Grand Campaigns

The Grand Campaigns, also known as the Great War, was a originating in Artemia and Kesh that lasted from 1915 to 1925. The war involved most of the world's major powers and is considered to be one of the clearest cases of in world history.

The Grand Campaigns are considered to have begun on 15 April 1915 with the Teutonic invasion of the ethnically Teutonic department of Husseren-Wesserling in eastern Vallis. Initially, from 1915 to 1919 the war only included Vallis fighting Teutonia and Austrasia mostly on its own sole. However, an allied faction headed by Tiperyn and including Brigantica, Koryeo, Agrana y Griegro, Westar and the Vojiskiy Empire would join the war on the side of Vallis to counter the growing territorial gains of Teutonia. This drew Kodeshia into the war as it had a defensive alliance with the Teutonic Empire and used this a pretext to retake its lost territory from Tiperyn and fight against Artemian imperialism on the continent.

However, this allied faction would split in 1920 as republican rebellions would rise in Vallis and the Celt-dominant regions of Tiprain. Around the same time, the Caliphate that encompassed what is now Naseristan, Qurac and Asharistan declared war on Tiperyn which occupied several port cities on the northern coast of the Naser Desert. Brigantica allied itself with the republican groups in Artemia and the Caliphate in an effort to counter Tipslansk imperialism in the eastern hemisphere, becoming the de facto leader of this new faction.

Legantus joined this faction, supporting the republican rebels in Vallis and fearful of Teutonic posturing against Legantus due to its substantial Germanic population. Additionally, Guurdalai would join this faction come into direct conflict with Kodeshia opening up the second biggest front of the war.

The world would see several concurrent civil wars, some of which would draw major powers out of the conflict. These included the Celt insurrection in Tiperyn from 1920-1926, civil war in the Vojiskiy Empire beginning in 1924, republican rebellions in Vallis beginning in 1920, the collapse of the Caliphate in 1925, the Teutonic communist revolution of 1924 and the collapse of imperial rule in Kodeshia and eventual civil war in 1927.

The conflict would have mixed results for each faction. Teutonia would fall to communist revolutionaries and lose territory to Legantus and Agrana y Griegro. The Vallis monarch was exiled as a republican government took power and the Brigantic-supported Celt insurrection established the Republic of Tiprain off of Tiperyn's southwestern coast. However, the majority of Keshan countries within the Brigantica- and Caliphate-led faction would collapse or suffer violent regime change either before the war's end or during the inter-war period. Meanwhile, there were no territorial changes in Avalonia as the new world did not experience any major land battles.

Burgeoning republicanism
Movements advocating for, and democracy had begun to garner popular appeal throughout the 19th and early 20th century - especially in Artemia. Republican forms of government had been adopted by Brigantica in Avalonia after it broke free from Tiperyn and Vallisian colonial rule in the early 18th century. Later, the Republic of Legantus was formed in 1843, challenging the regional influence of the Vallisian monarch and influencing the rise of revolutionary republican movements in Vallis. Vallis had been a significant threat for the entirety of the Republic's existence, and the prospect of turning what was considered the greatest threat to its national defense into an ally was an attractive one. Secret supply routes through Legantus's northern provinces to the areas that the Republican rebels operated in - ironically through several of the old battlefields of the Never-War - and moved unimpeded, providing a surplus of basic supplies to the rebels. Concurrently, Legantus actively, but also covertly, supported liberal elements in Veikaia to keep it from supporting the Crown Alliance during the Grand Campaigns.

Initial Teutonic offensive (1915-1919)
With the  of reclaiming ethnically Teutonic communities in eastern Vallis, Teutonic forces crossed the Vallisian border in force on 15 April 1915. Teutonia immediately gained ground, capturing most of the target province of Husseren-Wesserling by May of that year. Legantus watched these initial thrusts with extreme concern. The Legantian military was structured similarly to its Vallisian counterparts, and that structure was proving inadequate in the face of modern technological advancement. Its equipment was also out of date, a significant portion of it having been in service during the previous war. A large-scale rearmament effort was therefore decided upon, with the military replacing or supplementing almost every piece of equipment in its inventory at a rapid pace. Across the channel, Empress Fedde of Tiperyn proclaimed that Tiperyn would maintain a policy of armed neutrality unless its territory was threatened. Although Tiperyn viewed Teutonic aggression as a threat to regional stability, it did not view the capture of Husseren-Wesserling as a direct threat to Tiperyn interests. However, the Holy Realm had declared that the Hillich Channel separating Tiperyn and Vallis would remain open to all no matter the flag the ships carried. In late February 1916, the Tiperyn Home Fleet set sail with the mission of patrolling the channel and protecting major sea lanes. This was the first deployment of TNV Humongous - a battleship converted into an early aircraft carrier in 1913 - as well as the first case of a military deployment in defense of Vallisian shipping in Tiperyn's history.

Crown Alliance intervention (1919)
As Teutonic forces advanced further north during their campaigns from 1918 to 1919, concern was building among the international community and interventionist movements on behalf of the Vallisians had begun to gain widespread appeal. By 1919, the aggressive expansion of the Teutonia had exceeded their claims on the ethnolinguistically Teutonic provinces of Vallis and threatened the Vallisian capital of Ornans. Although a colonial rival in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Holy Tiperyn Realm had favored the Vallisian monarchy, believing it to be a relatively stable power in the region to balance the Germanic and Slavic empires of Artemia and prevent the rise of popular democratic movements. Further, the Teutonic advance north had could threaten Tiperyn's southwestern shores should Vallisian forces be pushed into the sea. Since the start of the conflict, Tiperyn, as well as most of regional powers had remained neutral in the conflict. However, on 2 February 1919, Tiperyn Minister of Diplomacy Brent Garrick convened a meeting including representatives from Tiperyn's allies; namely Koryeo, Agrana y Griegro and the Vojiskiy Empire. The powers agreed that Teutonic aggression could not be tolerated, and it was in the best interest of all for the status quo of Artemia to be maintained. These four states would form the core of the Crown Alliance - the predecessor to the modern North-South Concordant.

Tiperyn troops of the 11th Tipslan Cavalry Regiment and 9th Idlerein Rifleer Regiment would first arrive in Vallis on 10 April 1919, travelling by rail towards the front at what would later be known as the Sarsoux Salient. Meanwhile, Agranian forces had engaged Teutonic forces along the mountainous Agranian-Teutonic border. The alliance had planned for Agrana y Griegro to draw forces away from Teutonia's offensive in Vallis by harassing Teutonic forces in mountainous terrain and pushing east with the intention of cutting of Teutonia's access to the Eurybian Sea. Two Tiperyn mountaineer regiments were deployed to Agrana y Griegro in May 1919 to aid in this task. In the western hemisphere, Koryeo, leveraging its large industrial capacity and relative isolation from the conflict, had increased its production of war materiel. In partnership with the Tiperyn Realm Armada, in May 1919, Koryeo begun large shipments of arms, artillery and other military equipment to Tiperyn and Vallis.

On the other side of the spectrum, the potential of burgeoning republican movements in Vallis attracted the interest of the democratic Legantus and Brigantica. The Vallisian monarchy was a rival of the Legantian republic, having warred only two decades prior. Republican movements had been gaining strength and influence during the early years of Vallis' conflict with Teutonia, fueled by civil dissatisfaction with the monarch and the state of war. Legantus would not enter the war on the behalf of the monarchy, but had been covertly supplying republican rebels with arms and other aid in the early days of the war. Brigantica, who was a staunch ally of Legantus, saw an easier opening by intervening on behalf of the monarchy to stem the tide of the Teutonic advance, covertly support rebel factions and gain an immediate foothold on Vallisian soil for further operations. Initially, Brigantica's deployment of troops to Vallis was coordinated with both the Tiperyn and Vallisian governments. However, Brigantic forces never fought alongside Tiperyn forces and were mostly focused in areas with significant republican rebel influence.

Legantian offensives
Legantian entry into the war was sudden. The Republic's initial moves, operations code-named Geror and Urd, were launched almost concurrently with declarations of war. Operation Geror, utilizing General Reynaud Wolter's Fourth Army and aimed at cutting off Teutonic forces deployed against the Vallisian republicans, quickly found itself bogged down after advancing only 8 kilometers. Republican force buildup had not gone unnoticed on the northern front and General xxxx xxxx had deployed his forces accordingly. On the southern front, General Walther Giehl's Operation Urd saw significantly greater success. General xxxxxx xxxx, in charge of the southern border defenses, had not detected any force buildups and had seen his forces repeatedly cannibalized for reinforcements for Army Group South facing Agrana y Griegro. The front collapsed almost immediately. While the Fourth Army found itself bogged down in trench warfare well away from its objectives, Giehl's Second found itself facing almost no resistance and limited in advance only by its movement speed. It was able to take its primary objective, the important transportation hub of xxx, by the second day. With his primary objective secure, the General sought and received permission to continue with offensive operations. His new objective was Teutonenland's southern coast, and the port of xxx. The Eurybian fleet docked there, having not sortied since the beginning of the war, remained a significant threat to Republican supply lines and operations in Kesh. In addition, it would provide a new port from which to base naval forces in the Eurybian sea and opened the possibility of deploying Legantian forces to help swing the initiative on that front back to the Republican alliance.

In the Baleric Sea and Iapetus Ocean, the Legantian Fleet opened the war in a relatively strong position. The fleet was battle-tested coming off of the previous war with Vallis, and unlike the Army had not remained idle in the intervening years. The three-ship Stärke class, despite the nameship's unimpressive performance during its initial encounter with the TNV Regnant, remained some of the most advanced battleships in service at the time. In addition, barely a month before the declaration of war, the Legantian government had commissioned two fleet carriers converted from the hulls of Säbel-class battlecruisers. These two ships, the nameship RLK Säbel and her sister the RLK Estoc, were designed as a direct response to the earlier TNV Humongous and were the first aircraft carriers to feature a. The fleet was ordered to avoid the sort of large-scale engagement that had demolished the Vallisian fleet during the Never-War. Legantian naval planners, worried that such an engagement would turn out decisively in favor of Tiperyn, instead mandated what they called the "Tausend geschnitten" strategy. The fleet would jump on smaller formations, avoiding larger fleets while attacking both trade and occasionally raiding Crown Alliance ports. The Legantian navy would "be the mosquito, until it could be the Lion."

Artemian stalemate (1921-1923)
From the autumn of 1921 to the summer of 1923, there was little movement on the Artemian Front. With Crown Alliance and republican forces now fully engaged and Teutonic forces pushed out of Vallis' regions, the belligerents had begun to fortify their frontline positions. This was the beginning of the Grand Campaigns' period, also known as the two year stalemate. Barbed wire, mines, air power and fortified machine gun nests prevented movement across, while artillery fire from both sides continuously harassed the others' trench line. This was a change in pace from the highly mobile early-war period and instigated the development of.

The southern front was likewise deadlocked. In 1921, Agranian, Tiperyn and Vojiskiy forces were engaged in heavy fighting against Teutonic forces in the mountainous regions on the Agranian-Teutonic border. The frontline had moved little since the entrance of the Crown Alliance into the conflict, although both sides made marginal gains and suffered marginal losses periodically. However, in 1922, Agranian generals had increased the tempo of advances east towards Austrasia. As Legantian republican forces advanced south through Teutonia towards the Eurybian Sea, the Agranian military had made it a prime objective to deny the republican alliance access to the Eurybian Sea and gain as much territory from Teutonia and Austrasia as possible before the end of the conflict.

Communist revolution in Teutonia (1924-1925)
With the goal of bringing a hasty end to the conflict in Artemia so forces could be redirected to the urgent and bloody conflict brewing in Kesh, the Crown Alliance had begun covertly supporting communist revolutionary and militant groups in Teutonia beginning in 1922. Although today considered a subversive and threatening ideology by the North-South Concordant in modern times, in the early 20th century, communism was a niche ideology that the Crown Alliance did not see as a significant threat. In a later declassified communique sent from the Tiperyn Ministry of Diplomacy to the commander of Crown Alliance forces on the northern Artemian Front, it was alluded to that the Tiperyn government did not expect the communist revolt to be successful even with Crown Alliance support. Rather, the ultimate goal was to draw Teutonic forces away from the front land towards the homeland so Tiperyn forces could redirect their attention to the growing republican threat in Vallis and Legantus. With the ultimate objective of maintaining the status quo still being at the forefront of Tiperyn's war goals, it was hoped that the remainder of Vallis could be recaptured from Teutonia and the republicans and that a Teutonia weakened by civil strife would sue for peace. With these objectives complete, the Crown Alliance could then focus its energy towards its war against the Caliphate in northern Kesh where the imperialist ambitions of Tiperyn and Agrana y Griegro were more pronounced.

The Kesh Front (1920-1925)
Artemian Imperialism had spread through the continent with the traditional region powers suffering military defeats and territorial losses to the technologically advanced and industrialised nations from Artemia. As a response to these threats saw the mass industrialization and modernization of Sindhustan and Kodeshia, allowing the rulers of these countries to strengthen their hold over the state through encouraging emerging feelings of national identity, the opposite was true in the Caliphate. While it was a historical power, competing with various Sadehstani states over control of the Sadehrud River Valley and later with the Sindhustani Sultanate, the Caliphate would soon enter a period of terminal decline. Over the course of the first decade of the 20th century, successive political crises coupled with the central government's failure to respond to socioeconomic changes relating to industrialization and the rise of nationalism led to a series of separatist revolts across the country. With much of the country in open revolt, the Caliph lost control over the Caliphate as foreign powers such as Tiperyn started to fund these revolts in the hopes of fracturing the country.

In 1914, Sindhustan and Kodeshia signed a mutual defense and economic cooperation treaty in which they declared that they would help one another conquer territories lost to imperial powers and resist foreign domination. Sindhustan aimed to conquer the wealthy port city of Bandar Sonasindhu, which had been conquered by Agrana y Griego from the Gharzai Dynasty in 1674 and later by Tiperyn in 1754. Kodeshia aimed to conquer the Yuhai (Jade Sea) Islands, which had been lost to Tiperyn in 1655 and had been developed into major regional commercial centres. This alliance, combined with the collapse of the Caliphate and the ever-present threat of Tipslansk territorial control over its former domains set the stage for Kesh's role in the Grand Campaigns.

During the beginning of the Grand Campaigns, Tiperyn formally declared war on the Caliphate, conquering various port cities on the periphery of the Naseri Desert. While it was able to conquer the coast with relative ease, the Shia revolts that it had funded during the previous decade coalesced into a national movement that aimed to create a religious Persian state in the mountainous interior of Naseristan, locked into a deadly stalemate with Tiperyn in its remote mountain valleys. Responding to the situation in Naseristan, Tipslansk forces in Sindhustan and Kodeshia were redeployed to Naseristan in order to combat the Shia revolt.

Kodeshia which also had a defensive alliance with the Teutonic Empire quickly declared war on Tiperyn in support of its ally. Fearing Tiperyn's advance into their northern frontiers, Sindhustan also declared war on Tiperyn. Sindhustan conquered Bandar Sonasindhu after a series of military victories while Kodeshian forces seized the chance to retake its lose territories perceiving weakens of Tiperyn colonial forces. Within hours of declaring war the newly developed Weidalu (Great Continential) Fleet was formed from the Northern and Southern fleets. The forces quickly sailed towards the Yuhai (Jade Sea) Islands. Under command of Admiral Shen Hanzhi numerically superior Kodeshian forces quickly took the islands after a two-day naval bombardment although small land skirmishes with Tipryn colonial forces continued to resist until they were overwhelmed by landing army forces. Following the success of the operation, there were widespread celebrations across the nation and Admiral Shen Hanzhi became a national folk hero.

This drew Guurdalai into the war, which had allied with Tiperyn which opened a new front against Kodeshia. Emperor Xi had to quickly begin mobilising his armies. This new eastern front was the second largest of the war and quickly forced the Kodeshian command to adopt a strategic defence. Initially Kodeshian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Army Yuan Guozhang proposed a daring pincer movement against the large Guurdalai salient hoping to swiftly cut off and encircle the bulk of Guurdalai forces before they could reinforce their positions. The attack would begin with a diversionary attack by the 6th and 7th while the main force consisting of 2nd, 3rd and 5th Armies from the northeast would capture the enemy forces off guard. Meanwhile, the 1st, 9th and Armies would advance from the south-east and capture the main object of the Guurdalai oil fields then link up the 2nd, 3rd and 5th armies completing the encirclement. While the initial stages of the attack were a success taking the Guurdalai forces by surprise the northern advance achieved only modest gains of around 10 kilometres. By now the heavy casualties and exhaust combined with risk becoming overstretched meant the forces had to stop and regroup. They began making entrenchments and reinforcing their position. The southern attack failed to puncture Guurdalai defences and quickly became bogged down by heavy enemy artillery and machine-gun fire. While the first day objectives of the oil fields were captured it came at a heavy cost in casualties. By now the realities of modern warfare were exposing the outdated ideas of cavalry forces and riflemen in the face of entrenched machine gun positions.

As the monsoon weather set in all offensive operations became impossible as the ground became so muddy by 1921 the newly opened Eastern front had quickly become like the Artemian stalemate. It necessitated a focus on technological development with Aerial and tank warfare becoming important. By this time it was becoming clear that the situation in Teutonic Empire was becoming dire and Kodeshian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Army Yuan Guozhang proposed new operation the north capturing sections of Asharistan opening a supply corridor to the Teutonic Empire via the Eurybian sea. The new offensive operation was quickly approved and by late 1921 some forces were being diverted from the now static eastern front toward the new northern front operation.

However, this new campaign was to take place in the harsh mountainous terrain of the north and most troops were poorly equipped to fight in such conditions and artillery was difficult to transport along such territory. Nonetheless, the operation was set in motion and quickly proved disastrous with heavy losses. Despite a numerical advantage the Kodeshian troops were forced to advance exposed toward heavily entrenched mountain machine gun nest and again strong artillery barrages. Quickly the northern front became another deadlock with the limited advanced by Kodeshian forces being reinforced and heavily entrenched. By 1921 Teutonia had lost access to the Eurybian following Agranian and Legantian advances calling into question the purpose of the northern front. In spite of this Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Army Yuan Guozhang insisted on a renewed offensives believing the enemy lines to be near the point of breaking. Limited offensive on the eastern and northern front continued through 1922. Failures to hold the line by General Xu Jianhua led to the costly losses and Kodeshia lines retreating nearly 12 kilometres in the nortern eastern front creating the Taishan salient. The area became a highly contested zone with major shelling and counter-attacks destroying most of the city. The Second Battle of Taishan has the distinction of being the first battle fought with tanks on the eastern front. After heavy losses, Kodeshian forces were able to recapture the city.

But By 1923 new plans for a major eastern front offensive were proposed by General Tang Xueliang it would become to be known as the Tang Offensive. The operation was to be carried out in the south-east with combined forces the major usage of new armoured scout cars and tanks. Support from the new Imperial Air Corp and from the sea by ships from the Beifu Fleet. The Imperial Air Corp provided local air superiority and scouted out enemy positions allowing the offensive to open with a massive, accurate but brief artillery barrage against Guuralai lines, with the key factor of this effective bombardment being its brevity and accuracy.

This was in contrast to the usual, protracted barrages at the time that gave the defenders time to bring up reserves and evacuate forward trenches while damaging the battlefield so badly that it was hard for attackers to advance. The initial attack was successful, and the Guurdalai lines were broken, enabling two of Tang's three armies to advance on a wide front. The advanced was support by creeping barrage by artillery and naval forces. The new Imperial Tank Corps and scout cars provided the initial spearhead drawing enemy fire to allow infantry advance. The success of the breakthrough was helped in large part by Tang's innovation to attack weak points along the Guurdalai lines to effect a breakthrough, which the main Kodeshian army could then exploit. The operation was marked by a considerable improvement in the quality of Kodeshian tactics.

The offensive was a serious defeat for the Guurdalai forces, which was forced out of its first position by the Kodeshian 5th Army. The first day on the offensive was, in terms of casualties, also the worst day in the history of the Kodeshian army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. The Tang offensive commanded by Tang himself went very well, but the overall campaign, for which Tang's part was only supposed to be a distraction, because of General Xu's failures, became tremendously costly for the Imperial army, and after the offensive, its forces were seriously depleted and the public will for the war was at an all-time low. Unrest from the soldiers and public and resentment towards the Emperor for the conflict would lead to the Revolts.

As the war went on, Kodeshia grew wary with Sindhustan over its unilateral actions in the former Caliphate and its unwillingness to commit to significant military support to Kodeshia, which was occupied with fighting Guurdalai. The rift between Sindhustan and Kodeshia led to the former funding and supporting a Shia revolt in Northern Kodeshia. No longer at war with Sindhustan, Tiperyn supported these revolts as well, supplying weapons and artillery to Shia militias. Following the costly Tang Offensive, lose of its ally Teutonia to revolution and having to contend with Shia revolt along with general discontent from the conflict pushed Kodeshian resources to their limits.

After a long, protracted, and deadly campaign, Kodeshia defeated the Shia militias and put an end to military and civil disputes but at a heavy cost to Emperor's image. The poor handling drew widespread discontent and condemnation of the monarchies handling of the situation. In response a series of reformist mass movements that rose in revolt across Kodeshia in the wake of the Shia Revolt forced the Emperor to sign the first Kodeshian Constitution, ending thousands of years of absolute monarchy. Despite the new government, when details of Sindhustan and Tiperyn's support of the Shia Revolt surfaced after a dispatch was confiscated by Kodeshian authorities at the Sindhustani Consulate in Bukkai-ri led to the termination of the alliance between Kodeshia and Sindhustan. Facing the loss of both its major allies, with Teutonic Empire collapsed into bloodshed and civil war.

Kodeshia quickly sought to end the hostilities and with the signing of the Kodeshian Constitution quickly following it is generally seen as the end of the Grand Campaigns in Kesh in Sindhustan and Kodeshia. An Armistice with Guurdalai was put in place while terms of peace could be conducted, a separate peace with Tiperyn was conducted. However, the constitutional crisis, collapse of imperial rule in Kodeshia and eventual civil war in 1927 led to delays and ambiguity over control of territory and peace were left unresolved and would lead to simmering issues of national borders that would eventually spark future conflict in the Great Kesh War.

Aftermath
The Grand Campaigns is often regarded as the transformational event that defined modern geopolitics and its primary actors. Through the Grand Campaigns rose the communist Teutonenland, while the once mighty Vallisian monarchy fell to republican militants. Meanwhile, what would eventually become the pro-democratic League of Free Nations and autocratic North-South Concordant found their beginnings during the conflict. The spiritual successor to the Crown Alliance was the North-South Defense Consortium - a trade bloc that focused on the trade and standardization of arms and war material. Its members, initially comprising of Tiperyn, Koryeo and Agrana y Griegro, would fight together in the late 1940s and 1950s during the Great Kesh War. This loose alliance and trade bloc would eventually be formalized in 2001 as the North-South Concordant and is now one of the world's most influential. Likewise, the League of Free Nations was founded shortly after the end of the Grand Campaigns with the signing of the Ornans Pact at the Artemia Reconstruction Conference. Brigantica, Vallis and Legantus were the alliance's founding members. Today, the League of Free Nations is centered on worldwide economic and social development and the preservation of human rights. The League and the Concordant remain rivals, with the former seeing the latter as a threat to world peace and human rights and the latter seeing the former as subversive towards their member states' governments.