User:Pixy/Drometian War (Sandbox)
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The Drometian War was a major armed conflict and civil war between the Kingdom of Drometia, West Drometia and East Drometia which was fought from 1968 until 1975. Prior to the start of the war multiple factors such as historical ethnic tensions between Afthonian-Drometians and Maroudian-Drometians, a period of economic recession alongside the 1964 Drometian earthquake and the humanitarian crisis that followed and the 1968 Maroudian revolution are considered as significant contributing factors to the conflict. Modern day historians consider 21 March 1968 as the official start of the conflict when anti-monarchist elements within both the civilian population and military of Drometia attempted to overthrow the Drometian monarchy and proclaimed the creation of the Drometian Republic (commonly referred to as West Drometia) with major battles reported almost immediately in the region near Fortaliça, Drometia's capital city. Two days later the Afthonian-Drometian community proclaimed the establishment of the State of East Drometia, commonly referred to as East Drometia, on the island's eastern region as a separate entity from West Drometia. In response the revolutionary government of West Drometia proclaimed the territories controlled by East Drometia as a breakaway province. This resulted in a three-way conflict between the three major factions. West Drometia was supported by Maroudia whereas East Drometia was supported by Afthonia. The island of Drometia has historically been inhabited by both Afthonians and Maroudians who had sailed from the Veledan mainland and settled on the island. In ancient times until the middle ages, the Kastorian Empire controlled the island and established the first permanent settlements on the island and served as an important port city. After its collapse various Afthonian and Maroudian polities vied for control over Drometia and the island frequently changed hands. This constant exchange of control resulted in a mix of Afthonian and Maroudian populations who are referred to as Afthonian-Drometians and Maroudian-Drometians with the latter forming the majority of the island's historical population. In spite of its smaller population size the Afthonian-Drometians have been generally more economically stronger compared to the Maroudian-Drometians which has led to ethnic tensions between the two ethnicities. In the modern era Drometia has become an independent state as the Kingdom of Drometia, a semi-constitutional monarchy.
Prior to the outbreak of war in the 1950s the Drometian economy had performed poorly with the government unable boost economic activity. Various laws passed by the Drometian parliament and personal interventions by the monarch harmed much of the Afthonian-owned businesses on the island. The 1963 Drometian financial crisis was marked with widespread unemployment, rampant inflation and economic decline. The Degnaru, Drometia's currency, had lost more than XX% of its value. Caused by a number of factors, most modern day historians agree that a lack of safeguards to curtail the monarch's power, which allowed the reigning monarch to directly interfere with the nation's central bank decisions, ultimately led to the financial crisis. A catastrophic earthquake in 1964 resulted in widespread damage and high deathtoll which further compounded the government's problems. Already in poor financial condition, the Drometian government was unable to effectively respond to the humanitarian crisis the country faced prompting its direct neighbors of Afthonia and Maroudia alongside other nations to provide humanitarian assistance to Drometia. However the Drometian monarch insisted that any foreign aid must be distributed by the Drometian government themselves and resulted in a centralized system of aid distribution. However as the Drometian government lacked the logistical infrastructure and manpower to properly distribute aid has resulted in the uneven distribution of aid to the Drometian population. This was mostly felt by the Afthonian-Drometians who mostly reside on the eastern portion of the island whereas foreign aid had largely been centered in the western region. This has led to calls by both the local Afthonian-Drometians and Afthonian government to call upon the Drometian government to properly support all segments of its population. Afthonian-Drometians distrust of the reigning monarch continued to sour from what they perceived as blatant favoritism for the Maroudian-Drometians. On the other hand the Maroudian-Drometians believed the reigning monarch to be incompetent and unable to properly govern the nation. In 1966 major riots broke out as the local population demanded reforms, which quickly spread across the entirety of the island. Both Afthonian-Drometians and Maroudian-Drometians took the opportunity to persecute one another throughout the riots. This has prompted the Drometian government to finally call upon the aid of Afthonia and Maroudia who deployed peacekeeping forces on the east and west portions of the island respectively which helped stabilize the situation for a time. However the 1968 Maroudian Revolution inspired dissident elements among the ethnic Maroudian-Drometians to instigate a sister revolution. Combined with support with elements from Maroudia's peacekeeping detachments who were aligned with the Red Army Movement (MER) a sister revolution was initiated on 21 March 1968 in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy and establish a left-wing Drometian state. While fighting was initialy between monarchist and revolutionary forces only, two days after the start of the revolution the eastern region of Drometia declared its sesccession and independence, establishing the Republic of Drometia comprised primarily of ethnic Afthonian-Drometians with the city of Foros as its capital city. Its independence was recognized by Afthonia and Afthonian peacekeepers that were deployed on the island assisted in the training of East Drometia's armies but largely remained uninvolved in direct combat operations.
The first three years of the war saw largely minor gains by all three sides with monarchist forces able to retain control over the capital city of Fortaliça and large portions of both West & East Drometia though they were unable to pursue further offensive operations due to logistical problems. Both West & East Drometia were also unable to commit to large scale offensives due to a lack of manpower. In 1971 however the Maroudia revolution had ended and the left-wing Maroudian government has successfully consolidated its power and began to intervene directly in the Drometian War. Maroudian armed forces were deployed to support West Drometia which prompted the Afthonian government to authorize direct involvement by its own military as well. The involvement of both Afthonia and Maroudia allowed East & West Drometia respectively to gain the upper hand against monarchist forces. While the theater of war remained mostly localized to the island of Drometia and its surrounding waters, there has been some instances when the conflict was almost escalated to become a larger regional war that involved the entirety of Veleda. Close calls includes a naval standoff between Afthonian and Maroudian naval vessels, aerial reconnaissance by Afthonia into Maroudian airspace which Maroudia perceived as precurssor to an attack on continental Maroudia and various other instances. Large scale combat operations ended on 28 August 1974 after monarchist forces announced their unconditional surrender and relinquished any continued assertions that the monarchy is the sole legitimate government of Drometia. Both West & East Drometian troops ultimately met face to face along the frontlines which, to date, established their modern day borders. An armistice was signed between both West & East Drometia on 5 September 1974, in lieu of the start of formal peace negotiations. The first round of negotiations began on December 1974 but failed to produce a peace treaty due to East Drometia's refusal to be reunified with the West compounded with West Drometia's assertion that East Drometia is an inseperable part of it. A second round of negotiation on February 1975 also failed due to similar circumstances. Tensions began to steadily increase on the border that separated West & East Drometia with instances of both clashes and minor skirmishes recorded with both sides accusing one another of provocative actions that caused these incidents. A third round of negotiation resulted in the creation of the Drometian Accords, a peace treaty which officially ended hostilities between West & East Drometia. The accords did not explicitly assert the independence of East Drometia, nor did it reaffirm West Drometia's claim of sovereignty over the East. Instead it refers to both entities as the Western and Eastern regions. Additionally the treaty demarcated the current frontlines as the formal boundary between the two regions. The agreement between West & East Drometia was largely due to pressure from both Maroudia and Afthonia who, through various back channels, persuaded their Drometian counterparts to end the conflict. The war had long lasting consequences for the island's population, a majority of its public infrastructure had been destroyed, a combined death toll of XXX,XXX civilian and military personnel alongside XXX,XXX people displaced or escaped as refugees.
Background
Ancient Drometia
Historically Drometia has been large under the control of various powers, only achieving independence in the modern era when the Kingdom of Drometia was estasblished. Drometia was first controled by the Kastorian Empire, a Gionan civilization, established the first permanent human settlements on the island. Under Kastorian rule the island was known as Alares. Kastoria used Alares as the site of its first overseas colonies and successfully developed it to become one of its most important trading posts, connecting Kastorian provinces in Veleda to those in Qarra. When the Kastorian Empire began to decline, Thales the ruling imperial governor of the island, evicted loyalist imperial members of his government and established his own independent kingdom on the island establishing the Thales Dynasty which ruled the island until 1130 CE when Maroudian polities began to explore the island and occupied it. Under Maroudian rule the island's name was changed to Drometia with many waves of Maroudians settled on the island.
Ethnic tensions
Prior to Drometia's independence the island had been largely dominated by ethnic Maroudians, whose mainland ancestors had been able to control Drometia over a longer period of time compared to the Afthonians and was treated as a colony by the various Maroudian polities that controlled the island. As a result the ethnic Afthonian population was smaller when compared to the Maroudians. Ethnic Afthonians were encouraged to migrate to the island by the various Maroudian polities as Afthonians generally had more wealth and funds to develop the island's waning economy. However the purpose behind this was two fold: while the ethnic Afthonians brought new economic opportunities for the island they could also be used as scapegoats by the Maroudian rulers if they enacted unpopular policies and laws. As a result the ethnic Maroudian-Drometians resented the Afthonian-Drometians for what they perceived as having indirect control over both the island's economy and government. On the other hand the Afthonian-Drometians felt they were unfairly treated by the Maroudian-Drometians as they were used as an intermediary between the Maroudian rulers and the Maroudian-Drometians. After Drometia's independence and establishment of a monarchy in 19XX the Drometian government enacted legislation and directives which were aimed towards curtailing what it perceived as rampant Afthonia-Drometian influence upon Drometia's economy, politics and society. Various Maroudian-Drometian non-governmental organizations primarily newly established trade unions and commerce guilds advocated for the complete removal of Afthonian-Maroudian ownership from local businesses. While the Drometian government did not actively support the union's and guild's demands, they did nothing either as vigilante groups began to target ethnic Afthonian-Drometian owned businesses, their owners threatened if they did not relinquish ownership of their businesses. These policies sparked a mass migration as Afthonian-Drometians fled the island as refugees into Veleda, particularly the Afthonian Confederation taking with them much needed capital from the nation. While these policies proved to be popular among the Maroudian-Drometians it had significant long term consequences such as a brain drain and a slow down of economic activity and growth. Recognizing these short comings the Drometian government negotiated an agreement with the ethnic Afthonian-Drometians: in return for remaining in Drometia the eastern region of Drometi would be designated as a special autonomous region called the East Drometian Autonomous Province (EDAP) in 1947. This autonomous province was established specifically to house a majority of the ethnic Afthonian-Drometian population of the island, free from the discriminatory laws and practices that had never been fully revoked by the Drometian government. The EDAP would have its own local legislative body, a governor to serve as the executive arm, and have its own judiciary system though with certain restrictions. Additionally it would have its own police force and court of appeals that is separate from the rest of the nation. A controversial decision was the creation of an organized militia component for the EDAP known as the East Drometian National Guard comprised primarily of land and smaller air components. By law the EDAP National Guard was organized as a division-level organization and was not permitted to exceed 20,000 personnel. In times of peace the militia would remain under the direct control of the EDAP's Governor, however in times of war its command structure would be transferred to the Royal Drometian Army. In spite of this however, nationalist sentiment within the ethnic Afthonian-Drometian population continued to persist, though not to the point to incite an active secession movement.
1963 Drometian financial crisis
Towards the end of the 1950s the Veleda experienced a period of stagflation whose effects varied upon each country and would become known as the Great Squal. Though initialy insulated by the immediate effects of the
1964 Drometian earthquake
1968 Maroudian revolution
Timeline
Proclamation of West Drometia
Maroudian peacekeeping forces stationed in Drometia reportedly held soldiers sympathetic to the mainland Red Army Movement (Maroudian: Moviment eçército roç, MER) as early as 1966, according to Maroudian army intelligence records. As in Maroudia, members of the MER established contact with groups of Drometian dissidents, both civilian and military. Hoping to take advantage of the country's many crises, the Drometian MER inspired Drometians to radical action and made links between groups of anti-government left-wing cells across the country. The ultimate aim of the MER was to "sow the seeds of revolution," as one former member described, so that when the time was right the Drometian people could lead themselves in One of their biggest steps toward that goal came in August of 1967, when commander of the Drometian Royal Guard, Caitán Lyssaridis, sought out the MER in Drometia to inform them of his secret loyalty to the Movement. The sudden outbreak and rapid escalation of the Maroudian Revolution in February 1968 took many in both countries by surprise. Sympathetic street demonstrations and labor strikes began across Drometia in short order, which gave many MER the sense that the revolutionary plot had to be launched immediately; there was a fear that, if not acted upon immediately, MER's chance to guide the revolution would be lost once the disparate protest movements had died down. Many elements of said plot were nevertheless under-prepared for action. On March 15, the General Council of Drometian Workers called for a general strike with the aim of ending the monarchy. King Mateu V ordered elements of the Drometian Royal Army to dispel the strike by force on March 20; when the troops refused to fire on striking workers, the hand of the MER was forced. Lyssaridis' attempt to initiate a palace coup the next day, March 21, failed to end in the apprehension of the royal family; while Mateu V was captured, his family managed to flee to safety. Lyssaridis proclaimed the Drometian Republic on the steps of the Royal Palace at noon that day, before regular Drometian Army reinforcements arrived in Fortaliça that afternoon to restore order. Despite the capital returning to royalist hands, Lyssaridis (with captured Mateu in tow) successfully retreated to XCITY, where he was joined by growing numbers of armed Republican revolutionaries.
Shortly after the Drometian Republic was established, Lyssaridis set to work establishing a provisional government. Though the Drometian revolutionaries had much assistance from sympathetic MER forces, there still remained significant uncertainty as to the longevity of the new Maroudian revolutionary government and to the loyalty of the unaccounted-for remainder of Maroudian peacekeeping troops. To strengthen the republic's position, Lyssaridis declared on March 28 the creation of the Armed Forces of the Drometian Republic (FARD), with himself as commander-in-chief and MER supporters reorganized into a temporary position as the Drometian Volunteer Legion. A council of state was also created, serving as the de facto civil-military junta until such time as a more proper government could be constituted safely. Silas Agostignu do Molín, an outspoken economist that had been fired from the Royal College of Fortaliça in 1966, was chosen by the council as their first among equals and titular head of state on April 1. The mandate of do Molín and the so-called "War Council" (Maroudian: Conseglu do begla) was daunting: to destroy the remnants of pro-monarchy forces, rebuild the shattered economy, secure political legitimacy and organize a politically-trustworthy armed forces and bureaucracy. Rather quickly, the Drometians sought the assistance of the Maroudian government directly. Such aid, however, was not immediately forthcoming; struggling to secure power themselves, the Maroudian revolutionaries were unwilling to commit resources or troops that were in dire need in Maroudia. The Union did, however, withdraw its embassy in Fortaliça (then still in royal hands) to XCITY (the "war capital" of West Drometia) in August 1968 and switched its formal diplomatic recognition from the Kingdom to the Republic that same month. Maroudian soldiers in the Legion were begrudgingly allowed to return home in September, though the West Drometian government heavily incentivized them to stay on as volunteers or personnel trainers, turning bands of volunteers from local unions or militia into more professional FARD auxiliary brigades. While many opted to return home, a substantial number stayed, to be joined by other private volunteers over the next three years until Maroudia's formal entry into the war in 1971.
Establishment of East Drometia
Prior to the start of the conflict various nationalist movements among the Afthonian-Drometian population of the island had advocated for the establishment of an independent state for Afthonian-Drometians in the east. These various independent movements were colletively known as the Nationalists and became increasingly popular in early 20th century though support for it largely waned when the Drometian monarchy established the East Drometian Autonomous Province (EDAP) in 1947. While the EDAP's establishment curtailed desires for an independent east Drometian state, it did establish the necessary institutions, structure and organization that were required for a state to function. The General Council of Drometian Worker's incitement of a general strike and King Mateu V's capture by revolutionary forces presented an opportunity to the Afthonian-Drometians to reopen its pathway to establish an independent nation. Silas Kallakos, the head of government of the EDAP's executive arm, is a well known proponent for independence and has frequently proposed debate on the matter in the EDAP's legislature although he lacked enough political and public support to do so. Prior to Drometian hyperinflation crisis & 1964 earthquake a majority of the Afthonian-Drometian population were content to maintain the status quo as the Drometian monarchy had, for the most part, honored their agreement with the EDAP described by international observers as a state within a state. The deployment of Afthonian peacekeepers in the EDAP was the result of the EDAP's rejection of the placement of Maroudian troops on ethnic Afthonian-Drometian territories throughout the island. The Drometian monarchy's failure to resolve the hyperinflation crisis and its inability to adequately restore order and humanitarian aid to the island turned many within the EDAP against the central government in Fortaliça. On late February 1968 not long after the start of the Maroudian revolution, Silas Kallakos and his cabinet were clandestinely contacted by officers of Afthonia's intelligence agency <INSERT NAME HERE> who informed them that Afthonia would support and recognize an East Drometian government should one be proclaimed. Though now Silas had both public and political support, Silas felt that the time was not yet right to proclaim East Drometia's independence as it lacked a stronger trigger and justification. The proclamation of the Drometian Republic as the successor to the Drometian monarchy would be used by Silas to pave the way for East Drometia's independence.
A day after West Drometia's proclamation, the Silas organized for the EDAP's legislative body to debate on the matter of independence. The following day a vote was held amongst the EDAP's parliamentarians to decide whether East Drometia should declare its independence which resulted in 86% votes in favor for independence, 10% abstained and 4% against. On the same day Silas announced on public radio of the proclamation of the State of East Drometia with the city of Foros, the EDAP's largest city, established as its capital. Afthonia became the first nation to officially recognize East Drometia followed by XX, XX and XX. The Monarchist government condemned the proclamation and asserted East Drometia's secession as illegal and did not recognize its sovereignty. The revolutionary West Drometian government on the other hand denounced East Drometia's proclamationm refused to recognize its sovereignty and condemned East Drometia as a puppet regime of Afthonia. East Drometia retained many of the institutions and structure that it had obtained under the EDAP. As the EDAP was already responsible for a majority of the province's day-to-day governance except for defense and foreign relations, the EDAP was able to take on the responsibility of a proper nation state with relative ease. Until elections could be held when the Drometian War is ended, Silas would become the nation's first Chief Executive, a role that he will successfully hold until 19XX. Roughly 40% of East Drometia's territory were controlled by Monarchist forces who were already deployed and would remain under their control until direct Afthonian involvement in 1971. The city of Foros alongside a handful of other towns and villages were under the control of East Drometian aligned forces. The East Drometian government's most immediate concern was to create a professional fighting force. At the time of its independence East Drometia relied upon the National Guard, a volunteer and part time militia organization of the EDAP , to provide territorial defense and to support Drometia's royal army during times of war. The National Guard was supported by the constabularies of the EDAP's towns and cities that collectively form the province's police force. While the National Guard lacked the equipment and manpower to mount offensive operations they did have the organization and resources to defend what territory the East Drometian government effectively controlled.
Monarchist counter-offensive & stalemate
With the Royal Drometian Army caught offguard by the sudden seccessionist movements on two fronts, elements of both the West Drometian armed forces (FARD) as well as the National Guard of East Drometia were able to capitalize on the Royal Army's initial disorganization to reinforce their positions. With the King captured and the capital city in disarray Juan I, son of Mateu V, was proclaimed as steward of the throne in place of his father by the Kingdom's legislative council. He then tasked General Saul Moreno to organize the Kingdom's military operations to suppress the rebellion. On April 14 the Monarchists launched its first major counter-offensive against both West & East Drometia with both fronts assaulted simultaneously. This counter-offensive was known as Operation Reforger and involved intensive use of combined arms approach which involved elements of both the Royal Army and Royal Air Force. Rocket and artillery strikes were launched against fortified West and East Drometian positions on 4:10 AM local time. Mechanized inffantry and heavy armor crossed into revolutionary and nationalist held territories not long after the initial artillery strikes with fighting reported in both fronts by 4:20 AM. While the Monarchists were able to push through the rebels first line of defenses they encountered heavier resistance as they entered deeper into rebel held territory. By the end of the week Monarchists were able to recapture the towns of XXX, XXX and XXX in the west. In the east the towns of XX, XX and XX were also recaptured. Both the FARD and National Guard, though anticipated a counter-offensive by Monarchist forces, did not expect it to come so early in the war as both had predicted wrongly that Monarchist forces would have required more time to regroup and reorganize. Operation Reforger would eventually be considered as a tactical victory for the Monarchists as it had recaptured a number of large towns and villages and restored a sense of pride amongst Monarchist personnel. Though West and East Drometia were hostile towards each other, its military forces have yet to engage one another in direct conflict. This was largely due to the fact that they were geographically separated by Monarchist forces who occupied a majority of the island's central region. As the Monarchists entered deeper into rebel held territories they were harassed by rebels who adopted hit-and-run tactics which favored raids against enemy supply bases and harassment of supply convoys. These tactics were adopted by both the FARD and National Guard and were used to great effect. Though both lacked heavy vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers, they were well supplied with small arms by both Maroudia and Afthonia respectively. Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers saw extensive use throughout the war and would become synonymous with it. In the east National Guard forces led by General Daniil Gerolis were able to capture push out Monarchist forces from 20% of East Drometia's territory with similar reports from the West.
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Nationalist rebels that were initially unaligned with the East Drometian government took the opportunit to sew further chaos within East Drometian territory that was captured by Monarchist troops. The Nationalists initiated a campaign of guerilla warfare that made the Monarchist's foothold in recaptured territory untenable. The East Drometian government took steps to secure the cooperation of these unaligned Nationalist rebel cells and ensure that after the conclusion of the war the territory they held would be reintegrated as part of a united East Drometian state. The East Drometian government provided surplus equipment it had received from Afthonia to the rebels whereas the rebel cells who were uncooperative had their leadership gradually and quietly replaced with pro-East Drometian government leaders. In an attempt to deter further Monarchist attacks and West Drometian incursions, Afthonia declared that an attack against Afthonian peacekeepers stationed in Foros, the capital of East Drometia, would be considered an act of war. By January 1969 the front lines in both the western and eastern fronts had largely stabilized with all three factiosn firmly entrenched. Rocket and artillery strikes continue to be traded on all fronts with an estimated total of XX,XXX rockets and XX,XXX artillery shells expended every day. By December 1968 the war had become deadlocked due to the winter weather with significantly reduced movement on the frontlines. Monarchist forces attempted a renewed offensive on January 1969 but ended in failure with very limited gains at the cost of significant loss of military personnel. Historians and analysts assessed that the lack of any progress by all three factions were largely due to a logistical problems such as short supply of artillery ammunition and lack of properly trained troops, among other issues. Throughout the stalemate Afthonia continued to supply East Drometia with equipment such as small arms and armored vehicles. On February 1969 the East Drometian government requested Afthonia to directly participate in the war but was refused at this point in time as the Afthonian government felt that any direct participation by Afthonian forces would result in an unnecessary escalation of the conflict. The Afthonian government felt the presence of its current deployment of peacekeepers in East Drometian held territory was more than sufficient to deter further escalation of the conflict. The Afthonian government however deployed the aircraft carrier ASD ''Thetis'' alongside its supporting elements in the Megale Ocean, reportedly to deter further involvement by other state and non-state actors in the conflict and ensure international shipping lanes were protected from the conflict. This deployment however drew condemnation from various nations primarily XXX, XXX and XXX and accused the Afthonian government of already unnecessarily escalating the conflict.
Direct Maroudian & Afthonian intervention
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