estimated 115,000 people and left another 45,000 missing. Relief and reconstruction efforts forced vast amounts of material away from the front line; furthermore, because Katuhito had stationed large numbers of troops within the city, large amounts of military materiel was damaged and many troops were injured or killed in the earthquake.
Katuhito, overwhelmed, finally moved to allow the generals greater freedom in the operation in areas of strategy and tactics, issuing a telegram to military commanders stating that "the Imperial House will presently focus its energies in rebuilding the city of Keisi". By this time, however, several members of the imperial military's upper echelons feared that republican victory was imminent, and that Katuhito would likely again attempt to take a more domineering role in strategy once the situation in Keisi had calmed. Six of these generals and admirals- Katurou Imahara, Sintarou Miyu, Itigo Nakagawa, Nobuyuki Youiti, Isoroku Nomura, and Ienobu Miyazawa- began to plot, in secret, to overthrow Katuhito and defect to the Republic. These generals- retroactively known as the First Gang of Six- carried out their plot on January 17, 1926. Imperial armies under Miyu and Nakagawa abandoned combat on the front lines, while Imahara's army- stationed in Keisi- moved to seize the Imperial Palace and the buildings of major ministries. Meanwhile, Youiti's navy would blockade Keisi harbor while the navies under Nomura and Miyazawa abandoned their blockade of republican-held regions. Loyalist armies under Noriyosi Horitome and Tutomu Abe were ultimately unable to stop the plan from being carried out.
The First Gang of Six forced Katuhito- who had been captured by troops under Imahara while attempting to flee the city- to abdicate, and demanded that he and the other members of the Imagawa dynasty enter exile abroad. Without any other choice, Katuhito accepted. Imahara immediately ordered that Katuhito's resignation be broadcast on all radio frequencies and sent out on all telegraph lines; news of Katuhito's capture in turn led to the surrender of loyalist armies under Horitome and Abe. After news of Katuhito's capture and abdication reached Ukyou, Isao Isiyama sent a telegram to Imahara, proposing a bilateral cessation of hostilities; Imahara accepted at 4:17 PM, formally ending the Senrian Revolution. A few days later, Isiyama formally offered Imahara and his fellow generals a role in the interim government; Imahara accepted his offer as well. Isiyama increased the number of seats from Council of the Senrian State from six to eight, asking Hosato Korematu and Mitio Morioka to resign from the council so that it would be evenly divided between four members of the Republican Party and by four members of the military; both acquiesced. Imahara selected himself, Miyu, Nakagawa, and Nomura for the four seats allotted to the military. Shortly thereafter, Imahara announced the formation of the People's Party of Senria, which would serve as a more nationalist opponent to the more populist Republican Party.
In the wake of the revolution, Senria was severely damaged by the ravages of the war, and its government was firmly divided between the populist Republican Party under Isiyama and the nationalist People's Party under Imahara.
Jiayun Uprising
Following Xiaodong's victory during the Great Borean War the Xiaodongese political establishment, which had previously been united in support of imperialism, semi-constitutional monarchy and state-driven industrialisation fractured between several competing political and economic currents. This division was most pronounced in regards to foreign policy with two distinct currents emerging within the Heavenly Army of Xiaodong - the Concordia Clique (later organised into a political party) and the Great Harmony Clique. The former, dominant following the administration of Long Zhengxin in 1902 advocated the ideology of "Concordism" which called for a united Borea state to prevent the outbreak of war across the continent again and secure peace across the continent. Concordism was promoted by powerful reformist Prime Minister Zhang Haodong and was prominent in the Heavenly Army throughout the 1900's, with the Qingzhuo Emperor being supportive to Concordist ideals.
Concordism was ineffective in dealing with the post-war international stage; the distrust Xiaodong had stoked from their actions in the Great War meant that their neighbours were reluctant or hostile to engage with Xiaodong, despite attempts by Prime Minister Kai Panming to undertake economic imperialism in Senria, Tuthina and Min. Xiaodong had in the wake of the war attempted to build relations with similar autocratic monarchies in the region, but the advent of revolutions in Namor and Senria undermined Xiaodong's alliances in the region.
The decline of Concordism was put into sharp relief in October 1917 when its more ardent defender, the Qingzhuo Emperor, died. His successor was his son the Shanrong Emperor who was vocally opposed to Concordism and promoted a form of militarist expansionism that called for the creation of a "Greater Xiaodong Order" over the "Concorduct of Borea". The ascension of the Shanrong Emperor led to conflict between himself and Prime Minister Liao Congwu who was seen as more supportive of the old, aristocratic and consensus driven government through the Concordia Party. The Emperor supported right-wing militarists within the military such as Ren Xilian, Qiu Hanjie, Zhao Hongjun, Xu Deming and Chen Zhongxin who were known as the "Great Harmony Clique". The clique was divided between those who supported absolute rule such as Generals Qiu and Xu whilst others supported a one-party state such as Chen.
In March 1918 the government of Liao Congwu fell due to a corruption scandal resulting in anti-militarist Chen Shiyi being sworn in as prime minister. Facing a rising budget deficit due to expansive military spending and falling rice prices, troubled balance of trade following instability in the region, corruption within the government and increasing political polarisation within Xiaodong (most noticeably the rising power of the Xiaodongese Socialist Party) Chen lacked support from the military, intending to pass through policies that would limit both imperial and military power to stabilise the government and allow cuts in military expenditure and a downsizing of overseas commitments to address the economic issues.
Constant shifts in government policy, alongside rising pressure on militarist elements and foreign policy failures incentivised younger officers to start planning a coup against the government with the support of the Emperor. On the 8th August 1918 officers under the command of Ren Xilian stormed the Palace of Heaven, the government complex, the post office building and the military headquarters killing several members of the cabinet including Prime Minister Chen and Chief of Staff Cao Ghuozhang. The mutineers demanded an immediate resignation of the government and the appointment of a military cabinet. Having supported the plotters the Shanrong Emperor acquiesed to their demands but appointed a moderate, Zhao Hongjun, to the premiership over the more radical Ren or Chen Zhongxin.
The new government promoted a programme of militarism. The industrial Caihong's were placed under the control of the National Industrial Committee, political parties were banned, a system of re-education camps (laojiao) were created and a new ministry, the Ministry of Racial Harmony, was inaugurated by intelligence officer Qiu Hanjie. Qiu created a secret police, the Peace Preservation Brigades, which created a codified system of ethnic segregation within the empire based on the principle of Xiaodongese supremacism. Under this system racial groups were tiered with ethnic Xiaodongese being at the top and ethnic Senrians at the bottom, being regarded as barbaric subhumans.
In 1922 the government of Zhao Hongjun was dismissed by the Emperor who subsequently ordered pro-Zhao members of the government and military to be rounded up and either imprisoned or executed. Zhao had been close to militarists within the government calling for more power to be concentrated within the military and the creation of a mass party to draw power away from the imperial house; with Zhao's dismissal the Emperor stocked the cabinet and general staff with staunch monarchist officers such as Qiu Hanjie, Ren Xilian, Zai Quanyou and Qian Shaozheng. However amongst the lower ranking officers there were still ideologically distinct officers such as Generals Shao Yuzhang and Lu Keqian.
The new government also took up the cause of Xiaodongese imperialism, with the Shanrong Emperor stating it was "the mission of the Xiaodongese people to traverse over the vast expanse of Borea and never leave the authority of the son of Heaven." This led to increasing military presence in colonial areas and a programme of industrial mobilisation to help arm the Xiaodongese army in preparation for a mass expansion of the empire. In 1924 the cabinet of Tao Qibao approved of a document formulated by foreign minister Prince Yao Xiangxi that mapped out Xiaodongese ambitions; these included a programme of economic mobilisation, preemptive wars with Senria, Min and Tinza by 1940 and eventual war with Tuthina by 1950 that would result in uncontested Xiaodongese hegemony within the region.
Senrian reclamation of Sakata
In early May 1926, Katurou Imahara issued a secret proposal to the Council of the Senrian State, detailing a plan to retake the city of Sakata- or Bantian, as it was officially called by the Xiaodongese- from Xiaodongese control. The rift in the Senrian government between the populists of the Republican Party and the nationalists of the People's Party had continued to grow in the months since the end of the revolution, and there were fears that public faith in the new government was wavering- especially as the reconstruction of Keisi stalled due to budgetary shortfalls- and that the monarchy might take advantage of this wavering faith to return to the country. Imahara thus placed his plan not only in the context of reclaiming Senrian territory, but also in the context of undertaking an operation that would cause the Senrian public to rally around the republican government. The plan called for several months of covert troop build-up in northern Kitasuu near Sakata, followed by a swift seizure of the city launched in the early morning; Imahara estimated the Senrian military would be ready to launch the attack in early December. Imahara later wrote in a letter that the plan passed three days later with the unanimous support of the council.
The Senrian Republican Army began drilling for the invasion in June, and the Senrians began subtly moving troops to towns near Sakata in August. These operations were successfully kept covert from the Xiaodongese regime. In early November, however, Senrian intelligence forces discovered a Xiaodongese military report which stated that Xiaodong "[did] not consider the Senrian republican regime to be a serious obstacle, much less a threat", and that there was only a token military presence within Sakata as a result. Instead, the report stated, the defense of the city was left largely in the hands of the local police force, which was still composed mostly of ethnic Senrians. Fearing that the Xiaodongese might discover the Senrian plan to reclaim Sakata and move troops into the city, the Council decided to commence the plan immediately.
Senrian troops began to march on Sakata in the pre-dawn hours of November 17, 1926; they entered Xiaodongese-controlled territory at 7:22 AM. News of Senrian troops entering Sakata spread quickly among the city's population; as Senrian troops entered the city proper, they were met by crowds of local civilians waving makeshift Senrian flags and banners welcoming them to Sakata. Most of the municipal police force also defected, raising a crude facsimilie of the Senrian flag over the city's police headquarters. The Xiaodongese garrison in Sakata attempted to respond, but was vastly outnumbered by the Senrian military, the Sakata municipal police, and the city's population. By 11:12 AM, the Xiaodongese garrison had surrendered to the Sakata police force, and the city was again in Senrian hands. Only seven individuals- five Xiaodongese troops, a Sakata policeman, and a Senrian soldier- died during the operation. Three days later, the members of the Xiaodongese garrison were released by the Senrian government and returned to Xiaodong.
The announcement that Senria had reclaimed Sakata was formally made by Isao Isiyama, in his capacities as President of the Council of the Senrian State, at 1:00 PM. The announcement triggered widespread celebrations within Senria, and it is largely agreed that by historians that the reclamation of Sakata restored the public's flagging faith in the Senrian republican government. In Xiaodong, however, the seizure of Sakata shocked many officials within the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire. Previously, the commanders of the Heavenly Army of Xiaodong had considered Senria to be a weak and incapable enemy still crippled by the Senrian Revolution, and did not consider the heavily-divided Senrian government a threat. The easy recapture of Sakata by Senria therefore stoked widespread fears that Senria might attempt to curtail Xiaodong's imperial ambitions.
Xiaodongese mobilization
Following the recapture of Sakata by Senria, the Xiaodongese government was initially divided on what course of action to take. Tao Qibao, the Prime Minister at the time, was blamed for failing to forsee the event and leaving Sakata to be "gravely undefended". In a session of the General Deliberative Assembly, militarist Ren Xilian accused Tao of pursuing a policy of appeasement towards the Senrian government and neglecting his duty as the representative for the Heavenly Sovereign to defend the sovereignty of the Xiaodongese nation. Tao had sent a telegram to Keisi pleading for Senria to agree to the terms of the concession treaty, but facing pressure from the military, the royal court, and the wider population, the Tao government fell quickly. Afterwards, the Shanrong Emperor appointed a new cabinet headed by Chief of Staff Ren Xilian and dominated by military officers. The key members of the new cabinet were Ren, Qiu Hanjie (who commanded the regime's Peace Preservation death squads) and War Minister Qian Shaozheng. The Shanrong Emperor commissioned the Cabinet to draft a war plan regarding Senria.
The Ministry of Military Planning drafted a plan of invasion of Senria, headed by General and War Minister Qian Shaozheng. Qian recommended an attack on Sakata within the new year, saying that a lack of decisive action would result in Xiaodong's reputation to falter in the eyes of the international community. Qian's plan stipulated a two pronged attack through Sakata and Itihara, with the intention of removing the Senrian government by taking Keisi within half a year, with the intention of effectively forcing the Senrian government to give Xiaodong greater concessions within Senria. However, Shao's plan was rejected by the Shanrong Emperor in January 1927, with a new plan being submitted to the Emperor by general Xu Deming a month later. The new military plan urged for Senria to be divided between territory to be annexed directly into Xiaodong and a rump Senrian protectorate, with the Xiaodongese territory to be depopulated of Senrians and replaced with ethnic Xiaodongese. In 1925 the Xiaodongese government had begun a policy of ethnic cleansing against minority in Xiaodong through resettling the communities into labour camps around the country, with this policy being suggested for implementation in Senria as well. The creation of a rump Senrian puppet state was considered controversial within the Xiaodongese government, with Prime Minister Ren Xilian advocating for "the orderly and complete dismantlement of Senria and the elimination of its people". However, by March a compromise had been created wherein the Xiaodongese Prince Yao Xishan would rule the new Senrian state as a constitutional puppet monarch.
During the preparation for war Xiaodong was able to purchase weapons abroad, mainly from Chorea and Teutonia. In March 1927 the government launched the "Patriotic Campaign to serve Xiaodong and the Heavenly Sovereign" (爱国运动服务小东和天上君主; Àiguó yùndòng fúwù xiǎo dōng hé tiānshàng jūnzhǔ) with citizens forced to attend mass rallies to "galvanise support for the nation", with people encouraged to donate savings and resources to help "the effort to strengthen the nation from the imminent Senrian attack." On the 3rd April 1927, foreign minister Yao Xiangxi told his Namorese counterpart that "a preventative war in Lahudica may be necessary". On the 28th April, the Shanrong Emperor made a speech to the General Delibrative Assembly, named "On the Issue of Senrian Militarism". In it he called for Senria to obey "Six Conditions for Peace and Unity under the Heavens", which were stipulated as follows:
- Senria will recognise the authority of the Son of Heaven and pay tribute.
- Senria will relinquish all claims to Bantian and return the territory to Xiaodong.
- Senria will halt all anti-Xiaodongese agitation and cease all anti-Xiaodongese propaganda.
- Senria will remove all officials who express views demeaning and insulting the Xiaodongese nation.
- Senria will allow representatives of Xiaodong to supervise the affairs of the Senrian state in the interests of collective security and mutual friendship.
- Senria will present all those with civil and military posts in Senria to be examined and approved by representatives of the Xiaodongese state.
The Shanrong Emperor claimed that if Senria did not meet these conditions, that "conflict may be unavoidable between our two nations", but emphasized that the conditions had been "drafted as to be acceptable to the present Senrian state". Shortly after the General Deliberative Assembly session the conditions were sent to the Senrian foreign ministry. However, it was widely accepted by the royal court, military headquarters and the cabinet that the proposal would be seen as unacceptable in Senria, and so began mass mobilization of troops.
The Senrian government and public were appalled by the proposals, which were branded as a gross affront to national sovereignty, and were widely seen as a blatant attempt by Xiaodong to extend its imperialist ambitions. On the 29th April, Isao Isiyama officially rejected the Six Conditions as a "wholly unacceptable assault upon the sovereignty of the Senrian people and nation by a backwards regime", thus sealing the resolve of Xiaodongese leaders intent on waging war against Senria.
Events
First Xiaodongese offensive
On May 2, 1927, at roughly 8:00 AM, Xiaodongese troops of the 2nd, 3rd, 8th and 11th armies led by Generals Lu Keqian, Jiao Leji, Liao Yinzhi and Zhou Hongkui with Lu in overall command landed in northern Kitasuu at four landing sites, near Gosigawara, Nakagawa, Sakata, and Misaki. While Senria had moved troops into Kitasuu after retaking Sakata in 1926 in case of a potential Xiaodongese response, Imahara and other Senrian military commanders had expected that any Xiaodongese military response would have come sooner after the seizure of Sakata, and in the months in between the recapture of Sakata and Xiaodong's invasion Senria's government had moved troops back to other regions of the country and placed troops on lowered readiness. As a result, Senrian troops in northern Kitasuu were caught off guard and outnumbered by Xiaodongese troops. Xiaodong formally sent a declaration of war two hours later, with the war being announced within Xiaodong the same time. The Shanrong Emperor, speaking to the nation through the radio (the first and only time a Xiaodongese Emperor had directly spoken to the people) stated that Xiaodong "had set out on its historic purpose to unite the world under the aegis of heaven. Senrian militarism will not be tolerated, and as such this day births the creation of a Greater Xiaodongese Order". By the end of the month, Xiaodongese forces under Lu had taken large areas of Sakata and Misaki prefectures, as well as much of Mutumura prefecture and some areas of Sueoka and Sekiguti prefectures. Xiaodong continued to reinforce the territories taken with more troops, as popular support for the war increased on the home front as people engaged in campaigns to raise money and resources for troops.
In early June, the Shanrong Emperor removed Lu as commander of Xiaodongese operations in Senria and tasked general Qiu Hanjie to take command of operations in Senria and establish an "Imperial Authority of Senrian Territories"; Qiu arrived in Sakata on June 8, where he took command of the Xiaodongese forces stationed there, and created a civil administration based in Sakata to better run the occupation. Qiu conscripted Yosito Otuzi- a native of Sakata- to serve as the governor of the occupied territories; Qiu hoped that Otuzi would partially legitimize the occupation among the native population, and to exploit the deep animosity between Otuzi and Isao Isiyama. Nevertheless, as commanding officer Qiu remained in control of the armed forces within occupied Senira, and as most of the civil administration was run by armed forces Otuzi and other Senrian collaborators became de facto puppets of Xiaodongese authorities. Lu remained as head of the 3rd Army, Liao head of the 8th and Zhou head of the 11th.
On June 24, Xiaodongese troops under the command of General Liao launched a second wave of amphibious assaults, this time near the cities of Mutumura, Sekiguti, and Kitakawa in central and central-southern Kitasuu. The Senrian navy had encountered the Xiaodongese fleets headed for Mutumura and Kitakawa, and had attempted to destroy the assault forces; however, they were guarded by a large Xiaodongese fleet led by Admiral Zai Quanyou, which was larger and more modernized than the Senrian navy. During this battle- known as the Battle of Hasuki Coast- much of the Senrian navy was destroyed, giving Xiaodong near-total naval superiority. These landings, too, were successful with Liao being lionised as the "Conqueror of Kitasuu". By the start of August, Xiaodongese troops controlled Sakata, Misaki, and Mutsumura prefectures, as well as large regions of Sekiguti and Ukyou prefectures; within Kitasuu, Senria now only controlled the mountainous prefecture of Sueoka and the southern prefectures of Aisi and Hisakawa.
With panic spreading among the public, the Senrian government still deeply divided, and the Senrian military struggling to respond to the Xiaodongese invasion as a result, Katurou Imahara proposed what he reportedly termed "the drastic but necessary solution" to the situation. Imahara proposed the creation of a "government of national preservation" (Senrian: 꺾까호선노쎄후, kokka hozen no seihu), headed by himself as Chairman. Inspired by the concept of the Latin dictator, Imahara proposed that this government would replace the Council, but would only last so long as Senria was at war with Xiaodong. Once peace was reestablished, Imahara claimed, the powers of the Council would be restored long enough for it to create a permanent Senrian government. While Republican leaders were uneasy about Imahara's proposal, the desperate situation of the war and the need for a unified government pushed them into supporting the measure. The council voted 8-0 to create the government of national preservation on September 9, and formally announced it to the public the following day.
In his first speech as Chairman, Imahara swore "unwavering devotion to the cause of the Senrian nation" and announced a program of "mass production, mass industrialization, and mass mobilization" (Senrian: 떄료우쎄싼、떄료우꼬우교우、떄료우도우인, tairyou seisan, tairyou kougyou, tairyou douin) aimed at saving Senria's war effort. The plan called for the creation of a state of total war, with the mobilization of all sectors of Senrian society behind the war effort. To this end, the ages at which Senrians could be conscripted were vastly expanded and the age at which young men could willingly join the military or a military academy was lowered to fifteen. Women would enter the workforce to produce equipment and supplies for the war. Meanwhile, the government would use deficit spending to pay for the construction of factories, military facilities, seaports, and infrastructure aimed at aiding the war effort; these factories, run by a collection of major landowners who would operate the factories and defray the costs of construction, would them be used to mass produce equipment for delivery to the front. In the process, many of the cities destroyed during the Senrian Revolution or by the 1925 Great Sansuu Earthquake would be reconstructed. This program, commonly known as the "three-point plan" (Senrian: 싼떤께까꾸, san-ten keikaku), helped to create public confidence in the capability and efficacy of the new government in prosecuting the war effort.
Xiaodongese troops of the 3rd Army under the command of Lu Keqian nevertheless pushed deeper into Sueoka prefecture throughout late 1927 and early 1928, making steady if slow progress, taking the vast majority of it by July; in southern Kitasuu, Senrian troops were able to hold much of Aisi and Hisakawa prefectures against the 8th Army, if at great cost. With a significant portion of Kitasuu now securely under Xiaodongese control, Qiu Hanjie split the occupied territories into "control zones" (控制地域; kòngzhì dìyù) which were controlled by the civic-military government in Sakata and "extermination zones" (啮齿动物去除地域; nièchǐ dòngwù qùchú dìyù, literally translating to "rodent removal zones") which were under the direct authority of Qiu. Qiu mandated that the Peace Preservation Brigades under their commanding officer, Shen Jinping had the right to carry out extra-judicial executions and create concentration camps within the extermination zones for the purposes of keeping peace and eventually depopulating the area to clear the way for the settlement for ethnic Xiaodongese. This resulted in the Peace Preservation Brigades beginning the construction of a series of concentration camps and death camps, with the end goal of exterminating Senria's population and replacing them with Xiaodongese settlers; the first shipment of Senrians to one of these facilities took place on April 10, 1928, when Xiaodongese troops of the 2nd Army under the orders of Jiao Leji began moving the inhabitants of several rural villages in Sueoka, Misaki, and Mutumura prefectures to the Itinoseki Extermination Zone. On July 22, 1928, Liao's 8th Army and Zhou's 11th Army attempted another set of amphibious assaults, this time on the islands of Sadaisuu and Okasuu, in Kurosawa, Hanae, and Masike prefectures. These landings were not as successful as the earlier landings of the 8th Army in Kitasuu, but still provoked widespread panic within Senria.
Xiaodong's offensive slowed throughout late 1928, and had ultimately stagnated by the start of 1929 when the 8th Army was unable to capture Futaba. However, it had been immensely successful from the Xiaodongese perspective; the invasion had caught the Senrian military off-guard, most of Kitasuu was under Xiaodongese occupation, and the Xiaodongese had been able to establish 37 extermination zones in occupied territory. In a meeting with the privy council in December 1928 the Shanrong Emperor congratulated the Xiaodongese war efforts, and announced plans to "mobilise the population for total war on all fronts for a swift victory in Senria". Senria, meanwhile, was on the defensive; still struggling with the aftermath of the Senrian Revolution, Great Sansuu Earthquake, and the deep divisions between the Republican Party and the People's Party, Senria would have to not only solve these issues, it would also have to retake Senrian territory occupied by Xiaodong. While Imahara's "three-point plan" was a source of hope, it would take time to implement, and it was still unclear how much time the Senrian government might have.
Between 1927 and 1929, Tuthina had hosted several peace talks between Xiaodongese and Senrian officials in Mintupo. Xiaodongese diplomats under Minister of Foreign Affairs Yao Xiangxi took a hard stance to the talks, saying that Senria had to accept to the provisions of the April Ultimatum as a precondition to any withdrawal of Xiaodongese forces. Senrian officials, meanwhile, demanded that Senria be allowed to keep Sakata and refused to accept any of the Six Conditions. Although several compromise solutions were suggested, they were rejected by both sides as yielding too many concessions. By the autumn of 1929 the negotiations had completely collapsed.
First Senrian offensive
The front lines of the war stagnated between January and September of 1929, with only small areas of land being gained or lost by either side during this period. On September 18, 1929, however, Senria launched its first series of offensives during the war. These offensives aimed at eliminating the Xiaodongese presence in Sadaisuu and Okasuu and at pushing back Xiaodongese lines in Kitasuu. The offensives in Okasuu were commanded by Itigo Nakagawa; the offensives in Sadaisuu were commanded by Sintarou Miyu; the offensives in Kitasuu were commanded by Hatirou Nakayama and Katurou Imahara himself. By the end of the year, Xiaodongese troop presence in Sadaisuu had been ended following the Battle of Okabayasi when the 11th Army was defeated; Xiaodongese troops of the 8th and 11th armies in Okasuu were more successful in slowing the Senrian offensive, but were themselves defeated with the Battle of Ebetu in late January and early February 1929. In Kitasuu, Senrian troops were able to push Xiaodongese troops out of Hisakawa and Aisi prefectures by the summer of 1929; some Senrian troops pushed as far north as the town of Inasiro in Ukyou prefecture, but were forced back slightly to Kitakawa by the 8th Army shortly thereafter.
The December of 1929 also saw Tuthina commit the Sea Forces of His Most Serene Majesty to the war to support Senria and end Xiaodongese naval supremacy. The Tuthinian navy was successfully able to disrupt Xiaodongese supply lines, although Xiaodong attempted to hold control of the strait between Xiaodong and Senria. The Tuthinian naval presence frustrated the Xiaodongese ability to respond effectively to Senria during 1929-1930 and greatly contributed to the success of the second Senrian offensive.
Meanwhile, on the home front, Senria continued with Imahara's three-point plan. Senria embarked on a massive campaign of factory construction, building factories in major cities away from the fronts like Tosei, Simada, Ueda, Tukuyama, Ubeyama, Saidou, Turuga, Hurosawa, Fukuda, Isikawa, and Nobeoka. These efforts also entailed the reconstruction of Keisi, Aoyama, Kasuura, and other areas damaged by the Great Sansuu Earthquake. This mass industrialization improved the ability of Senria to supply its troops with equipment and materiel. Air bases and aircraft were also constructed; aircraft manufacturing at this point frequently focused on tactical bombing and close air support, though there was also construction of strategic bombers and escort fighters to prepare for any future attacks on Xiaodong. Emphasis was also put on building seaports, and on rebuilding the Senrian navy; however, the Senrian navy was ordered to be careful about engaging the Xiaodongese navy until it was deemed "sufficiently rebuilt for large-scale naval combat". The Senrian military also put vast amounts of funding into military research and development, enlisting the faculty of major universities and research groups to improve Senrian military technology.
While Xiaodongese forces were successfully able to prevent Senrian troops under General Nakayama from regaining ground on the western side of the island, but were less successful in preventing troops under Imahara's command from making massive gains on the eastern side of the island, with Senrians reclaiming land as far north as Sekiguti city. During this period, troops under Imahara uncovered the first extermination zone explicitly known to Senrian troops, the Sitigahama Extermination Zone, located near Kaziwara. Sitigahama was initially liberated by Senrian troops on September 21, 1929; 607 survivors of the camp were rescued by Senrian troops and moved to refugee facilities away from the frontline. An estimated 25,000 civilians were killed in the camp during its years of operation prior to liberation. While the Senrian government knew that Xiaodong's government had plans to ultimately settle Senria with ethnic Xiaodongese, and Senrian intelligence reports had mentioned that concentration camps were being constructed in Xiaodongese-occupied territories, the industrial scale of Xiaodong's operations had not been anticipated. After the liberation of Sitigahama, Senrian war propaganda extensively mentioned the discoveries made there and the allegations of similar activities going on elsewhere in Kitasuu, depicting the war as a struggle for the literal survival of the Senrian nation.
Senrian guerrillas
As Senrian troops attempted formalized offensives across the country and the three-point program began to take shape, Senrians living in Xiaodongese-occupied Senria began to form active, organized resistance cells aimed at hampering the Xiaodongese war effort. While there had been acts of resistance against the Xiaodongese occupying force during earlier parts of the war, these were generally isolated actions undertaken by single individuals or very small groups; as a result, they are usually differentiated from the far more organized actions that were undertaken after 1929.
While interconnected cells were organized within small clusters of towns and cities, and different collections of cells frequently cooperated, there was little overarching structure to these guerrilla cells, collectively known as the Senrian Resistance. This decentralized structure made it difficult for Xiaodongese troops to quash the resistance, as the capture of the leaders of one cell would often have little effect on the ability of other cells nearby. Oftentimes, there were multiple cells and organizations operating in a single area, which meant that a successful attack against one group, more often than not, did not render that area pacified or safe.
Senrian guerrillas employed a variety of tactics. Many groups took advantage of deep local resentment against Xiaodongese atrocities to recruit large numbers of people to act as agents, informants, militants, and saboteurs. Groups also utilized the traditional Senrian code of chivalry, busidou, to recruit; under the principles of busidou, it was perceived as more noble to die in combat than to surrender, and as a result many guerrilla groups emphasized busidou in recruitment propaganda. A Xiaodongese officer remarked on the effectiveness of this strategy in 1931, saying that "there is no fear of death among the Senrian people, and thus every single one of them poses a potential threat to our soldiers, as a Senrian civilian would rather face certain death than live under our rule." The equipment utilized by members of the resistance varied from cell to cell; poorly-equipped cells frequently operated using simple and crude weapons such as bamboo spears or kitchen cutlery, whereas well-equipped cells could use stolen Xiaodongese and Senrian military equipment. Raiding of Xiaodongese supply convoys was a common way of expanding or replenishing equipment stores among guerrilla cells; after the arrival of Tuthinan troops in Senria, many guerrilla cells were supplied and aided by Tuthinan divisions tasked with long-range penetration into occupied Senrian territory.
Guerrilla forces took advantage of Senria's rough mountainous terrain, which often forced Xiaodongese troops and supply convoys into narrow mountain passes where they could easily be ambushed and overwhelmed. Railways and roadways in rural areas were often targeted to sabotage Xiaodong's ability to transfer personnel and supplies. Operations were also undertaken in cities; these operations generally targeted Xiaodongese troop commanders, supply warehouses, and facilities such as docks and factories. Senrian guerrillas also attempted to target and liberate the extermination zones; the most successful of these attacks took place on April 8, 1930, when Senrian guerrillas attacked the Hiraizumi Extermination Zone, overwhelmed guard forces, and liberated 650 prisoners from the camp; Various Senrian guerrilla cells then successfully ferried 450 of these prisoners south into Senrian-controlled territory, with another 100 reportedly joining guerrilla cells themselves.
Second Xiaodongese offensive
On January 15, 1930, Xiaodongese troops began their second offensive of the war with the deployment of the 6th Army under Qing Qishou and the 16th Army under Shao Yuzhang. This offensive focused solely on attempting to destroy the remaining Senrian presence in the island of Kitasuu; while much of the island was controlled, at least nominally, by Xiaodongese troops, the two southernmost prefectures of the island- Aisi and Hisakawa- had been mostly Senrian-controlled for the entirety of the war. Xiaodongese forces under hoped to take total control of Kitasuu and then move on to new assaults on Sadaisuu and Okasuu.
This offensive, however, was significantly less successful than Xiaodong's earlier offensive. Xiaodongese troops in eastern Kitasuu under the 8th Army did manage to retake the city of Sekiguti, driving Senrian forces under Imahara back to Kaziwara, but failed to make further southward progress. Front lines on the western side of the island moved even less; Xiaodongese troops of the 3rd and 6th armies successfully pushed Senrian forces out of Kitakawa, but the offensive stalled entirely after a bloody stalemate at the Battle of Takahagi in April 1930.
Most historians agree that this second offensive was less effective than the first for a variety of reasons. The increasing power of guerrilla forces in northern Senria is widely cited as one of the major difficulties Xiaodong faced in launching a second offensives. Senrian guerrillas frequently targeted Xiaodongese troop and supply convoys, preventing soldiers and supplies from reaching the front at all; they also targeted transport infrastructure such as dockyards, rail stations and railways, and roadways, hampering the movement of troops and supplies further. Xiaodong, meanwhile, was further hampered by its continued insistence on devoting large amounts of manpower and supplies to guarding, maintaining, and operating its extermination zones; these took soldiers and materiel away from the front line. The Tuthinian engagement of the Xiaodongese navy also led to bottlenecks in Xiaodong's supply route as the Xiaodongese navy was steadily whittled down in a war of attrition. There also existed personal differences between Xiaodongese leaders - partway through the second offensive, Qiu dismissed General Lu Keqian of the 3rd Army sending him back to Xiaodong with General Qing Qishuo of the 6th Army taking much of his responsibilities, causing confusion amongst the senior military hierarchy.
Conversely, in Senria, Imahara's three-point plan was beginning to pay off; the construction of large-scale industry and improved infrastructure improved Senria's ability to move and supply its troops dramatically, and investment in research and development began to pay off as Senria developed weaponry that was more effective than Xiaodongese equivalents. Senria's navy was also steadily rebuilt, whilst the Xiaodongese navy was seriously depleted thanks to successful Tuthinian naval actions. The success of these programs drastically increased Senria's capability to wage war, and made Xiaodong's position far more perilous.
Stalemate
By July 1930, after several months in which neither side made any significant strategic or tactical gains, it was clear that a stalemate had developed. In spite of this, Xiaodongese commanders were optimistic that they would soon be able to resume their offensives; General Qiu Hanjie, commanding Xiaodongese forces in Senria, declared that Xiaodongese troops would focus on eliminating the Senrian Resistance during late 1930 and early 1931, with hopes of starting a third Xiaodongese offensive by April 1931.
During this period, Xiaodong focused heavily on attempting to root out Senrian guerrilla forces. These attempts were largely unsuccessful. Xiaodongese troops continued to struggle in Senria's mountainous and unfamiliar terrain, which Senrian guerrillas were able to use to their advantage. Xiaodongese troops were still hampered by their inability to protect troop convoys and supply convoys passing through rural Senrian territories. Senrian guerrillas also continued to take advantage of sympathies among the public of occupied Senria, regularly receiving shelter and aid from sympathetic individuals and groups, and of support provided by Tuthinan long-range penetration divisions. Xiaodong also massively expanded the extermination zone program, with the number of extermination zones operating in northern Senria increasing from 37 to 56. This ultimately proved counterproductive, however, as it meant that increasingly large amounts of resources were headed to extermination camps instead of to soldiers on the front lines or in the occupation force. In spite of these issues, Qiu made it clear to Generals Qing, Liao, Zhou and Yu that Xiaodong was to launch a third offensive in April 1931 with the deployment of the 5th Army being planned for 1932.
On February 2, 1931, however, the Ukyou Uprising began. A collection of Senrian guerrilla cells, operating collectively and utilizing stolen Xiaodongese supplies, led an uprising aimed at driving Xiaodongese forces out of Ukyou, the largest city on the island of Kitasuu. The opening moves of the rebellion aimed to seize control of Ukyou's city hall, railway station, police and fire headquarters, and industrial district; once these areas were seized, guerrillas would target other areas of the city, and potentially nearby cities like Hiroi and Sinsoumizu. The uprising began at sunrise, and caught Xiaodongese occupying forces off-guard; by nightfall, most of the city was in guerrilla hands with General Liao Yinzhi of the 8th Army killed in the uprising. Guerrillas were also widely aided by locals who were sympathetic to the cause. Four guerrilla commanders- Akira Nakano, Hayao Akimoto, Takesi Sasada, and Nobuyosi Yokoyama- became the de facto joint leaders of the uprising, merging their various cells into a body known as the Army of Kitasuu (Senrian: 끼따쑤우노군떄, Kitasuu no Guntai).
By April 1931, the Army of Kitasuu controlled not only all of Ukyou but also the nearby town of Sinsoumizu and areas of the towns of Hiroi and Kitamati. However, the Army of Kitasuu was forced to pull back into Ukyou following a series of Xiaodongese counterattacks between May and August 1931. The guerrillas nevertheless were able to hold large sections of Ukyou for several months following this initial retreat. Xiaodong also declared a total blockade of the city, attempting to prevent any and all supplies from entering the city, aimed at starving out its defenders and its civilian population. News of the uprising was also greeted warmly by the Senrian government, which used the country's nascent air force to airdrop military equipment into the city to resupply the Army of Kitasuu, and deliver aid to civilians trapped within the city.
Beginning in 1932, Xiaodongese troops of the 8th and 11th Armies began slowly and painstakingly recapturing Ukyou, moving block by block at high casualties to both sides. The uprising, out of supplies and outnumbered following a shipment of Xiaodongese reinforcements taken from other areas of the front, finally collapsed on March 28, 1932, having lasted for 1 year, 1 month, and 26 days. Xiaodongese troops, again in control of the city, summarily executed the members of the Army of Kitasuu- including Nakano, Akimoto, Sasada, and Yokoyama- and much of the city's surviving population.
While Xiaodong did ultimately defeat the Army of Kitasuu and retake Ukyou, the outcome of the Ukyou Uprising is generally considered a pyrrhic victory for the Xiaodongese at best. Though Ukyou was reclaimed and resistance in Ukyou prefecture effectively demolished, Xiaodong had been forced to use vast amounts of materiel to suppress the uprising, and large numbers of Xiaodongese troops had died in the fighting. Furthermore, the uprising forced Xiaodong to abandon its plans for a third offensive with its most talented General Liao Yinzhi being killed, and gave Senria a window of roughly a year in which it could focus on expanding its air force and rebuilding its navy, both of which would prove critical in the final stages of the war. Senria also used the opportunity to plan its own second offensive and launch a blockade of occupied Senria, with the hopes of retaking Kitasuu and expelling Xiaodongese troops from Senria for good. Three days after the uprising was launched, Tuthina deployed the first land troops in Senria to conduct long range penetration missions into Xiaodongese territory; this announcement alongside the uprising led to a collapse in Xiaodongese morale, despite harsh discipline by Xiaodongese officers towards defectors.
Second Senrian offensive
Satisfied that the Senrian Republican Navy had been sufficiently rebuilt by January 1932 and with Tuthina conducting successful offensives in occupied Senrian territory, Imahara ordered admirals Nobuyuki Youiti, Isoroku Nomura, and Ienobu Miyazawa to deploy their fleets with the aims of severing all supply lines between Xiaodong and Xiaodongese troops in Senria by the end of March 1932. The rebuilt Senrian navy alongside the powerful Tuthinian navy was now larger and more advanced than its Xiaodongese counterpart which had been depleted after 3 years of a war of attrition with the Tuthinian navy, and quickly reestablished Senrian-Tuthinian naval supremacy. Supply lines were severed and, by the end of March, Xiaodong became unable to deliver supplies from Xiaodong to occupied Senria. Within occupied Senria, guerrilla activity and Tuthinian troops specialising in penetration warfare continued to target Xiaodongese supply stores and convoys, further limiting the ability of Xiaodongese troops to reinforce. While the Senrian and Tuthinian blockade was unable to prevent Xiaodong's victory in the Ukyou Uprising, by the end of March it was clear that Xiaodongese troops were running low on materiel.
On April 4, 1932, Senrian forces under Imahara and Nakayama launched a massive offensive aimed at retaking Kitasuu; another army under Nakagawa was sent to stage an amphibious assault, largely seen as practice for a potential amphibious assault on Xiaodongese soil, north of the town of Oue. Large numbers of Xiaodongese troops had been moved from the stagnant front lines to crush the Ukyou Uprising, to guard extermination zones, or to try and root out guerrilla forces; as a result, Senrian troops met little resistance during their initial offensives. By the end of April, the army under Imahara had met with the army under Nakagawa, reestablishing Senrian control over most of Sekiguti prefecture; troops under Nakayama had retaken almost all of Ukyou prefecture and much of Mutumura prefecture. Intensified Senrian guerrilla activity in Sueoka prefecture, sparked by news of Senrian advances, forced the widespread retreat of Xiaodongese forces out of that prefecture by early May.
As Xiaodongese control over Kitasuu collapsed, Xiaodong attempted to drastically speed up its extermination programs. Eventually, Xiaodong abandoned using the extermination zones in favor of simply forcing Senrian civilians onto death marches, attempting to kill the largest number of Senrians possible while able.
On May 12, 1932, the chief of Xiaodongese navy, Zai Quanyou - having failed to break the blockade previously- made a last-ditch attempt to break the blockade, massing almost the entire navy to guard a large supply convoy headed for Sakata. Within sight of Kitasuu, however, the Xiaodongese fleet encountered a Senrian fleet under Ienobu Miyazawa. Miyazawa was killed in the battle, known as the Battle of Hurasima Strait, but the fleet was quickly taken over by Vice-Admiral Hisahiro Nisinoya, who moved his ships to surround and destroy the Xiaodongese fleet. All Xiaodongese ships participating in the battle were sunk or captured by Senrian forces, and Senrian and Tuthinian naval superiority was guaranteed for the remainder of the war. Zai was replaced as Admiral of the Fleet by Qiao Shaozheng who informed the Xiaodongese high command upon his appointment that the navy was "impotent".
By late May, Xiaodong controlled only the prefectures of Sakata and Misaki, and Xiaodongese troops in Senria were facing critical supply shortages, a numerically superior and better-equipped foe, and continuing sabotage by guerrilla and Tuthinian forces. Misaki prefecture was declared reclaimed by Senrian forces on June 2; most of Sakata prefecture, excluding the city of Sakata itself, was reclaimed by Senrian forces by June 10. The last two extermination zones operating within occupied Senria, Rokkaso Extermination Zone and Imadate Extermination Zone, were liberated on June 4 and June 8, respectively. Senrian troops moved to retake Sakata city on June 11; Xiaodongese troops, desperate to halt the Senrian advance, razed much of the city but ultimately failed to prevent it from falling on June 12. Qiu Hanjie, Qing Qishuo, and Yosito Otuzi were unable to escape the city, trapped between the advancing Senrian army and the Senrian navy blockade. Sakata was finally retaken by Senrian forces on June 16, formally ending the Xiaodongese occupation of Senria. Qiu, Qing, and Otuzi were tried by military tribunal for crimes against peace and war crimes against the Senrian nation; all three were found guilty on June 19 and executed by firing squad on June 20.
With all of Senria again under Senrian control, the Senrian and Tuthinian military now began focusing on preparing for an eventual invasion of Xiaodong, which Katurou Imahara hoped to launch in July 1933. The Senrian navy was assigned to blockade Xiaodong's coastlines with the goal of totally cutting off Xiaodong's international trade. The air force, meanwhile, was assigned to begin targeting Xiaodongese naval facilities, factories, army bases, airfields, and government buildings; Senrian bombers also frequently bombed residential and commercial districts. Senrian commanders also drafted a military operation known as Operation Grey Viper, a planned invasion of the Xiaodongese mainland slated for July 1933.
With Xiaodong unable to effectively resist, Senria's bombing campaign and blockade continued effectively unabated for months. Large areas of many major Xiaodongese cities, including Tiandufeng, Rongzhuo, Shenkong, Hongbu, Beifanrong, and Hejintao, were effectively destroyed following months of frequent bombing by Senria's air force. The destruction of much of Xiaodong's industrial capacity, combined with the effects of the blockade, crippled Xiaodong's ability to produce both consumer and military goods. Among the Xiaodongese public, increasingly frequent shortages of basic goods, widespread internal displacement, and the possibility of a Senrian invasion fomented widespread public fear and discontent, which was ultimately utilized by a clique of Xiaodongese army officers to start the March 8 coup d'état.
March 8 coup d'état
With Xiaodong under attack from Senria, many in the Xiaodongese government and greater society saw a Senrian invasion and occupation of Xiaodong inevitable. In January 1933 the Shanrong Emperor ordered for all citizens to "mobilise for the possibility of Senria destroying our civilization and enforcing their own barbarity to our auspicious lands". Xiaodongese citizens were drafted into militias as the death penalty was dealt to all that promoted "pacifist, pro-Senrian propaganda that demeans the Emperor and the nation". In a speech to the General Deliberative Assembly in January 1933, Ren Xilian declared that Xiaodong "will never surrender to the bandit-nation, and every citizen will defend the emperor to his death".
However, the Emperor's brother, Yao Xishan, and his court of advisers including admirals Zai Quanyou and Shao Yuzhang and General [NAME] - saw a Senrian occupation as a precursor to the removal of the Xiaodongese emperor and thus the destruction of the Xiaodongese state. These moderates within the military and the government believed that a peace deal between Senria and Xiaodong could still be negotiated, but were aware of the militarist domination of the government, and resolved to overthrow militarists within government and come to peace terms with Senria.
On March 8th at 6:00AM Xiaodongese troops under the command of [NAME] marched through Tiandufeng, arresting members of the militarist Xiaodong Expansion Group. Government buildings were stormed and ministers arrested at gunpoint - Prime Minister Ren Xilian was shot attempting to escape, whilst Army Minister Chen Guoxiang was put under house arrest. At 6:30AM Xishan and a group of his military officers entered the Palace of Heaven in order to convince the Shanrong Emperor to cease support for the war, but were met with stiff opposition from the Shanrong Emperor's royal guards, causing a fight to break out. During the fight, the Shanrong Emperor was shot in the right temple - whether he was killed or committed suicide is not known.
With the Shanrong Emperor dead, Xishan declared the dissolution of the Heavenly Empire and the creation of a provisional government, the State of Xiaodong although he also took up the title of the Taiyi Emperor. The chaos of the coup led to confusion within the government, resulting in the newly enthroned Emperor at 8:00AM to declare that Senrian agents had killed the Shanrong Emperor, and that a "government of national unity" would be appointed to resolve the conflict.
Aftermath
The war was formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Keisi on April 23rd, 1933. The treaty stipulated that Xiaodong would take "full and total responsibility" for provoking the war, drop all claims to Sakata, and pay ¥1,450,000,000,000 ($12,608,695,652; 金1,321,454,279,555) to the Senrian government as reparations for war crimes committed by Xiaodong in Senria. However, the treaty was unilaterally abrogated on the 22nd September 1936 by the leaders of the newly-created Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong. Since the abrogation of the treaty by Xiaodong, the Senrian government has repeatedly demanded that Xiaodong reinstitute and comply with the terms of the treaty, including paying the stipulated reparations with interest. Xiaodong has refused to comply with these demands.
On the 31st January 1935 the Xiaodongese government signed a peace treaty with Tuthina known as the Treaty of Shenkong, where the Xiaodongese government promised to never claim the position of Emperor, renounce the right to declare an offensive war in Borea and Lahudica, and allow Tuthina to maintain a naval base in Shenkong. Although Tuthinian-Xiaodongese relations have fluctuated since 1935, neither Xiaodong or Tuthina have renounced the treaty.
Impact
In the wake of the conflict, Senria held significantly increased clout within the Lahudic-Borean region. Much of the industry built up for military purposes during the war was converted to civilian industry afterwards; as a result, Senria became an industrial powerhouse within Esquarium, capable of producing large amounts of cheap consumer goods at lower costs. Senria continued its industrialization throughout the following decades, and remains a major manufacturing power in the present day. Giving wealthy families control of newly-constructed factories to defray the costs of industrialization led to the rise of the keiretu system, which has also remained in place into the present. Meanwhile, the buildup of the Senrian navy and air force late in the war was converted into an official doctrine by Katurou Imahara, who declared "the necessity of guaranteed aerial and naval superiority over all potential enemies" in 1938; the end goal of this program, in Imahara's words, was "to guarantee that no invading army will ever set foot on Senrian soil again".
However, the conflict is seen by some foreign scholars as having effectively killed the hopes for a fully democratic Senrian government- as envisioned by Miyamoto and Isiyama- after the war. Contrary to Imahara's promises, the Council of the Senrian State was not reconvened after the war; while Imahara and Isiyama did lead negotiations to create a post-war government, the concept of a collective executive- as exists in Montecara- for Senria never resurfaced. Instead, Imahara and Isiyama agreed to the creation of a parliamentary republic for Senria, with the government to be led by a prime minister. Elections were slated for November 11, 1933; however, a few days before the elections, Imahara announced that his government had discovered "a royalist-Xiaodongese plot" to attack polling stations and counting facilities, and moved troops to "guard" polling facilities. Under suspicious circumstances, the People's Party won a majority in the National Assembly of Senria and Imahara was elected Prime Minister; the People's Party has maintained its hold on power since. Today, Senria is generally considered a dominant-party state.
By contrast, Xiaodong found itself in the position that Senria was in before the war, facing widespread devastation, political instability, and uncertainty about the country's future. Over 360,000 soldiers of a fighting force of just over 950,000 had died during the war; these massive losses suffered on the Xiaodongese side produced widespread discontent with the ruling regime. The Treaty of Keisi had rendered the government (popularly known as the "March 8th regime") extremely unpopular within Xiaodong, with the Taiyi Emperor seen as an appeaser who had kowtowed to Senria. This spread immense unrest in the severely battered army and civil society, with war hero Lu Keqian creating the Xiaodong Revolutionary Society in 1933 with the purpose of creating a separate power base within the regime.
The end of the war also the beginning of the Xiaodongese Civil War as communist forces in Kuoqing on the 2nd August 1933 declared the Socialist Republic of Xiaodong supported by socialist militia's. The Xiaodongese state's forces whilst better equipped than the revolutionaries were exhausted from years of fighting in Senria, and Xiaodong's economy going through a state of implosion. Over the course of 1933-1935 the government lost territory in the Gaoming, Meifucun, Chenghu and Qihongtang prefectures as well as East Thianchin, although the latter was retaken in 1935 by forces under the command of Lu Keqian.
The utter defeat of the Xiaodongese army at the hands of Senria, the devastation and lack of rebuilding efforts, the communist uprising in central Xiaodong and the ensuing social chaos and economic crisis led to the Corrective Revolution in 1936, when Lu Keqian and the Xiaodong Regeneration Society overthrew the March 8th regime, ending the civil war and create the Auspicious Republic of Xiaodong, a single-party state. Xiaodong did not begin to recover from the war until 1946 under Ma Renzhong when Xiaodong had finally rebuilt its pre-war industrial capacity - however, throughout the rest of the 20th century Xiaodong would remain reliant on coal exports as it struggled to beat Senria in economic terms.
The war also defined Senrian-Xiaodongese relations for decades; five of Senria's eight Prime Ministers (Katurou Imahara, Hatirou Nakayama, Takesi Takahata, Kitirou Imahara, and Kiyosi Haruka) and four of Xiaodong's eight First Ministers (Lu Keqian, Li Zhaozheng, Sun Yuting, and Qian Xingwen) served in their country's military during the conflict; as a result, relations between Senria and Xiaodong for the latter half of the 20th century were largely dictated by individuals who distinctly recalled the brutality and desperation of the conflict. Even after control of both countries began to pass to the control of individuals born after the end of the conflict, relations between the countries were still heavily defined by Xiaodong's abrogation of the Treaty of Keisi and Senria's demand for the reinstatement of the treaty and the payment of the reparations demanded within.
Casualties
Senrian
It is estimated that roughly 347,000 Senrian soldiers died during the conflict. While many of these troops were killed in combat, the frequent internment of Senrian prisoners of war within extermination zones increased the number of Senrian combatant dead significanlty. Senrian prisoners of war, like civilian internees, were widely used for forced labor and medical experimentation; after the start of the second Senrian offensive, however, many Xiaodongese commanders resorted to summary execution of Senrian prisoners of war.
Senrian guerrillas also faced near-certain death if captured; of the 20,000 members of the Army of Kitasuu who participated in the Ukyou Uprising, only 314 survived the uprising, and only 76 survived the war. Members of Senrian guerrilla cells were generally subject to extensive torture followed by summary execution if captured. Many guerrillas also chose to commit suicide- either by launching suicidal attacks on Xiaodongese forces, or by concealing small weapons or suicide pills to use if captured- rather than divulging information to Xiaodongese forces.
Civilian casualties were also high; while most civilian casualties were inflicted as part of the Senrian Genocide, a coordinated attempt to exterminate the Senrian people, many Senrian civilians died during combat between Senrian and Xiaodongese forces. During the final suppression of the Ukyou Uprising, Xiaodongese forces killed large numbers of civilians in retaliation for civilian support for the Army of Kitasuu. Later, towards, the end of the war, Xiaodongese forces attempted to slow the Senrian advance on Sakata by trapping Senrian civilians in outer regions of the city and then lighting those regions on fire in what became known as the Razing of Sakata. Senrian civilian casualties were high enough as a result of the Senrian Genocide and other Xiaodongese atrocities that many villages and towns in rural areas of Kitasuu saw their entire populations killed during the conflict; while Senria attempted to resettle refugees and orphans in depopulated areas after the conflict, there are still several hundred villages- commonly known as "villages of the dead" (Senrian: 씨싸노무라, sisa no mura) that remain abandoned into the present.
Xiaodongese
Xiaodongese troop casualties are generally estimated at 568,000 dead. Many of these casualties occurred late in the war, after Senria and Tuthina had reestablished naval dominance over Xiaodong; with supply convoys from Xiaodong cut off by the Senrian-Tuthinan naval blockade, many Xiaodongese units- already low on supplies due to the operations of Senrian guerrillas and Tuthinan long-range penetration units- began to suffer critical shortages of even the most basic supplies. This resulted in severe attrition among Xiaodongese forces, with many soldiers dying of starvation or illness. Xiaodongese casualties also increased towards the end of the war as Senrian soldiers began murdering surrendering Xiaodongese troops and prisoners of war in retaliation for Xiaodongese atrocities, an action unofficially condoned by many within the Senrian officer corps.
Most civilian casualties suffered by Xiaodong occurred late in the war, after Xiaodongese forced had been expelled from Senria. Senrian bombing runs generally resulted in the destruction of both industrial and residential districts, resulting in widespread civilian casualties. Senrian bombing runs also provoked mass panics and destroyed infrastructure such as hospitals that could have reduced civilian casualties. Senrian destruction of factories, transport infrastructure, granaries, and warehouses caused shortages of products and consumer goods that further increased the civilian death toll. In total, between 150,000-250,000 civilians died in Xiaodong during the war.
War crimes
Xiaodongese
During the Senrian-Xiaodongese War, Xiaodongese forces, acting on government orders, perpetrated a series of atrocities against Senrian civilians and prisoners of war. These atrocities included the use of concentration camps commonly called "extermination zones" (Xiaodongese: 灭鼠地域, mièshǔ dìyù; Senrian: 서뚜머뚜쑤우요우쏘, zetumetu suuyouso), looting and pillaging of Senrian cities, the rape and murder of civilians, the usage of civilians for forced labor in prison camps, human experimentation on prisoners and civilians, summary execution of prisoners of war, forcing Senrian civilians on to death marches, and destroying historic buildings and monuments in Senria. Internationally, these atrocities are collectively known as the Senrian Genocide; within Senria, they are commonly called "the Unforgivable Crime" (Senrian: 유루싸러내한새, yurusarenai hanzai), a line taken from a speech delivered by Katurou Imahara following the liberation of the Rokkaso and Imadate extermination zones.
Xiaodong constructed a total of 61 extermination zones- known literally in Xiaodongese as "rodent removal zones"- across Senria, but no more than 56 were active at any given time. Among the most infamous extermination zones were Itinoseki, Sinzouku, Rokkaso, Imadate, Hurukawa, Sitigahama, Hiraizumi, Kosiro, Sagae, and Yamagawa.
Within the extermination zones, Senrian civilians were used mostly for forced labor, manufacturing supplies and equipment for the Xiaodongese military. Inmates within the camps were used for medical experimentation, including vivisection, lobotomy, and biological and chemical weapons testing. Most experiments took place without anesthetic, and many experiments were conducted on women and children. Inmates in the extermination zones were only intermittently fed, housed in vastly overcrowded and unsanitary barracks, and killed when they were deemed no longer useful. Captured Senrian soldiers were also interred in extermination zones, and subjected to the same treatment as Senrian civilians within them.
Xiaodongese troops also committed war crimes outside of the extermination zones. The largest of these separate incidents occurred after the suppression of the Ukyou Uprising, in which more than 5,000 civilians suspected of aiding or abetting the guerrillas were summarily executed by Xiaodongese troops. Xiaodongese forces also forced Senrian civilians onto death marches; early in the war, these were frequently to extermination zones, but late in the war, Senrian civilians would simply be marched into a rural area and shot. The most infamous of these later death marches ended in the Abasiri Massacre, in which Xiaodongese troops rounded up the inhabitants of several dozen towns and villages in Misaki and Sakata prefectures and shot them near the town of Abasiri; it is estimated as many as 3,000 individuals died. Many Senrian cities- such as Ukyou and Sakata- were destroyed in their entirety, resulting in the loss of many historic buildings and artifacts within those cities, as well as large numbers of human lives.
In total, the Senrian government estimates that roughly 7,500,000 Senrian civilians died at the hands of the Xiaodongese occupying force, whether in extermination camps or elsewhere. Senria maintains that the most lethal camps was Sinzouku, in which 261,000 Senrian civilians died; the least lethal was Sitigahama where only 25,000 civilians died after the camp was liberated early in the war. The Xiaodongese government, however, disputes these numbers, claiming only 100,000 Senrians were killed "at most" and maintaining that the majority of civilian deaths were due to Senrian forces. The overwhelming majority of independent groups reject both numbers, arguing that the Senrian number is inflated and the Xiaodongese number grossly deflated; these independent estimates range from 3,800,000 killed to 4,500,000 killed, with an average estimate of roughly 4,000,000 killed. Denial or gross minimization of the Senrian genocide has been a crime in Senria since 1939, punishable by a fine of up to ¥1,150,000 ($10,000) and imprisonment ranging from three months to ten years. In Xiaodong, by contrast, downplaying of the genocide or denial of its existence has been "extremely common".
Senrian
A large number of Senrian war crimes were conducted as retaliation for Xiaodongese war crimes. Senrian troops were accused of frequently killing surrendering Xiaodongese soldiers and Xiaodongese prisoners of war, in retaliation for the murder of Senrian civilians by Xiaodongese troops. Captured Xiaodongese troops held as prisoners of war were frequently starved or tortured; there have also been multiple reports of Senrian troops practicing marksmanship or swordsmanship on live Xiaodongese prisoners, and of the desecration of the bodies of Xiaodongese war dead. This habit of retaliation stretched into the highest echelons of the Senrian military; after General Hatirou Nakayama learned that his wife and three children had been found among the dead following the liberation of the Hurukawa Extermination Zone, he ordered the execution of all Xiaodongese prisoners of war held by soldiers under his command. It is estimated that as many as 2,500 captured Xiaodongese soldiers died as a result. While the Senrian government acknowledges that "some Senrian soldiers retaliated against Xiaodongese troops for the atrocities committed by the latter", it insists the Xiaodongese government has inflated the number of Xiaodongese troops killed under these circumstances for political purposes.
During the bombing runs of the last phase of the war, Senrian bombers rarely distinguished between industrial districts and residential ones. As a result, Xiaodongese civilian casualties resulting from bombing runs were also very high, and the government of Xiaodong has maintained that the aforementioned bombing runs constituted a war crime, labeling aerial commanders such as Akitosi Hanayama as war criminals. Senria's government has rejected these claims, maintaining that "any and all bombing of civilian districts during the Senrian-Xiaodongese War was wholly unintentional, and resulted not from malice but from the limitations of military technology of that era, unlike the Xiaodongese slaughter of Senrian civilians". Xiaodongese historians dispute this view, pointing out that some Xiaodongese cities bombed like Kuoqing being primarily a residential area and that to bomb such cities was deliberating targeting civilian areas.
Continuing conflict
After the Corrective Revolution, Senria refused to recognize the new Xiaodongese regime under Lu Keqian, who was believed by many Senrians to have been involved in the Senrian Genocide. Xiaodong, in return, dropped its recognition of the Senrian regime. Diplomatic relations between the two were conducted using Tuthina as an intermediary for the next several decades.
Following the Senrian-Xiaodongese War and the Corrective Revolution the region of Duljun- a formerly independent state annexed by Xiaodong during the 1880s- erupted into civil war as a separatist group known as the Three Banners Alliance, formed by a group of Duljunese clans, declared Duljun's independence from Xiaodong in 1935. The Xiaodongese military, still reeling from defeats in Senria and having barely won the Xiaodongese civil war, were deployed to conduct counter-insurgency operations in Duljun, which was under martial law between 1936 and 1941 during what became known as the Second Duljunese-Xiaodongese War. The Three Banners Alliance were heavily supported by Senria, which gave Duljunese insurgents money, weapons, and training, with the intent of further destabilizing Xiaodong. In 1935 Senria's government voiced official support for the Three Banners Alliance and recognized Duljun as an independent state. The Duljunese insurrection was eventually suppressed in 1941, but Senrian support for the insurgency led to a further hardening of relations between Xiaodong and Senria. Senria also took in a number of Duljunese refugees afterwards.
During this period, Senria also attempted to sabotage Xiaodong's efforts to reindustrialize, undertaking what was known within the Senrian government as Operation Red Pheasant. Between 1934 to the early 1940's, Xiaodongese reindustrialisation was hampered by the destruction of factories, deploying Senrian agents to sabotage Xiaodong's industry or paying Xiaodongese anti-government groups to do it for them, for the purposes of keeping Xiaodong weaker than Senria. By the late 1930's, Xiaodongese authorities had begun to crack down on such acts of industrial sabotage, and in 1940 Xiaodong launched the so-called Decades of Development where amongst other things military style discipline was implemented in factories. Operation Red Pheasant continued, but by the early 1940's had petered out.
In response, Xiaodong's Shujichu attempted to assassinate Katurou Imahara. A Shujichu agent, Xi Yikuang, attempted to shoot Imahara and his wife Keiko while Imahara was delivering a speech in the city of Furosawa on December 29, 1946. Imahara and his wife Keiko were unharmed, but a soldier standing behind Imahara, Private Noriyosi Sakaguti, was killed in the attempt. Xi was shot dead while attempting to flee the scene; a search of an apartment he had rented under a pseudonym revealed his identity. Senria demanded the extradition of several Shujichu officials, to be tried for attempted murder and attempted assassination, but Xiaodong refused the request.
Following Lu Keqian's death in 1944 a power struggle emerged between Ma Renzhong, who led the "bureaucratic clique" within the Xiaodongese regime, and Yu Changshao, who led the "military clique". Tensions developed between party politicians and technocrats like Ma who wished to create a one-party state with a strong bureaucracy and Yu's supporters who wanted to create a military state. Yu's military clique was more pro-Tuthinian than the bureaucratic clique, and as such during the 1940's liaisoned with Tuthina and Senria. Although the military clique was still firmly against the Treaty of Keisi, it was more sympathetic to Senria than the bureaucratic clique and as such Senria gave tacit support for pragmatic reasons. In 1946 the military under Yu attempted to launch a coup d'état against the government of Ma, with several divisions of tanks taking over the city of Rongzhuo and declaring the creation of the "Democratic Republic of Xiaodong". However, the coup was prevented as troops loyal to Ma fought a short battle before reasserting control over Rongzhuo, with the coup plotters being tried and executed. At the trial of the coup plotters it was alleged the coup plotters had "received intelligence and support from Senria" which further damaged relations between the two nations.
Tensions between Xiaodong and Senria flared again in 1964 with the assassination of Senrian Prime Minister Tokiyasu Kitamura by Mao Shunguo. Kitamura was killed on January 3, 1964, while observing a military parade in Keisi; Mao had disguised himself as a spectator. While it was initially suspected that Mao was a lone Xiaodongese nationalist, the Tokkeitai soon uncovered evidence implicating Shujichu officials as high-ranking as Shujichu chief Sun Yuting in the assassination. Mao was executed by firing squad shortly thereafter, in spite of demands from Xiaodongese First Minister Li Zhaozheng that he be extradited back to Xiaodong; Mao's execution further increased tensions between the countries.
The execution of Mao Shunguo was followed by the kidnapping of Xiaodongese Second Minister Shen Jinping by the Tokkeitai. Shen had served as the "right-hand man" of Qiu Hanjie during the Senrian Genocide, and played an active role in the implementation of the Xiaodongese effort to exterminate large numbers of Senrian civilians. On March 11, 1964, Shen went missing from his residence in Rongzhuo; two weeks later, the Senrian government announced it had "successfully captured" Shen in order to try him for his role in the genocide. The case was heard by the District Court for the District of Ukyou Prefecture beginning on April 9, 1964. The prosecution was headed by Minister of Justice Tutomu Saitou; Shen served as his own defense, though a group of Senrian public defenders did aid him in procuring evidence. Xiaodong repeatedly demanded that Shen be extradited, even threatening war if Shen was jailed or executed; Senria stated that he would be returned if he was found not guilty. Shen was found guilty on all charges on December 17, 1965 and executed by firing squadron on January 22, 1966.
On June 14, 1975, Senrian Prime Minister Takesi Takahata sent two fleets of the Senrian Republican Navy into Xiaodongese territorial waters to demand the payment of the reparations entailed in the Treaty of Keisi. Sun Yuting- now First Minister- ordered the Xiaodongese navy to escort the Senrian fleets out of Xiaodongese waters; the Senrian navy, however, refused. A standoff between the two countries, commonly known as the Coastal Crisis, developed over the next three days. On June 17, a skirmish broke out between the two fleets off the Xiaodongese coast near Baiqiao. It is unclear how the skirmish began; Senria maintains that a Xiaodongese ship rammed and sank a Senrian destroyer, while Xiaodong maintains that a Senrian warning shot hit a Xiaodongese frigate. After the skirmish, three Senrian ships and four Xiaodongese ships had been sunk. A second Senrian-Xiaodongese War was only averted due to Tuthinan intervention; Tuthinan-led negotiations held in Samtoy resulted in Senria agreeing to pull its fleets out of Xiaodongese waters.
Senrian-Xiaodongese tensions continued to run high through the remainder of the 1970s. Both Takahata and Sun were considered hardliners; Takahata frequently referred to Xiaodong only as "the aggressor nation" (Senrian: 씬랴꾸꼬꾸, sinryaku-koku), while Sun described Senria as a "barbarian country" (野蛮的国家; yěmán de guójiā). Both countries were destabilized domestically in the late 1970s. In Senria, Takahata was assassinated in 1979 by a communist and succeeded by Kitirou Imahara, who was deposed amidst economic troubles in 1983 and succeeded by Kiyosi Haruka. In Xiaodong, meanwhile, protests led by the Xiaodongese Labour Union of Free Workers' escalated into the 1977 Kuoqing Massacre after First Minister Sun ordered the military to crush the demonstrations, killing more than 2,000. Xiaodong's attempts to nationalize foreign-owned properties also resulted in increasing political isolation, which in turn severely damaged the Xiaodongese economy.
On January 17, 1984, First Minister Sun attended a military parade in the city of Kuoqing. Seizi Itoyama, a Tokkeitai agent disguised as one of Sun's body doubles, shot Sun twice before being killed by Sun's bodyguards. Sun died in a Kuoqing hospital seven hours later. While the Senrian government initially denied responsibility in the assassination, after the Xiaodongese government eventually found evidence firmly implicating Senria, Prime Minister Haruka described the assassination as "retaliation for the murder of Prime Minister Kitamura by Xiaodong".
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The following year, Sun's successor Qian Xingwen approved an operation known as "Operation Calm Waters", in which the Shujichu limpet mined Senrian civilian vessels, primarily fishing trawlers and cargo vessels. 112 Senrian citizens died during the operation, which sank a total of 19 vessels and caused several hundred thousand dollars in damages. While the mining was originally suspected to be the work of communist or liberationist groups within Senria, the capture of two Shujichu agents placing limpet mines on a Senrian cargo ship by the Senrian Republican Army and Tokkeitai in October of that year implicated Xiaodong.
The Tokkeitai responded by bombing the Mausoleum of Lu Keqian on October 13, 1987. Tokkeitai agents Naoki Takeda, Hirosi Hakumura, and Kenzi Nakagaki, posing as Xiaodongese civilians, successfully placed an improvised explosive device near Lu's preserved body; after two minutes, the device detonated. As the date would have been Lu's 110th birthday, the mausoleum was particularly crowded, and 87 Xiaodongese- mostly civilians- were killed instantly, with another 18 severely injured by the blast. Lu's corpse was also destroyed. While Takeda, Hakumura, and Nakagaki were able to flee the scene, the three were soon sought by local police. On October 14, as the three attempted to flee to a rural area for eventual extraction, they were cornered by Xiaodongese police; Hakumura and Nakagaki were killed in the ensuing firefight, as were three Xiaodongese police officers. Takeda was captured alive, but committed suicide using a cyanide pill while in captivity. In spite of this, the identities of the three were revealed, as was Senria's involvement. Xiaodong demanded the extradition of several high-ranking officials within the Senrian Ministry of Defense and Tokkeitai; Senria refused to extradite any of the individuals named.
Xiaodong retaliated by attacking the Keisi Metro by releasing sarin gas onto several lines on July 10, 1990. Six agents of the Shujichu released sarin gas onto six separate train cars during rush hour, killing 54, severely wounding another 62, and causing temporary vision problems for nearly 900 more; in total, it is estimated as many as 4,000 Senrians suffered non-fatal injuries during the attack. The metro system was then shut down for three days as municipal police and soldiers searched for any devices that could be used to further attack the metro, causing widespread disruption in the commutes of many inhabitants of the city. Senrian troops located the Shujichu agents as they attempted to board a flight to Boionchi, and took all six into custody. According to one of the captured agents, the attack was originally slated for early 1991, with the hopes of carrying out attacks on other public locations, but the attack was moved to 1990 as 1990 was the 2,700th anniversary of the founding of Senria by the legendary Emperor Kousuu. One successfully committed suicide in custody, but the remainder were tried and executed for premeditated murder and sabotage in spite of a Xiaodongese attempt to extradite them.
On September 21, 1994, the 60th anniversary of the Corrective Revolution, a pair of bombs detonated in the Xiaodongese capital of Rongzhuo. One targeted the State Presidium of Xiaodong, which was in session at the time; the other targeted a large parade commemorating the anniversary. 54 deputies of the State Presidium were killed (including former State Chairman Yuan Jiaxiang, father of incumbent State Chairman Yuan Xiannian), as were 73 spectators at the parade. Two Senrian agents were implicated in the attack; one died in the parade bombing after being unable to escape the blast range before the device detonated, while the other successfully escaped to Tinzhan and thence to Senria. Senria refused a Xiaodongese demand to extradite the agent, who ultimately died of dioxin poisoning in 2001. Senria formally accused Xiaodong of being behind the poisoning in 2002; Xiaodong has denied these allegations.
A Third Duljunese-Xiaodongese War began in 1988; as with previous conflicts between Xiaodong and Duljun, Senria provided monetary, materiel, and diplomatic support to the Duljunese rebels. The war continued until 1997, when Xiaodongese forces crushed the rebellion. Senria, in response, provided asylum to the leaders of the rebellion, who formed a Duljunese government-in-exile based out of Keisi. Senria also sheltered large numbers of Duljunese dissidents and refugees fleeing the region.
Formal diplomatic relations between Senria and Xiaodong were reestablished in 2004, while the countries were under Sigesato Izumi and Han Guanzheng, respectively. Both Han and Izumi were considered moderates within their parties, and there was growing pressure from Tuthina to restore calm in the Boreo-Lahudic region. The opening of a Senrian embassy in Rongzhuo and a Xiaodongese embassy in Keisi for the first time in 68 years was marked with fanfare by both countries.
While extensive Tuthinan pressure has effectively halted the tit-for-tat espionage and terrorism campaigns that dominated Senrian-Xiaodongese relations for much of the 1900s, tensions between Senria and Xiaodong remain high. Xiaodong's refusal to pay the reparations entailed in the Treaty of Keisi has continued to be a major stumbling block in Xiaodongese-Senrian relations, as have disputes about the scope of the Senrian Genocide. Both countries have accused the other of propagandizing history courses, whitewashing or exaggerating atrocities, and attempting to interfere in the domestic affairs of the other. In particular, the election of Yuan Xiannian- a denier of the Senrian Genocide- and Xiaodongese accusations that Senria fomented post-election unrest in Xiaodong have caused great tension in recent months. Template:XiaodongTopics
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