Talk:Nimali

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Greetings Nimali --

I realise you started with just a one-page nation entry, but you've already got a few pages so you'd best convert it to a national factbook (an easy process, and you can add "[[Category:Nimali]]," after each of your subsequent articles). Here's an anonymous contribution to your national factbook regarding defence. You might call the article "Nimali national defence," "Military of Nimali," "Armed forces of Nimali" or some other title that strikes your fancy. Feel free to reject, edit or accept it as you wish. I have not spellchecked it, so it's probably full of errors.



The Allied States of Nimali, as its national pretitle suggests, is an alliance of formerly warring and competing city-states. In this context, the role of internal and external security – for both military and trade reasons – was originally and remains a central question for the city-states collectively and individually.


Governance

The legal basis of the Nimalian Alliance forces begins four centuries ago with the Armistice Treaty which ended to war between the three (and at the last minute, four) city-states. In real world terms, this might be compared to the armistices and peace treaties ending the Second World War. Peace is more than the absence of war, but stopping the fighting is a necessary prerequisite for peace and peaceful exchange of goods.

Furthermore, free trade requires an end not only to state-sponsored fighting by conventional armed forces but also individually-organised fighting like banditry and piracy by private brigands. The Treaty of Free Trade tackles these internal security issues rather than the more usual discussion of tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. Compare this with RW European trade agreements in the 20th century.

After the armistice and free trade treaties, the next logical step in the development of a Nimalian defence framework was the creation of a positive obligation to present a united front to external aggressors. This would mean that neighbouring nations could not wage war on any one city-state without also waging war on the other three. In the RW, this was accomplished by the North Atlantic Treaty. This step was accomplished by the Treaty of Inter-state Assistance, which also included provisions for trade, agriculture and health.

The final logical step for securing national defence was to create standing armed forces so that potential attackers would have to face an existing alliance defence organisation. The Altrian Proposition portion of the articles for the creation of The Nimalian Alliance sets out the conditions for this type of cooperation and makes it compulsory for all signatories. In contrast, the RW North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, does not require the full participation of all Treaty signatories and most notably France was in and out of NATO military structures.


Alliance forces

By treaty, the standing armed forces are astonishingly weak, set at only 5% of each city-states’ domestic defence. However, this force should be regarded by potential adversaries as the tip of the spear rather than the totality of the nation’s defences. Even if an enemy has not yet engaged in an attack, the Treaty Controlling the Rights of the Alliance allows the nation to declare war and raise taxes to support it with the agreement of any three of the four city-states. Other actions, such as conscripting people or goods, require unanimous consent.

The small permanent alliance forces include the Alliance Defence Staff which is responsible for maintaining peacetime border and internal security, but more importantly it proposes, tests and improves operational plans for wartime. Given the miniscule size of the standing forces, the ADS works in close cooperation with the forces in the various city-states. Even after the rediscovery and refounding of Nimali as the national capital, as a hold-over from the Altrian Proposition, the Chief of the ADS serves for five years and comes in rotation from the city-states.

Each city-state contributes armed forces personnel and materiel according to its historical and current strengths. The combat ground forces – the armoured, infantry and artillery troops – come mostly from Minari. The support ground forces – the engineering, logistics and training troops – come almost exclusively from Nox. The naval forces come mostly from Altria. The air forces and medical services come almost exclusively from Astantine. During a large and prolonged war, all or most city-state forces would be turned over to alliance control under the Chief of the ADS.


Minarian forces

If Nimali were to be compared with the city-states of classical Greece of 500-200 BCE, then Minari would be considered the alliance’s Sparta. Like the Spartan phalanxes of old, the Minarian Militia laid waste variously to domestic rebels, neighours and distant invaders alike. Allies and enemies envied, emulated and feared the Minarian military, which is why the Nimalian Alliance would have remained incomplete with the agreement of the greatest land force in the area.

The city-state’s armed forces are still collectively known as the Minarian Militia for historical reasons, but their reach is by no means restricted to what is now officially called the Land Militia. The Naval Militia provides coastal and logistical support for its predecessor, but not nearly as effectively as the Altrian Navy. Similarly, the Air Militia provides air defence, ground attack and airlift support for the Land Militia too, but not nearly as effectively as the Astantine Air Force.

The basis of the militia was and remains a strong connection to a specific location and a specific group of men. Young men in each village, part of a town or city neighbourhood joined the militia together and remained, for the most part, in the same unit for their entire military service. These small-group dynamics foster an intense loyalty, sense of purpose and group identity which is extremely powerful on the battlefield. Armies relying on conscripts or pan-national units are not nearly as effective as cohesive units like those of Sparta or Minari.

At the lower and middle levels of command, non-commissioned officers and junior officers were chosen by their peers and in some cases this tradition continues with some modifications. Senior officers were always chosen by the Militia Headquarters or senior general, and officially junior officers are now too. General officers, having nearly as many political responsibilities as they do military ones, were chosen by the civilian government directly.


Altrian forces

As Minari is to Sparta, so to is Altria to Athens. As the most populous, richest and most commercially oriented city-state, Altria saw the need to ensure free trade in town squares, on roads, up rivers and on the high seas. Just as the Athenians gathered together its assorted vassals, trading partners and allies into a coherent body to challenge Spartan hegemony, so to Altrians started the process of national unification which happily grew in include the Minarians as well.

Like Athens, the Altrian Navy began as a means of defeating pirates and rogues fleets to protect its own and later its allies’ commercial interests and merchant marine. However in both cases, naval power began to be used to counter the land power wielded by its acknowledged rival, Sparta or Minari as the case may be, and to bring reluctant allies to heel. Over the centuries, naval architecture, shipbuilding and the shipping industry have kept pace with technology and the Altrian Navy remains one of the most advanced and formidable naval forces in the International Democratic Union.

Naval power alone – even when augmented by a large number of troops in the Altrian Marines – is insufficient to secure the defence of a free state. The interior lines of communication must be protected, which is where the Altrian Army comes it. Also true to its founding origins to combat banditry, it specialises in insurgency and counter-insurgency operations. Its armoured and armoured infantry troops are no match for their counterparts in the Minarian Militia, but are comparable to the IDU average.

Over time and with technological advances, air power has challenged sea power for supremacy. And while airplanes are faster for transporting military and civilian goods and personnel, they are far more expensive, vulnerable and unreliable than ships.


Astantine forces

Astantine has managed to combine its original and continuing agricultural base with a superstructure of high technology. The closest classical Greek comparision is perhaps with Syracuse, home to philosopher and inventor Archimedes. Historically, Astantine was considered the weakest militarily because it was founded by those who fled Nimali when the barbarians were literally at the gates. Furthermore, full-time farmers cannot be used as part-time soldiers except at certain times of the year.

This long-standing derision of Astantine military prowess has lessened as domestic technology has grown by leaps and bounds. In fact, with the advent of the airplane, Astantine has developed the strongest air force in the whole alliance.

Furthermore, Astantine technological progress in the life sciences was so great that it became the headquarters of the Nimalian civilian hospital system and the Nimalian Medical Corps.


Nox forces

Compared with its Nimalian neighbours, the "city of enlightenment" is the most peaceful, best educated and least populous city-state. In ancient times, Nox merely defended itself from outside attack rather than retaliate against or pre-emptively attack its invaders. The closest classical Greek analogue is perhaps Olympia, but this imperfect since there is no overt religion inherent in Nox enlightenment and the peace was established with arms like Switzerland rather than words like Olympia.

The first line of defence for this citadel of Nimalian culture and learning is tradition. The last line is a complicated system of sensors, traps, trenches and walls which encircle the city-state. Thus, Nox is in the odd situation of producing both philosophers and engineers.