Desereti Civil War

### Result

Reformist victory, theocratic government replaced with a parliamentary system, Fundamentalist politicians escape or executed, departure from SCO sphere of influence

### Territorial changes

Great Salt Lake City divided into five quintants

## Belligerents

* California
* Cascadia
* Front Range
* Southwest Federation

## Background

The Desereti Civil War was a civil war that lasted from 2041 to 2043 in the State of Deseret. The years leading up to the civil war had the country marked with violence, uprisings, and foreign involvement from the SCO, California, and to an extent, the Confederate States. The civil war stemmed from issues regarding fundamentalist Mormon laws being too archaic and being imposed on non-Mormons. As a result, much of the population, being a younger demographic, called for reforms and to open relations with other nations outside of California. As a result, the Fundamentalist government had the Army fire on protestors in St. George and Great Salt Lake City. It was revealed by rebel hackers that the Fundamentalist government was funded by Californian Imperial authorities, who wanted to keep Deseret as a full fundamentalist theocracy to keep the country in the Russian sphere of influence. Civil war broke out on August 26th, 2041.

## Order of Battle

The civil war was the first major conflict that took place in the former United States. The first signs of fighting broke out in St. George, before spreading north towards Cedar City. California joined the war to support the Fundamentalists and fortified Great Salt Lake City and Provo, where they sent the Constantine (7th) Division. The Reformists reached out to Cascadia and the Front Range for help. The Southwest Federation would send limited support in taking control of southern Deseret. The Front Range sent the 5th Army Division, which was based in Grand Junction, to assist the Reformists in taking Moab. Cascadia sent three divisions based in Southeastern Oregon and Southern Idaho.

The first major battle was the Battle of St. George, which took place from September to October of 2041, which saw a Reformist victory. The bloodiest battle was the Battle of Provo in June of 2042, which saw 43,220 casualties. The battle resulted in a Fundamentalist victory, but with a deathly cost. It was noted that in that particular battle, Californian troops were also present at the battle and took part in war crimes, specifically executing civilians and engaging in sexual violence in the city. The aftermath of the battle saw Cascadian forces increase the intake of Desereti refugees and to fortify settlements it had occupied with the Reformist faction. Cascadia introduced semi-autonomous military aerial robots to combat Californian forces in Echo and Brigham City. During the Battle of Ogden in October of 2042, Cascadian forces introduced the BT-20 Lovejoy tanks to the battlefield to combat Californian T-14 Armata tanks. It is worth noting that Cascadian soldiers sent to the frontline were now wearing the Tortuga Personal Protection Suits, which included the Hephaestus BH-190 helmets. The technological advance of the Cascadian Armed Forces would overwhelm the Californian forces, who were using Russian technology in their military. Front Range troops engaged in guerrilla warfare in the Wasatch Mountains, which had frustrated the Fundamentalist forces when conducting operations east of Great Salt Lake City. The last battle, the Battle of Great Salt Lake City, would end the war in a Reformist victory on April 2nd, 2043. The Treaty of Bend was signed on April 9th, 2043, reforming and progressing the government with the passage of the Reform Acts.

## Aftermath

The government of Deseret was completely gutted out and Reformist politicians took office. Fundamentalist politicians either escaped to California or were executed by firing squad following the war. Deseret, Cascadia, and the Front Range created the Salt Lake Pact, which swore to defend its allies from outside attacks. The Southwest Federation joined on a limited capacity. California attempted to start an invasion of Cascadia following the Battle of Ogden, but receded on the invasion plans fearing that they would lose territory and open up a third front with the Southwest Federation. Cascadia-California relations plummeted to a state of high tension with each other, with California and the SCO keeping Cascadia on high alert as the country proved itself to be a contending enemy force against them. In addition, Deseret was brought out of SCO influence and replaced its theocracy with a Mormon democratic parliamentary system. Rights would advance for non-Mormons and for the LGBT+ community. In addition, abortion was decriminalized under the new Constitution and the LDS Church had its powers over the government cut back about 10%. The technological advancements of Cascadia would shock California, where they saw that less Cascadian soldiers had been killed as a result of the advancements. In addition, the usage of military robots and the new tanks increased casualties on the Fundamentalist and Californian side. Cascadia would start cooperating with the Front Range and Deseret to innovate new military technologies to defend against California.