2036 North African Federation Crisis

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The **2036 North African Federation Crisis** was a period of heightened political and military tensions in April-August 2036 in the run-up to the Annexation of the west coast of Africa in August 2036, following the signing of the Treaty of Beijing, a peace agreement which had attempted to end the Conquest of Africa.

Within a day of the signing of the Treaty of Beijing, Cardinal Justas Kolas resigned from his office as head of the Bovido government on April 14, 2036, landing a crippling blow on the regime of Imperator Julios Cragen; similarly, Prime Minister Torrent Koon of North Africa began to make manoeuvres against the imperator, publicly threatening the withdrawal of military backing for the Bovido regime if it didn't renounce the treaty. On April 20, 2036, the Shanghai Pact Administrative Zone in Africa (SPAZA) was established with *de-jure* control over the province of North Africa, with Cardinal Nicholas Azure and PM Torrent Koon tasked with overseeing the gradual transfer of territory to the SPAZA under the leadership of Commissioner Gwen Ranol. However, the Bovido Imperium armed forces under the leadership of Prime Minister Koon repeatedly defied the directives of the SPAZA and direct orders from Imperator Cragen, refusing to transfer territory from military leadership to the hands of the Shanghai Pact. Determined to pursue peace and to end the war between the Bovido Imperium and the Shanghai Pact, Imperator Julios Cragen issued a warrant for the arrest of Torrent Koon on June 17th, 2036 and tasked his security forces with hunting down the renegade military leader - at the same time, Cragen attempted to re-open negotiations with the Libirachi regime on the basis that the Treaty of Beijing could cause the disintegration of the nuclear armed state, whilst also appealing to the United Nations to reject the actions of Torrent Koon as the policy of the Bovido government. Upon hearing the news of the warrant for his arrest, Torrent Koon fled the Bovido Imperium on June 18, 2036, flying via private jet from Cairo to the North African Federation, where Koon formally held office as Vice President under the leadership of Jean Bagasauo, and brought with him a sizeable contingent of the Maximo Exercitus Imperium to join with the already existing Bovido occupation force in the North African Federation under Koon's personal control.

Upon his arrival in the North African capital of Omdurman, Torrent Koon orchestrated a constitutional coup d'état by forcing President Jean Bagasauo to resign his office on June 20, 2036, with Koon assuming the presidency on an acting basis whilst Bagasauo was forced into house arrest in the capital. Now in charge of the North African Federation, President Torrent Koon began to consolidate his position of power, enacting a purge of civilian leaders on July 7th, before launching a mass build-up of soldiers on the boarders with the Bovido Imperium in order to prevent a Bovido assault on the federation. On July 11, 2036, President Koon announced via a radio address that the nation now possessed nuclear arms which had been "liberated" from the Bovido Imperium during Koon's defection, causing widespread panic from the international community - on the same day, the United Nations, N20 and the Shanghai Pact all adopted resolutions condemning the action, whilst Libirachi President Karyn Voor announced on July 12th that the Libirachi Imperial Army was prepared to use force against the North African Federation to compel it to relinquish it's nuclear weapons and to remove Torrent Koon as head of state, citing the successes of the Invasion of Jerusalem State as evidence that the Fox Dynasty was able to exert its military influence effectively.

As the crisis continued to escalate, Bovido Imperator Julios Cragen declared that the Treaty of Beijing was "null and void" on July 13, 2036 in a televised address to the Bovido public from the balcony of the Imperator's palace in Jerusalem; widely perceived as an attempt to placate hard-liners in his government, Cragen's proclamation effectively ended the peace process with the Shanghai Pact and simultaneously served to weaken his position as the Bovido imperator by acquiescing to the demands of his political opponents. The same day, Yesu Soong was appointed as prime minister of North Africa and tasked with preserving the territorial integrity of the Bovido Imperium in an attempt to restore some of the authority of Imperator Cragen; at the same time, on July 13, 2036 the armies of the Bovido Imperium were mobilised under the command of Major General Michael Clod in preparation for the creation of a third front of war against the North African Federation.On August 1, 2036, the North African Federation invaded part of the Bovido Imperium and annexed it into the federation by September 2, 2036