Great Eracuran War
The Great Eracuran War (also known as the Second Great War, or the Eracuran War) was a major conflict centered primarily in Western Eracura which spanned from November 1937 to May 1945 and which involved all of the continent's major military powers.
Although major hostilities did not break out until 1940, the beginning of the war is dated to the outbreak of hostilities between Shalum, Aethurheim, and Svinia over a border conflict concerning the province of Maldoria in November 1937. A long contested and heavily resource-rich region, Maldoria's status as part of Shalum was just one component of longstanding enmity between Shalum and its southern neighbours. While Aethurheim desired the province which had historically belonged to it in part, Svinia's concerns over Maldoria possessed a nationalistic element as the region is predominantly Slavic in both ethnic and linguistic composition. The border conflict drew little serious attention from other Eracuran powers, who considered it largely a western continental issue and not substantial enough to garner concern. As the conflict persisted into 1938 after a brief pause over the winter, it began to spread as Aethurheim began conducting operations against other parts of the Aethurian-Shalumite border.
The spread of the conflict from its limited status in Maldoria also resulted in an intensification of the conflict and the rhetoric surrounding it. Aethurian claims soon expanded to demand substantial border territory from Shalum, claiming a historical right to the land. In August 1938, the Aethurian Krigsmarine began unrestricted merchant raiding in an attempt to apply economic pressure to Shalum and force it to concede the demanded territory. The first reported attack by Aethurian submarines against Ossorian merchant shipping near the Arzell Islands occurred in September. Ossoria subsequently summoned the Aethurian ambassador to issue a diplomatic protest, warning them against further attacks. Throughout the rest of the year, Aethurian submarines continued to intermittently attack Ossorian merchant shipping along the Shalumite coast and in the area of the Arzell Islands. Ossoria subsequently demanded tha the unrestricted submarine campaign cease and that Aethurheim pay reparations in compensation; all demands are dismissed by the Aethurians. The Royal Ossorian Navy begins a series of wargames concerning an attack on the Azurlav fleet. The diplomatic row intensifies in February 1939, when continued Aethurian attacks on Ossorian merchant shipping prompt Ossoria to decree that all Ossorian-flagged merchantmen must travel in escorted convoys between the Home Islands and Hemar, Arzell, or through the Northern Passage; simultaneously, an ultimatum is issued that threatens war should a convoy be attacked. Although this appeared to halt Aethurian raiidng, war planning by the RON accelerated while the Ossorian government began contingency planning with the Acrean government, who by this point in the conflict had become greatly concerned. Ossoria began openly mobilizing its armed forces for a conflict, whilst Acrean forces were quietly mobilised whilst reviewing plans for an invasion of Svinia. The rapid spread of the war and the expansionist ambitions of Aethurheim (and ostensibly Svinia) had caused a small crisis within both governments. Though neither sought to involve themselves in what had previously been considered a local matter regarding Svinia, both also viewed a shift in the balance of power in the west in favour of Aethurheim as a major threat to security and peace on the continent as a whole.
In July 1939, in a bid to reverse losses suffered at the hands of repeated Aethurian and Svinian attacks, Shalum escalated the conflict by launching the first large-scale operation of the war with a summer offensive, formally declaring war on Aethurheim and Svinia simultaneously. Though the offensive manages to regain lost territory in Maldoria, the demands of holding the front wither down its momentum until the operation peters out by August. Aethurheim and Svinia subsequently retaliated with a large-scale invasion of Shalum along the entire border in September. Following early losses and despite being heavily outnumbered, the Shalumite Army mounted a heavy and stiff resistance in the face of Aethurian and Svinian expectations of a rapid advance, and the attack instead proceeded at a slow pace through the Shalumite south until it stalled south of Frankfurt. The onset of winter greatly aided the Shalumites as the weather caused widespread attrition amongst the Aethurian and Svinian armies, who had not expected the operation to last into the winter months. The Shalumite effort was also aided by an influx of war aid from Ossoria and Acrea, unimpeded due to the pause in Aethurian merchant raiding. The Shalumites use the lull in the fighting to rearm, recuperate, and reorganise for an offensive which begins in April. Due to the south-central region of Shalum comprising most of its agricultural land, regaining this territory was considered imperative by Shalumite commanders if the country was to be able to sustain itself for a longer war. The offensive managed to regain large swathes of territory, but attrition grinds the operation to a halt by August 1940. Another Western Alliance counteroffensive followed, but was unable to move the front. As the particularly brutal winter of 1940-1941 set in, the front stabilised along the Valemur-Boryhyne-Soesterberg line. As Acrean preparations for war become more apparent, the Svinian Army took advantage of the lull in fighting to shift reserves from the west to the east along its border with Acrea.
As the importance of Ossorian and Acrean aid to Shalum grows, Aethurheim restarted its policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1941 and begins a full blockade of the Shalumite coast. In late April, Ossorian convoy BA 27 is attacked by Aethurian submarines. The RON escort engaged and sank three submarines in exchange for five merchantmen. Consequently, Ossoria formally declared war against Aethurheim. In accordance with prewar planning and simulations, the RON launches a multi-pronged attack on the Aethurian blockade of Shalum, beginning six hours after the delivery of the declaration of war. The Aethurian blockade crumbles within a fortnight of sustained combat operations. A Svinian declaration of war does not come immediately, but instead follows a week later on the 2 May 1941. The Ossorians respond in kind, leading the Acreans to launch their invasion of Svinia with a simultaneous declaration of war. An Aethurian declaration of war on Acrea comes later the same day.