Uldarash Civil War

The Uldarash Civil War (November 5, 2021 - January 2, 2022) was a conflict fought in Uldarash between the states of the Second Empire of Uldarash, those loyal to the Empress Nikephoros (including Aurora, Boulderov, Chevkri, Savernia, Mithusu, and Alokhrad), against Loyalist Uldarash and those loyal to Empress Caterina (including Alfheim, Montroig, and briefly Nullaria). The war eventually turned into an international conflict through foreign support for both sides of the war, including troops from as far as Eldham. The war would turn out to be one of the largest and longest wars in history, as well as the largest Civil War.
The war ended in the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Terroja by the Loyalist Uldarash High Council, and the leaders of its sub-nations, Alfheim and Montroig, resulting in their surrender. The Uldarash Civil War was the longest war in both Rathnir and Eldham's history before being overtaken by the Second West March War on November 12th, 2022, lasting nearly two months before its resolution.
==Background==
===Causes of secession===
In the Empire of Uldarash there lay two separate Emperors in its Dual-Monarchy system. Upon the death of the First Empire of Uldarash, it was stated that the dynasty of the SpiritKnights (Uldarash's founders) would live on through the Aurorans, a migratory state that originated from the Eastern side of Rathnir after fleeing Escharien, and the line of House Aurorii, a family who shared their values. The second Emperor's seat was decided to be an elected one, with this emperor being elected by the High Council of Uldarash, comprised of representatives from all the Uldarashi states, and the High Council's advisors. In June, Empress Caterina (aka Qwaser) was elected to be the Empress of Uldarash. Sometime later, the Hereditary Emperor Aurelian was replaced by Empress Nikephoros.
As time passed, Empress Caterina went on to push for several democratic reforms and a set of values that were unsavory to some in the Uldarashi government and to many citizens in monarchist states. After a couple months of these reforms and reformation attempts, an unknown amount of council members, military officers, and members of various historical and pro-monarchist organizations, such as the Talawan Academic Society (TAS), had decided enough was enough. In an event called "The Orange Night"— Empress Caterina was deposed. This was done largely without consulting some members of the Uldarashi Government, which spiked internal tensions. In response, Caterina's legal team shot back with an accusation of treason against former Emperor Aurelian, Rakia Knight son of former Emperor Tequlia, and Lakka Viueli, leader of the aforementioned Talawan Academic Society (TAS) for the coup. Several, particularly from the democratic state of Montroig where Caterina was from, supported these accusations and called for a fair trial of Caterina. An Imperial trial was never held, which led to Montroig holding their own, though the trial was recognized by nobody besides those who were already supporters of Caterina and ultimately did nothing. Eventually, tensions fell, but after another sudden call for a fair trial, tensions sparked once more. After a lack of response from the Uldarashi government, Caterina declared herself the sole Empress of Uldarash and seceded with Alfheim and Montroig, sending Uldarash into civil war.
Each of Uldarash's sub-nations immediately issued statements either supporting or condemning Caterina and the Loyalist states secession. ScotchKnight and Gamerblox2077, Queen of Sanctuary and King of Alokhrad respectively, immediately stated that the secession was simply a "power grab", to which the leaders of Savernia, Chevkri, and Boulderov quickly responded to with agreement and pledged their support to the Second Empire of Uldarash and Nikephoros. Montroig declared its support for Caterina, albeit unconstitutionally without holding a vote. Outside of Montroig, only TheAsianAimbot, Prime Minister of Uldarash's other direct democracy, Alfheim, pledged the support of her nation to Caterina's cause. Nullaria was the only state not to back an Empress, declaring neutrality in the conflict.
===Diplomacy===
During the beginning of the war, the Imperials were backed by three nations; Tortuga, Aldovir, and Aatyeli. All three nations had maintained good relations with Uldarash prior to the war, fighting on the same side in the Allium-Coalition War. The Uldarashi Civil War would further cement this relationship as they would sign the South Seas Pact with Uldarash shortly after the Battle of Terroja, agreeing to mutual military cooperation on all matters. On the opposing side, the Loyalists initially were backed by five nations; Escharia, Bardonia, the Huitca Federation, the Grand Sorgliste Federation and Yimmu-Audal. For the Imperials, one of the key points of criticism against Caterina was this set of allies, as she recieved the support of many nations who had a long history of hostility to Uldarash and who, in their view, aimed to undermine the Empire through their support of Caterina. 
Most of Loyalist Uldarash's Rathnir allies withdrew support following the massive defeat of the Hapatmitas-Chevkri Campaign on November 21, 2021. Escharia remained and continued aiding the Loyalists until December 8, 2021 when the outbreak of the Escharian Civil War forced them out of the conflict.
===Eldham Entente involvement===
Following the Boardwalk incident and subsequent scandal perpetrated by the Kingdom of Aurora, the Eldham Entente declared the beginning of the Auroran-Entente War. Though they initially declared neutrality in the ongoing civil war, the Entente was working closely with the Loyalists as evidenced by the combined Entente-Loyalist invasion of Aurora, culminating in the Battle of Fornost on November 27th, 2021. On November 29th, 2021, the Entente officially announced their (previously unofficial) support for Caterina and denounced the Second Empire of Uldarash, calling it the "Auroran Empire". While most of the Entente's fighting had been overseas in Eldham colonies of Uldarash nations, including Chevkri and Boulderov states, they contributed significantly to the Loyalists in terms of supplies and training. 
==Eastern theater ==
The Eastern theater refers to the original offensive military operations launched by Imperial Uldarash into Loyalist territory to quell the rebellion. This terminology is due to the two Loyalist nations (Alfheim and Montroig) being in eastern Haven.
===Background===
==== Loyalist forces====
The Loyalist forces defending Montroig were led by Foubrac, who was serving as the General-in-Chief of the Armies of Loyalist Uldarash, along with Empress Caterina who was regarded as the de facto overall Commander-in-Chief of Loyalist Uldarash. All allied forces, including those coming from the Huitca Federation, Escharia, and Yimmu-Audal were placed directly under the control of the Loyalist leadership. 
==== Imperial forces====
The Imperial Forces in these campaigns were commanded directly by the Empresses of the Second Empire of Uldarash, Nikephoros and the newly elected ScotchKnight. Canine14, Rakia Ganeff, Xrelious, and Ted Hastings served as commanders during battles, but the Imperial forces were overall led by the Empresses.
===Battles===
The opening battle of the Uldarash Civil War took place on the island of Canine (no relation to Canine14), for which the Battle of Canine gets its name. Though each side sent an equal number of troops, the fight ended in a massive defeat for the Loyalists, with 42 Loyalists deaths to merely 4 Imperial deaths, which some believed was a sign for what was to come later in the war. Despite this, morale remained high within the Loyalist states, with many citing how the Battle of Canine did not actually count towards anything in the war, and was merely for fun. Additionally, it is of note that this battle serve as a testing grounds for a new war system for the server, which would be altered several more times over the course of the conflict as the admins tried to work out what functioned best. 
The Battle of Terroja was the first 'official' battle of the civil war and ended in a similar manner as the Battle of Canine. Terroja proved to be the Loyalists' worst defeat, suffering around one hundred deaths for zero enemies killed. Much of the defeat was credited towards poor communications from the Loyalist leadership, which would be shown time and time again to be a major issue within the secessionist state's leadership, one they would never learn from. The battle only served to increase the morale of Loyalist soldiers, barring a few deserters, and the Loyalists now wanted to get back at the Imperials for attacking the capital city of Montroig and the de facto capital city of Loyalist Uldarash.
The Battle of Northport occurred at the same time as the Battle of Terroja, and took place on a much smaller scale. A small detachment of troops from Alfheim clashed with Auroran soldiers on the outskirts of the city, killing one armed civilian in exchange for the loss of their entire force. The armed civilian was the only Uldarashi death of the day who quickly became known in Auroran propaganda and folklore as the Iron Warrior, a selfless hero who bought enough time for the Aurorans to redeploy to Northport and repel the attackers. The validity of the story is debated, with some believing the civilian was killed instantly and a small platoon of imperial troops simply happened to be passing by at the same time by sheer luck, although a memorial has been constructed in honor of the "iron warrior" outside the town. 
== Western theater==
The Western theater refers to the offensive military operations launched by Loyalist Uldarash, due to most of the battles taking place west of Loyalist Uldarash's territory, with the sole exception of the Second Battle of CoolioCity.
===Background===
====Loyalist forces ====
The primary Loyalist forces in the Western theater were commanded by Montroig's Minister of Defense, Bukharin "BuckTootha" Turrin, with other commanders including Argon Retter and Qwaser, who both commanded divisions deploying into CoolioCity, and TheAsianAimbot, who commanded the main assault force on Hapatmitas.
The Eldham Entente's expeditionary force were led by their own commanders from Eldham, and were not placed under the command of the Loyalist military. These commanders included Neo, ElKool, Creamy, and Imperius, among others.
====Imperial forces ====
The Imperial Uldarash forces were led chiefly led by Ted Hastings and 6alaxxy, who commanded the defense at the Battle of Hapatmitas and the Battle of Fornost, respectively. Empress Nikephoros was also the chief commander during CoolioCity's defense.
===Battles===
Although the last three battles ended in massive defeats for the Loyalists, their confidence, at least in their command, remained. They were so confident, in fact, that their next plan was a grand offensive on both Hapatmitas, the de jure capital city of the Second Empire of Uldarash, located just outside of Uldarash's sub-nations on the Hatanimitas Peninsula. The Loyalists also targeted CoolioCity, a relatively small Bordertown in Chevkri that was the sight of a previous battle during the Chevkri-Montroig border dispute. Large numbers of elite fighters, including the first troops from the Eldham Entente, were assembled on both sides, and up until the last minute of preparations, it seemed the battles could have gone either way, with an extremely high belief from the Loyalist forces that they would win on at least one front.
Both battles of the campaign ended in Loyalist defeat and caused most foreign nations backing the Loyalists to withdraw their support. After the campaign, only Escharia remained as their sole ally on Rathnir. The failed campaign destroyed nearly all faith in the Loyalist's military leadership and many Loyalists began to adopt a defeatist attitude towards the war.
Following the intervention of the Eldham Entente into the war, the Loyalists gained their only victory of the entire war at the city of Fornost, capital of Aurora, which coincidentally, would be the last large-scale conflict fought in the war. With 72 Imperial deaths and damage done to the city, the Loyalists finally felt they had dealt a blow to Imperial Uldarash. The battle eventually resulted in the Treaty of Hakkinza, which essentially removed all support of the Eldham Entente from the Loyalists, greatly weakening the already weak nation. However, in a moment some may consider ironic, many of the Entente players were banned in the next few days. 
==Ceasefire and fragile peace==
Uldarashi command largely accepted the result of the Battle of Fornost, having held the city and dealing a number of casualties which, while lower than the number they sustained, was impossible for the Eldhamites to maintain without their gear stockpiles which remained in Eldham. At the lower levels of the Empire however, the effects of the battle were severe. Publicly, the Battle of Fornost was widely considered to be an Uldarashi defeat and certainly dealt damage to the previously unwavering Uldarashi morale. Soldiers and civilians alike began to feel burned out, having fought three (in some cases, four) battles over two months and finding their enemies to have only grown stronger with every fight. Two states, Savernia and Nullaria, seceded from the empire in the period following the battle; the material effects of the two secessions was minimal, with Savernia only having one soldier fit for combat with the Uldarashi army and Nullaria already denying aid to Nikephoros. The secessions did, however, further damage Uldarashi morale, giving the impression to some that the empire was falling apart. Peace with the Eldham Entente (though not the Loyalists) was considered amongst the Imperial Uldarash council members, with the new Empress, Scotchknight leading the way forward on talks. Peace talks with the Entente were concluded and a negotiation for the surrender of the Loyalists was initiated. Aurora agreed to surrender to the Entente, paying a staggering 20 million in reparations, 5 million of which was paid by the Uldarashi to soften the blow as the majority of Aurora wished to continue fighting. As a result, the Eldham Entente exited the war. Unrelated to these events, Escharia ended up withdrawing all support from Loyalist Uldarash due to their own civil war breaking out, which did not allow for them to spare any forces or equipment to the Loyalists. With the loss of their support, the Loyalists were officially on their own. 
No other battles were scheduled following the Battle of Fornost and on the 15th of December server administration initiated a two-week forced peace period due to the Christmas season, effectively banning all conflicts until after the start of the New Year. Caterina attempted to use this period to prepare a last-ditch defence, refusing to surrender despite their precarious position. These two weeks of peace were widely regarded as squandered by the Loyalists, who didn't ramp up training until the last few days and used nearly none of it to rebuild their shattered economy, foreign relations, or civilian government.
==End of the war==
About a week after their secession, Savernia re-joined the Second Empire after resolving some internal affairs, and were afford the chance to regain their founder state status. Nullaria initially declared support for the Loyalists, but decided to withdraw their support and withdraw from the empire completely under Entente protection, seemingly noticing the writing on the wall. Uldarash was back up to full military strength (As Nullaria had no soldiers in the Uldarashi army that saw combat), and though the Loyalists had been training to create a powerful force that could have stood on par with many other nations in Rathnir, there was nothing they could do to match the strength of the Uldarashi army, mostly due to the incompetence or inexperience of the Loyalist's leadership as well as a catastrophic supply situation. Following the end of the server wide forced-peace, peace talks and negotiations began between the two sides. Terms were dictated to the Loyalists and, after a long period of deliberation, accepted fully. Loyalist Uldarash surrendered unconditionally and signed The Treaty of Terroja on the 2nd of January, 2022. The effects of this saw the reabsorbing of Montroig and Alfheim back into the Empire, Caterina was to renounce her claim to the Uldarashi throne and banned her and any descendants from serving as Emperor, and the treaty placed the former Loyalists states under military governorship. None of the Loyalist's military leaders were exiled or tried following their defeat, as Empress ScotchKnight wished to see the brothers and sisters of Haven reunited and wanted to demonstrate kindness to the 2nd Empire's former foes. Only two people, Jack F. Kennedy and TheReaperTDM, were banned from Uldarash, neither of which held senior command positions in the Loyalist armed forces.
==Aftermath==
=== Post-War Devastation and Recovery ===
Generally, the Imperialists fared well after the war, but nonetheless suffered from several issues. Thanks in large part to Auroran logistics, Imperial Uldarash was able to keep its troops supplied with the necessary military gear for the entire duration of the war. However, the Empire (especially Aurora) suffered due to a large debt acquired when paying the Eldham Entente to leave Rathnir and Haven. Thanks to Robot_Girlyman and ScotchKnight utilising their extensive wealth to front the cost of the payment, however, Uldarash was able to continue its normal economic operations post war. The end of the Civil War also brought about renewal to RP, building, and other projects, allowing citizens to breathe once more and enjoy the server. Burnout, however, plagued many parts of the empire, especially in Aurora who bore the brunt of the war for the Imperialists. Aurora began a slow decline from the end of the civil war onwards, never again reaching the same level of population, political relevance or military strength. 
The Loyalists generally fared worse than the rest of the Empire, but none fared worse than Montroig. The entire Loyalist economy was poured into supplying their army, nearly all of which was lost through the heavy casualties incurred through the course of the war as well as by looting from their own soldiers. Montroig fared the worst from this, due to their larger role in the war effort and the main Uldarashi offensive of the war attacking and looting their capital. All plans by Montroig for developments, such as a large market in Tiatua, were put on hold indefinitely. In the devastation of the conflict, Montroigs population and activity began to spiral, only levelling out around February of 2022 and never again reaching their pre-war peak.
Alfheim returned to prosperity far quicker than Montroig post-war, gaining a massive economy and beginning to mass-produce enchanted armor to sell to other nations. Originally considered the junior partner of Loyalist Uldarash, Alfheim's population doubled in the post war period, surging past the faltering Montroig. With this demographic shift, Montroig lost the title of Rathnir and Eldham's largest democracy, which it had held for nearly half a year at that point. Militarily, Alfheim came out of the war stronger than it had entered it, gaining large numbers of skilled fighters who would play an important role in later wars on both Rathnir and Eldham.
Nullaria, after changing their position on the civil war multiple times and widely being percieved as attempting to join the winning side regardless of loyalties, had alienated Imperialists and Loyalists alike. Having placed their final hopes in pro-Loyalist independence under the protection of the Eldham Entente, they found themselves surrounded by enemies on all sides when the post-war settlement was reached. The Uldarashi government supported Chevkri in a local conflict that had been brewing in the background of the Civil War, ending with Nullaria officially being partitioned between Chevkri and Alokhrad.
=== Political Consequences ===
Perhaps the most significant effect of the Civil War was the political and ideological shifts which occured as a result of the war. Though tensions did exist prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, the populations of all states remained united in a common sense of being Uldarashi. The events of the war, however, resulted in a radicalisation of all involved. In particular the Loyalists, who began the war attempting to bring democracy to all of Uldarash, began to view their way of life as so separate from the other states that the Loyalist goal gradually shifted from control of the Empire to independence. Though the fighting of the Civil War officially ended in January of 2022, Loyalist resistance through politics continued unabated until the empire ended in March and contributed heavily to its downfall.
Even into the post-Uldarashi period, the memory of the Civil War continued to dominate politics in Haven, initially causing a series of intense feuds between old states along the lines of the Civil War. This became especially pertinent as new threats such as the New Dorasterrock Accords and the Horde began posing an existential danger to ex-Uldarashi states, calling the necessity of the old feuds into question. These threats eventually forced Loyalists and Imperialists to once again fight side by side in wars such as Northport and Laumont, but never again would all the states of Uldarash unite to any level beyond a loose coalition. Driven together by the collective memory of their continent's golden age but driven apart by the collective trauma of its bloodiest war, the old states of the Second Empire of Uldarash drifted constantly between cooperation and conflict until the end of Rathnir.
===Uldarash Civil War===
*Second Empire of Uldarash
*Loyalist Uldarash
*Army of Loyalist Uldarash
*Uldarashi Schism
*Montroig
*Alfheim
*Aurora
*Eldham Entente
===Other civil wars===
*Escharian Civil War
*Simulami Civil War
*Akratian Civil War
*Aristii Civil War
*Heldrak Civil War
*Ahalian Civil War
Category:Wars
Category:Uldarash
Category:Uldarash Civil War
Category:Traveler's Era
Category:History
Category:Aurora