Spring War
| The Spring War | |||||||
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| File:SpringWar.jpg | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Idland and The Dokodo Union | Oconeee and The Dragon-Thorn Alliance | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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President Ben Longnose |
President Malcolm Davis | ||||||
The Spring War, was a global conflict in Anteria that took place in March 2017.
Background
Rising Tensions
Idland's Manley Armstrong, who rose to power on a platform of ultranationalism, ordered that all corporations in Idland must only employ local Idlanders. This legislation drew the ire of the Oconeeean government, which levied economic sanctions on Idland on March 2nd.
Astariax saw the Oconeeean sanctions as a threat to free trade and applied their own sanctions against Oconeee. Oconeee responded in kind and levied sanctions against Astariax. In support of Astariax, member states of the Dokodo Union, Tsokeiku, Eudaemonics, and Nouveaurich, also applied economic sanctions to Oconeee.
Oconeee then proceeded to deport all Astariaxi, Tsokeikan, Eudae, and Nouveauriche diplomats and government officials.
The nations of Draku, Bendan, and Albithica expressed concern over the rising tensions. By this time, Oconeee, Astariax, and Draku had already raised their defense conditions to heightened alert. To avoid the threat of war, Bendan suggested peace talks between Astariax and Oconeee. It was soon decided that the peace talks be held in Draku, a neutral third party state. Draku asked all parties to refrain from issuing any further sanctions until the peace talks began.
Initial Peace Talks
On March 13th, representatives from Astariax, Oconeee, Idland, Draku, Thornmark, Bendan, Nouveaurich, and the Hofflandian Union convened in Draku City for the planned peace conference. During the Conference, Oconeee presented an ultimatum to Idland to withdraw their sanctions, and in turn, they would withdraw theirs. Tempers flaired on either side, with the third parties requesting calmness in further negotiations.
Death of Manley Armstrong
Unbeknownst to everyone attending the Conference, Vice President Longnose of Idland had secretly orchestrated the assassination of Manley Armstrong, the President of Idland, and Idland's representative during the Draku Conference. In the midst of the negotiations, Idland's President dropped dead, sparking hysteria in the Conference building. In response, Draku ordered the Conference building to be locked down. It was the general believe at the time that someone at the Conference was responsible for the assassination. Immediately, Oconeee's president, Malcolm Davis was suspected, as well as possible Astariaxi involvement.
Incident at Draku
Malcolm Davis, Oconeee's President, grew outraged by being held in the Conference building against his will. Viewing himself as a political hostage, he ordered the Oconeee military to make an excursion into Draku for the purpose of retrieving him. All other members of the Draku Conference advised Davis against this rash action, indicating that it would be an act of war. The Oconeee President, however, insisted that he be allowed to leave. In no time at all, an Oconeee military force was at the Conference building, and after a brief exchange of fire between the Draku security forces and the Oconeee extraction forces, the President was on his way back to Oconeee. Meanwhile, Idland's Vice President succeeded Manley Armstrong's position of President, and immediately declared war on Oconeee, which Oconeee reciprocated. Astariax, after deliberating, declared war on Oconeee as well.
Escalation of Hostilities
Almost immediately, Oconeee and Idland began to exchange missile fire at each other. Oconeee sent numerous aircraft to Idland, and after a brief malfunction of Idland's SAM batteries, they were able to fend off the aerial attack. Both Idland and Oconeee started to engage in several naval battles in the Central Ocean. The Astariaxi had a limited role during these initial engagements, focusing on mobilizing their forces for an invasion.
Entrance of the Dragonthorn Alliance
About a day or so after war was declared, the DragonThorn Alliance, consisting of Draku, Thornmark, and Bendan, collectively supported Oconeee and declared war on Astariax and Idland. In the early morning, Thornmarkian aircraft silently creeped into Astariaxi airspace. The Astariaxi received little damage from the Thornmarkian attack, because they were able to respond quickly to the new threat. The declaration of war on Astariax invoked the Dokodo Union to join the conflict. Tsokeiku, Nouveaurich, and the newly joined Hofflandian Union declared war on the DragonThorn Alliance, as well as Oconeee. Albithica, wary of their neighbors engaging in an ever widening conflict, began to reinforce their naval presence in the North Ocean and the North Central Strait, just in case Albithican interests needed to be defended if the war came close to Albithican shores. Hoffland began the organization of a Grand Armada to assist Astariax in naval efforts.
Invasion of Bendan
Almost immediately after the DragonThorn Alliance declared war on Idland and Astariax, the Astariaxi Armed Forces begun deployment in large numbers along the Bendanian-Tsokeiku border. A last ultimatum, demanding the capitulation of Bendan, has been sent and after receiving no response, the Astariaxi and Tsokeikan forces crossed borders. Shortly after, Thornmark started with series of aerial attacks on the invading forces, in cooperation with the Bendanian Royal Air Force, permitting the Royal Army to regroup, and form a defence line. Evacuation of the government and most of the Airborne Forces begun, in order to continue fighting even in the case that Bendan gets conquered. The evacuation was succesful, but the defence lines did not stop the advancing Astariaxi and Tsokeikan forces. Soon the remaining Bendanian Forces have gathered in the area of the city of Hodonin, building up the last stronghold of the Royal Army. Astariax begun an air campaign to weaken the defences and several ballistic missiles were launched from Astariax. A few hours later, after heavy civilian casualties were sustained, king signed the capitulation, thus ending the invasion of Bendan. Following the invasion, Bendan was occupied, and forced Draku and Thornmark to reconsider an all out war with Astariax.
Invasion of Oconeee
Following cooperation between Hofflandian and Astariaxi forces, a brief naval engagement between the Hofflandian Grand Armada and the Oconeee Coast Guard cleared the way for Astariaxi troops to disembark in a coastal resort town in Oconeee, not far from the Oconeee capital of Seneca. This became known as Operation Lindisfarne. After a failed counter offensive by Oconeee to drive back the invaders, the Astariaxi, encouraged with a continuous stream of supplies from the Hofflandians, were able to surround Seneca, and start to make excursions throughout the rest of the country to neutralize other threats to the Astariaxi siege of the capital. Once the Oconeee capital of Seneca was captured, the war would quickly abate. However, Oconeee government was far from ready to agree to end hostilities, despite their capital being under a direct threat.
Attempted Nuclear Attack
In the evening of March 20th, Oconeee dispatched a lone bomber carrying a nuclear ordinance towards the Hofflandian Union. Albithica's surveillance ships in the Central and North Ocean identified the threat, and President Henry Bradford ordered the carrier ANS Endurance and the destroyer ANS Mustard, which were stationed in the North Ocean, to intercept the aircraft. Previously, the Albithican President made a vow of "non-participation" in the conflict. However, with the possibility of nuclear war, Bradford decided to intervene. The interception of Oconeeean bomber was successful, with the nuclear weapon detonating safely in North Ocean. The Albithican government characterized the intervention of Albithican naval forces as a "humanitarian engagement", not an act of war. Nevertheless, Oconeee issued a declaration of war against Albithica (which was not reciprocated), and dispatched two bombers carrying nuclear ordinance as well as a naval fleet to strike back. Albithica, now under a direct nuclear threat, was forced to bring their own nuclear ICBM's online and directed towards Oconeee in defense. The Hofflandian Grand Armada entered the North-Central strait to contend with the Oconeeean fleet that was fast approaching. The smaller Albithican naval force in the North-Central Strait coordinated with the Grand Armada in a support function in an effort to eliminate/minimize any further justification for an official Albithican entrance into the war. Later in the night, Oconeee capitulated, and recalled the bombers carrying nuclear weaponry. Albithica accordingly brought their ICBM's back offline in response.
End of Conflict
After the nuclear incident, the Anteria Triumvirate, which had remained silent on the events of the war, officially entered the conflict by declaring war on Oconeee for their attempted utilization of nuclear weapons. The Dragonthorn Alliance withdrew their support for Oconeee in light of the troubling events. Astariaxi forces managed to successfully capture the Oconeee capital of Seneca on March 21st. The Oconeeean government capitulated to the invading forces shortly after the city was taken. A multilateral ceasefire was declared, ending the conflict on all fronts on the condition that a future armistice be negotiated. Albithica offered to host a conference to discuss such Armistice, as well as possible measures to address the errors and downfalls that led to some events of the war.
Aftermath
Tensions de-escalated somewhat in the days after the official cessation of hostilities, with several nations that had participated in the war lowering their defense condition levels. On March 25th, the Albith Conference was held. The international conference resulted in the Spring War Armistice on April 1st, which officially concluded the Spring War, and the Albith Convention on April 2nd, which was a proactive response to some of the events that lead up too and occurred during the war. On April 2nd, an authorized representative of the Oconeee government capitulated to the terms of the Armistice.