The Great War

The Great War, also simply known as the War, the World War or the Thirty Years' War, or otherwise known in Skelengard as the Great Fatherland's War, in Amek as the War of National Resistance and in Shinyen as the Greater Eastern War, was a global conflict spanning from 1956 to 1986 of the Water Era. Nearly all of the world's countries and nations, including all of its major powers, were engaged in the conflict. Most of the fighting was concentrated on the land of Algemeen, although other theatres of wars were present in other parts of the world as war raged on all seas, lands and skies. The Great War was the first, and to date, only industrial war in Human history - and was by far the bloodiest conflict ever recorded with an estimated 80 million casualties - most of them non-combatants affected by the societal and economic collapse of prolonged conflict.

Steampower played a crucial role in this war allowing all combatants to deploy weapons of great lethality that escalated the cost of the war. Airpower was important in allowing combatants to bomb enemy civilians and military assets indiscriminately. In a total war spanning across three decades and involving more than 30 million personnel from more than 50 polities; all combatants threw every resource at hand into the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military.

The war concluded with the final defeat of Shinyen, the reformation of the United Front, the Treaty of Hakkan and resulted in the stellar rise to power of the Itharian nation.

Prelude and causes

The study of the causes of the conflict is still hotly debated among scholars of all four nations, who are also often impaired from an unbiased study due to political and nationalistic biases.

The Materialist School of Studies believes that the industrial revolution, which began in Itharia during the 19th century of the Water Era made the war inevitable. The steady economic rise of Itharia and its exit from isolationism in the aftermath of the Itharian civil war (1852-1859 W.E.) deeply eroded Shinyeni economic power, as Itharian goods, cheaply manufactured by the growing Itharian industry, outcompeted Shinyeni goods even in Héde. The economic decline of Shinyen made its Shoguns more willing to engage in open warfare to expand their economic base, as well as to challenge their Itharian rival.

Critics of the Materialist School however often point out that despite Itharian economic growth, by all accounts the Shinyeni economy was still the largest and more advanced in the world even by the time of the war's start, as well as the fact that the impressive industrial growth of Itharia happened during the war and as a direct consequence of it.

Other studies cite the population explosion of the 19th century of the Water Era that mainly afflicted Shinyen. According to these studies, the vast surplus of fighting age males would have made war an attractive option to the Shinyeni leadership, in particular as Héde was becoming far too overpopulated. Indeed, during the war, the Shoguns moved to encourage the settling of conquered territories by Hédean colonists, as well as the expulsion or liquidation of the native peoples living in said territories.

A theory somewhat popular in Skelengard is that Shinyen conspired with Itharia to destroy the superior Skell people. However, as there is no evidence of this (Shinyen and Itharia held little relations at all prior to the war) the theory has been widely ridiculed and disproven even inside Skelengard, and indeed it seems to mostly be an excuse by certain more nationalistic elements of Skell society to perpetrate discrimination towards Hédeans and Itharians.

Casus Belli

What is less uncertain however is the immediate cause of the war. Territorial disputes between Amek and Shinyen over Litya were nothing new: the two nations had come into conflict over the area ever since the Shinyeni conquest of Kiongou, and in fact, the Shongou tribes had also battled the Nehra peoples for control of the area since ancestral times.

Among the main reasons for the conflict was the strategic location of Litya. The northwestern coast of the Thalassan Ocean are treacherous, and the waters around those coasts are dangerous even to the most skilled sailors. The ports of Herezea, Kalinga and the Island of Ferizor were among the few safe havens for commerce in the area, and provided to whoever controlled them unmatched power projection throughout the northern Thalassan Ocean.

Ever since its founding, Shinyen had always had ambitions of becoming the naval hegemon of the Thalassan Ocean, and as such they always had their sights on the region of Litya. Furthermore, the soil of Litya was very fertile and the region was rich in high-quality iron and copper deposits, vital to any feudal economy. The continuous Shinyeni incursions into Litya were among the main reason for the eventual Nehran membership into Amek, and ever since then, the two great powers had been locked in conflict over the region, fighting a constant low intensity war consisting of raids and incursions into the opposites land.

By the time the 1950s arrived, this conflict had been waged for well over a century, and indeed both states had somewhat become used to the need for garrisons and fortifications in the region. In 1955 W.E. however, Ameki privateers sacked the Shinyeni town of Hishing, (a topic still heavily debated by Shinyen and Amek today, as the second claims no responsibility for the action of hired mercenaries acting without orders) spiked tensions among both nations, with Shiyen asking for reparations and the immediate repatriation of all enslaved townspeople. Soon enough however both sides claimed that the other was negotiating in bad faith, and negotiations broke down as a full-scale war appeared to have become inevitable (Amek claimed that Shinyen was only seeking an excuse for war, even going so far as claiming that the attack on Hishing was a false flag operation, while Shinyen protested that Amek never intended to take responsibility for the attack, in particular after Itharia and Skelengard promised support to Amek in case of war).

Course of the War

War in Litya and Amek (1956-1962 W.E.)

"Why of course, the people have no heart for war. But it is us that decide: and bringing them along for the ride is easy enough." Shogun Yamoto Kato to Master of Schooling Yiitiao Shing, Spring 7 1956 W.E.

On Spring 11 1956, after the breakdown of negotiations between Shinyen and Amek, Shogun Yamoto Kato of Shinyen invaded the lands of Lytia, the homeland of the Nehra tribe of Amek. The invasion was initiated after several false flags attack on the nearby Yaangdao naval base, which was used as the final provocation for war. The Shinyeni invasion force, comprised of the Bone, Yellow and Silver Banner Armies, was more than 120.000 men strong and had additionally the support of the Gongyang fleet (around 60 warships).

The first Shinyeni attacks of the war came upon the Outer Lytian Defensive Perimeter, a key line of fortifications and defences built in the Shongou Rainforest which had been built up by Amek over the course of fifty years, and the battle there lasted into the winter as the Ameki Royal Army fought a stiff defence. Despite guarantees of unspecified support in case of Shinyeni aggression, neither Skelengard nor Itharia intervened directly in the conflict, and they limited themselves to wage economic warfare on Shinyen: embargoing the nation, impounding its goods and prohibiting all Shinyeni vessels to pass through their waters, actions to which Shinyen soon replied in kind.

The war raged on the northern shores of the Thalassan Ocean. Despite the initial Shinyeni surprise, the first naval engagements went well for Amek, and the Gonyang fleet was defeated at Ferizor Island on the 80th of Summer, 1956. However, Shinyen soon sent elements of the Guangzu, Eko and Kitai fleet, and soon enough the Ameki navy suffered a catastrophic defeat at Cape Tal-Ahir on the 78th of Winter, 1956. With naval supremacy over the costs of Litya secured, Shinyeni forces landed behind the Outer Lityan Defensive Perimeter, forcing the Ameki defenders to withdraw first from eastern Litya, and then from the entire region altogether by the beginning of Spring 1957 to avoid encirclement.

While the withdrawal was successful, and Shinyeni forces had failed in their goal of destroying the Ameki army, said army was left disorganized and demoralized after having abandoned the ancestral homeland of one-fourth of the Ameki people. Furthermore, by abandoning the region Amek now had no further fortifications on the scale of those built in Litya, forcing the Ameki army to fight on equal footing with the Shinyeni invasion force, which was growing by the day. Already by the Spring of 1957 the Golden, Bronze and Obsidian banner army had reinforced the Shinyeni force, bringing their army to a total of 260.000 men.

Indeed, during the Spring and Summer of 1957 Shinyeni attacks on land forced the Ameki to the limit of their breaking point, and Shinyeni forces captured significant territory in Amek. However, the main blow to Amek would come not from the land, but from the seas. With the Ameki navy still recovering from the blow of Tal-Ahir, Shinyeni naval forces launched a devastating raid on the Ameki capital of Numaniyah on the 5th of Fall, 1957. What was however meant to be a rapid incursion, quickly transformed into an unprecedented victory, as the woefully obsolete defences of the city, combined with an arrogant and incompetent leadership, lead the small Shinyeni raiding force to fully conquer the Ameki capital, seizing the halls of government, the Ameki treasury and the near totality of the Ameki fleet.

The fall of Numaniyah was devastating for Amek: with the capture of the government and treasury, it become impossible for the Ameki state to continue functioning, leading to a quick collapse of central leadership. Left without any high command, the Ameki armies and navies shattered in confusion and lost all cohesion, becoming easy prey for the Shinyeny invaders who proceeded to defeat them separately one by one. By 1958 thus, the Shinyeni had occupied most of Amek, along with all of the major cities, even reaching the coast of the Ushuan Ocean in Dokkan, where the Shinyeni army built a monument that still stands to this day.

Despite this however, it soon become clear to the Shogun that the war was not over, as the Raja of Amek, Jaunpur "the Pious" and the remnants of the Ameki army and government fled to the Kingdom of Rajistan. A longstanding ally of Amek, and economically reliant on trade with the said nation, Rajistan could not allow a Shinyeni conquest of Amek and thus not only hosted the exiled Ameki government but fully joined the war against Shinyen by providing supplies, financial and otherwise, as well as a considerable contingent, to the Ameki exile armies.

Shogun Yamoto Kato demanded the full subjugation of Amek, as well as the relocation of the entire Nehra people from Litya to make space for Hédean settlers (something which was regardless already happening from the moment Ameki forces yielded the region: the relocation of the Nehra to the Nakahari desert caused immense human suffering and is still to this day among the worst excesses of the war), meant that any chance at a negotiated peace was impossible. Understanding this, the Shogun ordered preparations for a full invasion of Rajistan, which began in 1960, with well over 210.000 men spread over five banner armies.

Throughout Spring and Summer, the Shinyeni forces made good progress in eroding Rajistani power and had indeed captured important caravan routes in the Nakahari vital to supplying the invasion. The campaign however stalled during Fall in the aftermath of the battle Kahandra on the 20th, where the legions of Rajistani war elephants fought the Shinyeni army to a standstill. With Winter soon approaching and supplies dwindling, the Shinyeni forces retreated in good order back to Amek, ending the invasion. However, the invasion of Rajistan and the subsequent Shinyeni defeat had unintended consequences, that soon would escalate the war.

Skelengard and Itharia, great powers which had both until that moment limited themselves to wage economic war on Shinyen and condemn the invasion, were now fully aware both of the Shinyeni ambitions, as well as the limit of their forces following the Shinyeni attack of Rajistan and their defeat. Convinced that Shinyen was severely weakened and overextended, both powers now joined forces to force a settlement of the war that would see Amek remain an independent power. Negotiations began in earnest in Centari during the Spring of 1961. They began well as Yamoto Kato, trying to appease Skelengard and Itharia and gain good favour, willingly withdrew from Dokkan and easternmost Amek. A failure to properly demilitarize those regions however granted the Ameki exile government an area from which to operate.

Negotiations in Centari continued for another year. This period saw only sporadic fighting among Ameki and Shinyeni forces as a truce was declared, although both sides used the time to rebuild their strength and the Shinyeni relocation of the Nehra from Litya continued in earnest throughout the negotiations, severely souring any goodwill that Shinyen won with the withdrawal from Dokkan. Shogun Yamoto Kato soon realized that the opposing side had no intention of accepting his territorial demands, and negotiations soon broke down.

On the 76th of Fall, 1961, tensions grew to a boiling point as the Shinyeni delegation left the negotiations. On the day after, Skelengard and Itharia delivered an ultimatum to Chengdà: All Shinyeni forces had to withdraw from all of Amek by the start of the next year. Should the demands not be met, military intervention would ensue. The demands (which were nigh impossible, as such a fast withdrawal from so large a landmass in so little time would devastate the Shinyeni army) were mainly drafter by the Itharian government, led by Emperor Honorius III, whose ministers assured him war with Shinyen would be an easy affair.

On the 1st of Spring, 1962, Skelengard and Itharia officially broke all diplomatic relations with Shinyen and began mobilization efforts. With the Shinyeni economy strangled by foreign embargos and with its neighbours all mobilizing for war, the Shogun saw no other option than to strike first. On the 9th the Shinyeni delegations in Ithar and Hrawskard delivered the declaration of war.

Escalation (1962-1966 W.E.)

"I have a clear conscience: my government has tried all that any country could accept to establish peace, but this situation in which any word given to Shinyen is ignored, is intolerable. Thus I have henceforth signed the declaration of war: our gallant armies shall join Amek in their brave war of defence against imperialism in the field of honour." High King Horbarad of Skelengard announcing the opening of hostilities with Shinyen at Furchard Square, Spring 10 1962 W.E.

Despite initial Itharian and Skell estimates that Shinyen had exhausted its war making capabilities in the war with Amek, Shogun Yamoto Kato of Shinyen had been mobilizing for an escalation of the war ever since negotiations in Centari began. Due to this, Shinyen began the war with the rest of the world already well underway to total mobilization of the vast resources, human or otherwise, of Héde. When the war began in Spring, Shinyen had already mobilized 19 banner armies, with a total of well over 2 million personnel, and most of these forces were aimed directly at Kafgard and the vast network of Skell defences in the area.

Thanks to this massive superiority in armaments and numbers, Kafgardi defences were handily overwhelmed by the Shinyeni forces. When the Skell forces attempted to prevent further breakthroughs, they launched a counterattack with the Army of South, comprised of veteran soldiers who had cut their teeth campaigning for years in the Sowukian steppes. Underestimating Shinyeni's capabilities again, however, the Skell army suffered a catastrophe at Skoldrin River, where more than 200.000 irrecoverable elite soldiers were captured or killed, a devastating blow that would take years for the proud Skell nation to recover from.


Efforts by the combined Skell and Itharian fleet did not fare better: the main allied armada, 400 warships strong, crossed the Huago Canal and sailed through Gongjao, pointing straight at the Shinyeni capital of Chengdà. Unbeknownst to them, however, Shinyen possessed the capabilities to sustain two ocean-going navies, and when the second of said navies met with the allied armada at Cape Xiaogning, on the 50th of Spring, they ambushed the invading fleet. Thousands of irreplaceable sailors and officers drowned at sea, while many ships were boarded and added to the Shinyeni navy.

Having eliminated the main allied armada and neutered the Skell army, now Shinyen concentrated on eliminating Skelengard as a threat. Despite promises of continuous resistance to the invaders, the Skell nation collapsed almost without a fight. Its remaining armies, comprised of drafted soldiers or eager volunteers with little training were unable to oppose the Shinyeni armies that, thanks to the effort of collaborators inside the Skell government and command itself, now moved inland unimpeded, going around Skell strongpoints and armies, using secret pathways and accessing hidden stockpiles meant for the Skell army. When Skell forces desperately attempted to defend the Capital Hrawskard, the General-Captain of the city surrendered the city without a fight, citing the need to spare civilians from the bloodshed, resulting thus in the destruction of the last significant Skell field army.

By the end of 1962, with the fall of the capital on the 22nd of Winter, the vast nation of the Skell had suffered a total defeat: its armies had been humiliated on the fields of battle and vanquished, and the riches of the land were plundered to feed the Shinyeni war machine. The Skell United Provinces, a collaboration government based around the city of Verlaw, and possessing only a semblance of independence, was set up by the invaders to administer the newly conquered territories, while Shinyen itself directly annexed swathes of land in the west of Skelengard, where the settling of Hédean citizens soon began. It was only thanks to a few last-ditch efforts by Skell loyalists that the powerful remnants of the Skell armada were scuttled in ports and did not fall into enemy hands, while the royal treasury was transported to safety in Itharia, from where the High King Horbarad and his remaining ministers pledged to continue the war to the end.

Trying to relieve pressure from their allies, and following the beginning of hostilities, the Ameki armies, reconstituted, launched a series of offensives in the Nakahari Desert: it soon become clear that the overwhelming Shinyeni advantage in Skelengard was only possible by weakening the garrisons in Amek, and soon enough the war in the desert evolved as the Shinyeni retreated from the countryside and limited themselves to controlling the major population centres. Continued incursions and irregular warfare by both the Ameki army and civilians were responsible for a small but constant bleeding of resources for Shinyen, and the war in Amek become popularly known as Yamoto's Ulcer: a painful and bloody insurgent war where Amek popular resistance and Shinyeni indiscriminate punishment on civilians caused much suffering to both sides.

With its only major ally defeated, and Shinyen more powerful than ever, the Itharian government was now determined to defend its frontiers from the inevitable Shinyeni invasion. To ensure as much, the vast industry and economy of Itharia mobilized for total war, with estimates from the Materialist School of Studies ranging from 50 to 70% of Itharian GDP at the time entirely dedicated to the war effort (and if we include indirect contributions, then indeed it could be said that the entirety of the Itharian economy was on war-footing). These massive efforts paid off, as despite costly Itharian defeats on many fronts, such as the attempted liberation of Kervel and Archaw (Summer to Winter 1963), the naval campaign on the coast of Amek (Summer 1964) and the disastrous battle off Heriador Island (27th of Summer 1965), Itharian forces appeared to possess an endless reserve of armaments, soldiers and will to fight.

As the war between Itharia and Shinyen took on the characteristics of a bloody war of attrition, deep in the Skell hinterlands the beaten yet not defeated remannts of the Skell army, battered and bloodied, reorganized in the mountains and forests. Shinyeni forces quickly come to learn that, much as it was in Amek, holding the countryside was untenable. While not as organized as the Ameki resistance movement, on the virtue of the assistance of the collaboration government, the Skell resistance fought for control of the countryside, rendering Shinyeni attempts to colonize Skelengard incredibly hard and slowly but steadily bleeding Shinyen of materiel and men. Indeed, it is usually agreed that were it not for Ameki and Skell guerilla warfare, Itharian would have eventually lost the war of attrition against Shinyen.

With the war having transformed into one of attrition and numbers, Shogun Yamoto Kato understood that victory could not be achieved unless Itharia, with its vast industry and endless resources, was forced to leave the war. Luck appeared to be on Yamoto's side, as the 1965 election in Itharia resulted in the growing influence of the pro-peace faction. Swayed by this, and the many defeats on all fronts, Itharia began peace overtures with Shinyen, even agreeing to a preliminary truce in the aftermath of the disaster at Heriador Island. However, Shinyeni demands that Itharia paid war reparations for the cost of the war, resulted in the breakdown of negotiations and the renewal of hostilities.

Shinyen began the assembly of a vast invasion force, unequal to anything seen during the war: more than 800 warships transporting an initial invasion force of 350.000 men, whose main goal was securing a beachhead in Itharia, from where millions of soldiers could be deployed to, with the eventual goal of bringing the war to the shores of Itharia. Preparations for the invasion were ready by the Spring of 1966, and the Shinyeni armada set sail from Héde to Itharia in early Summer. Understanding that the battle ahead would decide the fate of the war, Itharian Emperor Honorius III personally oversaw a vast naval rearmament program, which had the Itharian industry assemble more than three hundred warships in only a few months. A miraculous technological advancement delivered by a brilliant team of Itharian and Skell scientists, the The Steam Battery, allowed Itharian shipyards to build new warships of unmatched speed and power.

When the vast Shinyeni armada, mainly comprised of ironclads, deckers and galleys and manned by the veteran crews of many battles, met the new Itharian armada off the coast of Angelos Island on the 2nd of Fall 1966, Shinyen suffered the first decisive defeat of the war. Superior positioning, a newly trained officer corps and the experimental battleship NMC Vitorio all granted advantages that the Shinyeni navy could not overcome. In the subsequent aftermath, Shinyen had suffered an irrecoverable defeat. With initiative having slipped out of their hands, they would now be forced to defend their vast conquests with an overstretched army, a weary population and a struggling economy.

Included under Conflict

The Great War

Included Conflicts

• The Great War

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

Spring 11, 1956 W.E.

Ending Date

Summer 5, 1986 W.E.

Belligerents

The Co-Prosperity Sphere

• Shinyen

The United Front

• Amek
• Itharia
• Skalengard

Strength

9 million military personnel at peak (1973)

more than 1100 warships at peak (1970)

12 million military personnel at peak (1977)

more than 2000 warships at peak (1977)

Casualties

7 million military

21 million civilian

7 million military

39 million civilian

Objectives