Siwi occupation of Encarnaçao
| Occupation of Encarnação | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Siwi occupation troops in Encarnação | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Encarnação | Template:Country data Siwi Kondre | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 312 civilians killed | |||||||
The Occupation of Encarnação was a period of military occupation and colonial rule over the islands of Encarnação, São Tomé, Coração and Ilha Bárbara by the nation of Siwi shortly after the QRN Willkapampa Incident. The island was seized by Siwi with little bloodshed shortly after the independence of the nation, which was too weak to properly resist the act of aggression. The act is generally agreed to have been a show of force towards Cervera, which Siwi would invade after a coup a year after.
The occupation continued for 8 years, in which period the nation was declared to be a dependency of Siwi . However, the occupation eventually ended, as the dependency was deemed to be too unprofitable in the long run and its purpose as a show of force had already ran its course with the end of the war in Cervera. In 1923 an agreement was reached with local representatives in São Vicente to restore the independence of the island in exchange of a large payment to be made to Siwi for the following 10 years among other major economic treaties that were criticized by the population at large.
Background
Siwi and Cervera had maintained rocky relations for several years up to 1915, with Cervera owing Siwi a large sum of money in foreign debt which was never paid. This led to extreme tension within both nations, and as the stability of the Cerveran government crumbled Siwi saw an opportunity to seize power with a coup and invasion. However, before this happened, the country had sought ways to show its military power to the Cerveran government in an attempt to make them bend the knee to Siwi . One of the many military actions proposed by the Siwi high command was the temporary occupation of the neighboring island nation of Encarnaçao as a show of force.
Encarnaçao had recently declared its independence from the then crumbling Jungastian Republic a few years prior, and due to its negative relations with its home country at the time found itself alone in the region with little protection from any form of allies. The country's military was lacking in equipment and morale and had yet to be reorganized from the structure of the old colonial forces. This led to Encarnaçao being a prime target for foreign aggression, as it lacked the ability to properly defend itself from any aggressors.
The combination of events and circumstances led to the drafting by Siwi for a plan to occupy the islands in 1915, with the help of a fleet headed by QRN Willkapampa and a division of marines ready for landing and seizing of the country's government. QRN Willkapampa departed for São Vicente in January of 1915, arriving to the city on January 11th.
QRN Willkapampa Incident
On January 11th of 1915, a small contingent of ships from Siwi arrived on the coast of São Vicente with the objective of seizing the island for their home nation. QRN Willkapampa was spotted by the Encarnaçian navy approaching the capital at around 1:30 PM, causing much confusion among the novice sailors who did not understand the severity of the situation and allowed the ships to approach without any resistance. When the ships approached the coast, a diplomat descended from the dreadnought to announce their desire to become Encarnaçao's new protector, giving the nation's government an ultimatum to give up their arms and allow the occupation force to land without resistance within 6 hours or face the destruction of the capital through naval bombardment.
For the first 4 hours the request was ignored as the government scrambled to get the full grasp of the situation, the act of aggression was completely unexpected for the nation which had remained neutral in conflict through most of its history. When the 4th hour hit, QRN Willkapampa fired 3 shells towards the General Assembly, all of which missed by a very small margin but still caused massive damage to the city center as they struck houses and vehicles. As the severity of the situation fully dawned on the island's government and it became clear that no help would be coming from Jungastia or any other nation in the region, the government decided to surrender to the Siwi contingent without any bloodshed, forcing the army to surrender its arms and ammunition and allowing a group of marines aboard transport ships to seize the capital city's mediums of government and communication.
The whole situation resolved within hours, being one of the fastest surrenders to ever be declared in Anterran history, only taking 6 hours for the Encarnaçian government to surrender. The entire incident has left a mark in Encarnaçian culture as a shameful event, where the nation was struck cowardly at its most weak point and proof that the nation requires help from foreign nations, specifically Jungastia, to sustain and protect itself from possible foreign threats.
Occupation
The occupation of the islands was sustained but relatively bloodless. It took many years for any organized resistance to form due to a general lack of military supplies and a strict policy of repression of disorganized insurgents by Siwi forces, which ruthlessly destroyed any guerrilla in the islands. The strongest resistance came not from armed conflict but from peaceful civil resistance, as many civilians refused to cooperate with the Siwi occupation force directly unless forced and many acts of sabotage commonly happened across the island. It's believed this civil resistance, seen is a constant nuisance by the Siwi government, and the lack of profitability from the continued occupation of the island led to the withdrawal of the occupation force and eventual signing of independence for Encarnaçao from Siwi Kondre.
The occupation was under the command of a Siwi commissioner, who oversaw the pacification of the regions of the island where armed insurrections happened shortly after the landing in São Vicente, primarily by elements of the Encarnaçian armed forces that had refused to surrender by defying orders from the central government to stand down. The pacification of the island was swift and ruthless, with the first few years of the occupation seeing little in the way of resistance from the population. Resistance however escalated as the years went by reaching a point where civilians outright refused to help or aid in any way the occupying force.
The island's government was technically still independent from Siwi , following the decree presented by the Siwi government that there was no occupation but that rather the occupation was a security mission with the intent of safeguarding the island. Nevertheless, the General Assembly was in practice subservient to the wishes of the Siwi administration of the island. The nation was governed by two commissioners through the 8 years the occupation lasted, Isaac Schelto (later PM of Siwi from 1938 to 1957), and Commodore Anders Boogie. Many new offices were formed through the occupation, such as: The Commission Audit Service, tasked with the management of Encarnaçian debts incurred to Siwi to pay for the ongoing occupation/security mission. The Commission Customs Service, tasked with managing the export of goods. The Commission Crops Service, which harshly managed the many plantations across the nation and the Commission Police Service, which repressed dissenters and actively fought insurgent forces. These services were primarily by Siwi officials and oversaw the extraction of wealth, payment of debts, and management of population and economy.
Through the occupation of the islands many profitable businesses changed hands, either through purchases or in some specific cases by force, from Encarnaçian to Siwi owners. Many important state industries were privatized and sold to Siwi buyers from abroad, who then formed monopolies on the island that took decades post-occupation to break up due to treaties signed during independence negotiations. Much of the profit was exported to Artemia and some Avalonian countries much like it did before, but those receiving the profit had now become Siwi businessmen. The colonizer state's economic grasp on the island continued for decades after the occupation, after which the country slowly nationalized many of its large companies and industries to restore its control over the country's economy.
The occupation finally ended in 1923, as the Siwi hold over the island slowly decreased. The island's productivity had slowly decreased since the beginning of the occupation for different reasons and the economic drive for continuing the occupation had decreased dramatically as the years went by. This, combined with the continued civil resistance movement on the island meant the continued occupation of the island was deemed unprofitable and ultimately not worthwhile by the governing Siwi , who in the beginning of 1923 had reached the conclusion that the creation of a friendly independent government on the island was the proper course of action. Several meetings were organized, partially in secret, between members of the Encarnaçian political scene and the Siwi colonial government through the year organizing the independence of the nation. Finally, in August of 1923 the island's independence was declared in a joint declaration of the Siwi and new Encarnaçian government, restoring the occupied territories to their pre-1915 status as and independent state.
Years after the end of the occupation relations between Siwi and Encarnaçao remained severely strained, it wasn't until several attempts at reconciliation happened through the 1980s and 1990s that relations were once again normalized between both nations. Still, many Encarnaçians still feel the occupation was an unforgivable act, with many of their older family members being abused and mistreated by the occupying forces and feeling the socioeconomic effects of it to this day.
Overall reactions by the nations of the world ranged from passive to mixed, with many nations outright ignoring the events or only giving a minor performative condemnations. The country with the strongest reaction was Jungastia, at the time ruled by the collapsing Second Jungastian Republic, where many politicians strongly condemned the occupation although ultimately there was no official response from the then ruling government who was too concerned with the ongoing crisis on the country. Ultimately, there was no strong enough international reaction to warrant any form of intervention from any state in the Ingonian region or abroad, and the nation was left occupied until 1923, when the agreement of São Vicente was signed alongside other treaties.
Accusations of civilian mistreatment
Many cases of mistreatment of innocent civilians by the occupation force have been reported. There had been reports of looting of houses of civilians who refused to cooperate with occupation forces, torture of prisoners suspected to have cooperated with insurgent forces, physical abuse and rough handling of civilians and even murder in rare cases. While investigations decades after the last Siwi soldiers left the island failed to find conclusive proof of any large-scale war crimes or crimes against humanity committed against the population during the occupation, there had been many reports of smaller scale abuses.
Decades after the end of the occupation, the government of Encarnaçao sought an official apology from the Siwi government, which it did not receive until the 1980s and the normalization of relations between both countries.