Great War

The Great War or the World War, often abbreviated as GW was a global conflict that lasted from 1934 to 1941. All of the Artopan great powers fought as part of two opposing military alliances: the Holy Accord and the Artopan Defensive League. Many participants threw their economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind this total war, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft and armoured vehicles played a major role in the war, with rapid advancements in these technologies enabling an accelerated development in post-war weaponry, and the furtherment of nuclear technology.

The Great War was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 30 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Millions died due to genocides (including the Expulsion of Vallarians), starvation, massacres, and disease. In the wake of the ADL defeat, nearly half of Vallaria was occupied, and the state of Kolsia was created.

The Great War is generally considered to have begun on 25 Feburary 1934, when the Holy Surovian Empire invaded Ke-Atsung. When Glasean and Vallarian ships were sunk by Surovian forces in the October of that same year, the ADL was formed comprising of Glasea, Vallaria, and Ke-Atsung, Following the onset of campaigns in Vallaria and Ke-Atsung, and the siege of Nogininsk in mid-1935, St. Actilla joined the war on the side of the Surovian Empire following the sinking of an Actillan training vessel and the assasination of Amparo, the Actillan Arch-Primate. Following the entry of St. Actilla into the conflict, Epreia and Sylvia soon followed and joined on the side of the ADL and the Holy Accord respectively.

Following the opening of the West Artopan front, the withdrawal of Glasean troops from the Surovian Front saw the Vallarian army without key reinforcements in the Surovian front. The the same time, Atsun forces began to be bogged down in the harsh East Surovian climate. In the west, the war primarily was fought on the Cjenuvian front, with ADL and Holy Accord forces also seeing action in West Kanta. Vallarian advance into Surovia was halted in late 1938, after the battles of Anarsk and Maiavat. Key-Setbacks in 1939—including a series of defeats of ADL forces on the Surovian Front, and the Silvo-Actillan invasions of Glasea cost the ADL forces the initiative, and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts.

The war in West Artopa concluded with the occupation of Vallaria and the invasion of Epreia by the Holy Accord, culminating in the Fall of Etra to Actillan and Sylvian troops, and the Glasean and Epreian surrender in 1941. Following the surrender of its' West Artopan allies, Ke-Atsung was forced into a peace treaty as freed up Accord troops quickly moved to reinforce Surovian forces in the East Artopan Front, and the economic toll of the Accord blockade made continuing the war untenable. The war on all fronts ended in late 1941, following the Ke-Atsung declaration of an Armistice.

The Great War changed the political alignment and social structure of the globe and set the foundation for the international order of the world's nations. The Concord of Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts, with the victorious great powers—St. Actilla, Sylvia, Surovia, along with Sakaro and Almeria—becoming the permanent members of its Security Council. The defeated Ke-Atsung turned its' focus elsewhere, sparking tension with the neutral Almerian Republic. In the wake of West Artopan devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Kanta and East Artopa. Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion. Political and economic integration, especially in West Artopa, began as an effort to forestall future hostilities and end pre-war enmities.