World War 3

"What the hell happened here?"*This article/section is set to be rewritten in terms of lore. This means it may be entirely changed or become uncanon in the events of Earth 55021.**"The Third World War, Third World War, WW3 and WWIII" all redirect here.*

* Aftermath of World War 3
 Territorialchanges | Europe is split into 2 zones of influence.
* Western Europe is apart of the Greatlandish zone of influence, with most countries being Viceroyalties.
* Eastern Europe is apart of the Estraen zone of influence, with most countries becoming Estraen Puppet States.

Estraen annexation of Pomerania and East Prussia.Greatlandish annexation of the United Kingdom and Spain.Romania given Transylvania and Northern Bucovina.Formation of the Balkan Federation

**World War 3**, also known as **World War III**, the **Second Great War** and shortly abbreviated as **WW3** or **WWIII** was a global conflict spanning all of Europe and most of Asia with the main fighting taking place in Europe.

The conflict started on July 31st 2061 after Greatland declared war on France and dragged the entire European Coalition into war. Notable other countries like Estraeland joined the war later on through a series of secret treaties and deals made between Greatland and Estraeland.

This conflict saw a massive change in warfare as advancements in defensive technology had far outpaced offensive technology, allowing for a resurgence of trench warfare and static frontlines. It also saw the use of new modern technology like the Grey Artillery and C.E.R.A tanks. This war also saw the first usage of non-radioactive nuclear bombs which were dropped on the Holy Roman city of Frankfurt.

At the start of the war, Greatland and her allies had the advantage, but due to several critical mistakes by the Allied Powers, the European Coalition managed to turn the tides of the war and managed to launch a counterattack into Switzerland. Greatland and her allies later gained back the initiative as the Estraen Hundred Days Offensive broke through the trench line in East Prussia and forced the Prussians and Austrians out of the war. Just 3 months later, the Holy Roman Empire surrendered after mass bombings from the Greatlandish airforce, rapidly approaching Estraen troops from the East and the nuking of Frankfurt.

The conflict ended November 17th 2065 after the surrender of the Holy Roman Empire. The Treaty of Hamburg completely reshaped Europe and split it into two camps, the Greatlandish Bloc and the Estraen Bloc.

The legacy of the war is remembered as one which set the stage for the Pax Greatlandica (The Greatlandish Peace) and a new phase in the Second Cold War. During the late 2070's, massive revolutions in the Estraen Bloc and Estraeland itself caused the entire empire to collapse, with Yeetland quickly securing massive swathes of territory, including Karelia, the Kola Peninsula, the Baltics and Poland. The collapse of Estraeland would set a chain of events which would lead to the resurgence of Swedish power and the formation of the State of Sweden.

## History

### Background

#### The Second Concert of Europe

With the aftermath of the First Cold War, a new balance of power in Europe was established between all the great powers in the continent to deny one from gaining too much power over the other. This balance of power would in some ways also unite all of Europe against a common foe if they ever tried to "colonize" Europe for themselves.

This balance of power is usually called the Second Concert of Europe as the first one was established after the Napoleonic Wars and ended with the start of World War 1. This method of keeping all the European powers equal in power made it so most of Europe remained in relative peace throughout the late 20th century and early 21st century, allowing for unprecedented advancements in the economic, scientific and technological fields as military spending was largely scaled back on.

When Greatland became a serious threat, all of the European Great Powers banded together and formed the European Coalition, a military alliance designed to deter any foreign invaders away from expanding into Europe.

The Second Cold War proved beneficial to the European Great Powers as they thought Greatland would be too distracted preventing the Yeetish from taking over the world and becoming the sole world superpower to even care about the politics of Europe, and possibly forge alliances with the Greatlandish in exchange for supporting them in the Second Cold War.

With massive military advancements in technology and doctrines made by Greatland, they would have a massive edge in the arms race as the Europe started to arm itself and ready up for another massive war as the Greatlandish threat grew ever closer as news reached Europe about a military alliance between Greatland and Estraeland. This would prove to be the first knockout blow to the Second Concert of Europe as Greatland was already projecting her power onto Europe by allying the Nordic Great Power of Estraeland.

##### Unification of Estraeland

With turmoil developing in the Nordic region, a new state called Estraeland would be formed. The balance of power created as a result of the Second Concert of Europe thus became unstable. This was addressed in a meeting between all European Great Powers in Frankfurt, in the end it was decided to do nothing to counter Estraeland. Estraeland later exploited the ignorance of the great powers and invade the Nordics and the Baltic region. The King of Estraeland Theo I later reached out to Greatland for a military alliance to safeguard the new Great Power he had formed.

#### End of the Disintegration Era & Greatlandish Wars of Unification

After the Great War of Disintegration and subsequent other wars like the Georgian-Texan War and Prussian Invasion of Florida, the winds of change were beginning to turn the tide of the American continent. With all of the infighting between American warlords, one country, the Kingdom of Delaware would prepare a massive army and together with their allies conquer all of the North American continent through wars, treaties, diplomacy and deals. This would result in the formation of Greatland.

The newly formed Greatland would expand outside North America, eventually conquering all of the Americas and colonizing massive swathes of Africa. By the end of the 2050's, Greatland stood as a world superpower who could project their influence all across the globe, this had indirectly caused a series of tensions to grow between Greatland and Yeetland, starting the Second Cold War.

### Pre-War Events

#### Estraen-Lithuanian War (2060-2062)

The Estraen-Lithuanian War was a brief war on the European continent between Estraeland and Lithuania that was fought from 2060 til early 2062. The war started when the Armed Forces of Estraeland marched into Lithuania from Estraen Latvia to claim it as apart of Estraeland proper. The war resulted in the Lithuanian Army being decimated and a peace treaty in which Lithuania was forced to pay war reparations and make minor territorial concessions to Estraeland.

When Estraeland joined World War 3 on the side of Greatland, the Estraen Army conducted a "friendly invasion" of Lithuania in order to open up a corridor and transport troops, supplies and equipment to the Eastern Front.

#### French-Spanish War (2059-2060)

The French-Spanish War was a brief war in the Iberian Peninsula between France supported by Greatland and Yeetland against Spain that was fought from 2059 til 2060. This war permanently set a Greatlandish presence in Europe aswell as lead to the buildup of the next European Great War.

This war was yet another disruption of the Second Concert of Europe, setting the stage for the next Great War.

### Course of the War

#### 2061

On July 31st 2061, Greatland declared war on France through a series of staged skirmishes between the two countries, when the latter started mobilizing, Greatland declared war on France which dragged the entire European Coalition into the war. The Greatlandish advance at the beginning was initially slow as French resistance remained high and reinforcements from other coalition members poured into France.

However, the Balkan states of Serbia, Greece and Romania would join Greatland and together declare war on the European Coalition cause they also felt threatened by the presence of the European Coalition. This would bog down hundreds of thousands of troops in the Balkans as the coalition members of Bulgaria and Albania were forced to surrender as the Allied Forces overwhelmed both of the coalition members. S.F.R Yeetland also joined the war and sent about 6 million men, although due to terrible training and weapons, they were not much of a difficulty as the Austrians retreated to the Carpathian Mountain Chain and entrenched themselves.

At the end of the year, the war was in full swing but not many advances had been made by either side.

#### 2062

In 2062, the fronts continued to be static as trench warfare was adopted as the main defensive doctrine. This led to many new weapons like the Grey Artillery, C.E.R.A Tanks among other weapons to be used to try and break through the trench lines. 2062 also saw the entry of Estraeland into the war after a series of secret deals and treaties made with Greatland. 2062 also saw the first use of chemical warfare in the entire war, with the first gas attack being made on Estraen troops on the Eastern Front.

Estraeland would prove a vital asset to the war effort as they opened up a new front in Eastern Prussia and started the Eastern Front of WW3. They also invaded Lithuania in a "friendly invasion" to securely get supplies and aid to the Eastern Front. The naval landing on East Prussia would manage to take all of East Prussia and Danzig until the Prussians managed to stabilize the frontline and lock it in trench warfare until 2065.

At the end of the year, the war still continued with no massive advancements happening as the fronts were still deadlocked in trench warfare.

#### 2063

At the start of 2063, the Greatlandish navy managed to get a foothold and naval invade Brittany, breaking the deadlock in Southern France as the European Coalition started retreating towards Paris and better defendable areas. The naval invasion saw the first use of C.E.R.A Tanks to gain massive ground and encircle thousands of men stationed as garrisons in the area. The front would be stabilized again as reinforcements from the Holy Roman Emprie would stop the Greatlandish invasion dead in its tracks. With the collapse of the Western Front, Estraeland would try their luck against the Prussians on the Eastern Front but to no avail as the front would continue remaining static.

Later on, the Holstein Theatre would begin as Prussian and Austrian forces attacked Holstein to possibly secure Denmark and severely weaken Estraen influence in the region. This was presumably done so that Estraeland wouldn't be able to conduct an offensive from Holstein. After some minor gains by the Austrians and Prussians, the Estraens managed to hold their ground and dig in. This front was much more mobile however as Estraen and Greatlandish naval support used shore bombardment to their advantage, forcing the front to move all over the place until the end of the war.

On the Balkan Front, the Balkan nations with help from S.F.R Yeetland would achieve a massive breakthrough, pushing Austrian forces to the modern day borders of Hungary and Croatia. The Yeetish forces would try to breakthrough at Galicia, but failed again due to the mountainous terrain and well-made defenses on the front.

At the end of the year, 2063 changed the entire Western Theatre as the European Coalition had to retreat from the quickly advancing Greatlandish forces. The deadlock in East Prussia and Galicia couldn't be broken, but the Balkan Front saw massive breakthroughs as the Holstein Theatre was opened up.

#### 2064

The fronts in the early months of 2064 mostly remained static as all nations involved in the conflict were inventing new ideas and technologies to try and break the deadlock on all fronts. In the summer of 2064, the Holy Roman Empire would start a massive invasion into Switzerland and into Italy to try and cut off a large portion of Greatlandish troops in Italy. This front would see massive movement as the Holy Roman troops failed to dig in at The Alps.

Greatland, deciding that the war had gone on for long enough decided to start firebombing and level key industrial centers and urbanized cities to the ground, this would be achieved using the Greatlandish air superiority as the Greatalndish airforce had built up enough in strength to challenge the entire European Coalition's airforce singlehandedly. Ender I later made a speech warning the Holy Roman Emperor Otto X that if the Holy Roman Empire and its allies apart of the European coalition didn't surrender by November 1st 2064, the key city of Frankfurt would be nuked. No response to this warning was ever made by the Holy Roman Empire and on the early hours of November 1st 2064, Frankfurt was nuked by Greatland. This action was greatly condemned by many nations around the world, only Greatland's ally of Estraeland congratulated this move. However, the Holy Roman Empire still refused to surrender and the war dragged on.

The Western Front once again saw a major shift in the Spring of 2064, with Greatlandish troops rapidly advancing towards Paris, much to the shock of the European Coalition who thought they'd be able to hold for atleast 2 years. This shock attack made France drop out of the war and sign an armistice with Greatland. The Balkan Front also saw another major offensive orchestrated by the Austrian Empire to try and regain territory aswell as move the frontline to the favour of them. This offensive in the Balkans saw minor advancements that shifted the war somewhat in the favour of Austria but not too much to make a major difference.

The Eastern Front continued to remain static, however Greatlandish air support and aid continued to fund and prolong the front in Estraeland's favour as Greatland began outproducing the European Coalition. This war would be won in numbers and not quality now.

At the end of 2064, France had been forced to surrender to the **Allied Forces** and Frankfurt had been nuked by the Greatlandish. The Holy Roman Empire had launched one last offensive to try and turn the tide of the war to the favour of the European Coalition but failed. The Eastern Front continued to remain static as an Austrian counteroffensive in the Balkans resulted in a pyrrhic victory.

#### 2065

With 2065 approaching and the end of the war in sight, all sides began throwing everything they had into the war effort. Greatlandish troops began advancing towards the Rhine, as Greatlandish firebombings and mass bombings flattened every industrial site and key city of the European Coalition to the ground. Estraen troops were preparing a new offensive in the East and the situation in the Balkans was becoming untolerable for Austria. During this time, millions were mobilized in the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia to turn the tide of the war, and get a victory that would force the **Allied Forces** into negotiation.

The Italian Front was concluded in the Spring of 2065, with the Greatlandish troops encircling all of the Holy Roman Empire's force in a pocket and decimating them. This was the single most deadliest encirclement in the entire war. In the summer of 2065, the Estraen Hundred Days Offensive began, with the Estraen forces achieving the element of surprise and finally breaking the deadlock on the east after 3 years of trench warfare. The frontlines on the East would collapse entirely as rapidly approaching Yeetish and Estraen forces flooded into Prussia and Austria. Both of the countries surrendered and with only the Holy Roman Empire remaining as the last enemy before peace was restored to Europe.

On November 17th 2065, the Holy Roman Empire agreed to an armistice between the **Allied Forces**, ending the war.

## Aftermath

*Main Article: Aftermath of World War 3*

After the end of the war in November 2065, Europe was now divided into two blocs, one being the Greatlandish Bloc under the rule of Greatland consisting of many viceroyalties and puppet states ruling over all of Western Europe. The other one being the Estraen Bloc under the leadership of Estraeland. The war also saw the end of the Second Concert of Europe, a decades long system to keep all European great powers even and in check with eachother. A major disruption to the balance of power had now been created as the Second Cold War escalated to even higher levels of tension than before as S.F.R Yeetland mobilized their troops on their European borders aswell.

The subsequent diplomatic changes in Europe and the overall world stage saw a massive presedence in shift of diplomacy, ending the era of diplomacy and negotations and instead kickstarting an era of diplomacy where war would be mainly used as a diplomatic tool against other nations. This started a chain of events which led to World War 4.

The former kings and leaders of the European Coalition were deposed and ended an era of republicanism and nationalism as the monarchies of Greatland and Estraeland now ruled the continent. Many former monarchs of the European Coalition were trialed in Estraeland while the ones in Greatland were allowed to go free, continuing on their life normally.

World War 3 also saw a massive change in warfare as the traditional offensive and combined arms doctrines used in World War 2 and multiple other regional wars proved obsolete against massive advancements in defensive warfare with infantry once again becoming relevant as the main fighting force. Tanks were reduced to a mere support weapon as more advanced artillery and anti-tank weapons decimated tanks and attempted offensives, this contributed to the trench warfare on the Eastern Front and Holstein Front during the war.