Difference between revisions of "1950 War"

Revision as of 01:30, 31 March 2007

The 1950 War was a civil war in Unkerlantum between the ethnic western Traxans and eastern Unkers. The war was the largest the nation has ever experienced and resulted in a complete upheaval of the government.

Background

The seeds that eventually bore the fruit of the war were planted during the Steppe Wars. As an increasing number of settlers continued landing on the eastern shores of Unkerlantum, overcrowding pressured the people into moving westward. This began a series of skirmishes with the native Traxans and ultimately culminated into an official war under the commands of the two monarchies. The superior armor, weaponry, and organization of the Unkers finally resulted in the Traxans surrendering control of the entire continent in 1180.

The Traxans remained oppressed and treated as second-class "residents," forbidden from holding titles of nobility and denied access to certain careers, until the 1930s. By that time Unkerlantum had become sufficiently weakened from war and internal strife that the Traxans began reasserting control. In 1939, they revived the dissolved Tribal Council and elected their first Chieftain since 1180. In the following decades they began forming their own Traxan-dominated city governments, establishing foreign relations with Unkerlantum's traditional enemies, and developing a stronger western military. The government in Kuzov voiced its displeasure with the westerners, but was for the most part powerless to act.

Causes

On February 8, 1949, the US Peak (Unkerlantum Ship Peak), a Traxan-operated cruiser, was on route to the island of Malachor III carrying a Traxan ambassador. The purpose of the voyage was to establish a trade agreement with the islanders that would give the Traxan merchants a monopoly on all trade with the Malachorians. However, as the ship steamed into harbor, it suddenly burst into flames, killing the ambassador along with most of the crew.

An Unker investigation showed the cause of the fire to be an engine malfunction, but because the study was financed by the eastern government, the Traxans considered the ruling biased. When they sent their own experts they were denied access and sent back west at gunpoint. Infuriated, the Traxan chieftain froze all incoming taxes to the Unker government. In response, Kuzov declared this an act of treason and executed several Traxan noblemen. Embittered Traxans assassinated Unker nobles in retaliation.

Tempers reached their height as lynchings and bar-room brawls took place on both sides of the continent. Finally, on August 1, a riot in a border-town between the traditional Traxan-Unker ethnic line resulted in chaos; an eastern official called in a nearby Unker division, while at the same time a western military force was sent in as well. Rather than cooperating together to end the rioting, the two sides only escalated the conflict by firing on the civilians and (supposedly) each other.

Under pressure from its overseas allies, and due to the age-old Traxan desire to regain the land lost to the eastern invaders, the Traxan government officially declared its independence from Unkerlantum on April 16, 1950. Roughly 40% of the total continent's landmass became the Republic of Traxa. However, these were only the areas that were demographically Traxan; the lands of their forefathers still laid under Unker control in the east. Furthermore, the chieftain feared that if they did not deal Unkerlantum a quick and decisive blow, the easterners would be able to overwhelm the much smaller republic. And so, on May 25, 1950, Traxa invaded Unkerlantum.

The Early Years

Despite the growing conflict, the Unker government had been slow to mobilize its forces to the western provinces. Mounting social tensions between the nobility and the lower classes made the government reluctant to send its troops away from the major cities. As a result of their hesitancy, the small and mostly isolated units near the newly formed border were quickly engulfed and forced to surrender. The only unit to experience even moderate success was Colonel Vokhuz's 300th Armored Regiment, which held off a frontal assault and then counter-attacked, actually driving as much as 80 miles into Traxan territory. However, he soon risked being cut off and surrounded, and so Vokhuz withdrew.

Traxan forces enjoyed unexpected success that took even their own commanders by surprise. By August they had advanced nearly 180 miles into Unkerlantum, and Traxan officials believed the easterners would sue for peace by the end of September. However, their intelligence network did not extend into the heartland of the Unkers, where public outrage with the government's ineptitude was on the verge of rebellion.

Operation Shield

Finally, a council of frustrated generals (newly appointed Deputy General Vokhuz being one of them) approached the leading nobility asking them to loosen their control over how the war was being run. With their consent, the generalship formed a unified strategy of their own making. They accepted that the present line would not be able to hold due to the extreme distances reinforcements and supplies had to traverse in order to reach the troops and opted to trade space for time. They drew a north-south line approximately 200 miles behind the current front line and codenamed this the "Shield Line." The majority of all troops and fortifications would be set here and in the areas behind it; the soldiers fighting on the current front and the 200 miles between them and the Shield were to be "sacrificed" with only minimal supplies being sent in.

By mid-October the Traxans had advanced to the Shield Line. Their intelligence again failed them as the Unkers were reported to be "on the verge of collapse." Their advance came to an abrupt halt as elements of the 16th Army literally stumbled into the Unker defenses around Urzuk. The town held for the remainder of the month until Traxan air superiority crippled the Unker supply lines. Although seen by the government as proof that the military was incapable of leading itself, the battle stands as the first engagement in which Traxan casualties were greater than those of the Unkers and served as a major morale booster for most of the soldiers within the area.