Sapinese Civil War

Combatants| Kingdom of Sapin* Crown Loyalists
* Osean Federation (support)
* Brasalium Armed Forces (support)
* Republic of Ratio (support)
* Kingdom of Belka (support)
* Frente Popular del Pueblo
* Various Left-Wing Paramilitaries
* Yuktobanian Republics (support)

Strength| * 98,000 Infantry
* 20 Ships
* 310 Aircraft
* 220 Tanks
* 290 Aircraft
* 250 Tanks
* 15 Ships
* 150 Aircraft
* 92 Tanks

The **Sapinese Civil War** was an internal conflict that occured within the Kingdom of Sapin that lasted from the 14th of March 1975 to the 8th of February the following year, which is when official hostilities ceased and the San Loma Accords were ratified. The war, fought between three major military and political groups, the de Trastmara Loyalists, the Movimiento Patriota Nacional and the Socialista Unido de Esapina, claimed many hundreds of thousands of lives and caused untold economic and infastructural damage to the nation.

## Background

Even though the Second Osean War had ended in a resounding allied victory, Sapin, who had been on the forefront of the war for an extended period, had suffered catastrophic damage to acheive her victory over the Belkan invaders and so had sunk into an economic slump, the loss of valuable agricultural and industrial land and resoources meant that the country could do little for itself and had to rely on foreign aid, mainly provided to it by neighbouring Osea. Before, during and after the war, Sapin had been an absolubte monarchy, the last of its kind on the Osean continent, and despite popular outcry against it, the crown held complete authority over the token Republican government.

Revolts and protests were commonplace through the 50's and 60's, left wing movements that called for fairer wages, workers rights and partial dissolution of the monarchy were left ignored by the current King, Sebastián VI who was seen as incompetant by many, including some of his inner circle. This attributed to a series of brutal riots in the 60's that was nicknamed the 'Summer of Flames' due to the firebombing tactic employed by rioteers and anarchists.

In early 1974, the largest protest ever seen in the country at the time took to the streets of the captial Gran Rudigo, in a bid to bring the city to a deadlock, the Socialist Unions and Republicans took to storming the police headquarters which led to an armed standoff with protesters and defending police forces. Bloodshed was inevitable when a panicked officer ordered his men to fire on protesters and the streets turned into a bloodbath, several police and military checkpoints were ovverrun and small armed clashes occured inside the city. After several hours of intense and sporading fighting the situation was contained by the military and many hundreds were arrested.

In the days following, several dozen high-profile individuals who led the countires most prominent left-wing think tanks were killed in a botched police raid when the apartment block went up in flames after the accidental detonation of a propane canister occured in the basement. Many doubted the police reports and suspected that the blaze was purposefully started, needless to say this caused rapid destabilization.

King Sebastián's decisions were called intio question as the discontent grew, political pressures forced the King to enact strict curfews and declared a national state of emergency, the military was deployed into the streets to enforce the rule of law, a decision many, including his inner circle, were highly critical of. This led the King to perform a major reshuffle of his political and military advisors, who was paranoid of a coup. He ordred the arrest of several military officers who he suspected of being radicalized, this in turn led to an armed standoff at the barracks in the city of Selina.

Sensing the coming storm, General Carlos Togores, a hero of the Second Osean War, started gathering support for a military coup, however Togores was found out but fled to neighbouring Ratio before he could be arrested. From the Ratioan captial of Centrum, Togoras organized forces loyal to him and declared a government in exile. The 'Movimiento Patriota Nacional', called for "all the patriotic sons and daughters of Sapin to take their country's fate into their own hands". Transmitted via radio and television, several elements of the Sapinese Army immediately mobilized, siezing any and all military assets they could in support for Togores.

On the evening of 13th of March, 1975, several of the Royal Palace guards fled their posts as a mob stormed the palace in an effort to seize the King, however it became apparent that he had fled some hours before via helicopter. Loyalist forces attempted to wrest control of the situation, deploying troops into the streets to push back the armed mob but clashed with the revolutionaries. Meanwhile in several cities along the Oured Coast, the Navy loyal to Togores had captured key ports and clashed with the Loyalist forces in others.

## Course of the War

Gran Rudigo was controlled by the Loyalists after several days of intense fighting trying to push back Brigada Roja troops, even managing to secure several surrounding towns. In the North, Loyalists had been cut off and were routing after MPN troops captured several bases in the region. Appearing via televized broadcast and radio, Sebastián VI revealed that he had fled to Osea to lobby for support, not revealing that his plea had been denied, urged for all those loyal to the country to fight back. Using gold reserves that had incidentally been smuggled to Osea in the months leading up to the conflict, started sourcing equiptment and hiring foreign support to defend his claim.