Lyrical War

The Lyrical War was a global war that lasted from 7 to 9 December 2014, and that had been caused by international commotion over an Antalorgian law prohibiting propaganda of non-traditional relationships in front of minors. Although it officially involved only six nations - divided over two opposing military alliances - the general impact on the Lyrical World - and mainly Jafaria - was enormous. Due to poor administration during and after the war, the exact number of fatalities has never been determined, although estimates from the Antalorgian Gebyusta agency (Bureau of General Statistics) claim between 280,000 and 300,000 cosmopolitans didn’t survive, mostly through Eurovisian bombings on Antalorgian cities, making the Lyrical War the deadliest conflict in modern Lyrical history.
==Build up==
Worldwide tensions started rising on the night of 7 December, with the Antalorgian parliament (seated in the country’s capital Leranograd) voting on a law prohibiting propaganda of non-traditional relationships in front of minors. Kayania and the Rainbow Islands expressed their disapproval of this law - even before the announcement of the results of the voting, when it wasn’t even certain the law would pass - citizens of these countries traveled en masse to Leranograd to demonstrate, and the Rainbowish PM Avery announced sanctions against Antalorgia in case the law would pass. Atlantis quickly came as the first country to publicly announce their approval of the concept law, while the Arabiyyah sultan Hille joined the demonstrators in Leranograd and threatened the Antalorgian government with sanctions, and the Keyholian president Keyhole announced their neutrality, although she expressed her support for the demonstrators. Kayania and Atlantis unrecognised each other and Avery cut off Rainbowish-Atlantian trade.
Then, despite a stir under the Atlantian population, the Atlantian king announced a law similar to the one under discussion in the Antalorgian parliament would be introduced in Atlantis, which led to Kayania threatening the king with an invasion, after which the king mobilised his army.
The Atlantian king announced not wishing to start a war, but being ready to defend themselves in case of an attack. While Keyholeland, South Kordom and the Whitelands declared the Amalurian Triangle of Neutrality, Kayanian troops set off for the no-man’s-land north of Masoutia, soon to be joined by the Rainbowish forces.
Then, right at the start of the crucial debate in the Antalorgian parliament, Antalorgia’s PM Alexandrovich tried to make clear that if the law were to pass, non-traditional sexual orientation would not be forbidden, just like encouraging it - unless in front of minors - but Schoenmakers called the concept law “against human rights and human nature”. Hille announced his Sultanate would stay neutral, unless any nation were to attack them. The Atlantian king shared this opinion, but Avery and the Kayanian vice-PM Jones claimed their boats entering Atlantian waters would be “[an] international act of saving the human rights” and formed an alliance.
Meanwhile in Leranograd, the debate ended and the voting started, although it was interrupted by Rainbowish demonstrators storming the parliamental building, which Schoenmakers condemned. Fanta Islands PM Fanta meddled in the situation by announcing the next day (8 December) would be their National Stop Discrimination Day. Few minutes later, the international press got word of violent protests against the ban on LGBT marriages in Tommanija. That news didn’t get much attention, though, since at the same moment, the results of the Antalorgian parliamental voting were announced. With 51 voting for and 24 against the law, it passed.
Alexandrovich called for all countries in the world to lay down their weapons and talk about the situation, and also claimed it had been “the vote of the Antalorgian people”. Kayania reacted by saying it should’ve been a referendum instead of a parliamental voting and that they would prepare for an all-out attack on Antalorgia, which was countered by Alexandrovich, who said that nobody would’ve wanted to go cast their votes again - the Antalorgian parliamental elections had been only two weeks earlier - and repeated that the Antalorgian forces would protect both their country and Atlantis, in the case of an attack on either of them.
Then Pohunskia jumped in: they were enraged about the law and announced they’d airlift all those affected by it, also condemned “religion [being] an excuse to ban people loving in public whether they are homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual”, even though Antalorgia was (and still is) atheist. Finally, Alexandrovich took the final step with the historical words: “For not having left me any option, Antalorgia declares war at Kayania”, after which Pohunskia declared themselves allies of the latter. An Antalorgian soldier nicknamed Achmed perpetrated a suicide attack at the Kayanian House of Seatings, marking the first casualty of the war.
==The war==
The night was relatively peaceful, assuming three countries were officially at war with each other. In the morning, however, riots broke out in Sol-Kayanis between demonstrators for and against the new Antalorgian law, and on the Fanta Islands’ Stop Discrimination Day, 10 Atlantian citizens demonstrating against gay marriage were arrested, which enraged Alexandrovich, who warned Fanta and said that “protesting must be allowed in any country, at any time”, as well as the Atlantian king. Then Lyscia joined the side of Kayania, the Rainbow Islands and Pohunskia: their navy set out for Atlantis, while their ground troops gathered at the Antalorgian border.
The straw that broke the camel’s back, though, was both Lyscia and Atlantis conquering no-man’s-landmass in Ezfalt. While Lyscia gave the inhabitants of the newly obtained land the opportunity to found their own country, Atlantis granted the inhabitants of their landmass Atlantian citizenship. Kayania half-approved of the Lyscian move, but went mad over the Atlantian conquering, and after some quarrelling between Kayania and the Atlantian king on how the Lyscian and Atlantian statements should be interpreted, more Kayanian troops were sent to near Atlantis.
South Kordom organised a worldwide conference on LGBT rights in the city of Birsan, which led to a major flop since it was only attended by a Kayanian delegation.
The Eurovisian president Fechner declared his country ally of the Rainbow Islands and Kayania, and Antalorgia evacuated all cities in the east and south. Then Lyscia invaded Atlantis and conquered a major part of the country in a surprisingly small amount of time, making about 1,000 Atlantian citizens homeless, which led to Alexandrovich countering by declaring war at Lyscia and his troops delaying the Lyscian advance in Atlantis and conquering the small stroke of Lyscian land separating Antalorgia from the Jafarian Sea. Together, Atlantian and Antalorgian forces managed to push the Lyscians back both in Atlantis and Lyscia.
Then the Antalorgian city of Sagadvor, in the south, was bombed by Eurovisian hovercrafts, killing 285,000 of its initial 300,000 citizens due to slow evacuation, and Alexandrovich immediately declared war at Eurovisia. Fechner closed his country’s borders and ordered the immediate arrest of all Antalorgians present inside them (the “Matrius Wall” strategy), and even had another Antalorgian city, Khololachuga bombed, but this time the citizens had found shelter soon enough and only 35 of the 48,000 citizens didn’t survive. In response, Antalorgia executed “Operatsiya Sud’ba”, which meant generating massive earthquakes at will: but even though Alexandrovich claimed many major cities in Eurovisia had been wiped out, this was denied by Fechner, proving his country’s capital Gerfra was still standing through photographs. Kordanese geologists said there had been an earthquake, in fact, but only at 6.8 Richter (instead of the 11.4 claimed by Alexandrovich). Lyscia shooed all Antalorgians out of the country and closed her borders completely to all civilian transport.
Hille boycotted Antalorgia and Atlantis, imposed economical sanctions on them, and warned the two countries not to attack them, threatening them with his massive army. These acts questioned the Arabiyyah neutrality.
Pohunskia declared war at Antalorgia, and fired test missiles with explosives on Leranograd, which led to minor damage to several buildings in the city’s outskirts.
==Armistice==
9 December came, and surprisingly, no shots were fired anymore. On Rainbowish proposal, there was a temporary cease-fire during the Lyrical Song Contest 15, which led to a full armistice after the contest.
On 13 April 2015, a referendum on the reversal of the law in question was held in Antalorgia. The yes-side won, and Alexandrovich stepped down as Prime Minister two days later.
==Accountancy==
The above was written in August 2015 by Alexandrovich, after he read the Keyholian summary of the war and was shocked by the lack of objectiveness, even though Keyholeland had been neutral ever since December 2015, being a member of the Amalurian Alliance of Neutrality.