Campaign Round Summary

[Markus Wilding]

1967 is uneasily quiet.

Iran formally surrenders to the Covenant and UN forces, and is subsequently occupied by German, Japanese, Argentine and other UN troops as Kuwait rebuilds and the Iranian state demobilizes and backs down. For now, the largest war in the post-WWII period has ended not in mutually assured destruction, but in compromise and disarmament.

The brief Italian Civil War in Europe sees the Kingdom of Italy pursue perceived justice against the communist South Italy. The SRA and Ireland both intervene to ensure the sanctity of the South Italian state, and before long even Victoria throws its weight down, pressuring the Kingdom to back off. The civil war ends in status quo ante bellum, with little won or lost by either side.

In Asia, China and Korea lead the creation of the MORALE pact, which has a troubled start as several invited nations publicly reveal the secret activities of the Republic of China, which has the effect of damaging the Republic's reputation and fostering major distrust in the Chinese intentions behind the creation of the pact.

With Bangladesh and Ghana facing outbreaks of the German Flu, it seems the potential resurgence of the disease that crippled the world is the biggest threat rather than war.


World Map, 1967

[Markus Wilding]

1968 passes quietly, but not all is peaceful.

American spying operations are revealed in Panama, which is followed almost immediately by an intervention force that topples the Panamanian government. Within a week, the small Central American nation is occupied by the SRA's military and it has fallen to socialist rebels clearly backed by the CIA. A wave of panic washes over the New World as governments wonder if they will be the latest to fall as part of a CIA-backed coup.

In the Mediterranean, the forces of the Caucasian Union and Syria come together in an attempt to force West Turkey to open the Bosporus and let their ships through, with clear intent to resort to military force. Victoria calls for peace, but will that call for peace be ignored? Time will only tell - already reports have reached the Associated Press of skirmishes between the three navies.

Terrorism wracks the world, meanwhile. A school for the armed forces is bombed in America. Victorian terrorists conduct large-scale bombing attacks. Die-hard CCP remnants in China are captured after several attacks, but the threat is far from over in these nations. Protests simmer just below the surface, threatening to disrupt the status quo and wreak havoc if left unchecked.

1969 is approaching, and with it the end of the decade. In some parts of the world, peaceful action has been left to the dust. The bayonet and the rifle seem to be the best tool for making voices heard. Will the end of the 1960s see peace arriving, or will the 70s bring even more disarray and chaos than ever thought possible?


World Map, 1968

[Markus Wilding]

1969 is by no means quiet, but the violence appears contained, for now.

In North America, the SRA conducts its penultimate and bloodiest campaigns to secure the last remnants of the continental United States by engaging Cascadia in a war of naked aggression. The Cascadian military is no slouch, however, and they make the Americans pay a high price for the war. After six months of hard fighting, which sees Utah and Arizona occupied by Cascadian forces and a brutal battle in the Oregon Badlands, Cascadia is militarily defeated. However, the victory is Pyrrhic: the Socialist Republic Army suffers the highest combat casualty rate since the campaign for Washington D.C., and almost rivals that of the Socialist Republic Marine Corps' intervention in Romania in the late 50s. For now, at least, the American goal of stretching from sea to shining sea is once again complete, and the Army can rest and relax - until Victoria calls upon the American's needs once more.

In the Mediterranean, the Caucasian Union and Syria are brought to the negotiating table by Victoria. Peace looks like an option, until the Victorian Colonel in charge of the garrison in Istanbul is shot and killed during the negotiations. A likely Soviet threat forces Victoria's hand, and the Syrian and Caucasian diplomats are held until Victoria can get to the bottom of the assassination. The likely conclusion calls for the black star of the RAPS flying over Moscow, burning the city down once more.

In Asia, the MORALE agreement is ratified. Compared to the rest of the world, where unrest, distrust, shadowy deals and war are the norm, Asia has come together - however reluctantly - and begun to cooperate. How long MORALE lasts, or if it will transform into something else, remains to be seen.

1970 begins a new year for the world. Perhaps the 1970s will finally be a decade of peace in a world wracked by so much death and destruction.


World Map, 1969

[Markus Wilding]

1970 begins a new decade, one in which the murmurs of chaos are hidden behind insurgencies and closed doors.

With the West Coast secured, the SRA looked inward, while China and Korea continued to build a support network with their fellow Asian community members. Victoria however found itself putting out fires in Kazakhstan as Nur Otan, a group of fascist insurgents, seized an opportunity and began to wreak havoc across the Kazakh countryside. For the new decade, the age of large-scale invasions and years of expansion appears to be over, with more focus put towards maintaining influence and undermining existing governments as a way to grow spheres. Espionage is the new tool of warfare rather than the most expensive missile or plane. Whispers of backdoor deals, of CIA agents shadowing Soviet counterparts in Portugal, and Aragonese intelligence officers funneling arms to unknown destinations flood the streets.

However, the presence of the Victorian Ascendant Host in Kazakhstan is the most obvious signal - Nur Otan will play by Victoria's rules, or it will be destroyed. As 1971 arrives, little has changed in the world beyond the Victorian-led hegemony growing stronger, and more and more nations falling to one aspect or another of the hegemony's members. Will the 70s become a turning point where the world stands up to the massive alliance of superpowers, or will Victorian diplomacy reign until the end of time?


World Map, 1970

[Markus Wilding]

1971 proved to be a volatile year.

Though many nations had hung up their butcher's knives of conquest, Aragon only just began. Portugal became the target of conquest for the Aragonese monarch in an ultimate - if heavy-handed - showdown of two competing ideologies. It was a classic tale of communism versus monarchism, a battle which the small Iberian communist republic lost within months. The Aragonese military moved so rapidly it was almost impossible to mount an effective defense without the intervention of other forces which ultimately never came. Meanwhile in Russia, a mirror match was being played between the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. After a thorough thrashing and convincing assault from the Soviet Union, St. Petersburg appealed to the United Nations for help.

Victoria demanded Moscow's immediate surrender and dismantlement into what was effectively a Victorian satellite state. Moscow rejected this ultimatum, and with tensions high the UN voted for a much more moderate peacekeeping response. Korean and Chinese troops now stand side by side alongside shattered Imperial Russian Army soldiers to secure the peace, but how long that peace will last is uncertain. Almost as an afterthought, peace operations in Kazakhstan are approved.


World Map, 1971

[Markus Wilding]

1972 continued to be violent.

Hopes for a peaceful decade were dashed as the Kazakh insurgency entered its second year, while the Bangladeshi Civil War restarted after years of inactivity brought on by the German Flu. The French Civil War reignited as well, only to fizzle out as a horde of international aid came to the rescue of the two French nations and Victoria declared it and it alone would protect the French region from violence while negotiating for a fair and equal deal for all sides. In France itself, the two sides dig in as American and French Communists watch with a careful eye across the border where Italian, Chadian, Mexican, Syrian and Aragonese troops lurk with their French Republican counterparts. On both sides of the border, Victorian troops keep trigger fingers cold and attitudes level-headed.

As France remained locked in a cold war, Bangladesh was rather hot. Intense fighting over the year saw the destruction of the Bangladeshi anarchist alliance, bringing an end to their five-year existence in northwestern Bangladesh. The communist government and Social Democrats, the latter of which supported by Victoria and its Covenant, fought themselves to a bitter standstill as Bangladeshi monarchists found a benefactor in India. The government is on its last legs, a situation not helped by the near-total annihilation of the Socialist Republic of America's Marine Corps dispatched to keep the peace which prompted its subsequent withdrawal in late October. A new united front appears as Pan-Asian Council forces declare the SocDems to be the sole legitimate combatant and India sends troops to intervene in the situation, creating a strange alliance between the Social Democrats and the Bangladeshi Monarchists as the year winds down and monsoons put a pause to the fighting.

1972 ends with uneasy tensions across Europe as the French situation simmers down and the United Nations receives reports from Serbia that Imperial Russian Army soldiers may have provoked the Soviet Union into minor border skirmishes with roving patrols.


World Map, 1972

[Markus Wilding]

1973 is relatively peaceful, all things considered.

The Bangladeshi Civil War ends with the Communist government destroyed and replaced by a united front of Indian-backed monarchists and Pan-Asian Council-sponsored social democrats. In North America, a resurgent Mexican Civil War ends before it can begin with the Mexican Empire forced to stand down as American troops cross into Sonora and the Mexican monarch is ousted by internal forces to make the way for his daughter. 1973 is the end for multiple monarchs, sadly, as news confirms that Indian King Srijan Karamchand is quickly dying. His son Prakash Karamchand is set to take over the Kingdom with an uncertain future ahead.

While tensions and threats of war fizzle out, the newly-formed West Europe Security Treaty, formed out of North Italy, Aragon, the French Republic, Germany and the Celtic Union brings together most of Western Europe into a single unified bloc with the apparent intention to counter American and Victorian influence in the region. Whether it will accomplish this or if it will be another doomed alliance is yet to be seen.

Near the end of the year, almost as a footnote, Bulgaria accuses the Kingdom of India of smuggling weapons to known anti-government groups. Victoria comes to the Kingdom's aid and proves it could not have done so. An American presidential hopeful begins her tour of Victoria and China with the hope to unify an old American ally and build relations for a new one.


World Map, 1973

[Markus Wilding]

1974 is uncomfortably peaceful.

The world looks on as American elections conclude with long-standing president Alexander Connally defeated by upstart Montana Senator Melissa Kaur, promising reconciliation with the world and a straightforward approach to the Socialist Republic's foreign affairs. Whether she can keep these promises is up in the air, however much this election has many firsts for the American people.

Rebels and insurgents continue to wreak havoc in their pockets of the world. American press warns the world of the "SOMBRA Collective," a group with unknown allegiance and ideology that is purported to be linked to a rise in Cascadian nationalism in the West. Protests envelop several Chinese cities, as Portuguese resistance groups rise up to strike back at their Aragonese oppressors. Terrorists in Victoria destroy critical industry centers and nearly bring the local economy to a halt. Elsewhere in the world, the Kazakh insurgency continues to simmer. No large-scale violence has crossed the plains, but constant skirmishes dot the landscape as Victoria and the UN struggle to bring peace to the afflicted region. The Tank Biathlon in the SRA ends with China declared the winner, much to the American's chagrin.

Will 1975 be as peaceful as the year before it, or will the flames of war reach across the globe once more?


World Map, 1974

[Markus Wilding]

1975 begins and ends with the threat of violence.

Tensions between India and Tibet reach a high point as the two sides pin the blame on the other for skirmishes that lead to a Chinese-Victorian led peace conference, with an uncertain end in sight as negotiations crawl near the end of the year. Rebels storm the East Brazilian parliament building. Austria and Czechia seem posed to go to war with one another. The Philippines appears ready for a violent revolution. All the while, Kazakhstan is still plagued by Nur Otan militias and constant attacks that have marked a way of life for the people of Kazakhstan for over four years.

Meanwhile, in the SRA President Kaur enters her second year in office, while reigning monarch Catharine al Victoria continues to expand power and influence the world over with everpresent humanitarian missions and leading the charge to protect disaffected peoples and end destructive wars. China and Korea consolidate their alliance network in the Pan-Asian Council as Aragon and Italy recruit more and more like-minded Europeans into the WEST treaty.

Not all is well, though. Terrorism runs rampant in the SRA, China and Victoria. Portuguese nationalists cause trouble for Aragonese military and security forces. War between Chad, Mali and three neighbors is ended only by the timely intervention of WEST allies and Victoria, but not before Chad is hit hard and nearly loses hundreds of kilometers of land to the invaders.

1976 is set up to be just as volatile as 1975, with the unknown threat of Sombra still lingering in the shadows undoubtedly waiting for a time to strike.


World Map, 1975

[Markus Wilding]

1976 promises violence and delivers in spades.

In North America, the SRA crushes the last vestiges of plausible American resistance in a brutal war with Dakota that decimates the Dakota military within a few short months. No American idea exists outside of Atlanta's vision and the beliefs of the Riverboat Parishes, though it remains to be seen whether Atlanta will look upon their neighbor and decide whether this too is an affront to the American Dream.

In Europe, Austria and Czechia go to war. A disastrous Austrian mission turns into a civil war after the destruction of most of its army while opportunists seize upon the chaos and weakness to rise up. Monarchists, anarcho-capitalists, and socialists all vie for a bid to steer the future of the Austrian nation while fascist diehards struggle to maintain order and power. Almost immediately, mercenaries from Madagascorp arrive to prop up the anarcho-capitalists. A kerfuffle in the UN sees North Italy and the SRA exchanging harsh words with one another as WEST troops intervene, followed shortly by a pledge of assistance from the UNDF. Combat rages as the four sides clash with one another to the backdrop of immense violence from WEST forces.

Once again terrorism is amok. Aragon and Victoria are hit hardest, while President Kaur in the SRA opens discussions with the Cascadian nationalists to see an end to the violence that has plagued the West Coast for close to seven years. Sombra is blamed for the vast majority of attacks in the world, major power or not, and many posit that Sombra is lurking in the shadows, waiting for the chance to strike.


World Map, 1976