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 Goetic invasion of the ethnically Goetic department of Husseren-Wesserling in eastern Ovancia, with Boaga declaring war on Goetia shortly afterward in an attempt to regain territories previously lost to Goetia in the Boaga-Goet War. Initially, from 1915 to 1919 the war only included Ovancia and Boaga fighting Goetia, Austrasia, and Mero-Curgovina mostly on their own. 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 Ovancia and Boaga to counter the growing territorial gains of Goetia. This drew Kodeshia into the war as it had a defensive alliance with the Goetic Empire and used this a pretext to retake its lost territory from Tiperyn. It was joined by its ally Beifang who together fought against Artemian imperialism on the continent.

However, this allied faction would split in 1920 as republican rebellions would rise in Ovancia and the Celt-dominant regions of Tiprain. Around the same time, the Caliphate that encompassed what is now Nasiria, Qurac and Asharistan declared war on Tiperyn which occupied several port cities on the northern coast of the Nasir 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 Ovancia and fearful of Goetic 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 1922, republican rebellions in Ovancia beginning in 1920, the collapse of the Caliphate in 1925, the Goetic 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. Goetia would fall to communist revolutionaries, lose territory to Legantus, Boaga and Agrana y Griegro along with breakaway of its former colonly Alvakalia into an independent state. The Ovancia 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.

Arms race
As imperial ambitions and political movements that were considered radical escalated, Artemian powers entered a multiple front arms race. Although this encompassed developments in both land and air technology, the primary front was naval. Concerns within the Goetic and Mero-Curgov governments regarding the naval supremacy of Tiperyn in Tethys and the Eurybian lead to evolutions in shipbuilding that culminated in the launch of the Mero-Curgov battleship Juganauda in 1908. The advent of the all-big-gun battleship marked a turning point for the Goetic faction in arms development and constituted the greatest change in naval warfare until the 1959 development of the.

The Kesh Front (1919-1925)
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 Beifang, 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. 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, Beifang and Kodeshia signed a mutual defence and economic cooperation treaty in which they declared that they would help one another conquer territories lost to imperial powers and resist foreign domination. Beifang aimed to push back against Artemia imperialism having seen what happened to Alvakalia as it fell into the sphere of the Goetic Empire. 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 Nasiri 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 Nasiria, locked into a deadly stalemate with Tiperyn in its remote mountain valleys. Kodeshia had gained strong economic connections with the Goetic Empire through its military and railway projects. Kodeshia made a formal alliance with the Goetic Empire signed on 12 August 1917. The alliance treaty expected that Kodeshia would become involved in the conflict in a short amount of time.

Initial combined offensive by Kodeshia and Beifang (1919-1921)
Kodeshia had gained strong economic connections with the Goetic Empire through a number of industrialisation programs mainly military, shipping and railway projects. Kodeshia made a formal alliance with the Goetic Empire signed on 12 January 1919. Kodeshia which until now had been officially neutral but had been closely watching the conflict since 1915 and with the overwhelming victory of the Goetic forces in the field and with Tiperyn joining the conflict Kodeshian official saw the chance to retake their colonial territories. Kodeshia officially declared war on Tiperyn and its allies in support of the Goetic Empire. 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 surrounded and laid siege to the islands. While the smaller islands were taken virtually without resistance, the main island only fell after a three-month siege with regular naval bombardments. Tipryn colonial forces only torpedo boat was able to slip past the blockade and managed to sink a light cruiser before being spotted and sunk. 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 Zhaodazu had to quickly begin mobilising his armies. Beifang quickly came to the side of Kodeshia and mobilised its forces, sending expeditionary forces to aid its allies in West Artemia and Kodeshia, as well as invading Guurdalai's northern border. 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. Then push towards capturing Guurdalai's capital Sükhbaatar and force a peace settlement. 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.

Trench warfare begins
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. The initial idea of a lighting strike towards the capital in the hopes of quick conflict were now beginning to disappear as both sides began to experience the stagnation and stalemate of their positions due to poor weather and entrenched positions.

Opening the North Western Front (1921-1923)
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. Although some action was still felt in the north reaches of the eastern front as Beifang forces engaged Guurdalai positions. By this time it was becoming clear that the situation in Goetic Empire was becoming dire and Beifang and Kodeshia secretly engaged in efforts to support independence movements of the colonial forces in Alvakalia in the hopes of keeping it engaged with the forces of the Caliphate. Kodeshian Field Marshal and Chief of the General Staff of the Army Yuan Guozhang proposed new operation the north capturing sections of Asharistan to relieve pressure on forces in Alvakalia. 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 Goetia 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.

Battles for Taishan salient
Failures to hold the line by General Xu Jianhua led to the costly losses and Kodeshia lines retreating nearly 12 kilometres in the northeastern 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 with the help of Beifang expeditionary units and the Alvak Ostkorps unit.

Tang Offensive (1923-1924)
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 Guurdalai 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 heavy resentment towards the new Emperor Qinghuiguo taking over from his recently departed father the well-loved Emperor Zhaodazu, this in combination with foreign support for rebels and the chaos and sporadic communist uprisings in Alvakalia spilling over into north Kodeshia leading to revolts against the emperor over dissatisfaction with the war effort and rationing.

Lorenz-Kruger Offensives (1922-1924)
Although Alvaland (by 1920, renamed to Alvakalia) joined the war in late 1919, the supposed defence of the border was poorly held. The Battle on the Border that occurred on the day of the declaration of war was an absolute victory for the Caliphate and caused a series of events that led to Alvak troops falling back as far as Lubach in Provinz Victoria in 1921. Encirclements occurred at Desingen and Neukarlshelm in what is now Provinz Notios, and a salient at West-Oase as well. With the Battle of Sternberg Station finally turning around the already poor situation for the Alvaks for once, giving troops time to rest and regroup after battle and retreat and battle again, plans were put into motion.

The Kruger Offensive consisted of a breakout near Desingen to both relieve trapped forces in the town and cut off Caliphate troops, which had advanced far into coastal Alvakalia. Heavily outnumbered but with modernized weaponry, the offensive went into action in mid-1921. With Caliphate besiegers outgunned by bolt-action rifles against their single-shot rifles, they fled northwards (a poor decision, as a significant amount of the now-encircled Caliphate forces lay there) and Desingen was freed. In the ensuing conflict, forces trapped in Desingen pushed downwards to link up with a smaller encirclement in the town of Idara. The two linked up with little opposition as most of the besieging forces moved northward to defend against the main force outside Desingen.

Up north, once the news of victory had reached the command centre at Alvastadt, Generalfeldmarschall Kruger ordered a massive push southwards to crush the encirclement. The 1. Division and 2. Division, stationed on the northern line, advanced, coming into contact with Caliphate forces at the Battle of Laza; the speed and surprise of which the Alvak troops had caused the Caliphate troops to be overrun. By the start of 1922, the pocket in northern Alvakalia that contained around 20,000 Caliphate soldiers had been starved off or surrendered.

-Lorenz Offensive pushes into Asharistan with losses

-eventually forced out by Tipslan forces

-peace treaty signed by late 1924 between AVK, TPY, ASHR

-more troops relegated to Ostkorps, command structure reorganized

Revolts and Reforms (1924-1925)
As the war went on, Kodeshia grew wary with Alvakalia over its unilateral actions in the former Caliphate and its new leaderships. The rift between Alvakalia and Kodeshia led to the Worker's Party of Alvakalia and Alvakische Rotfront funding and supporting communist and military revolts in Northern Kodeshia. However, a failed attempt to break free from Alvakalia themselves forced revolters in North Kodeshia to forgo outside help through Alvakalia. Tiperyn supported these revolts as well, supplying weapons and artillery to militias on both sides. Following the costly Tang Offensive, along with the loss of its ally Goetia to revolution and having to contend with the revolts along with general discontent from the conflict pushed Kodeshian resources to their limits. But military support from its key ally Beifang allowed Kodeshia to brutally crush the revolts and reestablish its control but to do so it organised a long ceasefire with Guurdalai to free up units to quell the revolts.

Kodeshian Constitution
After a long, protracted, and deadly campaign, Kodeshia and forces from Beifang defeated the militias and put an end to military and civil disputes but at a heavy cost to Emperor Qinghuiguo's personal image and respect for the government. The poor handling drew widespread discontent and condemnation of the monarchies handling of the situation. In response to the public discontent and revolts a series of reformist mass movements forced the Emperor to sign the first Kodeshian Constitution, creating a constitutional monarchy ending thousands of years of absolute monarchy. This allowing the public to voice its concerns via a democratic parliament. The new government, instantly became deadlocked between faction groups much to the frustration of the Emperor. By this stage Kodeshia sought to end the hostilities and with its ally Beifang they reached an armistice with Guurdalai was put in place while terms of peace could be conducted, a separate peace with Tiperyn was conducted which was agreed to keep its captured territories for reparations for losses to its empire. The chaos and collapses of Guurdalai left a proper peace treaty unclear as Khaan committed ritual suicide for failing to live up to his "unholy" pact and the remains of the government agreed to the demands by Kodeshia and Beifang involving massive indemnity and secession of many border regions. This created massive resentment within Guurdalai and it also created issues for Kodeshia and to a lesser degree Beifang in administering massive new territorial zones. However, the issues trying to assert control of the new government in Kodeshia led to a constitutional crisis, and civil war in 1927 between the many new factions against the Imperial rule which flee to Beifang. The civil war would last until 1930 when the military factions seized power and began purging its enemies. Meanwhile, the delays and ambiguity over control of border territories and discovery of vast oil fields in Alvakalia, far past Kodeshia's borders, 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 Goetia, while the once mighty Ovancian monarchy fell to communism to form URSA. Boaga, which suffered greatly at the hands of the Goets, was not only restored to its pre-Boaga-Goet War borders, but also acquired all of the disputed territories on its borders with Goetia, URSA and Austrasia, which remain to this day.