Vasilin Sea crisis

Vasilin Sea crisis
Ship after being struck by naval vessel, 1994
Date 8 September 1967 - 23 May 2019 Location Vasilin Sea Result Crisis resolved • Annexation of Saroq • 2019 Saterocian Revolution • some treaties idk
Belligerents
Vœyetska North Kandson Saroq	Sateroc
Commanders and leaders
Prime Minister Adrian Grönvall	Arnaud Puoc Tilmann Puoc Andre Puoc Georg Puoc

The Vasilin Sea crisis, also known as the Sateroc crisis was a period of heightened tensions between the Puoc regime in Sateroc and its neighbors in the Vasilin Sea, especially Saroq, which Sateroc invaded three times throughout the crisis. However, other important state actors, such as Vœyetska and North Kandson played an important role throughout the crisis as they opposed the Puoc regime. The crisis at sea was characterized by repeated naval confrontations, and although there was no direct combat, both sides took steps to indirectly combat the other.

Background

In 1953, the Saterocian monarchy was overthrown in a revolution due to unpopular doings by the monarchy, specifically King Mirnsec V, who suspended parliament following an assassination attempt which wounded Mirnsec. After the monarchy was overthrown, and the royal family was murdered, conservative and rural civilians loyal to the monarchy rose up against the new republic and began a 7-month long civil war which saw the deaths of at least 84,000 Saterocians. However, in the end, the republican government won after a final offensive into Cascutia which saw the final loyalists surrender. However, President Goen conflicted with his generals over which direction he wanted to take Sateroc, and less than a month after the end of the civil war, these generals formed the Unitary Salvation Forces and overthrew the republic, executing President Goen in the process.

At the helm of the USF was Arnaud Puoc, who was an older general who commanded portions of the republican army during the Saterocian civil war. He quickly garnered support by pushing nationalist sentiments across the country, including a rapid militarization by conscripting a lot of Sateroc's able-bodied men into the military, along with constructing modernized equipment. Puoc was also anti-western, as many western countries supported the monarchy, and condemned Puoc's take over, many of which also refused to recognize Puoc as "leader-general" of Sateroc. Because of this, Sateroc was surrounded by countries hostile to itself, further intensifying the rapid military build-up. Vœyetska in particular was repeatedly threatened over anti-monarchist sentiments before the crisis officially began. Not only this, however Vœyetska heavily assisted Saterocian loyalists and monarchists during the civil war, supplying them with aid, and sometimes even directly intervening.

Saroq, a nation which had seceded in the midst of an internal crisis in Sateroc, received countless threats from Puoc's government in the years following the takeover of power. Puoc had plans to invade the country and annex it once again, which caused an even more tense situation between him and Sateroc's neighbors, along with a majority of the international community which opposed Puoc. In the months leading up to 8 September 1967, Sateroc's fresh naval forces were deployed in the outer parts of its territorial waters in preparation for the first invasion of Saroq.

Crisis timeline

1967-1979

• 8 September 1967: Beginning in the early hours of the day, the Saterocian Air Force began large-scale bombing runs of Saroq, including cities such as Elmonton and Gurdsberg. Hours later, a ground offensive with at least 65,000 troops took place from the north, aimed at taking Elmonton as soon as possible.

Vœyetska, along with the international community, harshly condemned the invasion and called for Sateroc to remove its forces from Saroq immediately.

• 6 January 1969: After a lengthy battle with an unspecified illness, Arnaud Puoc was announced dead by the Saterocian government, being immediately replaced by his brother, Tilmann Puoc. Tilmann sought to ease tensions with Sateroc and its neighbors, along with the rest of the world.

• 2 March 1969: During a tour around Kolkesburg on horseback, Tilmann Puoc is fatally shot twice in the chest and once in the head by Moqaq Pojel. After Pojel's public execution in Morge Square, Andre Puoc, Tilmann's son, comes to power. Andre's paranoia caused him to become a much more aggressive leader than Tilmann or Arnaud.

Andre immediately accused foreign operatives of being behind the attack, first blaming Saroq before blaming Vœyetska. However, evidence pointed towards Pojel being a member of one of many of the Cascutian separatist organizations.

20 October 1973: Andre Puoc declares the Peoples' Glorious Revolutionary State of Sateroc after several months of preparation. In this speech, he calls himself the "Third Glorious Savior of Sateroc", and controversially declares Sateroc and the Puoc regime the Vasilin Sea's "true authority", drawing concern from other nations.

1980-1992

11 April 1989: Amidst rapidly rising tensions, Andre Puoc announces the start of "reclamation operations" in the Vasilin Sea. "The navy is to be mobilized for our reclamation efforts" he stated, "we will let our neighbors know, that whatever happens, we are stronger, better, and more willing." On the same day, Saterocian naval vessels began traversing through international waters in the Vasilin Sea, sometimes nearing territorial waters of nations such as Saroq and Vœyetska.

1993-2002

• 12 May 1993: The Saterocian government announced its intentions to conduct a nuclear test "in the coming weeks". Vœyetska warned Sateroc to refrain from "escalating current tensions".

• 20 May 1993: At 02:32:16 local time, Sateroc detonated a nuclear device in the desolate far-northern portions of Cascutia, and Puoc confirmed just minutes later to the Saterocian public that his forces had tested a "device capable of destroying our enemies". The maximum yield of the explosion was 18 kilotons.

The test drew condemnation from across the world, and further sanctions were imposed on Sateroc for the test, however fears arose of what a conflict with Sateroc could look like. Many in the Vasilin Sea were now scared of the prospect of the Puoc regime holding an arsenal of nuclear weapons that could potentially be used if Sateric percieved any nation to be hostile to it.

• 8 September 1997: On the 30th anniversery of the First Wheat War, Saterocian forces began a large-scale bombardment of Saroqi border towns using artillery and aircraft, along with limited strikes in Elmonton, which still resulted in a high death toll in Saroq. Hours later, about 70,000 Saterocian troops, along with dozens of vehicles, entered Saroq and began engaging Saroqi troops in border towns.

Experts warned that a conflict in the Vasilin Sea between Sateroc and other nations of the sea was "imminent" following the initiation of the Second Wheat War as the Vasilin community condemned Sateroc's invasion.

• 10 September 1997: Saterocian destroyer Houllouis, one of many Saterocian naval vessels blockading the Saroqi coast due to the ongoing conflict, sinks a foreign refugee ship carrying refugees from Saroq to Vœyetska, killing some 400 civilians and humanitarian aid workers. The unnamed refugee ship reportedly failed to communicate with the Houllouis, resulting in what Puoc later called "retaliatory measures"

• 13 September 1997: After less than a week of conflict, both warring sides signed a ceasefire sponsored by -insert nation(s)-. Despite no official victory, Puoc claimed victory in the war, considering his forces remained in control of over a dozen settlements on the Saroqi side of the border, claiming that the original war goal was to "achieve domination", not to occupy all of Saroq.

2002-2013

• 30 November 2011: After falling in and out of consciousness for several days, Andre Puoc expectedly passes away late on 30 November. Georg Puoc succeeded his father as "Glorious Savior of Sateroc", and immediately announces a week-long mourning period, in which businesses and other services across the country are closed down throughout this period.

2014-2019

• 8 May 2014: A barrage of missiles hit Saroq in the middle of the day, before Saterocian ground forces crossed their occupation zones into Saroq, beginning the Third Wheat War. Puoc would announce a "renewed operation" into "rebel-held territory" just minutes after the first wave of missiles was reported. The international community was quick to condemn Sateroc on the invasion, with many nations calling the conflict "illegal".

• 7 July 2014: President Verditis Slachmas of Saroq is captured and subsequently executed by Saterocian forces in Elmonton after the city falls to Saterocian forces following a lengthy battle. Puoc announces that the "renewed operation" in Saroq has "come to a close". A new, dictatorial government is installed in Elmonton as Saterocian forces begin rounding up an punishing dissidents in an occupied Saroq.

Reactions

Backing Vasilin Sea nations

Emmiria: Emmiria's government condemned Sateroc's actions on numerous occasions throughout the crisis. Perhaps the most notable condemnation came in 1997, when President Raaid al-Taheri accused Sateroc of crimes against humanity in an address to the CCA General Assembly only days after the 10 September sinking of a refugee ship, which resulted in the deaths of 400 civilians and humanitarian aid workers.