New Englian Crisis | |
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(from top in order) Defcon Militarised Forces Patrol Border Between New Englia and the Kazulian Northern Territories, Signing of the Treaty of New Indrala (from bottom in order) New Englian Conference in Kien, Hulstria, Kirlawan Destroyers Patrol New Englian Coast, Signing of the Treaty of New Indrala, Hulstrian Governor-General Wolfgang Reinhardt | |
Date | 2702 - 2724 |
Location | New Englia |
Result | Treaty of New Indrala, Joint-Rule Government of New Englia, End of Kirlawa-Kazulia tensions, Formation of Quadruple Alliance |
Belligerents |
The New Englian Crisis was a heightened state of tension and military/arms buildup primarily between the nations of Nordiske Republikken av Kazulia and the Republic of Kirlawa over the territory of New Englia on the continent of Dovani. This Crisis eventually turned into a continental event with every major Dovani country becoming involved. This event paved the way for the Treaty of New Indrala that created a 50-year joint government of New Englia and their independence in the 2770s.
Background[]
New Englia, a territory under the administration of the Republic of Kirlawa, an Artanian nation, was a relatively small colony compared to other colonial establishments located on the north-eastern coast of the continent of Dovani, maintaining borders with the Hulstrian-controlled "Eastern Territories" and along the northern Kazulian colonies; the Kirlawan Republic controlled this colony for well over 300 years and despite being in violation of both the Dovani for the Dovanians and Dovani Territorial Defence Organization treaties by being an external force having land on the continent, exceptions were made for the Kirlawan government because of their close and friendly ties with most Dovani countries. DTDO leaders also believed that having Kirlawa take part in the organization, contributing to the overall security of the continent, rather than leaving them out and creating potential tension, was not a sustainable option hence the acceptance. When the Dovani Territorial Defense Organization was first created in the late 2600s, Kirlawa was accepted as a member of the organization, and participated in the organization's council government as an observer but was not granted official council membership; such membership was reserved for Dovani nations. New Englia, as a colony, had the right have their own representative government but was not given any major foreign policy, or defense powers mandated by the Kirlawan legislative. Kirlawa was also noted to have often used that territory for military training and navy exercises though the peoples living there were granted freedoms under Kirlawa’s uniformity laws with New Englia.
Tension Begins[]
The relations of New Englia with the rest of the continent remained cordial and nations like Greater Hulstria and Sekowo raised no particular problems with the settlement. Hulstria had maintained recognition of the colony since the Congress of Kien in 2551. However, in the mid 2600s in the Nordic Republic of Kazulia, politicians and government leaders there began to openly question the exact legitimacy of the Kirlawan controlled New Englian colonies; at first such comments were ignored by the majority of the international community and the majority of political parties in Kazuliza, calling those comments “not responsible”. The United Federal League and H+ Paradigm in particular lead these calls though could not push through any major initiatives or declarations since at the time they were not in power, using their Anti-Kirlawa rhetoric as campaign slogans to get them elected by the nationalist far-right within Kazulia. Such efforts eventually succeeded by the late 2600s, shortly after the formation of the Dovani Territorial Defense Organization and the subsequent inclusion of the Republic of Kirlawa as a participant, even as an observer, in the new group. The UFL and Paradigm quickly rose to power, capturing a supermajority and taking in the major positions within the Kazulian government, including the Head of State. In 2702 the two parties opened a public forum for the legislature to discuss new Kazulian policy towards the colony, with the leaders of the United Federal League calling for a complete annexation of New Englia by Kazulian armed forces to bring it under their own Empire; the annexation, the UFL leaders claimed, was “necessary for Dovani sovereignty”, and for a pure Dovani society, ridding out the external powers on the continent. These open discussions shocked many foreign governments and were quickly condemned by most Dovani governments, including many nations outside the region. Some governments attempted to appease the Kazulians to prevent them from opening up a military conflict but failed with the government there insisting they were “doing nothing wrong” and were simply only abiding by Dovani for Dovanians provisions. Kazulia also claimed that Kirlawa had no “legal right” to operate on the continent, saying there was “an oral agreement”, an assumption of their status, and thus since there was not a formal document, they had no right to be on Dovani, and must be removed immediately. A Sekowan-led delegation fron the DTDO met with the Kazulian Head of State, a member of the United Federal League, in another effort to get the Nordic Republic to rethink their moves but again failed. With the talks of a possible invasion of New Englia and the failed discussions, Kirlawa reacted defensively and took measures to ensure the protection of their colonies.
Escalation & Standoff[]
Upon hearing of the annexation discussions, the provisional government of New Englia ordered instant mobilisation of their armed forces to protect their interests and citizens from invasion. This then sparked Kazulia's Ministry of Defense to hire mercenaries from the Defcon Militarised Forces and ordered them to set up military camps along the New Englian/Kazulia territory border; the Kazulian Ministry of Defense decided to instead hire mercenaries to carry out military ops because while it seemed a lot of legislators in the Kazulian parliament supported an annexation option, many on the other hand dismissed the notion of going to war over a small colony. This caused the Defense Ministry to look to other means for their plans. By also hiring mercenaries, a vote in the legislature was not needed at all.
The Republic of Kirlawa was greatly alarmed by the recent turn of events and quickly called for calm in the region; they directly ordered the provisional government of New Englia to tone down its military mobilisation while at the same time calling on Kazulia to pull back their own hired soldiers. The Kirlawan government opted to take a more diplomatic route to the problem but did however insist if New Englia was harmed in anyway or if they believed the DMC/Kazulia were going to attack, they would not hesitate to defend their colony with full force. The Kirlawan President, Head of Government, and Minister of Foreign Affairs then called for an international conference to discuss the situation in New Englia to solve the problem in 2703. Many Dovanian governments took part in the conference but Kazulia refused to take a productive part in the discussions despite being told otherwise and the first conference on New Englia failed miserably with delegates arguing with one another rather than discussing solutions; the New Englian Crisis would then take a 10 year standoff between the countries of Kirlawa and Kazulia, closely watching eachother for suspicious activity.
Vladimir Fischer, the Minister of Defense for the Imperial Crownlands of Greater Hulstria, a country that bordered south of Kazulia, was amused but nonetheless very angry at Kazulia's intentions to go to war over a colony the size of New Englia, publically calling their ventures "child games" and "hilarious". Fischer supported the New Englian government and wanted Hulstria to side with Kirlawa and other sensible nations to stand in support of the colony as well. To protect Hulstria's own Eastern Territories and to possibly counter efforts by the DMF to enter Hulstrian territory, Vladimir Fischer ordered in 2705 Hulstrian army units stationed in the territories to be cautious and on "small alert" but did not order any troop increases; the Kazulian government retaliated by increasing Defcon Militarised Forces in the Rift Mountains and bashed the Fischer-led Defense Ministry for their "recklessness", threatening to invade New Englia because of the Hulstrian troop "buildup". Fischer called the Kazulian response "preposterous" and an "unnecessary and inappropriate use of force". By Hulstrian law, Fischer defended himself, no troop increases or movements can be done without a special session of the Hulstrian parliament and a vote, his actions to place army units in the Eastern Territories under caution was completely justified to protect Hulstrian interests and not hostile. Kazulian officials did not accept his reasoning and maintained their initial DMF increases even if Hulstria did not increase their own forces. Kirlawa then responded to the threat of New Englian being invaded by sending several naval ships to the coast of New Englia to prevent an amphibian assault by the navy wing of the DMF organization. For the next few years Kirlawa and Kazulia would remain at a heightened state of alert and both of their armed forces did not move back.